Men's college coaches break down Auburn, UConn, Tennessee and more

[HooperScooper]

Not sure this is worth its own thread but I couldn't find a good place to put it. ESPN Insiders article. They spoke to some coaches about UConn's improvements since Maui.

"The UConn confidence, the swagger they have, they found it," one coach who scouted the Huskies said. "They're back to where they've been the last [24] months."

Men's college coaches break down the most impressive starts to the season

College coaches weigh in on the teams and players that have impressed them most early in the season.

www.espn.com

Alternate access (see "UConn's rebound after three-game losing streak")

Men's college coaches break down Auburn, UConn, Tennessee and more​

 

[RuffRuff]

Found Few's comments around our length and rim protection to be surprising in a very good way, and you could see the Zag bigs being a bit spooked. Danny has stopped experimenting, shortened the rotation and can now refine the chemistry of the players/rotation he's committed to. It felt messy previously. Maui was just off his attempt of figuring out the parts and it didn't really have much time to congeal. I expect this team to continue ascending in the right direction. If you look at a good chunk of those players as stocks, many have appreciable upside (Liam, Tarris, Solo, Stew) throughout the remainder of the season. When players know their roles, they are more confident.

One of the best signs of the offensive symphony coming together is by a gauge I would call the Samson Dunkometer. The more he has, the more it feels like the offense is coming together.

Equally impressed with your alternate access abilities.

 

[uh-no]

Found Few's comments around our length and rim protection to be surprising in a very good way, and you could see the Zag bigs being a bit spooked. Danny has stopped experimenting, shortened the rotation and can now refine the chemistry of the players/rotation he's committed to. It felt messy previously. Maui was just off his attempt of figuring out the parts and it didn't really have much time to congeal. I expect this team to continue ascending in the right direction. If you look at a good chunk of those players as stocks, many have appreciable upside (Liam, Tarris, Solo, Stew) throughout the remainder of the season. When players know their roles, they are more confident.

One of the best signs of the offensive symphony coming together is by a gauge I would call the Samson Dunkometer. The more he has, the more it feels like the offense is coming together.

Equally impressed with your alternate access abilities.

I'm not sure i'd say he's "stopped experimenting". We had ou toughest slate of games for the season, and he put us in position to win those games, as it was critical to our postseason fortunes. We should now have some breathing room, and I expect us to tinker a bit more.

 

[Samoo]

Found Few's comments around our length and rim protection to be surprising in a very good way, and you could see the Zag bigs being a bit spooked. Danny has stopped experimenting, shortened the rotation and can now refine the chemistry of the players/rotation he's committed to. It felt messy previously. Maui was just off his attempt of figuring out the parts and it didn't really have much time to congeal. I expect this team to continue ascending in the right direction. If you look at a good chunk of those players as stocks, many have appreciable upside (Liam, Tarris, Solo, Stew) throughout the remainder of the season. When players know their roles, they are more confident.

One of the best signs of the offensive symphony coming together is by a gauge I would call the Samson Dunkometer. The more he has, the more it feels like the offense is coming together.

Equally impressed with your alternate access abilities.

Maui was this year's version of the December 22 - January '23 stretch where we lost 5 of 6 trying to figure stuff out. Hurley is great at adjustments and should be able to get the best out of this team as well.

 

[superjohn]

Found Few's comments around our length and rim protection to be surprising in a very good way, and you could see the Zag bigs being a bit spooked. Danny has stopped experimenting, shortened the rotation and can now refine the chemistry of the players/rotation he's committed to. It felt messy previously. Maui was just off his attempt of figuring out the parts and it didn't really have much time to congeal. I expect this team to continue ascending in the right direction. If you look at a good chunk of those players as stocks, many have appreciable upside (Liam, Tarris, Solo, Stew) throughout the remainder of the season. When players know their roles, they are more confident.

One of the best signs of the offensive symphony coming together is by a gauge I would call the Samson Dunkometer. The more he has, the more it feels like the offense is coming together.

Equally impressed with your alternate access abilities.

Why did you find Few's comments about our length and rim protection surprising? We lead the country in blocks.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Why did you find Few's comments about our length and rim protection surprising? We lead the country in blocks.

Probably because we lost the best shot blocker in CBB over the past 5 years to the NBA? Also, Alex leads the team in BPG and that's kinda shocking given that he's fairly earthbound and he has more than doubled his average from the previous two seasons.

 

[HooperScooper]

Equally impressed with your alternate access abilities.

I could teach you how just like I taught you how to embed a tweet. See, I'm a good guy.

 

[superjohn]

Probably because we lost the best shot blocker in CBB over the past 5 years to the NBA? Also, Alex leads the team in BPG and that's kinda shocking given that he's fairly earthbound and he has more than doubled his average from the previous two seasons.

It's nice seeing Alex become a better shot blocker but Samson and Reed are obviously much better shot blockers/rim protectors than he is.

 

[HooperScooper]

Probably because we lost the best shot blocker in CBB over the past 5 years to the NBA? Also, Alex leads the team in BPG and that's kinda shocking given that he's fairly earthbound and he has more than doubled his average from the previous two seasons.

Karaban has 16 blocks in 9 games (1.8 per game). 7 of them were the first game against Sacred Heart. 4 of them were in the 2nd game against UNH. So he had 5 over the next 7 games. I'd bet he falls back to about 1 a game over the season.

Fwiw Reed has 19 over 11 games and Samson has 17 over 11 games (that seems low compared to what we've seen).

 

[Skiblets]

Karaban has 16 blocks in 9 games (1.8 per game). 7 of them were the first game against Sacred Heart. 4 of them were in the 2nd game against UNH. So he had 5 over the next 7 games. I'd bet he falls back to about 1 a game over the season.

Fwiw Reed has 19 over 11 games and Samson has 17 over 11 games (that seems low compared to what we've seen).

Probably because if you block a shot and then foul, the block doesn’t count.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

This team is going to be so freaking good in march. Can't wait.

 

[RuffRuff]

I'm not sure i'd say he's "stopped experimenting". We had ou toughest slate of games for the season, and he put us in position to win those games, as it was critical to our postseason fortunes. We should now have some breathing room, and I expect us to tinker a bit more.

Have you seen the minutes recently?

Hass has averaged 35.5 minutes last two. He was averaging less than 20 in the first four and only about 25 in Maui. I have felt all along Hass was the guy, pat on the back there.

Liam has averaged about 36 last 3, 30 in Maui.

He’s letting his leaders lead.

Solo has been more committed to.

Yes he was tinkering, now he’s letting his horses run and gel. I expect less tinkering going forward up to the point we have comfortable leads and he tries to let the AMs and JRs figure things out. It’s hard to build chemistry across 10 guys.