Newton - He deserves his due for the way he’s helped us on this dominate stretch.

[Huskyforlife]

He deserves his due for the way he’s helped us on this dominate stretch. I keep reading criticisms of the things he’s been struggling with recently, but I don’t think these people are seeing the whole picture.

Defensively, he’s been our second best perimeter defender, which is insane when you realize Hawkins is no slouch on that end either. Hes unique in the sense that he allows for no small guard for teams to target on that end. I had no idea coming in he could hold his ground as well as he does, considering his lack of strength and athleticism. That block against butler was filthy.

In most games hes been a steady hand with the ball, which is important for breaking the press and setting our offense. Having guys who can handle ball pressure is important, and we don’t have that many. I’m sure we’ve all noticed how much he gets slapped with the ball, but he never loses composure.

His ability to help on the boards has also been useful. He’s a tough kid who mixes it up inside when our bigs can’t get to every board. Another advantage of having all dudes 6’5+ on the floor. You saw that against Butler with his 8 rebound game.

Obviously there’s another level to unlock with him. If/when the shots start falling, I’d consider him a star for this team. But until then his contributions need to be acknowledged for what they are, important. Start thinking of him like an Andre Jackson Jr. Jr. and you’ll appreciate him more.

 

[MexicoHusky]

He deserves his due for the way he’s helped us on this dominate stretch. I keep reading criticisms of the things he’s been struggling with recently, but I don’t think these people are seeing the whole picture.

Defensively, he’s been our second best perimeter defender, which is insane when you realize Hawkins is no slouch on that end either. Hes unique in the sense that he allows for no small guard for teams to target on that end. I had no idea coming in he could hold his ground as well as he does, considering his lack of strength and athleticism. That block against butler was filthy.

In most games hes been a steady hand with the ball, which is important for breaking the press and setting our offense. Having guys who can handle ball pressure is important, and we don’t have that many. I’m sure we’ve all noticed how much he gets slapped with the ball, but he never loses composure.

His ability to help on the boards has also been useful. He’s a tough kid who mixes it up inside when our bigs can’t get to every board. Another advantage of having all dudes 6’5+ on the floor. You saw that against Butler with his 8 rebound game.

Obviously there’s another level to unlock with him. If/when the shots start falling, I’d consider him a star for this team. But until then his contributions need to be acknowledged for what they are, important. Start thinking of him like an Andre Jackson Jr. Jr. and you’ll appreciate him more.

Newton is great. He's doing what we need. Solid defender. Can't be left open. Secure with the ball. Pushes the ball.

I also think if anyone is on cruise control while playing lesser competition it's Newton. As op suggests. I think he's got another gear.

 

[Scot-e]

He can be more of a steady offensive asset moving forward. He just needs to look for his shot a pinch more. I love his mentality.

 

[HuskyFich]

I personally love having a PG who isn’t ball dominant and always looking to break down a defender individually.

He isn’t getting the appreciation that’s he due because he silently falls into the rhythm of our offense, exactly as a PG was meant to do.

So happy he’s our PG this year. Hopefully his PnR 3s start falling soon. That will make our team so much more difficult to defend.

And kudos to Hurley again for getting a dude who avg. 18ppg to come in and adapt his role for the benefit of the team.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

He’s really settled into his role nicely. I think as the season progresses he’ll get even better- cutting out some turnovers and get a few more clean looks for a jump shot. Other than that he’s been exceptional and exactly what we need.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Another Newton thread......He's good for us but we still need his offense to improve. That's all!

 

[UCTitleTown]

Fortunately, this team has the talent to overcome any one player's struggles. Imagine how good we'll be when everyone gets in sync?

 

[80shusky]

He's been a great perimeter defender. Would like to see him drive the lane and get to the line more with his FT%. He's been sharing the ball almost to a fault too.

 

[Yawin4Heisman]

He’s been great for us… agree with OP (like the Andre Jackson comp / analogy) and others who have good things to say… amazing, in this day and age, that we got a star “score first PG” (before he came here) who basically agreed to take on a different (and less sexy) role in the interest of doing exactly what this team needs from him to win… Maybe he’d rather be the starting PG of what could eventually be one of the best teams this century doing whatever if takes to win than a guy who just fills up box scores - that’s incredible news for UConn and Dan Hurley and we should absolutely love this kid for it and realize how lucky we are to have him and realize how rare a situation this is.

Steady with ball, max effort on defense, hits the glass hard, etc…. He doesn’t “need” to do anything differently and UConn doesn’t “need” him to do anything differently (love the idea that the starting PG on a team that’s dominating its competition in a manner not seen in years by many measures “needs“ to change or do something better…. Or else what? We‘ll only win games by single digits?)… and obviously when his shots fall he’s gonna look even better. One skill of his I think we’ll have to call upon later in the year is his ability to drive and get to the line. Picture being on the road (or in the tourney), opposing team is making a run, you’re stagnant or out of sorts on offense for whatever reason and need to stop the bleeding and take the crowd out of it - that’s where that particular skill is so nice to have…. But obviously given we haven’t been in a single close game it’s not been something we’ve “needed” at any point to date…

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He can be more of a steady offensive asset moving forward. He just needs to look for his shot a pinch more. I love his mentality.

To me this is the issue. You can practically see him debating when he hits the lane whether to kick the ball out to a shooter or try to score himself. It'll come.

 

[PAHusky]

To me this is the issue. You can practically see him debating when he hits the lane whether to kick the ball out to a shooter or try to score himself. It'll come.

I've seen the same thing but I give him a pass for now because this UConn team is so much more talented than his previous squads that he's had to carry the offensive load on that it's probably a difficult adjustment being able to actually rely on everyone else on the court to get buckets as well.

He's got all of the pieces and he seems like he's a smart kid. Not worried about him at all

 

[The Frog]

Too me, he doesn't seem like a liability.... But offensively he busted out with droping a 100 thress in what ever game that was on the west coast.... But ever since then it's been brick after brick when he dose shoot....

 

[Umami Zen]

IMO.. Tristen is having a great time being a great teammate--The role Dan Hurley wants him to play. Facilitating-defending-drawing fouls.. Unlike at ECU.. At UConn-- He doesn't need to be a featured player because of who he's surrounded by.. Want him to be taking FTs at crunch time to ice games--when needed.

If Dan Hurley wants him to get a few buckets--He can go do that ,too. Much like Andre.. He's more interested in the W than how many pts he puts up. Great glue guy for our starting 5

 

[August_West]

I've seen the same thing but I give him a pass for now because this UConn team is so much more talented than his previous squads that he's had to carry the offensive load on that it's probably a difficult adjustment being able to actually rely on everyone else on the court to get buckets as well.

He's got all of the pieces and he seems like he's a smart kid. Not worried about him at all

Good post.

He won me over with his defense. I was tough on him early this year, but for every offensive error I see out of him he wins me over twice with his D. Hes a huge reason why we are #3 in defensive efficiency. Casuals look at our offense (which has been great!) , but we are who we are this year from D.