Providence Post Game Thread

[REB1094]

Overall it's hard to feel great about needing a 14 point home comeback against PC without Hopkins, but I feel great about a 60 point second half and a gutsy W!

The good -

• Game ball to Hassan Diarra. He was the spark plug for our comeback. Under control, great passes, aggressive scoring. If he can do this consistently, I feel much better about our offense without Liam
• Great second half from Tarris. We're used to him dominating offensively but he was owning the paint defensively today
• AIDAN MAHANEY! Forced 2 turnovers and scored 2 buckets in our 13-0 run. Choosing to ignore the over and back (which I need to see a replay of, I'm not convinced it was real), but season high 15 points on 4-5 FG, 2-2 3P, and 5-6 FT
• Karaban got eaten alive in the first half (more below), but toughened up in the second half including a clutch block

The bad -

• Karaban got HUNTED on defense in the first half. I think there were 6 buckets (1/3 of PC's points) by 6'4 - 6'6 guys just backing him down and shooting over him
• The scout is out - hold, shove, and grab UConn off ball and you'll get away with it 80% of the time. Expect to see a lot of this, the team will have to adjust
• Got a bit nervous at the end..needing to burn 3 timeouts just to get the ball in isn't great

But at the end of the day, look at our box score. What a beauty. Let's go Huskies!

 

[HuskyNan]

Huh. Just found this info

 

[Scrappy3]

Diarra, Reed and Mahaney. That’s why we won. Ross brings very little on offense. I prefer Stewart at the 4, not the 3. For now, I think our best bet is going small - Diarra, Mahaney and Solo playing together.

Agree
Reed and maheney earned more pt

 

[HailUConn]

Tarris Reed, Jr. +15 , sounds about right!

 

[Bomber36]

Color me pleased…and relieved since my BILs side of the family are all PC grads.

 

[uh-no]

Remember earlier this week the convo about Diarra being the player who wants the ball in his hands and wants the shot when the clock is winding down???

That baseline rainbow J is exhibit 1. As were all the clutch FT's.

he's also a black hole at timmes....it's a balance.

 

[Huskybass]

We are a better team with Reed on the floor. Samson cannot continue to start at Center averaging only 2.5 rebounds a game. There's still a role for Johnson as a pick and roll guy off the bench, but he simply doesn't rebound enough to start.

 

[Excalibur]

Overall it's hard to feel great about needing a 14 point home comeback against PC without Hopkins, but I feel great about a 60 point second half and a gutsy W!

The good -

• Game ball to Hassan Diarra. He was the spark plug for our comeback. Under control, great passes, aggressive scoring. If he can do this consistently, I feel much better about our offense without Liam
• Great second half from Tarris. We're used to him dominating offensively but he was owning the paint defensively today
• AIDAN MAHANEY! Forced 2 turnovers and scored 2 buckets in our 13-0 run. Choosing to ignore the over and back (which I need to see a replay of, I'm not convinced it was real), but season high 15 points on 4-5 FG, 2-2 3P, and 5-6 FT
• Karaban got eaten alive in the first half (more below), but toughened up in the second half including a clutch block

The bad -

• Karaban got HUNTED on defense in the first half. I think there were 6 buckets (1/3 of PC's points) by 6'4 - 6'6 guys just backing him down and shooting over him
• The scout is out - hold, shove, and grab UConn off ball and you'll get away with it 80% of the time. Expect to see a lot of this, the team will have to adjust
• Got a bit nervous at the end..needing to burn 3 timeouts just to get the ball in isn't great

But at the end of the day, look at our box score. What a beauty. Let's go Huskies!

The over and back . . . Wasn’t.

 

[Woodson]

Love that W and played like a blow torch in the second half!

 

[Umami Zen]

Game of two halves- Friars couldn't miss first half. We showed up and punched back the second half. They were draped all over Alex all game. Had to come from others. Thought Aidan/Hass and esp. Reed were great. Being a great FT shooting team definitely helps.

A win we had to have for our confidence post-injury. Cheese steaks and Nova next.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Super odd game from Samson today. Absolutely dominated the first few minutes. Looked like they had no answer for him at all. And then he kind of disappeared on offense, capped with a couple of bad misses.

 

[superjohn]

Team was a mess the first half, by far our worst half on the mainland. Last 13 minutes or so were beautiful and probably the best we've played all season minus the Hass brainfarts in the last minute and the trouble inbounding the ball.

Hass is the heartbeat of this team, the game turned when he started taking over and then Reed further took over and changed the game. Providence was scoring at will the whole game and we couldn't get a defensive rebound. Reed changed that and we were off to the races.

Mahaney was huge, his layup where he contorted his body wasn't a fluke, that's the type of stuff he did at Gonzaga. I feel strongly that trying to turn him into a point guard badly messed with his game and head. He's a born scorer. Huge second half from him and his buckets are just different, they lift the whole team up.

Reed is a beast and we've yet to fully unleash him on teams. He needs to get the ball more and he has more in his package than Danny has let him go to yet. NBA player.

Solo with a quiet really good game and AK made some plays when it mattered after a bad first half.

Total team win.

 

[AntG168]

We are a better team with Reed on the floor. Samson cannot continue to start at Center averaging only 2.5 rebounds a game.

Idk why we don’t use him in the same role as last season. It’s odd. Obviously Hurley sees something we don’t. But it’s odd

 

[AntG168]

Game of two halves- Friars couldn't miss first half. We showed up and punched back the second half. They were draped all over Alex all game. Had to come from others. Thought Aidan/Hass and esp. Reed were great. Being a great FT shooting team definitely helps.

A win we had to have for our confidence post-injury. Cheese steaks and Nova next.

I mean in the first half our defense made it pretty easy for them to not miss

 

[UConn990411]

Just a terrific comeback. Hopefully Mahaney and Stewart can use the next few weeks to re-establish themselves and find their roles on this team.

It’s hard to be too critical after a win like this, but Samson continuing to start is nonsensical and part of the reason they’re struggling defensively. Defensive possessions don’t end without rebounding the basketball, which is Reed’s best skill. Considering Samson is literally averaging more fouls per game than rebounds, it’s past time they move Reed into the starting lineup.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I still can't believe how many people didn't think Mahaney would ever improve, or Hass couldnt lead the offense. Maybe if YOU were coaching them they wouldn't. But not trusting this staff....still...after 2 rings, is lunacy.

 

[housekeys]

Awesome fight in the 2nd half. Proud of this team for a great comeback. Scrappy W

Yes. We matched the grit, pluckiness and scrappy-ness ( or is that crappy-ness ? ) of Providence. And won.

 

[uh-no]

I still can't believe how many people didn't think Mahaney would ever improve. Maybe if YOU were coaching him he wouldn't. But not trusting this staff....still...after 2 rings, is lunacy.

so when is he going to get them to play defense /s

 

[jibsey]

Most teams we play have guards and forwards who can score off the dribble, we don’t with McNeeley out. We have to be creative on offense and that’s a good thing but Providence just made everything while killing us on the glass.
I thought Mahaney would come up today and he did but still got burned on D with his lack of size and quickness. He did great today though.
We got outrebounded by 12.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Monster comeback in the 2nd half. And glad we played like the first two minutes of the game for most of the 2nd half.

• Top 3 scorers: all guards (Liam effect)
• Reed was a monster in the 2nd half and altered more shots than were counted as blocks.
• Ross's offensive game seems modeled after Johnson.
• Stewart to start next game - he is steady, unshakeable, and more athletic for power and speed than Ross is just for speed.
• Diarra is at peak performance right now.
• Maheney is rising at the right time now.
• Liam should be back for the Marquette game (only thing in this list I'm not sure of).

 

[slepers]

Gampel seemed quiet and it looked like there were a lot of empty seats for what should be a massive game

I’m hoping your two comments are sarcastic

 

[UConNick]

Even when we were down double digits, while it was very frustrating, I never truly believed we were going to lose the game. I always felt a run was coming and we’d pull it out. And that’s what our winning DNA allowed us to do.

Mahaney and (especially) Ball are improving as defenders. It’s certainly not been linear but they both imo are better at keeping up with their man than the turnstiles they were through November.

Echo what everyone else has said about Diarra. Incredible stones and his importance, especially with McNeeley out, cannot be overstated.

 

[Connecticut13]

I still can't believe how many people didn't think Mahaney would ever improve, or Hass couldnt lead the offense. Maybe if YOU were coaching them they wouldn't. But not trusting this staff....still...after 2 rings, is lunacy.

To be fair, most said he couldn’t play point guard. Today, he excelled playing off the ball with Diarra.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Team was a mess the first half, by far our worst half on the mainland. Last 13 minutes or so were beautiful and probably the best we've played all season minus the Hass brainfarts in the last minute and the trouble inbounding the ball.

Hass is the heartbeat of this team, the game turned when he started taking over and then Reed further took over and changed the game. Providence was scoring at will the whole game and we couldn't get a defensive rebound. Reed changed that and we were off to the races.

Mahaney was huge, his layup where he contorted his body wasn't a fluke, that's the type of stuff he did at Gonzaga. I feel strongly that trying to turn him into a point guard badly messed with his game and head. He's a born scorer. Huge second half from him and his buckets are just different, they lift the whole team up.

Reed is a beast and we've yet to fully unleash him on teams. He needs to get the ball more and he has more in his package than Danny has let him go to yet. NBA player.

Solo with a quiet really good game and AK made some plays when it mattered after a bad first half.

Total team win.

Do you mean at St Mary's? Or you're referring to his game against the Zags when he scored 2 points?

 

[Mike Honcho]

I’m hoping your two comments are sarcastic

This dude has to be a troll. And not a particularly convincing one at that.

The players couldn't hear fouls being called in the second half.