New Haven Post Game Thread

[GHSWolverines]

Didn’t look like UConn basketball. So much one on one. So many missed layups.

we only had 11 assists where we are used to having around 20 assists per game. The offense (most of the time) looked very choppy.

 

[dennismenace]

AK was solid - but we don't want him to be our best player, because I would never count on him to be a 19/10 guy against great competition. He and Solo played 33 minutes. Fine for now, not ideal longer term. It's really impossible to evaluate this team without Mullins/Reed.

Reibe was fairly exposed yesterday - 1 rebound in 18 minutes as a 5 is Samson-esque and can't happen. This is against a small 5 who gashed him on the other end of the floor. Pasha may have been the best player on the floor yesterday.

Agree. We have a deeper team and they need more rest if they are expected to carry both a scoring and defensive load. Reibe will hear about this for sure but it will be up to him to decide if he can take a beating as well as finesse people on offense.

 

[GHSWolverines]

21 players on the New Haven roster !
How is that possible ?

the jv squad dressed up. LOL

 

[Inyatkin]

He got lucky two years in a row. I'll reserve my praise for when he wins a third 'ship.

This would be funny if everyone didn’t know you were serious

 

[Edward Sargent]

He had another nice defensive game. Got beat on a couple drives where he was able to recover with his length and still either contest or block the shot. Has been nice to see. Offensively, well, he is who he is. I think the deficiencies are highlighted in a game like today where we didn’t have Reed, Mullins, and Demary was in foul trouble. Ross will be at his best when he’s our fifth option on offense, but having him and two of Reibe/Koroma/Smith/Millender puts more offensive pressure on him than is ideal.

Demary in foul trouble concerns me. Is that why he got blown by so many times?

 

[RitzLuce1]

Alex Karaban would start on every other team in Div 1. I think not having to be seen as the one to lead the team this season will help him have a great season.

If this is true why was he the only UConn player who had to sit there at the postgame presser last night, having to shoulder the responsibility of “being a better leader”? Maybe next time we can have some of our junior “Fab 5” guys there too. They are the ones we committed to and brought back. It’s year 3. Make them sit there with Alex after a rough performance. Why does Karaban always gotta be the one beating himself up for needing to be more “vocal”? He’s plenty vocal. And not the problem.

 

[Arod18]

Wasn’t pretty. Concerned that we have no alpha males on this team.

 

[RuffRuff]

Mullins and Reed are expected to be very good defenders as well. Millender is more an emergency sub if things go wrong. I don't think Hurley needs to watch the New Haven coach to figure things out, Hurley has actually done fairly well with this whole college coaching thing.

He has, but I do think this year is a good test to confirm whether his template was a product of a swath of talent that struck lightning(I know Temery thinks so), or repeatable. He has a very good, but not spectacular roster this year. There are still a lot of parts from a team that was disappointing last year. Now it's going to be about how quickly he can coach up a Demary to run PG and how fast can we get Mullins involved. Demary doesn't look like a natural PG to me right now - he's super intentional in how he passes the ball in at times, versus looking instinctive. Almost like he's aiming, trying too hard. And this whole not shooting thing to facilitate makes it seem even more like he has to think about it versus it just coming to him.

 

[Nameless]

I kept waiting for that 15-0 run that never came. An aspect we missed a lot last year that the B2B champs had. Was hoping to see it return this year.

I forget where exactly I heard this, but I heard someone say you can separate the elite teams from the simply good teams because elite teams go on 10-0 runs (or greater) often, and rarely if ever give up a 10-0 run themselves. My gut always agreed with that statement, and if you think about our '23 and '24 teams that statement definitely holds weight. We consistently buried teams with 10-0 runs, even really good ones, and we rarely (if ever) gave up a 10-0 run to our opponent. The only examples of the latter I can think of probably came during our 6-8 stretch in January of '23, or maybe the road game against Creighton where they came out hot.

I may be off here, but I don't think we had one 10-0 run last night. I know we had at least one 9-0 run, but don't think we ever hit 10 points in a row without UNH scoring. I know we were without 2 starters but it did make me pause a bit. Why weren't we able to dominate this team? A lack of effort after playing much higher quality opponents in our exhibitions? A lack of a "killer mentality" in this squad? I honestly don't know, but I wasn't overly happy with what I saw last night.

I do think we will look substantially more dominant once Tarris is healthy. Hopefully he's back soon, I know soft tissue injuries can be a nuisance.

 

[Horatio]

Was unable to watch the game so I followed the chat. Watched the replay. We missed a lot of bunnies and the 3 pt shooting is still off. Mullins will help that. The defense will tighten up along with rebounding. UNH was decent. Stewart looked good. Alec and Koroma will get minutes. Reibe will get better with time. Two starters are out. That’s all I got.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Demary in foul trouble concerns me. Is that why he got blown by so many times?

Shouldn’t really be a concern. He has two seasons of high major basketball where he has been both a good defender and fouls haven’t really been an issue (roughly 2.5 over 30 minutes a game).

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

UConn will be fine but expectations need to be reset. This is nowhere near a championship caliber team like we saw a couple years ago. Which is fine, winning three in four is insanely hard to do.

Do you realize how insane you sound posting this on November 4th after a game against New Haven that was never actually competitive?

 

[Mr. French]

They were some of the most prominent posters on here absolutely hating on him, so I don't know about that

Some of the most prominent posters here are, indeed, dingbats.

 

[Nameless]

He has, but I do think this year is a good test to confirm whether his template was a product of a swath of talent that struck lightning(I know Temery thinks so), or repeatable. He has a very good, but not spectacular roster this year. There are still a lot of parts from a team that was disappointing last year. Now it's going to be about how quickly he can coach up a Demary to run PG and how fast can we get Mullins involved. Demary doesn't look like a natural PG to me right now - he's super intentional in how he passes the ball in at times, versus looking instinctive. Almost like he's aiming, trying too hard. And this whole not shooting thing to facilitate makes it seem even more like he has to think about it versus it just coming to him.

There was a part of me last night that wondered if he was being less aggressive and looking to pass more just because it's early in the season and we were playing a cupcake. I remember Cam coming out and not shooting much his first couple games here because he wanted to facilitate and get other guys involved. I wouldn't be shocked if he took more of a facilitator role last night just to get some game reps with that mentality. There will be games he facilitates more, games where he looks to score more depending on opponent and script. Since he has less experience in the facilitator role, playing a whole game where he intentionally shuts down his scoring instincts to focus on facilitating helps him develop as an initiator of the offense. These are the games to do so.

If we get to BYU and he still isn't playing assertively, then I'll be quite concerned lol

 

[Gurleyman]

11 assists on 27 baskets is not UConn basketball

We could have had a few more. Statistician was sort of unkind. Early in the game, Demary threw the ball to Reibe and Stewart posting up deep on the low block - they made quick post moves but no assist was given, even though Demary gave them the ball in prime real estate. Reibe also didn’t get one on the dribble handoff to Karaban for a 3 late in the half when all AK did was dribble once in place and let it fly.

But we also had a couple putbacks where the initial play was good offense and would have been an assist, but we scored on the glass instead (first play of the game, Demary found Ball on a cut and he missed at the rim, but Stewart put it back in).

 

[freescooter]

We don't have 2 of our 5 best players, one of which is our low post beast and the other our best NBA prospect.

If you didn't already know this is not going to be an athletic team by UConn's standards you haven't been paying attention.

Let me ask you this. How many New Haven players would make our team. Not starters, just make the team? If the answer is not at least 3, then not having starters is no excuse for what was a very poor performance overall. FWIW my number is 0.

 

[HW611]

What game were you watching? I saw Ross get blown by on the perimeter 2x. One time Solo was there to help with a weak side block. It’s low level basketball IQ and slow feet, a problem with most of our perimeter.

If you’re talking about 38:25 Ross got the block first. Pretty heavy criticism for a play he recovered on to get a block.



I’m not sure the other play you’re referring to. But getting blown by 2x, one ending up in a recovery block, isn’t bad at all. It’s pretty good.

He had another nice defensive game. Got beat on a couple drives where he was able to recover with his length and still either contest or block the shot. Has been nice to see. Offensively, well, he is who he is. I think the deficiencies are highlighted in a game like today where we didn’t have Reed, Mullins, and Demary was in foul trouble. Ross will be at his best when he’s our fifth option on offense, but having him and two of Reibe/Koroma/Smith/Millender puts more offensive pressure on him than is ideal.

Id prefer him to force himself have to do something offensively. Feel like he’s at his best when he’s not thinking about it and just does it out of necessity.

It’s frustrating how much of it is simply confidence and he’s the only player out there with that issue. Like bruh, everyone else shoots and misses all the time with confidence. It’s okay if you take a few or have a couple drives that aren’t perfect.

 

[superjohn]

Do you realize how insane you sound posting this on November 4th after a game against New Haven that was never actually competitive?

There's always a lot of nonsensical overreactions here over a single game but I don't ever remember this volume of ridiculous takes in the past over a meaningless cupcake game where we don't have our roster intact.

 

[HW611]

Demary doesn't look like a natural PG to me right now - he's super intentional in how he passes the ball in at times, versus looking instinctive. Almost like he's aiming, trying too hard. And this whole not shooting thing to facilitate makes it seem even more like he has to think about it versus it just coming to him.

Been saying this could be a thing before the season started. He’ll end up okay it’ll just be a process.

Hopefully he comes around sooner than later.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Boneyard is in peak form after the 1st game of the season. This is why I love the place. Insane commitment to insane takes from the jump.

All of you saying "this is not a championship team" after one game where we were down 2 starters plus an intriguing bench piece...did you already forget about the choppy start to the season and the January doldrums of the 2022-23 Championship team?

All of you fretting and whining about our subpar assist numbers being down (doomed!). How many assists do you think were lost by not having Reed in on the blocks for easy dump-in layups/dunks? How many more would we have had if we shot better from 3pt (which we very likely will, with Solo rounding into form, Mullins in the line-up, less missed bunnies, etc.)? Did you remember that Newton only had 3 & 1 assists in his first 2 games?

Buckle up and enjoy the ride. We're gonna be just fine.

 

[freescooter]

Do we really think Koroma gets much PT when Tarris is back?

Somebody will. Tarris has a tendency to foul. He will likely be a 20 minute guy not a 30 plus guy. The way Reibe played, it won’t be him.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Id prefer him to force himself have to do something offensively. Feel like he’s at his best when he’s not thinking about it and just does it out of necessity.

It’s frustrating how much of it is simply confidence and he’s the only player out there with that issue. Like bruh, everyone else shoots and misses all the time with confidence. It’s okay if you take a few or have a couple drives that aren’t perfect.

I think Reed being back will open up some more options for him. Reed will draw a lot of attention and help in the paint (which Reibe just doesn’t right now), which will lead to more open looks for the perimeter players. Ross just needs to be ready to take that open shot or open lane when it comes. I don’t think the confidence we need from him is breaking his man down off the dribble.

 

[Gurleyman]

Let me ask you this. How many New Haven players would make our team. Not starters, just make the team? If the answer is not at least 3, then not having starters is no excuse for what was a very poor performance overall. FWIW my number is 0.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled yesterday - but the 2004 team with all the returning pieces in place and a preseason No. 1 ranking was tied with Yale at the half. And it wasn’t even a good Yale. Even two years ago we let a winless Mississippi Valley State hang around for most of the first half.

There’s enough encouragement from the exhibitions to allow for a bit of a lull playing a no name. If I had a concern, it’s more that we didn’t put a hammer down in the second half - I could handle being a little flat or not sharp on opening day, but wanted to see us take it to another gear that UNH couldn’t match, and it never came. Our best spurt to create separation was Solo making 6 FTs and Koroma getting an and one. Harder to find that next gear when your opponent can match it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Well.......I'm glad they have 2 more games against cupcakes before playing BYU.

I figured it would take some time to gel with so many new pieces. Demary looks confused what he's supposed to do as the PG.

What was with the defense? Looked like they couldn't really stay in front of people.

There's work to do.

Hurley called that out, but I do wonder if his normal approach hurt us against this team. Hurley preaches defending the 3, and this team didn't take many and instead blew by our guys who were defending more like the threat was jumpshots. Learning experience to maybe back off slightly against quick guards who aren't great shooters.

 

[gtcam]

A lot of things to be concerned about, yet we have to consider that UConn's starting center and most likely their best scorer were sitting in Catholic school clothing on the bench.
AK hit some important shots that stopped the bit of momentum that UNH had built at the time. AK had good numbers, again.
The Georgia bulldog left that edginess at home when it came to guarding his man on the perimeter.
Smith is a flash in driving to the hoop but like so many recent guards at UConn he needs to work on making sure the ball goes thru the hoop. He will be a sure asset as the season progresses.
Korona had flashes of great play but he needs to learn to dunk the ball and/or take it strong to the basket - missed 3 bunnies - he does bring a high energy level.
Maybe insisting that Ball generate an inside game is not a good thing - seems to have screwed up his perimeter shooting which is so important to this team. If you can't throw up a lob, please don't bother.....................................
Stewie had too much athleticism for any UNH player trying to guard him. A good game for him.
Ross is too high strung when he gets on the floor. Needs to harness that energy and he will be fine.
I like the way Millender plays and what a luxury having him as the 3rd option at the PG position.
Reibe is young and the more playing time he gets the better off UConn will be. He looked like he was just trying to survive yesterday because Posh was hitting some unreal shots. UConn needs to be looking for Posh's name in the portal next spring.
It's a win and only a win, a loss would have been like Maui 2024.
Dan Hurley knows the road is going to be bumpy for a while.