Fall Practice Thread | Page 9 | The Boneyard

Fall Practice Thread

Ball handling is difficult. Now I know all players can shake and bake on the playground but against elite defenders at UConn’s level and to do it securely and create offense out of it? We’ve seen better, good and bad.I held my breath when Mahaney brought it up.
 
Last edited:
RuffRuff said:
While we’re at it, we should put our bigs through Globetrotter Camp. We were really missing on some sets where Tarris not being able to spin the ball on his fingertip into a no look pass hurt us.

This thread is redonkulous.
Expand ...
Anyone can technically play point guard, they're just good at other things so they get stuck doing those things instead of playing point. Stephen Hawking had the mind for the position and he could spin and throw dimes but he got stuck being a theoretical physicist.
 
Mr. French said:
I think just playing, watching, coaching and observing basketball for 40 years?

Not seeing any natural 2Gs magically become PGs because they did some handling work?
Expand ...
You’re talking about two different things.

Just because you have handle doesn’t mean you can be a PG. But it’s a part of the process of being one.
CardiacAndre7 said:
Because like everything in the sport, doing something at a high level is difficult to master. It’s obvious with those two that they were not asked to do too much ball handling in their HS/College careers. It is one of those innate skills that usually you either have or you don’t.

You can see it at every level. You see it in pickup games I play in, the guys that don’t have it get pressured more. Obviously the skill gap from that to college is insane, but so is the defense. Solo and Hawk will get targeted when they have the ball because they aren’t the type to blow by a guy with a crossover or handle the pressure relatively simply.
Expand ...
You think people naturally have handles? You’re born with that skill like natural athleticism?
 
superjohn said:
Anyone can technically play point guard, they're just good at other things so they get stuck doing those things instead of playing point. Stephen Hawking had the mind for the position and he could spin and throw dimes but he got stuck being a theoretical physicist.
Expand ...
Apparently Julia Childs, when not basting a bird, had a deadly crossover. Thing was on a string. She spent a lot of time between marinating working on her handles. It’s too bad cheffing took her away from us.
 
HW611 said:
You’re talking about two different things.

Just because you have handle doesn’t mean you can be a PG. But it’s a part of the process of being one.

You think people naturally have handles? You’re born with that skill like natural athleticism?
Expand ...

...

You're confusing me more than normal.

You are the one that's been saying a 2G should be able to develop into a PG with work. No one else thinks that.
 
superjohn said:
Anyone can technically play point guard, they're just good at other things so they get stuck doing those things instead of playing point. Stephen Hawking had the mind for the position and he could spin and throw dimes but he got stuck being a theoretical physicist.
Expand ...
You must have missed him on the half pipe.

 
HW611 said:
I’ve consistently said that it usually took 3 years for our past PGs to master their positions.
Expand ...
Genuinely curious, do you have one example of a past UConn player that was a 2 in HS and 2 in college before turning into a PG at college or the pros? I’m not talking combo guards, I’m talking clear SG like Solo has been.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
Genuinely curious, do you have one example of a past UConn player that was a 2 in HS and 2 in college before turning into a PG at college or the pros? I’m not talking combo guards, I’m talking clear SG like Solo has been.
Expand ...
The NBA tried putting Dyson at PG during his short stint there.

www.basketball-reference.com

Jerome Dyson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Jerome Dyson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, shoots, school and more on Basketball-Reference.com
www.basketball-reference.com www.basketball-reference.com

There’s also Westbrook who played next to Collison at UCLA if you want to go outside of the small UConn bubble. Which has been the comp for Solo this whole time.

I think Boatright may have been considered a 2G in high school despite his size and then he went through our PG training to do what he did his senior year. Took 4 years to do though (even though he probably could’ve took over his junior year if necessary just fine).
 
HW611 said:
The NBA tried putting Dyson at PG during his short stint there.

There’s also Westbrook who played next to Collison at UCLA if you want to go outside of the small UConn bubble. Which has been the comp for Solo this whole time.
Expand ...
I feel like using two examples of Westbrook, who was a HS PG recruited as a PG and who played his entire career as a combo/point, and Dyson, who you had to say “the NBA tried” at PG, is kind of proving the point here.
 
gtcam said:
I get it - you think for everyone else here.
Have you ever coached before at any level?
Expand ...
None of them have or they’re bad at it. Which is why they can’t comprehend the thought of development or what goes into it.

All coaches are responsible for is drawing up Xs and Os and the players are either born with skills or not is what I gather.

No point in working to learn a skill because it’s just impossible apparently. Lol
 
HW611 said:
Here you go making stuff up literally
Expand ...

IMG_5767.jpeg


And also listed as a PG in places because he’s clearly been a combo guard. His only year starting at UCLA he averaged more assists than Collison (#1 on that UCLA squad) and nearly triple the assists Solo did last year. This is not the comp you think it is.
 
HW611 said:
The NBA tried putting Dyson at PG during his short stint there.

www.basketball-reference.com

Jerome Dyson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more | Basketball-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats of Jerome Dyson. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, shoots, school and more on Basketball-Reference.com
www.basketball-reference.com www.basketball-reference.com

There’s also Westbrook who played next to Collison at UCLA if you want to go outside of the small UConn bubble. Which has been the comp for Solo this whole time.

I think Boatright may have been considered a 2G in high school despite his size and then he went through our PG training to do what he did his senior year. Took 4 years to do though (even though he probably could’ve took over his junior year if necessary just fine).
Expand ...
Solo Westbrook comp was like really uncommon, and the only thing compared was measurables. Their game couldn’t be more different.
 
HW611 said:
Here you go making stuff up literally
Expand ...

The double down!

Solo Ball and those two guys are entirely different types of athletes. I was mislead into thinking Solo had higher physical upside before last season, based on measurements. He's just not that, not nearly the high twitch springy athlete they are. I don't care what his vertical is. Westbrook specifically was a rabid defender and a fast break waiting to happen. I didn't see one demonstration out of Solo, not one last year, of an explosive athlete . I saw a super silky jumper.

Do you think that Russell Westbrook was ever the 1500th ranked defensive player in college basketball, at any point in his college career? He was Pac10 DPOY.

I know this ridicuous thread is about showcasing Solo at PG for his NBA potential. We don't need it, we have two PG's already. We don't need to experiment, we have the ability as a program to attract ready made players in glaring holes. Bringing them in was intentional because the staff saw enough of Solo's ballhandling (so did we) last year to know he's not it.

Westbrook was a late bloomer that grew a ton late in HS, grew up a PG. Grew 7 inches late in HS.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
View attachment 112193

And also listed as a PG in places because he’s clearly been a combo guard. His only year starting at UCLA he averaged more assists than Collison (#1 on that UCLA squad) and nearly triple the assists Solo did last year. This is not the comp you think it is.
Expand ...
Where did you find that, On3?

Cause look at this.


Almost like it’s a good comparison or something.

Solo should be putting the Ball on the floor a lot more this year and creating. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lead the team in assists now that he’s doing that.
 
RuffRuff said:
Westbrook was a late bloomer that grew a ton late in HS, grew up a PG. Grew 7 inches late in HS.
Expand ...
Good comp right down to the late bloomer that grew 7 inches in HS. Lol
 

Attachments

  • 1760016992778.jpeg
    1760016992778.jpeg
    289 KB · Views: 17
HW611 said:
Good comp right down to the late bloomer that grew 7 inches in HS. Lol
Expand ...
The triple down!

How do you explain that Russell Westbrook was the Pac12 DPOY as a sophomore, and Solo Ball was ranked one of the worst defenders in the country last year? Let me break it down - Russell is a far better athlete, had incredible footspeed. Let me guess, Solo didn't go through the Calhoun school of defense? There is zero comparison in the two of them, as in 0.

At some point in your narratives, if you want to pose yourself as someone who isn't tunnel vision, you have to start processing the other side of the argument with some light bulbs that go off, rather than just beating a drum.
 
HW611 said:
Good comp right down to the late bloomer that grew 7 inches in HS. Lol
Expand ...
Yeah, and everything in that report is pretty much just not the case right now. Often the opposite is the reality, actually.

That’s the thing, pretty much every recruit can do what they want in high school, college is a totally different animal, as we can see, you know, with our eyes.
 

Online statistics

Members online
266
Guests online
4,027
Total visitors
4,293
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
164,613
Messages
4,403,490
Members
10,216
Latest member
Peter8122


.
..
Top Bottom