DePaul Post Game Thread

[RuffRuff]

Was encouraged by Mahaneys game so took a look at his numbers for the season vs St Mary seasons. He’s sbooting 38% from the field, 36% from 3. This generally falls in line with his St Mary’s numbers, and safe to say it’s kind of who he is at this point.

 

[yungdowork]

Despite Stewart’s pretty strong game, you have to wonder how it’s going to look for him when McNeeley is back. He has 6 double digit scoring games and 5 games with 0 points including 4 in Big East play and 1 vs Dayton. If he can’t string together a few big games, and McNeeley is producing on offense, Ross might steal some of those available minutes.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Survive and advance…until Liam returns.

Mahaney shows flashes that give me hope. I think he’s going to be really good NEXT season with a year to fully understand Danny’s system and get comfortable. I have a hard time buying into the narrative that Danny and Co totally whiffed on him but I guess it’s possible.

 

[Candyman]

Despite Stewart’s pretty strong game, you have to wonder how it’s going to look for him when McNeeley is back. He has 6 double digit scoring games and 5 games with 0 points including 4 in Big East play and 1 vs Dayton. If he can’t string together a few big games, and McNeeley is producing on offense, Ross might steal some of those available minutes.

Plus his defense was so bad in the first half.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The players showed absolutely zero sense of urgency for the first 15 minutes. There was so little movement of players on offense. It looked nothing like what us fans have become accustomed to seeing on the court. I have no idea why Hurley let them just stand around and move at a snails pace.
Last 25 minutes was obviously much better. After being down 28-14 UConn outscored DePaul 58-33.
Observations-
The lack of urgency in cutting away from the ball. It literally was at a pre-gane walk through pace.
Samson Johnson just falling to the ground and an absolute refusal to want to rebound. So infuriating to see a big who doesn't aggressively try to grab every ball.
The amount of good looks where the ball was halfway down in the first half and rimmed out.
Alex comes off curls and screens, catches the ball and hesitates way too much. He needs to decide before he gets the ball if it's going to be catch and shoot or catch and drive. He loses so much momentum and space when he hesitates.
Reed was a beast. Sorry not sorry but he needs to start and play as much as his conditioning allows.
Don’t look now but two straight double digit scoring games by Mahaney.
Stewart may be an enigma but he can score which is more than what Ross brings.
Reed, Karaban, McNeeley, Ball and Diarra. Mahaney, Stewart and Johnson off the bench. You figure out that 8-man rotation and see what happens in March and April.

 

[uconntoatl]

We were losing to DePaul for 32 minutes. Better buckle up for Saturday

 

[homunculus]

I think Ball had his best defensive game of the year. The top take always from this game for me:

Ball is improving on defense. Actually helped and blocked a shot using that ridiculous length for his size.

Mahaney is getting better on offense which could be helpful when we are at full strength later this year.

Ross continues to have plus/minus numbers that are far superior to Stewart. The run we made in the second half Ross was on the court the whole time. I have been a Ross fan but slowly that has eroded as Stewart has become a better offensive player but numbers like plus/minus are critical. If Ross would just stop leaving his feet he could be a special defender. But I agree with most he is difficult to watch at times because he makes the most basic of mistakes.

AK, I just hope he settles in when Liam returns, because this has now gotten to the point where even a player with AK’s intellect is going to have confidence issues. At least he drew some fouls going to the hoop tonight. And his passing was a key to the win.

Agreed on Ball. Great to see

It’s not a coincidence that Ross is often on the court when Reed and Mahaney come in. Love Hass and Sam but they are less offensive threats and not remarkably better on D honestly. Though I did love Samson’s drive to the hoop. Earlier in the season the offense tended to ground to a crawl when TRjr, AM and JR came in but lately it’s been more dynamic as Reed and Mahaney have come more into their own, and Ross appears to have recognized his role a little better. We’re finally starting to get a glimpse of what Hurley originally saw in starting Mahaney.

Alex is working harder than he ever had to before because defenses are keying on him. He’s literally fighting as he runs around every screen and guys just shove and hold him. I think it’s throwing off his timing, and has been noted, he’s probably playing too many minutes. Mr Wonderful said it and I think the same, nobody is more excited for Liam to come back than Alex.

I don’t know why progress has been so painfully gradual this season, but it is definitely there and trending in the right direction. Progress is never linear. I don’t know what happened for the first 15 minutes of this game, they genuinely looked hung over, and I mean literally (not for nothing but there are a lot of bugs going around right now) - but the second half shows we can still be good, and that’s still without Liam, and Alex having another terrible shooting night.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It was an engaged fanbase. The booing was a burp, then followed by encouraging cheering. I don't boo but I think it was a wake-up call. It was a bad, sloppy stretch by the guys.

It is so much easier for 12k fans to boo in unison than try to yell "WTF is going on here?" or ""Did I really just blanking see that?" in unison.

It was a wake up call for the players to realize their schitt can indeed stink.

 

[Chin Diesel]

One positive is that Solo and Alex seem to be recognizing when they have a path to the hoop, not just spotting up for 3. That recognition means the D can’t close so aggressively, which helps with just a hair more room to shoot.

When we run our motion there are a lot of off ball screens that get a cutter open underneath, and we don’t see it. Get it in there, it can lead to a bucket, a foul or a kickout 3. Instead the ball stays on the perimeter and we get overplayed.

Much better D in the second half from some guys who don’t play such good D usually. I think I started to see the kind of defensive rotations that were taken for granted last year.

On to Milwaukee.

Yes on cutting to the hoop and not seeing it. Plenty of missed opportunities for back door lay ups.

 

[boog204]

I’ve been trying to figure it out myself - I can’t, other than he causes a level of team defense confusion that you just can’t see.

Just to give context. Stew came out we were losing 47-44. Ross replaced him. When Stew returned we were up 64-54. So that's a 20-7 swing in eight minutes. This is the third or fourth time this has happened this year.

 

[Chin Diesel]

A moment I was impressed with that probably won't jump out at you in a highlight: Samson Johnson caught the ball outside the arc and quickly noticed his entire side of the court was empty so he dribbled at his man, spun back to his strong hand, stepped across the lane, and laid it in nicely. Can't think of another time I saw that from Samson. Great composure and low risk, high reward play

I saw the same play and freaked out because I realized UConn's beautiful offensive flow had been reduced to Johnson taking his man off the dribble one on one. If I never see it happen again I will be happy.

 

[boog204]

Yeah but he was giving us more on the court than Ross.

Offensively, absolutely no doubt about it. But how can you explain why Stew's +/- is seemingly always in the negatives? I think we downplay just how bad Stew is defensively.

 

[djct1999]

It was an engaged fanbase. The booing was a burp, then followed by encouraging cheering. I don't boo but I think it was a wake-up call. It was a bad, sloppy stretch by the guys.

The booing is being way overblown. We are as loyal a fanbase as anyone that travels well and would run through a wall for this program, this staff, and these players. The effort in the first half was so far below the UConn standard that the fanbase grew frustrated. Just like the staff and team have earned a long leash in terms of criticism, UConn fans have more than earned a long leash to voice frustration. Grow up. The effort warranted booing. Its ok to make these paid athletes who some earn far more than the fans who support them a bit accountable.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Not sure why everyone is so uptight about the booing. There were complaints about it in the chat and we were saying worse things than booing. Look the rules changed these are no longer student athletes. They are making more money than 98% of people who work for a living.

With that comes more responsibility. I love Dan Hurley and would never want anyone else to coach our team. I mean he lit them up at halftime. The Assistant coaches lit them up at halftime and we are worried about the fans booing.

This all changed with NIL and some of us are supporting that more than the usual annual donations that were being made to the university.

Fans have right to boo when a team goes out and shows no emotion and looks like it’s going through the motions against a very bad team.

We played OK in the second half and erased a 8 point deficit and won by 11. Yeah we stunk enough in the first half to get booed. Even Hurley did not go over the top on it, my guess is he is going to use it as a psychological carrot with the team.

But we really need to stop thinking as these guys as student athletes. I have not looked but one of the DePaul players a senior looked like he had gray hair on his head D’Amico a senior. This is not the same game as it was in the 80’s and 90’s. Back then they were still getting paid but it was not official and most of our players in the 80’s were not good enough to get paid anyway.

 

[RuffRuff]

Offensively, absolutely no doubt about it. But how can you explain why Stew's +/- is seemingly always in the negatives? I think we downplay just how bad Stew is defensively.

Ross is -24 since Baylor

Stew is -33

Two examples of Stew’s defense last night - smaller man goes right over him for a 5-6 chip shot, uncontested. Later he’s guarding a man at the 3 pt line, the guy puts a little shim on Stew, in place, to the point Stew loses balance and almost falls and the guy nails a wide open 3.

Then you see how he played defense against Dixon and ask yourself, where is that? It feels like focus with him. First defensive possession of the game he basically gave a DePaul guy an easy free o rebound/layup without a care in the world. Very hard kid to figure out without knowing what he looks like day in day out. He shows these flashes but cannot sustain it.

 

[Scoe]

Not sure why everyone is so uptight about the booing. There were complaints about it in the chat and we were saying worse things than booing. Look the rules changed these are no longer student athletes. They are making more money than 98% of people who work for a living.

With that comes more responsibility. I love Dan Hurley and would never want anyone else to coach our team. I mean he lit them up at halftime. The Assistant coaches lit them up at halftime and we are worried about the fans booing.

This all changed with NIL and some of us are supporting that more than the usual annual donations that were being made to the university.

Fans have right to boo when a team goes out and shows no emotion and looks like it’s going through the motions against a very bad team.

We played OK in the second half and erased a 8 point deficit and won by 11. Yeah we stunk enough in the first half to get booed. Even Hurley did not go over the top on it, my guess is he is going to use it as a psychological carrot with the team.

But we really need to stop thinking as these guys as student athletes. I have not looked but one of the DePaul players a senior looked like he had gray hair on his head D’Amico a senior. This is not the same game as it was in the 80’s and 90’s. Back then they were still getting paid but it was not official and most of our players in the 80’s were not good enough to get paid anyway.

Ya I personally wouldn't do it but I'm never gonna tell anyone how to fan, they did deserve to be booed, you're booing the team not an individual player. Fans are paying a lot of money to go to games, I have more of an issue with fans who leave early then fans who boo.

I remember the Umass game in 2003 the team was getting booed, and I believe Calhoun motioned with his hands for the fans to boo louder. After the game, a come from behind win, Emeka said we deserved to be booed the way we were playing.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Not sure why everyone is so uptight about the booing. There were complaints about it in the chat and we were saying worse things than booing. Look the rules changed these are no longer student athletes. They are making more money than 98% of people who work for a living.

With that comes more responsibility. I love Dan Hurley and would never want anyone else to coach our team. I mean he lit them up at halftime. The Assistant coaches lit them up at halftime and we are worried about the fans booing.

This all changed with NIL and some of us are supporting that more than the usual annual donations that were being made to the university.

Fans have right to boo when a team goes out and shows no emotion and looks like it’s going through the motions against a very bad team.

We played OK in the second half and erased a 8 point deficit and won by 11. Yeah we stunk enough in the first half to get booed. Even Hurley did not go over the top on it, my guess is he is going to use it as a psychological carrot with the team.

But we really need to stop thinking as these guys as student athletes. I have not looked but one of the DePaul players a senior looked like he had gray hair on his head D’Amico a senior. This is not the same game as it was in the 80’s and 90’s. Back then they were still getting paid but it was not official and most of our players in the 80’s were not good enough to get paid anyway.

XL Center is the worst home court in college sports for all of the success we’ve had. The other night I watched Duke play the 15th place team...in the ACC…and the gym was absolutely bonkers. I know, I know they only have 6k fans or whatever it is packed in, but they bring it regardless of the opponent. As much as I despise them, they’re what a college basketball atmosphere is all about. I’m not convinced everyone at the XL knows there’s a game going on half the time…

 

[RuffRuff]

Hell no

Likely not, but Hassan is banged up and looked pretty awful last night, visibly not himself. Liam will be out. Certainly don’t think he’d throw in the white towel, but do wonder if he roster manages differently thinking bigger picture.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Was encouraged by Mahaneys game so took a look at his numbers for the season vs St Mary seasons. He’s sbooting 38% from the field, 36% from 3. This generally falls in line with his St Mary’s numbers, and safe to say it’s kind of who he is at this point.

I love the confidence with which he’s been taking it to the hoop more recently…. but my god does he throw some WILD shots off the backboard.

 

[RuffRuff]

XL Center is the worst home court in college sports for all of the success we’ve had. The other night I watched Duke play the 15th place team...in the ACC…and the gym was absolutely bonkers. I know, I know they only have 6k fans or whatever it is packed in, but they bring it regardless of the opponent. I’m not convinced everyone at the XL knows there’s a basketball game going on half the time…

Comparing a small on campus arena to a lifeless mall in an insurance city isn’t exactly apples to apples. The vibes Hartford gives off are crime and property/casualty policies.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Comparing a small on campus arena to a lifeless mall in an insurance city isn’t exactly apples to apples. The vibes Hartford gives off are crime and property/casualty policies.

Which is why I wish we’d never play there.

 

[AdamaNation]

Don't care how they get em but they somehow need to scrape wins out all of the remaining Seton Hall/Georgetown/Villanova games and somehow get 2 wins out of the 5 games with St Johns/Marquette/Creighton. It would be alot more doable and expected with a healthy Liam.

As far as AK, does dude have depth perception issues or something? For all the talk on here about him not being a dribble drive guy he's getting to his spots, these are point blank floaters and push shots, you're a high level D1 guy you gotta make these.

He’s not a typical D1 guy. He was picked as one of the 10 best D1 guys. Those missed FTs and the ankle injury have glued themselves to his confidence. He seems very frustrated. He’s probably not first team big east at this moment while Ball is getting noticed. Ball played his best D last night as side from the blocks. Which isn’t saying too much. Funny, our new guys are improving but our 3 vets are struggling or have plateaued. I knew Jaylen would get points tonight since he blew last game so I guess he’s a no show for Marquette. Ross to me needs to yield his minutes to Abraham. Aside from jumping I’m not sure what else he brings and he senses that too and seems to be trying too hard when he’s out there.sad. We have the weapons and just need to get in the top 75 defensively to really be a threat. I think it gets done. I would rather loose to jump shots by keeping guys in front of us vs getting joked with blow bys

 

[RuffRuff]

Which is why I wish we’d never play there.

Appeasing the donors is all part of the game unfortunately.

 

[zmart]

Does this mean Karaban comes back for his senior year?