Player development

[Hunt for 7]

We did play fairly decently with two bigs in the game last night. I mean Tarris is kind of lost right now and Samson is offering more rim protection. Here I go again 3-2 zone with Taris and Samson on the box. Only thing is can Tarris go out and defend the corner three without fouling. I guess same for Johnson but he is getting better.

5 blocks his verticality is elite too bad he did not have an offense game other than dunking and a few low post moves he has developed.

Physically he has everything you need to play a stretch four except he does have the basketball skills. He may continue to develop after he leaves and I would honestly not be surprised if he keeps his explosiveness off the floor when he puts on another 15 lbs he might get a look at the NBA level.

He is clearly an explosive athlete. I still contend he gets up to his high point quicker than almost any other player in college at least anyone who is 6’9” or bigger.

 

[FearThePups]

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

Interesting you didn’t mention Liam. I suspect it’s because he came into the program already developed. All one had to see was film from him last year in high school to see he was already better than players we have been developing. Sometimes it’s not about needing to develop but getting players like Liam and Flagg. We should have been able to do a better recruiting job after the chip 2 years ago. It seems we may have done this with the haul of Mullins, Reibe and Darius Adams.

 

[Horatio]

Our “ Depth “ isn’t as good as it was the past 2 seasons. As a result, an injury to a starter was difficult. We have to be honest, we have guys that are 3-4 year college players that are in year one of real playing time. Solo, Stewart and Ross fall into that category. It’s natural development vs instant, portal development

 

[REB1094]

Interesting you didn’t mention Liam. I suspect it’s because he came into the program already developed. All one had to see was film from him last year in high school to see he was already better than players we have been developing. Sometimes it’s not about needing to develop but getting players like Liam and Flagg. We should have been able to do a better recruiting job after the chip 2 years ago. It seems we may have done this with the haul of Mullins, Reibe and Darius Adams.

I only looked at players who were here last season. If I included everyone then Liam would be at the top of the list with Extremely extraordinarily positive

 

[AntG168]

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

Solo is definitely starting next year. I’d assume Taris does as well

 

[uconn_jack]

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

Yeah, Brea is just a knee jerk grass is greener assumption. I think Mahaney has more upside I'd he can build on what we saw from him last night.

 

[UConniki]

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

It does if he’s making half of them. Especially at the end of one possession games. We’d probably have 3/4 more wins now easily.

 

[lateralous]

It does if he’s making half of them. Especially at the end of one possession games. We’d probably have 3/4 more wins now easily.

Great, so we swap in Brea’s 3 points and zero assists for Mahaney’s14 and 3 yesterday and get run out of the building.

If the point is that we made some miscalculations with the portal and the amount of internal development we could realistically expect from the returning players, I can’t really argue too much. I just dont think taking Kobe Brea over Mahaney or one of the sophomores that might have transferred out makes much of a difference on how the season has gone. Oddly enough, two of Stewart’s best games were the losses to Memphis and ‘Nova. As noted above, Brea doesn’t change yesterday’s loss and I don’t see that any portal addition was going to save us against Dayton.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

We did play fairly decently with two bigs in the game last night. I mean Tarris is kind of lost right now and Samson is offering more rim protection. Here I go again 3-2 zone with Taris and Samson on the box. Only thing is can Tarris go out and defend the corner three without fouling. I guess same for Johnson but he is getting better.

I’m pretty sure X extended their lead when we went to the two big look.

 

[Gurleyman]

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

These are his last 5 since a big day against Florida. He has 1 assist in those 5 games combined too - and never gets to the line. He lit it up against mid majors.

 

[UCan3]

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.

I would have to look up the stats. Frankly, he’s been in so little my reference admittedly is from several games ago. He grabbed some offensive rebounds which is somewhat new to us in the games I watched.

But let’s be honest we’re getting eaten up on the inside, the idea of mixing it up isn’t that far fetched.

I’d like to see him in a bit more.

 

[RuffRuff]

These are his last 5 since a big day against Florida. He has 1 assist in those 5 games combined too - and never gets to the line. He lit it up against mid majors.

View attachment 106538

Brea wasn’t the solve, at all. Would easily rather have a Solo with two more years.

And yes, he’s likely to be here two more years. All this NBA chatter is really premature. He’s a shortish SG with limited handle who’s only plus right now is 3pt shooting. He is a brutal, not just bad, defender. Show me his profile in the NBA. How is he any different than someone like Fletcher Loyer? He may be athletic on paper, but until we see him using it effectively, not much different. Show me an off-season of weights that allow him to take contact and go to the rim, and we can re-assess. Too many people here love to hype up NBA stock prematurely.

 

[uconngb]

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.

Good synopsis

 

[uconngb]

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

Yes and can’t worry about hurt feelings. Ross and Stewart have been given every opportunity. This is the new CBB landscape.

 

[uconngb]

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.

And that was in a completely different era. Can’t wait 3 years for guys to develop anymore, and you don’t have to.

 

[RuffRuff]

Good synopsis

Lost me at Singare. Seems like when a team isn’t playing as hoped, reaching to the far end of the bench is the solution.

 

[TribecaHusk]

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.

Our sophomores are role players at best on a contending team. Ball can shoot but is not great defensively. Stewart can defend but inconsistent (being generous) offensively. And Ross is just not good.

 

[Palatine]

Our sophomores are role players at best on a contending team. Ball can shoot but is not great defensively. Stewart can defend but inconsistent (being generous) offensively. And Ross is just not good

Ross is a much better defender than Stewart.

 

[aceboon]

UConn fans the only college sports fans in the country that has a segment of their fanbase that think their coach should be deploying a 3 man center rotation, just insane

 

[navery12]

I’m pretty sure X extended their lead when we went to the two big look.

It was 59-51 when Reed came in for the 2 big look and 61-57 when we went back to 1 big. But nothing we were running on offense looked good when it was happening, although it didn't look good any time before that either

 

[3rdbass]

Our sophomores are role players at best on a contending team. Ball can shoot but is not great defensively. Stewart can defend but inconsistent (being generous) offensively. And Ross is just not good.

When has he done this besides Villanova. He is an awful defensive player and getting abused inside.

 

[boog204]

Our sophomores are role players at best on a contending team. Ball can shoot but is not great defensively. Stewart can defend but inconsistent (being generous) offensively. And Ross is just not good.

Stewart has been horrendous defensively in every game except Nova. I believe it’s because he had the clear quickness advantage on Dixon.

Someone earlier said Stewart was “dynamic” last year. He averaged 2pts/gm and aside for a really nice three game stretch, was a deep bench guy who did next to nothing. Honestly cannot remember a guy who has been as overhyped based on actually playing and not doing all that much.

 

[uconngb]

Ross is a much better defender than Stewart.

That ain’t saying much

 

[TeasenDonut]

I think Ross will develop into a plus defender his junior and senior seasons, but it’s not nearly good enough for somebody who doesn’t bring much else to the table.

 

[Drame]

And that was in a completely different era. Can’t wait 3 years for guys to develop anymore, and you don’t have to.

Sanogo, Andre Jackson, Diarra. And look at the best team in our league. Saying we cant afford to develop our own players is one of the ________ things I've read on this board.