Point Guard Situaton

[Rocktheworld]

I'm rooting for Aiden too, but at this point I don't see him as a starter next season. If he puts in some work over the summer, he can be a valuable bench piece for us. And we would still need a big PG from the portal.

Completely agree. Don’t foresee him being our lead guard next season, and we need a big PG with experience. But a competent 2, with 10-15 more pounds and 6 months of weights? Maybe, I think

 

[Mike Honcho]

Completely agree. Don’t foresee him being our lead guard next season, and we need a big PG with experience. But a competent 2, with 10-15 more pounds and 6 months of weights? Maybe, I think

Some body types put on weight easier than others. IMO it's unreasonable to think Aidan could just put on 10-15 pounds of muscle. That's not his body type, just like it isn't Samsons. Short of anabolic steroids, he is who he is, which is a slender 6'3 guy with limited athleticism. Cam weighs 20# more.

Let me ask a related question -- what UConn Husky has dramatically changed their physique in a single offseason? Maybe Kentan Facey?

 

[lateralous]

I don’t see Mahaney staying. Makes no sense. Someone in a mid major conference will offer him a better NIL deal and honestly it would be better for him to move on. He is not going to end his career on the bench playing 10 minutes a game.

I could see him going back to St. Marys

 

[PAHusky]

Mahaney, I know he’s struggled and been tentative & we’re going to hear he’ll get swallowed up. But the guy definitely has skills and I’m not buying that he can’t take minute away from a hobbled Diarra, especially with McNeeley there. He’s good at changing speeds off the dribble and he’s got a decent handle and can knock down jump shots, but he lacks confidence now. And i thnk his defense has gotten better lately. Yes, he was tentative yesterday but I think he needs more than 3 or 4 minute stints to try to work through it.

Look, Diarra’s been great this year before the last couple gant but he’s killing them with his play and turnovers now. Hurley bragged that he trusts the hobbled Diarra but I think that’s also a bad evaluation. Stop playing him 35 minutes/game and get him some rest to heal up. I don’t want to go into March with Diarra not at full strength.

No. Just no. Mahaney is not a pg naturally and he’s definitely not a BE starting level pg. He will not magically become one next year.

I haven’t 100% given up on him but if he contributes anything significant at UConn I would imagine it’s in the Joey C microwave scorer off the bench role.

 

[jibsey]

Not having a point guard, backup(essentially) or bench point limits severely UConn’s ability to win now. How many losses will we have?

 

[Glastonhusky]

Some body types put on weight easier than others. IMO it's unreasonable to think Aidan could just put on 10-15 pounds of muscle. That's not his body type, just like it isn't Samsons. Short of anabolic steroids, he is who he is, which is a slender 6'3 guy with limited athleticism. Cam weighs 20# more.

Let me ask a related question -- what UConn Husky has dramatically changed their physique in a single offseason? Maybe Kentan Facey?

Hilton

 

[Hoophound]

Not having a point guard, backup(essentially) or bench point limits severely UConn’s ability to win now. How many losses will we have?

I am always beating this drum. We are traditionally a 2 pg school. Hurley has changed that but he’s always had competent secondary ball handlers. Guys like Jackson Jr, Hawkins, Spencer etc were there to help Newton in a pinch. Newton was a bit of a confusing figure. He wasn’t a pure pg, but he was competent and he also had the ability to make deep clutch 3’s and get to the rim. He wasn’t a traditional pg but he was capable, big and he could score. He was a great player, but not a common one. You don’t just bring in another Newton. He’s atypical.

What we are seeing now is a typical team. Hassan isn’t a star, but he’s good and beyond him, our only pg is Nowell. He hasn’t gotten the minutes needed to become competent at this level. Going forward, I want to see us having 2 legit PGs on the roster and slashers on the wings that can help out in the backcourt when needed. That’s just the reliable makeup of a good college team. This team just doesn’t have it. I don’t expect that Dan, a solid pg himself, will put himself in this position again.

 

[Mooch82]

How do you go into the season with Hass and a Freshman for point options. HOW?

We obviously thought Aidan was a PG too. Love the staff but that was a major misevaluation that has been the ultimate downfall of this team imo.

 

[NJHusky]

We had 3 ball handlers on the floor at the same time last year, and Hass as a backup pg. This year we have a compromised Hass

 

[Slick]

It’s infuriating really. Maybe a steady backup PG woulda helped with the 20 TOs in back to back games. Maybe?? And What the heck is the deal with Nowell how is he always getting hurt when he doesn’t even play?!

We practice very hard. He must be getting hurt in practice

 

[ucp990411]

Liam and Nowell have missed lots of time/games in order to heal. Why can’t Hass miss a couple of games to rest up and get ready. Just because the injury doesn’t incapacitate you, doesn’t mean you should play through it.

Get ready for what? How do you think he will respond the playing on 3 or 4 consecutive days I the BE tournament?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Some body types put on weight easier than others. IMO it's unreasonable to think Aidan could just put on 10-15 pounds of muscle. That's not his body type, just like it isn't Samsons. Short of anabolic steroids, he is who he is, which is a slender 6'3 guy with limited athleticism. Cam weighs 20# more.

Let me ask a related question -- what UConn Husky has dramatically changed their physique in a single offseason? Maybe Kentan Facey?

I’m not talking 15 pounds of muscle, a 20 year old can get a fair bit stronger in 6 months and can eat a ton to put on weight to throw around. Dude definitely doesn’t need to re-comp his body

 

[Shabazzkets]

Arrogance

Hurley is arrogant but in this case I don’t think this is fair. The true answer is faith. He believed Hass would come back a much improved player, but he is the same guy. Same is true of Karaban. Thought he’d progress to a number 1 option but he just isn’t one.

 

[jibsey]

I believe Karaban could initiate his own offense and get to the line instead of all 3’s but that means he has to put the ball on the floor and that’s a weakness, but maybe he should.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Aidan wasn't a point guard at St. Mary's. SMH why anyone thought he'd magically become a PG here. He can handle the rock, shoot, drive, but he's not a floor general. The only Cam comparison that sticks is 2pt shooting - we just seem to not see Mahaney shoot from mid range yet.

Diarra is not Tristen Newton either. He doesn't have the height, build, or moxy and while we wanna love 'em like we love KEA, it is what it is: less decisive, less prolific scorer. Teams are not respecting his scoring and bringing in Maheney is now putting in an even less imposing player physically.

Let Ross bring the ball down with Solo...at least Ross has the height.

 

[Greathusky]

It's water under the bridge now but too bad Diggins or Floyd did not stick around.

 

[Gurleyman]

It's water under the bridge now but too bad Diggins or Floyd did not stick around.

Some combination of Newton, Diarra, Alleyne and Joey C doesn’t come if we didn’t clear some room.

 

[lateralous]

Get ready for what? How do you think he will respond the playing on 3 or 4 consecutive days I the BE tournament?

Geez, I hadn't even thought about that yet. This really is a tough situation, especially with Nowell's constant injury problems.

Hurley is arrogant but in this case I don’t think this is fair. The true answer is faith. He believed Hass would come back a much improved player, but he is the same guy. Same is true of Karaban. Thought he’d progress to a number 1 option but he just isn’t one.

Hass has come back a better player but he was never supposed to be the starting PG. I think he participated in senior day last year and there was a period of time after the championship where it was questionable he would come back because it sounded like Hurley had some difficult conversations with him. Then he was recruited over but the coaching staff mis-read the fit of a undersized transfer SG to be starting at point and it didn't work out. It will ultimately be this teams undoing

It's a shame because I think once AK gets his head on straight and settles back into a role similar to what he had the last two years as the third option on offense behind McNeeley and Ball, this team looks pretty good at the other positions. Not championship caliber, because there are still too many other problems, but certainly a top 10ish type team IMO

 

[NJHusky]

Were there any good PG in the transfer portal last year? Why didn’t we just get a good pg, instead of trying to change a Sg into a PG?

 

[BGesus4]

It's water under the bridge now but too bad Diggins or Floyd did not stick around.

If classic boneyard could be distilled into one perfect sentence

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Were there any good PG in the transfer portal last year? Why didn’t we just get a good pg, instead of trying to change a Sg into a PG?

I think Mahaney was originally recruited to play over Solo. Once Solo started killing it over the summer we tried using Mahaney at PG it seems.

Pretty much a wasted summer that could’ve went to developing our younger guys like Ball more and Nowell.

 

[giddyup]

they are playing pretty competitively against good teams. So, give them a break even though it’s heartbreaking seeing “what could have been” vaporize. I’m sure they know it more than us, and that is one of the psychological factors weighing heavily on this team. At this point screaming “championship level” at them is probably having the exact opposite effect it should. Rather than setting a standard of excellence, they hear you guys are blowing it.

 

[bendm]

Let me ask a related question -- what UConn Husky has dramatically changed their physique in a single offseason? Maybe Kentan Facey?

Armstrong

 

[uchusky32]

I think Mahaney was originally recruited to play over Solo. Once Solo started killing it over the summer we tried using Mahaney at PG it seems.

Pretty much a wasted summer that could’ve went to developing our younger guys like Ball more and Nowell.

Thant would mean the coaches let us compete this season with only Hass and a freshman pg?

 

[superjohn]

Even before Diarra's injury point guard was a problem. All we've had at the position this season is Hass and now he's beaten up.

The staff better have a plan for a large sized big time point guard in the portal because the point situation will be even more precarious next season. Luckily there's the portal and we're one of the best landing spots out there but it's still a bit surprising we're in this situation. Getting that player will be the difference between making us a national title contender or just another seriously flawed good team.