Point Guard Situaton | Page 8 | The Boneyard

Point Guard Situaton

superjohn said:
Minutes between Tarris and Samson shouldn't be an even split. Tarris is clearly a significantly better player (has been from day 1) than Samson with significant untapped upside. He needs more minutes and we need to get him the ball to keep him engaged.
Expand ...
REB1094 said:
Karaban HAS to get out of this funk. Tarris HAS to be engaged every game. Stewart HAS to be more consistent. Broken record but not really a choice anymore
Expand ...
Badda Bing on both thoughts......;)
 
The 2 missing men on the team, Karaban and Ross, are going to have to become reliable scorers or this season will flame out. McNeeley had to try and take over on offense vs St Johns in the second half as no one else was interested. 8 games left. Win 5 somehow. We can not have disappearing acts from anyone. That means for a half or whole game. Shame on the rest of the team if Hassan has to play 30-35 minutes. On one leg.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Some mixed news. I'd expect we see a lot of Aiden and even Liam effectively as the facilitator with Stewart/Ross/Ball.

Expand ...

Just hoping “rest of season” for Hass means rest of REGULAR season & the expectation is for him to be full strength for the BE & NCAA tourney. But if that were the case, they would’ve probably said limited for the next 4 weeks.
 
CTFAN4LIFE said:
I'd rather go large: McNeeley, Ball, Stewie, Alex, and Tarris.
Expand ...
This is currently the best lineup we can put out there. Diarra can spell either Ball or McNelley for 5-8 minutes a game. McNeeley and Ball are going to have to play big minutes in every game. Ross plays a few and Samson plays as needed or whatever rotation with Reed, they both have gotten better with fouls, but there will be games. Eight man rotation. Samson most minutes, then Diarra or Ross with 8-10 minutes a game. Mahaney I don’t know I guess you can put him out there and if he does not look scared and gets a few buckets in certain games ok. But 20+ turnovers makes no difference we are just throwing the ball around now anyway.
 
Not that it does any good, but at work I was thinking if I could bring back any player who didn't go to the NBA or win a championship already, and I was thinking I wish there was a way to go and get Christian Vital and put him on with these guys.

Hate to see it end for Diarra like this. I've been on him some this season, but the kid gives everything to his teams and plays hard all the time. It has to be so hard, but he keeps going out there for his teammates.
 
.-.
Gotta run Nowell out there and let him play through some mistakes. It’s our only hope if Hass is limited rest of way. Have never understood the extreme short leash Hurley‘s had on him in The games he’s been healthy. He’s an unknown, we know what the other guys are. Tremendous HS pedigree and strong, play him!!!
 
Rocktheworld said:
Everyone (including us) wanted Timberlake last year.

At least we have another year that Aiden can develop into. I think from an athletic standpoint, there isn't much that Cam did that Aiden can’t do. All Cam has on Aiden is a little weight, which Aiden can put on. Again, Cam wasn’t asked to be our lead guard. I think we do need a more pure, big point guard from the portal with high D1 experience. With the sophomores coming back along with Tarris as a senior, with the freshmen coming in… it’s a great situation for a solid point guard to take the lead
Expand ...
I don’t know what Cam Spencer you watched last year, but it wasn’t how you painted it.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Because Ross was so good in the summer, surprising everyone (don't you all remember the reports from Rothstein about Ball in pre-season practices?). So Ball was supposed to be a backup, and Dan desperately tried to find a role for our star transfer. Going farther back I think Hurley probably expected Liam to be SG at times with Stewart at the 3. Ball breaking out really changed a lot.

Bazz as a backup is no different because you'd expect a recruit like Nowell to be better than Bazz as a freshman. I didn't expect Hassan to carry the team. Since when does the PG need to carry the team? I, and I think most of us, expected Karaban and McNeeley to carry the team. I expected Stewart to be our third best player (I still think he probably is).
Expand ...
Listen to Dan Hurley pre game presser. He said plan was for Hass to be 6th man and AM to be on the ball.
 
Kowalski said:
Just hoping “rest of season” for Hass means rest of REGULAR season & the expectation is for him to be full strength for the BE & NCAA tourney. But if that were the case, they would’ve probably said limited for the next 4 weeks.
Expand ...
It doesn't. Hurley said today that Diarra would ideally need 6-8 weeks of rest
 
.-.
Seems to me if he is healthy its time to put Nowell out there and see what he can do. I would prefer to watch Nowell making freshman mistakes than a junior picking up his dribble 25’ from the basket after barely getting it over the half court line in time. Watching Mahaney bringing up the ball is just so stressful. Because it always seems to end the same way.

It would be better to let Nowell occasionally blow past the defender and have him chasing by the time they get to half court. That would change so much about how the defense can set up to guard us in the half court.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Because Ross was so good in the summer, surprising everyone (don't you all remember the reports from Rothstein about Ball in pre-season practices?). So Ball was supposed to be a backup, and Dan desperately tried to find a role for our star transfer. Going farther back I think Hurley probably expected Liam to be SG at times with Stewart at the 3. Ball breaking out really changed a lot.

Bazz as a backup is no different because you'd expect a recruit like Nowell to be better than Bazz as a freshman. I didn't expect Hassan to carry the team. Since when does the PG need to carry the team? I, and I think most of us, expected Karaban and McNeeley to carry the team. I expected Stewart to be our third best player (I still think he probably is).
Expand ...
McNeeley, Ball and Reed are our three best players. Maybe Stewart is fourth if you are ready to concede that AK the guy who was coming back to elevate his draft stock is now the worst starter on a middle of the pack BE team during a down year for the league.

Is it realistic that Alex comes back next year and plays out his eligibility?
 
Hunt for 7 said:
middle of the pack BE team during a down year for the league.
Expand ...
Down year for the league? Yes. The absolute bottom may not be the weakest we've seen but the botom three, four, five are clearly well below prior standards.

Middle of the pack? We are clearly one of the top four (and only four with a shot at an at-large bid in the dance), which places us in the top third of the league. Disappointing when compared to what our expectations were four months ago and well below what we've enjoyed the past couple of seasons, but middle of the pack is a few teams below us.
 
Hunt for 7 said:
Seems to me if he is healthy its time to put Nowell out there and see what he can do. I would prefer to watch Nowell making freshman mistakes than a junior picking up his dribble 25’ from the basket after barely getting it over the half court line in time. Watching Mahaney bringing up the ball is just so stressful. Because it always seems to end the same way.

It would be better to let Nowell occasionally blow past the defender and have him chasing by the time they get to half court. That would change so much about how the defense can set up to guard us in the half court.
Expand ...
Mahaney has no urgency in his movement, always looks protective and careful. It’s spark-less. That energy at the top of your offense turns it into sludge. Give me some conviction, some direction, some leadership. While he’s new he is an upperclassmen, but feels like a freshman.
 
FearThePups said:
No, the reason we won’t 3peat is we lost 4 starters to the NBA. Danny should have never uttered 3peat just 2 days after last year’s title.
Expand ...
What's he supposed to say? "Oh yeah, no way we can 3-peat, but hope to put together another solid team next year"? After winning back to back nattys (and 6 in total), the goal will always be winning a natty. Some years obviously it is unrealistic or even not possible, but you can't say that out loud. Maybe if you're Syracuse you can say that, but not UConn.
 
.-.
We are scouted very very well this year. Our whole offense was being praised and dissected on YouTube the entire offseason. Teams are stealing our plays too. One of the things that’s obvious is we have a hard time reversing the ball. The ball gets stuck in Hassan’s hands for much too long. This has been happening all season but now that he’s hobbled and can’t move as well it makes the situation much worse. Mcneeley back and handling the ball will help but even he looked like he wasn’t ready to change directions well coming back from the ankle injury. Sometimes our wings don’t aggressively come to the ball when they are needed
 
RuffRuff said:
Mahaney has no urgency in his movement, always looks protective and careful. It’s spark-less. That energy at the top of your offense turns it into sludge. Give me some conviction, some direction, some leadership. While he’s new he is an upperclassmen, but feels like a freshman.
Expand ...
I would love to hear Dan's thoughts on why he thought AM could successfully transition from shooting guard to the 1. I mean it seems Dan really believed this.
 
Marat said:
I would love to hear Dan's thoughts on why he thought AM could successfully transition from shooting guard to the 1. I mean it seems Dan really believed this.
Expand ...

He played very well at SMU, and was at his best against the toughest competition. I can't blame our coaches for thinking he could be a player for us--there was as much indication as you'll see from a mid-major player.
 
husky429 said:
He played very well at SMU, and was at his best against the toughest competition. I can't blame our coaches for thinking he could be a player for us--there was as much indication as you'll see from a mid-major player.
Expand ...
And that's why I was excited when he chose UConn. I didn't think Hurley was going to push him to be a full time PG when they recruited him. Aidan did a few PG things, but he wasn't a PG at St. Mary's, Marciulionis was and still is.

However it is worth noting, Aidan struggled in his 2023 first round game against VCU (before he played against UConn) as VCU is a heavy pressure team that full court presses. He also struggled last year shooting 5-21 against Grand Canyon, a team with lots of athleticism and size.
 
RuffRuff said:
Mahaney has no urgency in his movement, always looks protective and careful. It’s spark-less. That energy at the top of your offense turns it into sludge. Give me some conviction, some direction, some leadership. While he’s new he is an upperclassmen, but feels like a freshman.
Expand ...
He's not really a prototype UCONN shooting or point guard. At least with Joey California he knew his role and how to impact the game playing within himself, he knew how to add value. Mahaney hasn't quite figured out his sweet spot. There is a command that is missing.
 
Marat said:
I would love to hear Dan's thoughts on why he thought AM could successfully transition from shooting guard to the 1. I mean it seems Dan really believed this.
Expand ...

Aidan was the PG in his freshman year at St. Mary's. While he didn't play well against us Dan Hurley, in his pregame, talked about how dangerous Aidan was a PNR guy. Think Dan Hurley has been eyeing him since then. Clearly a major miss...
 
.-.
If you didn't listen to Hurley's pregame availability. I'm sure he's very frustrated he hasn't gotten Mahaney to play better.

“What (Mahaney) did at St. Mary’s just hasn’t translated to us. As a coach it’s frustrating that I haven’t been able to get that out of him, it’s there. Maybe we see it the last eight games of the Big East regular season and he goes on a run and a roll. We’re gonna keep trying to put him in positions to really help this team,” Hurley said. “Ahmad is another consideration as well now that he’s healthy enough as well to at least practice. And the other option is moving McNeeley over and kind of going a little bit positionless and just playing a bigger lineup. I guess if you’re gonna turn the ball over anyway, maybe it’s better to be taller.”
 
husky429 said:
He played very well at SMU, and was at his best against the toughest competition. I can't blame our coaches for thinking he could be a player for us--there was as much indication as you'll see from a mid-major player.
Expand ...

3 NCAA Tourney Games

Grand Canyon - 5-21 for 13 points
Uconn - 4-13 for 9 points
VCU - 0-5 for 0 points

So in 3 NCAA tournament games, this kid is 9-39 from the floor, 23% and 7ppg.

Numbers against any G5 or even good team last year.

2024
SDSt - 3-12, 8 pts
Xavier - 2-13, 7 pts

They didn't play a great schedule last year. StM, given their system of slow pace, grinds you down on offense/defense, used him in a high volume, low efficiency dynamic. It's fine for them given they don't draw the kind of athlete that is going to be a true go to high efficiency type.

Bottom line is that in StM's last 5 most challenging OOC games, Mahaney averaged 7ppg at 21%.

He got all his good numbers in that lousy conference. This was a major leap of faith.
 
Last edited:
RuffRuff said:
3 NCAA Tourney Games

Grand Canyon - 5-21 for 13 points
Uconn - 4-13 for 9 points
VCU - 0-5 for 0 points

So in 3 NCAA tournament games, this kid is 9-39 from the floor, 23% and 7ppg.

Numbers against any G5 or even good team last year.

2024
SDSt - 3-12, 8 pts
Xavier - 2-13, 7 pts

They didn't play a great schedule last year. StM, given their system of slow pace, grind you down offense/defense, used him in a high volume, low efficiency dynamic. It's fine for them given they don't draw the kind of athlete that is going to be a true go to high efficiency type.

He got all his good numbers in that lousy conference. This was a major leap of faith.
Expand ...

I did the stats for his 6 games vs. High-majors (+ the Zags) after he committed:

19.6 PPG
1.8 RPG
2.2 APG

1.8 TO
0.2 BLK
1.2 STL

41% 2FG (7.3 attempts)
39% 3FG (7.3 attempts)
92% FT (2.0 attempts)

I think this was only his sophomore year IIRC, so it didn't include his UConn game.

The numbers certainly don't scream "point guard" but neither do they scream "barely playable at this level." Considering our hit rate on transfers, I can't really fault the staff for this one. RJ, Tyrese, Tristen, Cam, Diarra have all been fantastic for us. Even Joey C ended up being better in his role that we expected.
 
husky429 said:
I did the stats for his 6 games vs. High-majors (+ the Zags) after he committed:

19.6 PPG
1.8 RPG
2.2 APG

1.8 TO
0.2 BLK
1.2 STL

41% 2FG (7.3 attempts)
39% 3FG (7.3 attempts)
92% FT (2.0 attempts)

I think this was only his sophomore year IIRC, so it didn't include his UConn game.

The numbers certainly don't scream "point guard" but neither do they scream "barely playable at this level." Considering our hit rate on transfers, I can't really fault the staff for this one. RJ, Tyrese, Tristen, Cam, Diarra have all been fantastic for us. Even Joey C ended up being better in his role that we expected.
Expand ...
If nothing else I certainly expected better than a 1.2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio
 
RuffRuff said:
3 NCAA Tourney Games

Grand Canyon - 5-21 for 13 points
Uconn - 4-13 for 9 points
VCU - 0-5 for 0 points

So in 3 NCAA tournament games, this kid is 9-39 from the floor, 23% and 7ppg.

Numbers against any G5 or even good team last year.

2024
SDSt - 3-12, 8 pts
Xavier - 2-13, 7 pts

They didn't play a great schedule last year. StM, given their system of slow pace, grinds you down on offense/defense, used him in a high volume, low efficiency dynamic. It's fine for them given they don't draw the kind of athlete that is going to be a true go to high efficiency type.

Bottom line is that in StM's last 5 most challenging OOC games, Mahaney averaged 7ppg at 21%.

He got all his good numbers in that lousy conference. This was a major leap of faith.
Expand ...
Thank you for not abbreviating StM as SMU. There is already an SMU.
 
husky429 said:
I did the stats for his 6 games vs. High-majors (+ the Zags) after he committed:

19.6 PPG
1.8 RPG
2.2 APG

1.8 TO
0.2 BLK
1.2 STL

41% 2FG (7.3 attempts)
39% 3FG (7.3 attempts)
92% FT (2.0 attempts)

I think this was only his sophomore year IIRC, so it didn't include his UConn game.

The numbers certainly don't scream "point guard" but neither do they scream "barely playable at this level." Considering our hit rate on transfers, I can't really fault the staff for this one. RJ, Tyrese, Tristen, Cam, Diarra have all been fantastic for us. Even Joey C ended up being better in his role that we expected.
Expand ...
Yup, he went to town on the WCC, inclusive of Gonzaga. He struggles against athletic teams.

It's too bad our entire schedule wasn't Gonzaga & Nolan Hickman.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,363
Messages
4,567,872
Members
10,471
Latest member
EO2004


Top Bottom