Creighton Post Game Thread

[CTBasketball]

I get it but who? I’m sorry a team with Stew or Ross as starters just isn’t that good. This team will not see the Sweet 16 without Solo having good games I’m afraid.

Starting line up is missing wing defense and versatility. Bench is missing a scoring punch. Seems like a natural fix to me at this point.

I was against it early on because of the idea of what Solo could be. We can’t wait on that anymore

It must be for Stewart or Ross, and we’ll have to ride the hot hand and live with it.

Ball gives us next to nothing defensively and the offense is too 3-pt happy when him and Mullins are in. Our poor rebounding leads to break outs. As Ant pointed out, the bench needs a boost and the starting lineup needs a longer wing defender. This is a good trade.

It’s no secret we played our best basketball with that minutes and lineup allocation in November and December. We arguably got worse when we jammed the 3-pt lineup as starters.

 

[KingAG]

People very close to the program.

This stuff isn’t kept that close to the vest

 

[KingAG]

It must be for Stewart or Ross, and we’ll have to ride the hot hand and live with it.

Ball gives us next to nothing defensively and the offense is too 3-pt happy when him and Mullins are in. Our poor rebounding leads to break outs. As Ant pointed out, the bench needs a boost and the starting lineup needs a longer wing defender. This is a good trade.

It’s no secret we played our best basketball with that minutes and lineup allocation in November and December. We arguably got worse when we jammed the 3-pt lineup as starters.

I almost forgot we won most of those games with Braylon out.

Separating Braylon and Solo may be the fix.

 

[RuffRuff]

It must be for Stewart or Ross, and we’ll have to ride the hot hand and live with it.

Ball gives us next to nothing defensively and the offense is too 3-pt happy when him and Mullins are in. Our poor rebounding leads to break outs. As Ant pointed out, the bench needs a boost and the starting lineup needs a longer wing defender. This is a good trade.

It’s no secret we played our best basketball with that minutes and lineup allocation in November and December. We arguably got worse when we jammed the 3-pt lineup as starters.

Been saying this for months. Toss Ross out at the 3, amp up your D & size, skim back on all the hoisting. There is no balance with Ball & Mullins out there, and we know who the better player is.

 

[Vancat]

So- re: Solo & (lack of) defense.
Can someone explain that to me? I thought defense was all about desire? Is he just too slow? What is it?

 

[CTBasketball]

I almost forgot we won most of those games with Braylon out.

Separating Braylon and Solo may be the fix.

 

[uconngb]

No one claimed to know 100%. You said we don’t have a clue. And you’re wrong. We do have somewhat of a clue. We also have an idea of what other teams are offering certain players.

Ruff Ruff said he had "firsthand" knowledge. That's not definitive?

 

[KingAG]

So- re: Solo & (lack of) defense.
Can someone explain that to me? I thought defense was all about desire? Is he just too slow? What is it?

Lateral quickness

 

[uconngb]

People very close to the program.

ah, the old "people close to the program". That ain't first hand knowledge, that's you just making up crap

 

[KingAG]

Ruff Ruff said he had "firsthand" knowledge. That's not definitive?

Did you see the entirety of the conversation? He said he had first hand knowledge of the range he got paid. He never said he knew the exact dollar amount.

I can’t believe I’m defending @RuffRuff

 

[KingAG]

ah, the old "people close to the program". That ain't first hand knowledge, that's you just making up crap

So we both made up the same number? Lol

 

[GetTheFacts]

Some friendly reminders: This is still the best coaching staff in the country, folks. And we nearly beat Arizona without our 2 best players, beat Illinois, BYU, and Florida. If Saunders was healthy for BYU, I would not have been surprised to see that team go to the Elite 8, and the others are all strong Final Four contenders. The upside is still there for us.

I have faith they will get this turned around. First thing I'd like to see is Ball moved to the bench and start Ross. Ross can be a capable defender - Ball would be better suited as an offensive sparkplug off the bench. Since February 1st, UConn is 16th nationally in offense but 82nd in defense. The offense is fine, but something's gotta change on the defensive side.

 

[uconngb]

This stuff isn’t kept that close to the vest

So then provide us with the list of what everyone is making if it is such common knowledge. I'd love to know

 

[uconngb]

Did you see the entirety of the conversation? He said he had first hand knowledge of the range he got paid. He never said he knew the exact dollar amount.

I can’t believe I’m defending @RuffRuff

NO untrue. He said he had first hand knowledge that AK is making $2 million this year and he "thought" it was $1.5 million last year. Try reading better.

His response to SJ is below

RuffRuff asked if you think AK got 2 million per year the past two years. You answered definitely, the numbers being thrown around behind the scenes are crazy.

What are the numbers being thrown around behind the scenes?

I've heard first hand he's at 2mm this year. I would swear I heard 1.5 last.

 

[KingAG]

So then provide us with the list of what everyone is making if it is such common knowledge. I'd love to know

I don’t know what everyone is making. We just know they spent close to or north of 10M on the roster. Alex, Solo, Taris and Silas got a big chunk of that. But that’s not really surprising. I do think Solo turned down more to return because UK was allegedly throwing a bag at him. Taris allegedly had a big bag thrown at him too. Idk what they returned for. But we somewhat know what their market was

 

[KingAG]

NO untrue. He said he had first hand knowledge that AK is making $2 million this year and he "thought" it was $1.5 million last year. Try reading better.

Because that’s where you started reading lmao. I would go back and find it. But I genuinely don’t care enough. This is dumb. It’s the classic “because I don’t know, no one knows” bs. Believe what you want.

 

[KingAG]

His response to SJ is below


I've heard first hand he's at 2mm this year. I would swear I heard 1.5 last.

He’s not wrong btw. But go back further. He used words like “maybe”. The context of the conversation wasn’t definitive

 

[giddyup]

…. Hurley is too stubborn to make changes. And all our quick threes hurt us tonight. Such a frustrating game to go to. It looked like we had never played as a group outside of the start of the second half.

When things aren’t working, Hurley’s answer is double down and work harder, rather than work smarter. He’s allergic to zones because it’s not the tough guy “we will out work you” identity he wants.

Been saying this for a while. There is not good team chemistry. We generally have 3 guys on the floor that would be scoring option 1A or 1B on most teams and a fourth that thinks he should be option 1A once the ball touches his hands. You have guys contending to be the scoring alpha. I’ll sum it up this way - everybody is looking for their own shot not the team’s shot. When they do go on spurts, you’ll notice how fast and unselfish the ball moves compared to when they are going through the motions thinking about me in relation to what’s happening on the floor.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Ugh can sleep after this one. What if all the people who say that Hurley was just a Donovan Clingan merchant were righ?

its unfair, but then again if you want to play high IQ offense, you might be sacrificing athleticism/defense.

You Can't continue to play extended man on an island defense with slower footed players, without a shot blocker to bail them out. Its the same layup line we saw at times last year. Adjust your D to make Solo usable, or this is what we will get

 

[superjohn]

Absolute losers on this thread trashing Alex Karaban. You can hide it under the guise of inciting debate or objective analysis but there's no denying what it is. Whether you think he's talented or he's an oaf hiding out as a role player it's a horrible look for some people

It's okay to be honest about AK's actual game on the court compared to how he's talked about. He's a great role player, he's not one of the best players in college basketball and one of the best UConn players ever. He was the 6th best player on the '23 national championship team and the 5th best player on the '24 national championship team. None of that is a slight to him as a player, it shows how great the players were on those teams...

He gets his flowers constantly and he's reportedly paid 2 million dollars. Solo Ball is my favorite kid on the team and I'm honest about his defense and shot selection, the board "trashes" him game after game. Are some players immune and others aren't? These guys are paid incredible sums of money, we can be honest about their actual games.

 

[KingAG]

It's okay to be honest about AK's actual game on the court compared to how he's talked about. He's a great role player, he's not one of the best players in college basketball and one of the best UConn players ever. He was the 6th best player on the '23 national championship team and the 5th best player on the '24 national championship team. None of that is a slight to him as a player, it shows how great the players were on those teams...

He gets his flowers constantly and he's reportedly paid 2 million dollars. Solo Ball is my favorite kid on the team and I'm honest about his defense and shot selection, the board "trashes" him game after game. Are some players immune and others aren't? These guys are paid incredible sums of money, we can be honest about their actual games.

Yeah everyone was great but Alex. He just tagged along for the ride right?

I love how we arbitrarily have a cut off at 4th best player for if you can be great. Steph was the 4th best player on that team. But 5th is a step too far lmao

 

[superjohn]

Yeah everyone was great but Alex. He just tagged along for the ride right?

I've always said he was great, a great role player. I've always said he was the ultimate connector on those teams. Are you debating he wasn't the 6th best player on '23 and the 5th best player on the '24 team?

 

[djct1999]

cool it on the over the top AK bashing

Yeah, the ak slander is odd. The kid is playing hurt, has been beyond loyal to UConn, and a key component(not ever the best) to both titles. He is a great kid, a proven winner, a coach on the floor, and a player any coach in America would covet. People on here need to chill, especially after a loss.
The problem isn’t ak it’s that he gives us more hurt than anyone on the bench gives us healthy.

 

[KingAG]

I've always said he was great, a great role player. I've always said he was the ultimate connector on those teams. Are you debating he wasn't the 6th best player on '23 and the 5th best player on the '24 team?

What does that matter? Who was the 5th best player in 23? I bet you think they were great. 23 and 24 was so loaded that the 5th and 6th best player wasn’t a normal 5th and 6th best player. That’s what made them dominant.

 

[mussels]

Took the night off from the Yard. Twenty-three pages of observations already.
Greg .

“observations” LOL