Donovan Clingan

[UCTitleTown]

A little worried about his defense. But hopefully these games have been good experiences for him.

I've actually been very impressed by his defense.

 

[Waywardson]

All credit to @NotDanHurley on the Twitter's but this is too good not to share....

 

[Chin Diesel]

Kid clearly put in the work this summer. Biggest game of his career and he's stepped up in a big way.

That might be biggest takeaway.

First time in the lights and the moment wasn't bigger than him.

He not only looked like he belonged, several Ducks looked like they didn't belong on the court with him.

 

[freshler40]

This guy is a game changer for the Huskies. Not many teams can match up with us. We'll see over the next few games how opposing coaches diagram their defenses. In the Oregon game, even without Sanogo on the floor, we continued to increase the spread. Loved seeing our guards penetrate and having the options of a high pass to both our centers. Donavan also kept himself on the floor, block shots and was a major pest downlow with apparently excellent hands rescuing many loose balls. Go Huskies!

 

[SixRings]

Where's the receipts of guys who said he was a "project" and "wouldn't be a day 1 contributer?"

The kid is way more than just a large human being that plays ball. He's a stud.

Clingan was setting great screens, has a great feel for the game for a big, and can kick it out to shooters effectively(something Sanogo has struggled with). Also, if our guards penetrate, and their bigs cheat off Clingan a tiny bit, say goodnight, because anything that gets thrown near the rim is an easy bucket for him.

He adds a whole new dimension to this team, and he's only going to get better with more minutes.

In his defense @polycom came clean in a different thread.
To me what stands out so far is that DC has shown he is dedicated to learning the game and he’s a fast learner. Just a few weeks ago he was jumping on defense and fouling. He’s learning quick to stay straight up and use his length. He looked great last night and agree with you about setting good screens and passing. Love that this team comes in waves and one wave ain’t weaker than the other.

 

[BugsyCT]

Saw many Bristol Central games with Clingan the last couple years. Obviously DC didn’t face this level of competition in high school - the games revolved around him because of his overwhelming size against kids a foot shorter than him. The great thing about him with this UConn team is so far it looks like we have many quality role players that get their points so Clingan can continue to be a vital presence in the paint and not have to carry the team like in high school.

So far Hurley has utilized him well in splitting time with Sanogo and he’s holding his own with bigger athletic forwards of the college game. That said, he will continue to learn and get better.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

So Clingan definitely exceeded expectations last night.

Oregon's bigs are GOOD and Clingan held his ground on both ends.

In lucid moments between his verbal diarrhea, Walton made a great point about Clingan's posture...he looks like a veteran big and not a freshman project.

It's so hard to find freshman bigs who can contribute from Day 1, but Clingan has done it so far this year and his freshman season is definitely better than I hoped.

 

[dennismenace]

I think you can drop the idea of Sanogo and Clingan being on the floor at the same time. Hurley has multiple options with the four-out setup.

They were both on the floor at one time early in the game. We weren't hitting the early threes and Oregon had a load of bigs in the game. It was only a short time but I think it planted a seed in Dana Altman's head. If I remember correctly, they started hitting a waterfall of threes after that. Clingan as a better passer and (taller than Adama) was better able to distribute out. They packed it in and dared us to take threes. What a nightmare for Altman. He must have congratulated himself when Hawk missed a few threes in the beginning; that is until the waterfall started Ha Ha Ha!

 

[MexicoHusky]

In the second half it felt like DH was playing Clingan as the starter and bringing Sanogo off the bench.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Dana Altman is a shoe in for the basketball hall of fame….LOL.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I've actually been very impressed by his defense.

I’m glad someone said it.

 

[uconnfan68]

Dana Altman is a shoe in for the basketball hall of fame….LOL.

Or something on the shoe.

 

[HailUConn]

Buy stock now.

 

[coachn]

Oregon inside game was over when DC showed up.
His inside out game was impressivve.
BIG improvement game to game.
He has to get on the floor for us to get the NATY.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Buy stock now.

Given that he grew up in Connecticut, You would think UConn basketball fans would’ve expected what we saw last night.

 

[Icehawk]

There was a play later in the game where he was near the top of the key to the side, he spins to break past his defender, get passed the ball, and jams it. I was like look how fast and agile this dude is for his size, I don't want to jinx the guy but I think we are looking at a future great.

I agree with Walton (oy), I think part of it is he's been this tall for a while and is comfortable in himself - he's not all gangly and awkward looking. He knows how to use that size too, I love how good he is at positioning and boxing out.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Dana Altman is a shoe in for the basketball hall of fame….LOL.

He also said Bobby Hurley (Jr) should be in the Hall of Fame..... For what exactly? Being a good college player at Duke doesn't make you a Basketball Hall of Famer.

 

[superjohn]

"You've seen him play before?" -Roxy

"No, but he moves, he thinks, he reacts, he's light on his feet, and he's huge, he makes Kel'el Ware look like a normal size player."

Bill Walton talking about Clingan, while Clingan was on the court with #7 recruit in the country Kel'el Ware.

 

[husky429]

"You've seen him play before?" -Roxy

"No, but he moves, he thinks, he reacts, he's light on his feet, and he's huge, he makes Kel'el Ware look like a normal size player."

Bill Walton talking about Clingan, while Clingan was on the court with #7 recruit in the country Kel'el Ware.

Ware looked better, but not by much. Donovan was better blocking shots and generally on defense. Ware is noticably more athletic and hit those 3s. In a year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Donovan a better player. His improvement curve has been steep. 3 didn't look terrible either. I could see him taking a couple attempts per game next year kind of like Sanogo is now.

 

[Dove]

I will not apologize for posting this...

"You can't win a thing, if you ain't got a Cling..."

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Donovan has absolutely blown away my expectations in terms of where I thought he'd be at at this point in his young career. I like Walton as a person, I hate him calling games, but it was fun to hear how genuinely excited he was about Donovan's potential.

 

[BGesus4]

I’m not sure this gif has ever been more spot on than seeing what he was able to do against those bigs

 

[bigknight3]

They were both on the floor at one time early in the game. We weren't hitting the early threes and Oregon had a load of bigs in the game. It was only a short time but I think it planted a seed in Dana Altman's head. If I remember correctly, they started hitting a waterfall of threes after that. Clingan as a better passer and (taller than Adama) was better able to distribute out. They packed it in and dared us to take threes. What a nightmare for Altman. He must have congratulated himself when Hawk missed a few threes in the beginning; that is until the waterfall started the dam broke Ha Ha Ha!

FIFY

 

[uconnfan68]

Donovan has absolutely blown away my expectations in terms of where I thought he'd be at at this point in his young career. I like Walton as a person, I hate him calling games, but it was fun to hear how genuinely excited he was about Donovan's potential.

And even Bill said DC was a BIG human being.

 

[Waquoit]

That might be biggest takeaway.
First time in the lights and the moment wasn't bigger than him.

He was just out there playing his game.