DePaul Post Game Thread

[Chin Diesel]

He wasnt looking at all for his shot. He looked bored. Not sure if thats good or bad but hes earned the benefit of the doubt. Hes turned it on when the big lights come on.

I'm okay with his seeming "boredom" in games like this. He's shown over his time at UConn he shows up for the big games and will actually score a bit in "normal" games. A game like DePaul, which as we saw, literally requires no offense from him for the team to win by almost 30? He's not invested in his scoring. Seven assists, five rebounds and only 23 minutes.

 

[Candyman]

Huge difference between Castle and Jackson taking it to the rim. Castle can.

Pretty sure he means taking away the dribble penetration and making him shoot from the outside. Only team I can see doing this is Creighton. He has no confidence in his jumper right now. Would like to see him drive and then take a pull up, hit a few.

 

[Stinger92860]

I disagree about Stewart looking comfortable. On defense he solely focuses on his guy and not where the ball is. On offense he looks confused about where he should be and where he should be moving to during the play. He can’t shoot at all but he seems to have a decent handle. He needs to improve greatly before next season.

He was switching constantly and quickly. I thought he was fine considering past performance.

 

[inWV]

I'm so happy for a player like Diarra who could have easily transferred out for more PT at another school but decided to stay and work on his game.

He brings so much defensive energy and attitude, that you can see other players raise their effort in tandem.

Having his brother in town helped the retention. But he plays nearly 20 minutes on a great team. Why trade that for 30 min on a one?

 

[PAHusky]

Huge difference between Castle and Jackson taking it to the rim. Castle can.

Agreed but if he keeps shooting like he is now they're going to play him the same defensively

 

[superjohn]

I'm okay with his seeming "boredom" in games like this. He's shown over his time at UConn he shows up for the big games and will actually score a bit in "normal" games. A game like DePaul, which as we saw, literally requires no offense from him for the team to win by almost 30? He's not invested in his scoring. Seven assists, five rebounds and only 23 minutes.

Exactly, he's a big game player. Doesn't care about points but when he's needed to score in big games he tends to show up scoring wise. We know what we have in Tristen when it matters, it's better to build up Castle and Solo in games where the team can kind of coast.

 

[Greedo]

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's a work in progress and season isn't halfway over.......

Hurley and the staff have seamlessly integrated Spencer in to the starting lineup and have two freshmen ready to contribute every game. The fine tuning of Clingan and Johnson went off the rails due to Don's foot injuries. And they are slowing getting Stewart in to the games.

Hurley has a program now, not just teams each season.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This gets old mate

You have to admit, it’s potentially a huge error by Hurley not to get Singare more minutes last night so he would be “up to speed” and ready for a steady role in the rotation. Missed opportunity. Or something. We could be waking up this morning with another valuable piece but Hurley blew his opportunity to get him up to speed when he had the chance.

 

[NJHusky]

You have to admit, it’s potentially a huge error by Hurley not to get Singare more minutes last night so he would be “up to speed” and ready for a steady role in the rotation. Missed opportunity. Or something. We could be waking up this morning with another valuable piece but Hurley blew his opportunity to get him up to speed when he had the chance.

Maybe DH felt it was more important to give the small lineup more time together? If that lineup is fine tuned by March with DC back and SJ improving by the game, look out. We could play big or small.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Stewart looked fine out there last night, that's not to say he should be getting more minutes even in a blowout. There are things he needs to work on, if I can see it in his limited time it should be obvious the coaching staff sees it everyday and is addressing it in practice.

As mentioned last night on the broadcast, Hurley looks at the NET rankings which uses margin of victory. Hurley is not going to take the starters out and give the end of the bench big minutes when up 20+ just because. The starters are going to play starter minutes no matter what the score is and our rotation will be 8-9 guys depending on foul trouble.

On another note, DePaul is tough to watch. They barely run any offensive sets and depend almost solely on one on one hoping for defensive breakdowns. It still amazes me that a program with a fairly good history before joining the Big East, one of the reasons they were invited the other being the Chicago market, can be so bad for so long. There is a wealth of talent in the Chicago area and they are practically the only game in town. They should be able to land some Big East quality talent and at least compete year in and year out but somehow it has been the same story now for 20 years.

 

[Beowulf]

You have to admit, it’s potentially a huge error by Hurley not to get Singare more minutes last night so he would be “up to speed” and ready for a steady role in the rotation. Missed opportunity. Or something. We could be waking up this morning with another valuable piece but Hurley blew his opportunity to get him up to speed when he had the chance.

I'm not sure how anyone has seen anything Singare has done this season and thinks he's going to be a factor at all. He definitely needs another offseason. Would it be nice to get him some more minutes in these blowouts? Sure. But if the team ever reaches a point where he's getting a "steady role" something went very very wrong. Going small is clearly the route they would take before thinking of giving him minutes. There's a clear pecking order after the 8 in the rotation, with stewart being 9 and ross being 10.

 

[Palatine]

Newton had three TOs (something like that) in the first six possessions. Something was off. Could have been something not related to basketball. Very unNewtonlike. After that he dialed it back and was a good teammate rather than the team leader. Nice that Diarra stepped up so convincingly.

There will be games we need Singare. Both Johnson (4) and Karaban (3) were close to fouling out. Who is in the middle then? He is the emergency "break the glass" number 5. Hurley seems content to let the time pass until DC comes back. He obviously thinks hit is more important to get Jackson and the small ball line up meaningful minutes. I must admit that he is a pretty good coach, so it must be a choice.

 

[caw]

I disagree about Stewart looking comfortable. On defense he solely focuses on his guy and not where the ball is. On offense he looks confused about where he should be and where he should be moving to during the play. He can’t shoot at all but he seems to have a decent handle. He needs to improve greatly before next season.

Why you chose to ignore the word "more" in my post is beyond me. He looked MORE comfortable than previous games. I never said he was perfect, or even comfortable. If you go back to the past games he looked nearly lost on defense even keeping his own man in check and had no clue on the play calls, or reads on when to cut, or screen. It may only be incremental but it is MORE comfortable.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'm not sure how anyone has seen anything Singare has done this season and thinks he's going to be a factor at all. He definitely needs another offseason. Would it be nice to get him some more minutes in these blowouts? Sure. But if the team ever reaches a point where he's getting a "steady role" something went very very wrong. Going small is clearly the route they would take before thinking of giving him minutes. There's a clear pecking order after the 8 in the rotation, with stewart being 9 and ross being 10.

I was being sarcastic. Guess I didn’t lay it on thick enough.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Newton played like he was not interested. He traveled, missed shots and made unnecessary/silly fouls. Hope it is a "one off" game for him.

Maybe he's one of these guys who gets up more for the big games (e.g. Kansas, championship game) and can be hit or miss in the lesser games? (He's had some triple-doubles against bad competition, but some games like this too.)

To be honest, I prefer that than the guy who balls out against cupcakes but is overmatched against top competition.

 

[ucp990411]

Good to see Karaban shooting well again. Need him to start developing a plan B for when his outside shot isn’t falling so he stays effective offensively even without it.

Better interior presence from SJ than we’ve seen from him so far this year, good sign.

How many games before Castle gets the Jackson treatment during games and his defender sags off him and clogs our lanes?

Solo’s shot is much better than most on here give him credit for and he played great D.

Diarra joining a long list of unheralded players who leave everything out there all the time and have made the program what it is.

Newton is a great player but an interesting dude in terms of switching it on and off

When this team hits 3s it’s unstoppable. If I’m a future opponent I’m extending pressure as far out as I can to try to make UConn uncomfortable running sets, off the non-shooters to clog the lane and pray hey have an off night.

Butler looks meh against St John’s but there are no road gimmes in the BE

Has Newton had a good scoring game since Castle came back?

Newton had three TOs (something like that) in the first six possessions. Something was off. Could have been something not related to basketball. Very unNewtonlike. After that he dialed it back and was a good teammate rather than the team leader. Nice that Diarra stepped up so convincingly.

There will be games we need Singare. Both Johnson (4) and Karaban (3) were close to fouling out. Who is in the middle then? He is the emergency "break the glass" number 5. Hurley seems content to let the time pass until DC comes back. He obviously thinks hit is more important to get Jackson and the small ball line up meaningful minutes. I must admit that he is a pretty good coach, so it must be a choice.

Never knew that having 3 fouls was close to fouling out.

 

[Waquoit]

I was being sarcastic. Guess I didn’t lay it on thick enough.

I was going to say, my sarcasm detector was flashing.

 

[BrassBonanza]

I really like Karaban at the 5 against the zone D. He can flex to the free-throw line or obviously provide another outside shooter and it lets Castle play at the free-throw line or then in closer to the rim instead of being in the corner at times.

Newton, Spencer, Ball, Castle, Karaban is a really great zone busting line-up.

 

[crazyUCfan23]

I won't humor some of these discussion points but it is obvious Hurley's game plan is to use Karaban at the 5 when Johnson is in foul trouble or needs a breather.

And Hurley managed minutes and lineups to help the team learn how to ay with Karaban at the 5.

It is clear Singare will only get minutes if Johnson amd Karaban are both unable to play.

This is all I will say on this topic and I am glad the team is playing so well us fans can debate 3rd string center minutes.

While Clingan is out, I think Singare's minutes will be matchup dependent. We needed to use his body for afew minutes again Soriano, but there was no real need for him last night with DePaul's lineup.

 

[freshler40]

It's a work in progress and season isn't halfway over.......

Hurley and the staff have seamlessly integrated Spencer in to the starting lineup and have two freshmen ready to contribute every game. The fine tuning of Clingan and Johnson went off the rails due to Don's foot injuries. And they are slowing getting Stewart in to the games.

Hurley has a program now, not just teams each season.

Well put! We don't have to recruit an entirely new team each year like some programs. To continue to be relevant this is the way to go. It also provides the fan base with continuity among players from year to year. Development of players is balanced with a winning attitude. What a great balance. That is what makes Ct a basketball kingdom.

 

[krinklecut]

I was being sarcastic. Guess I didn’t lay it on thick enough.

Came through clear to me.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Don't want to start another thread for this observation, but a lot of people were worried about the Point Guard position next year. We have stud freshman Nowell coming in, and probably Diarra back. Given the vast improvement Diarra has shown on the offensive end (his defense and ball handling were already terrific) does anybody still have concerns about PG? Hassan has been a real bright spot this season.

 

[navery12]

Don't want to start another thread for this observation, but a lot of people were worried about the Point Guard position next year. We have stud freshman Nowell coming in, and probably Diarra back. Given the vast improvement Diarra has shown on the offensive end (his defense and ball handling were already terrific) does anybody still have concerns about PG? Hassan has been a real bright spot this season.

Concerns, no. But I'd still very much prefer the starting PG next year is coming from the portal and Diarra is in the same energy role off the bench

 

[Dutch Boyd]

You have to admit, it’s potentially a huge error by Hurley not to get Singare more minutes last night so he would be “up to speed” and ready for a steady role in the rotation. Missed opportunity. Or something. We could be waking up this morning with another valuable piece but Hurley blew his opportunity to get him up to speed when he had the chance.

On the other hand, I liked playing small ball.