DHam....

[pnow15]

Unless playing against a giant, I think DHam needs to start and play at the power forward position. He is just a natural rebounder. The ball seems to find him. His chasing guys around picks is a waste of time compared to his ability to grab boards. If he is near the rim he easily corrals 10-12 boards. In fact he so good that I am wondering if putting 25 lbs on him and making him a permanent power forward might be the way for him to
go. We think of him as a wing but maybe his future inside and outside. He could be a real monster with his diverse skill set.

 

[Gurleyman]

Against some teams, it definitely works. But the key is that it can be a lot different rebounding from the 4 than the 3. At the 3, many times you can just read the ball off the rim and fly in and go get it, whereas at the 4, there is usually someone big hitting you. It's easier to get neutralized.

He also has almost no post game to speak of on offense, and his future in the pros is as a 2-3, so trying to re-sculpt his body to turn him into a physical 4 is counter-productive. He could use a little more strength anyway to absorb some contact on drives, but 25 pounds is not a good idea. He needs to spend more of his time in agility drills, speed dribbling in tight quarters, and some mechanical fine tuning/repetition with his jumper.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Against some teams, it definitely works. But the key is that it can be a lot different rebounding from the 4 than the 3. At the 3, many times you can just read the ball off the rim and fly in and go get it, whereas at the 4, there is usually someone big hitting you. It's easier to get neutralized.

He also has almost no post game to speak of on offense, and his future in the pros is as a 2-3, so trying to re-sculpt his body to turn him into a physical 4 is counter-productive. He could use a little more strength anyway to absorb some contact on drives, but 25 pounds is not a good idea. He needs to spend more of his time in agility drills, speed dribbling in tight quarters, and some mechanical fine tuning/repetition with his jumper.

I agree about the defensive rebounding. Him playing the four consistently means bigger, more physical players.

I'm less concerned about him not having a post game. Not a big deal. He's very good from the high post and can drop down through the lane and roll out to the corners for threes. He definitely can play the role of a stretch 4 on offense.

 

[joober jones]

The stretch 4 seems to be working for us the past few years with Daniels, Giffey, and now possibly Daniel Hamilton.

 

[pnow15]

Against some teams, it definitely works. But the key is that it can be a lot different rebounding from the 4 than the 3. At the 3, many times you can just read the ball off the rim and fly in and go get it, whereas at the 4, there is usually someone big hitting you. It's easier to get neutralized.

He also has almost no post game to speak of on offense, and his future in the pros is as a 2-3, so trying to re-sculpt his body to turn him into a physical 4 is counter-productive. He could use a little more strength anyway to absorb some contact on drives, but 25 pounds is not a good idea. He needs to spend more of his time in agility drills, speed dribbling in tight quarters, and some mechanical fine tuning/repetition with his jumper.

You have to put the weight on to see if he loses speed and quickness. I'm thinking more of a Melo type player.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

The stretch 4 seems to be working for us the past few years with Daniels, Giffey, and now possibly Daniel Hamilton.

The one real 4 we had left because he thought he was a three.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

You have to put the weight on to see if he loses speed and quickness. I'm thinking more of a Melo type player.

I think putting on some muscle is definately a plus, but i dont think is in his best interest to transition to a full time 4. That definately isnt a position he'll play at the next level and putting on too much will make him too sluggish for a wing

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

I was actually thinking last night that if he worked on his handle, he should play some pg next year

 

[mauconnfan]

Against some teams, it definitely works. But the key is that it can be a lot different rebounding from the 4 than the 3. At the 3, many times you can just read the ball off the rim and fly in and go get it, whereas at the 4, there is usually someone big hitting you. It's easier to get neutralized.

He also has almost no post game to speak of on offense, and his future in the pros is as a 2-3, so trying to re-sculpt his body to turn him into a physical 4 is counter-productive. He could use a little more strength anyway to absorb some contact on drives, but 25 pounds is not a good idea. He needs to spend more of his time in agility drills, speed dribbling in tight quarters, and some mechanical fine tuning/repetition with his jumper.

Scary thing is he has the best post game and he's a wing. They set him up out of the gate in the 2nd half back to the basket, pivoted and dropped in a short floater over a defender. Looked good doing it. Neither Brimah or Facey do it that quickly or at all.

 

[Kitaman]

On a smaller scale DHam, like Boat, is asked to do so much. He is a freshman and that is obvious. What's also obvious is that he is very talented and has a Div 1 game. This season is an education, next year his game will be elevated to all conference team discussion.

After that he's our closest one right now to being UConn's next AA.

 

[mauconnfan]

On a smaller scale DHam, like Boat, is asked to do so much. He is a freshman and that is obvious. What's also obvious is that he is very talented and has a Div 1 game. This season is an education, next year his game will be elevated to all conference team discussion.

After that he's our closest one right now to being UConn's next AA.

I think he has shown signs of beginning to eliminate many of the bad decisions already, not all but many. He's been playing very well and real hard on both ends. His rebounding has been off the charts for a guy who spends a good amount of time on the perimeter.

 

[Candyman]

Whats crazy is he hasnt scored more than 14 in any game yet this year. The kid can do it all no doubt. Now if he can stop short arming those little jumpers and floaters then he would be averaging like 15 a game.

 

[Marat]

I was actually thinking last night that if he worked on his handle, he should play some pg next year

Regarding his handle and decision making, I have been happy to see that he's been turnover free the past 2 games.

 

[3rdbass]

Regarding his handle and decision making, I have been happy to see that he's been turnover free the past 2 games.

I have noticed he is going less and less to that spin dribble that he use to do at the top of the key and know using a nasty cross-over. He is really learning how to dribble against smaller guards. I love his game overall but he has to learn to finish off his shots as they seem a little flat at times especially near the hoops. Maybe he needs to throw one down to get that confidence in his game. Those little runners are coming in just a little short. His game is improving but we need his scoring to improve drastically if we have a shot of making the tourney this year. Unfortunately he really is the only person that can help boat score. RP maybe could but his game is too up and down for my liking to really count on him.

 

[RipCity]

Lots of positives to take from Hamilton. He's making less stupid mistakes and boarding like a monster. But our offense would also benefit from him cutting down on the low percentage jumpers/runners he often takes. As time progresses and his shot improves though, he's going to be lethal.

Last 2 games: 7 assists, 0 turnovers, 25 rebounds

 

[mcs333]

Dan Hurley will continue to get better. His decision making is much better now than earlier this season. He needs a great off season to improve his shooting. Right now he is a below ave. shooter hitting less than 40% FG and 54% free throws. He just needs time in the gym working on his shooting. DD shot 24, 31 and 42% from three point range in his three years at UCONN. It took awhile for him to become a good shooter. I expect the same with Dan Hurley. The same can be said about RP and Cassell. They need a ton of work on their shots to become good shooters.

 

[husky91]

Wow, about time people realize Facey should have a limited role.

I had high hopes going into this year, but it was too optimistic. The front court (4-5) is awful as a unit and backcourt more inconsistent than I expected.

At this point try anything

Unless playing against a giant, I think DHam needs to start and play at the power forward position. He is just a natural rebounder. The ball seems to find him. His chasing guys around picks is a waste of time compared to his ability to grab boards. If he is near the rim he easily corrals 10-12 boards. In fact he so good that I am wondering if putting 25 lbs on him and making him a permanent power forward might be the way for him to
go. We think of him as a wing but maybe his future inside and outside. He could be a real monster with his diverse skill set.

 

[mauconnfan]

At this point try anything[/QUOTE]

Lots of positives to take from Hamilton. He's making less stupid mistakes and boarding like a monster. But our offense would also benefit from him cutting down on the low percentage jumpers/runners he often takes. As time progresses and his shot improves though, he's going to be lethal.

Last 2 games: 7 assists, 0 turnovers, 25 rebounds

I think his shot is fine he just doesn't know if he's going to shoot the floater or throw the alley-oop when he hits the lane. If he had a definitive plan and knew he was going to shoot it I believe he would make more and short arm less. But I agree, great job of cutting down on the TO's and making better decisions.

 

[BoatShow]

Whats crazy is he hasnt scored more than 14 in any game yet this year. The kid can do it all no doubt. Now if he can stop short arming those little jumpers and floaters then he would be averaging like 15 a game.

If they are truly giving up on winning this year and Ollie is now coaching for next year it'd be great to have Boat relinquish his "I'm gonna score 20 points in the last two minutes but whoops we were down 23" role to Hamilton for a game or two and see how he does. He completely dominated a few minutes at the beginning of the second half vs ECU.

 

[GlastonTim]

They are not giving up on winning! We all know what happens when you get hot at the right time. This team can still come together and get it done.

 

[Scot-e]

Dan Hurley looks like Sir Charles compared to DD his freshman year. We have not won games "going big" for many years now and we sure as hell need to have as many ball handlers on the floor as possible so we can cut down on our turnovers which had been awful most of the year.
Glad KO is trying a few new things- if one of RP or OC can get their $hhit together on a consistent basis we will be much more competitive.

 

[Yankees32123]

Whats crazy is he hasnt scored more than 14 in any game yet this year. The kid can do it all no doubt. Now if he can stop short arming those little jumpers and floaters then he would be averaging like 15 a game.

He scored 16 against Tulsa.

 

[FeedTheDove]

Whats crazy is he hasnt scored more than 14 in any game yet this year. The kid can do it all no doubt. Now if he can stop short arming those little jumpers and floaters then he would be averaging like 15 a game.

It seems like earlier in the year, DHam was making those little floaters on a more consistent basis. However, once he started throwing lobs to Amida 3-4 times a game using the same type of "floater," he's cooled off from that area. I think DHam gets confused about what he's going to do when he gets in the middle of the lane and leaves his feet. He needs to make a decision before he drives in the middle of the lane that he is either going to throw a lob to amida or make a floater. That way he can be 100% focused on scoring rather than at the last second thinking "maybe I should lob it." The lobs are great and I don't ever want them to stop as long as they're both here. But he needs to stop confusing himself and try to make a decision before he leaves his feet.