Practice Tonight

[HooperScooper]

I loved @freescooter's disappearing act after we won the 'ship.

We just missed on 2 high profile recruits. He might be back shortly.

 

[Pmac923]

My take-aways from going to scrimmage game tonight are:

1. Very good intensity on defense.
2. A bit sloppy on offense but give defense credit for much of that.
3. Spencer looked very good in many aspects of the game besides shooting, like passing rebounding and not bad on D.
4. Newton looked good.
5. Castle showed moments of excellence in passing, defending and driving. But body language was a concern.
6. No clear leader(s) on floor.
7. Sampson was so so.
8. Current team seems less polished compared to last year's team at the the same stage.

I watched tonight’s practice and my takeaways :

1) Spencer and Newton will be a nightmare to defend with added space from defenses clogging on Clingan.
2) Castle playing off of high hedge screens will wear down defenses - pick your poison with lobs at the rim and world class finishing. I think he was playing down a gear and still hanging with everyone .
3) the finishing at the rim was really impressive. Solo ball can really finish in creative ways.
4) the defensive intensity was really strong

This team showed more poise than last years team at this point. Spencer and Newton are incredibly assertive with their movements and playmaking. We will be an incredibly tough out if our front court holds up the whole year.

 

[Huskyforlife]

@Huskyforlife.
I think we all get that Diarra is in the rotation for the first game but of course it doesn't mean the rotation is set for the whole season. Diarra is the veteran and Stewart was stuck in Seattle and got here later than everyone...

Diarra was averaging over 19 minutes per game through the first 8 games last season and his two highest minute games were the first two games of the season.

Cream rises to the top and his minutes all but disappeared late in the year.

We have so many good players that practices and game performance will determine who remains in the rotation. Hurley loves Diarra's energy and attitude but if it's a battle between them for minutes as the season progresses I expect Stewart to win, he's a more talented basketball player than Diarra.

If ballhandling becomes a real problem for us Diarra will really be needed for extended minutes but I don't really envision that happening with our roster if healthy.

Why would you try to project the lineup in January now, instead of the lineup in November/December? I’ll worry about figuring out the second half of the season after watching the first half.

 

[HCCForever]

He's getting them pulled tomorrow. He's out for the scrimmage against Harvard this weekend and probably a few practices too.

Why is that? I had wisdom teeth pulled when I was a young man and never missed any work or workouts or anything else for that matter.

 

[HooperScooper]

Why is that? I had wisdom teeth pulled when I was a young man and never missed any work or workouts or anything else for that matter.

You'd have to ask his oral surgeon.

I'm sure a contact sport like basketball is different from work and an individual workout. I remember being groggy for the rest of the day and having puffy cheeks for at least a couple days. Plus I remember the oral surgeon telling me no workouts for a period of time (don't remember how long).

From the below article:

• avoid strenuous activity and exercise for a few days

Wisdom tooth removal

Find out about wisdom tooth removal, including why it's done, recovery and possible complications.

www.nhs.uk

 

[navery12]

Unless Stewart is a complete liability on the defensive end he's going to play, if for no other reason than he's a big part of our 2024-25 plans and it's a huge risk to jeopardize that

 

[Chief00]

Newton and Castle are the two best players on the court tonight.

I think Tristen is going to fill the boxscore this season.

 

[Chief00]

Wouldn't worry about Alex. You could see him defering most of the night to yoinger guys, especially Castle. That won't happen come game time.

I agree, Alex knows when it is game time.

 

[Waquoit]

Hmmm, any guesses on which Yarder that was?

I know some guys like that who have never heard of the Yard.

 

[Icehawk]

I loved @freescooter's disappearing act after we won the 'ship.

Best thing he's ever done.

 

[SportsFan88]

Steph is nasty

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

So if I'm reading this right, Spencer made 5 3s?

And Diarra 5-5 from the line.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

@freescooter?

Not if he's gonna get that "50 Coaches Better Than Hurley" piece done before opening night.

 

[husky429]

Thirsty to hear extended comments by those that were there.

Until the box score, based on the small clips and postings, the impression I was getting was Johnson effective on the pick and roll, Roumoglou shooting the lights out, Cam quiet, Ross with poor ball security, and now Ball showing his ups against a zone defense that I wouldn't have expected to have played in this setting. Then the box score which undermines those impressions.

How was our ball handling and ball security?
Did Johnson & Singare look like they had any chance to defend a power player like Soriano, Dixon, etc ?
Did Ross/Stewart give the impression they could defend against Carter/Hopkins forwards?
Did our frontcourt look like they can rebound?
Was our shooting from deep an adequate percent?
Did Johnson try a 3?
Did we play much zone like that last clip of Ball's dunk?

Only box score concern was Castle 1-4 from the line which is disappointing because he will be there a ton.
Box score positive was Singare hitting a foul shot where he was something like 0-13 when I watched him online

@Ricker you know I wouldn't let you down. I have a two hour meeting I have no idea why I was scheduled for later, so I'll throw my notes up then.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I watched tonight’s practice and my takeaways :

1) Spencer and Newton will be a nightmare to defend with added space from defenses clogging on Clingan.
2) Castle playing off of high hedge screens will wear down defenses - pick your poison with lobs at the rim and world class finishing. I think he was playing down a gear and still hanging with everyone .
3) the finishing at the rim was really impressive. Solo ball can really finish in creative ways.
4) the defensive intensity was really strong

This team showed more poise than last years team at this point. Spencer and Newton are incredibly assertive with their movements and playmaking. We will be an incredibly tough out if our front court holds up the whole year.

Really like #3.

Seems like it was forever UConn players struggled finishing at the rim. Last year's team ended up getting real good at it midway through the season and it was so relaxing and refreshing to watch.

 

[HCCForever]

You'd have to ask his oral surgeon.

I'm sure a contact sport like basketball is different from work and an individual workout. I remember being groggy for the rest of the day and having puffy cheeks for at least a couple days. Plus I remember the oral surgeon telling me no workouts for a period of time (don't remember how long).

From the below article:

• avoid strenuous activity and exercise for a few days

Wisdom tooth removal

Find out about wisdom tooth removal, including why it's done, recovery and possible complications.

www.nhs.uk

Thank you for the information. This was done a long time ago.

 

[Peacefrog]

Thank you for the information. This was done a long time ago.

I'm surprised he won't have to sit out longer to be honest. Risk of a dry socket probably. I took it very easy after having my wisdom teeth out and still got a dry socket from the blood clot breaking down/getting dislodged. Incredibly painful experience. Getting jostled playing basketball certainly must increase this risk. We made it standard procedure with our kids to preemptively get their wisdom teeth taken out before entering college so it wouldn't become an issue during a semester.

 

[auror]

I'm surprised he won't have to sit out longer to be honest. Risk of a dry socket probably. I took it very easy after having my wisdom teeth out and still got a dry socket from the blood clot breaking down/getting dislodged. Incredibly painful experience. Getting jostled playing basketball certainly must increase this risk. We made it standard procedure with our kids to preemptively get their wisdom teeth taken out before entering college so it wouldn't become an issue during a semester.

Dry socket 20 years ago is the most pain I've had in my life so far. Before diagnosis and acquiring the ensuing pain meds, I had to leave school early because I couldn't function.

 

[Peacefrog]

Dry socket 20 years ago is the most pain I've had in my life so far. Before diagnosis and acquiring the ensuing pain meds, I had to leave school early because I couldn't function.

Yup. Thankfully, my oral surgeon was the father of the girl I was dating at the time and he opened the office at 10:30pm for me. I don't know what I would have done otherwise. Coated some gauze with medication and stuffed it in. Instant relief.

 

[husky429]

Thirsty to hear extended comments by those that were there.

Until the box score, based on the small clips and postings, the impression I was getting was Johnson effective on the pick and roll, Roumoglou shooting the lights out, Cam quiet, Ross with poor ball security, and now Ball showing his ups against a zone defense that I wouldn't have expected to have played in this setting. Then the box score which undermines those impressions.

How was our ball handling and ball security?
Did Johnson & Singare look like they had any chance to defend a power player like Soriano, Dixon, etc ?
Did Ross/Stewart give the impression they could defend against Carter/Hopkins forwards?
Did our frontcourt look like they can rebound?
Was our shooting from deep an adequate percent?
Did Johnson try a 3?
Did we play much zone like that last clip of Ball's dunk?

Only box score concern was Castle 1-4 from the line which is disappointing because he will be there a ton.
Box score positive was Singare hitting a foul shot where he was something like 0-13 when I watched him online

Ball security: Overall? Good. I would say ball security from our primary ballhandlers was solid. Cam, Castle, and Newton all looked good as we'd expect. Karaban did Karaban things. Ross had a couple of live ball TOs. I like getting him the reps now though. I doubt we see him handling it much on game day. Stewart played more of a Karaban role until late when things broke down, so not much to report on ballhandling.

Johnson and Singare Defense: I think it's fair to say we have concerns about their backup defense. Neither will be doing much outside of lobs and dunks, but IMO all we really need is serviceable defense... and I am not sure it's there. A lot of fouling, not much in the way of blocks. To be fair, our whole team was pretty sloppy on defense (expected this time of year), so I have a feeling they'll both show a lot of growth in our early games.

Ross/Stewart Defense: Ross goes at 100% on defense all the time. His conditioning is really good. Stewart didn't stick out on defense one way or the other to me. Hopkins or Carter is going to be a tough guard for either. Just much stronger and more physical... you're talking about literal men vs. a couple of 17-year-olds. Makes me wonder if we might push Castle to the 4 at times for his size on defense (while still being lead ballhandler on offense).

Frontcourt rebounding: Karaban was off his game, but that's expected... he's probably in pain right now. I think we know what we'll get from him and Clingan. Singare and Johnson both look fine, but will probably struggle versus those big, strong dudes that box hard like Soriano. Luckily we have Clingan to eat them. I was actually more impressed with our guards rebounding. Castle when locked in was battling with the bigs and winning at times, Newton did Newton things, and Cam is scrappy as hell. I expect more of a "rebounding by committee" situation when Clingan is sitting, but we'll get the job done.

Shooting: Spencer, Karaban will be elite. Newton will do his thing around 35% or whatever it was last year... I would imagine teams will be ALL OVER him as primary ballhandler, so his attempts will be tough. Solo looked okay off the catch and bad in his 2 attempts off the dribble. He's inconsistent now, but will improve with time. He needs to tighten up his footwork--sometimes he gets square and sometimes he staggers more. Castle and Ross didn't look great tonight, but I'm not particularly concerned with Ross. Ross is going to be good with time. Castle needs to shoot 30+%, and I'm worried he won't. Some of his attempts were BAD. He was way, way off tonight--even at the FT line. That won't last, but our team will be better if he can get into the 30s.

Did Johnson try a 3? No. He really only played the 5. I don't know if that's because of Clingan's injury or because we expect to only use him as a backup 5.

Did we play much zone? We practiced 2-3 in the half-court and a 1-2-2 full-court press. Maybe some 1-3-1 in the half-court? I'm forgetting. But it looked to me like the 2-3 wasn't something we expect to run much again, more just for practice against when teams zone us. Our 1-2-2 was something we'll run--the coaches were all over the guys on the front line. Solo looked great trapping.

 

[GlastonTim]

Watched Tristen a lot, don’t think anyone on the team has more fun than him. Always talking to his defender or guy he was covering. Capable of turning on the afterburners. Expect a great year from him!

 

[my2cents]

Really like #3.

Seems like it was forever UConn players struggled finishing at the rim. Last year's team ended up getting real good at it midway through the season and it was so relaxing and refreshing to watch.

Thats exactly what I saw. Newton, Castle and Spencer way more comfortable going to the rim and finishing, vs. last year. With the help coming from Clingan's man, lobs to Clingan going to the rim will be impossible to stop.

 

[husky429]

Watched Tristen a lot, don’t think anyone on the team has more fun than him. Always talking to his defender or guy he was covering. Capable of turning on the afterburners. Expect a great year from him!

I was close to the floor and at one point when he beat Solo off the dribble he chirped at him, but he shortly after told him what he did and how to defend it. Something like "I'll step to the left when I'm driving right, so make sure to stay straight up until I get in the lane." On the next possession he did the same move and let Solo defend it, then slapped him on the ass.

Great leadership. That's the kind of stuff future coaches do.

 

[Palatine]

Is this right? I've heard nothing but happy talk about Clingan's foot. Until this one sentence from the Courant.

Still favoring the foot, Clingan didn’t participate in team stretches and stood off to the side like a coach during the first series of drills.

Did anyone else observe the above? Are we too optimistic about the big fellow?

 

[GlastonTim]

Donovan was shooting 3’s before scrimmage. Must of shot 50+. Form looks good, can hoist from Tristen range with ease. We’ll definitely see him take a few this year. Missed a lot