Mahaney In A Different Role?

[Husky Alien]

AM is going to need some time to adjust to our style of play. I'm quite sure at St Mary's he did not have to do some of the things that are required of him here at UConn. The competition internally at UC is elite, and I think he is finding this out. Defense should be his main goal to rectify because the offense is there with the exception of passing. He needs to look for his teammates better. If not, he will have a difficult time between Diarra whos a dog and relentless, Ball and Ross, who are taller and have length, plus athleticism, not to mention they are in their 2nd year knowing the system and Nowell is starting to make his presence known when he is in. Mahaney is important to this team for us to hopefully go deep in the tournament for a 3peat. Hurley will get his point out to him. No doubt, time will tell.

 

[jibsey]

Look, we have nothing else to do put banter about this stuff, at least I do but Hurley knows 1000 times more than we do already what needs to happen and even what the possibilities are.
He’s a real Wizard of Storrs, hey Jon Wooden!
I just have myself prepared for surprises next week on what we have seen. The rankings at this stage are poison and not to be trusted.

 

[PAHusky]

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.

This is it. Position less basketball is great in theory but sometimes you need a guy to bring the ball up under pressure and initiate and offense, and I'm not sure who that is right now. On top of that, I think we've gotten too system reliant on offense and forget that as good as we were running sets the last few years there were times when the offense stalls and you need a guy who can get you a bucket outside the flow of an offense - whether that's a big man like Adama or a guard like Newton. I don't see anyone on this team who can create their own shot off the bounce or get to the rim at will (AK is great at many things but I think this is the biggest piece missing for him).

 

[SubbaBub]

We have 3 viable PGs plus a few other options. This is the part that needs to grow over the course of the season. There's time and all 3 have shown some flashes. Consistency will be the thing.

 

[August_West]

Seeing Nowell in the first half last night was a little curious. I don't want to apply anything definitive to it at this time, and I don't think the coaching staff does either, but obviously we are searching still. And will be for a bit. I actually love the idea of Nowell getting a lot more run, but I don't think that was what everyone had in mind going into the season and certain things are now leaving some doors and questions open.

Managing this roster is true tight rope walking, there are so many good pieces but the fit on how they all work together is a major work in progress. Balancing your best options with playing time and usage expectations from the players perspective is such a delicate balance. It's like those movies when the protagonist has to save the universe by disarming an explosive. Don't cut the wrong wire or it all goes "BOOM". In Hurley we trust. He's going to really have to earn this one from a roster management standpoint.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

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.

The way people overlook facts and exhibit recency bias is one of the funniest things about the 'yard.

Last year, Hass had 95 assists, 43 TOs, for a more than respectable 2.2:1 ratio. For comparison, TNewt had a 2.5:1 ratio. Castle was 1.94:1.

So far this year, prior to last night's game, Hass had 24:8 ratio (including the URI game), which is an improvement over last year.

Yes, he had a sloppy game last night, but the whole team did. He's not a "turnover machine". Even with last nights lousy game, he has a 2.1:1 AST:TO ratio.

 

[Connecticut13]

The way people overlook facts and exhibit recency bias is one of the funniest things about the 'yard.

Last year, Hass had 95 assists, 43 TOs, for a more than respectable 2.2:1 ratio. For comparison, TNewt had a 2.5:1 ratio. Castle was 1.94:1.

So far this year, prior to last night's game, Hass had 24:8 ratio (including the URI game), which is an improvement over last year.

Yes, he had a sloppy game last night, but the whole team did. He's not a "turnover machine". Even with last nights lousy game, he has a 2.1:1 AST:TO ratio.

You're comparing a full season AST:TO ratio from last season against 3 games against cupcakes. I would expect an AST:TO ratio against cupcakes to be significantly better than a full season ratio that includes an entire Big East schedule.

With that being said, I agree that Hass generally isn't a turnover machine. He was his first season when he tried to do too much, but last year he was excellent. We don't want him regressing to bad habits, especially when he might feel the need to do more given that AM hasn't yet displayed pg skills.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Seeing Nowell in the first half last night was a little curious. I don't want to apply anything definitive to it at this time, and I don't think the coaching staff does either, but obviously we are searching still. And will be for a bit. I actually love the idea of Nowell getting a lot more run, but I don't think that was what everyone had in mind going into the season and certain things are now leaving some doors and questions open.

Managing this roster is true tight rope walking, there are so many good pieces but the fit on how they all work together is a major work in progress. Balancing your best options with playing time and usage expectations from the players perspective is such a delicate balance. It's like those movies when the protagonist has to save the universe by disarming an explosive. Don't cut the wrong wire or it all goes "BOOM". In Hurley we trust. He's going to really have to earn this one from a roster management standpoint.

Great post. The answers aren’t as cut and dry like they were the last two years.

Hurley really has to make some magic happen fit wise to find the right answers for us to make a deep tourney run.

 

[Greedo]

The offense doesn’t look great, but I’m reserving judgement until after Maui. That will be sink or swim. Sometimes it can be challenging to play well and make the right plays against such inferior competition.

I do like the idea of Mahaney playing more off ball, but I don’t know who would take his place to start the offense instead. Nowell looks great for the future, but I don’t think he’s ready just yet. I think Ball would have too many turnovers if given that role full time. Same with Diarra.

 

[RuffRuff]

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.

My sense with Diarra is lots of his sloppiness is due to trying to make things happen with a group that isn’t getting the offense. More improvising leads to more guessing leads to more mistakes. Last year he was pretty clean at 1 turnover a game in 19+ minutes in that symphony. I’m staying bullish on Hassan. My guess is Hurley exhausts trying AM at the starting PG, and if it just doesn’t work out Hassan is the guy.

Once the pace naturally slows down against good teams in the half court, so will Hassan. He’ll be fine. He needs to start hitting open threes at the same rate he did last year.

We cannot play Solo, Ross, or Nowell there regularly. Solo has no dribble game whatsoever, he’s purely spot up at this point. That’s something he needs to develop if he wants any chance of NBA. I was actually hoping to see a bit more with him on the dribble after all the glowing feedback from the summer. I see these options only in cases as breathers, unique matchups or big leads.

One of the things that stunts a guy like AM with the roll and lob is that he may not be able to see it as well. Our guards were huge last year. He has shown some improvement in taking it to the rim on both sides of the lane, so if he can show that as a regular threat it does set up the lob nicely. Liam would be the guy to set up the lob well but once he commits to the rim he doesn’t see anything else but the rim. Love his game but his passing so far has been pretty meh. As a whole this group this team doesn’t see the floor as well as last year - hard to tell how much of it is reps versus instincts.

 

[REB1094]

I’m pretty confident that as Mahaney learns the offense, he will quickly improve. The offense moves slower when he’s leading it, which I feel comfortable chalking up to him still learning what he’s supposed to do

Last night he missed an open layup that he’s going to make 95% of the time. That 1 mistake was the difference between 10 points on 40% and 12 points on 50%

He made 37.5% of his threes on high volume at SMC. So I also believe that he can shoot and the efficiency will improve as he gets more comfortable

My favorite part is that he takes care of the ball. Sure he’s moving slowly right now, but he’s not turning it over. 9 assists to 1 TO so far this season for a 9.0 A/TO. For reference - Diarra is 1.6, Solo is 2.5, Nowell is 1.5, Ross is 1.5

He’ll get better. Patience is key. Unless we lose a game we should have won because of him, we stay the course!

 

[Mr. French]

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

This is one of those wild things where you say something to emphasize your point but it does the opposite.

 

[gtcam]

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

A real PG does PG things - that's Nowell - did you watch him play AAU? I did many times, and the kid is pure PG with an above average perimeter shooting acumen.
AM is no way a PG and looks like he never played the position
Ball is not a PG - his court vision is not there.
UConn has HD and Nowell, period.
AM will have a role, but it can't be as a PG but as a SG.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

My sense with Diarra is lots of his sloppiness is due to trying to make things happen with a group that isn’t getting the offense. More improvising leads to more guessing leads to more mistakes. Last year he was pretty clean at 1 turnover a game in 19+ minutes in that symphony. I’m staying bullish on Hassan. My guess is Hurley exhausts trying AM at the starting PG, and if it just doesn’t work out Hassan is the guy.

Once the pace naturally slows down against good teams in the half court, so will Hassan. He’ll be fine. He needs to start hitting open threes at the same rate he did last year.

We cannot play Solo, Ross, or Nowell there regularly. Solo has no dribble game whatsoever, he’s purely spot up at this point. That’s something he needs to develop if he wants any chance of NBA. I was actually hoping to see a bit more with him on the dribble after all the glowing feedback from the summer. I see these options only in cases as breathers, unique matchups or big leads.

One of the things that stunts a guy like AM with the roll and lob is that he may not be able to see it as well. Our guards were huge last year. He has shown some improvement in taking it to the rim on both sides of the lane, so if he can show that as a regular threat it does set up the lob nicely. Liam would be the guy to set up the lob well but once he commits to the rim he doesn’t see anything else but the rim. Love his game but his passing so far has been pretty meh. As a whole this group this team doesn’t see the floor as well as last year - hard to tell how much of it is reps versus instincts.

One of Hass's TOs was from slipping on a wet spot on the floor. Two others were on drives to the lane where he should have just been "selfish" and shot a layup attempt but instead he tried to dish an assist.

I'm pretty sure the coaches will review this game tape with him and the forced passes on drives into the lane will decrease going forward. He finishes strong and needs to either make those shots or draw fouls.

 

[JerseyAlum]

The way people overlook facts and exhibit recency bias is one of the funniest things about the 'yard.

Last year, Hass had 95 assists, 43 TOs, for a more than respectable 2.2:1 ratio. For comparison, TNewt had a 2.5:1 ratio. Castle was 1.94:1.

So far this year, prior to last night's game, Hass had 24:8 ratio (including the URI game), which is an improvement over last year.

Yes, he had a sloppy game last night, but the whole team did. He's not a "turnover machine". Even with last nights lousy game, he has a 2.1:1 AST:TO ratio.

Hurley expects huge jump from each player year to year. Last year's stats don't mean much in the context of 2024-2025 season so "recency bias" is also what DH has as in his interviews he is all about the next year and last year means diddly.

URI was an exhibition game so stats do not carry or count. Maheney had a very good URI game as well if you want to be fair.

Not sure anyone said Haas was a turnover machine: He had 5 of 19 TOs while Maheney had zero. In the context of one game, that is meaningful, especially because we play Memphis next and while they don't have an especially tall team and basically play 7, they have some heads up guards.

But digging into last night's game: Diarra was 3-4 shooting for 75% FG, 5 Reb, 3 Ast, 2 Steals, 1 Block, 5 TO, zero fouls. That's not bad since 2 Steals negate 2 TOs, and as mentioned one was slipping on the floor, so better yet.

Maheney was 4-10 shooting for 40% FG, 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 0 Steals, 0 Blocks, 0 TOs, 2 PF. Took care of the ball better than anyone else playing good minutes not named Liam.

So net net - Maheney had better ball control, but contributed far less than Diarra in the overall context. Still, Diarra will come off the bench next game.

 

[superjohn]

Hard to take away much of anything considering our schedule so far and considering we have 4 new starters two of which weren't on the team last season but we can get some idea about the strengths and weaknesses.

It's just a much different team at this moment and there's reason to believe they will do things a bit differently to get hopefully the same outcomes. We're not getting the ball movement/facilitating and it's especially glaring compared to last year with the alley oops being taken away. I think this will get better as they get more comfortable playing together but it won't get to the level it was last year. Cam, Tristen, and Steph were unique with their vision, handles and size.

Our outside shooting is better with these guys than last season and we can come at you in waves even moreso than last season. I think this will remain a constant with the shooting. Karaban (now), Solo, Liam and Mahaney are all much better shooters than Castle and Tristen. I think the depth of this team will continue to grow and shine. Nowell and Abraham won't get burn in some games but they also won't be permanently stapled to the bench either. We have 11 guys who can go.

We should probably stop comparing this team to last season. That was an all-time starting 5 and an all-time college basketball team. We can three-peat and we don't have to be as good as last year to do it and we don't have to play like them to do it.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Hurley expects huge jump from each player year to year. Last year's stats don't mean much in the context of 2024-2025 season so "recency bias" is also what DH has as in his interviews he is all about the next year and last year means diddly.

URI was an exhibition game so stats do not carry or count. Maheney had a very good URI game as well if you want to be fair.

Not sure anyone said Haas was a turnover machine: He had 6 of 19 TOs while Maheney had zero. In the context of one game, that is meaningful, especially because we play Memphis next and while they don't have an especially tall team and basically play 7, they have some heads up guards. Diarra will likely come off the bench vs them.

I was responding to a post that literally said Hass was a turnover machine.

I wasn't comparing Hass to Aidan in my post. Just using Ast:TO stats to prove a point.

And FWIW, there's realistic and unrealistic expectations for improvement. Our "great" guards from last year had 2:1 and 2.5:1 Ast:TO ratios. Cam had an insane 4.9:1 ratio. Expecting Hass to improve on his 2.2:1 ratio to something like 4:1 is a bit of a stretch as his role is different/more in line with TNewt/Castle. 2.5-3:1 is probably an achievable goal and will reflect better decisionmaking. Of course, we need guys to make shots for a good pass to count as an Ast. Which is why getting the lob/inside game going is crucial.

 

[NJHusky]

This is one of those wild things where you say something to emphasize your point but it does the opposite.

Huh?

 

[NJHusky]

I’m pretty confident that as Mahaney learns the offense, he will quickly improve. The offense moves slower when he’s leading it, which I feel comfortable chalking up to him still learning what he’s supposed to do

Last night he missed an open layup that he’s going to make 95% of the time. That 1 mistake was the difference between 10 points on 40% and 12 points on 50%

He made 37.5% of his threes on high volume at SMC. So I also believe that he can shoot and the efficiency will improve as he gets more comfortable

My favorite part is that he takes care of the ball. Sure he’s moving slowly right now, but he’s not turning it over. 9 assists to 1 TO so far this season for a 9.0 A/TO. For reference - Diarra is 1.6, Solo is 2.5, Nowell is 1.5, Ross is 1.5

He’ll get better. Patience is key. Unless we lose a game we should have won because of him, we stay the course!

The 9:1 ast/to ratio is a bit misleading imo. What’s troubling about that is he only has 9 assists total for the year through 4 games. That’s not a good stat for a lead guard. Hass has 18 total assists, though with a little sloppy play from yesterday skewing the ratio imo.

And on the defensive side it’s not close. Hass has 5 stl. 3 block and 10 reb. Am has 1 stl and 4 reb.

 

[sledog]

He seems rather slow - espesc covering on D.

 

[HooperScooper]

This thread reminds me of the "We need a point guard" thread from 2 years ago. That turned out just fine so I'll put my faith in Hurley figuring this out again.

We need a point guard

I am stunned that someone built a team without a point guard and thought it would work. And that he thinks he can do it again next year. If Seton Hall doesn’t lose KR in the first half, we’re 0-2 against Seton Hall this year - we can only score against them in spurts and when they start to...

www.the-boneyard.com

 

[uh-no]

This thread reminds me of the "We need a point guard" thread from 2 years ago. That turned out just fine so I'll put my faith in Hurley figuring this out again.

We need a point guard

I am stunned that someone built a team without a point guard and thought it would work. And that he thinks he can do it again next year. If Seton Hall doesn’t lose KR in the first half, we’re 0-2 against Seton Hall this year - we can only score against them in spurts and when they start to...

www.the-boneyard.com

that might be the most poorly aged post in the history of TB.

 

[Mr. French]

Huh?

You said “he’s been here 6 months. Color me doubtful.” Which emphasizes 6 months as a long time to get acclimated. You’re underestimating the transition.

The reality is, in my humble opinion, that he’s “ONLY been here 6 months. Color me optimistic” he’ll figure it out.

Neither of us knows the right answer yet, I just think you saying 6 months like it made your point clear was odd to me.

 

[RuffRuff]

This thread reminds me of the "We need a point guard" thread from 2 years ago. That turned out just fine so I'll put my faith in Hurley figuring this out again.

We need a point guard

I am stunned that someone built a team without a point guard and thought it would work. And that he thinks he can do it again next year. If Seton Hall doesn’t lose KR in the first half, we’re 0-2 against Seton Hall this year - we can only score against them in spurts and when they start to...

www.the-boneyard.com

Here here! With you - have to put your faith in the staff to figure it out and enjoy the ride. They’re smarter than any of us and the best out there. All we can do is run our speculative banter on the Yard!

 

[Khal Drogo]

Can Ross or Stewart handle the ball well enough to bring the ball up..especially against pressur?

No