DePaul Post Game Thread

[HooperScooper]

Solo has 1 assist in the last 6 games.

We've won all the games, so shrug.

2 in the last 7 games and none in the last 4.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Not sure why we keep talking about Nowell - until DH is ready to use him, continuing to talk about him isn’t going to send a telepathic epiphany to the staff. Got to hope the guys actually playing get better.

Solo shot the 3 at a blistering level today - made up+ for his deficiencies elsewhere. Not sure we can expect 7-9 often. He did have his best rebounding game of the year. He also had a few takes that were well timed, just looks afraid in traffic.

There were moments in the first half where the offense being run had glimpses of 2024, and that was encouraging. You can see the core guys starting to find a rythym.

The foul imbalance was hard to discern in this one as while the refs did look bad in spots, the imbalance has been consistent all year. Most of what went bad in this one was in a second half when we lost our best player and during foul trouble. Hard to be too critical of that. Our bench guys are not interchangeable with our starters, they’re there for breathers. There is a cliff in quality other than Reed when we hit our bench.

I am guessing we are talking about Nowell for the following reasons:
1) Hurley made statements that he would be trying to find Nowell more minutes.
2) When he played there has been good and bad. But flashes that he may be the fastest/quickest player on the team.
3) We are not very deep at the guard position.
4) Before McNeeley got injured he was handling the ball more in this game and he has been involved more and more in bringing the ball up and getting us into our offense sets.
5) It was clear without either he and Diarra in the game we seem to be running our offense about three beats slower.
6) We are not very deep at guard and guard play is a must in college basketball.
7) There are probably a few points I am missing.

I hope he is healthy or if he is not then we are being abundantly cautious with his return. We all know shoulders can be career changers if not dealt with correctly the first time they pop up.

I think it is impossible to be a UConn fan and not wonder what’s up with Nowell.

 

[3rdbass]

The NBA has shown they are more than willing to draft players and develop them on their rosters. If Solo finishes the year as a 45% 3pt shooter on high volume with clear athleticism and potential, he'll get some interest.

Not saying I agree with it, but it is what it is nowadays.

Yeah but those are normally 3 and D guys who are 6-5 plus or if smaller can create off the bounce. I just don't see it with Ball at this time.

 

[Dabutlerdidit]

Hurley said Stew had pink eye and that set him back a couple days in practice

 

[ctbro1999]

We have different definitions of gruesome.

Gruesome is Kevin Ware. puke

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

So how do you propose the staff decides who gets game minutes if not performance in practice? Just play everybody and see how they do?

Without seeing how guys actually do in practice I don’t want to jump to assume anything about how guys may or may not be performing. None of us know how they are actually practicing.

It’s a consistent theme during the Hurley era of freshman having a very hard time finding playing time unless they are top 10 one and done caliber recruits that kind of have to play though. But a transfer who is struggling like Mahaney or in the past Alleyne get all the rope in the world.

We used to see freshman play all the time in other eras. I wonder how much of it is them actually not being ready or Hurley not trusting them because of the fact they are freshman and not wanting to invest in them. But this discussion has been beaten to death.

 

[3rdbass]

Not true. We hit a 3 after they cut it to 9 to push it back to 12, they put it back to 10 and we hit another 3, and they never got it closer than 11 after that.

My bad I swear it got to 7 when a Depaul guy was going to the line after a foul. I guess I got my events mixed up then as the score changed quick both ways in a short span.

 

[RuffRuff]

Don’t want to complain much about the foul difference but it was real. I mean Dan continues to be really good on the sideline and it’s not helping. Enright and Gunn shouldn’t have made it past the 1st half both use their hands as well as their knees, bodies way too much and get away with murder. Hard to turn corners or use picks when these guys are allowed to do more than they should.

But who cares, good win again. Ball shot lights out and Alex was solid on both ends. Kinda of a strange win because they didn’t play real well but they scraped one out. Really hope we don’t lose Liam too long he’s huge in so many ways. Samson and Tarris were both okay but I thought we could’ve pounded it into Reed more, don’t think they could stop him. Ross was ok and now that heard they were focused on stopping the 3 I realize why he also got beat off the dribble more than he should have. Nice job keeping their 3 point shots to a minimum!

Big one Sunday, especially for PC!!

Is argue they looked really really good in the first half. It felt like they could have been up 30 if some of the easier missed shots had fallen.

 

[87Xfer]

Without seeing how guys actually do in practice I don’t want to jump to assume anything about how guys may or may not be performing. None of us know how they are actually practicing.

It’s a consistent theme during the Hurley era of freshman having a very hard time finding playing time unless they are top 10 one and done caliber recruits that kind of have to play though. But a transfer who is struggling like Mahaney or in the past Alleyne get all the rope in the world.

We used to see freshman play all the time in other eras. I wonder how much of it is them actually not being ready or Hurley not trusting them because of the fact they are freshman and not wanting to invest in them. But this discussion has been beaten to death.

So your answer to the question is "I don't know".

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

So your answer to the question is "I don't know".

I just like the way Calhoun used to develop and trust young guys is all.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I think before the McNeeley injury we were starting to see this team come together. McNeeley as primary ball handler on many possessions. He has started to feel more comfortable with being the guy.

We should all realize now that this kid is special. Fingers crossed and he is back sooner than later. Said it three weeks ago. All respect to AK but Liam is our best player and it may not be close.

I also wish we would stop asking why Ross is coming in before Stewart. It is obvious and honestly fairly obvious for some time. Offense is not an issue for our starting five it is defense.

Also we see Hurley really rode Samson in the second half. I think against bigger teams if they both (Reed/Johnson) stay clean with their fouls we will see them both on the floor more than we may expect. I think one area Johnson has improved is passing and he may be perfect to use at the foul line area feeding then Reed in the post then rim running for an offense rebound or return pass if they double team.

I just think Reed is too talented offensively to only play 14 minutes. He was able to get 7 rebounds in those limited minutes.

Certainly McNeeley’s ankle is a big concern, but I made a comment in the chat that see in him go down took the fun out of this game. The reason I made the comment was it seemed to me that we were really starting to see the team take shape.

So fingers crossed because then team we saw today before Liam went down is easily an elite eight team. Even with the lack of guards. McNeeley will be almost evenly sharing the ball handling with Diarra as the season progresses. And not because of Diarra’s play. 9 assists and 1 turn over is elite. Without the fouls he would have 12-14 assists today.

 

[husky429]

I think before the McNeeley injury we were starting to see this team come together. McNeeley as primary ball handler on many possessions. He has started to feel more comfortable with being the guy.

We should all realize now that this kid is special. Fingers crossed and he is back sooner than later. Said it three weeks ago. All respect to AK but Liam is our best player and it may not be close.

I also wish we would stop asking why Ross is coming in before Stewart. It is obvious and honestly fairly obvious for some time. Offense is not an issue for our starting five it is defense.

Also we see Hurley really rode Samson in the second half. I think against bigger teams if they both (Reed/Johnson) stay clean with their fouls we will see them both on the floor more than we may expect. I think one area Johnson has improved is passing and he may be perfect to use at the foul line area feeding then Reed in the post then rim running for an offense rebound or return pass if they double team.

I just think Reed is too talented offensively to only play 14 minutes. He was able to get 7 rebounds in those limited minutes.

Certainly McNeeley’s ankle is a big concern, but I made a comment in the chat that see in him go down took the fun out of this game. The reason I made the comment was it seemed to me that we were really starting to see the team take shape.

So fingers crossed because then team we saw today before Liam went down is easily an elite eight team. Even with the lack of guards. McNeeley will be almost evenly sharing the ball handling with Diarra as the season progresses. And not because of Diarra’s play. 9 assists and 1 turn over is elite. Without the fouls he would have 12-14 assists today.

I think we were trying to GET McNeeley comfortable there, but he did have 5 TOs. He's learning but clearly our second best i initiator

 

[superjohn]

But this discussion has been beaten to death.

It's you arguing with yourself season after season on this. Yes, you clubbed it to death like a baby seal.

 

[dennismenace]

Made that exact comment in the chat. That’s why I really don’t understand giving Nowell a shot at it. Perfect game we were up double digits so we could survive a freshman gaff.

Maybe these results will enable DH to make a fair case to justify increasing Nowell's minutes. Everyone is contesting for playing time and production both in practice and during games is the crucible they are tried in.

 

[Waquoit]

I just like the way Calhoun used to develop and trust young guys is all.

You liked that quick hook crap?

 

[freescooter]

I’m not one to blame the refs but wow! There were some really bizarre calls in that game. One on Mahaney where the guy elbowed him, then followed it up by charging and Mahaney gets hit with the foul. I mean you can call a foul on every play probably, but if you do at least call them evenly.

 

[mauconnfan]

You liked that quick hook crap?

I like the results that’s for sure!

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You liked that quick hook crap?

Yup. Held everyone accountable no matter who you were. Gave everyone a chance to play and show what you can do no matter who you were.

He had a vision for every guy he brought in because he brought them in for a reason. He didn’t bring guys in and make them prove to him why he brought them in.

 

[jibsey]

depaul scored 10 points in 3 minutes in the second half with liam on the floor. that is not good defense.

3 minutes is how you judge his defense and impact on the our team? This is an insane place.

 

[homunculus]

Agree they got a way with a ton of clutching & grabbling. Also, I swear I counted at least a half-dozen instances where the DePaul defender literally shoved our guys who were coming out from the foul line to go set screens and not a single foul was called. It's easy to play tough defense when you can completely glue up off-ball movement and offensive play flow with those maneuvers.

One DePaul player (D’Amico I think) put two hands on Alex’s back and shoved him into another DePaul player. The ref stood 10 feet away, watched the whole thing, and called a foul on Alex.

 

[uconnric]

You liked that quick hook crap?

Poor Marc Suhr was the poster child for the quick hook.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You liked that quick hook crap?

Loved it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think we were trying to GET McNeeley comfortable there, but he did have 5 TOs. He's learning but clearly our second best i initiator

He got stripped and/or lost control while getting in to traffic in the lane. His learning curve so far this season suggests he'll get better at keeping control of the ball in the traffic.

 

[aceboon]

Yup. Held everyone accountable no matter who you were. Gave everyone a chance to play and show what you can do no matter who you were.

He had a vision for every guy he brought in because he brought them in for a reason. He didn’t bring guys in and make them prove to him why he brought them in.

There must be 2 Jim Calhouns

 

[Waquoit]

Yup. Held everyone accountable no matter who you were.

That how the story goes. But it's not true. KEA never got the quick hook. Because JC knew he wouldn't put up with it.