East Texas PM Post Game Thread

[Storrs South]

If the turnovers were an issue games 1-3 I would be concerned.

Think they are just bored of the buy games.

Time to lock in and beat someone with a pulse.

 

[Scrutineer]

From what I've seen so far this season there is good and bad.

The bad: we aren't ready to make a run through the NCAA tournament.

The good: we have nearly four months to figure it out before our first NCAA tournament game.

So much has happened over the past 24 months that I truly don't remember what the feeling was going into PK80, but I do remember how stunned I was at how dominant we looked in those games (against some pretty good competition). We were returning (basically) three starters, added a couple veterans, a couple freshman and most roles were clearly defined from day one.

I'm far from happy with the sloppy play we've seen so far and yes, I believe it will come back to bite us if we don't clean it up. If we clean it up completely by February I'll be thrilled as I truly believe that this team's ceiling is far higher than what I was expecting it to be this past summer. We're running at maybe 45%-50% efficiency and winning by margins (against lesser competition) that should have required considerably stronger overall performances to achieve.

If we ever start humming on all cylinders lookout.

It will be an interesting season, with some aggravating moments, many thrilling moments, providing quite a bit of fun and entertainment. It won't be like last season, where we knew all along that a) if we played our game nobody would touch us and b) there was little chance that we wouldn't play our game. We're going to have to sweat out a lot more things than we did, we will need to worry that we may beat ourselves and at times we actually may start to wonder if we can win it all. It's still a far better outlook than nearly any other school has.

And don't think for a second that Danny Hurley and staff won't work harder than anyone to try to clean up the team's sloppy play.

I keep watching the huddles to see who takes charge. DH is really pushing AK to be a vocal leader but he's cerebral versus Cam's fire. We just may need some fire from AK or someone else in the huddles.

 

[gsmooth]

It's like replacing 4/5 starters and 60% of minutes played per game from a national championship-winning team is hard or something.

Exactly. It's why I did not take offense like some when UConn was not ranked #1 at the beginning of the year. Maybe they should be just out of respect, I don't know, but losing....

1) a high impact center that is doing well in the NBA
2) arguably the best freshman in the country also doing well in the NBA
3) the Bob Cousy Award winner for best PG in the country, First Team All American, First Team all Big East, Final Four MOP, and Big East Tournament MOP that was drafted in the 2nd round and doing well in the G League
4) a top 5 transfer in the country and First Team all Big East that was drafted in the 2nd round and doing well in the G League

...is simply not going to be replaced. Making the Final Four is incredibly difficult. Winning a national championship is even more difficult. Winning the national championship with the biggest point differential ever for the NCAAT is all time great kind of stuff.

Expecting to pick up right where they left off or for them to be better should not be expected or the goal and even Hurley said as much as he stated patience will be needed.

Edit: Cam has been injured for most of G League with an ankle injury. I was going off Summer League performance. In any case, he will do well when he returns.

 

[jibsey]

It’s very early but based on what we have seen guard play is the team weakness. We don’t have big strong physical guards. And our strength is the 3 and 4 position and those guys are going to have to get their own shots and take more of them. This is not to say our guards are terrible but they are not outstanding. At this point.
Maui we’re going to see.

 

[Waquoit]

They got off to a fast start and made shots early unlike before. After that it was extended garbage time. No worries.

 

[heffe]

that changes nothing and he made the dunk.

A wise man once said, "Ask him to walk, be nice, if he won't walk, walk him, but be nice, If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you and you will both be nice... I want you to remember, that it's the job, it's nothing personal."

Is this a Baseball quote...Asking for a friend

 

[superjohn]

I assume you're talking at least partially about me. I have no issue with the complaining or being critical of yesterday's performance. Do I think it's dumb and reactionary, yes. But that's the Boneyard.

My issue is with all the long term ramifications being laid out of having 1 bad game. Go read the Mississippi Valley State game thread from last year, same situation with a bad team right before our MTE. Was our worst game of the season and then all of the issues people raised were immediately quelled when we dominated Indiana a few days later

Yep, it's the same people who were freaking out about Miss Valley State and UNH last season but they seem to have multiplied and we get the added bonus of them constantly talking about how the Big East sucks and how embarrassing our schedule is.

King ninny might be Dauster. He said it took UConn 25 minutes in all these cupcake games to pull away from their opponents and then Hurley left the starters in because he knows they need to run up the score.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The same people who were skeptical of Marquette 24 hours ago are now saying they'd turn UConn over 35 times after Marquette beat Purdue and UConn looked sluggish in a 35 point win. It's the Boneyard, it's just how it goes.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The same people who were skeptical of Marquette 24 hours ago are now saying they'd turn UConn over 35 times after Marquette beat Purdue and UConn looked sluggish in a 35 point win. It's the Boneyard, it's just how it goes.

I mean, they did look sluggish.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I mean, they did look sluggish.

Sure, but that observation is absolutely, positively useless in the context of the season or even their next game.

 

[Stew Crew]

AN getting time in the first half and 10 minutes overall may have been a signal to others that we have options at the point.

Hurley was definitely trying to send a message last night. He was pulling players the way Calhoun would after every bonehead play, especially in the 2nd half. That is not typical Hurley.

The two bright spots were that Mahaney is showing signs of life and Reed, Jr. started off strong. Unfortunately, he had a bad 2nd half.

 

[Stew Crew]

If the turnovers were an issue games 1-3 I would be concerned.

Think they are just bored of the buy games.

Time to lock in and beat someone with a pulse.

You could be right but we have not seen that in the past two years. The last two teams had a killer instinct we have not seen in 20 years. No let down, ever. They were out to destroy everyone from the first minute.

 

[navery12]

You could be right but we have not seen that in the past two years. The last two teams had a killer instinct we have not seen in 20 years. No let down, ever. They were out to destroy everyone from the first minute.

Not true. Last year we saw the same exact performance against Mississippi Valley State, in the same spot of the schedule. The last cupcake game before the MTE started

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Sure, but that observation is absolutely, positively useless in the context of the season or even their next game.

Not every observation has to be put to context, sometimes it’s just a lone observation. We were sloppy, Hurley stated as such, they will likely be a lot better next game because the staff has a near perfect percentage of improving faults. Just gonna be tougher now that we are facing actual competition.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You could be right but we have not seen that in the past two years. The last two teams had a killer instinct we have not seen in 20 years. No let down, ever. They were out to destroy everyone from the first minute.

Be careful about that no let down comment. I still vividly remember the BET quarterfinals against Providence in 2023.

A 30+ point lead with a little less than ten minutes left became a nail biter.

 

[superjohn]

Be careful about that no let down comment. I still vividly remember the BET quarterfinals against Providence in 2023.

A 30+ point lead with a little less than ten minutes left became a nail biter.

Some fans have interesting memories on that team. In no way was the 22-23 team on the level of the 23-24 team. They were awesome out of conference but they lost 5 out of 6 during early Big East play, they made us sweat it out after having the monstrous lead against Providence in the Big East tournament and then we couldn't get it done against Marquette in the Big East final. It all clicked after the first half in the first game of the tournament against Iona who we were trailing at half and then they never looked back but that wasn't exactly a team that struck fear in opponents and gave the fans ultimate confidence in all season.

 

[housekeys]

Don't turn it over on offense, play suffocating defense, and rebound like crazy. Do so and UConn will 3peat,

 

[Hunt for 7]

Some people are reactionary, but others are objective evaluators. And those objective evaluators tend to catch heat from fan boys here. Sadly, these first four games have shown we have a real problem at pg:
--Aidan is not fast enough to defend the position. In any other program, his shooting may be enough. But do I have to explain to any of you that such defensive lapses simply will not do with this staff??? But the other problem is that he does not make the rest of the players better. One assist against the Little Sisters of the Poor???? These four games have shown that our offensive sets play much faster when he is not running the show and/or on the bench. And the "torero" defense that he plays puts an unnecessary burden on the defense to bail him out constantly.
--Samson has low basketball IQ. You cannot teach that. You either have it, or you do not. And sadly, he does not. Get him to come off the bench. He is good at that role. He is more dangerous at that role.
--Stewart and Aidan are in trouble of losing minutes now that the games will begin to matter. The fact that we saw Nowell get extended minutes is something to monitor, in my estimation. He looks dangerous. He is like having a second HD on the floor. My friends, that does not suck. And his defense is phenomenal. Nowell will be taking over Aidan's minutes. I have no doubt about that. And Abraham seems more active and defensively aware than Stewart. I am not hating on J. Stew. I simply believe Abraham is better.
--In early returns, Reed, Jr. looks nice. He is doing what you would expect a quality big man to do against inferior competition: he is dominating. Can he do it against better comp? We shall see, but he won me over.
--I am wondering aloud if this coaching staff will have the stones to change the rotation in order to adjust to the actual play of players, instead of their projected play. I say that because Reed, Jr. should start. That's obvious. Hassan should start. That is even more obvious. And watching Nowell play, he is clearly better defensively than Aidan, and he is at least his equal offensively. It would take big stones to make that switch. But maybe they see it differently.

I have been a Nowell fan since the get go but more so after watching the first few games. I commented right after the second game that Nowell might see more minutes than expected. I also commented that whoever was saying Ross was not a very good athlete would be surprised.

Those takes appear correct. But……Nowell right now is nowhere near the shooter Mahaney is and overall Mahaney is a better offensive “scorer” than Nowell by a wide margin. With all that said I still think Nowell is currently a better PG than Mahaney.

I don’t think Hurley changes anything until he sees his team play against competition. My guess by the time our stay in Maui is over, whatever the current consensus is regarding this team, it will be different by the time their plane lands at Bradley.

We are about to learn a lot about this team. It is definitely something I am looking forward to. Time will pass slowly until 2:30 PM Monday.

 

[Lambeau]

Poor Danny; it seems the guards didn't have enough trust to lob the ball in to the 5's, but Dan insisted. Sure enough, nearly every one was dropped. He will keep insisting, and eventually it'll probably succeed. It's a long road to March.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Some fans have interesting memories on that team. In no way was the 22-23 team on the level of the 23-24 team. They were awesome out of conference but they lost 5 out of 6 during early Big East play, they made us sweat it out after having the monstrous lead against Providence in the Big East tournament and then we couldn't get it done against Marquette in the Big East final. It all clicked after the first half in the first game of the tournament against Iona who we were trailing at half and then they never looked back but that wasn't exactly a team that struck fear in opponents and gave the fans ultimate confidence in all season.

Agreed but they started the season looking every bit the best team in the country until as you note the early BE season. I was so excited about that team that it made me find the Boneyard again because I could not find enough content anywhere else that was going to fulfill my jones for more info on UConn.

I was excited when we hired Hurley hopeful that we would get back to the good old days and didn’t jump all the way back in to UConn fandom consuming most of my free time again until the start we had to the 22-23 season. It was almost like Dream Season 2.0 now that I think about it.

 

[cp176]

I'm calling bullshit here. A real point guard is needed to progress. If it ain't Diarra then it is Nowell. Alll the coaches know it for sure. Mahaney almost looked like one but is he big enough?
Is he strong enough? Nope. He will be able to score for sure but. They will figure it out I'm sure but that is the player that they are experimenting with. They will be fine but you aren't winning a natty without that guy. They have two - Diarra and Nowell. They will figure it out.!.....

 

[3rdbass]

Exactly. It's why I did not take offense like some when UConn was not ranked #1 at the beginning of the year. Maybe they should be just out of respect, I don't know, but losing....

1) a high impact center that is doing well in the NBA
2) arguably the best freshman in the country also doing well in the NBA
3) the Bob Cousy Award winner for best PG in the country, First Team All American, First Team all Big East, Final Four MOP, and Big East Tournament MOP that was drafted in the 2nd round and doing well in the G League
4) a top 5 transfer in the country and First Team all Big East that was drafted in the 2nd round and doing well in the G League

...is simply not going to be replaced. Making the Final Four is incredibly difficult. Winning a national championship is even more difficult. Winning the national championship with the biggest point differential ever for the NCAAT is all time great kind of stuff.

Expecting to pick up right where they left off or for them to be better should not be expected or the goal and even Hurley said as much as he stated patience will be needed.

Cam has been injured most of the season with ankle injury but I'm sure he will do great once he is back.

 

[gsmooth]

Cam has been injured most of the season with ankle injury but I'm sure he will do great once he is back.

Oh that's right, I believe he had the ankle injury. Thanks for the correction. You are right, I think I was going off Summer League stats. I believe he will do well once he gets back.

 

[freshler40]

You could be right but we have not seen that in the past two years. The last two teams had a killer instinct we have not seen in 20 years. No let down, ever. They were out to destroy everyone from the first minute.

I'm seeing a rebounding fire in Reed that is close to the great effort of our past two centers. He sees rebounds, moves to them with fixed eyes and desire. That is hard to teach, and he has it. Double doubles will be natural for him. His hands are good, sure and a body to make all this happen. Better blocking out is being taught as is playing big to receive passes in the hole. I see nothing but great results for him.
This team is just learning the system and tendencies of each other. The future is bright but on a learning curve. What a nice journey.

 

[Storrs South]

Cam has been injured most of the season with ankle injury but I'm sure he will do great once he is back.

Cam got his first game action in an NBA game last night!