Open Practice Today

[RuffRuff]

Some recruits are late bloomers and/or just don't get as much exposure. Sometimes they play on a stacked team and don't get the touches to show what they can do. Lastly, many of the events where exposure is at its greatest they tend to favor the players who can handle and create their own shot, elite shot makers and the bigger and stronger bigs who dominate at the rim and/or step out and knock down Js and 3s.

Granted there seems to be a lot more opportunities to view players within their High School or Elite pre-college teams where coaches cans see recruits execute within some sort of offense and defensive schemes. I think coaches now have a little bit better idea what a player might be than it was a number of years ago.

Props to the staff that has been able to identify players like Abraham and Ross. My guess Abraham was one of those athletes that they noticed could shoot, good feel for the game but probably needed time to develop his handle and other parts his game. Ross was one that showed a lot of game, good shooter and very good handle (was a PG or CG that had huge growth spurt from what I've heard) but needed to fill out, get stronger and refine his game.

Every year you see some very talented players throughout the country that were not ranked very high and wondered where the heck they came from. The problem with the ranking system is that some players just don't get the exposure while others simply need more time to develop their game and body. Props to the programs that spot talented kids that others didn't.

I tend to think the point you touch on that is most accurate is that the system favors the on ball kids that can create their own shot and draw attention via offense. The Meleek Thomas’ of the world, the Jasper Johnson’s.

I watched some Abraham in HS and he was generally a team kid, took the open 3, played defense. He was not putting the ball on the floor and trying take his guy off the dribble with a lot of iso. There wasn’t a ton of wow factor in his on ball. That said there are some visible aspects of his game that you just can’t bypass when assessing: his ridiculous hops/athleticism, his size/strength and perfect shot mechanics. He also plays in a very controlled and efficient manner. It’s hard to teach these things, and this is as a freshman. I’d expect this kid to break out in a major way as a sophomore/junior.

 

[aburks41]

anybody have pics from the practice?

No pics or videos were allowed during the actual practice. They were running real plays and scout team defense for the game tomorrow so they did not allow anyone to film or take pics, otherwise you'd be kicked out.

Who was playing on the first and second units?

The usual starters + Ross would sub in and out for first unit.

 

[jibsey]

No pics or videos were allowed during the actual practice. They were running real plays and scout team defense for the game tomorrow so they did not allow anyone to film or take pics, otherwise you'd be kicked out.

The usual starters + Ross would sub in and out for first unit.

Ross looked good?

 

[HooperScooper]

Any word on how abraham’s cousin pat N prep year is going at Duke

I think he's been hurt. He's played 11 minutes in 1 game, a blowout over Wofford.

 

[DogMania]

I think he's been hurt. He's played 11 minutes in 1 game, a blowout over Wofford.

Yup, Ngongba played his first minutes the other day. I didn't see much of it and he didn't put up any significant stats.

I had always wondered if we recruited Abraham primarily hoping it would help land Ngongba. Based on how he looks they probably saw his potential as a solid multi-year talent. No matter the case, as others have pointed out, if he doesn't get many opportunities to contribute this season, he looks poised to be a rotation player next year.

He impresses me every time he's on the floor. Even though it seems every scholarship player looks ready to contribute but just not enough minutes to spread around, if anyone is not able to go due to injury, which I hope doesn't happen, the 3 at the end of the bench look solid enough to give the team some solid run if called upon. We've all noticed that the 5 on the floor at the end of the game are running the motion offense and looking for open teammates. This is extremely rare to see that for any program. This tells me that Abraham, Nowell and Singare are ready to plug in if needed, and well prepared to hit the court and execute at a high level next season.

Props to the staff for coaching them up and huge props to these 3 young players who are learning and working hard, knowing their best chance of competing for PT next season with the incoming highly touted 2025 Class is improving their game and learning what they need to do on both ends of the floor.

 

[aburks41]

Ross looked good?

In flashes, yes. Good defense, tons of energy. Can definitely see the rocket ship potential that Hurley kept talking about. However as a fan it's honestly hard to say who actually looked good just because of the stuff they were doing. The practice drills aren't fluid like in a game where you can get into a flow and it looks pretty. I'm not a basketball genius so it was a bit weird when I thought things looked fine but the coaches were losing their minds. They demand perfection for the entire practice. Otherwise you run stairs. And a lot of stairs were run lol.

 

[Mooch82]

Rich Kelly was at UConn last season too.

He shot 45% from three his last season at UMass. Good player.

I actually think we recruited him briefly when he was transferring from Quinnipiac. Not sure how serious the interest was, but remember his name being mentioned at one point.

 

[jibsey]

In flashes, yes. Good defense, tons of energy. Can definitely see the rocket ship potential that Hurley kept talking about. However as a fan it's honestly hard to say who actually looked good just because of the stuff they were doing. The practice drills aren't fluid like in a game where you can get into a flow and it looks pretty. I'm not a basketball genius so it was a bit weird when I thought things looked fine but the coaches were losing their minds. They demand perfection for the entire practice. Otherwise you run stairs. And a lot of stairs were run lol.

None of us are basketball geniuses though some profess it. I go by the eye test, unsophisticated as it is. It would have been great to try to understand what the coaches were going crazy over.
You can count on one thing though, and that is our coaching staff’s preparation is unparalleled. They do everything possible to put the team in position to win. It doesn’t always happen and I hope the fans get that.

 

[mauconnfan]

None of us are basketball geniuses though some profess it. I go by the eye test, unsophisticated as it is. It would have been great to try to understand what the coaches were going crazy over.
You can count on one thing though, and that is our coaching staff’s preparation is unparalleled. They do everything possible to put the team in position to win. It doesn’t always happen and I hope the fans get that.

We have to be careful with Ross. He looked so good against UNH but not so much first half vs LeMoyne looked to rush and force things. He bounced back nicely 2nd half though so the future is bright. Thinking Stewie will still show his potential at some point as well, we are in good shape!

 

[Son of Robert]

I tend to think the point you touch on that is most accurate is that the system favors the on ball kids that can create their own shot and draw attention via offense. The Meleek Thomas’ of the world, the Jasper Johnson’s.

I watched some Abraham in HS and he was generally a team kid, took the open 3, played defense. He was not putting the ball on the floor and trying take his guy off the dribble with a lot of iso. There wasn’t a ton of wow factor in his on ball. That said there are some visible aspects of his game that you just can’t bypass when assessing: his ridiculous hops/athleticism, his size/strength and perfect shot mechanics. He also plays in a very controlled and efficient manner. It’s hard to teach these things, and this is as a freshman. I’d expect this kid to break out in a major way as a sophomore/junior.

I remember @husky429 , posted some similar stuff last year after we signed him. He was playing for the PaulVl team and 429 was saying he didn't really even touch the ball that much but was doing everything else. So really when we signed him my thoughts were that he was an athletic and elite team player, and not a big scorer. And I guess to collaborate some, Hurley was quoted this year that Abraham was a much more polished offensive player than the staff first thought.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

I just realized I missed a Friday email that invited active UConn MBA students to today's open practice as well. Not that I could go anyways with work but that's neat. Hurley was a guest speaker for a leadership talk recently too. Cool to see his engagement with the MBA program.