NBA Bound Stephan | Page 2 | The Boneyard

NBA Bound Stephan

navery12 said:
You're completely missing the point of the discussion. Nobody is saying it's going to hurt UConn as a program. We're still going to win championships and have elite recruiting classes regardless. It's only going to hurt with getting in the door and closing on one and done recruits. Not the end of the world, but that would absolutely happen
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For the love of God, what could I possibly be missing? I understand fully what you're saying, and I categorically disagree.

This is not some complex subject matter

Personally I think some people just like to be negative. Their comfort zone is to complain about some problem they've created. I just don't live in that universe.

It's OK, I'm cool with that
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
It isn’t going to be good for us perception wise if Castle has to come back a second year.

I’m not making any judgments on him until he’s starting again and has a solid role in the offense.
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Yeah, unfortunately it's kind of a no-win (or at least few-win) situation here. You don't want to root for Castle to come back, and there are a lot of ways where he underperforms but leaves anyway.

If Castle's stock drops enough that he would consider coming back, that reflects horribly on the program and we're going to have a hard time attracting any more of that legitimate top-10, one-and-done level of talent, on top of the fact that it would likely mean that his/our season went badly. Maybe we get NBA-level Castle as a sophomore, but that would be merely a hope and damage would already be done.

He may even be merely "OK" and leave anyway with his stock having dropped, which means a mediocre season this year and no benefit from him next year (think 2012 Drummond).

The only really great scenario is he suddenly finds it, is amazing the rest of the way, propels us to a deep run, and gets drafted high while demonstrating to future recruits that we are a destination for top 10 talent. But with each game that seems more and more remote.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
Yeah, unfortunately it's kind of a no-win (or at least few-win) situation here. You don't want to root for Castle to come back, and there are a lot of ways where he underperforms but leaves anyway.

If Castle's stock drops enough that he would consider coming back, that reflects horribly on the program and we're going to have a hard time attracting any more of that legitimate top-10, one-and-done level of talent, on top of the fact that it would likely mean that his/our season went badly. Maybe we get NBA-level Castle as a sophomore, but that would be merely a hope and damage would already be done.

He may even be merely "OK" and leave anyway with his stock having dropped, which means a mediocre season this year and no benefit from him next year (think 2012 Drummond).

The only really great scenario is he suddenly finds it, is amazing the rest of the way, propels us to a deep run, and gets drafted high while demonstrating to future recruits that we are a destination for top 10 talent. But with each game that seems more and more remote.
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The one thing in our defense is no one can say Danny not giving him every opportunity to make a case for himself as a 1st round draft pick - even to the detriment of the team.

This one is all on Castle. Even if your shot not dropping he can do other things like dive for loose balls, set picks, draw fouls, out hustle, get to FT line… he did none of that last night. I don’t think anything that may or may not happen to Castle is on us.

But with all this being said, let us not forget ALL UCONN players played poorly last night.

Diarri looked like a college rec player
Karaban, like someone sitting on the bench in a college rec game
Cam, pouting out there with lazy fouls, treating it like it was a pick up game

SH came to play and must have been wondering what team from UConn showed up last night?
 
nelsonmuntz said:
You are missing a seismic change happening in college basketball. As college basketball becomes a man’s game instead of a boy’s game, you will see fewer NBA teams willing to burn high picks on projects that won’t develop for three years. A kid better be a top level talent, ready to contribute on day one, to one-and-done, or he could have an unpleasant draft night.
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College hoops will never be dominated by older players as much as it is now (and next year). Once the Covid guys are gone, everything gets younger.
 
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It’s a long season. Hawkins had a bumpy patch around last January like most of the team, which had me questioning if he was ready. By March and April it wasn’t even a question. Donovan was getting questioned a few weeks ago, then looked dominant in recent games. Alex looked like one of the most improved players on the team for a long stretch until the last couple of games. Let’s let the season play out and see the longer body of work.
 
Excalibur said:
College hoops will never be dominated by older players as much as it is now (and next year). Once the Covid guys are gone, everything gets younger.
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Lots of guys will stick around due to NIL money. They aren’t choosing between zero $ and Europe.

I’m not a huge fan of one and dones anyway. Not saying getting one here and there is bad but I don’t want 3 of them a year. I don’t think this is a big problem especially since he was hurt and is just getting into a rhythm.
 
Can Whitmore is a similar comparison. I didn’t think he was anything special last year in the games that I saw him play and he was drafted 20th based on “future potential”
 
Tenspro2002 said:
Yeah, unfortunately it's kind of a no-win (or at least few-win) situation here. You don't want to root for Castle to come back, and there are a lot of ways where he underperforms but leaves anyway.

If Castle's stock drops enough that he would consider coming back, that reflects horribly on the program and we're going to have a hard time attracting any more of that legitimate top-10, one-and-done level of talent, on top of the fact that it would likely mean that his/our season went badly. Maybe we get NBA-level Castle as a sophomore, but that would be merely a hope and damage would already be done.

He may even be merely "OK" and leave anyway with his stock having dropped, which means a mediocre season this year and no benefit from him next year (think 2012 Drummond).

The only really great scenario is he suddenly finds it, is amazing the rest of the way, propels us to a deep run, and gets drafted high while demonstrating to future recruits that we are a destination for top 10 talent. But with each game that seems more and more remote.
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Agreed on all points. Also would like to say it’s just one loss and one game and the first of Big East play. Both the team and Castle have a lot of time to figure it out.

This is the time where we really get to figure out what kind of rotations we need and get to the nitty gritty of what we’ll need down the stretch. There’s going to be some turbulence between now and late January probably and it’ll be okay as long as we figure it out by then.
 
hasheemthedream said:
Can Whitmore is a similar comparison. I didn’t think he was anything special last year in the games that I saw him play and he was drafted 20th based on “future potential”
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Would've gone higher too, if it wasn't for him bombing his interviews and I think he has some knee issue(?). People were shocked he fell that low.
 
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I am no NBA scout. Not my area of expertise. Heck, I thought Bouknight would be great, and boy was I wrong! But as I watch Castle, I see a talented 'prospect'. The kid can't shoot. His handle is subpar (for a lead guard), and he has not shown an ability to score off the dribble with any consistency. I am not espousing reasons for all of this. I am just calling a spade a spade. I do not see a lottery pick, just yet.
 
I am most surprised at how passive he is. Maybe he's not comfortable with his knee yet but he wasn't exactly aggressive before the knee injury.

You can see the flashes of potential though. A 6'6" athletic playmaker will not slide out of the lottery. I fear it may be another Drummond situation for us: a good future pro who's underwhelming during his one season in Storrs.
 
You clearly saw his individual NBA level skills. He's still trying to fit in and will likely struggle playing 3rd/4th option on offense until he cracks the starting lineup.
 
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i was surprised by his passing last night. I understand his shot will come, but he had at least 3 passes stolen/deflected. All the publicity talked of his passing and vision. I trust its still there, and he's either pressing as a freshman or just rusty coming off injury. hopefully just an off game
 
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Stephon will be a lottery pick this upcoming draft, no doubt about it.
If you sat through any of his AAU and US team games, you can see it. I felt he wasn't comfortable in his shoes last night and was trying to force things because the team was worse than stagnant.
BTW - I agree 100% with HW611 - it won't be a good look IF he does not go lottery next spring.
 
Lefty2one said:
I fear it may be another Drummond situation for us: a good future pro who's underwhelming during his one season in Storrs.
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This is the most likely scenario as far as I'm concerned: he'll fall from top 5 to #12 or so, have a so-so season, but not really be the force we were expecting and limit our ceiling (especially given that the skills he provides are exactly the gap we need to fill).

The good news is, as a guard, he's more likely to figure it out quickly, but this is becoming more of a hope and an extrapolation than an expectation based on existing evidence.
 
jibsey said:
He’s going top 5 according to the gurus here, we have him for just this season. Can someone explain to me after watching last night how that happens?
Hurley pulled him in favor of Ball. Sloppy ball handling, shooting touch, it goes on. We know he will be much better but geez no dominant talent came in off that bench when he got in there, up till now. Hope it changes.
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He sucked last night. If that’s how he plays all year, he’s not a top ten pick. Having said that, it was one damn game. He has played much much better than that previously, and everyone except DC and possibly Tristan sucked last night.
 
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