Providence post game thread

[PAHusky]

Reed is only getting better and better. Excited to see how he finished out this year and what the expectations for him for next year develop into.

Not to get ahead of things but we can’t go into next year relying on Nowell at pg or Ross/Stewart figuring things out. I understand that he’s been hurt but I would have expected more out of Nowell by now. I don’t expect a kid rated where he was to be an immediate starter or even impact player but it looks like he’s barely hanging on out there

 

[freescooter]

The question is which is better for this year's team. And even though Mahaney gave us nothing today. He looked like he belonged much more than Nowell.

I do get that Nowell is the future. And I know when two guys are equal you play the younger guy. But if you still have hope for this year. Giving Mahaney minutes is much more likely to pay off.

Nowell is a short slow point guard. He isn’t the answer now and I seriously doubt he is the future either.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Anyways, that doesn’t negate the fact that we didn’t bet our season on these guys

The single biggest bet by the staff last offseason was that Ross, Ball and Stewart would make a jump. What are we even debating here?

 

[RuffRuff]

Again, if Ross went in chucking shots up like Nahiem would that have been better?

Nahiem was a confident and likely practice showcased scorer. He was also a transfer that exhibited it elsewhere, to counter another one of your constant points. We act as though the short leash is cast without merit. He was given plenty of leash early, when there was more flexibility to let him shoot 21% from 3.

You want to get in the box score - go rebound, get a put back or two and play paralyzing D.

 

[adrock7]

Nowell is a short slow point guard. He isn’t the answer now and I seriously doubt he is the future either.

How does a guy like that get ranked so high in HS?

 

[Deleted at users request]

I understand your points, but what I don’t understand is why you consider every failing of every player only on Hurley.

Even when he plays a guy and the guy does nothing, you chalk it up to unknown and unprovable and unseen factors such as “Hurley isn’t telling him to be aggressive” or “Hurley hasn’t helped him develop his handle” meanwhile you’re acting like the players have no say.

I think you know this…but it’s way more on a player to produce than the coach to teach him how to. The coach needs to give him confidence (he has, publicly numerous times) and the kid has to produce. The coach has to help him develop (there’s no way I buy the idea that he hasn’t been working with the players on specific skill sets) and then the kid has to DO IT.

Some kids have development plans, and put in the work, and are given opportunities, but they just don’t develop as well as others. You can’t just say for every scenario “Coach didn’t develop him.” It’s lazy.

If he produces, it doesn’t matter if Hurley hates him, he’s going to play. If he doesn’t produce, it doesn’t matter if he’s the greatest kid and practices unbelievably, he can’t play.

To your point about them not being relied on as starters, it’s not the same as last year. We needed Diarra and Alleyne and Joey to be bench contributors , and they WERE. There’s no scenario where we know how the board reacts to those guys not producing in their bench roles, because they all did. If they didn’t, it’s possible those teams don’t win it anll and then you’re wrong, they would be the reason we lost. But no one knows because they did. This year’s role players, whom are the topics of this discussion, have not.

At this point I’m not really hung up on what Hurley says. Like do you think his press conference about Ross to then play him 2 minutes did anything to inspire confidence? I’d say it did exactly the opposite. Actions speak louder than words.

A player does not have a say if a coach doesn’t give them a green light. If you’re Ross and you think if you go out and miss shots or turn the ball over being aggressive you’ll get pulled, that’s not you having a say.

I think we’ve seen from Solo being a 44% 3 point shooter that he’s a pretty hard worker that will get better at what you ask him to work on. It’s pretty clear the directions these players get pushed in.

Alleyne was basically Ross except a shot chucker. He played solid defense, didn’t assist, didn’t rebound, except he put up a shot almost every chance he got… and we let him.

I really hope that we get a chance to see these guys ACTUALLY be relied on and bet on next year so this board can see the importance of having rope and your role.

There were plenty (I don’t think you) of people who were down on Solo going into the summer last year too based on the role he had where he wasn’t asked to do much.

 

[Deleted at users request]

In general I just hate the way Hurley goes about developing these guys. All the bench guys that came in with confidence guns blazing are transfers who developed that confidence and experience elsewhere.

Hurley does not let a lot of the guys that start their careers here get that rope to do the same until it’s time for them to be “the guy” ala sophomore year Hawkins, sophomore year Solo, junior year Jackson or freshman year Karaban when there were no other options.

These are patterns at this point and obvious ones. I’m not blaming players for something every single one of them go through. It’s also why I’m confident that if Stewart and Ross get the chance, they’ll follow that same pattern of “breakout” seasons that’s really just Hurley taking them off the leash.

 

[Deleted at users request]

The single biggest bet by the staff last offseason was that Ross, Ball and Stewart would make a jump. What are we even debating here?

Yes it was such a big bet they brought in McNeeley, asked Karaban to come back, and brought in Mahaney.

Because they went so all in on this group

 

[WhereistheDove?]

In general I just hate the way Hurley goes about developing these guys. All the bench guys that came in with confidence guns blazing are transfers who developed that confidence and experience elsewhere.

Hurley does not let a lot of the guys that start their careers here get that rope to do the same until it’s time for them to be “the guy” ala sophomore year Hawkins, sophomore year Solo, junior year Jackson or freshman year Karaban when there were no other options.

These are patterns at this point and obvious ones. I’m not blaming players for something every single one of them go through. It’s also why I’m confident that if Stewart and Ross get the chance, they’ll follow that same pattern of “breakout” seasons that’s really just Hurley taking them off the leash.

I really hope you are right but man, especially with Ross, I have seen literally nothing that makes me comfortable with him tagged for even significant bench minutes next season. Hurley would be insane for not trying to recruit a starter over those two in the portal. If they improve enough to take the job, awesome.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I really hope you are right but man, especially with Ross, I have seen literally nothing that makes me comfortable with him tagged for even significant bench minutes next season. Hurley would be insane for not trying to recruit a starter over those two in the portal. If they improve enough to take the job, awesome.

Were you confident in Solo making a jump this year?

I’m honestly not sure for you specifically, but I remember a lot of people on this board questioning Solo’s ability based on his play his freshman year heading into the offseason and were even slow to believe the offseason hype.

Like I said it’s a pattern. I can see this group of sophomores being similar to the Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo group if they takeover.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Yes it was such a big bet they brought in McNeeley, asked Karaban to come back, and brought in Mahaney.

Because they went so all in on this group

I guess that by recruiting Clingan Hurley sent a message that he didn't believe in Sanogo.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I guess that by recruiting Clingan Hurley sent a message that he didn't believe in Sanogo.

This is where I have to start ignoring stupid posts. This is dumb. Why are you comparing bringing in a clear backup to a guy who was a star player the year before to bringing in starters over players finding their footing.

STOP BEING STUPID

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Were you confident in Solo making a jump this year?

I’m honestly not sure for you specifically, but I remember a lot of people on this board questioning Solo’s ability based on his play his freshman year heading into the offseason and were even slow to believe the offseason hype.

Like I said it’s a pattern. I can see this group of sophomores being similar to the Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo group if they takeover.

I was pretty on the record that I thought at minimum he was going to be a very important bench scorer for us this year and possibly much more. That said, hitting on one of four expected big jumps is kind of my point.

 

[Gurleyman]

l

In general I just hate the way Hurley goes about developing these guys. All the bench guys that came in with confidence guns blazing are transfers who developed that confidence and experience elsewhere.

Hurley does not let a lot of the guys that start their careers here get that rope to do the same until it’s time for them to be “the guy” ala sophomore year Hawkins, sophomore year Solo, junior year Jackson or freshman year Karaban when there were no other options.

These are patterns at this point and obvious ones. I’m not blaming players for something every single one of them go through. It’s also why I’m confident that if Stewart and Ross get the chance, they’ll follow that same pattern of “breakout” seasons that’s really just Hurley taking them off the leash.

Hawkins averaged 5 shots a game (3 threes) in 14 minutes as a freshman. JoeyC averaged 5 shots a game (3 threes) in 15 minutes. What are you talking about? It was the same role. He was given free rein to shoot.

McNeeley could have been a bench guy this year if he was beat out for the starting 3. But that didn’t happen.

Was it maybe hard for Ball last year to develop in game because we got Spencer? Yeah. Would he be slightly ahead of where he is now and we maybe have another win or two this year? Certainly a reasonable argument. But there was also another freshman in his way last year too, who he started in place of for a while until we had a dumpster fire game at Seton Hall and we made the change we needed to make.

And thank goodness we got Spencer because plug a freshman Ball in that spot and we could very well have one less title. Maybe we win anyway - but that’s an alternate reality. The one we live in has us with 6 titles - and two in a row, with some utter domination that will have our team legendary as one of the best college teams ever - and I’m not changing a thing.

 

[DogMania]

I think Dan’s figured it out. I don’t care if Johnson starts, plays 4 GOOD minutes, and then let Reed come in. Let Samson pick up that early foul setting the tone - Reed has no problems apparently coming off the bench and torching the other team.

Since both Johnson and Reed can be foul prone, my guess is Danny would rather the refs get their quick whistles out of their system on Samson, then bring in Reed after they have a sense how the game is being called.

I'm fine with that as long as Reed gets the majority of the minutes.

 

[SwingDog]

Another point of note? PC has English paid for 5 more years. Not sure how much a school like that could eat to cut him loose. They could be really bad for a while.

I really don't think Kim English is the problem. He's playing a difficult hand without Bryce Hopkins for the season and without Jabri Abdur-Rahim for the past several games and the remainder of the season. Still, they've had a number of close losses and some decent wins. My guess is he gets a pass for this year. He did say in the post game presser he hopes Hopkins is coming back for another season but we'll have to see what happens.

 

[Deleted at users request]

l

Hawkins averaged 5 shots a game (3 threes) in 14 minutes as a freshman. JoeyC averaged 5 shots a game (3 threes) in 15 minutes. What are you talking about? It was the same role. He was given free rein to shoot.

McNeeley could have been a bench guy this year if he was beat out for the starting 3. But that didn’t happen.

Was it maybe hard for Ball last year to develop in game because we got Spencer? Yeah. Would he be slightly ahead of where he is now and we maybe have another win or two this year? Certainly a reasonable argument. But there was also another freshman in his way last year too, who he started in place of for a while until we had a dumpster fire game at Seton Hall and we made the change we needed to make.

And thank goodness we got Spencer because plug a freshman Ball in that spot and we could very well have one less title. Maybe we win anyway - but that’s an alternate reality. The one we live in has us with 6 titles - and two in a row, with some utter domination that will have our team legendary as one of the best college teams ever - and I’m not changing a thing.

You’re putting a whole bunch of assumptions on me that I didn’t say. There’s no way guys like Terrance Samuels and Craig Austrie were better and more confident bench players as freshmen than the guys we’ve talked about.

Nobody is simply talking about clearing the way for them playing time wise.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Also, fun thread to look back into for some perspective on player expectations heading into the year.

Thread 'Projected Starting Line Up'
Projected Starting Line Up

Based on it. The biggest disappointment out of the group is Stewart.

Ball has played above expectations and most people didnt list Ross at all. But yes, now they’re both guys we bet our season on

 

[RuffRuff]

You think they could’ve knocked Karaban or McNeeley out of the starting lineup?

I’m also not comparing how freshmen played under other coaches to Hurley. It’s not fair. They are clearly coached different to consistently play as confident as they did and our guys not doing the same.

Alleyne was exactly an example I was thinking of too. If Ross went out there and threw up a bunch of bricks would that be better? And if so, why doesn’t his coach just tell him to shoot more?

Alleyne played almost 30 minutes a game for 3 years at a low level ACC school with a low bar to win. It got him game reps to establish himself and understand what he’s good and not good at.

Unfortunately for Ross the bar at UConn is to contend every year and there isn’t a leash to stink it up.

More the reason to use the portal

 

[Gurleyman]

Yes it was such a big bet they brought in McNeeley, asked Karaban to come back, and brought in Mahaney.

Because they went so all in on this group

Good god - you want us to have Karaban leave - and replace our entire starting 5 with just Nowell and Abraham? In the portal era?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This is where I have to start ignoring stupid posts. This is dumb. Why are you comparing bringing in a clear backup to a guy who was a star player the year before to bringing in starters over players finding their footing.

STOP BEING STUPID

You are on a &%$#ing roll.

I'm curious, what color is the sky in the world you live in?

It must be nice to dream about green fields where the sun always shines and fuzzy little bunnies abound to play with. Where at the end of the day every gets a trophy just because it may hurt someone's feelings if he didn't get one.

This is a highly competitive sport. Anyone who didn't expect that coming in was deluded. I can assure you that nobody on this roster today felt threatened or betrayed by the additions of McNeeley or Mahaney. I can also assure you that all players who haven't risen to where they expected to be at this point blame themselves, not Hurley for their performance to date.

I get it, you got all excited when Dan Hurley kept saying threepeat was the goal and now feel as if you were lied to. That's on you as anyone who understands basketball a reasonable level of understand would have realized that with what we lost from last season, we weren't going to be a dominant squad. Someone with your expertise should have been able to predict almost to the final scores what this season would look like to date.

Grow up. Accept that sometimes if a racehorse doesn't finish first it wasn't because of the jockey.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Tarris is a dominant big

He sure can be, and it was a joy to watch him abuse the opposition again yesterday.

and I hope this is the final nail in the coffin on the even split nonsense with Samson and Reed.

If you stop repeating this over and over, then your hope can come to fruition. I'd be up for that.

Hurley keeps saying he goes with the hot hand between them. That needs to be over.

I'm sure we can count on you to point out if & when Coach Hurley keeps saying what you object to. And then you can repeat that it needs to be over.

In the meantime, you can keep reminding us that you've been steadily beating this drum before anybody else.

Who doesn't love such persistence? Maybe you can kick the back of mom & dad's car seat for emphasis.

 

[Gurleyman]

You’re putting a whole bunch of assumptions on me that I didn’t say. There’s no way guys like Terrance Samuels and Craig Austrie were better and more confident bench players as freshmen than the guys we’ve talked about.

Nobody is simply talking about clearing the way for them playing time wise.

Craig Austrie had to play because our two point guards were suspended - one for the year, one for half the season. We had nobody else who could even dribble except Denham Brown. When Williams came back, Austrie had a very short leash.

Samuel’s year - we had a bit of a depleted roster coming off probation and not really being able to recruit. Omar Calhoun didn’t pan out and Samuel carved out more playing time. We also had Kromah as a one-year stopgap grad student who allowed us to overcome Calhoun’s issues.

 

[navery12]

Yes it was such a big bet they brought in McNeeley, asked Karaban to come back, and brought in Mahaney.

Because they went so all in on this group

I know you just subscribed to Storrs Central, you can read the quotes straight from the staff now about their feelings on Solo, Jaylin, and Jayden. You don't need to bury your head in the sand on this anymore

 

[alphasigko]

In 7 mins Ross once again achieved a perfect Blutoski Stat line score of 0.00

 

[superjohn]

He sure can be, and it was a joy to watch him abuse the opposition again yesterday.

If you stop repeating this over and over, then your hope can come to fruition. I'd be up for that.

I'm sure we can count on you to point out if & when Coach Hurley keeps saying what you object to. And then you can repeat that it needs to be over.

In the meantime, you can keep reminding us that you've been steadily beating this drum before anybody else.

Who doesn't love such persistence? Maybe you can kick the back of mom & dad's car seat for emphasis.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Also, fun thread to look back into for some perspective on player expectations heading into the year.

Thread 'Projected Starting Line Up'
Projected Starting Line Up

Based on it. The biggest disappointment out of the group is Stewart.

Ball has played above expectations and most people didnt list Ross at all. But yes, now they’re both guys we bet our season on

Not one person is saying Hurley gambled his entire season on Stewart and Ross, but you know that and are just purposely doing the whole straw man thing. Both were clearly penciled in as significant bench pieces who the staff expected big jumps from.

 

[Deleted at users request]

You are on a &%$#ing roll.

I'm curious, what color is the sky in the world you live in?

It must be nice to dream about green fields where the sun always shines and fuzzy little bunnies abound to play with. Where at the end of the day every gets a trophy just because it may hurt someone's feelings if he didn't get one.

This is a highly competitive sport. Anyone who didn't expect that coming in was deluded. I can assure you that nobody on this roster today felt threatened or betrayed by the additions of McNeeley or Mahaney. I can also assure you that all players who haven't risen to where they expected to be at this point blame themselves, not Hurley for their performance to date.

I get it, you got all excited when Dan Hurley kept saying threepeat was the goal and now feel as if you were lied to. That's on you as anyone who understands basketball a reasonable level of understand would have realized that with what we lost from last season, we weren't going to be a dominant squad. Someone with your expertise should have been able to predict almost to the final scores what this season would look like to date.

Grow up. Accept that sometimes if a racehorse doesn't finish first it wasn't because of the jockey.

lmao I get your mad I called you stupid, but you don’t have to make up lies and put words in my mouth.

Never said we shouldn’t have brought the guys we brought in. Just that it’s stupid to do it and then blame the guys we tried to recruit over for our season.

Don’t be mad at me cause you said something outrageously stupid and now want to make stuff up to make me seem as stupid.

My actual expectations for the season and not the one you made up out of thin air.

 

[VA Blue Dog]

You were not the Lone Ranger doing that!

Luke Fonts outscored a combined Ross, Stewart, Nowell and Mahaney.
Fortunately the starters and Reed were great.

He was definitlely Serif

 

[DogMania]

Also, fun thread to look back into for some perspective on player expectations heading into the year.

Thread 'Projected Starting Line Up'
Projected Starting Line Up

Based on it. The biggest disappointment out of the group is Stewart.

Ball has played above expectations and most people didnt list Ross at all. But yes, now they’re both guys we bet our season on

Lots of takes on Stewart, Ross and let me add Nowell, even though he's a freshman and not a sophomore.

I'd say the staff had solid expectations on Stewart based on what he showed at the end of last season. I thought he played some solid D at times when he was needed.

Now fast forward to this season. Stewart started out slow and being out played by Ross. Then the real competion kicked in and the game on the offense side of the ball just seems too fast for Ross, though he's played some solid, though inconsistent D. As for Stewart he's had some good moments on offense hitting some big time 3s and at least one critical offensive board and put back, while his D and defensive rebounding has been horrible. Both have a lot of upside, but I'm not sure the game will slow down for Ross. Some talented players either never handle the mental part of the game or simply take a long time to let the game slow down in their head. Maybe both will work things out by next season.

As for Nowell, his injuries have impacted his development. As much as we've needed some back up PG minutes from him, he's had far too little PT to show what he can do. IMO, the talent is there. He just needs meaningful minutes to develop. With that said, Hurley needs to recruit a big good handling portal PG for next season to share time with Nowell as his backup as he grows and develops.

I wouldn't give up on these 3.