New Commit: Uroš Paunović (Merged)

[HW611]

If you’re saying high usage means running offense through him, not sure I see it. At least not the way he’s played to date, which is taking lots of 3s (50% of shots). I’d love to see him create more offense near the paint, o rebounds and to just fill the box score in ways that a big strong kid like him can.

He’s played that way to date out of necessity. Him at his best (to me) would be more high usage in exactly the way you described.

But I don’t see how that works on this roster.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Did you watch last year? Stew at the 3 with Solo and AK, same issues. Slow footed defensive grouping, Stew can’t chase 3’s, and would again have 3 guys on floor that don’t really create off dribble.

If I’m to guess, Stew rotates in at the backup 4 and at the 3 when it’s Silas/Smith at the 1/2.

So you start by questioning if I watched last year because I suggested Stew would at a minimum back up the 3 and 4….. and then immediately say Stew will back up the 3 and 4. Am I missing something here?

 

[ctchamps]

Hurley started Samson Johnson over a better Reed last year. He shows loyalty to his players that have been loyal to him. And…he wants freshman to “earn it”, as long as that slot doesn’t have a quality player like Stew there. But Stew is not an inexperienced freshman or sophomore and he has dedicated himself to strength. I guess I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure I am not.

It was probably more of a situation with a player’s resistance to put in the effort the coaches wanted than a loyalty issue based on Reed’s interviews.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I do wish we could have innocent disagreements without disparaging comments and name calling being thrown around. It’s just basketball at the end of the day.

Between a healthy guard rotation of Demary/Smith/Ball/Mullins it’ll be very hard for Uros to find minutes. That’s before factoring in competition from Ross and Furphy ability to snag the next wing spot, and Millinder at point.

Demary/Ball/Mullins/Karaban/Reed is the safest bet right now for the starters.

6: Smith- Could be starting at power 6 schools, he’s the backup point when healthy. I think he’s the first player off the bench at guard no matter what.

7: Stewart- Feels like a safe bet to play most of the backup forward minutes.

8: Reibe: Is obviously the backup center. No need for notes.

I don’t see how anyone could have a different 8 for the main rotation. Those 8 guys are gonna have large roles. This is where it gets fun and you can stake your claim imo.

9: Furphy: Think he’ll clean up any leftover minutes on the wing/guard. I think we view him as an important piece in the future and will get him minutes whenever possible.

10: Ross: Could pass Furphy if the defense is legit, gotta see it. Don’t know how he survives on offense still.

Everyone else is a bench warmer. They’ll play depending on their positions dealing with heavy foul trouble or injuries. I’d have AM ahead of Uros for now at guard though.

 

[jibsey]

It was probably more of a situation with a player’s resistance to put in the effort the coaches wanted than a loyalty issue based on Reed’s interviews.

I don’t agree, he’d been building up Samson for 3 years, wall potential and all and started him. Reed could outrebound him from day 1. Samson outperformed what I thought he would do I admit.

 

[Scottobot]

I do wish we could have innocent disagreements without disparaging comments and name calling being thrown around. It’s just basketball at the end of the day.

Between a healthy guard rotation of Demary/Smith/Ball/Mullins it’ll be very hard for Uros to find minutes. That’s before factoring in competition from Ross and Furphy ability to snag the next wing spot, and Millinder at point.

Demary/Ball/Mullins/Karaban/Reed is the safest bet right now for the starters.

6: Smith- Could be starting at power 6 schools, he’s the backup point when healthy. I think he’s the first player off the bench at guard no matter what.

7: Stewart- Feels like a safe bet to play most of the backup forward minutes.

8: Reibe: Is obviously the backup center. No need for notes.

I don’t see how anyone could have a different 8 for the main rotation. Those 8 guys are gonna have large roles. This is where it gets fun and you can stake your claim imo.

9: Furphy: Think he’ll clean up any leftover minutes on the wing/guard. I think we view him as an important piece in the future and will get him minutes whenever possible.

10: Ross: Could pass Furphy if the defense is legit, gotta see it. Don’t know how he survives on offense still.

Everyone else is a bench warmer. They’ll play depending on their positions dealing with heavy foul trouble or injuries. I’d have AM ahead of Uros for now at guard though.

Nice post. This pretty much matches my expectations, but I wouldn’t be shocked if one of the international players exceeds expectations and carves out a bigger role.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Nice post. This pretty much matches my expectations, but I wouldn’t be shocked if one of the international players exceeds expectations and carves out a bigger role.

It’d be a neat story if Uros cracks the 9th spot, but the big really only has a chance if there’s heavy injuries at center, and the majority of people think Koroma would be ahead of him at center still.

 

[ctchamps]

I don’t agree, he’d been building up Samson for 3 years, wall potential and all and started him. Reed could outrebound him from day 1. Samson outperformed what I thought he would do I admit.

I’m only relaying what Reed said in an interview. He indicated he resisted following what the coaches wanted him to do until January when he realized they were right.

My take is that his natural ability was never the problem. The staff believes he can be a much better player if he buys into what they’re teaching and he puts in the effort to follow their advice.

I got the feeling that a major reason he returned this season is because he feels he let the team and coaches down as well as himself.

Loyalty is important to the staff. But they started Liam and gave him significant playing time compared to Stewart and Ross because he was the better player. Mahaney started over Diarra at the beginning of the season until it was obvious that Diarra was better.

 

[husky429]

Mahaney started over Diarra at the beginning of the season until it was obvious that Diarra was better.

I would really love to learn more about how this happened. Was Mahaney promised a shot at starting? Or did he look good in practice and just completely and utterly choke when the lights turned on?

 

[jibsey]

I’m only relaying what Reed said in an interview. He indicated he resisted following what the coaches wanted him to do until January when he realized they were right.

My take is that his natural ability was never the problem. The staff believes he can be a much better player if he buys into what they’re teaching and he puts in the effort to follow their advice.

I got the feeling that a major reason he returned this season is because he feels he let the team and coaches down as well as himself.

Loyalty is important to the staff. But they started Liam and gave him significant playing time compared to Stewart and Ross because he was the better player. Mahaney started over Diarra at the beginning of the season until it was obvious that Diarra was better.

Same thing will happen this year but I happen to think that Stew will get his shot.

 

[ctchamps]

Same thing will happen this year but I happen to think that Stew will get his shot.

If you’re implying Mullins will start and/or get more minutes than Ross or Stewart that’s certainly possible.

Point is this scenario, if it occurs, would be further evidence that Samson starting over Reed was not a loyalty decision.

 

[Son of Robert]

I would really love to learn more about how this happened. Was Mahaney promised a shot at starting? Or did he look good in practice and just completely and utterly choke when the lights turned on?

Hurley stated that Mahaney was one of the better players coming out of the summer and preseason practice and that is why he started. You know the rest.

 

[RuffRuff]

Hurley stated that Mahaney was one of the better players coming out of the summer and preseason practice and that is why he started. You know the rest.

Don’t believe that one bit. Hurley was throwing words all over the place last September. Toss that in with Ross looking like first rounder. I saw Mahaney in the open practice in August with my own eyes and it was glaring at how out of place he looked physically, and he played poorly. Hurley was trying to make the team something it wasn’t last year through pressers, as part of his quest for a 3peat. He overset expectations, never a good thing.

 

[ctchamps]

I would really love to learn more about how this happened. Was Mahaney promised a shot at starting? Or did he look good in practice and just completely and utterly choke when the lights turned on?

We can only infer that the staff felt Mahaney was the best choice to be the primary point guard. And therefore they would have indicated that to him to get him to UConn.

His performance in practice would be interesting to learn. However as you have mentioned several times in this forum practice doesn’t necessarily correlate to game situations. Furthermore if Mahaney was productive in practice he was playing against players that were flawed defensively. The staff misjudged his and many of the players capabilities last season.

I maintain that the 24 run and the b to b championships with all the distractions that followed was a handicap for evaluating players and needs. Even in the best of times most coaching staffs in all sports struggle assembling a championship team.

Hurley has done a 180 this offseason from last. He is laser focused this offseason.

 

[husky429]

We can only infer that the staff felt Mahaney was the best choice to be the primary point guard. And therefore they would have indicated that to him to get him to UConn.

His performance in practice would be interesting to learn. However as you have mentioned several times in this forum practice doesn’t necessarily correlate to game situations. Furthermore if Mahaney was productive in practice he was playing against players that were flawed defensively. The staff misjudged his and many of the players capabilities last season.

I maintain that the 24 run and the b to b championships with all the distractions that followed was a handicap for evaluating players and needs. Even in the best of times most coaching staffs in all sports struggle assembling a championship team.

Hurley has done a 180 this offseason from last. He is laser focused this offseason.

No one bats a 1.000 -- the staff was bound to botch a transfer recruitment at some point. We did really well with guys like Cole, Reese, Newton, Diarra, Cam, Reed Jr. Even Calcaterra and Alleyne played the role we expected of them. A whiff on someone was in store eventually.

 

[RuffRuff]

We can only infer that the staff felt Mahaney was the best choice to be the primary point guard. And therefore they would have indicated that to him to get him to UConn.

His performance in practice would be interesting to learn. However as you have mentioned several times in this forum practice doesn’t necessarily correlate to game situations. Furthermore if Mahaney was productive in practice he was playing against players that were flawed defensively. The staff misjudged his and many of the players capabilities last season.

I maintain that the 24 run and the b to b championships with all the distractions that followed was a handicap for evaluating players and needs. Even in the best of times most coaching staffs in all sports struggle assembling a championship team.

Hurley has done a 180 this offseason from last. He is laser focused this offseason.

Couldn’t agree more with your last two paragraphs. Why it’s so hard to repeat in sports. It’s hard to stay focused and hungry, you’re more time constrained. They just happened to have a perfect combination of talent in 24.

Would fully agree Mahaney was an experiment and intended to be a PG. Made even more sense after we saw Diarra hobbled all year, as it was probably known to the staff he couldn’t carry a full workload at PG all year. That was an old chronic thing he was dealing with. It made a lot of sense for AM to try, as at his size he wasn’t playing professionally at any other position. Come to UConn, you’ll get to run our amazing offense and we’ll season you into a high level PG through a coach that played PG. Experiment gone bad.

 

[ctchamps]

No one bats a 1.000 -- the staff was bound to botch a transfer recruitment at some point. We did really well with guys like Cole, Reese, Newton, Diarra, Cam, Reed Jr. Even Calcaterra and Alleyne played the role we expected of them. A whiff on someone was in store eventually.

And even with Cam there was an element of luck. Thank goodness Kansas gave the bag to Timberlake.

 

[Lafayette]

I think the trend is to balance high school recruiting with older transfer players. High school players are sometimes busts,
especially players that are not top 25 prospects. UConn had two busts that happened to be PGs. Neither was a top 25 sure thing. If Hurley can convince a top 25 PG to come to UConn he will absolutely recruit them. I see Hurley moving towards getting a couple good HS players and a couple good portal players and foregoing the classic large HS recruiting class of the past.
Last year he struck out on Mahaney and Nowell. Both looked good and process was sound in my opinion.
All that said I dont think Paunic plays much this year unless he is another Doron Sheffer or Demary or Smith get injured.

To be fair Nowell was injured but in some games played well for his minutes (see Georgetown).

Mahaney was never a PG.

 

[mauconnfan]

I would really love to learn more about how this happened. Was Mahaney promised a shot at starting? Or did he look good in practice and just completely and utterly choke when the lights turned on?

I still think Mahaney just never found a fit. But also maybe Dan was wrong thinking he could be a PG. I mean Diarra ended up doing a great job considering he was a 6th man and hurt but not having a real good PG and no real depth turned out to be a huge factor. Let’s hope we have more than enough now!

 

[Scottobot]

To be fair Nowell was injured but in some games played well for his minutes (see Georgetown).

Mahaney was never a PG.

in Big East play Nowell had only 2 FGs and 7 TOs. He was 0-6 on threes. He had only 1 steal. Missed all 2 of his FTs. He had 5 games where he played 5+ minutes. Dan Hurley’s son had more Big East points while playing significantly less minutes. I hope Nowell has more success at his next stop, but he had about as bad of year as anyone can have.

 

[husky429]

in Big East play Nowell had only 2 FGs and 7 TOs. He was 0-6 on threes. He had only 1 steal. Missed all 2 of his FTs. He had 5 games where he played 5+ minutes. Dan Hurley’s son had more Big East points while playing significantly less minutes. I hope Nowell has more success at his next stop, but he had about as bad of year as anyone can have.

It's silly to look at anything Nowell did last year. The minutes were so limited and sporadic.

 

[RuffRuff]

It's silly to look at anything Nowell did last year. The minutes were so limited and sporadic.

Most of the minutes that determined his fate were likely in practice. What's interesting with VCU is they do have a couple top 100 recruits signed up for next year already.

 

[Lafayette]

in Big East play Nowell had only 2 FGs and 7 TOs. He was 0-6 on threes. He had only 1 steal. Missed all 2 of his FTs. He had 5 games where he played 5+ minutes. Dan Hurley’s son had more Big East points while playing significantly less minutes. I hope Nowell has more success at his next stop, but he had about as bad of year as anyone can have.

Hard to just cherry pick Big East games and leave out assists.

He played decently well before the Big East season, getting 17 minutes vs UMES with 5 assists to 1 TO. Then never saw double digit minutes again. But for 6.5 min season on the average, 1.5 pts, 1.1 assists, 0.9 REB, 35.7% shooting screams of more minutes = respectable stats.

 

[Son of Robert]

My take on Ahmad Nowell is that early in the season he was IN IT, very limited minutes, but he made some nice plays, some sharp passes, seemed to handle the ball well, took a few shots, played aggressive D, and the potential for more minutes was a very possible thing. Then he got hurt, some arm strain, some injury that kept him out of practice, out of games, then he came back even more limited on minutes and opportunity, and I swear, his body language changed, he did not seem to have that same fire to his game that I saw earlier in the season. Hate to put this on anyone, just my opinion, and I never say stuff like this, but I think he checked out somewhat when the playing time door closed. He may play very well at VCU, a fresh start, new season, 2nd year baller.