Peach Jam Sunday 7/17

[husky429]

Stewart going balistic right now. 31 points total, but 20 in the last 8 minutes of the game so far... 2 minutes left.

 

[husky429]

Ended up with 33/6/1. 12/16 shooting. 3/6 from deep. Great game for Stewart

 

[bendm]

Another local shooter who isn't coming here...

yeah we shouldnt need to sugar coat it. everyone is happy w/ castle and ball but we missed on all of our other top targets from bowen to middleton and now it seems like we're scrambling.

to be clear a class of castle/ball/ross plus 2 more of stewart/carr/dilione would still be AWESOME but we wouldnt have waited to offer those last 3 guys until the summer of '22 if they weren't plans x, y, z.

i'm not being critical just making an observation. love hurley and the staff, especially when it comes to recruiting. sometimes the stars just dont align.

 

[HooperScooper]

yeah we shouldnt need to sugar coat it. everyone is happy w/ castle and ball but we missed on all of our other top targets from bowen to middleton and now it seems like we're scrambling.

to be clear a class of castle/ball/ross plus 2 more of stewart/carr/dilione would still be AWESOME but we wouldnt have waited to offer those last 3 guys until the summer of '22 if they weren't plans x, y, z.

i'm not being critical just making an observation. love hurley and the staff, especially when it comes to recruiting. sometimes the stars just dont align.

We don’t know if the staff “missed” on all those local kids. Seems we faded from their lists a long time ago so it just as easily could have been because the staff didn’t want them. They start with a huge list and then whittle it down during the spring and summer and then sometimes other kids emerge, like Ball. Only way we’ll know is if those local kids go on record and talk about UConn.

 

[husky429]

LiveStream - Nike EYBL

nikeeyb.com

Solo and Ross coming up on court 1.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Afternoon Peach Jam game for our Melo boys vs. Team United just tipped. Both teams are 0-2 so hoping for that first win for Ball/Ross.

 

[auror]

Ball is such a crazy athlete. He's got some moves too, and can finish at the basket. Hasn't learned to compose or balance himself or his feet after making the moves for jump shots though. Just had a good baseline pass on a drive after he got triple teamed.

 

[bendm]

We don’t know if the staff “missed” on all those local kids. Seems we faded from their lists a long time ago so it just as easily could have been because the staff didn’t want them. They start with a huge list and then whittle it down during the spring and summer and then sometimes other kids emerge, like Ball. Only way we’ll know is if those local kids go on record and talk about UConn.

you can call it whatever you want; missed, faded, sold to the highest bidder, etc. etc. etc. the fact is we were actively recruiting a bunch of top 50 wings/forwards/bigs and didn't land any, for whatever reason.

now we seem to be down to 3 or 4 guys (dilione, stewart, carr, singare) that were all offered the summer before their senior years which is relatively late in the recruiting cycle. to an outsider that seems like a scramble as opposed to how staff planned it.

whether we fill out '23 with these remaining guys or with transfers next summer or a combination of both, i'll be excited and optimistic. but i think it's fair to say this class isn't coming together as nicely as hoped or as nicely as they have the last couple of years. and if it's not fair to say that then you can sue me for intentional infliction of emotional distress!

 

[husky429]

Ball is such a crazy athlete. He's got some moves too, and can finish at the basket. Hasn't learned to compose or balance himself or his feet after making the moves for jump shots though. Just had a good baseline pass on a drive after he got triple teamed.

His kickouts on drives are great. Has at least 4 or 5 a game that his teammates are bricking.

And yeah, he scissors his feet and sways on his jumper. He's shooting on the way down instead of at the apex of his shot. His upper body looks pretty clean though so it isn't a total rebuild with the coaching staff like Andre was.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Halftime:

• Both Ross and Ball scoreless through the first quarter until the final seconds when Ball picked up a lose ball (probably gets credited with a steal) and took it straight to the hoop while Euro stepping through contact to get the bucket. Thought it was either going to be a travel or a turnover/brick as he took the shot, so credit to him.
• Ross had an unfortunate series of bricking a wide open 3, getting a defensive rebound on the other end, and then turning the ball over pushing up the ball on the fast break
• Ross than bricked another 3 after what might have been a set play off an out-of-bounds play...feet weren't set. 3s haven't been falling for him but I like his stroke -- I think with the right coaching he'll be able to figure it out enough to keep teams honest.
• Really enjoy how Ball glides to the hoop. Not as smooth as Bouk but think lefty Jalen Adams but with almost the power of Rodney Purvis (but not quite). He's been at his best today when attacking the hoop off the dribble -- if he gets an open lane going left he's hard to stop.
• Ross lets a fast break pass go off his fingers -- not a good game for him today at all.
• 36-30 Team United at half, it was mostly tied up until the last few minutes. Ross scoreless, Ball with 6 on 3-7 shooting + 3 assists.

 

[husky429]

Solo

• Ended up with 15/4/5… 4/12 from the field, 0/2 from 3, 7/8 from the line. 4/4 from the line at the end of the game to help clinch in. Great to see.
• Love his corner kick ability… he looks for Ross every time there.
• He’ll see time year 1 because of his defense… B Adams role.
• Great communicator when he’s locked in. Acting like a middle linebacker on defense
• 1v1 he is practically unstoppable going to his left… that’s GOOD. Great players have one unbeatable move and make coaches double them (Sanogo going to his jump hook, Vital and his pull up 3)... then you build a skillset around that. Force the double-team and learn to kick out, learn a spin to go to your other hand, whatever… When you don’t have a go-to move, you never end up being very good.
• Nearly had a monstrous poster, but he was fouled… and the ref didn’t call it.
• Teammates miss him SO much on cuts and potential closeout attacks.
• Solo needs a PG–he plays more like a 3 than a 2. He will be really successful with someone who can find him in his spots.
• Terrific passing this game. Seems to be focusing on it more knowing that his shot isn’t feeling it.
• Seems to hit FTs around 70-80%. Not bad, but not great.
• Boxes out well when locked in
• SO cold this game but he got board, rebounded and passed which was good to see
• Made 2 clutch FTs to help put the game away. Great to see. (we won’t talk about the turnover the next play lol)
• FT form is much better than 3 point form. He actually squares his feet and looks comfortable.. The big hip sway and wonky feet on his 3 is a problem, but a fixable one.

Ross

• Ended up with 2/2/1… 1/5 from the field. 0/3 from deep.
• Swings on the perimeter pretty comfortably… knows when to make the extra pass intuitively.
• Open court TOs are ugly… seen a few now. He won’t have a role handling the ball much here.
• His pass fakes and shot fakes need work… but he’s using them which is a good sign.
• Bad game for him… poor defense and TOs in the first half. Bad shooting in the second. Yuck.
• Basically unplayable this game at times. Finished well… inbounded the ball decently, made a dunk, and didn’t turn it over.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Halftime:

• Both Ross and Ball scoreless through the first quarter until the final seconds when Ball picked up a lose ball (probably gets credited with a steal) and took it straight to the hoop while Euro stepping through contact to get the bucket. Thought it was either going to be a travel or a turnover/brick as he took the shot, so credit to him.
• Ross had an unfortunate series of bricking a wide open 3, getting a defensive rebound on the other end, and then turning the ball over pushing up the ball on the fast break
• Ross than bricked another 3 after what might have been a set play off an out-of-bounds play...feet weren't set. 3s haven't been falling for him but I like his stroke -- I think with the right coaching he'll be able to figure it out enough to keep teams honest.
• Really enjoy how Ball glides to the hoop. Not as smooth as Bouk but think lefty Jalen Adams but with almost the power of Rodney Purvis (but not quite). He's been at his best today when attacking the hoop off the dribble -- if he gets an open lane going left he's hard to stop.
• Ross lets a fast break pass go off his fingers -- not a good game for him today at all.
• 36-30 Team United at half, it was mostly tied up until the last few minutes. Ross scoreless, Ball with 6 on 3-7 shooting + 3 assists.

• Turnover by Ross after dribbling into traffic under the hoop -- difference in the two guys today is Ball is letting the game come to him and Ross is really forcing it.
• Ball attacking the rim again along the baseline -- drew a hard foul and made both FTs
• Another basket at the hoop for Ball picking up a blocked shot (not his) and going right up
• And Ross forces a shot up again mid-range...
• Ball not afraid of contact -- like this from him. Definitely need more guys drawing FTs as I feel this has been a weakness of the team the past few years
• Ross misses another 3, good shot selection for a change at least. Again, I think the shot is definitely salvageable.
• Ball and Ross had a nice give-and-go in transition but of course Ball bricks the layup, sigh
• Ross finally gets his first basket with just under a minute left with a dunk off of a deflection off a really bad Ball pass. Go figure.
• Final Score: Team Melo 67, Team United 60. Strong second half by Melo for the W despite Ball playing OK and Ross playing terrible.
• Ball: 15 pts, 5 ast, 4, reb | 4-12 FG, 0-2 3P, 6-7 FT. Don't really get excited about the 5 assists -- it was more so from ball movement rather than him organizing an offense. Of course, not going to discourage assists ever obviously, but don't read into it that he's a capable PG. He really isn't -- same thing I would say about Ross who also got 5 assists yesterday. But hey, good to get your teammates involved and impact the game beyond scoring always especially when shots aren't falling. Most of his damage done at the line.
• Ross: 2 pts, 1 ast, 2 reb | 1-5 FG, 0-3 3P, 0-0 FT. Just an all-around pretend it didn't happen game...

 

[Mooch82]

I'm probably going to get crushed for this and I know I'll get "trust the staff", etc....but I haven't read too many glowing reviews on Ross and he feels more like a guy you take late rather than super early like we did. My assumption is that we see him as the type of guy who is going to blow up and we wanted to get him early before he did...but this summer is usually when guys start to "blow up"...and it definitely doesn't seem like that is happening here.

 

[bendm]

I'm probably going to get crushed for this and I know I'll get "trust the staff", etc....but I haven't read too many glowing reviews on Ross and he feels more like a guy you take late rather than super early like we did. My assumption is that we see him as the type of guy who is going to blow up and we wanted to get him early before he did...but this summer is usually when guys start to "blow up"...and it definitely doesn't seem like that is happening here.

i dont think you should get crushed but i also dont think that's how staff was viewing ross. i think he's a developmental guy like springs that they hope will contribute as an upperclassmen.

i think stewart is the kinda guy you are describing that staff is hoping to take before he blows up his senior year.

as to why they didnt wait on ross idk but it probably is because we still have 2 schollys open for '23 and he fits well in terms of roster construction.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I'm probably going to get crushed for this and I know I'll get "trust the staff", etc....but I haven't read too many glowing reviews on Ross and he feels more like a guy you take late rather than super early like we did. My assumption is that we see him as the type of guy who is going to blow up and we wanted to get him early before he did...but this summer is usually when guys start to "blow up"...and it definitely doesn't seem like that is happening here.

trust the staff

 

[Jbirdp5]

Another local shooter who isn't coming here...

I get the shooting aspect you bring up but do we really care if the kids are local or not? We want the best basketball team we can field the fact that the kid is from the region I don’t think is something the staff or us should really care as much about, or do you think it is important?

 

[Mooch82]

i dont think you should get crushed but i also dont think that's how staff was viewing ross. i think he's a developmental guy like springs that they hope will contribute as an upperclassmen.

i think stewart is the kinda guy you are describing that staff is hoping to take before he blows up his senior year.

as to why they didnt wait on ross idk but it probably is because we still have 2 schollys open for '23 and he fits well in terms of roster construction.

Sure, but we took Springs 2 weeks before he enrolled. Again, the timing just seems weird to take that type of kid.

 

[bendm]

do we really care if the kids are local or not?

only in so far as the vast majority of guys hurley and staff have landed came the north atlantic and local schools usually have an advantage in recruiting e.g. clingan. dont we hope to have our pick of the best players from new england and the tri-state?

 

[navery12]

We don’t know if the staff “missed” on all those local kids. Seems we faded from their lists a long time ago so it just as easily could have been because the staff didn’t want them. They start with a huge list and then whittle it down during the spring and summer and then sometimes other kids emerge, like Ball. Only way we’ll know is if those local kids go on record and talk about UConn.

What you fail to realize is that the Boneyard actually chooses which recruits are the most important to get, so even though we got really good players to commit they're not the right ones

 

[REB1094]

I'm probably going to get crushed for this and I know I'll get "trust the staff", etc....but I haven't read too many glowing reviews on Ross and he feels more like a guy you take late rather than super early like we did. My assumption is that we see him as the type of guy who is going to blow up and we wanted to get him early before he did...but this summer is usually when guys start to "blow up"...and it definitely doesn't seem like that is happening here.

I was also a little confused on the “3 star but might turn into a 4” talk. He seems super raw, I see him as a 4 year development player and not someone that wants to go pro after 1-2 years like Castle.

 

[Jbirdp5]

only in so far as the vast majority of guys hurley and staff have landed came the north atlantic and local schools usually have an advantage in recruiting e.g. clingan. dont we hope to have our pick of the best players from new england and the tri-state?

Wasn’t the plan always to start local and then expand the recruiting footprint? Don’t we hope to identify talent and get our targets regardless of where they are from?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Wasn’t the plan always to start local and then expand the recruiting footprint? Don’t we hope to identify talent and get our targets regardless of where they are from?

Tbh I’m not sure when we’ve ever really targeted local guys. The only ones I can remember us recruiting hard was Andre Drummond and DC last year.

Even when Kris Dunn came out as the #1 PG in the country we didn’t recruit him hard. And tbh, if we did Drummond probably stays another year.

Unless by local you just meant NE and NY then nvm.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Borges wrote an article about Griffiths today. It didn’t seem worth its own thread, but it’s relevant enough here.

Why Simsbury’s Gavin Griffiths chose Rutgers over UConn men’s basketball, others: ‘Tough decision’

The 6-foot-7 shooter from Simsbury, Connecticut, chose Rutgers over the UConn men’s basketball team and other programs.

www.ctinsider.com

 

[Candyman]

you can call it whatever you want; missed, faded, sold to the highest bidder, etc. etc. etc. the fact is we were actively recruiting a bunch of top 50 wings/forwards/bigs and didn't land any, for whatever reason.

now we seem to be down to 3 or 4 guys (dilione, stewart, carr, singare) that were all offered the summer before their senior years which is relatively late in the recruiting cycle. to an outsider that seems like a scramble as opposed to how staff planned it.

whether we fill out '23 with these remaining guys or with transfers next summer or a combination of both, i'll be excited and optimistic. but i think it's fair to say this class isn't coming together as nicely as hoped or as nicely as they have the last couple of years. and if it's not fair to say that then you can sue me for intentional infliction of emotional distress!

So a top 5 recruiting class (and we are not done yet) is not coming together very nicely? The BY will never cease to amaze me. We been out on Bowen for a long long time and Middleton is not as exciting as you think. Jaylin Stewart has been a stud at Peach Jam and not many high majors are on him. The staff always prepares for everything including misses so its coming together exactly how recruiting goes.

"to be clear a class of castle/ball/ross plus 2 more of stewart/carr/dilione would still be AWESOME"
To be clear if we get 2 of those we have a top 2 class but yet you would still be mentioning how we missed on recruits. Also, we got what wanted a few years ago yet Diggins was not anything near what we thought.

 

[Nebraskan18]

For anyone interested today:

Solo Ball and Ross at 2pm ET
Jaylin Stewart at 8pm ET
Coen Carr at 8pm ET