Mullins’ defense | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Mullins’ defense

HailUConn said:
Nitpick much for a freshman playing 4,5 college games?
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Not sure why you’re having the sads. I’ve been probably one of the biggest Mullins fan boys on the board. When everyone was saying he was weak and would get exposed, I’ve said from day one that was BS. He looks a little thin and weak, but he competes on that end and isn’t just going to get bullied around. Darryn Peterson went right at him in an iso situation in the McDs game and Mullins forced him into a fadeaway brick. He also picked Dybantsa clean and Dybantsa tried to bully ball him the next time down and Mullins held his ground (he made a tough jump hook - but still good D). I felt like he would be a plus defender for us and not somebody we would have to hide.

But yeah - he’s not perfect on that end and I’ve noticed a couple things he can get better at. There have been about 5 times I’ve thought “cmon Braylon, you had him locked up, why’d you let him out?” I think two of them resulted in fouls on Reed helping or being out of position and fouling getting the rebound. Those little mistakes can put yourself or a teammate in foul trouble.
 
alexd said:
AND he had a pseudo roll the ball over the rim dunk vs the Hall.
I don't believe he's had an actual dunk yet. LOL
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I thought I remembered a baseline drive that he finished with two hands in one game. He definitely had a two handed fast break dunk in the exhibition game against BC if you want to count that. But he doesn't seem to be particularly concerned with style points. Very business like approach. Just get buckets.
 
Gurleyman said:
Not sure why you’re having the sads. I’ve been probably one of the biggest Mullins fan boys on the board. When everyone was saying he was weak and would get exposed, I’ve said from day one that was BS. He looks a little thin and weak, but he competes on that end and isn’t just going to get bullied around. Darryn Peterson went right at him in an iso situation in the McDs game and Mullins forced him into a fadeaway brick. He also picked Dybantsa clean and Dybantsa tried to bully ball him the next time down and Mullins held his ground (he made a tough jump hook - but still good D). I felt like he would be a plus defender for us and not somebody we would have to hide.

But yeah - he’s not perfect on that end and I’ve noticed a couple things he can get better at. There have been about 5 times I’ve thought “cmon Braylon, you had him locked up, why’d you let him out?” I think two of them resulted in fouls on Reed helping or being out of position and fouling getting the rebound. Those little mistakes can put yourself or a teammate in foul trouble.
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I can see why you posted what you did.
Gurleyman said:
Not sure why you’re having the sads. I’ve been probably one of the biggest Mullins fan boys on the board. When everyone was saying he was weak and would get exposed, I’ve said from day one that was BS. He looks a little thin and weak, but he competes on that end and isn’t just going to get bullied around. Darryn Peterson went right at him in an iso situation in the McDs game and Mullins forced him into a fadeaway brick. He also picked Dybantsa clean and Dybantsa tried to bully ball him the next time down and Mullins held his ground (he made a tough jump hook - but still good D). I felt like he would be a plus defender for us and not somebody we would have to hide.

But yeah - he’s not perfect on that end and I’ve noticed a couple things he can get better at. There have been about 5 times I’ve thought “cmon Braylon, you had him locked up, why’d you let him out?” I think two of them resulted in fouls on Reed helping or being out of position and fouling getting the rebound. Those little mistakes can put yourself or a teammate in foul trouble.
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a non casual fan, now I see why you posted what you did. It’s all good
 
HailUConn said:
I can see why you posted what you did.

a non casual fan, now I see why you posted what you did. It’s all good
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Yeah - all good. You were the original poster and might have thought I was pushing back - when actually I was in full agreement and was pointing out little areas of improvement where he can get even better at the defensive end.
 
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Gurleyman said:
Yeah - all good. You were the original poster and might have thought I was pushing back - when actually I was in full agreement and was pointing out little areas of improvement when he can get even better at the defensive end.
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Quite the contrary, Never in disagreement.
I said in jest if he already did what you pointed out, he wouldn’t have been a freshman, or at least he would be no.1 recruit. And it’s not be fair to whoever else plays basketball.
 
HailUConn said:
I’ll just come out and say it: I did not expect Mullins can play Hurley’s level of defense coming out of HS with the deceptively thin build.


Oh boy did he surprise us all? His footwork is like his shot release, lightning quick always beat the opponent to the spot, constantly fight the screen, and mastery at steals (3 steals in a couple of games already) with super anticipatory senses.

The kid is the real deal, and the whole package!

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Mullins reminds me of Spencer. Their physical and mental toughness, shooting ability, and shot creation are a lot a like.
 
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Gurleyman said:
I’ve watched him on that end pretty closely since I was impressed with him in limited minutes at the McDs game and wanted to see how it translated for us. He’s honestly been pretty good with a couple correctable flaws. He’s reaching less these days, which is one. And he can sometimes anticipate and lean in the wrong direction and get caught flat flooted - most of the time he stops the initial move when people go at him, and often the counter moves too, but every now and then he’s victim to just a straight blowby when he’s caught off guard. Happened twice yesterday - once when he was leaning towards the screener and once when a SHU guy sort of took a jumping hop step for momentum and took off on a straight drive and he was glued to the floor.

But a recurring issue I’ve seen is that he has a way of not finishing the defensive possession after his guy picks up the dribble. He’ll have a guy locked up essentially and then get out of his defensive stance, make himself small and give up an angle to the basket. He sort of unlocks the guy he locked up. Happened on the Clark up and under - he did all the hard work keeping Clark in front of him and forcing him to pick up his dribble - but instead of forcing him to take a tough shot, he got out of position on the fake (no longer between Clark and the basket), and made the shot easy. Sometimes it happens with just his man pivoting - he’ll cede inside position when he has the upper hand. Just has to be better at finishing those possessions and staying in good position.
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Impressive analysis. You have to be a current or former coach.
 
alexd said:
AND he had a pseudo roll the ball over the rim dunk vs the Hall.
I don't believe he's had an actual dunk yet. LOL
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Not sure if you're just not counting it because it was the exhibition game, but he did this against BC (6:04 of the video)
 
His progression on defense reminds me a bit of Cam. Cam's first half dozen or games at UConn had people really questioning if he had what it takes on the defensive end to deserve large minutes. He was getting beat consistently. By the end, he was really good on that end and we all saw we he could do on the offensive end. I would argue that his best defense was probably in the Final Four.

Mullins is progressing. Only Mullins will ever know how much the ankle sprain set him back. I think the kid is just going to keep getting better on both ends. When he came, I remember reading an article on him saying he wasn't Castle, but he was extremely coachable and 'bulldogish' on the defensive end and it was going to be about how quickly he adjusted to the speed of the college game.

Kind of hearing the same thing about County for next year.
 
StllH8L8ner said:
It’s a shame bc outsiders just see some of Danny’s antics in short clips and highlights (lowlights) on various shows and judge him on that stuff, but then you listen to these types of interviews and realize he’s just an emotional guy who loves his players and is all in all the time.
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He's a seriously awesome guy and far more interesting than any other coaches out there.

We're so lucky to have him.
 
WeAreUCONN said:
Mullins reminds me of Spencer. Their physical and mental toughness, shooting ability, and shot creation are a lot a like.
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Totally different personalities. I think one of the announcers might have mentioned that recently if I recall. Spencer was more developed physically just based on his age and maturity. Mullins is taller and might have a better shooting ability though. Spencer had a knack for probing the defense and finding his spots. Mullins seems a little more athletic, better hops.

It is hard to overstate Spencer's importance to the 23-24 team, but the way Mullins is trending, it is not a crazy take to compare their importance. We will see.
 
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Donyell 360 said:
Totally different personalities. I think one of the announcers might have mentioned that recently if I recall. Spencer was more developed physically just based on his age and maturity. Mullins is taller and might have a better shooting ability though. Spencer had a knack for probing the defense and finding his spots. Mullins seems a little more athletic, better hops.

It is hard to overstate Spencer's importance to the 23-24 team, but the way Mullins is trending, it is not a crazy take to compare their importance. We will see.
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I don't see it at all other than being two crackers. Two different dispositions, games are fairly different as well. Cam was crafty, Mullins is a flame thrower.
 
Spaceman213J said:
His progression on defense reminds me a bit of Cam. Cam's first half dozen or games at UConn had people really questioning if he had what it takes on the defensive end to deserve large minutes. He was getting beat consistently. By the end, he was really good on that end and we all saw we he could do on the offensive end. I would argue that his best defense was probably in the Final Four.

Mullins is progressing. Only Mullins will ever know how much the ankle sprain set him back. I think the kid is just going to keep getting better on both ends. When he came, I remember reading an article on him saying he wasn't Castle, but he was extremely coachable and 'bulldogish' on the defensive end and it was going to be about how quickly he adjusted to the speed of the college game.

Kind of hearing the same thing about County for next year.
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This is quite a take. They are ice and fire.
By way of athleticism, Mullins is also way ahead of Cam in defense transitioning into Hurley’s system. This is not a knock on Cam as he is one and only.
 
RuffRuff said:
I don't see it at all other than being two crackers. Two different dispositions, games are fairly different as well. Cam was crafty, Mullins is a flame thrower.
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Similarities other than skin:

BBIQ
Positional awareness
on ball defense
Ability to slip through screens for catch and shoot 3s
Can bring the ball upcourt
Can guard a chair

But yes largely different as Braylon has a quicker release, longer range, quicker lateral movement and is not as flashy.
 
Lafayette said:
Similarities other than skin:

BBIQ
Positional awareness
on ball defense
Ability to slip through screens for catch and shoot 3s
Can bring the ball upcourt
Can guard a chair

But yes largely different as Braylon has a quicker release, longer range, quicker lateral movement and is not as flashy.
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Cam had insane footwork as a guard, had an over the head type shot. Braylon is more about off ball action, quick low set shot. Braylon isn't close to the IQ of Cam yet. I suppose so on some of those other smaller items.
 
RuffRuff said:
I don't see it at all other than being two crackers. Two different dispositions, games are fairly different as well. Cam was crafty, Mullins is a flame thrower.
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That was my point but I was being nice. Do you think by the end of the season that Mullins could prove to be more important to his teams success than Spencer was? I mean Spencer was SO important. I know that team dominated so you might wonder if we could have had success without him, but I wouldn't want to find out.

Not sure this team will win it all but if they do, I have no doubt Mullins will be a vary important ingredient in that soup. Perhaps as much as Spencer was. So in that sense alone I didn't consider it a crazy take.
 
Donyell 360 said:
That was my point but I was being nice. Do you think by the end of the season that Mullins could prove to be more important to his teams success than Spencer was? I mean Spencer was SO important. I know that team dominated so you might wonder if we could have had success without him, but I wouldn't want to find out.

Not sure this team will win it all but if they do, I have no doubt Mullins will be a vary important ingredient in that soup. Perhaps as much as Spencer was. So in that sense alone I didn't consider it a crazy take.
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I think for us to go far, he and Silas are the key players. Their advancement and progress will be how far we go, so yes. We need Silas to run this offense like a Hurley lamborghini, and we need Mullins to be one our key guy to fill it up on offense. Both are immensely important defensively too.
 
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RuffRuff said:
Cam had insane footwork as a guard, had an over the head type shot. Braylon is more about off ball action, quick low set shot. Braylon isn't close to the IQ of Cam yet. I suppose so on some of those other smaller items.
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Not a slight, but This post makes me wonder if you’ve watched his in game play at all since Mullins returned.
His footwork is more advanced than Cam, althlecism-wise Mullins is next level. BBIQ wise, they are not far apart. The numbers of ways Mullins scored are insanely pro-like. What you are talking about is experience and game situations, Cam reads much better than Mullins as he is long in the tooth.
 
RuffRuff said:
I think for us to go far, he and Silas are the key players. Their advancement and progress will be how far we go, so yes. We need Silas to run this offense like a Hurley lamborghini, and we need Mullins to be one our key guy to fill it up on offense. Both are immensely important defensively too.
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But you didn't answer my question. Is Mullins more important, less important or equal importance to this year's team as Spencer was to the 24-25 championship team?
 
Donyell 360 said:
But you didn't answer my question. Is Mullins more important, less important or equal importance to this year's team as Spencer was to the 24-25 championship team?
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Trick question. That team was so good that they may have been able to survive without Cam. BUT Cam was an integral part of their dominance.

This team may need Mullins more to reach it's peak and separate from the rest of the field. Right now their challenge is offensive fluidity.
 
RuffRuff said:
Trick question. That team was so good that they may have been able to survive without Cam. BUT Cam was an integral part of their dominance.

This team may need Mullins more to reach it's peak and separate from the rest of the field. Right now their challenge is offensive fluidity.
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Well said. I agree. So you at least partially agree with the OP that compared Mullins and Spencer. So when you said, "I don't see it AT ALL..." that wasn't entirely true. I know I'm being pesky. Just defending my qualified agreement with the OP.
 
Donyell 360 said:
Well said. I agree. So you at least partially agree with the OP that compared Mullins and Spencer. So when you said, "I don't see it AT ALL..." that wasn't entirely true. I know I'm being pesky. Just defending my qualified agreement with the OP.
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Well, I don't see how their individual games compare, not importance to the team.
 
HailUConn said:
Not a slight, but This post makes me wonder if you’ve watched his in game play at all since Mullins returned.
His footwork is more advanced than Cam, althlecism-wise Mullins is next level. BBIQ wise, they are not far apart. The numbers of ways Mullins scored are insanely pro-like. What you are talking about is experience and game situations, Cam reads much better than Mullins as he is long in the tooth.
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Cam was so good at manufacturing space off one foot, ala Brunson. Mullins might have better footwork off ball, but he hasn't flashed anything like Cam did in terms of that.
 
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