Mahaney In A Different Role?

[gtcam]

AM is not a point guard - Nowell is a born PG.
Hoping DH doesn't misfire on this one.

 

[JerseyAlum]

I'll take Mahaney's 0 TOs to Diarra's 5 anyday. Granted not all Diarra's were on him, but still, the assist-TO ratio swings in Maheney's favor by more than a little.

While we can have almost anyone bring up the ball against these 4 teams, next up is Memphis and it will be a more traditional 2 guards bringing up the ball. I have faith Maheney will play much better vs. Memphis.

There will be much more immediate player substitution going forward as any one thing Maheney does will bring in Diarra and there will be a lecture on the sidelines.

 

[RuffRuff]

Seems like he drives iso or passes around the perimeter. Hope he figures it out, but he’s been here for 6 months. Color me doubtful

Kind of what he did at STM. People here talking about how he’s good because of StM days - he shot 37% from the field last year. The expectation when Hurley took him couldn’t have been what he was at StM because he was anything but efficient. It was more about his skillset and potential. Both him and Reed are reclamation projects. Season still young. What Reed has going for him is that he’s a beast. He has physical traits that stand out. AM doesn’t have that at all, it would be based on IQ and skills.

 

[7774]

It would be Solo Ball at PG bringing the ball up, so yes

That seems like a disaster against actual competition.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I expected Mahaney to be in the Joey C off ball guard slot. Turns out the returning player who made the biggest leap is Solo. Liam has to play at the 3, so that means that if Mahaney starts it's at PG. Is he a PG? I don't think so. So how can this work, well, Solo would need to be a better facilitator than he has been or more stuff would go though Liam. Essentially we went from three tremendous facilitators in Newton, Cam and Castle to really just one in McNeeley. Nobody in that lineup is as good a facilitator as Newton or Castle were.

Against better opponents this might be a problem. Loads of shooting, not nearly as much passing ability as the last two teams.

 

[Palatine]

I understand the rose colored glasses about Nowell given his rep coming out of Philly. But I'm not really seeing anything special right now. He has gotten a little run at the point, close to 8 minutes a game, 31 minutes total, three quarters of a full 40. He has 3 assists and 2 TOs. His defense isn't anything special.

To me, he looks like a freshman getting his feet wet. Comparing him to Mahaney who has a 9-1 TO/Assist ratio isn't fair to either. Mahaney is the better player and will be for some time. Nowell is promising and the more minutes he gets the faster he will progress but that's about it for now.

 

[Drame]

Ball may be decent at bringing the ball up but hes not a great passer. Of all our guards Nowell is the best passer. And ball handler. And attacket of the paint. Mahaney, Ball and Diarra are missing passes. Stewart had some nice entry passes last night and Alex a couple times but that was it.

 

[uconn_jack]

I understand the rose colored glasses about Nowell given his rep coming out of Philly. But I'm not really seeing anything special right now. He has gotten a little run at the point, close to 8 minutes a game, 31 minutes total, three quarters of a full 40. He has 3 assists and 2 TOs. His defense isn't anything special.

To me, he looks like a freshman getting his feet wet. Comparing him to Mahaney who has a 9-1 TO/Assist ratio isn't fair to either. Mahaney is the better player and will be for some time. Nowell is promising and the more minutes he gets the faster he will progress but that's about it for now.

I agree about Nowell. With so many people going on about how good he's been and that he should be in the PG rotation, I keep trying to find what I've been missing because I don't see it. Don't get me wrong, I like him and think he will be a great player for us, but what I see is a competent, promising freshman, not a kid who is ready to take the reins of a top 10 team.

 

[RuffRuff]

It would be Solo Ball at PG bringing the ball up, so yes

Not sure that’s the solution either - Solo is good at many things, his handle not so much. Always looks loose to me. He’s got such long arms it almost feels like he just can’t keep the ball close to his body.

It’s impossible to evaluate Nowell on his stats so far. He is getting limited junk minutes with the other deep bench guys primarily. You have to look at his traits. He’s much stronger than Mahaney, much quicker, more aggressive and very much pass first. He’s had defensive lapses but he’s also a hound out there. The kid is a dog. Not ready to anoint him a better option as a freshman, but bares watching.

Diarra is a darned good passer btw. He’s averaging twice the assists of Mahaney in similar time. His problem is that he goes too fast sometimes, and his shot has looked awful so far this year. Still have faith in Hassan because he brings unique strengths to the floor and leads.

 

[JerseyAlum]

Does our offense need a true PG? I get you want the best ball handlers (else why are they called 'guards') bringing up the ball against pesky defenders, but once we cross half court we literally can pass to anyone and have them pass to anyone.

Each set has multiple options, so a "PG" could get a layup from a Center's pass. This is positionless basketball where assists are spread out on the whole team. AM has what Newton has in the ability to see the defense and see what mismatches can be shaped by the movement of the offense - but that doesn't mean AM is going to be the one with the assist or the basket.

What Newton had that AM does not have is the ability to create his own shot, shoot over smaller guards, and be as valuable a shooter as anyone else. AM might get there with his shooting, but not creating his own shot. This does not make him a Joey Calcaterra clone as Cali was a sharpshooter. It also does not make him a Spencer clone as Cam had quicker reactions than most with a high game IQ to go with that. Maheney is good, great against better teams, but that might be his ceiling. Time will tell.

 

[Lambeau]

Mahaney is not a dynamic PG, which is why he was moved off the ball last year by Randy Bennett --but Danny has said repeatedly he does not want two small guards. He wants more Ross and Ball at the 2, and McNeeley is going to get his 30 min at 3. On a team with 19 turnovers, a PG with none of them could do worse. The shooting will improve, and last night the lobs into the 5's were problematic only because the 5's couldn't hold onto the ball.

 

[navery12]

That seems like a disaster against actual competition.

Not saying I'm in favor of it, I'd just keep starting Mahaney. That's just what Hurley has said

 

[NJHusky]

Mahaney is not a dynamic PG, which is why he was moved off the ball last year by Randy Bennett --but Danny has said repeatedly he does not want two small guards. He wants more Ross and Ball at the 2, and McNeeley is going to get his 30 min at 3. On a team with 19 turnovers, a PG with none of them could do worse. The shooting will improve, and last night the lobs into the 5's were problematic only because the 5's couldn't hold onto the ball.

It seems like the major reason for Mahaney is lack of TOs. But his passing seems poor (did he feed any lobs, cuts to the hoop?) and the offense is stagnant when he is initiating. I think Hass was trying to force some passes last night..hence the TOs. I’d like to keep seeing Nowell getting real reps. Give Hass 25min and split the rest

 

[Drame]

Does our offense need a true PG? I get you want the best ball handlers (else why are they called 'guards') bringing up the ball against pesky defenders, but once we cross half court we literally can pass to anyone and have them pass to anyone.

Each set has multiple options, so a "PG" could get a layup from a Center's pass. This is positionless basketball where assists are spread out on the whole team. AM has what Newton has in the ability to see the defense and see what mismatches can be shaped by the movement of the offense - but that doesn't mean AM is going to be the one with the assist or the basket.

What Newton had that AM does not have is the ability to create his own shot, shoot over smaller guards, and be as valuable a shooter as anyone else. AM might get there with his shooting, but not creating his own shot. This does not make him a Joey Calcaterra clone as Cali was a sharpshooter. It also does not make him a Spencer clone as Cam had quicker reactions than most with a high game IQ to go with that. Maheney is good, great against better teams, but that might be his ceiling. Time will tell.

Hurley has said himself we are missing passes. The guards arent making them. You dont have to call him a point guard but we need a guard that can make passes.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

As someone who was on the Ball at PG train it’s hard to do that currently because he doesn’t seem ready for that. He’s trained all off season to be an off ball 2 guard so it’s kind of too late to tell him to run the show after not doing it for going on 2 years now.

We’re stuck with either Diarra, Mahaney, or Nowell figuring it out because that’s what’s we invested in doing.

I’m honestly not sure why if we needed a PG we didn’t find a more pure PG in the portal if this was the plan the whole time with Mahaney.

 

[RuffRuff]

Does our offense need a true PG? I get you want the best ball handlers (else why are they called 'guards') bringing up the ball against pesky defenders, but once we cross half court we literally can pass to anyone and have them pass to anyone.

Each set has multiple options, so a "PG" could get a layup from a Center's pass. This is positionless basketball where assists are spread out on the whole team. AM has what Newton has in the ability to see the defense and see what mismatches can be shaped by the movement of the offense - but that doesn't mean AM is going to be the one with the assist or the basket.

What Newton had that AM does not have is the ability to create his own shot, shoot over smaller guards, and be as valuable a shooter as anyone else. AM might get there with his shooting, but not creating his own shot. This does not make him a Joey Calcaterra clone as Cali was a sharpshooter. It also does not make him a Spencer clone as Cam had quicker reactions than most with a high game IQ to go with that. Maheney is good, great against better teams, but that might be his ceiling. Time will tell.

I’d say this group does yes. This team feels a little rudderless offensively. As someone mentioned this a more of a collection of great shooters, not a lot of natural playmakers. There’s also not enough crisp team passing/sets to make up for it. Solo is really just a shooter offensively at this point. Liam and AK put the ball on the floor with one direction.

If we play a good team without a PG I can see it being a hot mess, unless of course Hurley is that brilliant that he’s been saving it all the actions for the real teams.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Does our offense need a true PG? I get you want the best ball handlers (else why are they called 'guards') bringing up the ball against pesky defenders, but once we cross half court we literally can pass to anyone and have them pass to anyone.

Each set has multiple options, so a "PG" could get a layup from a Center's pass. This is positionless basketball where assists are spread out on the whole team. AM has what Newton has in the ability to see the defense and see what mismatches can be shaped by the movement of the offense - but that doesn't mean AM is going to be the one with the assist or the basket.

What Newton had that AM does not have is the ability to create his own shot, shoot over smaller guards, and be as valuable a shooter as anyone else. AM might get there with his shooting, but not creating his own shot. This does not make him a Joey Calcaterra clone as Cali was a sharpshooter. It also does not make him a Spencer clone as Cam had quicker reactions than most with a high game IQ to go with that. Maheney is good, great against better teams, but that might be his ceiling. Time will tell.

The past two years we had Newton and another elite playmaker in the offense. It was much easier to play “position less” basketball because we realistically had guys who can play multiple positions.

It is different when you don’t have guys who are great at the most important position. We aren’t talking about having multiple great PGs, we don’t have any.

 

[DogMania]

Mahaney seems slow with his decision making. Maybe he'll process more quickly as he learns the offense. He looks more suited playing off the ball.

Interesting observation, Hurley brought Nowell in early, I think a couple times, to play with some rotation players. Makes me wonder if Hurley is starting to begin his contingency plan. Note that Nowell make a few big freshman mistakes, but he's just starting to get some rotation minutes and is probably trying to do too much and needs time to get a feel for the pace of the game and competition he'd be facing.

 

[Hunt for 7]

When the title of the thread has the players named misspelled and no one calls it out after two pages of posts seems like we have more on our minds related to how this will pan out compared to the usual stuff.

 

[HailUConn]

No well is a freshman. For those who viewed Nowell’s defense sunpar, have you seen AM’s? He got beat repeatedly against his man, resulting lots of fouls on our center position. Given the length of their college career, I think it’s in Nowell favor. Watch the film if you don’t believe.

 

[RuffRuff]

When the title of the thread has the players named misspelled and no one calls it out after two pages of posts seems like we have more on our minds related to how this will pan out compared to the usual stuff.

Maybe folks see the conversation is more important that appeasing the Boneyard spelling nazis . You and Hooper an alliance walking around her with your patrol sticks? Maybe this calls for a Boneyard spelling bee!!!

Some stuff from the StM board on Mahaney:

God is a Gael-Mahaney

Interesting take on Mahaney at UConn from ESPN after this writer visited practices (of 4 schools) and spoke with those involved: https://www.espn.com

www.tapatalk.com

One poster noted an ESPN article talking through watching a practice wondering who was going to create offense in the half court. I expect this team to struggle often in the half court and some bumps coming.

 

[HooperScooper]

Maybe folks see the conversation is more important that appeasing the Boneyard spelling nazis . You and Hooper an alliance walking around her with your patrol sticks? Maybe this calls for a Boneyard spelling bee!!!

Thanks RoughRough

 

[Iluvsuebird]

At this point, I don’t think Mahaney is in jeopardy of losing his starting position. Yes, he’s had some struggles but he’s in his third year and Hurley likes to play talented players with experience. He’s played against plenty of good teams the past two seasons and has proven that he can play against any level of opponent. This alone should be a plus now that we will be playing better competition.
To me, he’s just pressing to hard. Rushing shots when he didn’t have to, not squaring up when he’s had time to. Last night he had a nice squared up 3 in the first half that he sunk and another attempt in the second half at the top of the key that he rushed and was not squared up on when he had time to b/c his man was caught in a pick.

Ross also rushed shots. He aired a wide open three and then a few minutes later swished a corner 3 when he took time to square up, bend his knees and get arch on the ball.

I’d also like to see some uptempo ball with more fast break opportunities where Mahaney could take it end to end or spot up on the wing for an open three.

I think they will both settle down and start being more efficient with Mahaney showing quicker results than Ross.

I agree with your premise: Hurley likes experience. He gave TN all the rope in the world.....but while he was struggling with his shot, he was still playing quality D and distributing the ball. Mahaney is doing neither of these things. And he isn't 6'4".

 

[jibsey]

When the title of the thread has the players named misspelled and no one calls it out after two pages of posts seems like we have more on our minds related to how this will pan out compared to the usual stuff.

What are you talking about?

 

[bendm]

i dont see hurley making a change until we get back from Maui unless we suffer a big lose to memphis.

even then, Diarra is a turnover machine so the only alternative is moving Ross into the starting lineup and playing without a PG. I was hoping a more positionless offense would be the solution but that requires constant passing, cutting, slipping, lobbing, etc. It's still early but this year's team is just not executing in any way that resembles last year's offense, or even the year before throughout the tourney.

nowell is simply not going from 10th man to starter so there is no easy short-term fix other than Mahaney just playing better.