DePaul Post Game Thread

[uconn_jack]

Hope Liam's ankle is nothing serious, just a twist. His ball handling is dearly missed in our offense.

is there a working theory as to why Nowell gets no minutes at all? Is he still not in game status? Just baffling why Dan did not even give some minutes to him when Diarra is in foul trouble and he wanted Mahaney to play off-ball, as in Joe's role.

Their thought must be that there is more upside this season to getting Mahaney the opportunity to be a contributer than Nowell. There is logic there in that Mahaney has shown himself to be an impact player when at St. Mary's, especially in the big games when agaist high level competition.

I think he can be when off the ball and/or aggressive. He is crafty and a good finisher, and plays so much better when aggressive. Problem is, when he's running point, he's too slow and deliberate, seems to be thinking too much and hesitant to make a decision. And he picks up his dribble way too much. Either he is struggling to learn the offense or he simply is not an instinctual player in that way. Hopefully he can get there.

Nowell looks very promising, but he is still just a freshman. I trust Hurley and the staff are playing the best odds on which one will ultimately be the best option.

 

[uh-no]

I think the criticism of the defense is getting more than a bit overblown here at this point. Atrocious? Really?? With that whistle?

When it's one or two games, sure, a bad whistle.

When you are consistently among the worst in the country at putting opponents on the line...it's time to look in the mirror.
346th out of 364 teams in putting opponents on the line. 18th worst in the country. Game and game again. That's not on the refs (every game), that's on us.

We gave up 46 points in the second half to a mediocre offense....and it wasn't just after liam went out...that is atrocious.

 

[dennismenace]

Hope Liam's ankle is nothing serious, just a twist. His ball handling is dearly missed in our offense.

is there a working theory as to why Nowell gets no minutes at all? Is he still not in game status? Just baffling why Dan did not even give some minutes to him when Diarra is in foul trouble and he wanted Mahaney to play off-ball, as in Joe's role.

It's just how Dan Hurley handles freshman unless they're high recruits like Liam. I'd like to see Nowell and even Abraham get some minutes just to turn up the screws on defense but it is what it is. As long as we don't lose them.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I'll call this one early. Game time decision on Sunday.

Really hope you are right. I would more than take just him missing 2-3 games. Classic high ankle type twist (not rolled) ankle.

They hurt so much more when it first happens compared to the traditional roll.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Two takeaways.
1. UConn, at this point in the season, is screwed offensively without Diarra or McNeeley on the floor.
2. In 2055 Conor Enright will be good for 12 points and four charges drawn at his local YMCA noontime pick up game.

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.

 

[Nick2005]

If it’s high ankle, he will be gone until March. We can’t fall apart when he’s not on court. Not playing Nowell or Singare is baffling to me. Ross and Stewart are bringing nothing to the table. 46 points in a half to this team is crazy awful. And the reffing is next level against us. BE just wants us to lose. If we are playing like this in February I will start to complain for real. We are going to lose games playing like this.

 

[jibsey]

Don’t wish to complain but DePaul had some serious home cooking today. We are 7-10 and they are 23-28? Yes we took away the 3 and they drove it in but still?

 

[djct1999]

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.

Hurley and the staff see Nowell at practice every day. It’s clear they don’t feel he is ready.

 

[maineuconnfan]

We won by 13. Stewart played 8 minutes and was -9. He was our only player in the negatives and this has happened more than once this year. In fact, he's been in the negatives in every game against a "major" team except for an even against Xavier. I really like Jaylin, but the +/- consistently shows that we give up more than we get when he is on the court. I get +/- can be misleading, but there is a major trend here.

DePaul - 8 min, -9
Butler - 6 min, -8
Xavier - 20 min, 0
Gonzaga - 19 min, -5
Texas - 8 min, -3
Baylor - 24 min, -4
Dayton - 7 min, -11
Colorado - 19 min, -4
Memphis - 17 min, -2 (He scored 16 this game)

where do you find the +/- statistics?

 

[Greedo]

We won by 13. Stewart played 8 minutes and was -9. He was our only player in the negatives and this has happened more than once this year. In fact, he's been in the negatives in every game against a "major" team except for an even against Xavier. I really like Jaylin, but the +/- consistently shows that we give up more than we get when he is on the court. I get +/- can be misleading, but there is a major trend here.

DePaul - 8 min, -9
Butler - 6 min, -8
Xavier - 20 min, 0
Gonzaga - 19 min, -5
Texas - 8 min, -3
Baylor - 24 min, -4
Dayton - 7 min, -11
Colorado - 19 min, -4
Memphis - 17 min, -2 (He scored 16 this game)

Anecdotally, to me, it always seems he’s on the court when AM is running the point (and conversely guarding the point on defense). The team as a whole seems to struggle in those moments.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

We gave up 46 points in the second half to a mediocre offense....and it wasn't just after liam went out...that is atrocious.

We were up 20 when Liam went out...defense was fine in the first half. Surely the injury mentally affected the guys

 

[tennmike]

It's a long season and Diarra could use fewer minutes. Nowell should sub in for him. And same for Ball...Mahaney should sub in for Ball and then ride the hot hand.
But I will not be a Hall of Fame coach so there is that.

 

[RuffRuff]

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.

Not sure why we keep talking about Nowell - until Dan Hurley 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.

 

[jibsey]

We were up 20 when Liam went out...defense was fine in the first half. Surely the injury mentally affected the guys

He brings so much to the team in all phases. We can’t replace him but maybe we can get by.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Held a 40% 3FG team to 25 today and only 12 attempts. Part of that was adjustment by them but credit to us for making that adjustment over the break.

Won on the road after a long break and never let it get close (despite their push at the end and foul trouble/lost composure after Liam went down). I’ll take it.

Now we pray Liam is alright, and if he needs to miss time, other guys take the opportunity to step up.

UConn practice/prep emphasizing 3pt defense was >50% of what the broadcast team had to say in the first half. Maybe DePaul listening to the broadcast prompted the adjustment to attack the basket in the 2nd.

 

[boog204]

Anecdotally, to me, it always seems he’s on the court when AM is running the point (and conversely guarding the point on defense). The team as a whole seems to struggle in those moments.

I get what you’re saying. But Aidan was +3 today.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Hope Liam is okay. Luckily our schedule is soft the next couple weeks.

Silver lining, maybe Mahaney gets into a groove with the extra playing time.

Still don't understand Ross over Stewart, I don't see what the coaches see.

Even though Ross has been erratic and figuring it out game-by-game, he still rates in the Top 15 for RAPM for Big East players. Brings a lot of value to the team, and is only getting better.

 

[blkknight1]

The good:
Samson managed to stay out of foul trouble.
Team held the opponent to 3-12 from 3.
Team shot 14-29 from 3.
Team committed very few turnovers.

The bad:
Team continues to take their foot off the gas. Get up big and instead of tak8ng the other teams heart they let up loose focus on offense and defense.
Despite the bigs staying out of foul trouble the guards were committing silly fouls biting on fakes and reaching.
The teams falling in love with the 3pt shot, the free throw disparity we saw today was a bit of home cooking but this team doesn't help itself staying out on the perimeter, gotta get into the lane and put some pressure on the refs to get more calls.

 

[mauconnfan]

Solo with zero assists. WTF

Thank God he can shoot because otherwise he’s Mahaney. He got beat all day on D lost his man continuously. He did rebound a little early though too and he made shots. I just can’t believe how awful he is on the other end it’s on him to improve there, it’s needed drastically.

 

[mauconnfan]

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

It’s hard to give game balls to guys who can’t guard anyone but why not! For me it’s Alex was good on both ends.

 

[Storrs South]

Mahaney was fine today and had a couple good moments but the offense does not flow when Hass isn't in and defensively he was bullied today.

I really liked that he was handling backcourt pressure well and that he was very strong and read the double teams at the end extremely well and was poise. But in the half court the offense was extremely flat and less sharing of the ball.

In addition, his shot selection was very spotty. He had the nice drive for a layup, but he hesitated for a midrange shot instead of going to the hoop and shot a contested 3 before Hass replaced him.

You see the talent is oozing when he drives to the basket and his ability to know down shots but was not thrilled with the half court offense when DePaul played it straight up

 

[RuffRuff]

The good:
Samson managed to stay out of foul trouble.
Team held the opponent to 3-12 from 3.
Team shot 14-29 from 3.
Team committed very few turnovers.

The bad:
Team continues to take their foot off the gas. Get up big and instead of tak8ng the other teams heart they let up loose focus on offense and defense.
Despite the bigs staying out of foul trouble the guards were committing silly fouls biting on fakes and reaching.
The teams falling in love with the 3pt shot, the free throw disparity we saw today was a bit of home cooking but this team doesn't help itself staying out on the perimeter, gotta get into the lane and put some pressure on the refs to get more calls.

I don’t know why we don’t go inside to our more when it’s clear we can dominate - almost is if we’re allergic to abusing the mismatch or drawing fouls.

 

[mauconnfan]

Praying on McNeeley.
Just tired of the Solo bashing here, 22 points and 6 rebounds. He is put defensively on their best driving guards and doing the damn best he can. Yes he’s going to foul them, but in case you didn’t notice so does Diarra!
Actually, Mahaney was aggressive going to the hole.
Love Karaban putting in daggers.

He was great on the offensive end today even rebounded for once but to just think it’s okay to be crappy on D and continuously get beat off the dribble is not UConn basketball. He’s too good of an athlete to be that awful on D it needs to change.

 

[Peacefrog]

The good:
Samson managed to stay out of foul trouble.

Team committed very few turnovers.

Neither center picked up a foul in the first half which was great. Samson didn’t get into foul trouble but his first two fouls were committed outside the three point line. I would really like to see him reserve those for protecting the rim, not reaching in on a guard far away from the basket on a hedge.

We had 13 turnovers. Thats actually kind of a lot. And we were -4 in that department.

Thankfully, we shot well today or this could have been a nail biter.

I’m sure the staff focused on defending the three, mission accomplished. Good to see they could do it if they focus on it.

Conference road win by about the expected amount, I’ll take it every time.

Hoping for good news on the MRI.

 

[Scottobot]

Honestly wouldn’t mind McNeeley being out a few games to make Ross and Stewart step up and get a confidence boost for the stretch run. Pretty soft schedule the next couple of games.

Providence is always a tough game even if they stink because they will shoot 40 FTs.
Villanova follows that. Those two teams get the most biased officiating advantage in the Big East.
My crystal ball says in at least one of those games Diarra gets a bunch of BS fouls called against him and the opponent will full court press while constantly hacking UConn backup PG and no fouls are called.

 

[Scottobot]

Good win, clutch shooting by Ball and Karaban carried the team. Mahaney played some ok minutes. Ross played better in second half. Decent game by Samson.
Other than Reed, UConn bench has really struggled this year. With McNeeley probably missing atleast a few games that is going to have to change, or UConn is going to lose to some cruddy Big East teams.

 

[HooperScooper]

Team committed very few turnovers.

Actually the 13 they had today tied for the 3rd worst amount of turnovers they've had this season. Only the 19 against East Texas A&M and the 14 at Texas were worse. They've been really good at taking care of the ball this season. Diarra's A/TO ratio lately has been impressive.

 

[LetsGoUC]

Over the last 3 games, Hass has 27 assists and only 3 TO's.

he is so underrated

 

[BGesus4]

Thank God he can shoot because otherwise he’s Mahaney. He got beat all day on D lost his man continuously. He did rebound a little early though too and he made shots. I just can’t believe how awful he is on the other end it’s on him to improve there, it’s needed drastically.

Thank God Tarris Reed is 6’10” because if he was 5’10” he’d suck

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The bad:
Team continues to take their foot off the gas. Get up big and instead of tak8ng the other teams heart they let up loose focus on offense and defense.
Despite the bigs staying out of foul trouble the guards were committing silly fouls biting on fakes and reaching.
The teams falling in love with the 3pt shot, the free throw disparity we saw today was a bit of home cooking but this team doesn't help itself staying out on the perimeter, gotta get into the lane and put some pressure on the refs to get more calls.

It was hard for them to get into the lane during that stretch of the second half, partly because Holtmann was pretty clearly telling his guys to grab and hold on all of the off-ball movement and DHO. He smartly realized the refs weren’t calling any freedom of movement stuff and exploited it. Not really that surprising that the contact started getting out of hand, the refs started calling more of it, and the play stabilized.