Marquette Post Game Thread

[bendm]

You responded directly to a post calling for him to transfer out and suggested we pull his NIL money. You can play dumb and walk it back if you want, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

Do we have to pussyfoot around this stuff? I hope he comes back as our 3rd string PG but he was brought in to be our starting PG so It’s safe to assume he’s being compensated like one. Dozens of posters have said we need to bring in a new starting transfer PG. I just connected the very obvious dots in terms of what that would mean in terms of current/future NIL allocation.

 

[navery12]

Do we have to pussyfoot around this stuff? I hope he comes back as our 3rd string PG but he was brought in to be our starting PG so It’s safe to assume he’s being compensated like one. Dozens of posters have said we need to bring in a new starting transfer PG. I just connected the very obvious dots in terms of what that would mean in terms of current/future NIL allocation.

Don't have to, I just think it's a pretty dumb take. We do need to bring in a transfer PG, I just still see a very valuable role for Mahaney playing off ball next year and don't want to see him forced out

 

[RuffRuff]

Will be interesting to see if this chap portals - Junior



Speaking of PGs and since we have the reigning winner

 

[PAHusky]

I doubt we'll portal for a PG. Nowell and Ball can take the lead. Ross and Mahaney can fill in. It would take too long for a portal PG to get up to speed. Its not worth it. He would have to be an exceptional talent and I dont see it happening.

At this point Nowell has barely played at all and Mahaney has barely played the point (which clearly isn’t his natural position). Why would it take anyone that much longer to get up to speed/why would they have to be exceptionally talented?

 

[RuffRuff]

Nowell

At this point Nowell has barely played at all and Mahaney has barely played the point (which clearly isn’t his natural position). Why would it take anyone that much longer to get up to speed/why would they have to be exceptionally talented?

Nowell is a freshman and a 30ish ranked recruit. I can give him a full pass this year and hope for a leap.

Mahaney on the other hand was an experiment that didn’t work and now fills very little need on next years roster with the influx of big guards coming in, unless he’s open to a backup role as a Swiss Army knife type guard off the bench as a senior. I don’t think that’s why he came here, my guess at his size is that he came to develop into a PG under the tutelage of a HC and former PG. With hopes of being our starting 2026 PG. Just a hunch.

 

[bendm]

Don't have to, I just think it's a pretty dumb take. We do need to bring in a transfer PG, I just still see a very valuable role for Mahaney playing off ball next year and don't want to see him forced out

Seems like we agree for the most part then, so not sure what part is dumb. I posted the below so Can you quote where I said he should be forced out?

What’s the nice way to say it? I didn’t say Hurley should force him out or pull his scholly. These aint student athletes anymore they’re making 6 figures.

We can disagree about whether 3rd string is very valuable or not but isn’t this the current projected backcourt depthchart?

Transfer / Nowell / Mahaney
Ball / Adams / Mahaney
Mullins / Ross / Furphy

 

[navery12]

Seems like we agree for the most part then, so not sure what part is dumb. I posted the below so Can you quote where I said he should be forced out?
We can disagree about whether 3rd string is very valuable or not but isn’t this the current projected backcourt depthchart?

Transfer / Nowell / Mahaney
Ball / Adams / Mahaney
Mullins / Ross / Furphy

You were responding to a guy talking about forcing Mahaney into the portal and said we should cut his NIL. Maybe you didn't mean it, but that comes across as you wanting to force him out

 

[PAHusky]

Nowell

Nowell is a freshman and a 30ish ranked recruit. I can give him a full pass this year and hope for a leap.

Mahaney on the other hand was an experiment that didn’t work and now fills very little need on next years roster with the influx of big guards coming in, unless he’s open to a backup role as a Swiss Army knife type guard off the bench as a senior. I don’t think that’s why he came here, my guess at his size is that he came to develop into a PG under the tutelage of a HC and former PG. With hopes of being our starting 2026 PG. Just a hunch.

I like Nowell but unless he starts getting serious minutes this year soon it’s basically a write off for him and he’s coming into next year with less minutes played than Ross, Stewart, etc this year and we saw how little their freshmen years did to season them. Think portal pg is the obvious way to go - let there be competition

 

[thekollieman]

Nowell

Nowell is a freshman and a 30ish ranked recruit. I can give him a full pass this year and hope for a leap.

Mahaney on the other hand was an experiment that didn’t work and now fills very little need on next years roster with the influx of big guards coming in, unless he’s open to a backup role as a Swiss Army knife type guard off the bench as a senior. I don’t think that’s why he came here, my guess at his size is that he came to develop into a PG under the tutelage of a HC and former PG. With hopes of being our starting 2026 PG. Just a hunch.

I see no reason why to assume the experiment is failed when we’re about 1/4 of the way through the timetable for it. You may turn out to be right, but jumping to way-too-early conclusions with a profoundly negative outlook on our players’ potentials is simply not the way I choose to orient myself as a UConn fan.

I know it’s all a part of the discussion between similarly passionate fans, but I’m honestly just not in tune with pessimism. I know, you may see this take as realism, but what we’re doing here is predicting the future outcome of a guy on our roster. You predict a fundamentally negative outcome (i.e., the pessimistic point of view), I predict a positive one. Neither of us actually has a clue what is going to happen. Even by watching every game and press conference we are still only observing the tip of the iceberg that is Aidan Mahaney’s development process.

You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m not even trying to change your mind, but I feel like it’s good to inject some optimism at times when one of our guys is getting crapped on so much here.

 

[RuffRuff]

I see no reason why to assume the experiment is failed when we’re about 1/4 of the way through the timetable for it. You may turn out to be right, but jumping to way-too-early conclusions with a profoundly negative outlook on our players’ potentials is simply not the way I choose to orient myself as a UConn fan.

I know it’s all a part of the discussion between similarly passionate fans, but I’m honestly just not in tune with pessimism. I know, you may see this take as realism, but what we’re doing here is predicting the future outcome of a guy on our roster. You predict a fundamentally negative outcome (i.e., the pessimistic point of view), I predict a positive one. Neither of us actually has a clue what is going to happen. Even by watching every game and press conference we are still only observing the tip of the iceberg that is Aidan Mahaney’s development process.

You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m not even trying to change your mind, but I feel like it’s good to inject some optimism at times when one of our guys is getting crapped on so much here.

I’m going off of more than just our 22 games. He has a fairly decent sample size beyond UConn, along with the eyeball test, along with his measurables. Uphill battle to develop him into something more than a spare part in his senior year, but if the staff is into it, of course I’m all for it. It doesn’t mean you just have to be “optimistic” for the hell of it. I’m in the camp of it’s ok to be skeptical. More than anything he is a chronically slow decision maker, a trait that I just don’t see translating to PG.

 

[thekollieman]

I’m going off of more than just our 22 games. He has a fairly decent sample size beyond UConn, along with the eyeball test, along with his measurables. Uphill battle to develop him into something more than a spare part in his senior year, but if the staff is into it, of course I’m all for it. It doesn’t mean you just have to be “optimistic” for the hell of it. I’m in the camp of it’s ok to be skeptical. More than anything he is a chronically slow decision maker, a trait that I just don’t see translating to PG.

It’s not optimism “for the heck of it.” It’s choosing to have a positive outlook because I have found that it improves my quality of life, holistically. Obviously, other people figured that out already thousands of years ago, but now I also know it from my own life experience.

I am also healthily skeptical. That’s why I expressed doubt in my own prediction and endorsed the possibility you may have it right.

RE: “the eye test…”

Frankly, this is a meaningless translation for an individual’s personal impression of a guy. I didn’t know the Boneyard existed back then, but I’d be shocked if people weren’t piling on to say Thabeet didn’t pass the eye test as an uncoordinated freshman. I know his pro career clearly didn’t pan out as projected for a #2 pick, but he was undeniably the most valuable center in the country as a junior and deserved to be the early lottery pick that he was. All of that is to say “the eye test” talk always makes me think of the old-timers in the movie Moneyball collectively getting a ton of stuff wrong, pretty much believing in their own credibility on the basis of circle jerk style validation.

That being said, I spontaneously employ the eye test myself. It’s called intuition. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. Other than people who go strictly by the analytics for their expectations, the rest of us are all just intuiting to highly variable levels of accuracy.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Or he's just screwing with Pitino.

Do that and you'll end up with an STD.

 

[Conndog]

Will be interesting to see if this chap portals - Junior



Speaking of PGs and since we have the reigning winner

Good numbers, haven’t seen him play, he’s listed as 6’2. Tristen's 6’5 was a tremendous advantage

 

[inWV]

The recent choices are few for the coaches, not many. The Milwaukee win will move us up several notches. Ross earned his time and was an important factor. His offense will likely improve.

Pretty clear that the coaches trust him for his defense and he handled the ball with confidence last game. He should embrace a role as a defensive stopper for the season.

 

[RuffRuff]

It’s not optimism “for the heck of it.” It’s choosing to have a positive outlook because I have found that it improves my quality of life, holistically. Obviously, other people figured that out already thousands of years ago, but now I also know it from my own life experience.

I am also healthily skeptical. That’s why I expressed doubt in my own prediction and endorsed the possibility you may have it right.

RE: “the eye test…”

Frankly, this is a meaningless translation for an individual’s personal impression of a guy. I didn’t know the Boneyard existed back then, but I’d be shocked if people weren’t piling on to say Thabeet didn’t pass the eye test as an uncoordinated freshman. I know his pro career clearly didn’t pan out as projected for a #2 pick, but he was undeniably the most valuable center in the country as a junior and deserved to be the early lottery pick that he was. All of that is to say “the eye test” talk always makes me think of the old-timers in the movie Moneyball collectively getting a ton of stuff wrong, pretty much believing in their own credibility on the basis of circle jerk style validation.

That being said, I spontaneously employ the eye test myself. It’s called intuition. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. Other than people who go strictly by the analytics for their expectations, the rest of us are all just intuiting to highly variable levels of accuracy.

I do understand the power of positivity, and think it is quite the healthy approach in life up until it starts feeling canned and obstructs good constructive conversation.

I’d say the eye test is more about how an athlete looks in person against his peers, evaluating their traits and presence on the floor. In a case like AM’s it was apparent in open practice that he looked out of place physically. The offset was savvy, the mental game, the “Cam” stuff. I personally haven’t seen much of it, if anything it’s been a struggle for him to make the mental transition as he looks stuck in his head and hasn’t adjusted to the speed. His offense feels a bit scripted as well. Maybe the aha moment awaits, I’m skeptical.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I do understand the power of positivity, and think it is quite the healthy approach in life up until it starts feeling canned and obstructs good constructive conversation.

I’d say the eye test is more about how an athlete looks in person against his peers, evaluating their traits and presence on the floor. In a case like AM’s it was apparent in open practice that he looked out of place physically. The offset was savvy, the mental game, the “Cam” stuff. I personally haven’t seen much of it, if anything it’s been a struggle for him to make the mental transition as he looks stuck in his head and hasn’t adjusted to the speed. His offense feels a bit scripted as well. Maybe the aha moment awaits, I’m skeptical.

Cam also had 20 pounds on Mahaney. So there’s that.

 

[3rdbass]

I see no reason why to assume the experiment is failed when we’re about 1/4 of the way through the timetable for it. You may turn out to be right, but jumping to way-too-early conclusions with a profoundly negative outlook on our players’ potentials is simply not the way I choose to orient myself as a UConn fan.

I know it’s all a part of the discussion between similarly passionate fans, but I’m honestly just not in tune with pessimism. I know, you may see this take as realism, but what we’re doing here is predicting the future outcome of a guy on our roster. You predict a fundamentally negative outcome (i.e., the pessimistic point of view), I predict a positive one. Neither of us actually has a clue what is going to happen. Even by watching every game and press conference we are still only observing the tip of the iceberg that is Aidan Mahaney’s development process.

You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m not even trying to change your mind, but I feel like it’s good to inject some optimism at times when one of our guys is getting crapped on so much here.

Hurley has already been quoted as Mahaney at PG hasn't worked. He is was trying to "stick a square into a round hole". The only reason Mahaney has even played there recently is because Nowell is out and even when in was not too effective recently. Mahaney is a SG who can create his own shot but doesn't have natural PG abilities to play there and it has shown to be not a good fit.

 

[thekollieman]

I do understand the power of positivity, and think it is quite the healthy approach in life up until it starts feeling canned and obstructs good constructive conversation.

I’d say the eye test is more about how an athlete looks in person against his peers, evaluating their traits and presence on the floor. In a case like AM’s it was apparent in open practice that he looked out of place physically. The offset was savvy, the mental game, the “Cam” stuff. I personally haven’t seen much of it, if anything it’s been a struggle for him to make the mental transition as he looks stuck in his head and hasn’t adjusted to the speed. His offense feels a bit scripted as well. Maybe the aha moment awaits, I’m skeptical.

See, I don’t disagree with that assessment really at all. I wasn’t at the open practice, but I can imagine that given he’s a smaller player. I felt like his St. Mary’s highlights showed what he’s capable of when he believes he’s the man for the job. I don’t think he believes that about himself at UConn yet (pure speculation; I know I can’t be in his head). I just wouldn’t chalk it up to a failed experiment halfway through his first season. I don’t necessarily think an aha moment is coming, but I think he’ll seize the opportunity to be the man when we need him to at least a couple times before the end of this season, while mostly becoming a more consistent role player. Then I think his confidence takes a huge step up when he can embrace being a veteran leader next year.

 

[thekollieman]

Hurley has already been quoted as Mahaney at PG hasn't worked. He is was trying to "stick a square into a round hole". The only reason Mahaney has even played there recently is because Nowell is out and even when in was not too effective recently. Mahaney is a SG who can create his own shot but doesn't have natural PG abilities to play there and it has shown to be not a good fit.

Is “stick a square into a round hole” it for that quote? I know he addressed Mahaney not playing up to expectations a handful of times in the first leg of the season, but he certainly has continued to use him as a PG. You may think he is not a good fit, but the coaches obviously disagree with that based on how they’ve played him, at least over the last three games. I know we’re all just speculating, but I feel like I could guarantee you that Hurley does not see Aidan as a failed experiment (the original issue I was addressing).

 

[jibsey]

What is Nowell’s real height? He’s listed at 6’ but is he 5’10 or 11”? His injury this year has made it impossible to judge whether he can get to the rim or defend bigger players well enough in the BE.
I want a bigger athletic pg just in case because we know that Mahaney can not do it for 30 plus a game.

 

[Hunt for 7]

What is Nowell’s real height? He’s listed at 6’ but is he 5’10 or 11”? His injury this year has made it impossible to judge whether he can get to the rim or defend bigger players well enough in the BE.
I want a bigger athletic pg just in case because we know that Mahaney can not do it for 30 plus a game.

I am guessing it’s closer to 5’11” and he is long. Not sure what his wingspan is but it would not surprise me if it’s 6’3” or so. He is bigger that Gilbert and I am only using that comparison because Gilbert was injured his freshman year but even before he re injured his shoulder from the high school injury he was having some trouble in the lane with getting his shot off. But we never got to see him healthy IMO. He was a marginally better player after transferring to Wichita State but never close to where he was projected coming out of high school.

It can be done. Last night the Knicks had Brunson and McBride on the court at the same time and beat a good Houston team. Brunson is maybe 6’1” and he can dominate an NBA game. Sears is dominant with Alabama. I think we all love big guards because of our success. I am hoping Nowell has some of that type game in him. I trust our staff in their assessment. It would be great to have a super quick player who can get to the basket. Imagine the kick out opportunities with our shooters. But if defenders don’t respect his ability to finish the kick out opportunities will not be there as much.

I think we are seeing they have patience and see things we don’t. Honestly if McNeeley does not get hurt we are probably a one loss team in the BE and we are not talking about so many of the things that have dominated the yard over the last 5 weeks. I am hoping Nowell has that ability to overcome his size and be an impact player. I think it is clear he is the quickest player with the ball on our roster. I would say fastest but I think Ross probably covers space faster than Nowell.

 

[RuffRuff]

See, I don’t disagree with that assessment really at all. I wasn’t at the open practice, but I can imagine that given he’s a smaller player. I felt like his St. Mary’s highlights showed what he’a capable of when he believes he’s the man for the job. I don’t think he believes that about himself at UConn yet (pure speculation; I know I can’t be in his head). I just wouldn’t chalk it up to a failed experiment halfway through his first season. I don’t necessarily think an aha moment is coming, but I think he’ll seize the opportunity to be the man when we need him to at least a couple times before the end of this season, while mostly becoming a more consistent role player. Then I think his confidence takes a huge step up when he can embrace being a veteran leader next year.

If you give any player enough volume, they are going to have highlights. Highlights are very deceiving, especially in the league StM plays in. His numbers there were very much based on volume, as he wasn't a super efficient player. He's not going to be a volume shooter here.

My skepticism is around him becoming a PG at Uconn, not a contributing player. Is he a guy we can use for 7-12 minutes a game this/next year, sure. If it's at the sake of occupying a roster spot that a developing freshman takes, where we could get a more suitable fit to balance the roster next year, then probably not. Also really don't think he came here to be a role player for 2 years, after being a frosh/soph starter on a tourney team. Hurley is patient and loyal, so let's see how it turns out. Maybe the kid is up for the challenge and really likes being at Uconn, and willing to take a smaller role. The NIL piece is also going to be a driver here as I'm sure he's getting more than bench piece dollars.

 

[ctchamps]

Is “stick a square into a round hole” it for that quote? I know he addressed Mahaney not playing up to expectations a handful of times in the first leg of the season, but he certainly has continued to use him as a PG. You may think he is not a good fit, but the coaches obviously disagree with that based on how they’ve played him, at least over the last three games. I know we’re all just speculating, but I feel like I could guarantee you that Hurley does not see Aidan as a failed experiment (the original issue I was addressing).

That entire press conference was Hurley trying to take the pressure off of Mahaney and stop fans from directing negativity towards him. He clearly stated he was utilizing Mahaney incorrectly and wanted to put the blame on himself.

 

[Gurleyman]

The thing with Cam - and Joey C before him - is they came off screens a major threat to shoot, and that got defenders rushing at them and opened up driving lanes and passes.

We rarely use Mahaney that way and when he runs around screens, he’s often not looking to shoot. He’s looking to get the ball and start dribbling. So the defense isn't scrambling and is ready to play him straight up, making whatever he does next more difficult.

That quick square up off the catch and shoot is an important part of our offense when we have shooters out there. You do all this work running sophisticated plays to get a shooter some daylight, they need to use it. Otherwise you might not get a look again. And when Mahaney is out there with Diarra or Ross, he’s got to think of himself as having a green light.

 

[gsmooth]

The thing with Cam - and Joey C before him - is they came off screens a major threat to shoot, and that got defenders rushing at them and opened up driving lanes and passes.

We rarely use Mahaney that way and when he runs around screens, he’s often not looking to shoot. He’s looking to get the ball and start dribbling. So the defense isn't scrambling and is ready to play him straight up, making whatever he does next more difficult.

That quick square up off the catch and shoot is an important part of our offense when we have shooters out there. You do all this work running sophisticated plays to get a shooter some daylight, they need to use it. Otherwise you might not get a look again. And when Mahaney is out there with Diarra or Ross, he’s got to think of himself as having a green light.

running full speed off of screens and shooting without dribbling is a habit that needs to be developed. For players that do this whether it's Rashad Anderson, Ben Gordon, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton and more they say the first thing you as a player needs to do is to fight the urge to dribble when coming off the screen and receiving the pass. Aidan has not done that, yet, but that isn't really what he did a lot of at St. Mary's.
Aidan was solid at pick and roll stuff and St. Mary's. I think Hurley and the staff need to incorporate this into the playbook when he is in the game.