Help me out! I am profoundly biased men’s basketball fan! | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Help me out! I am profoundly biased men’s basketball fan!

jibsey said:
Without Newton dropping in3s from everywhere this game wouldn't have been that close even with a shot to win it.
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We didn’t match KU’s intensity early. First true road game, crowd going crazy, Spencer started hobbling around, and KU kinda jumped us. It smelled like a blowout loss, but Newton kept us afloat, we took that punch and actually outscored them by 20 in the middle part of the game. Then they hit us with an 11-0 run in lIke 90 seconds and we almost overcame that punch too, but didn’t get a late foul call on Diarra and missed our last shot.

Newton‘s performance couldn’t be duplicated, but Spencer would be better next time, and Kansas shot 9-14 from 3 in that game which is a total outlier for them too.

If (and I consider it an “if“ since I’m not seeing it yet) Castle becomes the type of lottery pick talent we are hoping for, he was in theory a missing piece in that game. Only because KU was switching 1-4 and we didn’t really have someone who could attack a mismatch. Castle on his game could use his size on their point guard or attack their 4 man off the dribble. When we weren’t able to attack their switching D, we were left with Newton improvising a few times.
 
Gurleyman said:
We didn’t match KU’s intensity early. First true road game, crowd going crazy, Spencer started hobbling around, and KU kinda jumped us. It smelled like a blowout loss, but Newton kept us afloat, we took that punch and actually outscored them by 20 in the middle part of the game. Then they hit us with an 11-0 run in lIke 90 seconds and we almost overcame that punch too, but didn’t get a late foul call on Diarra and missed our last shot.

Newton‘s performance couldn’t be duplicated, but Spencer would be better next time, and Kansas shot 9-14 from 3 in that game which is a total outlier for them too.

If (and I consider it an “if“ since I’m not seeing it yet) Castle becomes the type of lottery pick talent we are hoping for, he was in theory a missing piece in that game. Only because KU was switching 1-4 and we didn’t really have someone who could attack a mismatch. Castle on his game could use his size on their point guard or attack their 4 man off the dribble. When we weren’t able to attack their switching D, we were left with Newton improvising a few times.
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Yeah, I think we tend to make some false assumptions about Castle out and Cam being hurt. Newton was dropping guarded 3s from the next area code as the clock wound down, Bilas kept talking about just how many tough shots he made. Others made some very tough shots too. Missed FTs is what really hurt us. Every game plays out differently. On a neutral court, my guess is UConn is favored by 1.5. Anybody saying it would be an easy win for UConn is not being realistic.

We are getting better. KU is getting better. Purdue is getting better. Kentucky is getting better. There are lots of dangerous teams out there. The main reason I think both UConn and Kansas are really tough outs in the tournament is experience. Kansas has Harris, Dickenson and McCullar, all seniors or seniors+ with talent. We have Newton, Spencer and Karaban (nominally a RS sophomore, but as old as seniors). Even Diarra is showing it.
 
HuskyHawk said:
We are getting better. KU is getting better. Purdue is getting better. Kentucky is getting better
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Different teams have more or less room for growth. I think Kentucky can grow to be a major title contender by the end of the year. OTOH, I don't think there will be much difference between the Purdue we see in March and Purdue now.
 
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Rocktheworld said:
I’m worried about Clingan and Johnson getting into foul trouble in BE play
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We still have Youseff in reserve for a couple of fouls or more. If he can just play D he could help out with spelling AK a bit as well. Hope to see him get some minutes when Big East play starts.
 
dennismenace said:
We still have Youseff in reserve for a couple of fouls or more. If he can just play D he could help out with spelling AK a bit as well. Hope to see him get some minutes when Big East play starts.
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Hurley uses his bigs for a lot more than sitting in the paint on defense. You trust him to play the offensive role that SJ and DC play, facilitating high screens frequently with the ball in their hands? The offense will have to be completely different if he goes in. I think there’s a reason he hasn’t even seen the floor against cupcakes until garbage time.
 
HailUConn said:
Not a knock on Samson, Ball or much improved Hassan, but it’s quite discernible that our secondary unit this year is not as strong and experienced as last year with veterans like Joey, Hassan, Alleyene and Clingan in both offense and defense.
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Joey and Spencer are pretty much interchangeable on offense, but Joey did have a definite edge on D.
A "much improved" (your words) Hassan is better than last year's Hassan.
I'll take Ball over Alleyne every day of the week.
How can you call last year's Clingan a "veteran"? He was a freshman. Due to injury, Samson doesn't have the level of D1 experience we'd prefer, but he still came into this season with more experience than Clingan brought last year.
 
RichZ said:
Not unlike it had to change when DC came in for Adama last year.
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First off, something tells me he isn’t as good as DC was last year.

Secondly, I don’t remember DC not being at the top of the arc handling the ball while setting pics and facilitating offense
 
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….no glaring weaknesses but areas to improve on:

Perimeter 3-point defense
Guarding the four spot
Defending against a dribble drive guard.

…….staying healthy
 
Rocktheworld said:
Hurley uses his bigs for a lot more than sitting in the paint on defense. You trust him to play the offensive role that SJ and DC play, facilitating high screens frequently with the ball in their hands? The offense will have to be completely different if he goes in. I think there’s a reason he hasn’t even seen the floor against cupcakes until garbage time.
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I didn't say he was as capable as DC or SJ.

I think Dan Hurley is very much more aware of his limitations than you or I am.

It obviously isn't high on his priorities at this time.

Dan Hurley knows exactly when and how to use him. We don't. Just saying. The situation could arise and Dan Hurley will know how and when then. That's all I am saying. The fouls situation could well arise and he has to be prepared for that eventuality should it arise.
 
MuchoDogYears said:
This^
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. It’s good Hurley knows this and will ramp it up before March. we need 6 wins for 5e tournament. My nightmare is facing a team we are favored against having the game of his life shooting 3’s. See Kansas game when McCullers shot 7-9 from 3 while coming into the game shorting less than 30%.
Lock down 3 defense needed during crunch time
 
Excalibur said:
Stopping dribble penetration, streaky 3 point shooting, frontcourt depth.

A very short list in comparison to most teams even in the top 10.
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All three of these were exposed last night.
 
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