Chief’s Briefs - Xavier Edition

[gtcam]

Samson gets pushed around some, so imagine Singare? Both have protection but need more strength and development.

Yeah but he did handle that St John's big guy fairly well - give the kid a chance

 

[CL82]

Thank you. The mattress thing, I should have just left as is, instead of the more boring reality lol - lol

Personally, I think "hitting the mattresses" should be the new "casual fan" throwaway comment.

 

[ucp990411]

the execution the last three minutes was terrible. 3-4 poor possessions that resulted in last second contested three point shots from perhaps worst shooter on floor or a turnover or a tough Newton miss. Triston plays like he did in November and Uconn is elite. Played like he did last night and close game against a mediocre team.

16 points and 11 rebounds is not very good? You are tough to please

 

[HuskyHawk]

singare was a 4* 7 footer he was the best big we could get.

The problem isn't really at center in my view. It's at PF. I love Karaban, he's a combo 3-4 that isn't quick enough to guard small forwards. Somewhere on the roster you should have a thick, strong rebounding machine that can play the 4. I know Dan wants shooters, but some of those big guys can shoot. Watching that Butler game, I sure wished we had a guy like Brooks, 6'6" 240, stroking 3 s.

My only complaint with Dan's recruiting is that all 3 of our recent forwards (including next year) are basically the same type of player with similar frames. Cooper Flagg would have solved that I suppose. Hoping we can add a little bit more muscle via the portal, and focus on it for 2025. Solo and Castle have the build, but I'd like to see a 6'9 guy built like Solo.

 

[Candyman]

The problem isn't really at center in my view. It's at PF. I love Karaban, he's a combo 3-4 that isn't quick enough to guard small forwards. Somewhere on the roster you should have a thick, strong rebounding machine that can play the 4. I know Dan wants shooters, but some of those big guys can shoot. Watching that Butler game, I sure wished we had a guy like Brooks, 6'6" 240, stroking 3 s.

My only complaint with Dan's recruiting is that all 3 of our recent forwards (including next year) are basically the same type of player with similar frames. Cooper Flagg would have solved that I suppose. Hoping we can add a little bit more muscle via the portal, and focus on it for 2025. Solo and Castle have the build, but I'd like to see a 6'9 guy built like Solo.

Not really sure how anyone can have any complaints about recruiting when this is a top 5 class and we just won a chip. On top of that we could possibly be ranked 1 or 2 on Monday. Also, we won the chip with Karaban at the 4. You have a complaint about Karaban, and Stewart? Stewart actually was a big bodied kid but he shed a bunch of weight to get quicker for college.

So you want one someone like Brooks to come here and be a back up off the bench? Its great to say I wish we had this or that back up but the fact is these type players or transfers, as Brooks is, want to play.

Our rebounding is fine we just ran into one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. We are a team rebounding unit. I'd much rather Hurley focus on shooters especially if we lose Karaban on top of Cam.

 

[Chasm64]

what's the latest on Clingon?

Still villains according to Captain Kirk

 

[Ricker]

I'm not talking specifically a center, I'm just talking a deep bench power player like @HuskyHawk describes, that may have limitations and is no threat to be a starter, but has a value added trait like rebounding/providing resistance in the lane. Heck, Xavier's international depth at forward came very late as a scramble after Freemantle became questionable. With a championship in hand and the talent to make another run, I;m not buying the idea that nobody was out there that was willing to help from the bench. It doesn't seem like front court depth at the 4 would have been a tougher sell than in other years.

We had Jackson and Hawkins on the roster and recruited Newton, Alleyne, Diarra, Calcaterra, and still recruited Roumoglou.
We had Sanogo, Clingan, Johnson, Karaban, Springs and still the 6'10 kid from Israel committed,

Just retaining Springs would have been adequate, but a move by him to play more is very understandable.

 

[Waquoit]

Still villains according to Captain Kirk

BTW, how is the USS Enterprise like Charmin? They both circle Uranus searching for Klingons.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm not talking specifically a center, I'm just talking a deep bench power player like @HuskyHawk describes, that may have limitations and is no threat to be a starter, but has a value added trait like rebounding/providing resistance in the lane. Heck, Xavier's international depth at forward came very late as a scramble after Freemantle became questionable. With a championship in hand and the talent to make another run, I;m not buying the idea that nobody was out there that was willing to help from the bench. It doesn't seem like front court depth at the 4 would have been a tougher sell than in other years.

We had Jackson and Hawkins on the roster and recruited Newton, Alleyne, Diarra, Calcaterra, and still recruited Roumoglou.
We had Sanogo, Clingan, Johnson, Karaban, Springs and still the 6'10 kid from Israel committed,

Just retaining Springs would have been adequate, but a move by him to play more is very understandable.

Exactly. @Candyman Hurley has been a masterful recruiter. Roster construction has mostly been superb since it's been all his guys. Stewart looks like a nice player and a natural SF. Ross is a wing. Abraham? Seems like a wing. I like having a guy like Stewart who can flex to the 4, but I don't see him as a natural starting 4 unless he adds about 15 pounds.

I think I get what Dan's doing here, it's a bit like the Celtics playing flexible 6'5 - 6'8" guys all over the court. The difference is, Tatum is strong. Brown is strong. Grant Williams was strong. Some of those guys have to be big enough to put a body on bigger players. Solo Ball with 4-5 more inches is ideal.

Clingan hides a lot of those problems, so did Sanogo. Somebody on the bench needs to be able to bring that physicality.

 

[ctkaiser]

the execution the last three minutes was terrible. 3-4 poor possessions that resulted in last second contested three point shots from perhaps worst shooter on floor or a turnover or a tough Newton miss. Triston plays like he did in November and Uconn is elite. Played like he did last night and close game against a mediocre team.

Those possessions looked like they were designed to just use up the clock and if they got points by accident so be it. Really surprised that's how the offense got run.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I don’t disagree but that also is my point - he is often moving to recover from perimeter so defensively he is not in good defensive position and some of it is just fundamental mistakes and quite frankly - get in the weight room Samson.

I wanted to look into this so i checked on each of his 4 fouls:
First Half
14:21- He fouled a guard on the fast break driving to the basket. No high hedge.
1:29- Fighting for a defensive rebound. No high hedge.
Second half
16:18- Another fast break foul trying to block a shot. No high hedge.
11:41- A guard drove to the basket and SJ was called for the phantom foul in the low post. At worst the guard tripped over his foot. No high hedge.

He spent plenty of time on the perimeter yesterday, but he was not on the perimeter at all during any of the plays where he was called for fouls.

 

[uconnfan68]

He seems awfully raw for a 4* recruit. But what the heck do I know.

Short for 7’ too.