Newton needs to be more involved

[willie99]

We're a different team when he's active.

Four shots, 4 assets and no rebounds, the last one being the most telling

We're a much better team when he's engaged. Just good when he's not

C'mon Newt, we need you, be the man each and every game. You can do it

 

[Marat]

You are right. When Newton is playing well, that adds another dimension to the offense and takes the team to the next level on offense. It was missing today. When he is good, the team can be very good. If he can get on a consistent streak of B+ play in March, then the results will be much better for the team.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Sometimes it literally doesn’t look like he cares. Just shrugs off everything and smiles. He never really looks fully into the game.

 

[SaeHusky]

Guys it's hard for Newton to penetrate when the guy that should be guarding Jackson is hanging around in the pain to help stop Newton

 

[UofCT]

We're a different team when he's active.

Four shots, 4 assets and no rebounds, the last one being the most telling

We're a much better team when he's engaged. Just good when he's not

C'mon Newt, we need you, be the man each and every game. You can do it

He just got a triple double against a top 10 team.

 

[connVA]

Guys it's hard for Newton to penetrate when the guy that should be guarding Jackson is hanging around in the pain to help stop Newton

This is true. McDermott presumably watched the tape and saw how much better our offense has been flowing over the last several games with Newton, rather than AJ, as the primary facilitator. Having Newton in that role has the duel benefit of getting him more engaged in the offense and partially negating the Andre Island defense by taking him off the ball and allowing Hurley to deploy him in the paint to grab weak side rebounds, lobs, etc. vs sitting behind the arc without drawing the attention of the defender. If you take Newton out of the equation offensively, abracadabra, AJ is forced back into taking more of a distribution role- or not distributing because the five defenders are suffocating the four shooters- and we revert to the way our offense was flowing (or not flowing) during the flurry of losses in January.

 

[CL82]

Newton seems to do better when Jackson is deemphasized. I’m a huge fan of Jackson, but he’s hurting us right now.

 

[BiggieSmall]

This is true. McDermott presumably watched the tape and saw how much better our offense has been flowing over the last several games with Newton, rather than AJ, as the primary facilitator. Having Newton in that role has the duel benefit of getting him more engaged in the offense and partially negating the Andre Island defense by taking him off the ball and allowing Hurley to deploy him in the paint to grab weak side rebounds, lobs, etc. vs sitting behind the arc without drawing the attention of the defender. If you take Newton out of the equation offensively, abracadabra, AJ is forced back into taking more of a distribution role- or not distributing because the five defenders are suffocating the four shooters- and we revert to the way our offense was flowing (or not flowing) during the flurry of losses in January.

Yes this. Newton can’t drive with Baylor S in the paint. Plus he is not a high flyer. His shot would be blocked by Kalkbrenner. Hurley needed to sit Jax for extended time and run some plays for Newton.

 

[Woof 101]

Newton seems to do better when Jackson is deemphasized. I’m a huge fan of Jackson, but he’s hurting us right now.

A big fan of both but I will appreciate it very much when Dan realizes what you say.

 

[willie99]

He just got a triple double against a top 10 team.

I know, that's what I'm talking about.

 

[connVA]

Yes this. Newton can’t drive with Baylor S in the paint. Plus he is not a high flyer. His shot would be blocked by Kalkbrenner. Hurley needed to sit Jax for extended time and run some plays for Newton.

McDermott was presumably hoping that AJ would start forcing passes / turnovers into pressure (like that terrible interior pass to Adama). I doubt he expected AJ to take 11 shots, so that was really the cherry on top. Hurley & Co need to have plans A thru Z ready to counter every variation of this because it’s all we’re going to see until the kid can develop 5-10 foot range that can be respected over the summer (hopefully).

 

[jibsey]

AJ off the bench, less minutes. That’s my solution.

 

[InKembaITrust]

He just got a triple double against a top 10 team.

.....yes? The difference is we won that game and lost yesterdays. You just proved the OP's point.

I completely agree with the OP. For this team to make noise in March Newton has to consistently be a top 3 scorer for us. He's too good at drawing fouls and too talented a scorer.

He needs to be more aggressive in finding his shot and driving to the lane.

 

[REB1094]

There is a fair point that Andre’s man was sitting in the lane all game which made it impossible to drive. It’s true, but I don’t know. Sometimes Newton is really engaged, sometimes it looks like he’s sleepwalking. Yesterday was a sleepwalking game

Maybe it’s because he was discouraged by the driving lanes being filled, maybe hesitant to drive with Kalkbrenner in the paint, maybe rattled by the crowd…who knows. But it didn’t look like he wanted to be out there yesterday

As a senior PG, you have to find a way to be impactful even when things aren’t going your way. When Newton is on, he nearly makes our offense unstoppable. When Newton is off, he brings the energy of the whole team down

 

[aburks41]

.....yes? The difference is we won that game and lost yesterdays. You just proved the OP's point.

I completely agree with the OP. For this team to make noise in March Newton has to consistently be a top 3 scorer for us. He's too good at drawing fouls and too talented a scorer.

He needs to be more aggressive in finding his shot and driving to the lane.

How can he get into the lane when there is a QB spy on him the entire time? McDermott just showed every single coach how you stop Newton from being able to attack the rim, and it’s by letting Jackson be completely unguarded and use that extra defender to stop Hawkins and Newton. Jackson shooting 30% on completely unguarded shots is unacceptable. If he was an average offensive player he would be the best player in college, but his offensive skillset might honestly be the worst in college basketball lol

 

[mauconnfan]

How can he get into the lane when there is a QB spy on him the entire time? McDermott just showed every single coach how you stop Newton from being able to attack the rim, and it’s by letting Jackson be completely unguarded and use that extra defender to stop Hawkins and Newton. Jackson shooting 30% on completely unguarded shots is unacceptable. If he was an average offensive player he would be the best player in college, but his offensive skillset might honestly be the worst in college basketball lol

Wait aburks how did you see that defense? So many others missed it I guess. Killed Newton and he felt it early and became less aggressive. He’s on the floor he can see his lane clogged by a 6’9 kid with a headband on why go there?

 

[Brochacho]

Newton seems to do better when Jackson is deemphasized. I’m a huge fan of Jackson, but he’s hurting us right now.

Yup. When Jackson is on the floor, opposing teams can have an extra defender in the lane to stop Newton's drives, face guard Hawkins all game because there will be multiple help defenders if he slips inside the three point line, and if we post up Sanogo there is a double team waiting. You can't have that happening to your team to have a 27% 3P shooter standing in the corner throwing up uncontested bricks.

 

[yungdowork]

Always going to be tougher for him to get it going considering Kalkbrenner is one of the best rim protectors in the conference, couple that with the extra defender in the paint, and he couldn't even really get going downhill.

Even though he can make them, Newton has never been a pure jump shooter; he needs to be able to get to the rim and in turn to the FT line. I still would have liked to see him try to attack a little more, because he simply didn't assert himself enough, but Creighton did a good job taking him out of his game

 

[Chin Diesel]

First few sets Newton had some clean looks and passed them up. That put an uneasy feeling in me regarding how he was going to play.

UConn has shifted from primarily running the first few sets through Sanogo in the paint to trying to get Hawkins going early. Making a concerted effort to get Newton going first is a path I wouldn't mind seeing going forward.

 

[SaeHusky]

How can he get into the lane when there is a QB spy on him the entire time? McDermott just showed every single coach how you stop Newton from being able to attack the rim, and it’s by letting Jackson be completely unguarded and use that extra defender to stop Hawkins and Newton. Jackson shooting 30% on completely unguarded shots is unacceptable. If he was an average offensive player he would be the best player in college, but his offensive skillset might honestly be the worst in college basketball lol

100% agree with this. If we come out double big in a 2-3 zone against Seton hall we will win by 20

 

[Palatine]

Guys it's hard for Newton to penetrate when the guy that should be guarding Jackson is hanging around in the pain to help stop Newton

They have been doing that all season especially lately and Newton has had very good games. Newton only took 4 shots and only 1 three. This was on Newton not Jackson. He just didn't bring energy to the offense and we need him to.

 

[UConn990411]

Guys it's hard for Newton to penetrate when the guy that should be guarding Jackson is hanging around in the pain to help stop Newton

This.

They need to swap Jackson’s and Karaban’s roles on offense. That moves Karaban to the corner/perimeter more often where he can stretch opposing defenses, become more of a dribble-drive threat, and occasionally post up smaller players. Andre moving to the four spot makes him a more consistent lob threat, and he’ll be surrounded by shooters to kick the ball out to.

This certainly won’t solve everything, but continuing with more of the same won’t either.

 

[InKembaITrust]

How can he get into the lane when there is a QB spy on him the entire time? McDermott just showed every single coach how you stop Newton from being able to attack the rim, and it’s by letting Jackson be completely unguarded and use that extra defender to stop Hawkins and Newton. Jackson shooting 30% on completely unguarded shots is unacceptable. If he was an average offensive player he would be the best player in college, but his offensive skillset might honestly be the worst in college basketball lol

I'm with you, it's certainly a catch-22 with how good Jackson is on defense and the liability he is on offense. It really sucks.

Danny will have to get a little more creative with his substitution patterns and matchups. Fortunately, this kid named Naheim Alleyne is coming on stronger recently. Hopefully, he can fill in the offensive gaps for AJ because IMO he's probably our most versatile defender after AJ and doesn't give up too much on that end of the floor.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

AJ off the bench, less minutes. That’s my solution.

Correct your haiku before tip-off is my solution for you.

Why? Because this is something you can actually do.

Yours was the only incorrectly formed haiku, and your limerick went against form as well.

The game was lost because of your poetry efforts.

Our attention to detail, clarity of purpose, and effective teamwork are the best we can model to inspire the coaches, players, and other fans. The difficulties they face are the difficulties we face.

 

[UofCT]

I completely agree with the OP. For this team to make noise in March Newton has to consistently be a top 3 scorer for us. He's too good at drawing fouls and too talented a scorer.

He needs to be more aggressive in finding his shot and driving to the lane.

It’s not realistic to expect that. If we can’t find ways to win when he isn’t on then we have much bigger problems.

 

[GotNets?]

This is true. McDermott presumably watched the tape and saw how much better our offense has been flowing over the last several games with Newton, rather than AJ, as the primary facilitator. Having Newton in that role has the duel benefit of getting him more engaged in the offense and partially negating the Andre Island defense by taking him off the ball and allowing Hurley to deploy him in the paint to grab weak side rebounds, lobs, etc. vs sitting behind the arc without drawing the attention of the defender. If you take Newton out of the equation offensively, abracadabra, AJ is forced back into taking more of a distribution role- or not distributing because the five defenders are suffocating the four shooters- and we revert to the way our offense was flowing (or not flowing) during the flurry of losses in January.

Great albeit sickening observation

 

[connVA]

It’s not realistic to expect that. If we can’t find ways to win when he isn’t on then we have much bigger problems.

Agreed. I think Hurley needs to gameplan for the worst case scenario because it’s the one that has lost most (if not all) of our games- full iso on Andre and minimal contributions from Newton. If he comes up with a formula to deal with that (double bigs, Alleyne and Diarra, or whatever), we’re cooking with gas. Obviously easier said than done.

The worst worst case scenario is if, in addition to the above, nobody’s three is falling to keep the defense honest. Then we’re really screwed (see January).

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I think this is an easy fix.

Sanago sets a screen up top so Newton can drive with Jackson on the baseline then Newton has to attack Jackson's man so Jackson is an easy lob threat.

 

[InKembaITrust]

It’s not realistic to expect that. If we can’t find ways to win when he isn’t on then we have much bigger problems.

I just don't see that level of production coming from anywhere else consistently. Karaban and Clingan are nice players, but freshmen who don't have enough experience to carry the load. We know AJ can't average 12-15 pts a game. And the bench certainly won't provide that production.

Tristen is an upperclassman and was touted as one of the best offensive weapons in the transfer portal. He has to consistently play like it.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Sometimes it literally doesn’t look like he cares. Just shrugs off everything and smiles. He never really looks fully into the game.

Right. Spacey. The one exception was in the Marquette game; he was focused and locked in, all business. And what happened? His best game and the team’s best game in months. Not a coincidence.