Providence Post Game Thread

[HW611]

Honestly guy your Calhoun references are some of the strangest things you’re saying. Are you relating this Calhoun stuff from memory or is this something you read about because you were too young to actually see it because nothing you say about Calhoun ever tends to bear any resemblance to what I watched for a couple decades.

You might be getting dementia then. And you know I can pull up stats, clips, whatever the case may be to back up what I’m saying. Just for you to go quiet afterwards.

Please stop with these peanut gallery posts rooted in nothing but your failing memory apparently.

 

[KingAG]

Not st the

Not at the expense of the team winning a game.

Have they been losing?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I watched another PC game in which this kid was nailing 3 pointers. The kid can shoot

Here's his box scores for his career at PC:

 

[AllHusky]

As we all know, we played way better out of conference in 2011, 2014 and 2023 than we did in conference. Not saying it will happen again - but sometimes when we looked the part early, we looked it again late when we played teams unfamiliar with us.

There is a blueprint forward that’s still sort of mythical at this point that would include Demary being the alpha and just saying “this is my team” when things get hairy, Mullins and Solo both being weapons/threats at the same time (they won’t always both shoot well - but both being guys defenses have to be on high alert for would open up the offense), Reed finishing and giving us a little bit of inside out passing, and AK doing heady AK things playing off others.

Will that all work? Time will tell. Being the alpha or making shots at Creighton is one thing but doing it with your season on the line is another. Worst part about more Mullins missed time is that I really wanted to see more of his passing gene come out as he got more familiar with our sets. We need that secondary creating when our PG is hounded by a good defender. AK can sometimes do it - but he can’t always get in position to make the passes.

But when we played Illinois, Smith saw more time than Demary, Reed played 15 minutes and had 2 points and Mullins was making his debut with token bench minutes. Our ceiling should be higher than those early games too. But would be nice to get a tease of what that might look like. The more games go by without those pieces coming together, the harder it is to believe in it.

Still January brother. If its Feb 28 it is who we are, Jan 28, still wondering who we are.

I don't disagree with your statement though:
"The more games go by without those pieces coming together, the harder it is to believe in it"

 

[Peacefrog]

Keep holding onto that, but most were home games. DP didn't play. Wagler was barely a thing then. The first month of the season is not going to dictate how we play in March. We also had lot's of continuity in a complicated offense when teams were trying to figure out new rosters.

I'd say what we are looking at now is much more indicative of what is to come. It's simply whether Hurley has any master plan that he plans to unfold.

Lol, wrong. Literally NONE of them were home games. Buh, buh, buh MSG, blah-blah-blah. Two away games and three neutral site games. Zero home games.

 

[RuffRuff]

Lol, wrong. Literally NONE of them were home games. Buh, buh, buh MSG, blah-blah-blah. Two away games and three neutral site games. Zero home games.

BYU in Boston, Florida and Illinois at MSG? Ok, believe what you want. When you can hop a bus and be there in less than a couple hours, it's a home game.

 

[aceboon]

Columbia, I believe.

correct, I ended up googling him during the game because I was surprised to see him calling a game. Broadcast was kinda bizarre with him and Spero Dedes constantly bringing up Providence trying to get another quad 1 win to boost their resume, Providence's tourney chances ended awhile ago.

 

[HW611]

Nothing about what I said is disingenuous, not sure where you pulled that from.

Also I’m not sure where Jim Calhoun said all the things you said.

I do know that you’ve referenced your own basketball knowledge and others lack of knowledge to make a point, so it’s clear you view yourself as a basketball genius.

Am I to take this as HW611 is actually Jim Calhoun?

If you’re referring to things like drills or how a motion offenses work it doesn’t take a basketball genius. Just someone that actually played in this kind of stuff which is a very low bar to clear. But one that can be high on this board and consider you a genius apparently if many others never had that opportunity.

1. You are arguing that Ross needs more minutes. Listen, I was on your side last year with Ross being better than given credit for. I think he actually has a lot of talent and is our best athlete, and I still think is more likely than Ross becomes a 12-15 scorer next year vs. Stew. You keep on saying "only one turnover." You're right. He was also bad on D (save that one held ball) and was passive in some moments. Basically, he was what he's been for three years. He did make two nice passes. I'm not against him getting more minutes. But this diatribe about how Stew and Ross are deprived and held back is asinine. They have earned NO trust since being here. They have been given opportunities, and they are what they've always been... incredibly inconsistent with brief moments here and there. The simple fact is that even with Solo struggling, we were still better off with him and Mal on the court vs. Stew and Ross. They did nothing to show they were going to be positive contributors. AK does still make some bonehead drives, etc. He also contributed boards, assists, and, as always, made a huge shot when it mattered the most.

Here is where this board annoys me. They see a player making mistakes and instead of being able to understand how to fix it, the thought is immediately to bench and give up on them.

Ross defensive mistakes were so easy to fix. He simply was playing up way too far out on defense. Like guarding guys at half court leaving them plenty of space to drive to the rim. It was Andre Jackson issue as well when he kind of let guys beat him so he can try and get a highlight block that was a foul instead. There was no reason to guard guys all the way out to Newport outside of being a try hard.

I’m not arguing anyone needs more minutes. I’m arguing you have to let guys play through mistakes and instead of benching them, coach them through it.

Stew especially sucked yesterday so I can’t say much for him. But in general I think he needs to be showcased more in the offense is his issue. He is not a 3 and D player. He always had the reputation as a scorer and he’s been bidding his time in this program with the hope he can be showcased in this very beautiful offense we have. He will not be able to play to his potential until that happens.

Ross literally made two bad offensive plays while being the most aggressive I’ve probably seen him all year. That’s incredibly frustrating to me that after his second offensive mistake he gets completely benched like he didn’t make other great offensive plays before that one. If he starts running away from the ball again afraid to get it and be aggressive, that’ll be why.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

I'm going to say something controversial. It's really strange given that UConn is 20-1 and #2, but I don't really enjoy these games. I barely look forward to them, and while I am glad we win, actually watching them isn't all that fun. I'm not sure if it's this team, or merely the fact that Big East games devolve into free throw shooting contests when even when no foul is called, fouls are often committed.

I am looking forward to March and hoping this team can play an exciting and enjoyable brand of basketball when liberated from conference play.

I forget if you're one of the EPL guys on here, but either way, a great point was made by a guy on Newcastle - Anthony Gordon

He was asked the difference between the EPL and champions league this year and he talked about how the EPL has become this overly physical fast paced game where teams pack it in and rely more on set pieces and the like , whereas in the CL teams play more open and free which is way more enjoyable to play in and watch.

The BE I think suffers from the same thing and thats why Hurleys teams are built for the tournament because we can open up and play our flowing offense without the constant over-physicality that is encouraged in conference play

 

[HW611]

I’m not arguing anyone needs more minutes. I’m arguing you have to let guys play through mistakes and instead of benching them, coach them through it.

This is not me talking out my butt. Here’s a Calhoun example of a guy making a mistake. Him getting into his butt about it on how to fix it. And tapping him on the butt to let him go out there and fix it.

THATS coaching and development.

 

[RuffRuff]

Can't let facts get in the way when you're pushing a narrative. And did you hear Arizona had to fly across the country during the week to play at UConn? Who cares that UConn was missing Reed and Mullins? Arizona had to board a plane on a Tuesday.

Do you think anyone out there is using that Arizona game now to assess how that game would play out today? I can answer that for you. Yet you keep holding onto it like it's a measuring stick.

 

[RuffRuff]

This is not me talking out my butt. Here’s a Calhoun example of a guy making a mistake. Him getting into his butt about it on how to fix it. And tapping him on the butt to let him go out there and fix it.

THATS coaching and development.

Dude the Calhoun and Ross stuff................... At some point it feels more like a fixation than an objective stance.

I think we all see Ross just fine - he's a marginally athletic kid who still plays like a freshman 80% of the time. Lacks BBIQ, can't contain his excitement or make great decisions. Not all of this stuff can be "taught". You have freshmen walking into CBB this year knowing how to do all these things immediately. Not everything is "taught". Not every kid has the ability to learn to be something else.

 

[Mr. French]

If you’re referring to things like drills or how a motion offenses work it doesn’t take a basketball genius. Just someone that actually played in this kind of stuff which is a very low bar to clear. But one that can be high on this board and consider you a genius apparently if many others never had that opportunity.

I’m not referring to anything. YOU made the claims about how others don’t know about ball and you do.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Wagler earned the starting job in the preseason and was averaging 15ppg heading into the UConn matchup. You can argue that he wasn't playing on ball as much as he is now(Boswell was the primary lead guard at that point), but he was absolutely a thing.

RuffRuff & HW611 are in a constant battle for some of the biggest delusional and flat-out wrong posts of the 'Yard. In this thread, they're probably neck-and-neck. A nailbiter, like last night's game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This may be one of the most confusing UConn teams ever. I'd go further and say it's one of the most confusing #2 ranked, 20-1 teams ever. We've looked pedestrian in just about every game other than the true cupcakes. And the issues could be different in every game. We can't shoot, ball movement is stagnant, other team makes shots they don't usually make. Just about every team's fans say "we choked that game. We were the better team than UConn today" and they aren't really wrong.

The Big East isn't bad, but these are not great teams we are squeaking by. But when you squeak by 20 teams, and only lose to the #1 team without 2 of your best players, you are doing something right and who am I to doubt that we can keep doing it.

It's like the opposite of 2023, which had one of the worst KenPom "luck" factors, where we lost a bunch of close games and questioned if Hurley was coaching these guys to play tight, choke down the stretch, etc. And then it didn't matter in the Tournament where we won going away.

This year we have one of the best luck factors and we have to hope it's sustainable.

 

[Mr. French]

He says “immediately bench them” as though 3+ years is immediate.

 

[alphasigko]

Ross had 1 turnover today. And it got him benched for the whole half.

And rightly so.

 

[Inyatkin]

When you can hop a bus and be there in less than a couple hours, it's a home game.

Sweet, home games at Providence, St Johns and Seton Hall every year, that should help us

 

[superjohn]

I don't even know how you would do it because Hurley never does it and I typically really don't like the idea of double bigs but I kind of wish we would see Reibe out there with Reed for a few minutes in these games against lesser opponents when we're stuggling. Eric is a starting level player and his style of play isn't redundant with Reed's.

 

[HW611]

RuffRuff & HW611 are in a constant battle for some of the biggest delusional and flat-out wrong posts of the 'Yard. In this thread, they're probably neck-and-neck. A nailbiter, like last night's game.

I love predictive posts in the summer because it doesn’t allow you all to get these “flat out wrong” posts lies off.

Like the yard telling me 2 summers ago Mahaney was going to be an All American starter.

Or how this summer Furphy was going to be impactful for us.

Then wants to bring up PG Solo stuff not realizing the actual discussion there was, if he wants to be an NBA player it’ll be at that position and what do you know.

He became the 3 point shooter everyone wanted him to be and didn’t sniff a draft board. He’s rounded out his game now and he’s still not Donovan Mitchell.

It’s sick watching what was suppose to be a very talented 2023 recruiting class have their future careers nerfed like this.

 

[boog204]

You might be getting dementia then. And you know I can pull up stats, clips, whatever the case may be to back up what I’m saying. Just for you to go quiet afterwards.

Please stop with these peanut gallery posts rooted in nothing but your failing memory apparently.

Wait, are you saying that JC had a long leash with his players? I mean, with all due respect, but were you alive during this time? JC legit benched the entire starting five one minute into the game for a mistake. He benched Ray Allen early in the snowstorm 'Nova game b/c he was pressing. I think he benched Antric for not running to the scorers' table once. Freaking Chris Smith, our all-time leading scorer, was benched in his final game against Ohio State. You mentioned Charlie V. He got only 26/mpg b/c he was lazy and loafed far too much and was pulled for it often. I'm sorry, but I seriously questioned if you actually watched JCs tenure live.

If you’re referring to things like drills or how a motion offenses work it doesn’t take a basketball genius. Just someone that actually played in this kind of stuff which is a very low bar to clear. But one that can be high on this board and consider you a genius apparently if many others never had that opportunity.

Here is where this board annoys me. They see a player making mistakes and instead of being able to understand how to fix it, the thought is immediately to bench and give up on them.

Ross defensive mistakes were so easy to fix. He simply was playing up way too far out on defense. Like guarding guys at half court leaving them plenty of space to drive to the rim. It was Andre Jackson issue as well when he kind of let guys beat him so he can try and get a highlight block that was a foul instead. There was no reason to guard guys all the way out to Newport outside of being a try hard.

I’m not arguing anyone needs more minutes. I’m arguing you have to let guys play through mistakes and instead of benching them, coach them through it.

Stew especially sucked yesterday so I can’t say much for him. But in general I think he needs to be showcased more in the offense is his issue. He is not a 3 and D player. He always had the reputation as a scorer and he’s been bidding his time in this program with the hope he can be showcased in this very beautiful offense we have. He will not be able to play to his potential until that happens.

Ross literally made two bad offensive plays while being the most aggressive I’ve probably seen him all year. That’s incredibly frustrating to me that after his second offensive mistake he gets completely benched like he didn’t make other great offensive plays before that one. If he starts running away from the ball again afraid to get it and be aggressive, that’ll be why.

The point is that Jayden has made that same defensive mistake for two years now. He has his moments, but he's overly aggressive and gets beaten. You don't think this has been spoken of or "coached"? In a tight game, you get burned on D and are offering nothing on the other side, you should sit. AK was getting roasted by Jones. It's a terrible matchup for him. But, he's earned the trust that he's going to be integral on the other side. You know there's more to playing offense than just scoring, right? AK is one of our primary screeners. He's probably our second-best rebounder. He's THE connector on offense. Until Stew or Ross brings that on the other side, they should sit if they're making the same mistake over and over.

The "afraid" aspect is on him. Go and play. If he tends to shy away from the ball and float and be passive, then that's on him. I'd rather have Solo miss 14 jumpers off the dribble or AK overpenetrate because they want the ball than have Ross and Stew be statues and afraid standing at the three-point line. It's been three years now.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Granted we didn't have Mullins, and we've yet to really see him play at a peak level consistently as of yet, but Wagler and Burries were not nearly what they are right now back in the first month.

Pretty crazy when you see how many high draft picks we saw early in between AJD, Burries/Peat, Wagler, Haugh and what would have been DP.

For Illinois, Mullins & Reed were on minutes restrictions coming off injuries. Both had only 2pts. But because it was at MSG, it was a home game so Illinois had agreed that they would play to lose the game.

For Kansas, let's ignore the facts that we had to fly out to Corn Country to play a game 4 days after playing that tomato can team, Illinois. Also ignore that Tarris didn't play, and that we had to play at the Phog, one of the toughest places to get a win. Most important was that Peterson didn't play...but let's ignore the fact that Kansas' performance has been fairly inconsistent when he plays. Somehow, we won that game. Oh, by the way, Silas only had 2pts. But it doesn't matter because something something DP.

For Arizona, We started a green Freshman center after our starter got injured 4 days prior playing against that creampuff BYU team during a glorified home scrimmage at TDGarden. We didn't play our starting center and 5* guard. Our 3rd-string 6'7" "center" Koroma logged 12 minutes. But, all that's irrelevant because poor 5* Burries "hadn't yet figured out how to play yet", and also, poor AZ had to fly ALL THE WAY across the country (boo hoo, I bet they all had cramped legs and DVTs from that long flight)., and of course, they had to play an away game.

I could go on, but I think that's enough.

 

[HW611]

Wait, are you saying that JC had a long leash with his players? I mean, with all due respect, but were you alive during this time? JC legit benched the entire starting five one minute into the game for a mistake. He benched Ray Allen early in the snowstorm 'Nova game b/c he was pressing. I think he benched Antric for not running to the scorers' table once. Freaking Chris Smith, our all-time leading scorer, was benched in his final game against Ohio State. You mentioned Charlie V. He got only 26/mpg b/c he was lazy and loafed far too much and was pulled for it often. I'm sorry, but I seriously questioned if you actually watched JCs tenure live.

JC trusted all of his players in a way Hurley clearled didn’t. Look at the names of these players you using. They’re some of our best players ever. You think Hurley has ever benched Karaban, Newton, or other of his top players when they’re playing bad? The reason JC was able to do that was because he trusted EVERYONE in a way Hurley clearly does not.

And when you got benched by JC, you were going back in later. You just had to be held accountable for your mistakes. And again, EVERYONE was held to that standard. From Ray Allen to Chris Smith. Hurley only does that with marginal players and when he does it, you’re not getting back in the game as we saw last night.

I was alive and watched JC’s tenure just fine. You all are just not understanding the nuance of these two situations because of a “quick hook”. I’d much rather get a quick hook and go back in the game 8-10 minutes later knowing I have to do better than to get pulled and treated like I can’t get trusted to play again.

The "afraid" aspect is on him. Go and play. If he tends to shy away from the ball and float and be passive, then that's on him. I'd rather have Solo miss 14 jumpers off the dribble or AK overpenetrate because they want the ball than have Ross and Stew be statues and afraid standing at the three-point line. It's been three years now.

If you want to ignore the psychological affects of knowing you can get away with missing 14 shots compared and keep playing compared to miss you can make one mistake being aggressive and get pulled. Thats on you man.

 

[Inyatkin]

For Illinois, Mullins & Reed were on minutes restrictions coming off injuries. Both had only 2pts. But because it was at MSG, it was a home game so Illinois had agreed that they would play to lose the game.

For Kansas, let's ignore the facts that we had to fly out to Corn Country to play a game 4 days after playing that tomato can team, Illinois. Also ignore that Tarris didn't play, and that we had to play at the Phog, one of the toughest places to get a win. Most important was that Peterson didn't play...but let's ignore the fact that Kansas' performance has been fairly inconsistent when he plays. Somehow, we won that game. Oh, by the way, Silas only had 2pts. But it doesn't matter because something something DP.

For Arizona, We started a green Freshman center after our starter got injured 4 days prior playing against that creampuff BYU team during a glorified home scrimmage at TDGarden. We didn't play our starting center and 5* guard. Our 3rd-string 6'7" "center" Koroma logged 12 minutes. But, all that's irrelevant because poor 5* Burries "hadn't yet figured out how to play yet", and also, poor AZ had to fly ALL THE WAY across the country (boo hoo, I bet they all had cramped legs and DVTs from that long flight)., and of course, they had to play an away game.

I could go on, but I think that's enough.

If your baseline thinking is that early season games don't matter, you'll use any excuse to get there.

And it's true, we don't look as good lately as we did then. Those games still happened.

 

[HW611]

Remember when Calhoun called a TO :30 seconds into the game against Kentucky to take out his best player in senior Jerome Dyson for… Darnell Beverly?

Don’t worry guys. He got back in 3:00 minutes later. For those not remembering how this usually went.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Remember when Calhoun called a TO :30 seconds into the game against Kentucky to take out his best player in senior Jerome Dyson for… Darnell Beverly?

Don’t worry guys. He got back in 3:00 minutes later. For those not remembering how this usually went.

I often wonder what kind of player Dyson might have become if he didn't get pulled for that 2:30 stretch and had been allowed to just play through his mistakes instead...

 

[Inyatkin]

Darnell Beverly the new CFU

 

[RuffRuff]

If you're baseline thinking is that early season games don't matter, you'll use any excuse to get there.

And it's true, we don't look as good lately as we did then. Those games still happened.

I'm not throwing them out completely, but I'd prefer to lean on games in the current and how teams have evolved over half the season, alongside the metrics. This UConn team is going to have to be a pretty drastic exception to a KP rule that has been really consistent. That early season schedule was very favorable to UConn as we had a lot of returners, and most on neutral sites that were essentially home games.

For instance, I was a lot higher on Purdue back then when they obliterated Texas Tech. Now, I think TT would win on a neutral court and the much better team, while Purdue has been exposed. TT had a variety of new players to work in, while Purdue had a large core of returners. A lot can change in two months. In our case, while we're winning, the quality of hoops as it comes to a title contender has not looked great, for awhile (40 OKP). It's unlikely you'll find many in the media that don't see it similarly, because they're not using their favorable imagination to assess.

 

[HW611]

I often wonder what kind of player Dyson might have become if he didn't get pulled for that 2:30 stretch and had been allowed to just play through his mistakes instead...

Come on Brew. We usually agree on topics but this comment either makes me think you can’t read or you’re being disingenuous.

I’ll give you credit by saying the latter.

 

[Mr. French]

Wait, are you saying that JC had a long leash with his players? I mean, with all due respect, but were you alive during this time? JC legit benched the entire starting five one minute into the game for a mistake. He benched Ray Allen early in the snowstorm 'Nova game b/c he was pressing. I think he benched Antric for not running to the scorers' table once. Freaking Chris Smith, our all-time leading scorer, was benched in his final game against Ohio State. You mentioned Charlie V. He got only 26/mpg b/c he was lazy and loafed far too much and was pulled for it often. I'm sorry, but I seriously questioned if you actually watched JCs tenure live.



The point is that Jayden has made that same defensive mistake for two years now. He has his moments, but he's overly aggressive and gets beaten. You don't think this has been spoken of or "coached"? In a tight game, you get burned on D and are offering nothing on the other side, you should sit. AK was getting roasted by Jones. It's a terrible matchup for him. But, he's earned the trust that he's going to be integral on the other side. You know there's more to playing offense than just scoring, right? AK is one of our primary screeners. He's probably our second-best rebounder. He's THE connector on offense. Until Stew or Ross brings that on the other side, they should sit if they're making the same mistake over and over.

The "afraid" aspect is on him. Go and play. If he tends to shy away from the ball and float and be passive, then that's on him. I'd rather have Solo miss 14 jumpers off the dribble or AK overpenetrate because they want the ball than have Ross and Stew be statues and afraid standing at the three-point line. It's been three years now.

He will or already has had a snarky response to this that indicates he's smarter than everyone, but this is a good post and summarizes everything quite nicely.

He just so badly wants Ross to be something he isn't, and if he is going to turn into that, he hasn't shown the capabilities consistently. UConn develops guys while playing the guys that give us a chance to win. If he doesn't do that, he won't play. Case closed (shout out Bobo).

JC trusted all of his players in a way Hurley clearled didn’t. Look at the names of these players you using. They’re some of our best players ever. You think Hurley has ever benched Karaban, Newton, or other of his top players when they’re playing bad? The reason JC was able to do that was because he trusted EVERYONE in a way Hurley clearly does not.

And when you got benched by JC, you were going back in later. You just had to be held accountable for your mistakes. And again, EVERYONE was held to that standard. From Ray Allen to Chris Smith. Hurley only does that with marginal players and when he does it, you’re not getting back in the game as we saw last night.

I was alive and watched JC’s tenure just fine. You all are just not understanding the nuance of these two situations because of a “quick hook”. I’d much rather get a quick hook and go back in the game 8-10 minutes later knowing I have to do better than to get pulled and treated like I can’t get trusted to play again.



If you want to ignore the psychological affects of knowing you can get away with missing 14 shots compared and keep playing compared to miss you can make one mistake being aggressive and get pulled. Thats on you man.

Yeah, it's always on us to figure it out, none of us "understand" anything about these deep nuances of basketball, meanwhile everyone has it figured out but you it appears. Your credentials in basketball playing and coaching must be impeccable, your resume pristine.

Also, JC did put those guys back in BECAUSE THEY WERE HIS BEST PLAYERS AND HE TRUSTED THEM!! I bet any money there's 50 players who got benched by JC and never touched the floor again their whole careers.

In fact, my comparison of the 2 coaches would tell me Hurley has been way more positive and forgiving of Ross/Stewart/etc. mistakes and game play than JC would have been. Ross probably would have been nailed to the bench and never touched the floor again.