Hassan Diarra Commits to UConn | Page 5 | The Boneyard

Hassan Diarra Commits to UConn

I hope you're right and I'm wrong, as I always welcome the idea that a new Husky is much better than I think. Admittedly, I haven't watched much of his HS tape (only highlight reels) and I don't know how he looked practicing with the team last semester.

I am fairly certain of a few things, though:

Newton, A-Jax and Sanogo will have to feast on minutes if this team is going to be any good. Samson will need to approach 20 mpg, or else there is a serious chance of him leaving. He's too talented. I don't know where that leaves Karaban, minutes-wise.

The lineup I proposed above- with A-Jax at the 4- puts three legitimate shooters in the starting lineup, which I believe is what Hurley is going for this season. If Karaban is to force his way to 20 mpg, that means he'll be shooting the lights out coming out of practices and OOC play. I'd be here for it!
In terms of Johnson and Karaban, I think they're going to be treated as equals going into the Fall, i.e. Johnson has no edge on Karaban. The chips will fall where they may over the season and if one wants to transfer because he didn't get enough minutes then you tip your hat and say good luck. My bet is that Karaban is the better player now and will be in the future as well. Time will tell.
 
He’s not capable of playing POINT guard, but he is capable of playing POINT forward. He can either play the point or he can’t. This opinion makes zero sense.
Point forward and PG are too different positions. Point fowards normally plays a the high post and and make passes into the big man while PG are more of a penetrator with a threat of dishing it off or being able to score off the dribble. PF normally aren't dribbling the ball as much as a PG and making any kind of key decisions on how to run the offense, Andre can be a 2nd ball handler but I don't see him as the main guy running the offense every play. I just see him more of a DHAM than a KW or Khalid if you understand my point.
 
When was the last time a Freshman played 15 minutes at the start of the season at UCONN?
Not a regular freshman. He practiced with the team last year. Remember Corey Floyd who like Karaban practiced with team last year was told by Hurley he would probably get 15 minutes a game and Floyd wanting more PT transferred to Providence. Karaban is a perfect fit for the 4 Out offense. Barring injury I would be shocked if he's not playing at least 15 min at the onset
 
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You'd have to go all the way back to the 2022 season, in Jordan Hawkins. And before him you'd have to go all the way back to Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson in the 2021 season
None of them started the season at 15 minutes a game.

I hope Karaban knocks it out of the park, I just see us hoping and planning for the best possible outcome every year and then being disappointed but only bc our expectations are unreasonable.

But this is the Boneyard.
 
None of them started the season at 15 minutes a game.
Here is Hawkins's Game Log, the left-most number is minutes.

Even if you ignore the cupcake games, he played 15, 18, 13, 28, and 20 minutes against good teams in November and December.


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None of them started the season at 15 minutes a game.

I hope Karaban knocks it out of the park, I just see us hoping and planning for the best possible outcome every year and then being disappointed but only bc our expectations are unreasonable.

But this is the Boneyard.
All 3 of them did, I checked before I listed them. But don't let facts get in the way of your argument
 
Not a regular freshman. He practiced with the team last year. Remember Corey Floyd who like Karaban practiced with team last year was told by Hurley he would probably get 15 minutes a game and Floyd wanting more PT transferred to Providence. Karaban is a perfect fit for the 4 Out offense. Barring injury I would be shocked if he's not playing at least 15 min at the onset
Is there a quote or post from Hurley saying Floyd would only get 15mins per game? Honestly, how much more could he expect?
 
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Is there a quote or post from Hurley saying Floyd would only get 15mins per game? Honestly, how much more could he expect?
Floyd was told he would probably redshirt. That guy is making ish up.
 
OP said to start the season. I think the point is it has often taken Hurley some time to trust the freshman even when they are clearly our top talents.
He did say to start the season, and I encourage you to go look at what @Get a Job just posted to see that in all 3 cases it was true to start the season
 
He did say to start the season, and I encourage you to go look at what @Get a Job just posted to see that in all 3 cases it was true to start the season
Jackson played 8 mpg before coming back to a team without Bouknight. Sanogo played 12 mpg his first 9 games and didn't play over 20 min until his 10th game. Hawkins I guess kind of fits your criteria but even the majority of his minutes were when Tyrese was out.
 
Is there a quote or post from Hurley saying Floyd would only get 15mins per game? Honestly, how much more could he expect?
There’s also a quote from Cooley saying he has no idea how many minutes Cory will play, if any. I guess we will see.
 
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You mean the guy playing the point?
Yes, I don't see him as a break them down type of PG who can just run the offense. He is really just an extra ball handler who make good passes especially from the high post.
 
Is there a quote or post from Hurley saying Floyd would only get 15mins per game? Honestly, how much more could he expect?
Neither Floyd nor Hurley have said exactly why he left. So @SaeHusky is just assuming this. Hurley just said he told all the players his plans for taking transfers and that caused some players to leave (assumed to be Diggins and Floyd).
 
Yes, I don't see him as a break them down type of PG who can just run the offense. He is really just an extra ball handler who make good passes especially from the high post.
I can't get into this again but what you're describing is not a point forward. I'm not going to get into my disagreement with that conclusion because it's been hashed out here so much and clearly you and Dan Hurley vastly disagree on that point.
 
I can't get into this again but what you're describing is not a point forward. I'm not going to get into my disagreement with that conclusion because it's been hashed out here so much and clearly you and Dan Hurley vastly disagree on that point.
Haha we do? ok that is good to know. DHAM was more of a PG than AJ is due to his ability to break down defenders. Right now AJ doesn't have that ability at all. There is a reason why many people are mentioning AJ as the 4 and why we have now gotten a guy who can backup TN at the point in Diarra.
 
I can't get into this again but what you're describing is not a point forward. I'm not going to get into my disagreement with that conclusion because it's been hashed out here so much and clearly you and Dan Hurley vastly disagree on that point.
Yeah, I don't get this. For all the "the game has changed" stuff directed at me about liking forwards on the team, this shows a complete misunderstanding of the fact that the traditional "point guard" is also a dinosaur position. Hurley used the word "facilitator". That's the current reality. You are either a guy who is good at creating shots for others or you aren't. He is. Newton is. Alleyne might be.

The focus on a "break them down" PG is a throwback to ISO basketball. Most shots are now supposed to be created by ball movement and spacing. Only if that fails does somebody need to beat their man off the dribble. And yes, Andre can certainly do that. The motion and passing should causes switches, and the offense should attack any mismatches. Andre is very much a mismatch against both small guards and many bigs.
 
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I like all these kids … a lot … don’t get me wrong - but unless Hawkins and Karaban (and Alleyne to some extent) shoot the ball consistently well next year we’ll continue to struggle with an outside game. If we’re going to be a 4 out 1 in team, gotta have that outside shooting working.
 
Yeah, I don't get this. For all the "the game has changed" stuff directed at me about liking forwards on the team, this shows a complete misunderstanding of the fact that the traditional "point guard" is also a dinosaur position. Hurley used the word "facilitator". That's the current reality. You are either a guy who is good at creating shots for others or you aren't. He is. Newton is. Alleyne might be.

The focus on a "break them down" PG is a throwback to ISO basketball. Most shots are now supposed to be created by ball movement and spacing. Only if that fails does somebody need to beat their man off the dribble. And yes, Andre can certainly do that. The motion and passing should causes switches, and the offense should attack any mismatches. Andre is very much a mismatch against both small guards and many bigs.
Andre's problem is he hasn't shown he can break his man down and finish. He can straight line drive past his man but when he gets near the rim he doesn't know what to do with it. He needs to make a big jump in this area for next year, Hawkins also needs to make the jump in this area. You simply need guards who can score in the paint.
 
Diarra is the example of where stats don't matter. He takes tough shots with the game on the line. This has been a problem over the last few years, guys taking big shots at the end of game with conviction. Cole was the closest we had to it, he's gone. Closers are important - we just got one.
 
Jackson played 8 mpg before coming back to a team without Bouknight. Sanogo played 12 mpg his first 9 games and didn't play over 20 min until his 10th game. Hawkins I guess kind of fits your criteria but even the majority of his minutes were when Tyrese was out.
Sure, when you completely change the criteria of the discussion my examples don't fit your completely different narrative you want to spin
 
I admit I see it differently, I felt he didn't back down from the moment as much as he didn't have the goods. He wasn't backing down in the MD game and that was the closest he had to a "moment".

It certainly seemed like Gaff was tentative and was easily rattled by a mistake. There were very occasional flashes of his athleticism where you’d nod your head like “why doesn’t he do that more often?” I imagine the lack of playing time also did not help for someone where confidence is not a strength.
 
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