Hurley has touted Jayden Ross for two years. Can the UConn junior expand his role? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Hurley has touted Jayden Ross for two years. Can the UConn junior expand his role?

husky429 said:
I'm confused where this idea of Ross as a solid defender came from. It's not embedded in reality. He's long and quick--hasn't put it together when it matters.

Ross has been a practice star. Needs to shine when the lights turn on now.
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I don’t think he’s a great defender but he will need to become one for playing time, at least IMO.
 
husky429 said:
I'm confused where this idea of Ross as a solid defender came from. It's not embedded in reality. He's long and quick--hasn't put it together when it matters.

Ross has been a practice star. Needs to shine when the lights turn on now.
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It is not necessarily my opinion but Hurley has said on multiple occasions that he expects Ross to be just that, a lock down defender. Clearly we really have not seen that in games to date. But Hurley’s opinion has to matter from a fans perspective.

I agree as a junior you have to perform in games not practice. I hope this year he figures out how to bring the practice player to the game.

However even if he (Ross) gets there I don’t see him keeping Mullins out if the starting lineup up for the whole year. Although I do love the idea of Mullins being instant offense off the bench.

My guess is that we will be complaining about Hurley starting Ross over Mullins in the same fashion we all wanted to see Reed Jr start in front of SJ. With the only difference being Mullins will eventually be a starter IMO.
 
Hunt for 7 said:
It is not necessarily my opinion but Hurley has said on multiple occasions that he expects Ross to be just that, a lock down defender. Clearly we really have not seen that in games to date. But Hurley’s opinion has to matter from a fans perspective.

I agree as a junior you have to perform in games not practice. I hope this year he figures out how to bring the practice player to the game.

However even if he (Ross) gets there I don’t see him keeping Mullins out if the starting lineup up for the whole year. Although I do love the idea of Mullins being instant offense off the bench.

My guess is that we will be complaining about Hurley starting Ross over Mullins in the same fashion we all wanted to see Reed Jr start in front of SJ. With the only difference being Mullins will eventually be a starter IMO.
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Potential =/= performance. For whatever reason this kid isn't putting it together under the lights. We heard great things about practice last summer and he was a disappointment compared to expectations. Hopefully that doesn't become a trend.
 
I hope Ross succeeds, from admittedly a limited view, I was always more impressed by Isiah Abraham. But, Hurley seems to see something in Ross that did not jump out on my eye test.
Overall, I think our biggest issue is a backup for Reed, especially since we lack a muscular power forward type. We better hope Reed cleans up his high hedge fouling, so he can stay on the court more. Teams will scheme this season to get Reed in foul trouble.
 
Chief00 said:
I hope Ross succeeds, from admittedly a limited view, I was always more impressed by Isiah Abraham. But, Hurley seems to see something in Ross that did not jump out on my eye test.
Overall, I think our biggest issue is a backup for Reed, especially since we lack a muscular power forward type. We better hope Reed cleans up his high hedge fouling, so he can stay on the court more. Teams will scheme this season to get Reed in foul trouble.
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I think Dan needs to help on the clean up of Reed and his high hedge. Ask less of him just a quick pop out and stay home. His minutes are more important than the occasional help out there.

By the way I agree on the Abraham comment and I hope we never regret that.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
I think he's got a double leap potential and great to hear that he's addressing the mental aspect. We've seen glimpses of the athleticism in games, yet its translated to making one acrobatic layup or unexpected block. It absolutely sounds like Ross impacts scrimmages with much more frequency. Quite reasonable to project a mental and physical maturity dramatically increasing his on court production.
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DRBackup said:
He was bad, defensively, from being too amped up. He wouldn't just go for fakes, he's literally jump out of the play completely. That is absolutely mental and not effort.
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100% to both comments.

His mental gaffs last season only occurred because he cares so much. Smart kids like Jayden also have a higher correlation/causation of overthinking things, so having a mental skills coach can help do wonders to his game, as well as his pre- and post-game mindset.
 
Chief00 said:
I hope Ross succeeds, from admittedly a limited view, I was always more impressed by Isiah Abraham. But, Hurley seems to see something in Ross that did not jump out on my eye test.
Overall, I think our biggest issue is a backup for Reed, especially since we lack a muscular power forward type. We better hope Reed cleans up his high hedge fouling, so he can stay on the court more. Teams will scheme this season to get Reed in foul trouble.
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The few seconds garbage time we actually saw Isiah Abraham were fine but without seeing workouts or practices with him how could we compare the two? The only thing I could guess was that Hurley did not like him as much.
 
husky429 said:
I'm confused where this idea of Ross as a solid defender came from. It's not embedded in reality. He's long and quick--hasn't put it together when it matters.

Ross has been a practice star. Needs to shine when the lights turn on now.
Expand ...
He’s got the tools and shown flashes but yeah, the mental side of it and defensive skills are far from good right now. That said, I don’t have to squint to hard to see him turning into a defensive stopper off the bench. But it’s going to take a lot of development from what we’ve seen
 
husky429 said:
Potential =/= performance. For whatever reason this kid isn't putting it together under the lights.
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He said that he is "overthinking" during the games. He also said that he does his best when he just relaxes and plays. I'm guessing that is going to be Hurley's theme with him at least early on. I think that we may see a longer leash in the preseason, at least in games other than against marquee competition.
 
DRBackup said:
Fact is, the mental side of the game is what separates you from being good vs great, or good vs average, or average vs bad. I've felt it myself in pickup level competition. I'm sure for someone with the kind of athleticism that Ross has, he hasn't needed that mental edge to stand out before.
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This, I could not agree more. When a player has all the physical skills and I think most of us would agree Jayden has the necessary athleticism and ability, and as they move up in competition one of the biggest challenges is the mental aspect of the game.

Usually it is related to confidence and belief that you are good enough to keep up at the new level. I think if somehow Jayden exorcises some of those mental issues there is a chance that he could break out.

I know you can’t necessarily go into a season thinking he is an answer when there or so many ifs. But if he does figure it out it just adds another dimension to a roster that looks pretty good.

Still wish we could pick up one more front court player with size a real 6’9” or 6’10” or even taller that is a rebounder and average rim protector. If we do that it is tough to see a hole in that roster construction.

My only concern is that last year we were pretty confident in our roster. And then the only sophomore that really took a jump was Ball. But we already saw that early in his freshman year when he filled in for Castle.
 
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I see his talent. I have loved his potential since his freshman year but this year he needs to be consistent and put it all together. The same as Stewart. I love Stewart's game. He can make tremendous passes. He can defend, he can shoot, he can run, he can jump, literally both of them have LOADS of potential but one of them needs to put it all together and get better on the court. I think they can and I think they will but maybe I'm just the eternal optimist.
 
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Some athletes amaze in practice and fizzle during real comp.
Coaches need to realize this and after a while you simply can't coach a player out of those limelight freezes
 
Chin Diesel said:
This falls in to the fool me once........................ category. Until we see Ross on the court consistently, it's the same ole same ole.
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I liked because I know what you are saying. But in the summer, all things are possible. Like gaining 20 pounds of solid muscle.
 
Odds favor a jump from Soph to Junior. Solo was a rare Frosh to Soph jump.

By jump I mean increase in game skill (whether shooting, defense, rebounding, or some combination).

  • Stewart - looks most likely to make biggest jump Soph -> Junior
  • Ross - hopefully will make his biggest jump Soph -> Junior
  • Ball - would be happy with even a modest jump Soph -> Junior
 
mauconnfan said:
Guessing they feel Koroma may be able to give them some of those minutes?
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As of today yes, that would be the answer. But I’d prefer an actual big with some rim protecting ability. I’m still holding out hope for Larry O.
 
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