Middlesex Chamber Hurley Breakfast - Oct 7th

[HooperScooper]

Hurley continues to rave about highly-touted freshman Donovan Clingan. Clingan, the ex-Bristol Central great, is in great shape, dropping about 40 pounds since his high school days.

Clingan is more than just a 7-foot-2 low post giant.

“He doesn’t play because he’s taller than everybody else, he plays because he’s found a love for the game and passion,” Hurley said. “He wants to build his life around basketball so he shows up with energy and a life every day. This guy is alive. … He’s going to have a big impact on the season for us.”

Hurley gives his annual state of the Huskies talk at chamber breakfast

Rocky Hill — Breakfast and UConn basketball talk are two unbeatable combinations, especially when Dan Hurley is the featured speaker and the regular season starts in a month.

www.theday.com

Alternate free link:

Hurley gives his annual state of the Huskies talk at chamber breakfast​

 

[pj]

Hold on with the point guard angst. If our backup point guard is getting starter's minutes, that means he's good enough to take minutes away from Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson, and Nahiem Alleyne. That seems like a pretty good player.

 

[mauconnfan]

I’m thinking it’s coaches way of making sure Newton knows he hasn’t been handed the spot. Not worried about PG unless we go in to the season with AJ being the actual point. Then I will be nervous!

 

[OkaForPrez]

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.

Newton is already in the taliek brown honorary dog house. Gibbs never got out of it.

 

[NJHoops]

Hurley continues to rave about highly-touted freshman Donovan Clingan. Clingan, the ex-Bristol Central great, is in great shape, dropping about 40 pounds since his high school days.

Clingan is more than just a 7-foot-2 low post giant.

“He doesn’t play because he’s taller than everybody else, he plays because he’s found a love for the game and passion,” Hurley said. “He wants to build his life around basketball so he shows up with energy and a life every day. This guy is alive. … He’s going to have a big impact on the season for us.”

Hurley gives his annual state of the Huskies talk at chamber breakfast

Rocky Hill — Breakfast and UConn basketball talk are two unbeatable combinations, especially when Dan Hurley is the featured speaker and the regular season starts in a month.

www.theday.com

Alternate free link:

Hurley gives his annual state of the Huskies talk at chamber breakfast​

This will only make sense to anyone who followed URI basketball when Hurley was there (so, just me probably), but Clingan is the anti-Jordan Hare.

 

[Palatine]

Love to see Jackson develop into our Jason Kidd. He has the ability to make everyone on the floor better.

This is the greatest compliment by Hurley (talking about Clingan). "This guy is alive." Hope it applies to our other players as well.

 

[huskymedic]

Alternate access link here <<

-> Hurley noted that 7-2 freshman center Donovan Clingan has lost nearly 40 pounds since last season at Bristol Central and will combine with Sanogo as one of the best center combinations in the country.

Redshirt freshman Alex Karaban will have a "huge impact" this season, Hurley noted, and sophomore Samson Johnson "may be the most talented athlete I've coached, next to Andre ... it's a matter of putting it all together, the nuances of basketball." …

… Apostolos Roumoglou, a freshman from Greece, could eventually earn a role as a third guard or small forward if he keeps working hard, while Israeli freshman Yarin Hasson, who's just 17, needs to keep getting bigger and stronger.<-

 

[87Xfer]

Anything on Samson Johnson?

wall potential

 

[QDOG5]

The Middlesex Chamber breakfast wine mixer is my favorite thread of the year. Yarders get seriously pissed off at each other and everyone is reading tea leaves and parsing Hurley's quotes. It's awesome. Btw, if you look at the video I think Dan Hurley is blinking morse code and it says "we're in trouble at point guard".

 

[CL82]

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.

It’s like you don’t know us at all anymore.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Newton is already in the taliek brown honorary dog house. Gibbs never got out of it.

Not my doghouse @mauconnfan. The yards.

 

[Scrutineer]

Let's not sleep on Springs!
He could be the missing link to a new run of championships. Remember Charles Okwandu, Souleyman Wane, Phil Nolan AND the inimitable Tyler Olander, he of two rings.......one more than JB.

 

[Scrutineer]

Two more rings than Hurley so Dan Hurley should take notice when he has an opening.

 

[auror]

I'm skeptical Springs will stay in that top 9 conversation, but working through the roster and the comments on guys that would be bad news for Samson.

 

[Scrutineer]

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?

The Boneyard doesn't want questions, it wants answers.

Lots of them. From both sides of the equation, sometimes in the same sentence, but surely at least in the same paragraph.

Now you know Boneyardin'.......

 

[Scrutineer]

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.

Facey bloomed later in his career. We can only hope Diarra is doing the same, maybe because of the coaching or the system.

 

[Scrutineer]

"There's a PG competition at Xavier for the starting slot between UTEP transfer Souley Boum and four-star freshman Desmond Claude. Sean Miller said the way they're pushing each other is something he's loved about the preseason. They could also play alongside one another at times."

I fear we have the next Ryan Gomes in Desmond Claude.
Does anyone have insights into why we didn't pursue him? Local kid that really developed and now we're trying to figure out which transfer might be able to play the position he could have owned for three or four years.

 

[husky429]

"There's a PG competition at Xavier for the starting slot between UTEP transfer Souley Boum and four-star freshman Desmond Claude. Sean Miller said the way they're pushing each other is something he's loved about the preseason. They could also play alongside one another at times."

I fear we have the next Ryan Gomes in Desmond Claude.
Does anyone have insights into why we didn't pursue him? Local kid that really developed and now we're trying to figure out which transfer might be able to play the position he could have owned for three or four years.

Sometimes local kids don't want to stay home. And honestly, it's often a very good thing for their career to get away from those local distractions.

 

[navery12]

"There's a PG competition at Xavier for the starting slot between UTEP transfer Souley Boum and four-star freshman Desmond Claude. Sean Miller said the way they're pushing each other is something he's loved about the preseason. They could also play alongside one another at times."

I fear we have the next Ryan Gomes in Desmond Claude.
Does anyone have insights into why we didn't pursue him? Local kid that really developed and now we're trying to figure out which transfer might be able to play the position he could have owned for three or four years.

Not sure about the exact timing but with Castle coming in for 2023 and expecting/needing to play right away I'm not sure it was ever the best fit for both sides. Makes more sense to bring Newton in for a year and then hand the reigns over to Castle

 

[Rico444]

Joey California!

Sounds like a character from a Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

 

[Stinger92860]

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.

A lot of pre-season coach speak to me. I’ll wait and see what happens. I agree on Adama and Ajax.

 

[bmayuc]

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

Aside from the cheap laughs - this is very dumb.

Did you have any question at all who our PG/Floor general was in 2011? Did you think Napier and Kemba were "locked in a battle" at the position?

How about 2014? Did you think we weren't sure if Shabazz or Boat would be starting as the floor general?

Its sometimes as if people on this board are intentionally dumb for attention.

 

[bmayuc]

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.

This whole idea that "2pgs" is the formula misses a key point - are they good or not, and area they establisehd/reliable. 2014 we had no questions. Shabazz' team Boat a solid vet. 2011 we had no questions. Kembas team, literally no one knew Bazz. '99 we had no questions about who the man was at PG - it was Khalid. You think there was a preseason "battle" ? Same with '04. We knew damn well the roles Taliek and Ben were going to play, there was no uncertainty.

The point here is that it is unclear we have any point guards, any established quality or leadership, any play initiators, playmakers on this team, and that uncertainty 30 days before the seasons starts points more to negatives than positives

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Aside from the cheap laughs - this is very dumb.

Did you have any question at all who our PG/Floor general was in 2011? Did you think Napier and Kemba were "locked in a battle" at the position?

How about 2014? Did you think we weren't sure if Shabazz or Boat would be starting as the floor general?

Its sometimes as if people on this board are intentionally dumb for attention.

Alright calm down bud.

In 2011 we didn’t know if Kemba could lead a team to be fair. He hadn’t shown much up to that point to be anything other than a spark plug.

Just want people to stop the “sky is falling” because Hurley hasn’t been raving about Newton.

 

[dennismenace]

I know every year almost every team's coaches always talk about "we'll have great depth" during pre-season. Then it almost always ends up being a 6-7 player rotation.

However, this is one team/season that I really really think the odds are very high that we'll legitimately see a 8-10 player rotation (each getting significant double-digit-ish minutes) vs. our weak competition, and 7-9 player rotations vs. our tougher comp.

Let's get this season started!!!

I agree. I don't think it is wise or possible to play a 6-7 team rotation because the strength is in the depth. Hoping Dan Hurley figures this out and deal with the complexities that brings. This would undoubtedly require more in game thinking rather than emotional psyche-up motivation. To manage anything requires having different strategies and flexibility to make changes on the fly. It is what it is; not what you predetermine it to be.

 

[dennismenace]

IMO Hurley’s quote about PG is an attempt to motivate Newton through the media. My guess is Newton is still the starter the majority of the season. Although this makes me feel like we see Hassan start at PG in all 4 games before the PK and Newton takes over from there. Either way, I’m not concerned.

What happened to AJ as "point guard"??? I am confused by Dan Hurley statements.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Alright calm down bud.

In 2011 we didn’t know if Kemba could lead a team to be fair. He hadn’t shown much up to that point to be anything other than a spark plug.

Just want people to stop the “sky is falling” because Hurley hasn’t been raving about Newton.

While nobody expected Kemba to be the best player in the country and lead us to a title, I strongly disagree with the idea that he hadn’t shown much up to that point. He averaged 14.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game as a sophomore. He was third team all-Big East that year, and was preseason first team all-Big East as a junior. I think everyone expected him to be a star; the transformation to an all-time NCAA great was just a bit out of nowhere.

 

[Son of Robert]

I attended the breakfast, got there early, had a very close table, it was a very nice morning, a good experience for sure.

I was going to report in but honestly all the information is already out here thru tweets and news articles. Very well covered.

Go Huskies!

 

[Palatine]

While nobody expected Kemba to be the best player in the country and lead us to a title, I strongly disagree with the idea that he hadn’t shown much up to that point. He averaged 14.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game as a sophomore. He was third team all-Big East that year, and was preseason first team all-Big East as a junior. I think everyone expected him to be a star; the transformation to an all-time NCAA great was just a bit out of nowhere.

Kemba had flaws that he eliminated his all world year. He played too fast even though he was the quickest player on the court, he was out of control. He also had a terrible habit of overpenetrating. He would drive all the way to the basket and get his shot blocked.

Once he learned how to use his speed and quickness he was unstoppable.

Is it possible for Dre to make the same jump? He used to play out of control and make impossible passes. He has improved that part of his game. Unlike Kemba he needs to get to the rim, he can't overpenetrate. It's almost the opposite. He needs to learn to be more aggressive at appropriate times. AND FINISH. That would be good sign for our Huskies.

 

[Hoophound]

Kemba had flaws that he eliminated his all world year. He played too fast even though he was the quickest player on the court, he was out of control. He also had a terrible habit of overpenetrating. He would drive all the way to the basket and get his shot blocked.

Once he learned how to use his speed and quickness he was unstoppable.

Is it possible for Dre to make the same jump? He used to play out of control and make impossible passes. He has improved that part of his game. Unlike Kemba he needs to get to the rim, he can't overpenetrate. It's almost the opposite. He needs to learn to be more aggressive at appropriate times. AND FINISH. That would be good sign for our Huskies.

Correct. Andre couldn’t finish. Big issue to resolve. He just didn’t seem to have any idea how to put the ball in the hoop the last two years. He must have dunked everything in high school.

Kemba just needed to play smarter. Apples and oranges.