Player development

[TeasenDonut]

Has really been our secret sauce since Hurley has been here. I don’t blame him for trusting that our players would take leaps this year. Some guys have shown improvement, but it appears that Ross and Stewart are the same players as last year. We really needed at least one of them to turn into a difference maker.

The rotation will be tight when McNeeley returns and transfers will need to be added in the offseason.

 

[jibsey]

Has really been our secret sauce since Hurley has been here. I don’t blame him for trusting that our players would take leaps this year. Some guys have shown improvement, but it appears that Ross and Stewart are the same players as last year. We really needed at least one of them to turn into a difference maker.

The rotation will be tight when McNeeley returns and transfers will need to be added in the offseason.

Based on our deficiencies this year and what is coming next year and also I anticipate transfers coming and current player or players leaving based on PT projections.

We need to find another Newton type player and our defense needs to be upgraded big time.
Our point guard is 5’11” Nowell? He would be a backup in the Diarra role going forward. The portal will be big.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

We are too big of a brand to worry about feelings. I’ve always respected that Dan Hurley is all about family and commitment to the current roster, even as far back as keeping Ollie’s players when he took over. But we could’ve had Koby Brea this year. And we lost him because of, hurting someone’s feelings?

 

[REB1094]

My take on each player's development vs. expectations

Diarra - Positive. Was expected to be the same role as last year (spark plug 6th man), forced into primary playmaker. Has been doing pretty well there, wish his 3P% was higher but I can't blame him for not being great at a role that is 2 levels above what it should have been
Solo - Neutral/Positive. Three point shooting is EXTREMELY above expectations. Defense is EXTREMELY below expectations. The rest of his offensive game is coming along recently so I'll say neutral/positive instead of just neutral
Karaban - Neutral. Was expected to take over and become the main guy, but looks pretty similar to last year just with higher usage. In a major mental slump right now. Saying Neutral here instead of Negative because in hindsight, our expectations were probably too high and he is still one of our best players
Samson - Mixed feelings/Negative. Not his fault that he is in the shadows of Sanogo/Clingan, but that's just where he is. When he's on, he looks great (Xavier/Butler/Texas/Baylor). When he's off, he is barely playable
Stewart - Negative. High highs, low lows, and not much in between. I didn't expect him to be a draft pick after this year like some, but I did expect better than inconsistent 5 PPG
Ross - Negative. Not going to beat a dead horse but Jayden definitely needs 1 more year before I'm comfortable putting him in the game. The potential is there, just need to fix the fundamentals
Singare - Positive. 3rd string C again so there were no expectations, but he's held his own when forced in there

 

[UCan3]

I have said this all season but Sigare deserves more minutes. He is a strong defensive presence and deterrent for opponents taking it to the rim. Why Dan doesn’t see this, I’m still not sure.

Stewart - just consistency - he can’t take plays off.

Karaban - Now that opposing players are not worried about NBA Lottery picks he is seeing defense like he’s never seen. I don’t want to pile on him - hope he continues to not only get better but be the “man” - trust him at end of games to lead the team.

Solo and Diarra agreed.

My take this season is it is BACK TO EARTH.

We beat many teams last year like we are getting beat this year.

The only thing that will solve this issue IMO is not individual but TEAM.

Drive together not “one on one” Team rebound. Communicate better on the defensive end and yes, the coaching need to make better adjustments. Right now they look a little lost out there at times with players not sure who they are guarding, missing switches and going to late in shot clock on offensive end.

Good news is it’s only January but I think we do need to be careful not to play ourselves into the NIT.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

My take on each player's development vs. expectations

Diarra - Positive. Was expected to be the same role as last year (spark plug 6th man), forced into primary playmaker. Has been doing pretty well there, wish his 3P% was higher but I can't blame him for not being great at a role that is 2 levels above what it should have been
Solo - Neutral/Positive. Three point shooting is EXTREMELY above expectations. Defense is EXTREMELY below expectations. The rest of his offensive game is coming along recently so I'll say neutral/positive instead of just neutral
Karaban - Neutral. Was expected to take over and become the main guy, but looks pretty similar to last year just with higher usage. In a major mental slump right now. Saying Neutral here instead of Negative because in hindsight, our expectations were probably too high and he is still one of our best players
Samson - Mixed feelings/Negative. Not his fault that he is in the shadows of Sanogo/Clingan, but that's just where he is. When he's on, he looks great (Xavier/Butler/Texas/Baylor). When he's off, he is barely playable
Stewart - Negative. High highs, low lows, and not much in between. I didn't expect him to be a draft pick after this year like some, but I did expect better than inconsistent 5 PPG
Ross - Negative. Not going to beat a dead horse but Jayden definitely needs 1 more year before I'm comfortable putting him in the game. The potential is there, just need to fix the fundamentals
Singare - Positive. 3rd string C again so there were no expectations, but he's held his own when forced in there

Lately I would mark Samson a positive. His issue was always foul trouble and he’s cleaned that up lately. Much better on the offensive end.

Karaban, numbers wise, you’re probably right in saying neutral. Just feels like a negative when he ghosts in important games.

 

[lateralous]

We are too big of a brand to worry about feelings. I’ve always respected that Dan Hurley is all about family and commitment to the current roster, even as far back as keeping Ollie’s players when he took over. But we could’ve had Koby Brea this year. And we lost him because of, hurting someone’s feelings?

Brea had 3 points and 0 assists yesterday in a loss to Vandy.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Has really been our secret sauce since Hurley has been here. I don’t blame him for trusting that our players would take leaps this year. Some guys have shown improvement, but it appears that Ross and Stewart are the same players as last year. We really needed at least one of them to turn into a difference maker.

The rotation will be tight when McNeeley returns and transfers will need to be added in the offseason.

Has it really been our secret sauce. Maybe the first chip with Sanogo and Hawkins. But Tristen was first year. DC was first year, AK was first year, Diarra who played sparingly was first year. Maybe I am missing a contributor.

But last year let’s be honest Steph, Cam and Tristen were the key pieces along with DC who had one year of major playing time under his belt. Players do not get better by just practicing. Everyone who has ever played sports knows how much more different being in a game is than being in practice. Your whole mind set is different your body feels different, game experience is development. Practice experience means nothing unless you can take it into the real game. Clearly our sophomores are not capable of doing that….the only one who has to some extent is Ball and guess what he had the most game experience of all the sophomores.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Brea had 3 points and 0 assists yesterday in a loss to Vandy.

Ok, he had a bad game, so what? He averages 11 a game and shoots like 45% from three.

 

[navery12]

We are too big of a brand to worry about feelings. I’ve always respected that Dan Hurley is all about family and commitment to the current roster, even as far back as keeping Ollie’s players when he took over. But we could’ve had Koby Brea this year. And we lost him because of, hurting someone’s feelings?

But would you have traded Solo Ball for Koby Brea? I wouldn't have done it in the spring and certainly wouldn't do it in hindsight now?

 

[UConnTrumbull]

But would you have traded Solo Ball for Koby Brea? I wouldn't have done it in the spring and certainly wouldn't do it in hindsight now?

I don’t want to name names because they’re kids after all. But I don’t think it would’ve been solo to go if we got Brea.

 

[navery12]

I don’t want to name names because they’re kids after all. But I don’t think it would’ve been solo to go if we got Brea.

You're entitled to your opinion, but that was not the staff's opinion when they decided to not take Koby Brea

 

[superjohn]

But would you have traded Solo Ball for Koby Brea? I wouldn't have done it in the spring and certainly wouldn't do it in hindsight now?

No way in hell, I'm super high on Solo. He's basically been our offense without McNeeley. I'm already salivating over Solo and Braylon starting together next season but it's essential we bring in a stud big sized portal point guard to start with them.

 

[navery12]

No way in hell, I'm super high on Solo. He's basically been our offense without McNeeley. I'm already salivating over Solo and Braylon starting together next season but it's essential we bring in a stud big sized point guard to start with them.

Agreed completely. And I feel like that has to be obvious to the staff too. I also have a hard time imagining Solo (and also Stewart) see this bad on defense next year. I know Clingan did a lot to hide guys getting beat, but neither one of them looked this bad last year on defense

 

[LIuconn]

In this day and age if you’re not showing signs as a freshman it’s likely not gonna happen for a player. Sophomore class outside Solo looks like a big whiff.
Gotta go get some dudes in the portal

 

[lateralous]

Ok, he had a bad game, so what? He averages 11 a game and shoots like 45% from three.

I don’t think adding a guy who just stands out at the perimeter and launches threes addresses our problems.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

If Solo keeps getting better (as a creator, as a shooter) and his defense get incrementally better (to the point where he is not a liability) he can test the NBA without an agent like AK did. There's a lot more season, and he has the potential to get even better.

For portal if nothing changes (e.g., Solo stays, no one else goes into the portal) we would only get 1 in. We are at 13 now, -3 for exits, +4 for frosh = 14. Hurley doesn't like to use 15 schollys.

 

[AllHusky]

I don’t think adding a guy who just stands out at the perimeter and launches threes addresses our problems.

I watched him a couple of times, didn't see just that. I'd trade him for Aidan in a NY minute. And I like Aidan. He has some potential as a defender, although he might be more of the same in terms of staying in front of his man, but he looked like he had potential to be a plus defender.

Aidan looked Point guard"ish" last night. Bigger problem is that whichever guard is trying to initiate the offense has to spend too much time dribbling before we get moving towards a shot.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Three out of the five starting spots are coming in next year. Just need to figure out the other two

 

[Drame]

In this day and age if you’re not showing signs as a freshman it’s likely not gonna happen for a player. Sophomore class outside Solo looks like a big whiff.
Gotta go get some dudes in the portal

This is completely wrong. Players develop at different rates and most guys starting across D1 are upperclassmen. Our sophomores are just starting. Whaley, Deandre Daniels, Giffey, Armstrong and loads more all took years to get where they ended up.

 

[Scottobot]

My take on each player's development vs. expectations

Diarra - Positive. Was expected to be the same role as last year (spark plug 6th man), forced into primary playmaker. Has been doing pretty well there, wish his 3P% was higher but I can't blame him for not being great at a role that is 2 levels above what it should have been
Solo - Neutral/Positive. Three point shooting is EXTREMELY above expectations. Defense is EXTREMELY below expectations. The rest of his offensive game is coming along recently so I'll say neutral/positive instead of just neutral
Karaban - Neutral. Was expected to take over and become the main guy, but looks pretty similar to last year just with higher usage. In a major mental slump right now. Saying Neutral here instead of Negative because in hindsight, our expectations were probably too high and he is still one of our best players
Samson - Mixed feelings/Negative. Not his fault that he is in the shadows of Sanogo/Clingan, but that's just where he is. When he's on, he looks great (Xavier/Butler/Texas/Baylor). When he's off, he is barely playable
Stewart - Negative. High highs, low lows, and not much in between. I didn't expect him to be a draft pick after this year like some, but I did expect better than inconsistent 5 PPG
Ross - Negative. Not going to beat a dead horse but Jayden definitely needs 1 more year before I'm comfortable putting him in the game. The potential is there, just need to fix the fundamentals
Singare - Positive. 3rd string C again so there were no expectations, but he's held his own when forced in there

Karaban is pretty good for a guy who was not ranked in top 40 coming out of high school. He has been very solid this season. He is just not a 1st team all American that can carry the team … although he is carrying this team at times. Our expectations of him being one of the best players in the country were unrealistic.

Ball is way better than last year, and he got 11 rebounds last night! His defense is getting better, it’s just that he started as the worst player on defense on the country.

Samson is pretty good. He missed a whole season due to injury, which impacted his potential quite a bit. He just has too high center of gravity to play center and doesn’t shoot well enough to play the 4. Spending hours and hours every day all off season perfecting shooting is on the player.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Ok, he had a bad game, so what? He averages 11 a game and shoots like 45% from three.

Since KY has hit the meat of their schedule in December, he’s only shot 22/63 (35%) and that includes a 7/9 effort against FL that appears to be an anomaly vs. what he’s brought vs tough comp so far. Take that away and he’s a pretty bad 15/54 (28%).

He’s not the “big miss” that you’re playing him up to be…

 

[upstater]

Ross and Stewart look like busts. Stewart has had a few flashes. Neither one shoots well, handles the ball well, and Stewart looks pretty slow.

Stewart was dynamic last year, arguably one of the most athletic guys we had, anything but slow.

He has quick twitch abilities that are obvious when he's playing well. He can rise faster than anyone but Samson.

He's very tentative this year, second guessing, making silly fouls.

 

[FearThePups]

I have said this all season but Sigare deserves more minutes. He is a strong defensive presence and deterrent for opponents taking it to the rim. Why Dan doesn’t see this, I’m still not sure.

Stewart - just consistency - he can’t take plays off.

Karaban - Now that opposing players are not worried about NBA Lottery picks he is seeing defense like he’s never seen. I don’t want to pile on him - hope he continues to not only get better but be the “man” - trust him at end of games to lead the team.

Solo and Diarra agreed.

My take this season is it is BACK TO EARTH.

We beat many teams last year like we are getting beat this year.

The only thing that will solve this issue IMO is not individual but TEAM.

Drive together not “one on one” Team rebound. Communicate better on the defensive end and yes, the coaching need to make better adjustments. Right now they look a little lost out there at times with players not sure who they are guarding, missing switches and going to late in shot clock on offensive end.

Good news is it’s only January but I think we do need to be careful not to play ourselves into the NIT.

Bad news it’s January and have already lost 6 games.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I have said this all season but Sigare deserves more minutes. He is a strong defensive presence and deterrent for opponents taking it to the rim. Why Dan doesn’t see this, I’m still not sure.

Because to date it hasn’t been true. When Singare has been in, the staff has pretty much just asked him to wall up on defense and get some rebounds. He doesn’t really contest much because when he does, he has committed some pretty egregious fouls. That’s not a shot at him, he’s done exactly what he’s been asked to and what has been needed of him, which is competent defensive minutes in emergency situations. The idea that he’s some defensive stopper is just not supported by his play to date.