Georgetown Post Game Thread

[JustbrewitMan]

And yet the one single player on this team who is known for iso ball scoring, and has literally been struggling on offense all season directly because of a failure to adapt to the complex “robotic” system, was a DNP tonight against probably the single best team on the Big East schedule to get him going. Maybe there is a lot more going on behind the scenes and in practice than is ever exposed publicly.

Mahaney's just been such an enigma this whole season. You can say "well it turns otut he's undersized, not strong enough" for BE play...but then you watch the game last night, and you see Malik Mack from G'Town. He's listed on their roster as 6'2", 175 lbs...but he looked like a skinny like shrimpy 8th grader when he was standing next to Diarra. No joke, he's at most 5"10" and 160lbs soaking wet.

Yet, Mack was battling, getting downhill, into the lane, getting shots up vs. trees.

Make it make sense.

 

[gtcam]

Oh I agree. Karaban should be subbed out much more than he is. Especially with his play last night. I would rather see Stewart with his athleticism on the floor for more minutes than Karaban when he looks like he is in a daze. Heck, team got back in the game against Villanova when the went more athletic. I get that Karaban will play but Hurley has overplayed him in several games when it was clear he was struggling on both ends of the floor.

Both Samson and AK have struggled this year yet Dan Hurley is overly loyal to some players - it's a nice gesture but it may cost you games. It wouldn't hurt them if they sat for a while, Sometimes players who use the bench time to study what's going on can make adjustments and become better players while other sit and brood and/or socialize.

 

[dennismenace]

Nowell is an asset and I don’t believe anyone thinks he should start. He’s a freshman who needs more run like he did tonight. There will be bumps in the road but you can project what Nowell can become and it’s a solid / good PG. People need to temper expectations and understand some players need time to develop. We can’t recruit ‘finished products’ most of the time. Unfortunately, Hurley stuck with Mahaney too long, which stunted Nowell’s growth.

Yes and your comments bring to mind how much Hass has grown since he came here as a Jr. Sooner or later they need to be on the floor. To exoec

It’s a lose lose, but sure, give Nowell the chance. That said, I am beyond curious as to how people thought he played well. They literally attacked him every time on the defensive end and he got exposed every time on the defensive end. It was that bad. Playing defense like that won’t get you any time in Danny’s program. With that, and with the type of guards in this league that are already exposing our backcourt, makes Nowell unplayable in any meaningful role.

So what do you think Danny is seeing in Nowell in practice all year and how would that explain his in game performance?

 

[Excalibur]

Damn, I wonder what poster already said this on the board. Lol (except I’m thinking moreso 20+)

As if someone is arguing this point . . .

20 is probably a stretch as that's really hard to do in our system.

 

[Excalibur]

I could see it immediately with Marcus Williams as a freshman. He showed he was a ridiculously good passer and floor general right away.

Williams was a clear star from minute one. People were calling for him to start after his first game.

 

[djct1999]

Williams was a clear star from minute one. People were calling for him to start after his first game.

One of my all time favorite Huskies.

 

[Conndog]

Marcus Williams is the best passer we've ever had and you could see it right away as a freshman. Unfortunately he missed the second semester of his freshman season because of academics.

Those beautiful rainbow jump shots by Ben Gordon!

 

[Excalibur]

We are going to change the offense that was ranked in the Top 5 for most of the season to play 90's style ISO ball? Why?

No, but we do need a little more freedom (which we absolutely had in the past two seasons). Part of the success of our system is the players' ability to read the defense and exploit overplays. We haven't been as good at that this year, and teams have been getting more brazen in switching and overplaying cuts.

 

[Excalibur]

I have no idea what Nowell is. Yes it's telling he hasn't played, but I know what Mahaney is and, as a junior, he is what he is. I would much rather see the freshman and see if he improves with game reps. Again, he can't be worse than Mahaney who for me is borderline unplayable at this point. Ditto with Ross.

Nobody has any idea what Nowell is, because we don't know how much is injuries have limited him. He has no first step right now, and if that's the case and he's fully healthy then we have a problem. If the injuries (and potential lack of conditioning) are limiting him, then we have to wait and see.

 

[boog204]

Williams was a clear star from minute one. People were calling for him to start after his first game.

Didn't he set/tie the single-game assist record his freshman year? Off the bench? You could tell immediately that he was going to be a stud PG, regardless of how many points he averaged.

 

[UCan3]

Mahaney's just been such an enigma this whole season. You can say "well it turns otut he's undersized, not strong enough" for BE play...but then you watch the game last night, and you see Malik Mack from G'Town. He's listed on their roster as 6'2", 175 lbs...but he looked like a skinny like shrimpy 8th grader when he was standing next to Diarra. No joke, he's at most 5"10" and 160lbs soaking wet.

Yet, Mack was battling, getting downhill, into the lane, getting shots up vs. trees.

Make it make sense.

Nothing to do w/ Mahaney’s size. He just looks completely out of synch with the rest of team on offense and defense.

He looks slow out there and not sure how to engage.

It may be a mixture of his style of play and coaching.

We needed him this year but this is college sports and we’ve gotten lucky with transfers as well. Found talent that many overlooked.

I hope to see Mahaney re-emerge as a role player 10 minutes a game If he earns it.

 

[homunculus]

Mahaney's just been such an enigma this whole season. You can say "well it turns otut he's undersized, not strong enough" for BE play...but then you watch the game last night, and you see Malik Mack from G'Town. He's listed on their roster as 6'2", 175 lbs...but he looked like a skinny like shrimpy 8th grader when he was standing next to Diarra. No joke, he's at most 5"10" and 160lbs soaking wet.

Yet, Mack was battling, getting downhill, into the lane, getting shots up vs. trees.

Make it make sense.

Exactly. All the talk of Mahaney’s size is merely people searching for an answer and presenting it as fact. It’s easy to name players who are at best the same size as him who have won championships in this program, or as you said, are even currently playing in the big east. It’s not about his size. (I mean he just had his single best moment of tough one-on-one defense in the entire season against RJ Luis, who failed to score against him, and then he permanently disappeared back to the bench shortly after). It’s about Hurley being too slow to adapt to the players he was responsible for bringing in and the personnel he has. I completely disagree with the people who say he is “outmatched at this level” or “too slow.” He scored 9 points against the best team in the country as a freshman. I see a player who started the season thinking he could get there but who no longer has any idea what he’s supposed to be doing. I understand that he was brought in to be an PG but it should have been clear to the staff that major adjustments needed to be made early on, something more profound than “run Diarra into the ground.” I believe that failure and its long tail is the primary difference between our 9 losses and maybe 4-5 at worst. Even with Karaban’s horrendous slump and McNeeley’s injury and our less than stellar defense.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I saw this. All of our sophs still have analysis paralysis on offense. Our PGs arent strong, but look extra weak when we have no movement bc there seemed to be alot of hesitation , rather than read/react, trying to figure out where you go next in a set. As a result the off ball screens are missing quite alot (watch tape of Cam setting back screen compared to now), & offense is stagnant.

As a coach, I have experienced this where the players just dont have the BBIQ to execute what previous teams may have thrived in. Our guys dont seem to get into the flow state in our varied euro sets with the misdirection/handoffs quick enough. Simplifying to get the ball to the block/paint and kick or post is basic but it can work. Nice adjustment

By all of our sophs you mean Ross and Stewart

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Exactly. All the talk of Mahaney’s size is merely people searching for an answer and presenting it as fact. It’s easy to name players who are at best the same size as him who have won championships in this program, or as you said, are even currently playing in the big east. It’s not about his size. (I mean he just had his single best moment of tough one-on-one defense in the entire season against RJ Luis, who failed to score against him, and then he permanently disappeared back to the bench shortly after). It’s about Hurley being too slow to adapt to the players he was responsible for bringing in and the personnel he has. I completely disagree with the people who say he is “outmatched at this level” or “too slow.” He scored 9 points against the best team in the country as a freshman. I see a player who started the season thinking he could get there but who no longer has any idea what he’s supposed to be doing. I understand that he was brought in to be an PG but it should have been clear to the staff that major adjustments needed to be made early on, something more profound than “run Diarra into the ground.” I believe that failure and its long tail is the primary difference between our 9 losses and maybe 4-5 at worst. Even with Karaban’s horrendous slump and McNeeley’s injury and our less than stellar defense.

we will have to agree to disagree.

Mahaney's lack of size and strength is a big factor in what makes him unplayable defensively in our system. He gets ISOd, can't wall off with strength, and fouls at the rim

Not to mention our lack of size in backcourt as a whole, I believe to be a factor allowing teams to get hot on us from 3. To use a football analogy, if you are gonna leave your CB on an island without safety help, he better have the size necessary to hold his own. Difficult with three 6 foot guards

 

[UConnRock]

Mahaney and Spencer are great examples of the crap shoot of the transfer portal. Spencer was the 2nd option after the Timberlake show and ended up being NBA talent and the heart and soul of a national champion. Mahaney was the top 20 transfer and we as a fan base were beyond excited. Can't say that Mahaney is the only player to fall short of expectations this year, but a lot of pressure is on the transfers to produce immediately. Bottom line, if Liam was health thru the year, and Karaban didn't go cold on three pointers UConn would be 22-6 and 14-3 in the conference.

 

[80shusky]

Much needed win with a nice offensive performance. Feed Reed. The defense was poor again but better and it is what it is at this point. I liked to see Nowell get some minutes. People are trashing him a little here but we need to see what we have there. Foul shooting was great. Let's pick up two of three remaining minimum and hope for some breaks.

 

[Excalibur]

we will have to agree to disagree.

Mahaney's lack of size and strength is a big factor in what makes him unplayable defensively in our system. He gets ISOd, can't wall off with strength, and fouls at the rim

Not to mention our lack of size in backcourt as a whole, I believe to be a factor allowing teams to get hot on us from 3. To use a football analogy, if you are gonna leave your CB on an island without safety help, he better have the size necessary to hold his own. Difficult with three 6 foot guards

Yet St. Mary's was a very good defensive team with him on the floor for 30 minutes. It's clearly a fit/system issue. If he moves on I don't doubt that he'll do well.

 

[Palatine]

Much needed win with a nice offensive performance. Feed Reed. The defense was poor again but better and it is what it is at this point. I liked to see Nowell get some minutes. People are trashing him a little here but we need to see what we have there. Foul shooting was great. Let's pick up two of three remaining minimum and hope for some breaks.

I think Hurley is getting Nowell minutes thinking about next year. This looks to be just acclimatizing him to the college game. AN hasn't really earned his minutes but it looks like Hurley has given up on Mahaney. AM had a nice Xavier game but followed it up with duds. It would nice to get some production when Diarra goes to the bench. But right now you can't depend on any.

This was the kind of front court that Reed feasts on. And he did great. But for us to be great he has to be more consistent.

 

[Marat]

Our offense is now Reed inside, Ball outside, McNeeley as much as we can get. AK as the 3rd/4th option glue guy and whatever the defense gives Diarra.

This is it. Diarra can be used at times also as we saw last night for offense too. We should be able to generate enough offense and score points. Whether we can win a game in NCAA will depend on how the defense does. If defense is not good, then we will need everyone to be firing on all wheels. Stringing together several wins will be really tough since we can;'t count on the defense.

 

[homunculus]

we will have to agree to disagree.

Mahaney's lack of size and strength is a big factor in what makes him unplayable defensively in our system. He gets ISOd, can't wall off with strength, and fouls at the rim

Not to mention our lack of size in backcourt as a whole, I believe to be a factor allowing teams to get hot on us from 3. To use a football analogy, if you are gonna leave your CB on an island without safety help, he better have the size necessary to hold his own. Difficult with three 6 foot guards

Most college players have shortcomings. It’s only when they don’t produce that fans make that shortcoming that player’s identity. We had a tiny backcourt in 2014, Boat was no bigger than Mahaney and that team managed to play D well enough to win the championship including against teams along the way like Michigan State. (And everyone can spare me the moving goalposts about their overall comparative value as players, we’re talking about size.) The problem is not with any single player, or their physical attributes - everyone on the team including Diarra, Karaban and McNeeley are getting blown by or losing assignments. It is a systemic problem, stemming from the fact that the coaching staff has been slow (or flat out refusing) to adapt to the weapons they have in their arsenal, believing in the system above all else.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Boat was a freak athlete that could jump out of the gym. He also had an edge to him. That's a significant difference.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Most college players have shortcomings. It’s only when they don’t produce that fans make that shortcoming that player’s identity. We had a tiny backcourt in 2014, Boat was no bigger than Mahaney and that team managed to play D well enough to win the championship including against teams along the way like Michigan State. (And everyone can spare me the moving goalposts about their overall comparative value as players, we’re talking about size.) The problem is not with any single player, or their physical attributes - everyone on the team including Diarra, Karaban and McNeeley are getting blown by or losing assignments. It is a systemic problem, stemming from the fact that the coaching staff has been slow (or flat out refusing) to adapt to the weapons they have in their arsenal, believing in the system above all else.

Definitely agree with the last sentence. We don't have the type of athletes (& bbiq) to play the stifling man Dan Hurley wants & get the rotations down. I wrote something like this after the Memphis game. As for Boat, he was quicker, better athlete, and JC wasnt running the same defensive system. But you are correct, we thrived with a smaller backcourt. As a thought experiment, do you think Khalid could play defensively in this system without a shot blocker behind him? I have my doubts, & loved KEA.

 

[uconngb]

It’s a lose lose, but sure, give Nowell the chance. That said, I am beyond curious as to how people thought he played well. They literally attacked him every time on the defensive end and he got exposed every time on the defensive end. It was that bad. Playing defense like that won’t get you any time in Danny’s program. With that, and with the type of guards in this league that are already exposing our backcourt, makes Nowell unplayable in any meaningful role.

I'm with you. It seems like he can barely dribble and the few shots he has recently attempted have barely hit the backboard. Definitely does not look like a top 40 freshman prospect.

 

[superjohn]

Boat was a freak athlete that could jump out of the gym. He also had an edge to him. That's a significant difference.

Boat is one of the best athletes who ever played at UConn.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Aren’t you a guy that constantly complains that Hurley doesn’t make adjustments. This is an adjustment made primarily because the offense has stagnated because our lead guard is playing on one leg.

No one is to blame for this , but Hass’s injury is the biggest reason why we have struggled. If he was healthy, we would be top 15.

I am not a big fan of the defensive scheme and I think 2 bigs is the next generation of analytics, but I have not complained about the offense since 2022. Why adjust something that is working great?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I have been to the XL 3 times this year. Is the food better than it used to be, or was it just a good night?

 

[uconnfan68]

Boat was a freak athlete that could jump out of the gym. He also had an edge to him. That's a significant difference.

We seem to be decidedly nonathletic against almost everyone we play.

 

[superjohn]

We seem to be decidedly nonathletic against almost everyone we play.

Remember years ago when Hurley said we don't dunk and that needs to change? Well we seem to be back to not dunking. Our two centers are basically the only guys on the team who dunk.

 

[Marat]

Remember years ago when Hurley said we don't dunk and that needs to change? Well we seem to be back to not dunking. Our two centers are basically the only guys on the team who dunk.

Samson was usually good for a few lobs per game, and this season this has been like I don't remember the last time he was thrown a good lob and dunked it. Newton and Cam we quite good at that and now we can't event do that anymore.

 

[Skiblets]

I keep waiting for one of our reserves to have that career game that we seem to suffer through when playing other teams with some schlub who averages 3 and 1 somehow going off for 18 and 4 on 65 percent shooting.

When can we get a few of those from our bench?