Middlesex Chamber Hurley Breakfast - Oct 7th

[NJHoops]

Mental toughness. You can have all the skill in the world, but if you’re not resilient and ready to fight through struggles, what’s it worth?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

If you have maybe sorta 2 PGs you have definitely 0 PGs.

This team is going to struggle at the end of the shot clock to find shots and make plays, so everyone build that into your mental model right now...
This team will score in transition, through set plays, and offensive putbacks, but creative playmaking will not be a strength...

Try to think back to 2011 and 2014. We had 2 PG's then. Worked out alright.

 

[NJHoops]

Discussion without game evidence is exhausting.

Adama’s shooting 3’s-
great, love to see a player adding to his game!
that is so stupid, he’s going to live out on the three point line, just what the other team wants!

Competition for a starting spot-
must mean every option sucks!
cool, toughen up and fight it out!

Only one month to go…

 

[JustbrewitMan]

If you have maybe sorta 2 PGs you have definitely 0 PGs.

This team is going to struggle at the end of the shot clock to find shots and make plays, so everyone build that into your mental model right now...
This team will score in transition, through set plays, and offensive putbacks, but creative playmaking will not be a strength...

Bookmarking this post.

 

[sdb1989]

 

[8893]

Try to think back to 2011 and 2014. We had 2 PG's then. Worked out alright.

I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. Kemba, Shabazz and Boat were all much more traditional point guards, with two of them playing alongside each other. That is a very traditional UConn look; it was also the case with Khalid and Ricky.

I think what Hurley is talking about is Andre running the point for most of the game, with either Newton or Diarra alongside him. In other words, I doubt Newton and Diarra will be on the court together.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. Kemba, Shabazz and Boat were all much more traditional point guards, with two of them playing alongside each other. That is a very traditional UConn look; it was also the case with Khalid and Ricky.

I think what Hurley is talking about is Andre running the point for most of the game, with either Newton or Diarra alongside him. In other words, I doubt Newton and Diarra will be on the court together.

I don't think any of those 3 were necessarily traditional point guards. Boat certainly wasn't. Shabazz was probably the most in the traditional sense.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Try to think back to 2011 and 2014. We had 2 PG's then. Worked out alright.

Same with '99.

Even with '04 although BG wasn't a PG, he often handled the ball at end of game because Brown was such a bad FT shooter and Ben was lights out. Averaged 4.7 assists as a soph and 4.5 as a junior.

 

[superjohn]

I don't think that's an apples-to-apples comparison. Kemba, Shabazz and Boat were all much more traditional point guards, with two of them playing alongside each other. That is a very traditional UConn look; it was also the case with Khalid and Ricky.

I think what Hurley is talking about is Andre running the point for most of the game, with either Newton or Diarra alongside him. In other words, I doubt Newton and Diarra will be on the court together.

Yes and I don't really see the use in comparing Newton and Diarra to three of the best point guards/players we've ever had.

 

[8893]

I don't think any of those 3 were necessarily traditional point guards. Boat certainly wasn't. Shabazz was probably the most in the traditional sense.

My point is that none of them were like Andre, and he will be running the point most of the time, with one of the other two alongside him.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

My point is that none of them were like Andre, and he will be running the point most of the time, with one of the other two alongside him.

My initial point was that having multiple guys able to assume the PG role is not an issue that people make it out to be, we certainly could've used that last year.

 

[UofCT]

Are we missing quotes from the breakfast? I feel like we usually got a lot more

 

[navery12]

Yes and I don't really see the use in comparing Newton and Diarra to three of the best point guards/players we've ever had.

We'll be lucky if either one is half of Shabazz or Boat. But the idea that having 2 PGs earn minutes is a bad thing is a strange thing for a basketball fan to say in 2022, but especially strange for a UConn fan to say

 

[8893]

We'll be lucky if either one is half of Shabazz or Boat. But the idea that having 2 PGs earn minutes is a bad thing is a strange thing for a basketball fan to say in 2022, but especially strange for a UConn fan to say

I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing in the abstract; I am saying that Andre will be running the point most of the time, with the two PGs to whom you are referring splitting time playing alongside him, which is different than what I and at least a few others expected.

I understand that Hurley has alluded to this in the past so perhaps I should have expected it, but it is very different imo than Khalid/Ricky, Kemba/Shabazz and Shabazz/Boat.

 

[navery12]

I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing in the abstract; I am saying that Andre will be running the point most of the time, with the two PGs to whom you are referring splitting time playing alongside him, which is different than what I and at least a few others expected.

I understand that Hurley has alluded to this in the past so perhaps I should have expected it, but it is very different imo than Khalid/Ricky, Kemba/Shabazz and Shabazz/Boat.

Yeah I know you're not saying it's bad explicitly but there are multiple posters this week who have done exactly that.

Maybe I'm dumb but I'm just not understanding the issue people are having. Tristen Newton's skillset is best utilized playing off thr ball for stretches. Andre Jackson's skillset is best utilized with the ball in his hands. Having all these lineup options seems like a good thing, not some sign of a downfall

 

[metsfan2323]

I'm not saying that it's necessarily a bad thing in the abstract; I am saying that Andre will be running the point most of the time, with the two PGs to whom you are referring splitting time playing alongside him, which is different than what I and at least a few others expected.

I understand that Hurley has alluded to this in the past so perhaps I should have expected it, but it is very different imo than Khalid/Ricky, Kemba/Shabazz and Shabazz/Boat.

That's the way I see it too. Whether you call Jackson a Point Guard or a Point Forward the offense will likely be flowing through him, Jackson will be the primary playmaker. He's our QB.

 

[Fishy]

We don’t actually have a pure point guard on the team; if Newton is not capable, we’re in a boatload of trouble because Diarra and Jackson cannot run a team. Jackson, like Caron, is a terrific passer in transition, but running point for extended periods of time..oof.

And Adams shooting threes….please stop. I would discard it as just coach speak, but Hurley had a similar horror of an idea last year with Whaley and we spent the season watching our toughest interior player float around 25’ from the basket.

 

[Captbluefin]

Sounds like we don’t have a point guard.

I sure hope Hurley’s love affair with Jackson doesn’t bite him. I just don’t see Jackson being the primary “ point “ be it point guard or point forward.

Jackson would be a great Robin to a Batman. He is not a lead guy.

If Jackson is not the guy Hurley is betting on the season is going to be a long one especially that early season tournament.

 

[Get a Job]

This is interesting. This is my third preseason on the Boneyard, and for the first two seasons, the prevailing preseason feeling on the 'Yard was one of what, in retrospect, turned out to be irrational optimism. In other words, the season played out less successfully than the preseason consensus prediction. This year's preseason consensus is shaping up to be, in a word, doom.

Now the question is, will the trend of the team underperforming the Boneyard's expectations continue? If so, boy will that stink. Or will the trend of the Boneyard being wrong continue, with the team overperforming this time?

 

[Huskyforlife]

I find it interesting everyone seems to believe the newton/Diarra stuff, but not the Jackson quotes. If Hurley were to be 100% right about everything, this is a big deal.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

We'll be lucky if either one is half of Shabazz or Boat. But the idea that having 2 PGs earn minutes is a bad thing is a strange thing for a basketball fan to say in 2022, but especially strange for a UConn fan to say

Or there is a pretty large sample size of one of them being a pretty poor offensive player at the college level. I liked taking him as a transfer and thought he would be good in a small role off the bench, but if he is really in contention with Newton for a starting spot I don't see how that can be a good thing.

 

[8893]

I find it interesting everyone seems to believe the newton/Diarra stuff, but not the Jackson quotes. If Hurley were to be 100% right about everything, this is a big deal.

Most of us have nothing else to go on with respect to Newton and Diarra. With Andre, we have all seen enough of him to make our own judgments, and it has not been a secret that Hurley loves him.

 

[HooperScooper]

Just like Karaban told me in August.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Most of us have nothing else to go on with respect to Newton and Diarra. With Andre, we have all seen enough of him to make our own judgments, and it has not been a secret that Hurley loves him.

He’s seen Jackson even more than us, and would know how ridiculous the claims are if he’s still playing like sophomore Jackson.

 

[HooperScooper]

I keep shaking my head about the concerns with Newton playing PG. He hasn't played a game yet. Relax. It reminds me of all the people who were concerned about Cole going from a lower level to UConn and all the concerns about his play the first year at UConn. He only was First Team All BE his 2nd year here. And all that despite some people saying, even to his last game, that he wasn't good enough to play here. I'm sure it won't be a seamless transition for Newton but the kid averaged 17/5/5 in a pretty high level (the AAC is not a low major) so he has talent. He'll get there if he's not on day one.