Liam’s Return Is the Only Thing that Matters | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Liam’s Return Is the Only Thing that Matters

AntG168 said:
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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Consistent with how Dan has handled previous NBA prospects at UConn. Some lottery some not. Liam has a strong support system around him who are looking out for his long-term future goals-best interests. Dan sees the big picture for Liam.
 
AntG168 said:
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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Agreed which is why the injury was catastrophic for the team. I knew this at the time. He is either not coming back or is coming back when it’s all but too late.
 
AntG168 said:
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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I think this is the correct thing, too. It sucks for this season, though. If Liam doesn't get hurt, I think UConn would be undefeated in the Big East right now with their first loss coming at Marquette. Before Liam got hurt, UConn really hit their stride and was humming like a well oiled machine. This is why I felt so down after the win at DePaul because I knew, I think we all knew, Liam was going to miss at least month of the season.
 
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UConnTrumbull said:
Agreed which is why the injury was catastrophic for the team. I knew this at the time. He is either not coming back or is coming back when it’s all but too late.
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I remember when you stated that Liam's injury could derail the season and a few posters here got offended and got all over you and on your case about it as if what you stated was so outrageous.

Will it "derail" the season? We will see, time will tell, but it certainly threw the season off track. What you said about it derailing the season was not far fetched or outrageous.
Liam and Hassan are the most indispensable players on the team this year.
 
Feel terribly for Liam it’s gotta be killing him to be out, hes gotta be itching to get back my guess would be 2 more weeks. I’m sure Hurley is having to fight like hell to tell him we need to give you more time, while Liam as you would expect is telling Hurley I’m ready.
 
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Scoe said:
Feel terribly for Liam it’s gotta killing him to be out, hes gotta be itching to get back my guess would be 2 more weeks. I’m sure Hurley is having to fight like hell to tell him we need to give you more time, while Liam as you would expect is telling Hurley I’m ready.
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Has there been any indication of his return? Seems like everyone is speculating without any definitive information. Although I wish he was returning for the Marquette game, he'll return when he returns. If they want any chance of going deep in the tournament they need him back and healthy. So better that he returns when his ankle is stable enough for him where he won't reinjure it.
 
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DogMania said:
Has there been any indication of his return? Seems like everyone is speculating without any definitive information. Although I wish he was returning for the Marquette game, he'll return when he returns. If they want any chance of going deep in the tournament they need him back and healthy. So better that he returns when his ankle is stable enough for him where he won't reinjure it.
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It's all we can do is speculate it's why I said my guess is 2 more weeks. Hurley will get the final call on his return, no one wants Liam to be back on court more then Liam as you would expect, it's why I said Hurley will have fight like hell to hold him out as long as possible as he should.
 
BFieldHusky said:
Hurley just told reporters he went through a nearly full practice today and will be a game time decision tomorrow.
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Lol some people were diving off the cliff after Hurley's previous quote "if he ever gets healthy", now that are scrambling back up the cliff. ;)
 
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jibsey said:
The kid is desperate to play. He will beg Hurley to play and if the doc OK’s it what is the problem?
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Whose decision is it when he plays? Liam's? Hurley's? Dr. Joyce's? Liam's agent? The doctor Liam's agent hired as a 2nd opinion? Who makes this final call?
 
"Liam empowered the whole group, but he's been gone now coming up on five weeks, if he doesn't play this weekend," Hurley said. "Removing one person's personality, like Liam, I don't want to put too much on the kid because he's still a freshman player. But his absence has been catastrophic from a basketball standpoint, and in turn, the morale. So it would be nice to get him back."

Hurley said he and others will talk to McNeeley Friday night, see how he feels after Saturday's shootaround, and a decision will then be made about his status for the 8 p.m. game. An update is expected from UConn spokesman Bobby Mullen during the day Saturday.

Hurley said McNeeley looked "pretty healthy" in practice Friday. Based on some stuff I heard and the way this has gone, if he doesn't play tomorrow I get the sense this isn't UConn's decision to make.

Nowell is a no go tomorrow. He's not getting much game rep for next season.


Alternate access:

UConn men's basketball freshman Liam McNeeley a 'game-day decision' for Saturday at Marquette​

 
He'll play, but probably limited minutes. You don't leak this to the press if he's not ready.
 
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HooperScooper said:
"Liam empowered the whole group, but he's been gone now coming up on five weeks, if he doesn't play this weekend," Hurley said. "Removing one person's personality, like Liam, I don't want to put too much on the kid because he's still a freshman player. But his absence has been catastrophic from a basketball standpoint, and in turn, the morale. So it would be nice to get him back."

Hurley said he and others will talk to McNeeley Friday night, see how he feels after Saturday's shootaround, and a decision will then be made about his status for the 8 p.m. game. An update is expected from UConn spokesman Bobby Mullen during the day Saturday.

Hurley said McNeeley looked "pretty healthy" in practice Friday. Based on some stuff I heard and the way this has gone, if he doesn't play tomorrow I get the sense this isn't UConn's decision to make.

Nowell is a no go tomorrow. He's not getting much game rep for next season.


Alternate access:

UConn men's basketball freshman Liam McNeeley a 'game-day decision' for Saturday at Marquette​

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Gad zooks, he’ll be absent all next year too. Hopefully we avoid a years worth of catastrophe.
 
Marat said:
Maybe playing games with Shaka too.
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Of course this is part of the reason you make this comment. To mess with the other team. The players are not robots. They read what’s on social media and they form their own ideas. Then the coaches have to create two game plans how we defend with Liam playing how we defend without Liam playing

Not to mention what it does for our team morale. We came out low energy against DePaul. We can’t have that tonight with or without Liam.

It all has an impact.
 
HooperScooper said:
Whose decision is it when he plays? Liam's? Hurley's? Dr. Joyce's? Liam's agent? The doctor Liam's agent hired as a 2nd opinion? Who makes this final call?
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Joyce is just a consultant. He’s not even the main team doc. Also, Joyce and Arciero are knee and shoulder surgeons. They turfed this to a foot and ankle specialist.
 
Game time decision is best outcome - why?

It keeps Marquette not knowing and having to make 2 gameplans if he plays or not.
It gives maximum time to see how he practices, feels, responds, etc before the game.

If he plays it's a huge morale boost for us
If he does no play it gives most of us our loss that we expect - (still think we can get to 20 wins) - and can chalk that up to "without Liam".
 
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no offense to original poster, but it irks me everytime I see this thread title

Liam is clearly our best player, but our inability to defend man to man is really the only thing that matters. Whether he's in lineup or not, we don't stop penetration or help. Sorry to say, I'm pessimistic that it's coming around this year. We will see if Hurley adapts vs marquette or if its gonna be turnstile layups and marquette foul shots all day. Hope I'm wrong
 
FreeKlaiber said:
no offense to original poster, but it irks me everytime I see this thread title

Liam is clearly our best player, but our inability to defend man to man is really the only thing that matters. Whether he's in lineup or not, we don't stop penetration or help. Sorry to say, I'm pessimistic that it's coming around this year. We will see if Hurley adapts vs marquette or if its gonna be turnstile layups and marquette foul shots all day. Hope I'm wrong
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Very curious to see if Hurley flashes anything but M2M as a 4-5 minute change up against the Marquettes or StJohns, especially if they are dicing up the D. They are two teams that do not shoot the 3 well at all, and will be able to penetrate at-will against our defense. If he's going to use it, it would be against them. Otherwise we can generally bank on that option never happening. Have seen a lot of other coaches flash it this season, with much better defenses, if only to throw the opposition off for a few possessions. Could also help a guy like Liam get the full 15 as would take stress off him chasing his man around on D.
 
Play solid D. Grab some boards and loose balls-50/50 balls. Get out to a lead early. Bench points. If Joplin and Jones continue to underperform from three point line. They are beatable. If Liam can give us some minutes and leadership- It will definitely help. Play with a champion's pride and energy and disrupt their shooters.

X factors-Aidan/Reed/Stewie. Showtime. Let's do this
 
There is a difference between practicing and even scrimmaging vs. game play, especially at the intensity a kid like Liam plays at. I’d have to feel very good about the structural soundness of that ankle to play him even a few minutes. The next game or two is a he’s ready to play some minutes vs. just to be on the safe side, he sits decision.
 
Hurley has deployed zone in the past, but every time he did they gave up points immediately and he would then abandon it.

What makes this problematic is the team needs to practice it quite a bit gor it to be successful in a game, taking away practice reps improving their base m2m help D which has not been good during stretches of just about every game.

It’s a good idea to drop a different D from time to time, so that teams don't get used to successfully attacking the primary defensive scheme. I think they should add a quick trapping type of half court defense every once in awhile throughout the game, but they're so prone to fouling where this type of D becomes problematic as well.

Hurley and his staff do have a history of improving the team defense as a season goes on. Although improvement has been limited at best, let's see how things progress over the last third of the season.
 
Not sure where to put this but this thread seems appropriate. 247Sports re-ranked the 2024 class based on what they've shown so far in college. Adam Finkelstein wrote the article so not surprised he understands what is going on at UConn.

No. 9: Liam McNeeley, Connecticut Huskies​

Final 247Sports High School Ranking: No. 10

Current Stats: 13.5 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.6 ast, 0.4 blk, 0.4 stl, 43% FG, 38% 3pt, 85% FT

Liam McNeeley has been out since Jan. 1 with an ankle injury. His numbers prior to the injury were good, but the true measure of his impact is in watching this UConn team play without him. Initially, the Huskies lost 3 of their first 5 games without him. Also, McNeeley is so much more than just a shooter. He's an elite competitor who has the feel for the game and can make good reads. He puts more pressure on the rim than advertised. Even defensively. There were times when he was targeted on that end, but UConn's defense has been notably better with him on the floor.

 
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