Johnson out indefinitely

[Huskyforlife]

Karaban didn't start game 1 because he was dinged up with the ankles and missed practice time leading up to it.

He played 29 minutes against stonehill. That makes no sense.

 

[superjohn]

He played 29 minutes against stonehill. That makes no sense.

He played 29 minutes because he was healthy and great out there, Samson didn't look so good.

 

[donyell34]

Some of you are underestimating Johnson on a small sample size. He was and still is an important piece. I just would like to see what he really is with consistent court time. Hoping to see a healthy Samson soon.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Some of you are underestimating Johnson on a small sample size. He was and still is an important piece. I just would like to see what he really is with consistent court time. Hoping to see a healthy Samson soon.

Agreed, but Karaban's play fits well with Sanogo. He looks good at the 4 as of now

 

[Huskyforlife]

He played 29 minutes because he was healthy and great out there, Samson didn't look so good.

But you see how that contradicts your point about his health keeping him from starting.

 

[superjohn]

But you see how that contradicts your point about his health keeping him from starting.

No. He was healthy for the game. He wasn't healthy for a couple of weeks before the game and missed a lot of practices.

 

[Umami Zen]

Irrespective of Samson's upside.. Because of his injury and its undefined timeline. If I'm AK.. Balls to the wall and try to establish myself as DH's solution at the 4 as a starter.

 

[BGesus4]

If Sampson is out "indefinitely" it may be Richie Springs that fills up the minutes. He could be a more than an acceptable substitute in the interim. We are very deep.

If springs ends up carving out a meaningful role we will have two of the best individual player stories back to back with him and pork chop

 

[Umami Zen]

If springs ends up carving out a meaningful role we will have two of the best individual player stories back to back with him and pork chop

Richie will never be spectacular.. But he will be solid

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Sometimes I feel like indefinitely can mean whatever you want it to mean.

It can. Taken literally it means "there is no time frame for return." Such a construct is consistent with both of the following:
1. There is a timeframe, but the organization or individual declines to disclose it.
2. There is no timeframe at the time of the announcement, but a decision will follow and 'indefinitely' can be either short or long once that decision is reached.

 

[traitor71]

Is his absence really a loss? I did not see much of anything in his game on Monday, other than long arms...I thought he looked uncomfortable and a bit lost on defense... To me he seemed stunned by the speed of the game. That being said, I wish him a speedy recovery from whatever the ailment is in his foot.

Other than just not wanting a kid to be injured, you want more bodies, not less. I think this kid has a chance to develop into a very nice player for this team, but foot injuries of any sort always scare me with basketball players.

 

[bigknight3]

You have to think that UConn's engineering Dept can just build a new foot for Samson so he can return from the injury sooner...

 

[navery12]

But you see how that contradicts your point about his health keeping him from starting.

Hurley literally talked for a month straight about Karaban being the leader to start at the 4, then Karaban was hurt for 2 weeks and didn't practice and suddenly Samson Johnson got the start. It's not hard to connect the dots here

 

[MDHuskFan]

Hurley literally talked for a month straight about Karaban being the leader to start at the 4, then Karaban was hurt for 2 weeks and didn't practice and suddenly Samson Johnson got the start. It's not hard to connect the dots here

Can you source this? Because I must have missed this

 

[navery12]

Can you source this? Because I must have missed this

He was a little more direct on Big East media day and said there's a real chance Karaban starts at the 4. But also just a lot of subtle comments like the one in this article when he was talking about the roster that made Karaban appear to have the edge at the 4. Mostly the parts in bold about pulling Samson quickly if Karaban was healthy, and about loving the 4 spot so wanting to find minutes for Samson at the 5 that made it seem to me that Karaban had the edge pre-injury

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley on the roster, toughness, and more

Hurley offers insight into several of positional battles going on during the preseason.

www.theuconnblog.com

On Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban at the four spot​

“I got some good advice to stop talking about the NBA and my players. I’m not going to prognosticate that way, but Samson has a high ceiling. Alex being hurt helped him because he was able to play through mistakes in the first scrimmage, where I might have pulled him quick. It was good for him to process things quicker on the court. Once he can do that, he can unleash his talent. He as much physical ability as anyone I’ve had here.”

“I love the four spot right now. We’ll experiment maybe with playing Samson and Alex together with Samson at center, because those two guys make a real difference from an offensive standpoint. Samson brings different things to both backboards, with his athleticism, slashing, and above the rim play. Our fours are young but they’re talented.”

 

[MDHuskFan]

He was a little more direct on Big East media day and said there's a real chance Karaban starts at the 4. But also just a lot of subtle comments like the one in this article when he was talking about the roster that made Karaban appear to have the edge at the 4. Mostly the parts in bold about pulling Samson quickly if Karaban was healthy, and about loving the 4 spot so wanting to find minutes for Samson at the 5 that made it seem to me that Karaban had the edge pre-injury

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley on the roster, toughness, and more

Hurley offers insight into several of positional battles going on during the preseason.

www.theuconnblog.com

On Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban at the four spot​

“I got some good advice to stop talking about the NBA and my players. I’m not going to prognosticate that way, but Samson has a high ceiling. Alex being hurt helped him because he was able to play through mistakes in the first scrimmage, where I might have pulled him quick. It was good for him to process things quicker on the court. Once he can do that, he can unleash his talent. He as much physical ability as anyone I’ve had here.”

“I love the four spot right now. We’ll experiment maybe with playing Samson and Alex together with Samson at center, because those two guys make a real difference from an offensive standpoint. Samson brings different things to both backboards, with his athleticism, slashing, and above the rim play. Our fours are young but they’re talented.”

Thanks, I must have missed this article. I interpret it slightly different, but see where you got to your conclusion too.

Thanks for the link

 

[ClifSpliffy]

He was a little more direct on Big East media day and said there's a real chance Karaban starts at the 4. But also just a lot of subtle comments like the one in this article when he was talking about the roster that made Karaban appear to have the edge at the 4. Mostly the parts in bold about pulling Samson quickly if Karaban was healthy, and about loving the 4 spot so wanting to find minutes for Samson at the 5 that made it seem to me that Karaban had the edge pre-injury

UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley on the roster, toughness, and more

Hurley offers insight into several of positional battles going on during the preseason.

www.theuconnblog.com

On Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban at the four spot​

“I got some good advice to stop talking about the NBA and my players. I’m not going to prognosticate that way, but Samson has a high ceiling. Alex being hurt helped him because he was able to play through mistakes in the first scrimmage, where I might have pulled him quick. It was good for him to process things quicker on the court. Once he can do that, he can unleash his talent. He as much physical ability as anyone I’ve had here.”

“I love the four spot right now. We’ll experiment maybe with playing Samson and Alex together with Samson at center, because those two guys make a real difference from an offensive standpoint. Samson brings different things to both backboards, with his athleticism, slashing, and above the rim play. Our fours are young but they’re talented.”

yeah, not the headline.
this is the headline here,

'“I got some good advice to stop talking about the NBA and my players. I’m not going to prognosticate that way, but Samson has a high ceiling.'

oh, so nonstop 'he's in the league, that one's in the league, he's a draft pick, ....' has now magically turned into 'nevermind.'
some here may have slurred hearing and partial dementia, i don't.
not going to repeat the littany of his continual nm's, just going to watch and judge the results. facts on the ground, and all that.
geno the great just won a battle against a top team, playing just 6 players.
'give me these six guys, and i'll win a dang tourney game.'

 

[Huskyforlife]

Hurley literally talked for a month straight about Karaban being the leader to start at the 4, then Karaban was hurt for 2 weeks and didn't practice and suddenly Samson Johnson got the start. It's not hard to connect the dots here

He never used the word leader(Unless he did, if so correct me), that’s the way fans have interpreted his praise of Karaban, but it doesn’t mean Johnson wasn’t the leader to start all along. Hurley never even used such lofty praise like “wall potential” in describing AK either.

I also don’t think SJ could’ve won the job in 2 weeks, considering they’ve been evaluating each player for a year+ now. Would Dan really make a switch this late in the offseason after a couple solid scrimmage performances? Especially with AK being fully healthy by Stonehill?

 

[navery12]

He never used the word leader(Unless he did, if so correct me), that’s the way fans have interpreted his praise of Karaban, but it doesn’t mean Johnson wasn’t the leader to start all along. Hurley never even used such lofty praise like “wall potential” in describing AK either.

I also don’t think SJ could’ve won the job in 2 weeks, considering they’ve been evaluating each player for a year+ now. Would Dan really make a switch this late in the offseason after a couple solid scrimmage performances? Especially with AK being fully healthy by Stonehill?

I mean, we have a history of him doing exactly that. Hawkins was going to start last year until he got hurt. Granted that was a case where he missed the first few games. But then when Hawkins was healthy he didn't get the starting job back immediately.

I could be wrong though, I just posted the quotes above in my last reply above yours where I thought he was pretty direct at Big East Media Day about who was going to start when he said Karaban has a real chance to start at the 4. That's about as direct an answer you can get from Hurley

 

[UCSouth]

You have to think that UConn's engineering Dept can just build a new foot for Samson so he can return from the injury sooner...

....right after they finish the helmet for Jordan. (Finished it for you)

 

[HuskyHawk]

He played 29 minutes because he was healthy and great out there, Samson didn't look so good.

Samson starting was not due to injury to AK. You're just making stuff up. He got two quick fouls (the second was iffy) but was solid in the 2nd half, despite, apparently, getting injured at some point. In 17 minutes, 7 points and 3 Rebound on 100% shooting while playing good defense. Do you recall who was called out as the standout players from the scrimmages? Hawkins and Johnson.

 

[superjohn]

Samson starting was not due to injury to AK. You're just making stuff up. He got two quick fouls (the second was iffy) but was solid in the 2nd half, despite, apparently, getting injured at some point. In 17 minutes, 7 points and 3 Rebound on 100% shooting while playing good defense. Do you recall who was called out as the standout players from the scrimmages? Hawkins and Johnson.

I thought his defense was bad and his hands were bad.

You've been fangirling for Johnson for a year now. Karaban looks like a far better player to me and is our starter, you'll see how injuries impact who starts. Samson has nice upside but Karaban is just a better player.

 

[dannyHAM]

I think the Samson loss is a big one. Was really excited to see him develop this year. However, Hurley literally said that AK was the starter (with Andre being out) until he got banged up in practice. IF you guys want to listen, it was said during the coaches show at the open practice. I don't know where to find that link now, otherwise i'd post it.

 

[Candyman]

Per Dauster, a Virginia BBall analyst was at the Virginia scrimmage and told Rob he was very high on Samson. Said he didn't have much offensive skills yet but he can be a game changer. Karaban did play that game, but was coming off the injury. Samson earned the start with solid play nit because Karaban wasn't healthy enough to start game 1.

Now would Karaban have started over him game 2 is possible.

 

[tennmike]

I originally thought, "With all his basketball experience and knowledge, how could Hurley possibly not see Karaban as the better basketball player?" Then, with consideration to all that has been mentioned here, I think Hurley has one eye on the portal. Johnson has fantastic measurables, but needs more time to develop. He cannot just park the guy on the bench without significantly increasing the risk he may bolt. He sees Karaban's talent like we do - but is treading lightly. If this is true, I get it. This is a whole new world.