DePaul Post Game Thread

[80shusky]

Nice win with some adversity regarding losing Liam and having Diarra in foul trouble. Down two primary ball handlers. 3 pt defense was better which is the big key to getting that defensive efficiency up. A nice part of the schedule here for the team to get some wins.

 

[Dibbie]

He had a walking boot.

I realize that, my observation still applies.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Watching the men and the women on 2 screens at the same time? Heaven!

The good -

1. Loved Solo in the first half. Crashing boards, pushing breaks, great passes, then the threes starting falling. 7 3PM, tied for #2 for most threes made in a UConn game (Rashad, Bazz, Boat, Cam, Vital 2x)
2. In the first 10 minutes we were running great stuff while DePaul was throwing themselves to the ground and praying for whistles. No surprise we eventually went up 20
3. They tried punking Aidan Mahaney today, but he was up to the challenge. Box score isn't great but that was a good performance imo
4. DePaul is the best 3pt shooting team in the conference and we held them to 3-12 while we were 14-29

Now the bad..

1. DePaul flopped a lot, but we got outshot from the FT line 28-10, oh my goodness
2. Get well soon Liam. You could see the instant impact on our offense when he went out, which led to..
3. A REALLY bad first 10-12 min of the second half. How did that game get to single digits??

But at the end of the day Solo and AK nailed 3 threes in 1 minute to carry us home. Congrats to everyone who took -12.5

1. They tried punking Aidan Mahaney today, but he was up to the challenge. Box score isn't great but that was a good performance im

Solo and Mahaney get game balls. Prayers for McNeeley. Gruesome injury. Hopefully it's not season ending.

What exactly did Aidan do to deserve anything but a darn seat on the bench??? He cannot defend the position. He gets picked on each and every time he is on the court. And that costs us much more than the 6 points I think he scored. What game were you watching? It does not matter, though, because Nowell is not playing this year, apparently. If we do not see him against DePaul when Diarra has 4 fouls, we are not seeing him again this year. And that means that Aidan is goin to have to figure it out. Because it will be ugly against better guards.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Watching the men and the women on 2 screens at the same time? Heaven!

The good -

1. Loved Solo in the first half. Crashing boards, pushing breaks, great passes, then the threes starting falling. 7 3PM, tied for #2 for most threes made in a UConn game (Rashad, Bazz, Boat, Cam, Vital 2x)
2. In the first 10 minutes we were running great stuff while DePaul was throwing themselves to the ground and praying for whistles. No surprise we eventually went up 20
3. They tried punking Aidan Mahaney today, but he was up to the challenge. Box score isn't great but that was a good performance imo
4. DePaul is the best 3pt shooting team in the conference and we held them to 3-12 while we were 14-29

Now the bad..

1. DePaul flopped a lot, but we got outshot from the FT line 28-10, oh my goodness
2. Get well soon Liam. You could see the instant impact on our offense when he went out, which led to..
3. A REALLY bad first 10-12 min of the second half. How did that game get to single digits??

But at the end of the day Solo and AK nailed 3 threes in 1 minute to carry us home. Congrats to everyone who took -12.5

Point #3 on the good column tells me that you should only watch one game at a time. They didn't "try" to punk Aidan today. They made him their b---h all game long. He was up to the challenge? Some of you folks watch a game in an alternative universe. This kid CANNOT play at this level. I am dying on this hill. He is too slow to defend at this level. And we are not winning anything with him as the backup PG.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

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.

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.

I see your point, and you are right. But the reason we keep talking about him is because the team's main (and perhaps only) weakness is perimeter defense.

 

[Inyatkin]

I love Sue Bird too, but come on, man

 

[RuffRuff]

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.

I see your point, and you are right. But the reason we keep talking about him is because the team's main (and perhaps only) weakness is perimeter defense.

It is but talking about it constantly isn’t going to motivate the staff to play him, have to appreciate who is playing and have faith in the staff. I’m pretty sure if he’s fully healthy and a value add he’ll be playing. At this point it’s been beaten to death.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

It is but talking about it constantly isn’t going to motivate the staff to play him, have to appreciate who is playing and have faith in the staff. I’m pretty sure if he’s fully healthy and a value add he’ll be playing. At this point it’s been beaten to death.

Every. Single. Point of discussion on this board is beaten to death. That's the purpose of the board as I understand it to be. When we are no longer a sub-par perimeter defensive team we can stop talking about Aidan's defensive weakness. Until then, it seems relevant.

 

[pj]

Solo has 1 assist in the last 6 games.

We've won all the games, so shrug.

Solo's job is to pad the assist totals of the other guys.

Ross and Stewart had no assists in 23 combined minutes, and Reed had no assists in 14 minutes (versus 4 assists for Samson). It will be nice if those guys can expand their games a bit.

 

[pj]

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

You mean scream at young guys?

Calhoun didn't generally have as much depth as Hurley has been able to recruit. He had to get his freshman talent on the floor and turn them into sophomores by March.

 

[pj]

Point #3 on the good column tells me that you should only watch one game at a time. They didn't "try" to punk Aidan today. They made him their b---h all game long. He was up to the challenge? Some of you folks watch a game in an alternative universe. This kid CANNOT play at this level. I am dying on this hill. He is too slow to defend at this level. And we are not winning anything with him as the backup PG.

I can't believe the hostility to Aidan some posters have. He's been asked to take on an unfamiliar role for the good of the team, and he's getting better at it. He probably has as much upside from now to March as any player on the team, although most of the young guys are improving at a good clip too. We're very solid with Hassan, McNeeley, Karaban, and Samson, and continued progress from Ball, Mahaney, Reed, and Ross will put us in a good spot for March.

Aidan is going to be challenged by Big East physicality and officiating, but it will be educational for him, and in the NCAA tournament he'll come into his own.

It feels like Stewart is competing with Singare for the spot as 4th big man. We could see Samson becoming the backup 4 if Stewart doesn't progress, Samson and Reed keep their fouls down, and Singare becomes a capable backup 5.

 

[RuffRuff]

Every. Single. Point of discussion on this board is beaten to death. That's the purpose of the board as I understand it to be. When we are no longer a sub-par perimeter defensive team we can stop talking about Aidan's defensive weakness. Until then, it seems relevant.

I too once hoped of more Nowell, as seems to fit the bill. But at this point I just find hoping for it and thinking I know something the staff doesn’t is kinda exhausting. Let’s hope AM keeps progressing, DH seems all in.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You mean scream at young guys?

Calhoun didn't generally have as much depth as Hurley has been able to recruit. He had to get his freshman talent on the floor and turn them into sophomores by March.

Have you seen a Hurley practice? You think he doesn’t scream at young guys? He screams at the damn ball managers

 

[REB1094]

What exactly did Aidan do to deserve anything but a darn seat on the bench??? He cannot defend the position. He gets picked on each and every time he is on the court. And that costs us much more than the 6 points I think he scored. What game were you watching? It does not matter, though, because Nowell is not playing this year, apparently. If we do not see him against DePaul when Diarra has 4 fouls, we are not seeing him again this year. And that means that Aidan is goin to have to figure it out. Because it will be ugly against better guards.

I just rewatched the game and wrote down every play that Mahaney was involved in. Here is every notable play I saw (split 1H, 2H, and DePaul run). Sorry all, this is a long post. Long story short: Mahaney made mistakes but had more good plays than bad plays. Our offensive woes during DePaul’s run were not because of him, and he got stuck guarding 2v1 on several fast breaks because of bad plays by other guys. This screwed his +/-, but not a lot of it was directly due to his play

1st Half:

• 13:00 good entry pass to Tarris for a basket
• 12:45 cuts off his man, forces him to pass out. Ross then gets blown by but eventually leads to a turnover
• 12:20 bad pass down low leads to turnover. This is Mahaney’s only TO of the game
• 12:05 cuts off his man, forces them to pass out. Ross then gets blown by but they missed
• 11:55 Mahaney fast break layup
• 11:08 Mahaney commits foul on a fast break after a Karaban miss
• 10:50 ugly stepback 3, miss
• 10:10 great fast break pass to a wide open Solo, but misses
• 9:55 gets helped by a Tarris block on a fast break, turns it into an assist into a Liam 3
• 9:30 rotates perfectly after Tarris got beat on a slipped screen, rotates perfectly again after DePaul passes again, eventually led to a TO. GREAT PLAY!!

2nd Half

• 12:35 got pressured into a bad pass to Solo in the corner, but DePaul hit it out
• 12:29 was being pressured heavy, fought through a no call, got an and1 layup. GREAT PLAY!!
• 11:30 loses his handle and misses a floater badly
• 7:30 bad defensive rotation, Ross saves him with a monster block
• 6:49 DePaul made a layup but my video skipped this part, not sure if Mahaney was involved
• 6:40 good pass into a Solo 3
• 6:26 DePaul missed a jumper but video skipped it, not sure if AM involved
• 6:00 Mahaney got beat which led to alley oop dunk
• 5:20 cut his man off, forced them to pass back out, eventually leads to a TO and fast break
• 5:00 took too long to get the offense going which led to a short clock and bad shot that he missed
• 4:35 blown by and commits a foul
• 4:30 brings the ball up through pressure, beats a double team, bounce pass into Ross layup. GREAT PLAY!
• 4:10 decent defense against Enright but bad call gives DePaul FTs on a soft reach
• 4:05 brings the ball up through pressure, gets doubled, hockey assist (AM —> AK —> Solo 3)
• 3:45 they try to bully him into the paint but he holds his ground which leads to a kick out and eventual block
• 3:28 Samson and Solo mess up their defense, Mahaney forced to foul to prevent inbound alley oop
• 3:24 brings the ball up through pressure, gets doubled, kicks to Karaban who finds a wide open Ross who misses
• 2:45 takes and misses a bad floater
• 2:30 DePaul missed a layup, video skips it so not sure if AM involved
• 2:10 fast break layup for Mahaney
• 0:35 thrown a grenade which leads to a missed 3 but the game is over at this point

Here is every offensive possession during DePaul’s run (20pt lead down to 9)

• Karaban offensive foul
• Karaban missed 3
• Karaban TO passing to Solo
• Karaban stripped driving to the hoop
• Karaban missed 3, Tarris o-board, leads to 2 Karaban FT
• Solo missed jumper
• Solo tripped and throws ball away
• Stewart offensive foul

And every defensive play:

• Ross forces a turnover
• Mahaney blown by on a fast break and Tarris goaltends
• Open fast break dunk after AK TO
• Mahaney guarding 2v1 on a fast break, DePaul layup
• Solo block, but then Diarra 4th foul
• Solo foul on a fast break
• Mahaney guarding 2v1 on a fast break, DePaul 3

I want Nowell minutes too, and they would come at Aidan’s expense, but I would not put the blame on him for DePaul’s run yesterday

 

[jibsey]

McNeeley’s MRI results must be in. Waiting anxiously.

 

[mauconnfan]

McNeeley’s MRI results must be in. Waiting anxiously.

Or not

 

[Storrs South]

McNeeley’s MRI results must be in. Waiting anxiously.

I doubt we hear anything until Saturday meeting with press good or bad

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

McNeeley’s MRI results must be in. Waiting anxiously.

Saw we’d get an update on it in 20 mins

 

[Nicklo28]

Went On Storrs Central. Jared said because of Hippa laws can not share mri news

 

[jibsey]

Went On Storrs Central. Jared said because of Hippa laws can not share mri news

Understood. We’ll see what Hurley wants to share.

 

[Improviser]

I just rewatched the game and wrote down every play that Mahaney was involved in. Here is every notable play I saw (split 1H, 2H, and DePaul run). Sorry all, this is a long post. Long story short: Mahaney made mistakes but had more good plays than bad plays. Our offensive woes during DePaul’s run were not because of him, and he got stuck guarding 2v1 on several fast breaks because of bad plays by other guys. This screwed his +/-, but not a lot of it was directly due to his play

1st Half:

• 13:00 good entry pass to Tarris for a basket
• 12:45 cuts off his man, forces him to pass out. Ross then gets blown by but eventually leads to a turnover
• 12:20 bad pass down low leads to turnover. This is Mahaney’s only TO of the game
• 12:05 cuts off his man, forces them to pass out. Ross then gets blown by but they missed
• 11:55 Mahaney fast break layup
• 11:08 Mahaney commits foul on a fast break after a Karaban miss
• 10:50 ugly stepback 3, miss
• 10:10 great fast break pass to a wide open Solo, but misses
• 9:55 gets helped by a Tarris block on a fast break, turns it into an assist into a Liam 3
• 9:30 rotates perfectly after Tarris got beat on a slipped screen, rotates perfectly again after DePaul passes again, eventually led to a TO. GREAT PLAY!!

2nd Half

• 12:35 got pressured into a bad pass to Solo in the corner, but DePaul hit it out
• 12:29 was being pressured heavy, fought through a no call, got an and1 layup. GREAT PLAY!!
• 11:30 loses his handle and misses a floater badly
• 7:30 bad defensive rotation, Ross saves him with a monster block
• 6:49 DePaul made a layup but my video skipped this part, not sure if Mahaney was involved
• 6:40 good pass into a Solo 3
• 6:26 DePaul missed a jumper but video skipped it, not sure if AM involved
• 6:00 Mahaney got beat which led to alley oop dunk
• 5:20 cut his man off, forced them to pass back out, eventually leads to a TO and fast break
• 5:00 took too long to get the offense going which led to a short clock and bad shot that he missed
• 4:35 blown by and commits a foul
• 4:30 brings the ball up through pressure, beats a double team, bounce pass into Ross layup. GREAT PLAY!
• 4:10 decent defense against Enright but bad call gives DePaul FTs on a soft reach
• 4:05 brings the ball up through pressure, gets doubled, hockey assist (AM —> AK —> Solo 3)
• 3:45 they try to bully him into the paint but he holds his ground which leads to a kick out and eventual block
• 3:28 Samson and Solo mess up their defense, Mahaney forced to foul to prevent inbound alley oop
• 3:24 brings the ball up through pressure, gets doubled, kicks to Karaban who finds a wide open Ross who misses
• 2:45 takes and misses a bad floater
• 2:30 DePaul missed a layup, video skips it so not sure if AM involved
• 2:10 fast break layup for Mahaney
• 0:35 thrown a grenade which leads to a missed 3 but the game is over at this point

Here is every offensive possession during DePaul’s run (20pt lead down to 9)

• Karaban offensive foul
• Karaban missed 3
• Karaban TO passing to Solo
• Karaban stripped driving to the hoop
• Karaban missed 3, Tarris o-board, leads to 2 Karaban FT
• Solo missed jumper
• Solo tripped and throws ball away
• Stewart offensive foul

And every defensive play:

• Ross forces a turnover
• Mahaney blown by on a fast break and Tarris goaltends
• Open fast break dunk after AK TO
• Mahaney guarding 2v1 on a fast break, DePaul layup
• Solo block, but then Diarra 4th foul
• Solo foul on a fast break
• Mahaney guarding 2v1 on a fast break, DePaul 3

I want Nowell minutes too, and they would come at Aidan’s expense, but I would not put the blame on him for DePaul’s run yesterday

Good detailed analysis and hard work.

Defense rests.

Boneyard Jury now deliberates.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

that's why having this "debate" is liking talking to a brick wall.

It’s moreso people say untrue things like Deandre got buried, when he started at the beginning of the year, or that he did a quick hook with freshman, something he did with everybody.

And then when it’s proven wrong the responses just stop or the spin cycle starts lol.

I still have no idea who Calhoun played favorites with that got in the way of letting talented players develop like we see today. Calhoun in his interview with Hurley even admitted he coached the talented guys differently which is what you’re suppose to do.

Starting at 11:20

 

[Palatine]

Out of all those plays that REB1094 listed, the most amazing line item was "Karaban missed 3." Not because he missed. It was a corner three and Karaban hit the side of the backboard. It was like -what's happening? That didn't even seem like it was possible.

 

[ctchamps]

Point #3 on the good column tells me that you should only watch one game at a time. They didn't "try" to punk Aidan today. They made him their b---h all game long. He was up to the challenge? Some of you folks watch a game in an alternative universe. This kid CANNOT play at this level. I am dying on this hill. He is too slow to defend at this level. And we are not winning anything with him as the backup PG.

He took up your challenge. Read post #189. You may want to check your own universe. And let us know the location of that hill. Someone might want to lay flowers on it.