Is Solo Ball joining UConn teammates on path to the NBA?

[HooperScooper]

Article from Borges. Interesting part is that Hurley sees the same things we point out on here. So we're not as stupid as some people think.

"We need his development as a guy that can put it on the floor, play off his shot-fake, off a live-dribble," Hurley said. "People will be running at him at the line. As a straight-line driver, he has the athleticism to start to attack the rim with force."

"I think I'm going to see some things (on film) on defense where he was beaten off the dribble," Hurley cautioned. "I'm a coach, man. So much of what we're going to become is based on how these sophomores develop. Solo's going to have games where he makes five, six, seven 3's like this. That's not surprising."

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/solo-ball-dan-hurley-uconn-huskies-20010995.php

Alternate access:

Is sophomore Solo Ball joining UConn men's basketball teammates on path to the NBA?​

 

[ctchamps]

Article from Borges. Interesting part is that Hurley sees the same things we point out on here. So we're not as stupid as some people think.

"We need his development as a guy that can put it on the floor, play off his shot-fake, off a live-dribble," Hurley said. "People will be running at him at the line. As a straight-line driver, he has the athleticism to start to attack the rim with force."

"I think I'm going to see some things (on film) on defense where he was beaten off the dribble," Hurley cautioned. "I'm a coach, man. So much of what we're going to become is based on how these sophomores develop. Solo's going to have games where he makes five, six, seven 3's like this. That's not surprising."

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/solo-ball-dan-hurley-uconn-huskies-20010995.php

Alternate access:

Is sophomore Solo Ball joining UConn men's basketball teammates on path to the NBA?​

Wrote the following about Solo an hour ago:

This season he's an integral part of the offense. They have him running around the court, setting picks for him to free him up. It appears they are now pushing Solo to drive to the basket and not worry about getting blocked. He did this more in this game than any I can recall. He failed at every attempt but it's obvious, at least to me, they never told him to stop. I believe once he gets proficient at this they'll work on his playmaking.

 

[Palatine]

Solo is "only" 6-3 but he has a 6-10 wingspan and 40 inch vertical which are NBA attributes. Watch his three point shot. He releases the ball at the top of his jump. His action is easily repeatable. He shouldn't have long slumps.

He isn't that far away from being an elite player. He just needs to play with more of a purpose on defense. He is still a little hectic.

 

[ctbro1999]

Article from Borges. Interesting part is that Hurley sees the same things we point out on here. So we're not as stupid as some people think.

"We need his development as a guy that can put it on the floor, play off his shot-fake, off a live-dribble," Hurley said. "People will be running at him at the line. As a straight-line driver, he has the athleticism to start to attack the rim with force."

"I think I'm going to see some things (on film) on defense where he was beaten off the dribble," Hurley cautioned. "I'm a coach, man. So much of what we're going to become is based on how these sophomores develop. Solo's going to have games where he makes five, six, seven 3's like this. That's not surprising."

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/solo-ball-dan-hurley-uconn-huskies-20010995.php

Alternate access:

Is sophomore Solo Ball joining UConn men's basketball teammates on path to the NBA?​

He's definitely the most dangerous guy on our team in that he can "go nuclear" at any time. I think if he just keeps working at the other facets of his game (defense, ball handling driving to the hoop) he'll become that much better. But if he keeps shooting the 3 at a 45% clip, I think some NBA team will take a chance on him even if he still has some warts.

What is the difference between Solo this year and Reed Sheppard (#3 drat pick) last year?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Him and Andre Jackson are enigmas. Incredible athletes with great physical profiles, yet really struggle finishing at the rim. It’s very confusing to me.

 

[ucp990411]

Article from Borges. Interesting part is that Hurley sees the same things we point out on here. So we're not as stupid as some people think.

"We need his development as a guy that can put it on the floor, play off his shot-fake, off a live-dribble," Hurley said. "People will be running at him at the line. As a straight-line driver, he has the athleticism to start to attack the rim with force."

"I think I'm going to see some things (on film) on defense where he was beaten off the dribble," Hurley cautioned. "I'm a coach, man. So much of what we're going to become is based on how these sophomores develop. Solo's going to have games where he makes five, six, seven 3's like this. That's not surprising."

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/solo-ball-dan-hurley-uconn-huskies-20010995.php

Alternate access:

Is sophomore Solo Ball joining UConn men's basketball teammates on path to the NBA?​

Or maybe the coaches aren’t as dumb as some people here think they are

 

[jibsey]

Solo is doing great shooting and rebounding and the criticism here is defense and playmaking assists. He had 22 points and 6 boards in 25 minutes.
The way I see it is that his role on offense is to free himself for 3’s which he is better at than anyone including Alex at doing. If he’s running off screens to receive the ball and shoot his assists will be limited, and Hass has that covered. Defensively he is in front of opponents best guards who were cut off from shooting 3’s yesterday. Naturally they drove to the rim and he tried to defend best he could but yes he fouled and yes they made some layups. It kinda worked the way Hurley wanted it to.

He’s played basically 2 months out of a 5 month sophomore year and he’s being sized up for NBA like he has major horrible deficiencies.
The kid is developing and improving a lot. He’s not NBA ready after a year and a third, so what?

Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton went to the NBA after 3 years. After a year and a third at UConn were they lottery picks? This board is insane but everyone knows that.

 

[Incursio007]

For my Celtics fans - maybe a bigger, more athletic, Eddie House as a comp?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Him and Andre Jackson are enigmas. Incredible athletes with great physical profiles, yet really struggle finishing at the rim. It’s very confusing to me.

There’s a trend of players here that struggle to finish at the rim unless they were naturals coming out of HS.

Hawkins, Jackson, now Ball and Ross.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Wrote the following about Solo an hour ago:

This season he's an integral part of the offense. They have him running around the court, setting picks for him to free him up. It appears they are now pushing Solo to drive to the basket and not worry about getting blocked. He did this more in this game than any I can recall. He failed at every attempt but it's obvious, at least to me, they never told him to stop. I believe once he gets proficient at this they'll work on his playmaking.

Now that he’s able to make plays without worrying about making mistakes, development can happen! Happy to see Solo start to work on this more and more.

A lot of his issues would be fixed by improving his handle tbh. Being able to have the ball on a rope would naturally help his playmaking and finishing.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

There’s a trend of players here that struggle to finish at the rim unless they were naturals coming out of HS.

Hawkins, Jackson, now Ball and Ross.

Hawk and Ross aren’t the athletes/specimens that AJ and Solo are

 

[HooperScooper]

Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton went to the NBA after 3 years. After a year and a third at UConn were they lottery picks?

Back then, no. In today's world they absolutely would be.

 

[aceboon]

Hawk and Ross aren’t the athletes/specimens that AJ and Solo are

this is not meant to bash Solo because I'm more than happy with his play so far considering he barely played last season once conference play began, but when I see UConn fans rave about Solo's athleticism, where are you seeing this actually pop out during games? When Solo does shot fake or is driven off the line and drives to the rim I've yet to see him attack the rim as hard as Hawk did during some of his dunks or missed dunks. I don't see the quick twitch when he attempts to elevate.

 

[uconnfan68]

He's definitely the most dangerous guy on our team in that he can "go nuclear" at any time. I think if he just keeps working at the other facets of his game (defense, ball handling driving to the hoop) he'll become that much better. But if he keeps shooting the 3 at a 45% clip, I think some NBA team will take a chance on him even if he still has some warts.

What is the difference between Solo this year and Reed Sheppard (#3 drat pick) last year?

Sheppard was a good ballhandler.

 

[aceboon]

He's definitely the most dangerous guy on our team in that he can "go nuclear" at any time. I think if he just keeps working at the other facets of his game (defense, ball handling driving to the hoop) he'll become that much better. But if he keeps shooting the 3 at a 45% clip, I think some NBA team will take a chance on him even if he still has some warts.

What is the difference between Solo this year and Reed Sheppard (#3 drat pick) last year?

defense, passing, and just overall feel for the game

 

[ctbro1999]

defense, passing, and just overall feel for the game

I feel like Sheppard's defense was criticized more often than not last year. And it seems (in sparse minutes) he's been getting chewed up by opposing players in the NBA this year.

 

[UCLJ0211]

Him and Andre Jackson are enigmas. Incredible athletes with great physical profiles, yet really struggle finishing at the rim. It’s very confusing to me.

Unfortunately being named Solo Ball isn’t setting him up for success with finishing at the rim.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Hawk and Ross aren’t the athletes/specimens that AJ and Solo are

They aren’t 1%s but they’re like 5-10%s

 

[superjohn]

this is not meant to bash Solo because I'm more than happy with his play so far considering he barely played last season once conference play began, but when I see UConn fans rave about Solo's athleticism, where are you seeing this actually pop out during games? When Solo does shot fake or is driven off the line and drives to the rim I've yet to see him attack the rim as hard as Hawk did during some of his dunks or missed dunks. I don't see the quick twitch when he attempts to elevate.

He has better measurables than Hawkins in terms of strength, wingspan, vertical but he doesn't really seem to have any of the quick twitch or the lateral quickness of Hawkins, at least he hasn't really shown any of it in games. The interesting thing is Hawkins hit more high degree of difficulty closely guarded threes off of movement on the catch than Solo, Hawkins is exceptional at that but Solo is a signifcantly better three point shooter than Hawkins when he has some space or is wide open.

 

[aceboon]

I feel like Sheppard's defense was criticized more often than not last year. And it seems (in sparse minutes) he's been getting chewed up by opposing players in the NBA this year.

this wasn't true at the college level, his defense on pnr coverage/ball screens could be spotty at times but he was pretty elite at playing passing lanes and averaged over 3 stocks a game. A rookie guard on the smaller side struggling to defend at the NBA level is not some kind of shock, it happens more often than not until they adjust or they don't play.

 

[BGesus4]

Unfortunately being named Solo Ball isn’t setting him up for success with finishing at the rim.

he’s gotta start using both

 

[Brochacho]

NBA jumper AAU defense. I think he’s a pro - defense is fixable.

 

[Kembacity]

Him and Andre Jackson are enigmas. Incredible athletes with great physical profiles, yet really struggle finishing at the rim. It’s very confusing to me.

It shouldn’t be understated how difficult it is to gracefully roll the ball off your fingers with the right spin for the angle you’re coming in at while you’re running at full speed and bouncing against bodies in the paint.

Hoping all of you guys understand the game of basketball and have played it so you don’t sit at home on your couch shouting at a 20 year old kid for missing “at the rim”.

 

[ctbro1999]

Man, it's cray just how good our team was last year. Our starting 5 (Newton, Spencer, Castle, Karaban, Clingan) all ranked in the top 20 overall on Evanmiya.com, and Clingan, Newton, and Spencer were top 7. Diarra was 43rd for good measure.

This year Evanmiya's rankings aren't nearly as kind...only Diarra and Karaban are top 50 (47th, 49th). McNeeley is 52nd and no one else in the top 100.

 

[Kembacity]

this is not meant to bash Solo because I'm more than happy with his play so far considering he barely played last season once conference play began, but when I see UConn fans rave about Solo's athleticism, where are you seeing this actually pop out during games? When Solo does shot fake or is driven off the line and drives to the rim I've yet to see him attack the rim as hard as Hawk did during some of his dunks or missed dunks. I don't see the quick twitch when he attempts to elevate.

I feel like when he rebounds he jumps absurdly high. Someone else pointed out the height he releases his jumper from. Solo is athletic, it would be crazy to say he lacks athleticism. Maybe you can see he gets beat and blown by and his feet need to be quicker, but to call him not athletic is wild