Gonzaga Post Game Thread

[UCTitleTown]

Ross keeps showing flashes. There's obviously a ton of potential there. If he can find it this year it would help our chances a lot.

I thought he was going to throw it down for another ESPN highlight.

 

[alphasigko]

GREAT gut check win! McNeeley is a bona fide STUD!

 

[SeattleHoop]

Great win!

But can someone please tell Diarra to stop taking the big final minute shots?

Instead get the ball to:
A) Karaban
B) Mcneeley
C) Solo

That’s the one thing that really frustrated me near the end of the game

 

[Jaydumo20]

I think we'll see a more productive Mahaney when he's back in a role he's comfortable in.

I usually agree with you. This time is no different. Spoken like someone who knows the game.

 

[Kowalski]

Unlike Joe. Mahaney has only showed us flashes. Joe should of been the starting QB for UConn all year long while Mahaney is a backup SG trying to play PG. It will never work. Mahaney is more like Evers. Overhyped. I hope once Nowell gets healthy Mahaney can just play the 2G where he looks more natural.

The difference is Mahaney has proven himself as a college player. He was first team all conference as both a freshman & sophomore on teams that won regular season conference championships & made it to the NCAA tourney.

 

[Smp7598]

Stevie could play more and Ross defended what Mahaney couldn’t. Our great coaching staff is working their magic.

I saw 2 threes The Zags made in the first half where Ross was lost defensively!

 

[Jhuskie89]

They ran sets!!!!!

 

[superjohn]

I wouldn't trade McNeeley for any freshman including that guy at Duke. He is the heart of this team right now.

He's our best player and our Cam. Sometimes he shoots poorly but he's always rebounding, driving, passing, and his defense gets better and better.

Alex is also a stud but he gets too stuck on chucking deep threes when they aren't falling.

 

[UCan3]

Great win!

But can someone please tell Diarra to stop taking the big final minute shots?

Instead get the ball to:
A) Karaban
B) Mcneeley
C) Solo

That’s the one thing that really frustrated me near the end of the game

I agree but Karaban couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn tonight and he tried!

He needed to be 3 ft from hoop to score tonight.

 

[AllHusky]

Two concerning things jumped out at me from Hey Adriens Zaga scouting report
1. This was a much tougher Gonzaga team than the last few years.
2. Better depth as well…..

…..And we out toughed them and deep depth guys Singare and Ross came up with critical contributions. Great response by the Huskies.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I am glad I am not the only one who noticed that. I know AK missed the wide open 3, but Mahaney can shoot and he did not want to shoot that 3 which was wide open.

IMO, UConn fans shouldn't be saying, "get rid of him", or "bolt him to the bench" or whatever else. The guy can play. I watched plenty of St. Mary's games. But he needs to play off the ball for the majority of his minutes with maybe 1 or 2 possessions where he plays the PG. Then next game maybe make 2-4 possessions at PG with the rest of it being off the ball. When he enters the game, he should start his playing time playing off the ball to get him comfortable with what he does best right now and as the season progresses slowly wean and increase his playing time to PG.

The problem of course is that if his role is relegated to running off screens and being a catch and shoot off-ball guy, there’s a lot more competition for minutes in that role.

 

[HooperScooper]

It's fair to ask. What the hell is going on with Karaban? His confidence looks shot.

Definitely his worst game at UConn. But I don't know how you can say that when in the prior game, against Texas, he went for 21 points and 11 rebounds. And before tonight I think he was shooting 48% from three. Was bound to be a correction at some point.

As Hurley always says, "I'm not worried about Alex." He'll be fine.

 

[EnochRoot]

If you really want me to answer, I think it’s beyond idiotic to write off a kid who was an all-American last year and a first team all WCC player who’s clearly playing out of position and has had an undeniably rough start to his UConn career.

It’s the role of our best coaching staff in America to figure out a way to integrate him into what this team wants to do. But we have a whiny, entitled fan base that sucks the enjoyment out of absolutely everything. We’re either the best team in the country or bound for the NIT game to game. A bunch of spoiled clowns who want this kid “bolted to the bench.” This place was on suicide watch after Maui and then they beat Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga and there are people who still want to use the occasion of a nationally televised win over a top ten team to rip the kid. It sucks. Do your thing.

The only thing worse than an overreaction like the one you just splayed across the parking lot is fan indifference.

UConn is on top of the CBB world, so with the spoils come the spoiled.

 

[Vowelguy]

McNeeley

5-6 from 2
10-12 from the line
8 rb
4 asst
0 turnovers
1 foul

(2-7 from 3)

 

[willie99]

Great game Huskies, I'm proud of and thankful for all of you

The staff is doing an amazing job, yet again. I'm glad they're at the helm and not some dork that's still finding some reason to complain

Thank you Huskies, I'm so damn happy

 

[superjohn]

McNeeley

5-6 from 2
10-12 from the line
8 rb
4 asst
0 turnovers
1 foul

(2-7 from 3)

Incredible game. His shot isn't even going down for a while, he makes his impact felt all over without hitting threes.

 

[mauconnfan]

Oh can I add McNeeley has improved dramatically on defense since the URI scrimmage when he looked like Swiss cheese. I mean even on switches tonight he kept Nembhard in front of him and made his shot difficulty high. Very impressed!

 

[mauconnfan]

McNeeley

5-6 from 2
10-12 from the line
8 rb
4 asst
0 turnovers
1 foul

(2-7 from 3)

Should have had 7-8 assists easy if we shot ok. Some tremendous drives and kick outs for wide open looks.

 

[gsmooth]

The problem of course is that if his role is relegated to running off screens and being a catch and shoot off-ball guy, there’s a lot more competition for minutes in that role.

That is true and Ball, no matter what people say about his defensive deficiencies or deficiencies in other areas of the game, the guy can flat out shoot. He is UConn's best 3 point shooter and playing off the ball is what he does best and like you said there are other players on the team that do that well.

 

[uchusky32]

Needed this win. Great confidence builder going into BE play. LM will only get better. Should be concerning to our opponents. JS has to play more. Has he had a bad game? AK can't press. He is a system guy. 3pt shooter. Has to hit at decent rate to be able to get to the rim on pump fakes. Limited athleticism. Has to play with high IQ and efficency.

Fouling Has to stop. We get beat at top of key. Undercut on drives. Our defensive rebounding isn't what we are used to. We're out of position often and foul trying to get the defensive board.

Our offensive flow would be better if we were better screeners.

 

[Scott2Tate]

Does anyone know if there was a post game presser?

 

[EnochRoot]

The in-game thread is the Chat option on the top menu. Click the carat, and then the second menu item is 'UConn Mens Basketball'. That will launch a tab containing the in-game chat.

 

[Mike Honcho]

That was a really good team we beat. Crowd was awesome.

 

[NIT88]

Absolutely. If we played Colorado now we would destroy them.

Out eight point lead at the half against them would grow to 20 in the 2nd half if we played them now.

 

[bigknight3]

What exactly is wrong with Karaban? He missed all of his 3’s. Didn’t box out on several occasions. Threw the ball away a few times and seemed reluctant to shoot for most of the game.

It's called a bad game. They happen. Took 7 3s was not reluctant to shoot.

And got the late bucket off the fish from Diarra to keep us ahead.

What game did you watch?

 

[bendm]

I think we'll see a more productive Mahaney when he's back in a role he's comfortable in.

But that implies we’re gonna keep using a 10 man rotation. We might for the regular season but I think hurley cuts it to 8 for the tourney and 1 of those 8 needs to be Nowell. Backup PG is our only weakness right now.

 

[HooperScooper]

Do we know how much longer Nowell is out?

Last Saturday, before the Texas game, Hurley said Nowell would be out 10-14 days. He hurt the shoulder the Monday before the Baylor game in practice. So not sure if he meant 10-14 days from last Saturday or the previous Monday. And Hurley almost always ends up being too aggressive with these projections.

So when will he be back? Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[bigknight3]

He was taking terrible shots. Idk if he's just trying too hard to be "the guy"

He was rushing and was way too far off the 3pt line

He took his normal shots... They didn't go down. That is all.

 

[mauconnfan]

I agree Mahaney should be playing off ball, coming off screens.

People are writing off Mahaney just like they did Fagnano (“the worst QB in UConn history”), just like some folks did with AJax before the first natty (people on this site wanted him at the end of the bench or off the team).

So people can run their mouths now (inexplicably, after a big win, when there are so many good things to single out). I look forward to the Mahaney redemption arc in March.

Well stated.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Out of curiosity, if in early November we were told that between Maui and the Baylor/Texas/Gonzaga stretch we would finish 3-3 but the fans could pick the three games we'd win would anyone have chosen differently than what did happen?