Mahaney In A Different Role?

[jibsey]

This is just my opinion and not meant to slight Aiden but the offense doesn’t run that smooth with him at point it seems to me. He can be an effective 3 point shooter from the #2 guard spot. His minutes will be reduced and this is not giving up on him but we need a more physical starting point guard. He is going to be facing up against very tough point guards and I‘d love to be proven wrong about this but Nowell needs to be in there. We’ll live with his freshman mistakes and there will be many and hopefully he develops and improves well enough for a deep tourney run. The kid is a tough player, my impression in his limited minutes this year.
How long will Hurley stay with Aiden and is he locked as starting point guard all season? Maheney would still be valuable to the team playing off the ball.

 

[Jimdish255]

There's still time to see if Mahaney can get his confidence and consistency going from outside. Noticing some effective distribution and better defense. It's slow but it's coming.
Nowel is a raw talent going to be a player for us. Just guessing the Coaches see he needs more time to understand and adjust and want to go with more experienced guys for now. If he can bust into the lineup or circumstances dictate he might change their minds.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Mahaney will have a major role as the lead guard or playing off-ball. As of now, he’s too good of a player to not be playing major minutes. Nowell might push for more time but I think he has a ways to go before starting.

If the lineup is to change, I think it should be
Ball, Ross, McNeeley, Karaban, Reed.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The problem with this idea is it takes minutes from Ball and Ross. I think Mahaney has to cut it at point for this team to play its best players the most minutes. It’ll look much better for him if he makes those semi guarded layups and open 3s soon, he’s done a good job not turning the ball over, which we saw was even a problem for Diarra yesterday.

 

[NJHusky]

Offense doesn’t run as smooth with him at the point. He seems physically limited even against this level of play, especially on D.

 

[CTBasketball]

Offense doesn’t run as smooth with him at the point. He seems physically limited even against this level of play, especially on D.

We’ve played 4 of the worst D1 schools. The competition has been poor.

 

[HailUConn]

Did his haircut give away? Tongue-in-cheek aside, Hurley will be remiss if he did not give Nowell a shot at PG.
In these 4 marshmallow games, did he even attempt a lob or interior pass?

 

[navery12]

This is just my opinion and not meant to slight Aiden but the offense doesn’t run that smooth with him at point it seems to me. He can be an effective 3 point shooter from the #2 guard spot. His minutes will be reduced and this is not giving up on him but we need a more physical starting point guard. He is going to be facing up against very tough point guards and I‘d love to be proven wrong about this but Nowell needs to be in there. We’ll live with his freshman mistakes and there will be many and hopefully he develops and improves well enough for a deep tourney run. The kid is a tough player, my impression in his limited minutes this year.
How long will Hurley stay with Aiden and is he locked as starting point guard all season? Maheney would still be valuable to the team playing off the ball.

Nowell is not going from the 10th man to starting PG. He's more likely to be out of the rotation than starting IMO. I don't see Mahaney being replaced right now, but if he is it'll be Ross or Stewart

 

[RuffRuff]

Pretty clear DH trying to test drive AM in the Newton role of an on ball, create your shot PG. Issue I’ve seen is that he has no nose for the system pass and really has no ability to draw contact and finish. He just plays like an off ball guard, best making a move or two off the receipt. It just doesn’t feel like the fit is there right now and he has to either develop into it or team has to modify. Right now when he’s running from the top he tends do just dribble around, see nothing and then swing it.

 

[upstater]

I want to see more of what Ross can do on defense before getting to this decision. Ross may turn into a huge force on defense so he'll demand floor time.

But right now Ross seems so herky-jerky on offense that I would maybe think of Mahaney moving off the ball so that Diarra and Ball had the ball in their hands more.

But it would come at the expense of Ross.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Again, weak competition, but it seams like AN can score whenever he wants. He also is a competitor and when he makes a mistake he seams to make up for it the next possession.

 

[Mister P]

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.

 

[lonsharkin51]

Not that I’m happy with his play, but it is worth keeping in mind that Mahaney played great against URI, which is the best team we’ve seen so far. Maybe he just needs better competition to bring the best out of him. (How’s that for wishful thinking?)

 

[imno1]

We were so spoiled by last year’s team. The passing, constant movement, and ability to find the open man was as good as we’ve seen in the college game. This year’s team will take time to gel but If you expect execution similar to 23/24 you’ll be disappointed. I don’t envy our current squad. The pressure to 3peat and to follow one of the best college teams of all time must be incredible. A couple things. Alex needs to be more involved in the offense not only for the team’s success but to improve his draft stock. Count me in on finding minutes for Nowell. I believe he’d be the better option over Mahaney at lead guard come tournament time. I just don’t see the pg instincts in Aidan.

 

[NJHusky]

Nowell is not going from the 10th man to starting PG. He's more likely to be out of the rotation than starting IMO. I don't see Mahaney being replaced right now, but if he is it'll be Ross or Stewart

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

 

[jibsey]

We were spoiled, spoiled by TNew. Stew sees everything and passes like a pg and sees over the defense but his handle wouldn’t be good enough but he does have that height. Ross and Stew could be a turnover fest.
We missed a lot of wide open 3’s yesterday and shot 29%. If we can’t get the ball to Samson then Reed has to be in there more.

 

[UConn990411]

As someone who wanted Tristen Newton benched at times during his first year here, I’m going to wait longer than four games before drawing any conclusions about Mahaney.

No, I’m not predicting he’ll be as good as Newton, but we should give it a couple months before drawing any conclusions. It’s not just that Mahaney is new here - most of the rotation is largely new, and guys are still figuring out their respective roles and how to play together.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

Let’s not forget Newton had many growing pains at PG right up until our first national championship. To the point, many on this board were also questioning his fit at PG. I do agree that the offense looks better when Mahaney is in more of an off-(Solomon) ball role. But it’s still too early to write him off, and we’ll reach our fullest potential if Mahaney can get to that level.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

DH sees a lot more of these guys than we do. No reason to doubt his assessment of the players and where he sees the team going. Ross hasn't looked all that good, based on game play. A lot of bricks last night. But DH sees things we don't, so patience is required. @imno1 is right. We've been spoiled recently. Come January/February we should have a better idea of this team's ceiling. Hawaii will be a great test for this team.
You nervous nellies need to give this team a chance to gel. We lost 4 starters to the NBA/G League. Chill out.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I really don’t see the starting line up changing unless there is an unfortunate injury to one of the starters and the starting five plays better for to two or three games the original starter was out.

Other than that I just see Hurley sticking with this starting line up. He has to play the long game and not just this season when he makes these decisions.

When he recruits these portal transfers he chooses those that he thinks will fit best, but there have to be certain conversations that happen where he has to remain true to his word.

How else could he get so many players to stay and also kind of pick and choose his portal adds. It not just one season it’s also about the program and sustainability for the next 6-8 years.

 

[RuffRuff]

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

No way against good teams. And this team needs someone that can stabilize and create in that spot. We turned the ball over 19x yesterday. Imagine Ross running point against Marquette? Stew is a full on no.

Love Ross but he is a raw player. He can make the break away dunk, but then he’s throwing threes off the side of a backboard and throwing balls away. He’s an unrefined athlete at this point, will match highlight reel play for knucklehead play. I’m starting to see through Hurleys hyperbole as he is calling players NBA caliber as nothing more than motivational.

This team just feels young, as expected. Last years team had a cerebral calm about them. This group feels more of the wild hair type, and I don’t think that’s all youth. Question now is do we have enough depth and talent to outrun good teams in the next month. It’s going to be interesting to see how the staff pulls this puzzle together throughout the year.

Need to stop comparing AM to TNewt or referring to StM. They’re different players, StM years no longer relevant - TNewt was a 6 friggin 5 PG and played physical, drawing contact and always rebounding. AM is a small non physical off guard trying to figure out PG in a complex system. I had my doubts seeing him up close in open practice based on physicality and disposition. Those doubts remain. Hurley has been candid this was the biggest piece to figure out, needing him to grow into Spencer/Newt, we’ve seen no signs of it yet.

 

[Kitaman]

PG is the hardest position to learn especially under a demanding Championship Coach who was a PG.

He just got here and is learning a new and complicated system (the best in college basketball), adjusting to new players and coach, relocating to on the East Coast, and competing with top talent.

To me he will be fine. He just needs time, its not like he's a forward waiting for a pass. He's got to understand the offense, know his teammates tendencies and style, put them in position for easy baskets, and then provide scoring help.

He's young, learning and he's slowly contributing. I say mid January we will see Hurley's PG flourishing and him executing as planned.

 

[Deepster]

I really don’t see the starting line up changing unless there is an unfortunate injury to one of the starters and the starting five plays better for to two or three games the original starter was out.

Why? Because we beat 4 cupcakes by a combined 151 pts? I don't buy this one bit. We're so deep that we should be playing the 5 best suited at their position. So far, Mahaney is not one of the 5 best. This isn't a lucky rabbit's foot keeping him as a starter.

 

[NJHusky]

PG is the hardest position to learn especially under a demanding Championship Coach who was a PG.

He just got here and is learning a new and complicated system (the best in college basketball), adjusting to new players and coach, relocating to on the East Coast, and competing with top talent.

To me he will be fine. He just needs time, its not like he's a forward waiting for a pass. He's got to understand the offense, know his teammates tendencies and style, put them in position for easy baskets, and then provide scoring help.

He's young, learning and he's slowly contributing. I say mid January we will see Hurley's PG flourishing and him executing as planned.

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

 

[navery12]

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

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