Malachi Smith commits to UConn

[caw]

Neither Mahaney nor Gaffney was really a PG. If you want to classify something as a "Hurley blind spot" maybe trying to force fit guys into the PG role that aren't PGs is it. In the case of Demary and Smith, they both played PG for their previous teams and were solid assist guys.

Hurley (before Castle) did not do great at recruiting high school PGs but it wasn’t that bad. He also did a great job at getting transfers at PG.

High school players:

B. Adams - low ranked, exceeded expectations IMO
Gaffney - underachieved but also played solid minutes on a FF team after transfer
Diggins - COVID senior who was a star a level down.

Transfers:
Cole - great
Newton - beyond great
Diarra - extremely good

Then this past year was just a miss all around from Mahaney and Nowell regardless of how they play going forward. Not sure there were better options though.

 

[HawleyArmou]

Nice now go out and get a forward(Preferably a PF) and a 3rd string BIg man(Behind Reed and Reibe) and we are set.

After watching Reibe @ McD all-star game, we're going to need a big to spell Reed. Reibe is going to need more muscle to battle the Big East big men, he "may" not be ready to play sufficient minutes early.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Wow! Way to sell your guy, coach.

He'd fit in with many of the, "Yes, but ..." posters here, the ones who ritually cover their ass by centering their equivocations about players, even in threads that are opened to show appreciation or announce a positive recognition.

Sure, these guys aren't without their flaws, but it's okay to praise them, eh?

 

[Lafayette]

He is a true point guard and can distribute really well.. this jives with our team being mainly catch and shooters at the 3 line.

Silas Demary stats are hugely in favor of him shooting off the catch, not dribble.
Solomon Ball stats are slightly in favor of him shooting off the catch, not dribble.
Braylon Mullins - same as Demary now, should move up to Ball in a year.
Alex Karaban - same - better as a catch and shoot than dribble and shoot

Basically, we overindex on catch and shoot and don't have as many dribble drive creators - Ball has shown some of that, but we need some to complement else teams will scheme us.

We struggled without dribble drive and Castle-like create your own shot players...need more, hence why we loaded up on combo guards mainly. I think we still need a power 4 who can back someone down and shoot a hook, baby hook, etc. That's Reed right now, but no one else so it's at the 5. Not sure what Stewart will produce out of being a Junior but Soph --> Junior has been gold for us and many other teams.

 

[UCFan1513]

You can die on this hill, but you're wrong. UConn used him as a PG and 90% of this board knew that. There's just a few loud idiots who were saying that pre draft

Also who really cares what we used him as... we won a championship in the most dominating fashion in the last 25 years so it's a moot point whether he was "underutilized"

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

My favorite part about this board will always be the fact that you can't point out such a simple and objective fact that the staff has missed on some of the guys they brought in. Any tiny bit of criticism of anything whatsoever leads to being labeled as a massive hater. It's absolutely comical.

Arch sarcasm and combative defensiveness, wrapped in massive hyperbole - what a combo!

I thought post/handle was gentle and knowing.

 

[CL82]

Sure, these guys aren't without their flaws, but it's okay to praise them, eh?

Yep. In a throwaway quote, talk about the things he does exceptionally well. Great basketball IQ, makes all the players around him better, proven winner, etc..

 

[alphasigko]

Neither Mahaney nor Gaffney was really a PG. If you want to classify something as a "Hurley blind spot" maybe trying to force fit guys into the PG role that aren't PGs is it. In the case of Demary and Smith, they both played PG for their previous teams and were solid assist guys.

That happened w/Diarra too, thankfully Hass provided a really decent effort even tho he was not a natural PG.

 

[Scottobot]

Hurley (before Castle) did not do great at recruiting high school PGs but it wasn’t that bad. He also did a great job at getting transfers at PG.

High school players:

B. Adams - low ranked, exceeded expectations IMO
Gaffney - underachieved but also played solid minutes on a FF team after transfer
Diggins - COVID senior who was a star a level down.

Transfers:
Cole - great
Newton - beyond great
Diarra - extremely good

Then this past year was just a miss all around from Mahaney and Nowell regardless of how they play going forward. Not sure there were better options though.

Gafney was not a top 100 recruit. He was somewhere between 135 and 150. He was a developmental player and a long shot from the start. Diggins and Nowell are the only high school Pg busts. It’s not like they where top 25 players. Nowell top 40 and Diggins top 50. Everyone thought Nowell was going to be good, but he could not dribble the ball, which is kind of essential for a PG and a skill he should have already developed in high school. Did he even make a basket in 2025? I hope Nowell does well at his next stop, but he looked unprepared to play college ball. Hopefully he works hard this summer and gets off to good start wherever he ends up at. A top 40 pg should be able to score some points even if they go to the worst program and worst fit for them in the country. A top 40 PG should come out of high school with ability to drive to hope and score occasionally. Both Diggins and Nowel came out of Philly, maybe we should just avoid Philly PGS. Danny Hurley’s son was a more dynamic Pg and better scorer than Nowell.

 

[auror]

Gafney was not a top 100 recruit. He was somewhere between 135 and 150. He was a developmental player and a long shot from the start. Diggins and Nowell are the only high school Pg busts. It’s not like they where top 25 players. Nowell top 40 and Diggins top 50. Everyone thought Nowell was going to be good, but he could not dribble the ball, which is kind of essential for a PG and a skill he should have already developed in high school. Did he even make a basket in 2025? I hope Nowell does well at his next stop, but he looked unprepared to play college ball. Hopefully he works hard this summer and gets off to good start wherever he ends up at. A top 40 pg should be able to score some points even if they go to the worst program and worst fit for them in the country. A top 40 PG should come out of high school with ability to drive to hope and score occasionally. Both Diggins and Nowel came out of Philly, maybe we should just avoid Philly PGS. Danny Hurley’s son was a more dynamic Pg and better scorer than Nowell.

ESPN had Gaffney ranked top 100, but 247 and Rivals had him lower.

 

[Kenny11]

Gafney was not a top 100 recruit. He was somewhere between 135 and 150. He was a developmental player and a long shot from the start. Diggins and Nowell are the only high school Pg busts. It’s not like they where top 25 players. Nowell top 40 and Diggins top 50. Everyone thought Nowell was going to be good, but he could not dribble the ball, which is kind of essential for a PG and a skill he should have already developed in high school. Did he even make a basket in 2025? I hope Nowell does well at his next stop, but he looked unprepared to play college ball. Hopefully he works hard this summer and gets off to good start wherever he ends up at. A top 40 pg should be able to score some points even if they go to the worst program and worst fit for them in the country. A top 40 PG should come out of high school with ability to drive to hope and score occasionally. Both Diggins and Nowel came out of Philly, maybe we should just avoid Philly PGS. Danny Hurley’s son was a more dynamic Pg and better scorer than Nowell.

Nowell is talented. He can dribble, drive, pass, score, etc. I’m sure he will have a good career. Why he didn’t show that here in extremely limited time? I don’t know. A lot of players need extended minutes to gain confidence.

 

[caw]

Gafney was not a top 100 recruit. He was somewhere between 135 and 150. He was a developmental player and a long shot from the start. Diggins and Nowell are the only high school Pg busts. It’s not like they where top 25 players. Nowell top 40 and Diggins top 50. Everyone thought Nowell was going to be good, but he could not dribble the ball, which is kind of essential for a PG and a skill he should have already developed in high school. Did he even make a basket in 2025? I hope Nowell does well at his next stop, but he looked unprepared to play college ball. Hopefully he works hard this summer and gets off to good start wherever he ends up at. A top 40 pg should be able to score some points even if they go to the worst program and worst fit for them in the country. A top 40 PG should come out of high school with ability to drive to hope and score occasionally. Both Diggins and Nowel came out of Philly, maybe we should just avoid Philly PGS. Danny Hurley’s son was a more dynamic Pg and better scorer than Nowell.

Basically agree. I do think Gaffney slightly underachieved based on expectations at UConn but only slightly.

I also throw Diggins in the COVID high school senior pool of being a bad year for evaluating talent overall.

 

[Palatine]

Gaffney was a very good athlete. Much better than Mahaney, Nowell, Cole, Diggin, Adams. I think we under rate him. He thrived at FAU. It just never came all together when he was here. There was talent there.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Gaffney was a very good athlete. Much better than Mahaney, Nowell, Cole, Diggin, Adams. I think we under rate him. He thrived at FAU. It just never came all together when he was here. There was talent there.

He had one reasonably good year at FAU, though still not a star by any stretch. It was the right call for both parties for him to transfer. He would not have received real minutes here those last two years.

 

[Gurleyman]

Gaffney averaged 5.6 points and 2.4 assists in his fifth season of college ball. He was a depth piece/role player at FAU too. The final four season for them he was a 30 percent shooter - but he got it over 40 his fifth year.

I’m rooting for Nowell to find success. He seems like he was a good teammate and didn’t cause problems when things were probably frustrating for him (although none of us are privy to behind the scenes things). But the alarming thing to me was looking at how teams played him. He couldn’t really score this year - which is fine. Shooting sometimes requires confidence and comes later when the game slows down and you get more minutes. Shabazz wasn’t a great scorer as a freshman.

But when you have a small point guard who isn’t a scorer, the defensive game plan is usually to play off him, go under screens, and force him to be a shooter (ie into his weakness). Nowell was harassed all over the court anyway … because nobody feared him off the dribble either, and they could get us out of our offense entirely by forcing him to deal with pressure. And then when he gave up the ball they could help off him.

I’ve been wrong many a time - but I just didn’t see the raw material to mold him into anything here. Kemba dribbled into trouble all the time as a freshman but you could see how tough he was to guard and you could coach the bad habits out of him. But I hope Nowell finds his niche and has a great career. The fresh start and more minutes to find his way can maybe do wonders for him.

 

[Waquoit]

He had one reasonably good year at FAU, though still not a star by any stretch. It was the right call for both parties for him to transfer. He would not have received real minutes here those last two years.

Thanks goodness for the tourney schedule in 2023. I thought Gaff was going to make a Final 4 before Hurley but the UConn game first. But I'm just laughing at the knobs trying make hay over perceived "misses" by Hurley. It's embarrassing. And stop trying to compare Dan Hurley to JC. They are both all-timers. Hurley is way ahead of JC at similar times in their UConn career. And that's no-knock on Calhoun.

 

[HooperScooper]

Nowell is talented. He can dribble, drive, pass, score, etc. I’m sure he will have a good career. Why he didn’t show that here in extremely limited time? I don’t know. A lot of players need extended minutes to gain confidence.

I think the reason Nowell didn't show much his freshman year is twofold. One, he was a freshman who needed to develop a little before he could contribute. And then two, he had multiple injuries that held him back from developing. He was always bulky for a small player but I also think he looked a little chunky near the end of the season and I wonder whether the injuries hurt his conditioning. He looked much more athletic in the beginning of the season. Without the injuries I think he would have turned out much better by the 2nd half of the season.

I do believe Nowell is going to be a very good college player at some point.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Gaffney was a very good athlete. Much better than Mahaney, Nowell, Cole, Diggin, Adams. I think we under rate him. He thrived at FAU. It just never came all together when he was here. There was talent there.

Which Adams are you referring to?

 

[bigknight3]

Which Adams are you referring to?

The one who's actually played PG for UConn and would fit in comparison with other PG who recently played for Uconn.

 

[JonnyRI]

Which Adams are you referring to?

I think he is talking about Brendan

 

[444JR]

I think he is talking about Brendan

Hope so

 

[Scottobot]

I think he is talking about Brendan

Adam’s was a transfer from URI that Hurley brought with him when he took job?

 

[UCan3]

Nowell is talented. He can dribble, drive, pass, score, etc. I’m sure he will have a good career. Why he didn’t show that here in extremely limited time? I don’t know. A lot of players need extended minutes to gain confidence.

We were a rather slow footed team that wasn’t the best moving team for a PG to drive/dish.

We got it figured out eventually but well after Nowell had his shot.

I don’t know if many remember the games he went in… Yes, he didn‘t take over games or overly impress but the rest of the team wasn’t doing much better.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Adam’s was a transfer from URI that Hurley brought with him when he took job?

Committed to Rhode Island to play for Hurley but switched his commitment when Hurley got the UConn job.

A really important recruit in terms of setting the cultural tone. Brendan Adams is a kid that no one seems to have a negative thing to say about.

 

[jibsey]

Nowell is talented. He can dribble, drive, pass, score, etc. I’m sure he will have a good career. Why he didn’t show that here in extremely limited time? I don’t know. A lot of players need extended minutes to gain confidence.

I agree that he did not have the opportunity and playing time to develop. It’s like the Yankees when they bring a player up, there better be results fairly soon or they are gone. And unfortunately that results in some misses down the road if they do well.