Mississippi Valley Post Game Thread

[Dove]

I’m glad we have Spencer and not Timberlake

I searched "Nick Timberlake" on Twitter last night and he was getting torched by people.

Staff did good.

 

[mauconnfan]

Minus Cam this game was mostly ugly let’s be honest. I get Castle was out but injuries happen you need to adjust accordingly. Third game yeah but they’ve been blessed with extra time together let’s remember that. As I saw it:

Cam was very good thank God his best overall. I know he gets beat off the dribble on D but he makes great plays off the ball as well on that end, just a real good basketball player.

Alex just can’t make those fouls needs to be much smarter. Of course Dan needs to be a bit smarter too. If you let him come back in the game with 2 fouls first half please don’t put him on their best scorer (Brown in this case) as he will score at ease. Tristen was solid but a bit nonchalant on both ends. Not worried about him when the lights come on. Donovan was ok but really disappointed on the defensive end. Lots of swinging and missing and not rebounding. Would prefer him to pick and choose, move your feet more keep your hands up and stay by the rim to rebound the misses. His FT shooting is a major issue to think otherwise is if ignorant. Ball was crapping his pants until the first timeout that’s ok. He’s talented but a long way to go. It’s not HS, so while I like his idea on dunking everything please just finish when the opportunity is there. Samson needs to rebound as well, one time great job cutting off baseline keeping his hands up not fouling but never turning around to get a rebound isn’t good. Boxing out is an issue throughout and on FTs from the other team as well. Stewart sat immediately once because he didn’t box out on a rebound and lost it to MVSU.

Yeah they won by 35 and it’s early but there was more not to like than to like. Quit reading the paper and get focused on UConn basketball. I’m sure Dan will let them know how they performed last night during the next few practices.

The bench is a question mark, especially defensively. Let’s see what happens but the good news is they’re young and play hard. Indiana is a much bigger test than most believe.

 

[Stew Crew]

Yes. He looked like he was in pain for a bit. Stayed in though. Needs to stop trying to block impossible shots though.

I did not see that he was in pain but I did see that he took a shot to the mouth at one point in the second half.

 

[husky429]

I searched "Nick Timberlake" on Twitter last night and he was getting torched by people.

Staff did good.

Pretty crazy the donors paid 250k for what they're getting. NIL is gonna have a reckoning at some point soon.

 

[aburks41]

I searched "Nick Timberlake" on Twitter last night and he was getting torched by people.

Staff did good.

He is rightfully so buried on the bench at KU. We lucked out big time by missing on him and getting Spencer instead.

 

[aburks41]

All in all I thought Ball played pretty good last night for his 3rd college game. You can very easily see the potential. His shot also looks great but he’s probably just mentally a bit sped up which is causing the misses. He’ll be very very good for us by March

 

[husky429]

His shot also looks great but he’s probably just mentally a bit sped up which is causing the misses. He’ll be very very good for us by March

I said in the chat yesterday I think I could predict makes/missee from distance with 80% accuracy. Looks like young Andre rushing everything. When he's relaxed and sets his feet, his shot has more arc and is less stiff.

Bigger concern to me is his lack of handle and finishing at his size. It will be a limitimg factor like Hawkins year 1. He'll develop but I'm not sure we can expect much ballhandling from him this season.

 

[jake14mw]

Interesting game last night. It definitely brought me back down to earth with my assessment of the team. We of course still have a great team, I was just getting a little ahead of myself after 2 games I think. I thought MVSU's zone was pretty effective early. Too much passing around the perimeter. We really missed Castle in the middle against it.

Stark difference between the starters and bench last night. Nobody off the bench really had a good night. I'm a little underwhelmed by the freshman other than Castle so far. I've seen flashes with Ball, but not much from the others. That's okay, that's typical freshmen stuff, I'm sure they will be fine.

I think Indiana is the perfect next game for us right now.

 

[Hunt for 7]

anyone else worried clingan aggravated his foot?

Not sure how you can’t be worried. Something made him mad. But when it happened he did hop on one foot. But something happened. He kept looking at the bench like he wanted to come out…..I guess we will have to wait and see with him and Castle.

 

[GlastonTim]

I was impressed with the crowd size for a Tuesday night against a cupcake. Both venues will rock for the BE games this season.

 

[cohenzone]

Yeah, we're not exceptionally young this season, we're barely younger than last year. Average D1 experience was 2.25 years last year which was 113th in the country and this year's it's 2.13 which is 106th

I know you think you understand things better than I do. This thread was about last night’s game to begin with. Do Spencer and Newton matter? Of course. Absent those two, this is a very young team relying on a lot of young talent. We are 3 games in. The best of the freshmen was out last night. Diallo is the most experienced of the subs. Johnson is virtually a freshman in actual game experience. Clingan is still learning how to play offense and is pretty one dimensional on how he scores. Needs to learn a bit of patience and footwork when he can’t dunk. Karaban is different. Plays a pretty mature game. If you want to have an actual discussion instead of resorting to snark, great.

 

[SoFla Steve]

I’m glad we have Spencer and not Timberlake

Me too!

 

[Rocktheworld]

I was impressed with the crowd size for a Tuesday night against a cupcake. Both venues will rock for the BE games this season.

I would say XL was about 70% full

Shocking amount of people stayed until the final buzzer

 

[navery12]

I know you think you understand things better than I do. This thread was about last night’s game to begin with. Do Spencer and Newton matter? Of course. Absent those two, this is a very young team relying on a lot of young talent. We are 3 games in. The best of the freshmen was out last night. Diallo is the most experienced of the subs. Johnson is virtually a freshman in actual game experience. Clingan is still learning how to play offense and is pretty one dimensional on how he scores. Needs to learn a bit of patience and footwork when he can’t dunk. Karaban is different. Plays a pretty mature game. If you want to have an actual discussion instead of resorting to snark, great.

Nope, I'm good. Not going to waste my time with you when you can't even grasp basic facts

 

[Psolo12]

My biggest disappointment so far has been Diarra tbh. Expected a step up from him, and he hasn't even shown that he can be a serviceable guard off the bench at this point.

 

[cohenzone]

Nope, I'm good. Not going to waste my time with you when you can't even grasp basic facts

There you go. Arrogant twit. Give me the facts that I don’t grasp that you do. Your lack of perception might improve when you grow up.

 

[Matt1010]

My biggest disappointment so far has been Diarra tbh. Expected a step up from him, and he hasn't even shown that he can be a serviceable guard off the bench at this point.

He certainly hasn't taken a step up but last night was fine for what we need from him. A couple nice takes to the rim, 3 assists/0 turnovers, that'll work for a 4/5th guard.

 

[Stew Crew]

My biggest disappointment so far has been Diarra tbh. Expected a step up from him, and he hasn't even shown that he can be a serviceable guard off the bench at this point.

Diarra was our 2nd best guard last night. I think he has played relatively well compared to last year. He is cutting down on his dribbling and passing faster. Last year, his excessive dribbling kept the team from getting into a flow on offense. Of course, like most of the other players, the next 4 games will tell us a lot. I think he will be fine.

 

[HailUConn]

I said in the chat yesterday I think I could predict makes/missee from distance with 80% accuracy. Looks like young Andre rushing everything. When he's relaxed and sets his feet, his shot has more arc and is less stiff.

Bigger concern to me is his lack of handle and finishing at his size. It will be a limitimg factor like Hawkins year 1. He'll develop but I'm not sure we can expect much ballhandling from him this season.

I don’t think we need him to do ball handling. We have the luxury of Newton, Castle, Spencer and then Diarra going ahead of him. I’m actually very high on Ball to step up offensively once he settles in mid season. You can see the potential every time he stepped on the court and he is physically gifted, 43” vertical and massive wingspan. His break thru may come earlier than sophomore year.

 

[navery12]

There you go. Arrogant twit. Give me the facts that I don’t grasp that you do. Your lack of perception might improve when you grow up.

It's the entire post you responded to. Nothing here is my opinion, these are all objective numbers coming straight from KenPom:

"We're not exceptionally young this season, we're barely younger than last year. Average D1 experience was 2.25 years last year which was 113th in the country and this year's it's 2.13 which is 106th"

 

[cohenzone]

It's the entire post you responded to. Nothing here is my opinion, these are all objective numbers coming straight from KenPom:

"We're not exceptionally young this season, we're barely younger than last year. Average D1 experience was 2.25 years last year which was 113th in the country and this year's it's 2.13 which is 106th"

And i said you can’t discount the two grads if you bothered to actually read what i wrote . Better pray they both stay healthy. Without either one of them you can throw Kenpom in the trash. I was at the Stonehill game. There were several possessions where we had neither of those on the floor and sometimes not Castle. And it wasn’t so great. I trust my eyes. Analytics are just that. They rarely tell the whole story.

Tell me where my take on Clingan’s offense is wrong. Seriously. I don’t resist other ideas, i grow from them and I’m way older than you He’s a force but he has a lot of room to improve. Castle is great in court awareness, ball handling, finishing at the hoop and FT shooting, at least vs. Stonehill. He pretty much didn’t look to jump shoot. If that’s his usual game - I don’t reach conclusions off of one game - do you think that will hurt against better competition? Is it crazy to hope he has an outside game?

 

[navery12]

And i said you can’t discount the two grads if you bothered to actually read what i wrote . Better pray they both stay healthy. Without either one of them you can throw Kenpom in the trash. I was at the Stonehill game. There were several possessions where we had neither of those on the floor and sometimes not Castle. And it wasn’t so great. I trust my eyes. Analytics are just that. They rarely tell the whole story.

Tell me where my take on Clingan’s offense is wrong. Seriously. I don’t resist other ideas, i grow from them and I’m way older than you He’s a force but he has a lot of room to improve. Castle is great in court awareness, ball handling, finishing at the hoop and FT shooting, at least vs. Stonehill. He pretty much didn’t look to jump shoot. If that’s his usual game - I don’t reach conclusions off of one game - do you think that will hurt against better competition? Is it crazy to hope he has an outside game?

Clingan is not one dimensional, his post moves around the basket have improved a bunch already and he's obviously great off of lobs. That doesn't mean he's perfect, the FT shooting has to improve even if it's a small sample of struggles. The defense too, to make sure he doesn't commit stupid fouls.

I'm not worried about Castle, there's no conclusions to draw yet off his 12 FG attempts about his offensive game hurting us. He's a capable shooter from outside, and that's the reason why he's able to drive so successfully and get shots at the basket. If he's getting the basket with ease I have no issue with a lot of his shots coming at the rim

 

[Deleted at users request]

And i said you can’t discount the two grads if you bothered to actually read what i wrote . Better pray they both stay healthy. Without either one of them you can throw Kenpom in the trash. I was at the Stonehill game. There were several possessions where we had neither of those on the floor and sometimes not Castle. And it wasn’t so great. I trust my eyes. Analytics are just that. They rarely tell the whole story.

Tell me where my take on Clingan’s offense is wrong. Seriously. I don’t resist other ideas, i grow from them and I’m way older than you He’s a force but he has a lot of room to improve. Castle is great in court awareness, ball handling, finishing at the hoop and FT shooting, at least vs. Stonehill. He pretty much didn’t look to jump shoot. If that’s his usual game - I don’t reach conclusions off of one game - do you think that will hurt against better competition? Is it crazy to hope he has an outside game?

I think you make great points. The Castle thing will be something to watch too.

I actually really like how he attacks currently. It’s a great part of his game. Shooting isn’t much of an issue as long as you don’t settle for it and he seems to be able to get to the rim at will. Will have to see if it holds up against better competition but he won’t need much of an outside game if people can’t stop his drives.

He took like 3 three point attempts his first 2 games.

 

[Psolo12]

Diarra was our 2nd best guard last night. I think he has played relatively well compared to last year. He is cutting down on his dribbling and passing faster. Last year, his excessive dribbling kept the team from getting into a flow on offense. Of course, like most of the other players, the next 4 games will tell us a lot. I think he will be fine.

Sloppy with the ball, and shooting still non existent. He won't be taking it to the rack against good non-conference/Big East teams, so that's not going to be a continued part of his game.

 

[mauconnfan]

Sloppy with the ball, and shooting still non existent. He won't be taking it to the rack against good non-conference/Big East teams, so that's not going to be a continued part of his game.

Listen I like what Diarra brings as the 4th-5th guard but if he’s playing a lot of minutes or is our 2nd best guard I’m afraid we’re in a bit of trouble in those games. He is what he is we need more to be really good. He was definitely decent last night but it was MVSU. He has his spot but I can’t be more than 8–12.

 

[Psolo12]

Listen I like what Diarra brings as the 4th-5th guard but if he’s playing a lot of minutes or is our 2nd best guard I’m afraid we’re in a bit of trouble in those games. He is what he is we need more to be really good. He was definitely decent last night but it was MVSU. He has his spot but I can’t be more than 8–12.

Fair enough. Was just expecting a little more with the way he was being talked about, especially shooting wise/ball handling wise.

 

[cohenzone]

Clingan is not one dimensional, his post moves around the basket have improved a bunch already and he's obviously great off of lobs. That doesn't mean he's perfect, the FT shooting has to improve even if it's a small sample of struggles. The defense too, to make sure he doesn't commit stupid fouls.

I'm not worried about Castle, there's no conclusions to draw yet off his 12 FG attempts about his offensive game hurting us. He's a capable shooter from outside, and that's the reason why he's able to drive so successfully and get shots at the basket. If he's getting the basket with ease I have no issue with a lot of his shots coming at the rim

All I’m saying about Clingan is that when he uses the glass he seems to rush a hair. I’d love to see a bit of jump hook from him once in a while His foul shooting can be a big deal as we get into real competition. I think his form is not horrible and he’s pretty much on line. Some guys just aren’t accurate in distance but i think he will (has to) improve.

I just hope that Castle has just enough of an outside game to make good teams play an honest defense on especially Spencer and Newton. No doubt he is very talented.

 

[Conndog]

He certainly hasn't taken a step up but last night was fine for what we need from him. A couple nice takes to the rim, 3 assists/0 turnovers, that'll work for a 4/5th guard.

I'd love to see him take a couple of shots though- he passed up a few when open. I don't think he has the greatest shot but he needs to be a credible threat offensively too.

 

[Verne]

General rule, if you are a better athlete than shooter you should probably shoot more 2s than 3s. Wish Solo would put it on the deck and get to the rim more.

If he's better than a 35% shooter from behind the arc than you want him taking more 3s than 2s unless all those 2s are dunks. This is just modern basketball now. 3s or shots in the paints. I can't find a 3pt % from last year but I thought it was pretty high. He shots 85% from the FT line. He'll likely be a very good shooter here.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

I think you make great points. The Castle thing will be something to watch too.

I actually really like how he attacks currently. It’s a great part of his game. Shooting isn’t much of an issue as long as you don’t settle for it and he seems to be able to get to the rim at will. Will have to see if it holds up against better competition but he won’t need much of an outside game if people can’t stop his drives.

He took like 3 three point attempts his first 2 games.

Don’t need or even want Castle hanging out on the perimeter shooting 3’s. We have three starters doing that now, and Clingan posting down low.

Castle’s strength, getting in the lane and taking mid range shots and taking it to the hole, is the perfect complement to our outside/inside game.

Him not playing last night was a major factor in the team not looking as balanced offensively as they did the first two games.

In retrospect, starting Samson instead of Ball would have been a more affective starting five, with Samson bringing shot blocking, an inside presence, instead of Ball bringing another perimeter player.