StllH8L8ner
You’ll get nothing and like it!
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Yeah “If we ever…” doesn’t sound promising to me.
Liam’s Return Is the Only Thing that Matters
- Thread starter Hunt for 7
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Hoping and praying that’s Dan Hurley using hyperbole out of frustration with the wait vs any sort of significant setback that could keep him sidelined for more than another 1-2 weeks
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Would this injury plague Liam’s chances as a high first round draft pick and lead to his return next year or do people think he’s gone? I’ll answer the question.. depends how he/we close out the season. A lot of what ifs heading towards Feb/March.
What say you?
What say you?
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He's gone. The NBA drafts on potential and he's shown plenty. It's one thing if he was seen as a fringe first rounder, he's seen as mid late lottery.
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Hunt for 7
Built Hurley Strong
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Mid February and Danny knows it. He is looking down the barrel of the hardest part of the schedule. Let’s just put our chin straps on and hope to win one of the marquee games while he is out. Then we have to be near perfect when he comes back.
I hope this is not going to require winning the BE tourney to make the dance. We could be 6 loss BE team going into the BE tourney.
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Marquette's last 6 games they were down at the half to G'Town, could've/should've lost to DePaul, lost to Xavier, beat Nova easily, beat Seton Hall easily, down at the half to Butler.
They only lost 1 but they haven't looked all that great lately.
Samoo
Providence-Newark-San Antonio
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Even if he doesn't get back until the 2/11 Creighton game, that still gives the team eight games to pull it all together and get some momentum going, hone that edge during the BE tournament, and hit the tournament in the best shape possible - who knows what could happen????
6 losses in the big east would be a great
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6Nattys4Us
Owner of a Lonely Heart
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Well Marquette is in a tough stretch too - we are their home game in between 3 away games of merit (esp @ Creighton).
And we were lackluster in this homegame before @Marquette so "next game away" might have been on our minds, and hopefully on Marquette's minds.
And we were lackluster in this homegame before @Marquette so "next game away" might have been on our minds, and hopefully on Marquette's minds.
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Mahaney kept UCONN in the game in the first half when the others were ice cold. There was a stretch where he made some buckets and Depaul missed a couple of perimeter shots. Had that gone the other way UCONN would have been down 20. Stewart had a really nice offensive game. If he could go from a streaky shooter to a less streaky one, UCONN would have another perimeter option. The play has been tough to watch at times, but I think it actually may be beneficial for the team as they have a chance to really level up with McNeeley back in the lineup. The bench will be better ready to contribute given how things have played out.
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So don't watch.
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I almost posted this clip as well. You gotta love seeing a freshman with that level of attention to detail on defense, especially vs the last ranked team in the conference in a game he pretty much wasn't ever going to play in. His level of compete is just crazy.
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High ankle sprains are the worst. Even when we get Liam back on the court, there is a very good chance he is limited driving to the hoop w such force or draining threes. High ankle sprains are so disruptive who knows what we can get out of Liam.
Fwiw, my close friends son is a starter on another high major. He was out a month earlier in the year with a high ankle sprain, probably came back to early, and has never been the same. He is sitting on career lows in multiple categories since his return.
Fwiw, my close friends son is a starter on another high major. He was out a month earlier in the year with a high ankle sprain, probably came back to early, and has never been the same. He is sitting on career lows in multiple categories since his return.
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They’ll be ready at home to play us, believe me.
Cmon of course I’m going to watch. Got the fellas coming over. Was trying to have something look forward to this weekend being the first no football weekend since August. —-Is it too much to ask to have them not play like yesterday or am I a spoiled ? Lol
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I think we're undefeated on the mainland at this point if he didn't get hurt. He's also one of our best defensive players.
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Let’s just be an 8/9 seed, beat Duke in the 2nd round with Liam locking up his former classmate, and then from that point forward it’s just like being a 1 seed. Easy peasy.
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Bud, I agree with what you say. I am only wondering aloud if AK will return. He has not looked like a first rounder. I think it is worth contemplating that our starting 4 next year may, could, might be be AK. I am hoping that he has a crazy February and March and he puts this to bed. But if this funk continues, I dont think its crazy that he returns. I think we definitely need a transfer PG. No doubt.
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Liam needs to be as close to 100 when he returns as possible. He will be rusty no matter so it doesn’t need to be Marquette, don’t like our chances in this one anyway. You think Xavier and Creighton gets away with stuff on defense watch in Saturday night. But they’re also very passionate defenders, Mitchell probably on Solo and will give him fits.
Someone said 6 losses would be amazing in the BE, I’m still thinking 8 would be very good!
Someone said 6 losses would be amazing in the BE, I’m still thinking 8 would be very good!
You had me at “beat Duke in the 2nd round.”
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Yeah preferably one who can penetrate who is athletic and plays great D. Bigger would be a plus.
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Hunt for 7
Built Hurley Strong
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Too bad he is not playing and just coaching. All this shows is how much we miss him because he has next level talent but he supplements average athleticism into great player by having such a high BBIQ. He is a bigger version of Cam Spencer. Imagine how good Liam would be as a fifth year senior. He would be unstoppable and make everyone around him better.
I know we are not going to see him in our uniform next year but daydreaming is ok……isn’t it?
Edward Sargent
Sargelak
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Alex wasnt a first rounder last year, this year or next year I suspect. He came back this year to expand his game which I actually think he has but the injury to Liam and his own /slump have pushed him back into the second round at best. Nothing wrong with that.
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Last year was considered one of the weakest drafts in a long time. Couple that with his stock being at an all time high coming off B2B, if he had any chance of going round 1 he would have gone. Yes NIL and a 3peat are motivating, but not if you’re going round 1. I know there are still mocks out there flagging him as first round, in an epically strong draft class, but logic tells me it ain’t happening. Unless there is one team out there late who happens to like him and is ok taking a kid with limited upside, he’s round 2.
One of the underappreciated parts of not having Liam on the floor is how our freedom of movement on offense has been impacted. His ability to also be a point forward facilitator-secondary ball handler to initiate the offense was really starting to come together pre-injury. Without his presence on the floor-Opponents could then game-plan vs our shooters (Solo/AK) by disrupting our sets/face-guarding our shooters/putting the body on them so that they couldn't get the open looks they were used to.They also picked up on Hass in the backcourt-taking more time off the clock before we began running our sets. Until or if the refs were going to blow the whistle on the physicality these guys were dealing with-these coaches were telling their guys to keep doing what you're doing(re: Solo and AK). To my eye-Our screeners are less inclined to truly screen the defenders(for the benefit of our shooters) vs slip screening and immediately rolling to the hoop. Probably more by design BTW. So-Can AK and Solo create space and separation moving off the ball for open shots without any help? Not their strength. Gotta work hard through the contact and not expect help from the whistle.
Alex is going to be fine. Think he's not quite 100% yet. As Dan has said-He's now at the top of the scout for opposing teams- Negate Karaban's impact on the game and they have a chance at beating us. I expect the next three games to be wars-single possession games. This is why Alex came back. I believe he'll show up and be a difference-maker in all three. Lead your guys.
Alex is going to be fine. Think he's not quite 100% yet. As Dan has said-He's now at the top of the scout for opposing teams- Negate Karaban's impact on the game and they have a chance at beating us. I expect the next three games to be wars-single possession games. This is why Alex came back. I believe he'll show up and be a difference-maker in all three. Lead your guys.
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There is a massive negative trickle down effect on how teams defend you when your best player is not out there. Listen to Dauster's pod, he goes through it in detail. Liam coming back will be a significant boost in that it will soften defenses for other players and allow others to play roles more aligned with their strengths. Issue remains that he's not fixing the defense all that much. For any kind of potential run, the offense needs to start humming and for it to get hot at the right time. It's no different than a team like UK, even an Alabama to a lesser extent. These are teams who use analytics, space, put points up in bushels so much as to negate defensive issues. They focus on outscoring. It's hard to rely on for 6 straight games, but yeah never know. Bama made it to the F4 that way last year.
My guess right now is that this team lands a seed 7-9, so we'll be playing a good team in round 1 and a great team in round 2. Approach this year should be looking forward to being the underdog and faith in Hurley/staff to pull some tricks out of the bag when it matters.
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None of you want to hear this. But our season is not worth Liam tanking his draft stock over. If he isnt at least 90% he shouldn't return. And I don't think Hurley will rush it. He's a lottery pick. He has to prioritize his long-term prospects.
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