Our bigs - a two headed monster

[uconnever]

I said this after like one game, and I do t care what anyone says, Reed looks to me like the best player on the team and one of the best bigs in the country, He just doesn’t know it yet. But when he finds out, there will be no stopping him. The staff I think knows this and are like me thinking holy this guy will soon be unstoppable once he figures it out.

 

[ctchamps]

Johnson is the better center to intimidate opposing guards when they easily get by our guards.
Reed is the better center when opposing guards easily get by our guards and miss their layups.

If experience does matter than there is an almost 2 to 1 ratio of minutes played in college prior to this season of Reed over Johnson.

In his three season prior to this one Johnson has played 68, 47 and 640 minutes for a total of 754. Those first two seasons did not give him any real game experience.

In Reeds two seasons prior he played 428 and 851 minutes for a total of 1280.

Samson has the advantage of the three prior years of being in the UConn program. But his achilles heel injury really did set him back.

Hurley from the beginning stated he was not concerned about the center position but the guard position. At least up to this point in time he was accurate in his concern.

 

[caw]

IMO the Zag's center, Ike, is going to pose some real problems for both Reed and Samson Johnson.

That being said re our Bigs, who is gonna guard Nembhard, Hass?

I have to imagine Hass is on Nembhard, Ball gets Hickman and McNeeley gets Battle to start. Which has Karaban on Ayaji.

They only really bring in Gregg, Huff and Stromer off the bench. All three produce.

Stromer is shooting lights out, on limited attempts (about 2.5 per). Gregg and Huff are very good off the bench down low. Overall they aren't deep but their three off the bench are legit starter material.

Samson/Reed will have their hands full with the Zags frontcourt and Alex will also between Ayaji and whoever between Huff/Gregg is at the four subbing for Ayaji (likely Huff, though I have seen Gregg and Ike in at the same time).

 

[husky429]

I said this after like one game, and I do t care what anyone says, Reed looks to me like the best player on the team and one of the best bigs in the country, He just doesn’t know it yet. But when he finds out, there will be no stopping him. The staff I think knows this and are like me thinking holy this guy will soon be unstoppable once he figures it out.

Alex Karaban looks (and is) the best player on the team. Let's not be silly

 

[dennismenace]

I think our center rotation is fine. Especially since it looked like Singare can come in and not lose the game for us if he has to play a few minutes it is five more fouls. Also he did wall up and impact a few shots at the rim and he boxed out well enough a few times and that kept his man away from getting the rebound and another Huskie grabbed the rebound.

He was out there for what 8 minutes to end the first half and I am not going as far to say he held his own but he was close to doing that and he did get called for a phantom screen foul. A guy trips over his own feet near a UConn player and the officials can’t blow the whistle quickly enough.

Who is the ref with the mole on his left temple, honestly whenever I see him I know we are in for a long day.

Thanks for this post. I think the more he gets used the better he will get. Remember who he has been practicing against the last 2+ years. The strategy against us will continue to be for opponents to attack the paint against our centers and get them in foul trouble. He's perfect for limited minutes and he will also be available for us next year. We need that extra edge. He manages to get rebounds and an occasional block even in the limited minutes he gets.

 

[7774]

If Singare can play too so we have 15 fouls, and if the opposing centers are < 60% free throw shooters, then a high foul rate is not a big deal.

If the opposing center shoots 100% on free throws, it's a problem.

It's always a problem because the other team will clearly be in the bonus in that scenario and the whole team will be shooting free throws.

 

[NJHusky]

I think the more important issue is who plays together. It’s obvious to me that Hass and Samson Johnson playing together helps both. Hass is able to feed the roller and lobs at the rim…and helps our motion offense. Mahaney is better playing with Reed, just feeding the post.

Mahaney playing with Samson Johnson isn’t a good combo imo

 

[Rocktheworld]

Samson has not been “pretty damn good” offensively. The lob game is either there for him or it isn’t. That’s why his FG% is so high.

Reed definitely shows tons of promise

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Samson has not been “pretty damn good” offensively. The lob game is either there for him or it isn’t. That’s why his FG% is so high.

Reed definitely shows tons of promise

I’m hoping we’ve turned a corner in getting Samson involved offensively. It looked far better against Texas than it has the rest of the year. It has definitely been more of a struggle against the teams that run auto-switching so it will be interesting to see how we look against that next time we see it.

 

[SubbaBub]

There are two of them, which means they each only need to average better than a foul every 5 minutes. It shouldn't be that difficult.

 

[boog204]

Honorable mention to Singare who did a decent job filling in for the the twice foul committed Samson and Taris on the bench in the 1st half. I was very encouraged, aside from his added penchant for fouling in the few minutes he was in the game. I hope Coach Dan continues to give him some meaningful minutes beyond garbage time at the end of a big win.

I don't. Look he did a decent job. Key word is decent. He looked totally raw and out of his element, committed four fouls in 8 minutes, and caught a rebound while flatfooted. Now we didn't regress when he was in, and that was good, but let's not make it sound like we should giving him minutes. There is a reason that he doesn't play. Seems like a great, great kid, but he's still a total project. The lasting memory of him scoring garbage points against third string A-10 players in a scrimmage and becoming a "secret weapon" is baffling to me.

 

[ctbro1999]

All I know is I'd like our bigs to continue to shoot 78% from the field.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Kid can't win with some people on here. Plays two great games and the commentary after Baylor was about a foul he committed on a missed rebound.

He does need to rebound more. 5.5 rbs/40 mins is comically low for a Center. Fouls suck, he isn’t super strong so he’s at a disadvantage, but establishing position and grabbing boards is very necessary.

 

[alphasigko]

Reed starting delays Samson Johnson from committing his 1st foul during the 1st 2 minutes of the game.

 

[cp176]

Alex Karaban looks (and is) the best player on the team. Let's not be silly

I cannot imagine this team moving forward without his leadership not to even mention his playing ability. Unless people here want to see the keys to the city turned over to a freshman still feeling his way, Alex Karaban gets annoited not only our best player but our leader as well.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He does need to rebound more. 5.5 rbs/40 mins is comically low for a Center. Fouls suck, he isn’t super strong so he’s at a disadvantage, but establishing position and grabbing boards is very necessary.

That can be true and this place can also be unbearable when the same three people rush to comment about a missed rebound after he was just instrumental in helping us get a desperately needed win. It shouldn't be impossible to maintain two thoughts at once.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

That can be true and this place can also be unbearable when the same three people rush to comment about a missed rebound after he was just instrumental in helping us get a desperately needed win. It shouldn't be impossible to maintain two thoughts at once.

He sure did play a huge part in us winning. I think the accumulation of missed rebounds is what frustrates, not necessarily just 1.

 

[uchusky32]

Our bigs...will set the record for most fouls from the center position this year?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I’m hoping we’ve turned a corner in getting Samson involved offensively. It looked far better against Texas than it has the rest of the year. It has definitely been more of a struggle against the teams that run auto-switching so it will be interesting to see how we look against that next time we see it.

If I remember correctly, Texas did a ton of auto-switching vs. us. I think we've studied some film and have started to counter this more effectively. Payoff starting to show in the Baylor and Texas games

 

[superjohn]

That can be true and this place can also be unbearable when the same three people rush to comment about a missed rebound after he was just instrumental in helping us get a desperately needed win. It shouldn't be impossible to maintain two thoughts at once.

We all know he stinks at rebounding and he fouls way too much but if people can't recognize he's been pretty damn good when he's on the court they are just focusing on the negative with him. Being the best lob threat in the country and one of the best shot blockers is a pretty good little package to have. If our guards are seeing him on the roll it's a guaranteed two points and he's taking away two points on the other end with his blocks.

Tarris isn't a lob threat and he still gets lost too much on defense but he's basically an automatic bucket when we feed him in the post and he gobbles up rebounds like crazy.

We know the negatives but the positives far outweigh them, center is again a strength for this team.

 

[husky429]

We all know he stinks at rebounding and he fouls way too much but if people can't recognize he's been pretty damn good when he's on the court they are just focusing on the negative with him. Being the best lob threat in the country and one of the best shot blockers is a pretty good little package to have. If our guards are seeing him on the roll it's a guaranteed two points and he's taking away two points on the other end with his blocks.

Tarris isn't a lob threat and he still gets lost too much on defense but he's basically an automatic bucket when we feed him in the post and he gobbles up rebounds like crazy.

We know the negatives but the positives far outweigh them, center is again a strength for this team.

If you could put the two together, you'd have the perfect player that fouls out in 10 minutes.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

He does need to rebound more. 5.5 rbs/40 mins is comically low for a Center. Fouls suck, he isn’t super strong so he’s at a disadvantage, but establishing position and grabbing boards is very necessary.

Look, it drives me crazy that he misses ~2-3 rebounds per game due to the combination of body type, bad positioning, and/or butterfingers.

However, you have to take the frustrating with the (very) good, and the guy is also averaging 2.6 assists & 6.4 stocks per 40. I'm not sure how that ranks with all other centers, but I did do a quick check of some of the top ones:

Dickinson - 3.1 & 4.4
Kalkbrenner - 1.6 & 4.4
Ballo - 3.5 & 4.1
Omoruyi - 1.7 & 3.2
Goldin - 1.3 % 3.7
Wolf - 4.2 & 4.6

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Look, it drives me crazy that he misses ~2-3 rebounds per game due to the combination of body type, bad positioning, and/or butterfingers.

However, you have to take the frustrating with the (very) good, and the guy is also averaging 2.6 assists & 6.4 stocks per 40. I'm not sure how that ranks with all other centers, but I did do a quick check of some of the top ones:

Dickinson - 3.1 & 4.4
Kalkbrenner - 1.6 & 4.4
Ballo - 3.5 & 4.1
Omoruyi - 1.7 & 3.2
Goldin - 1.3 % 3.7
Wolf - 4.2 & 4.6

I’m not a Samson hater, I love his game, he’s exciting and works his tail off. He just needs to stay on the floor. Half his fouls are really avoidable, like reaching in on a rebound that has already been gobbled by the opponent, or bringing arms down on a guy who is 6 inches shorter than him. Just knock 1-2 of those out a game and he is so much better for us.