Observations from Open Practice | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Observations from Open Practice

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I have been to several of these. Yesterday I paid particular attention to observing Hurley because of all that has transpired since the second championship. His energy, enthusiasm and passion (as well as the other coaches) was as high as ever. His style is not for the NBA and he should never leave college coaching. Can you imagine Dan telling Lebron and Bronny to run the stairs at a Laker's practice?
 
Diarra and Nowell listed as having 15-20 lbs on Mahaney, meanwhile Mahaney listed as having a couple inches. He’s a slight kid, doesn’t appear to have touched many weights at StM.

If he’s going to be a productive piece he’s going to really have to anchor down on the offensive scheme and know it
Ricker said:
From the Aqua Turf dinner I stood talking with Mahaney & Nowell at the same time and got the same impression that Mahaney is not as tall as advertised, and, is much much slighter. He was sort of leaning a bit against a high table and Nowell was standing straight, so when it comes to an inch or two difference it is hard to tell between them. As calm as he plays, at that dinner he seemed like a guy who just had a caffeine jolt, vs the reserved relaxed posture of the other guys. My expectations for him as a husky are not as high as some of the podcasters and posters who project him as outstanding. I see him as reliable, and in other threads have compared him to Ashcroft at Creighton as far as my personal expectations. I thought Ashcroft played well but only on a couple occasions was the primary factor winning games. I haven't seen Nowell play yet in person, and really wish I had. Love the reports from everybody's viewpoints. Looking forward to Mahaney exceeding my expectations.
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I second this. It’s only a small sample, but enough to see some things that will pause my expectations. Much of us have been pencilling him in as a plug and play starter. I don’t think that’s a guarantee when you have guys like Solo and Ahmad battling him for time.

Wish we got a look at Reed. Continue to think his success at the 5 will be a really key variable in the success of this years team.
 
Just a comment on Hurley doing a masterful job with marketing UConn men's bb. To have this much excitement and interest in the team in the middle of the summer is amazing. He's constantly keeping us in the news and showcasing why UConn is the best place for recruits and transfers to develop.
 
RuffRuff said:
Diarra and Nowell listed as having 15-20 lbs on Mahaney, meanwhile Mahaney listed as having a couple inches. He’s a slight kid, doesn’t appear to have touched many weights at StM.
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Its not a big deal, but you call him ‘Mahaney’ when you refer to him and his last name is Mahaney FYI.
 
Diarra and Nowell listed as having 15-20 lbs on Mahaney, meanwhile Mahaney listed as having a couple inches. He’s a slight kid, doesn’t appear to have touched many weights at StM.

If he’s going to be a productive piece he’s going to really have to anchor down on the offensive scheme and know it
Ricker said:
From the Aqua Turf dinner I stood talking with Mahaney & Nowell at the same time and got the same impression that Mahaney is not as tall as advertised, and, is much much slighter. He was sort of leaning a bit against a high table and Nowell was standing straight, so when it comes to an inch or two difference it is hard to tell between them. As calm as he plays, at that dinner he seemed like a guy who just had a caffeine jolt, vs the reserved relaxed posture of the other guys. My expectations for him as a husky are not as high as some of the podcasters and posters who project him as outstanding. I see him as reliable, and in other threads have compared him to Ashcroft at Creighton as far as my personal expectations. I thought Ashcroft played well but only on a couple occasions was the primary factor winning games. I haven't seen Nowell play yet in person, and really wish I had. Love the reports from everybody's viewpoints. Looking forward to Mahaney exceeding my expectations.
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I second this. It’s only a small sample, but enough to see some things that will pause my expectations. Much of us have been pencilling him in as a plug and play starter. I don’t think that’s a guarantee at this point, especially when battling a talented set of guards.
 
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CONN78SEJ said:
How many years does Mahaney have remaining, 2or 3? Mahaney is a talent, but not surprised to see him out of sorts in front of a huge crowd. Hurley, Luke, and company will fix it.
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LOL!! Announced attendance was 3000, St. Mary's plays in a place that holds 3500. Maybe pump the brakes on the hot takes.
 
DRBackup said:
LOL!! Announced attendance was 3000, St. Mary's plays in a place that holds 3500. Maybe pump the brakes on the hot takes.
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Kid knew what he was signing up for so it can’t be because he’s afraid of the lime light. StM wasn’t exactly a big athlete factory. It’s just a bunch of efficient plodders who drove up their KPI by slowing the game down. And the conference was weak. The annual two games against Gonzaga isn’t much of a barometer. Now he’s amongst a deep sea of physical athletes and he just looks like he’s trying to figure it out. One thing is for sure, he’s not going to separate based on stature, it’s going to have to by ways of decision making, toughness, skill and savvy (like Cam).
 
Hunt for 7 said:
I made a comment about Mahaney not looking 6’3”. He seems smaller than Diarra and definitely smaller than Ball. From what I could see in the highlights he did not look much taller than Nowell who probably has 10-15 pounds on him.

Look I know he is a good player I remember what I saw when we played them. But let’s be honest once Dumas got hurt in that game it was over. It was going to get that way anyway but he was their best player from a matchup standpoint against us.
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He was also a freshman that year. He'll be a junior this year so he's better now. He also has better players, and more of them, around him now.

You seem to always have short term reactions to things you see. Like saying the U.S. Olympic basketball team wasn't good from seeing the exhibitions. Need to broaden your outlook some. ;)
 
RuffRuff said:
Abraham is a find. Physical, long, athletic, composed and has a great release and good rotation. He’s going to be a great Husky.
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“(Abraham) is gonna be an awesome player here,” Hurley said. “Sometimes the players are as good as you thought, a little worse or a little better. He’s come in better. He’s just our type of guy. He’s a UConn guy, an ascending player.”

www.courant.com

UConn men’s basketball fans pack Gampel Pavilion, get ‘authentic summer practice’ experience at open workout

The depth of the 2024-25 UConn men’s basketball team was on display before a sizeable crowd as the Huskies hosted an open practice at Gampel Pavilion Saturday.
www.courant.com www.courant.com

Alternate access:
UConn men’s basketball fans pack Gampel Pavilion, get ‘authentic summer practice’ experience at open workout
 
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Palatine said:
Mahaney was at his best in their biggest games. He will be great for us.
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Maybe he will have some of Newton's presence and clutch ability, and will be big in our important games too, I'll take that.
 
RuffRuff said:
Diarra and Nowell listed as having 15-20 lbs on Mahaney, meanwhile Mahaney listed as having a couple inches. He’s a slight kid, doesn’t appear to have touched many weights at StM.

If he’s going to be a productive piece he’s going to really have to anchor down on the offensive scheme and know it

I second this. It’s only a small sample, but enough to see some things that will pause my expectations. Much of us have been pencilling him in as a plug and play starter. I don’t think that’s a guarantee at this point, especially when battling a talented set of guards.
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This.
 
Great experience but was BS that they didn’t allow you to sit where you wanted. Security personnel corralled fans to sit and complete one section at a time. Not as advertised. BS. Frustrated. Got there early too. False advertisement
 
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Hunt for 7 said:
I wish I lived in state and could attend these events. I have read many of the posts and other media on the practice. General theme is we are deep and we knew that and Ross seemed to stand out.

But for two seasons some of us at least I know I have wondered what about Ross. Just from the little playing time he got you could see he was a plus athlete and appeared to be in tune at least offensively to what his teammates were doing when he had the ball. He seems to have the best handle of all the 6’7” talent we have (McNeeley, Stewart). I keep think he could find playing time because of that handle.

If we have to play without a center how about this line up, Karaban, Stewart, McNeeley, Ross and one of the three guards Diarra/Mahaney/Nowell. If it is Mahaney that group could be dangerous in transition and from behind the arc.

So for those who were there to see what I read Hurley was quoted as saying was an “authentic practice” was there anything from a critique standpoint of what Ross maybe did not do well.

Was it the hustle getting into new drills, was it body language if he was coached. Performance in defensive drills.

Looking for anything because I am fairly serious when I say what I have seen is a young man with pro talent. Seems pro scouts may feel the same way even last year. But he can’t stiff the rotation…..what is the missing information.
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Wow! No mention of Solo Ball in this as if he's not even on the team. He is going to surprise alot of us I think.
 
husky429 said:
I'm going to go ahead and say folks are reading too much into Mahaney's performance today I couldn't make it, but the kid didn't average 14/3/3 on a top-25 team by accident.
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What about his performance last season when he got worse in almost every statistical category?
 
JustbrewitMan said:
Similar to how people here shouldn’t overreact to the Mahaney takes, I think the same applies to the posts about Diarra turnovers.

Yes he did have a stretch late in the practice where he was trying to squeeze ambitious passes through tight windows in the lane that didn’t work and resulted in turnovers. I viewed them as the types of things you try in a practice to see if they can work and if your players can handle the passes. Unfortunately, they didn’t and he had a string of turnovers.

They probably work on those situations more and if they just don’t work, he knows he can’t do it in a game.

At this point, Diarra has proven himself to be reliable and a good in-game decision maker. I trust him.

Also, there was a post a while back in this thread questioning Diarra’s 3pt shooting ability…

The guy shot 36% overall and 42% in conference last year. Got better as the season went on.

His 3pt shot looked silky yesterday and he made more than he missed.
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Do you have stats from yesterday??? I could be wrong as I was more focused on watching the newcomers, but I didn’t think Diarra shot well from 3. Don’t get me wrong, I love his game and he can hit an open three. I just think to get to the next level (1st or 2nd team Big East) he needs to be better at creating space for his outside shot.
 
Chief00 said:
Agree too early to tell, but Mountain West is Mountain West. Were you on the Selection Committee last March elevating MW teams?
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So Mahaney is the guy you'll be shading this season
 
JustbrewitMan said:
Similar to how people here shouldn’t overreact to the Mahaney takes, I think the same applies to the posts about Diarra turnovers.

Yes he did have a stretch late in the practice where he was trying to squeeze ambitious passes through tight windows in the lane that didn’t work and resulted in turnovers. I viewed them as the types of things you try in a practice to see if they can work and if your players can handle the passes. Unfortunately, they didn’t and he had a string of turnovers.

They probably work on those situations more and if they just don’t work, he knows he can’t do it in a game.

At this point, Diarra has proven himself to be reliable and a good in-game decision maker. I trust him.

Also, there was a post a while back in this thread questioning Diarra’s 3pt shooting ability…

The guy shot 36% overall and 42% in conference last year. Got better as the season went on.

His 3pt shot looked silky yesterday and he made more than he missed.
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Do you have stats from yesterday??? I could be wrong as I was more focused on watching the newcomers, but I didn’t think Diarra shot well from 3. Don’t get me wrong, I love his game and he can hit an open three. I just think to get to the next level (1st or 2nd team Big East) he needs to be better at creating space for his outside shot
ConnEd said:
The impressive part is the Edmund Saunders comp. Kudos, Mrs. GHSW!
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Interesting comp, first reaction was no, but skill wise, it may be a good comp. The difference to me is the motor, Abraham runs at higher octane than Edmund did.
 
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My BIGGEST takeaway, haven't seen it mentioned.

The first drill was split between Guards/Wings on one halfcourt practicing iso dribble drives to the hoop for layups.

The other side had Bigs (PF/C) working the pick and roll with the big scoring at the basket.

Stewart, Abraham, Ross, Samson, and Singare were the bigs.

It was noticeable that Karaban and McNeeley were with the guards/wings. I figured AK was there specifically cause the ball will be in his hands more and he'll be able to show the growth in his game and have the opportunity to face up and attack more from the top of the key.

The next drill still has Guards/Wings on one court and Bigs on the other. Except this time, Stewart/Ross joined the guards and wings. And Karaban switched over to the Bigs.

This tells me that Karaban, Stewart and Ross are the tweeners. And this makes sense given that Stewart backed up AK at the 4 last year but looks like he had the skillset to be swing.

The Big Takeaway is that Liam McNeeley never left the Guard/Wing group! And later in practice he was a ball handler for parts of the offensive sets.

People have speculated whether McNeeley or Stewart could play the the 2.

I think this means a big lineup is at least a possibility:

Diarra/Mahaney
Mcneeley
Stewart
Karaban
Samson/Reed
 
SaltyDog said:
Do you have stats from yesterday??? I could be wrong as I was more focused on watching the newcomers, but I didn’t think Diarra shot well from 3. Don’t get me wrong, I love his game and he can hit an open three. I just think to get to the next level (1st or 2nd team Big East) he needs to be better at creating space for his outside shot

Interesting comp, first reaction was no, but skill wise, it may be a good comp. The difference to me is the motor, Abraham runs at higher octane than Edmund did.
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Abraham has crazy bounce and while skipping during warmups, he had serious hang time. He is not built like a freshman either and his shot looked a lot better than I expected. He will have a great career.

IMG_0336.jpeg


for whatever it’s worth, Alex showed a lot more bounce than last year and J Stew went to the locker room a bunch of times, so I would guess something was wrong, but ended the practice with three 3-pointers in a short span. Aidan has a nifty finishing package and the coaches really seem to be pushing Solo to push the ball and utilize his speed while attacking. I think they need it with Alex and Liam on the court together. i suspect that Solo will be a real X-factor this year. Watching Alex curl off of screens is a thing of beauty and he seemed to be coaching the newcomers on how to run the offense.
 
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UofCT said:
What about his performance last season when he got worse in almost every statistical category?
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I'm not sure if you're making a bad faith argument or were too lazy to look at actual statistics. You should know by now that I'm not too lazy to look it up. Whatever the reason, you're just not correct.

PTS: 13.9 --> 13.9 = SAME
REB: 2.1 --2.6 = UP
AST: 2.0 --> 2.6 = UP

TO: 1.5 --> 1.4 = SAME
STL: 0.9 --> 0.8 = SAME
BLK: 0.1 --> 0.2 = SAME

2FG: 45% --> 42% (6.8 --> 5.9 attempts) = DOWN on lower volume
3FG: 40% --> 36% (6.9 --> 8.3 attempts) = DOWN on higher volume
FT: 72% --> 81% (2.0 --> 1.9 attempts) = UP on same volume

"Every statistical category" boils down to shooting, which is likely explained by being more of a focal point of the defense and team leader as a sophomore.

I wouldn't say that Aidan was a statistically better player as a sophomore... he was about equal, I guess. I haven't watched enough to really be sure. Which I'm sure factored into his decision to come to the best developmental program in the country. I can't imagine a world in which our staff prioritized him as our guard transfer if he didn't show improvement and have the mental make-up to be a part of our team. At the end of the day, Aidan is really, really good at the single most important skill in the game (shooting), and clearly showed enough to impress our staff that he can be a leader on our team.

We can look at some advanced stats too, since I have the time:

TS%: 53% --> 51%
PER: 16.3 --> 14.6
ORTG: 110 --> 113
DTRG: 99 --> 99
Win Shares: 4.0 --> 4.4
BPM: 4.1 --> 3.1
TRB%: 4.4 --> 4.8
AST%: 14.3 --> 14.4
BLK%: 0.2 --> 0.4
STL%: 1.8 --> 1.5
USG%: 25.7 --> 23.6

So, I guess... again... I see a player who stepped into a bigger role and basically kept his overall production without a substantial improvement. Really all of these except maybe ORTG, PER, and USG% are essentially a wash.

I'd love to hear @AidanFan20 's take on Mahaney's freshman to sophomore year improvement, or lack therof. He's probably watched more film than the rest of us combined.
 
DRBackup said:
LOL!! Announced attendance was 3000, St. Mary's plays in a place that holds 3500. Maybe pump the brakes on the hot takes.
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You can go hot pump whatever you want, the kid as a freshman averaged 13ppg and 40% from beyond the arc, against teams like Gonzaga, Oregon State, Washington State, BYU, Utah, New Mexico, and San Diego. Against Gonzaga alone he averaged 19.5ppg over three games on the season.:rolleyes:
 
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