DeAndre Daniels

[aceboon]

I missed all of the first half so I missed the majority of his scoring, and he's probably gonna have to realize he's not gonna be able drive directly from the top of the 3 point line to the basket without guys collapsing on him and stripping him, but I was very excited by his play tonight. I don't know how many official blocks he had but it seemed like he(and TO) got their hands on a ton of balls to either block them, cause tie ups, and alter shot attempts. Did a good job battling on the boars as well. Love him at the 4, its been something I've been screaming about since we've gone big at the 3 starting with the Rudy Gay era. With Rudy we had alot of bigs so it wasn't as easy to put him there, but I would much rather see this slender, 6'8 guys like Rudy, Sticks, Roscoe, and now DeAndre operate at the 4 in the college game. It seems like the past few years we've seen AO and Gavin have to defend guys who are NBA SFs and get abused because they can't keep up and aren't natural going out to the perimeter to defend, now our team is built like these teams who have taken advantage of us on the offensive end with "smaller"(really prototypical college size) guys at the 4.

 

[Brochacho]

He drove for a nasty dunk in the first half.

 

[husky99]

great upside. reminds me of sticks. great 10 minutes and then fades

 

[Dogbreath2U]

DD looked good in first half taking the ball to the hoop from the side on clear outs and he had one awesome drive and dunk in traffic. He was shaky with the ball early in the second half, but settled down and got some big boards. Very nice growth. Tyler was very solid and both of these guys can get a lot better with experience to build confidence.

 

[HuskyNan]

He drove for a nasty dunk in the first half.

Link to video here

 

[selles]

Yup, it was very clear that being at the 4 gives him an offensive matchup advantage. He's going to be quicker than the guys guarding him and that's going to open up a lot for him. He had a couple nice baseline drives tonight, and he can shoot well enough to make defenders pay if they back off to play the drive.

I didn't know whether he would be tough enough to battle inside, but darned if he didn't look awfully 2010-11 Scoe-ish on D and on the glass tonight.

He still has some bball IQ issues (what's a good shot, what's not, shooting/driving in the flow of the offense). But I have the sense that will come with time. He could be a very potent offensive weapon by the end of the year.

 

[RichZ]

I think DD's rebounding this year has pretty much negated the loss of 'Scoe. To me, Scoe's biggest value was as a rebounder, but he was so reluctant to mix it up inside, and wanted to live on the wing. So far, the 12/13 version of DD seems to be doing a more than serviceable job on the boards. And he seems much more willing to do whatever it takes to earn the minutes.

 

[3rdbass]

DD looked good in first half taking the ball to the hoop from the side on clear outs and he had one awesome drive and dunk in traffic. He was shaky with the ball early in the second half, but settled down and got some big boards. Very nice growth. Tyler was very solid and both of these guys can get a lot better with experience to build confidence.

Even Wolfe gave us serviceable minutes with a outside basket, a couple rebounds and a block. I guess loosing some weight allowed him to move a lot better than last year. He is good for 10 minutes a game to relieve TO. Too bad PN is not a physically ready to play as he has more talent than EW but good to see the big Fella give us some decent minutes.

 

[ctchamps]

Even Wolfe gave us serviceable minutes with a outside basket, a couple rebounds and a block. I guess loosing some weight allowed him to move a lot better than last year. He is good for 10 minutes a game to relieve TO. Too bad PN is not a physically ready to play as he has more talent than EW but good to see the big Fella give us some decent minutes.

I liked what I saw from Wolfe after the first defensive possession. My gut tells me KO would have played him a little more but was being cautious because of the concussions.

 

[superjohn]

Wolf is not a scrub kid can certainly play. DD is for real, still looks a bit loose with his handle at times but is crazy long, can shoot, rebound and has the look.

 

[Waquoit]

Wolf is not a scrub kid can certainly play. DD is for real, still looks a bit loose with his handle at times but is crazy long, can shoot, rebound and has the look.

DD made some sweet plays on O and D. I am going to cut him some slack. He'll get a better haandle on what he can and what he cannot get away with soon enough. I don't want him to be afraid of trying to make plays.

 

[NOTaDIME]

great upside. reminds me of sticks. great 10 minutes and then fades

He is less athletic but a better shooter than Sticks.

 

[warbler1055]

DD needs to put on some muscle and weight !!! Jut too skinny to drive to the basket and rebounding.

 

[dogpause]

Biggest thing for me is that Deandre looked like he belonged out there. He wasn't lost and he didn't lose confidence.

 

[mauconnfan]

Too skinny and weak blah blah blah......

The kid played a damn good game and besides his 8 rebounds he battled for a few more and kept some alive.........he has offensive skills which will be hard to match up for many teams. No doubt he needs to tighten his hands on his penetration and get stronger, no doubt, but he's a player and I love what I saw last night. Near the end when he fought for the defensive board with Nix and ended up diving for the loose ball in the corner, that's all I need to see. He has a lot more confidence and KO's way of coaching will help him grow as the year goes on!!

 

[Kitaman]

Deandre saved the game for UConn by not being afraid to rebound. Sure he got a little too excited thinking he was Michael Jordan, but damn the kid showed confidence and swagger, unlike last year. He has embraced the 4 role!

(I too am excited and I have to keep reminding myself that its just one game.)

 

[Palatine]

DD played hard all game, sometimes he was very effective, awesome early on, not so much later. We are going to need him this year.

 

[ctchamps]

Too skinny and weak blah blah blah......

The kid played a damn good game and besides his 8 rebounds he battled for a few more and kept some alive.........he has offensive skills which will be hard to match up for many teams. No doubt he needs to tighten his hands on his penetration and get stronger, no doubt, but he's a player and I love what I saw last night. Near the end when he fought for the defensive board with Nix and ended up diving for the loose ball in the corner, that's all I need to see. He has a lot more confidence and KO's way of coaching will help him grow as the year goes on!!

I was really impressed with his game on the defensive end for all three games this season. His offensive game still needs refinement. But I like the opportunity he's getting to grow. Assuming SN and RB stay healthy, UConn needs one other person or combo of people to be enough of a scoring threat to allow the two guards room to maneuver. We'll see if DD can be one of those guys.

 

[sledog]

DD picked up where Roscho left it. Can you imagine both those guys in there (3/4)?

 

[uchusky32]

DD picked up where Roscho left it. Can you imagine both those guys in there (3/4)?

Yes and no. Neither has the handle yet to play the 3.

 

[ctchamps]

Yes and no. Neither has the handle yet to play the 3.

I agree. I would alternate the two but rarely put them in together.

 

[RuffRuff]

DD is really the one true wildcard when it comes to this team having a pretty good season versus a not so. We pretty much know what all the other guys bring to the table and this team is not going to win that much without getting some type of contribution outside of the 1/2. If he develops into a player that the recruiting rankings suggested, this team could very well be sneaky good. If anyone benefited from the transfers , it was DD. He's now forced to contribute and show what he can bring - I'm pretty excited for him, seems like a good kid and one that could have bolted like the rest of them amidst the muck. Once OC gets settled, I can see stretches where they go to a small lin

 

[Tenspro2002]

Love him at the 4, its been something I've been screaming about since we've gone big at the 3 starting with the Rudy Gay era. With Rudy we had alot of bigs so it wasn't as easy to put him there, but I would much rather see this slender, 6'8 guys like Rudy, Sticks, Roscoe, and now DeAndre operate at the 4 in the college game. It seems like the past few years we've seen AO and Gavin have to defend guys who are NBA SFs and get abused because they can't keep up and aren't natural going out to the perimeter to defend, now our team is built like these teams who have taken advantage of us on the offensive end with "smaller"(really prototypical college size) guys at the 4.

Agreed strongly. After the Texas game in 2003, JC vowed to never get outsized again. And we sure didn't (until this year). But, like you said, in exchange for that we sacrificed skill and quickness at the 3 and the 4 in a very frustrating manner.

I hope that KO or whoever the next coach is sticks with the current lineup model when it's not merely of necessity.

 

[aceboon]

DD picked up where Roscho left it. Can you imagine both those guys in there (3/4)?

I don't want to, that was basically the main point of the latter half of my post, lol. Either of them hurts the offense at 3, 4 is the best spot in college for them.

 

[caw]

I don't want to, that was basically the main point of the latter half of my post, lol. Either of them hurts the offense at 3, 4 is the best spot in college for them.

I agree, Daniels slashing from the sides was nice and he even showed some post up ability. Scoe couldn't do that. I would like Daniels to work on a pull up shot though.