Northern Arizona Post Game Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Northern Arizona Post Game Thread

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He won’t. Hoping he’ll adjust to the defensive scheme and get better, but he got blown by several times. He’s obviously nowhere near as athletic as Hawkins. I have a feeling we will be relying on Castle to pick up what slack has been left behind. Hopefully Diarra’s offense has improved such that he can be in the game for longer stretches because he is a great defender

yea I was watching Cam tonight and really like him offensively, but he is looked a little slow fighting through screens and on switches. He will be on the 3rd guard option for most nights, but I hope it was just an off night for him.
 
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yea I was watching Cam tonight and really like him offensively, but he is looked a little slow fighting through screens and on switches. He will be on the 3rd guard option for most nights, but I hope it was just an off night for him.
Like I said, hopefully as the season moves along and he gets more comfortable with the team he becomes a better scheme defender
 

HuskyWarrior611

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Actually I think Calhoun mentioned he has slimmed down a bit. I think it's just a month of not being able to exercise and practice. He'll get there.
Yeah he just got back from a foot injury. It’s very reasonable that he may not look as fluid or explosive as he did before currently.

Its good he’s playing now to work his way into shape again.
 
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what was scary/odd was they didn’t shoot well as a team from 3, or the foul line and still scored 92 points.

They also did that without creating a ton of turnovers or fastbreak points. Poor stonehill.
 
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I hate these first game was on the Fox App but I was able to stream in on my Apple TV so no biggie. It looks like Karaban might be our leader on this team. I loved Newton's new take charge scoring mentality. I guess he realizes there is no Hawkins and Sanogo and he needs to step up offensively. Clingan was solid even though he didn't show anything we haven't seen last year. Castle started slow but he ended it with a bang. He is really smooth player and just plays at his speed which I love. He is going to be special. The rest of the Freshmen still trying to find themselves. I guess I was most disappointed with Ball as he looked lost on offense with his shot what to do when he had the ball. It was nice to see both Johnson and Diarra give us solid minutes off the bench. We will need both this year. Cam was sold if not unspectacular. It looks like he is still figuring when to pick and choose hid offense but he plays good D even though he isn't the quickest guard. Good first game and nice to win by 43.
 
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what was scary/odd was they didn’t shoot well as a team from 3, or the foul line and still scored 92 points.

They also did that without creating a ton of turnovers or fastbreak points. Poor stonehill.
Stonehill? They lost 89-44 tonight to GW.
 
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Looks less mobile, less explosive than last year.

Could be the month plus layoff from lower body physical activity. Also he looks heavier than last year which might be be why he didn’t get good lift when he’d dunk.
Yeah and even though they said his playing weight was down he looked bigger. I thought he looked leaner and more mobile last year. Last time we had that issue was with Josh Carlton where he bulked up but then slowed down. Hopefully it was the injury that made him gain a few extra pounds and he will shed them soon.
 
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Even though he was pretty sub par for the majority of the game (minus that 1 min stretch in garbage time) I was really impressed with Castle's attitude. Never saw him sulking or hanging his head. Just tried to do better next play. That is why he's going to be very successful in Storrs.

Like the flashes we saw from Stewart too. Coming into the season I thought he'd be the #2 freshman, seems to be so far. Looking forward to seeing him grow.
 

OkaForPrez

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Even though he was pretty sub par for the majority of the game (minus that 1 min stretch in garbage time) I was really impressed with Castle's attitude. Never saw him sulking or hanging his head. Just tried to do better next play. That is why he's going to be very successful in Storrs.

Like the flashes we saw from Stewart too. Coming into the season I thought he'd be the #2 freshman, seems to be so far. Looking forward to seeing him grow.
Had 12 pts 5 rebs and 2 dimes. Even if you take that 5 point flurry out he was still filling up the box score and made the best hustle play of the night. I agree is on court body language is strong, I think I’m an easier grader than you are on his performance.
 
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Team looks good. Starters had a number of good sets with both Clingan and Samson to get low post baskets. On one of those SJ alley oops, Spencer set a wicked screen on the backside cut that made the play happen. Castle has a pretty good ball handle for a 6’6 guard. Karaban looked like a pro. Multiple drives and finishes at the hoop from both sides and finishing with both left and right hands with contact. Castle’s flurry we he hit a 3 and then later toasted his defender on a spin move drive to bucket was pretty impressive.
Only concerns were poor free throw percentage, and outside of Karaban and Clingan they might have a hard time defending on low block against a bulky big man like Bryce Hopkins.
 
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Did Fanta, Donny Marshall, and Jim Calhoun just break Bill Walton's record for longest talk-a-thon during game play without ever saying anything about the game we are watching? A fan like my wife hasn't got any idea who the new players are. First game of the year, maybe at least identify the players, and maybe who a foul is called on. That was terrible.
How about you point them out to her?
 
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Nah even last year at times he was either rushing the shot or not going up quite strong enough. Happened a couple times this game too, just needs to set himself better.
As I said I think his timing and explosiveness was a bit off from the layoff, it has nothing to do with him not being mean enough.

There were times last season he was off balance and rushed it but he usually tries to dunk everything. He was over 72% at the rim last year.
 
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Hope the team has enough outside shooting. After Alex and Cam, who else will be dependable shooters especially from outside? Who will be this year's Joey C and Nahiem Alleyne?
A fair point and in today’s game you need 3-4 shooters in the rotation. Tristen can be a streaky shooter. He had 19 points the Championship game.
 
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Yeah and even though they said his playing weight was down he looked bigger. I thought he looked leaner and more mobile last year. Last time we had that issue was with Josh Carlton where he bulked up but then slowed down. Hopefully it was the injury that made him gain a few extra pounds and he will shed them soon.
It is only logical that a recent foot injury would have that result of impacting his explosiveness. I was more concern that Donovan would try to do too much too soon. The reality is he won’t be 100% for some of the elite upcoming games. I would rather accept that and have us play smart than ask too much and have the injury reoccur. We need to think the long game.
 

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Very small sample size, but Stewart, at least offensively, made a positive initial impression on me. Seemed so relaxed and you could tell his scoring arsenal is vast and effortless.

Stewart looked like the type of player who will put up 20 effortlessly eventually.
 
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I feel like this team could easily average 75 a game. Newton/Karaban/Clingan should combine for 45 and then between the rest of a 9 man rotation consisting of Spencer Castle Samson Diarra Solo and Jaylin, 30 points should be easy.

75 a game isn't a tall task. We averaged 78 last year. And I think 74 the year before
 
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Karabannn and them!
holy crep
it feels almost, spiritual? being a fan of this program.
This is The Universe's Team.
Just happy to see them back. And the stability is scary.
The team played like an old standard, something for everybody and in tune.
 
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2 things:
1) Why do I have to look at that nose-hair advertisement on this page?
2) They looked solid but they all need to work on FTs, especially Cling or he will be hacked all year.
 

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