Mahaney In A Different Role?

[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.

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.

 

[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.

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.