Is Solo Ball joining UConn teammates on path to the NBA? | Page 4 | The Boneyard

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

HuskyHawk said:
I think this is part of the perception we have. We see that muscular, body, we know he has great hops, and long arms, so naturally when he attacks the rim we kind of expect Dwayne Wade. We expect him to get up and posterize guys, even bigger guys.

The only thing I can come back to on that also ties into his relative lack of rebounding, I don't think he likes contact very much. Strength aside, he's just not a very physical player.
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I want Dr J.
 
3rdbass said:
Yeah I don't see his great jumping ability in the game too. Sometimes dunks look fugly like he isn't getting proper lift.
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He’s had a couple highlight reel putback dunks.
 
I believe Solo will get drafted just not this year.
IndyLives said:
If Solo listens to Danny, he's a lottery pick next year. The kid wants the ball and is a natural scorer. Just needs another year of development. But, I think he has more upside than Karaban at the next level.
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i love you enthusiasm and I‘m a Ball guy :) but I cannot realistically see Solo becoming a lottery pick.
 
Umami Zen said:
Solo is taking the shots that his coaches want him to and what the offensive sets are designed to provide for him. At a very high percentage. The next level of his development is working on the improvisational part of his game when the offense breaks down and/or when the defense breaks down on an obvious coverage/rotation mistake. His spacing on the perimeter allows the lane to be open for others. Since Maui-I'd say its been working pretty good for us.
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Very good reminder on how our offense is very much designed (and really enjoyable to watch). Very much team oriented and not one on one stuff unless the percentages are there. Coaches are excellent at breaking down defenses.
 
imno1 said:
I believe Solo will get drafted just not this year.

i love you enthusiasm and I‘m a Ball guy :) but I cannot realistically see Solo becoming a lottery pick.
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It’s hard to say that now as his development upside is impossible to gauge. What we know is he has an amazing shot (great start), he’s got terrific length and a great frame. What he’s not is tall, and not as explosive as his body type would suggest. One offseason of getting stronger and working on the floor game could do things that are hard to see now.

He tends to feel a little aloof, but who knows, with a full year and offseason to let it sink in, maybe that develops. It feels like 8-9lbs of muscle could help as his long game will be more about strength than quickness. He doesn’t have particularly quick feet.
 
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Interesting takes on this player. By the end of next year Ball will be a better than average defender have some ability to get to the rim and either make a shot or draw a foul.

When that all happens my guess is that his three point % may drop a bit because he is going to have to sell out in the off season and work on ball handling, which will allow him to penetrate and the easiest fix is his defense. He is too athletic to be such a bad defender. He loses his man and has trouble with the whole ball, you, man pillars of man to man defense. That can be fixed but he will have to show the effort.

If he can make all those things happen and still hit 3’s at a 40% clip and make the big ones, I think he has a chance to be a first round pick. Right now he is shooting 44.7% from 3 on 85 attempts. Sample size gets much larger and it would be tough to make an argument that he is just hot. To me he looks like a pure shooter.

May be a better pure shooter than Hawkins. And we know Hawkins was very streaky.

As I was researching Ball’s stats I saw that AK is shooting 42% from 3. He is so good he is shooting that percentage from 3 and if you would have asked me to evaluate him I would say he is having an average year shooting the ball.
 
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Hunt for 7 said:
Interesting takes on this player. By the end of next year Ball will be a better than average defender have some ability to get to the rim and either make a shot or draw a foul.

When that all happens my guess is that his three point % may drop a bit because he is going to have to sell out in the off season and work on ball handling, which will allow him to penetrate and the easiest fix is his defense. He is too athletic to be such a bad defender. He loses his man and has trouble with the whole ball, you, man pillars of man to man defense. That can be fixed but he will have to show the effort.

If he can make all those things happen and still hit 3’s at a 40% clip and make the big ones, I think he has a chance to be a first round pick. Right now he is shooting 44.7% from 3 on 85 attempts. Sample size gets much larger and it would be tough to make an argument that he is just hot. To me he looks like a pure shooter.

May be a better pure shooter than Hawkins. And we know Hawkins was very streaky.

As I was researching Ball’s stats I saw that AK is shooting 42% from 3. He is so good he is shooting that percentage from 3 and if you would have asked me to evaluate him I would say he is having an average year shooting the ball.
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His defense hadn’t shown any improvement at all. He got beat badly 3-4 times off the dribble against DePaul and also sent a few to the FT line. He needs to make shots to make up for what he gives on the other end. Good news is he makes shots, big shots too. He’s always on his heels needs to be more ready instead of consistently back pedaling and also leave some space as his first reaction step is slow. Way too athletic not to get better but it needs to happen soon. Loved the 6 rebounds the other day he stuck his nose in more than prior and that’s a great sign.
 
mauconnfan said:
His defense hadn’t shown any improvement at all. He got beat badly 3-4 times off the dribble against DePaul and also sent a few to the FT line. He needs to make shots to make up for what he gives on the other end. Good news is he makes shots, big shots too. He’s always on his heels needs to be more ready instead of consistently back pedaling and also leave some space as his first reaction step is slow. Way too athletic not to get better but it needs to happen soon. Loved the 6 rebounds the other day he stuck his nose in more than prior and that’s a great sign.
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I think Danny will get him to improve defensively. And now without Liam for a month Ball is going to have to step up. Stewart is going to have to step up. And dare I say this may an opportunity for Nowell. We are going to need ball handlers and there are only so many minutes Mahaney can play before his size and defensive short comings start being a problem.
 
Hunt for 7 said:
I think Danny will get him to improve defensively. And now without Liam for a month Ball is going to have to step up. Stewart is going to have to step up. And dare I say this may an opportunity for Nowell. We are going to need ball handlers and there are only so many minutes Mahaney can play before his size and defensive short comings start being a problem.
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Nowell as well as Abraham may get some chances to earn more PT. Their depth will need to be real good now or a couple guys a game will need to step up. We could struggle in the half court against good defensive teams especially if Alex and Solo aren’t making shots. Mahaney needs to be good and be the guy Dan expected.
 
mauconnfan said:
Nowell as well as Abraham may get some chances to earn more PT. Their depth will need to be real good now or a couple guys a game will need to step up. We could struggle in the half court against good defensive teams especially if Alex and Solo aren’t making shots. Mahaney needs to be good and be the guy Dan expected.
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I’m actually kind of excited to see how this all unfolds and am optimistic the team will respond and surprise, in a good way. Will be curious to see where Hurleys confidence lies with the bench.
 
RuffRuff said:
I’m actually kind of excited to see how this all unfolds and am optimistic the team will respond and surprise, in a good way. Will be curious to see where Hurleys confidence lies with the bench.
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I hate it, we only have Liam for 1 season and he's going to miss a significant chunk of it.
 
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RuffRuff said:
I’m actually kind of excited to see how this all unfolds and am optimistic the team will respond and surprise, in a good way. Will be curious to see where Hurleys confidence lies with the bench.
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superjohn said:
I hate it, we only have Liam for 1 season and he's going to miss a significant chunk of it.
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I'll reserve judgement until I see how things play out. If it ends up accelerating the development of Jayden, Jaylin and Aidan's development and we avoid losses it could be a blessing. But I really wish it didn't happen.
 
ctchamps said:
I'll reserve judgement until I see how things play out. If it ends up accelerating the development of Jayden, Jaylin and Aidan's development and we avoid losses it could be a blessing. But I really wish it didn't happen.
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No one wishes a kid gets hurt - but it can often show team makeup. And yeah it stinks we miss some of his only season, the risk you take with a OAD. As long as he’s here for a great March run, I’m ok with it and will be happy watching him do his phone call in the NBA representing the Wolfpack. Some fans don’t get to see anyone like McNeeley for any part of any season. Sh@t happens, still lucky. Some of the reason behind the injury is he plays so hard.
 
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