Point Guard Situaton

[imno1]

Let’s not forget that numerous top flight programs including Duke and UK wanted Mahaney as well. So this wasn’t some huge miss by our staff. I remind myself that he’s only had two years of lower level ball under his belt as opposed to a Cam who came here in year 5 after a year in big boy ball. And our staff was at least initially asking him to do more than what Cam was asked. His frame and athleticism, compared to a Newton… he may always have some degree of limitations unless he does nothing but work his ass off this postseason to become as heady a player as possible. It’s just not going to be a microwaved process like a lot of people here seemed to think it would. Would be interesting if Hurley ever shares his thoughts on how the PG position turned out this season

But that is only one of several issues with how the season has panned out. This was not guaranteed to be a great season for us. I’m glad I never got myself too heavily invested in this season

Was Timberlake a big miss for Kansas last season?

 

[Stinger92860]

Let’s not forget that numerous top flight programs including Duke and UK wanted Mahaney as well. So this wasn’t some huge miss by our staff.

I agree with all that you wrote. AM would have been a miss for all of the schools you listed, but he is on our roster. DH had to take him out yesterday and keep him on the bench. He crossed half court yesterday and froze. He has been doing that all year. He was never a point guard at this level of competitiIon. Add in St Johns Defense (#4) and he is not able to compete at the level we require. Gotta give Hass credit for gutting out the minutes but he needs 2 weeks down time to get healthy.

 

[mauconnfan]

Was Timberlake a big miss for Kansas last season?

I know he was a huge “miss” for us

 

[mauconnfan]

I agree with all that you wrote. AM would have been a miss for all of the schools you listed, but he is on our roster. DH had to take him out yesterday and keep him on the bench. He crossed half court yesterday and froze. He has been doing that all year. He was never a point guard at this level of competitiIon. Add in St Johns Defense (#4) and he is not able to compete at the level we require. Gotta give Hass credit for gutting out the minutes but he needs 2 weeks down time to get healthy.

Agree on Mahaney I mean I know he’s a good player but he’s not a PG in this league it would seem so this is a tough one for the staff. Thing is Diarra has done a nice job but he’s not the answer against this kind of defense either. Just a rough year at that spot need a portal hit in a huge way!

 

[Dove]

Ultimately this game means nothing

It was a statement game by a really talented team. The 'skies were toyed with. It means something.

 

[AllHusky]

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.

 

[freescooter]

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.

And who plays the point? You have any eligibility left?

 

[Dove]

Arrogance

Post/Handle

 

[uconngb]

It cannot be salvaged at this point unless somehow Mahaney becomes Cam Spencer. All the chips were pushed in on AM becoming the second point guard but he’s just not it.

Whenever Nowell gets back, I hope he gets the lion’s share of the minutes because next year is going to be a similar slog if he’s not up to the job on day one. And have Solo carry a basketball with him everywhere he goes this summer.

I think there has to be a candid conversation w AM at the end of this year. “Son, we are not taking your scholarship away but we think you are best suited to play eisewhere”

 

[uconngb]

Was Timberlake a big miss for Kansas last season?

Relevance??

 

[mauconnfan]

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.

I think they are unfortunately bubbled if he sits a week or 2. Lucky to win 18-19 if he does. But he can’t play like last night no matter.

 

[Hunt for 7]

It was a statement game by a really talented team. The 'skies were toyed with. It means something.

Could not agree more. This is a game you have to win. Get your stud back a win puts you back into a higher seed and potential chance a BE regular season title. This was not just another game it was highly relative. And our cornerstone player AK had one of the worst games of his career at the worst possible time.

I personally went from high expectations for this team to now hoping we can win a game or two in the tourney. Both BE and NCAA.

Hurley just is not making enough in game adjustments. Team can’t shoot what do you do….play a freakin zone for a few possessions. It is not rocket science. We can’t even get the ball in bounds after a made basket how bad is that….and it is not one game we have not been able to get the ball in bounds most of the year.

This is something you can fix but we look to be getting worse at it.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think there has to be a candid conversation w AM at the end of this year. “Son, we are not taking your scholarship away but we think you are best suited to play eisewhere”

If he makes no sense in this years roster construction 2/3 of the way into the season, it should be pretty darned apparent he won’t next year. This is at a point where we are desperate for an effective option at the exact position we brought him in for. The talk of making lemonade here is foolish in today’s world. We tried it, it didn’t work, writing is on the wall. Learn and move on. Not sure it’s arrogance as much as it is over indexing.

You can whiff on HS recruits and recover, but a situation like this makes you realize how critical it is to get your portal recruits right.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Is next year the year the scholarships increase or is that not definite yet?

 

[navery12]

Is next year the year the scholarships increase or is that not definite yet?

Not official yet, so as of now it's still 13 for next year

 

[Drame]

Probably not all that productive an input, but Pettiford at Auburn is killing it. Having a Bazz-like freshman year, and he’s too small to go pro very soon. That was Hurley’s option A at point guard - he’d definitely help this team

Pettiford is from Jersey City. Hurley knows him well and never recruited him. Dont think he s a Hurley type player in terms of working hard or mentality. He was ranked top 10 then dropped to the 20s. When I saw him a couple times he was goofing off non stop on the sidelines.

 

[CTBasketball]

It was a statement game by a really talented team. The 'skies were toyed with. It means something.

Far too often have we been punched in the mouth at home. Soft team.

 

[navery12]

Pettiford is from Jersey City. Hurley knows him well and never recruited him. Dont think he s a Hurley type player in terms of working hard or mentality. He was ranked top 10 then dropped to the 20s. When I saw him a couple times he was goofing off non stop on the sidelines.

Hurley recruited him. He visited UConn and mentioned us a bunch, but we ended up going with Nowell

 

[UCFan1513]

Pettiford is from Jersey City. Hurley knows him well and never recruited him. Dont think he s a Hurley type player in terms of working hard or mentality. He was ranked top 10 then dropped to the 20s. When I saw him a couple times he was goofing off non stop on the sidelines.

We offered and recruited him as option 1 until he went to Auburn, then we offered Nowell and pivoted. From his 2022 visit:

“I took an unofficial to UConn about a month ago. I just went up there to look around. My dad is really close with the coach, so I just went up there to look around. Just to look at the campus. I really like the school. The coaching staff, the players, and I met everybody. I spoke with the coaches, and they are recruiting me heavy. They are probably recruiting me the hardest of any school.”

 

[JungleLobo]

The fans on Husky BY are spoiled in year 3. They are weak on their points after tough losses.

 

[Hunt for 7]

We offered and recruited him as option 1 until he went to Auburn, then we offered Nowell and pivoted. From his 2022 visit:

“I took an unofficial to UConn about a month ago. I just went up there to look around. My dad is really close with the coach, so I just went up there to look around. Just to look at the campus. I really like the school. The coaching staff, the players, and I met everybody. I spoke with the coaches, and they are recruiting me heavy. They are probably recruiting me the hardest of any school.”

Money, money, money is the answer.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Is next year the year the scholarships increase or is that not definite yet?

Not sure it will help us more than the schools with huge NIL bankrolls.

 

[RuffRuff]

We offered and recruited him as option 1 until he went to Auburn, then we offered Nowell and pivoted. From his 2022 visit:

“I took an unofficial to UConn about a month ago. I just went up there to look around. My dad is really close with the coach, so I just went up there to look around. Just to look at the campus. I really like the school. The coaching staff, the players, and I met everybody. I spoke with the coaches, and they are recruiting me heavy. They are probably recruiting me the hardest of any school.”

Pettiford in a really good situation down at Auburn coming off the bench behind 5 seniors, getting his 22-23 minutes a game. He’ll start down there next year, see little chance he even thinks about moving off Auburn. If this is a woulda coulda hindsight, yeah maybe.

 

[Kowalski]

And who plays the point? You have any eligibility left?

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.

 

[REB1094]

No point beating the dead horse too much. Mahaney was a recruiting miss, but I think he has value as a bench piece once the internal pressure of starting-PG-turned-benchwarmer wears off

Can't fault the staff too much on it. 247 had him as the #22 transfer that summer and he was a 14 PPG starter on back to back tournament teams that was recruited by other good teams. It just is what it is

I bet our situation is much improved next year as a high impact transfer PG is a definite area of need. Nowell as PG2 and Mahaney as CG off the bench with Adams is pretty solid with Solo/Braylon starting

For this year, we need Diarra to get healthy and Mahaney to just play within himself and with confidence. If Nowell can contribute once he's back from injury, it's extra. This season rides on Solo and the forwards