Karaban Second Matchups

[Chin Diesel]

Great analysis.. IMO..One of the key benefits of last night's game is the way DH is starting to utilize the bench guys.. Esp. Alleyne and Diarra.. Giving them confidence vs better teams and letting them play through any mistakes.. Our bench is going to be a major competitive advantage (in the minutes they play) come BET/Tournament time. Having those guys ready to perform and produce is huge.. DC is learning the ropes as well.

It was great to see the "seniors" get some meaningful PT at Gampel last night vs a strong opponent.

I mentioned the bench and rotation in another thread.

Every year we start in October with "This team is legitimately 10 deep. How will they figure out minutes?" And every year by February it's an 8-man rotation. Trimming back Calcaterra down to spot minutes and giving those 10-12 minutes to Alleyne and Diarra has got the rotation tight.

 

[Ricker]

All this speculation that Alex' defensive chops has upgraded due to experience, film study, challenges from being demeaned online, early arrival at UConn.... Nobody has mentioned the obvious. Its the BEARD. Its made him look tougher, and, more experienced. Opponents don't see a baby faced rookie anymore, and he is rising to that more macho self image. Similar to people to thinking you're smarter, cogitate with a pipe in your mouth. All of a sudden you are professor Norton (Honeymooners)

 

[Edward Sargent]

In the presser, Alex said he read or heard something that he took personal (paraphrasing here). Does anyone know what that was?

Mentioned he saw some video from the ? X Nova game

 

[Husky25]

Hope we have him for 4 years…he’s going to be a nightmare for the rest of the big east

Three, tops, is my guess.

 

[lange10]

Mentioned he saw some video from the ? X Nova game

On Tuesday after the Xavier-Nova game, FS1 was previewing the UConn-PC matchup in the studio before the Creighton-Marquette game tipped off. When discussing our upcoming matchup one of the broadcasters took it to Karaban a little bit and called out his defensive performance on Hopkins in our first matchup.

As a sidebar, with the game on the line, if it's not Hawkins taking the shot, truthfully I think I'd want it to be Karaban. Is that a hot take?

 

[HuskyHawk]

On Tuesday after the Xavier-Nova game, FS1 was previewing the UConn-PC matchup in the studio before the Creighton-Marquette game tipped off. When discussing our upcoming matchup one of the broadcasters took it to Karaban a little bit and called out his defensive performance on Hopkins in our first matchup.

As a sidebar, with the game on the line, if it's not Hawkins taking the shot, truthfully I think I'd want it to be Karaban. Is that a hot take?

Outside shot? No. He's our second best shooter. Newton is ok, and Alleyne seems to be improving.

His defense is better, and some of that is simply understanding how he's being attacked. He's a smart kid, he adjusts. On offense, early season he was a guy the D ignored and he torched them. Now they make sure he's guarded. We've adjusted to that as well, in two ways I see. One is with inside out play. Alex's open looks are often coming when the ball goes in to Adama or Donovan and comes back out. The other is just Alex attacking the close outs by driving to the rim. He's more confident doing that.

 

[HooperScooper]

On Tuesday after the Xavier-Nova game, FS1 was previewing the UConn-PC matchup in the studio before the Creighton-Marquette game tipped off. When discussing our upcoming matchup one of the broadcasters took it to Karaban a little bit and called out his defensive performance on Hopkins in our first matchup.

As a sidebar, with the game on the line, if it's not Hawkins taking the shot, truthfully I think I'd want it to be Karaban. Is that a hot take?

"First game, I felt like he embarrassed me. I took full responsibility for that loss because I wasn't able to contain him as well as I should've,” Karaban said. “I also saw something (Tuesday) night that also gave me extra motivation going into the game. But he's one of the best players in the Big East. I respect the hell out of his game. He's a superstar in this league and he's going to have a bright future. But I was excited to come back and hold him down a little."

Right click and Open in Incognito Window and you should be able to read this.

Journal Inquirer

Serving towns east of the Connecticut River

www.journalinquirer.com

 

[prankster]

I wonder if this indicates the value of the semester he spent training with the team last winter? I'm guessing the strength and conditioning he gained helped him blast through that wall...

This!

 

[prankster]

As a sidebar, with the game on the line, if it's not Hawkins taking the shot, truthfully I think I'd want it to be Karaban. Is that a hot take?

Bingo card?

 

[jibsey]

With the type of players backing down on him it’s no surprise he gets fouls called although some seem questionable. He’s already so skilled you forget he’s a freshman, but he never played like one. Would love to see him take over more on offense, he lets the game come to him. I’m praying for 3 years.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Three, tops, is my guess.

Karaban has been on record as saying that academics are massively important in his family. I would not be surprised to see him go the Okafor route and graduate in three years - then go pro.

 

[jibsey]

Karaban has been on record as saying that academics are massively important in his family. I would not be surprised to see him go the Okafor route and graduate in three years - then go pro.

2 more years of him being even better than he is now.....

 

[Tenspro2002]

Obviously injury played a role, but people who said that Karaban would be a better player and a bigger contributor than Samson Johnson are looking awfully prescient.

It's hard to imagine Karaban not claiming the starting role even without the injury factor.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I knew instructional coaches just sat around all day

He is such a mature and polished player. I think he plays 3 years and probably graduates considering he enrolled early. There is definitely a spot in the NBA for 6’8” shooters who defend and take care of the ball.

I’m sure scouts will want him to develop a better handle because he’ll be more of a 3 in the NBA but he is already pretty efficient at driving when he wants to.

 

[husky429]

I knew instructional coaches just sat around all day

He is such a mature and polished player. I think he plays 3 years and probably graduates considering he enrolled early. There is definitely a spot in the NBA for 6’8” shooters who defend and take care of the ball.

I’m sure scouts will want him to develop a better handle because he’ll be more of a 3 in the NBA but he is already pretty efficient at driving when he wants to.

Lol--the person I was supposed to be working with took the week off and failed to mention it. Don't blame me!

 

[HooperScooper]

A student of the game, UConn men’s basketball redshirt freshman Alex Karaban took a two-week crash course in guarding Big East power forwards earlier this season.

It turned out to be a graduate-level course, as Karaban’s first assignment was Xavier’s Zach Freemantle. Then he took on potential Big East Player of the Year Bryce Hopkins, Arthur Kaluma of Creighton and Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back.

UConn freshman Alex Karaban has taken a Masterclass in guarding bigs, and now he’s making the grade

UConn men's basketball freshman Alex Karaban has continued to improve his game since becoming a starter in Game 2. Against Providence on Wednesday, the Big East Freshman of the Year candidate held his own against Bryce Hopkins, one of the best players in the conference who "embarrassed" Karaban...

www.courant.com

Alternate free access:

UConn freshman Alex Karaban has taken a Masterclass in guarding bigs, and now he’s making the grade​

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hope we have him for 4 years…he’s going to be a nightmare for the rest of the big east

If he leaves before then, I’m assuming we’d have a very, very good year

 

[UConnSwag11]

He does every thing well, with and without the ball

 

[HooperScooper]

Karaban has been on record as saying that academics are massively important in his family. I would not be surprised to see him go the Okafor route and graduate in three years - then go pro.

Definitely. Plus he has that extra semester since he enrolled early so it will be easy to graduate after 3 years of playing.

So now that Karaban is most of the way through his freshman season I think we need to give @Ricker his due. He saw Karaban play in high school and wanted him badly. I think ESPN was the only recruiting service that had him in the Top 75 at that time (mostly due to Adam Finkelstein who worked for ESPN). That's some good scouting by @Ricker. Or maybe he just got lucky.

 

[dingaling]

Agree with you.. What I've noticed about AK's D over the course of the season as he's seeing guys for the second time (with film study and scouting) and learning how to read different refs and their tendencies.. Is that the fouls he gets called on are not cheap/sloppy fouls but " good" fouls based on good fundamentals/defensive positioning..

Also looks to me like he's taken some notes from the Nova playbook on being congenial/polite with the refs.. Settin' them up for that next favorable call coming his way.. Growth

I think he's just a nice kid and he cant help it.

 

[gtcam]

AK is one of those kids who just does his job but you know he is doing all he can do to help the team. He solid in a lot of areas that even sophomores don’t have. No real flash just a working man’s forward.
The kid enjoys playing basketball and I bet if you ask his coaches they will say he is a sponge. He’ll be in Storrs at least two more years.
We all will be happy.

 

[Husky25]

AK is one of those kids who just does his job but you know he is doing all he can do to help the team. He solid in a lot of areas that even sophomores don’t have. No real flash just a working man’s forward.
The kid enjoys playing basketball and I bet if you ask his coaches they will say he is a sponge. He’ll be in Storrs at least two more years.
We all will be happy.

Unsung "lunch pail" players have always been my favorite and they always seem to play the 4. Plus it's always nice to see a fellow former Algonquin Tomahawk succeed.

 

[dtrumpet]

Many thanks to the OP, great post.
AK is just such a good dude, it comes through in everything he does. Interviews and on the court. Caught the big smile after he fed Joey C with a touch pass for the 3 against Prov. He's the real deal.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

As a sidebar, with the game on the line, if it's not Hawkins taking the shot, truthfully I think I'd want it to be Karaban. Is that a hot take?

Not at all a hot take.

For all of the post-game angst, and focus on the final play in Newark, IIRC, Alex's 3-point attempt was not ill-considered and just didn't go in. It could well have iced the victory over Seton Hall.

PS - In the recruitment highlight videos we first saw of Alex, I took note of and liked not simply his outside shooting, but also his movement to the basket and workman-like finishing at the rim. I'm really liking how he is seeing & seizing on such opportunities in recent games.

He still strikes me as coming closer to playing like his video highlight reels during his freshman year than anyone I can remember.

 

[spudzj6]

Hope we have him for 4 years…he’s going to be a nightmare for the rest of the big east

latest mock drafts have him a 2nd rd pick in 2024. With NIL, would hope he would stick around for a 3rd year to move up.