Providence Post Game Thread

[MuchoDogYears]

It really was tough to watch and it forced Hurley to play Solo who was in excruciating pain and had to gut it out.

Maybe. Or sit Solo until he heals and start Smith at SG for now?

 

[RuffRuff]

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.

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.

 

[superjohn]

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.

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.

 

[Deepster]

On a separate note, this so-called "rivalry" with PC has become a little lopsided with us winning the last 8 matchups. The last loss was at the AMP on 1/4/23. I think that's reflected in the decreased amount of whiny little PC rats that scurry in and out of this place now.

 

[Edward Sargent]

We are no

While I agree they do seem to have that level of maturity, which I attribute to AK and Demary, they also have an appalling lack of BBIQ. We have too many players that get significant minutes that are just plain bad when it comes to intangibles and making the right play (Reed, Solo, Stewart, Ross, Smith). I'm talking making the same mistakes over and over which should not be happening this late in the year (Tarris with his TOs every time he dribble more than once or twice, Solo with his live ball TOs and awful passes, Ross going for every up fake he sees, Smith with the over dribbling in the offensive sets, etc). These things should have been drilled out of them by now and it's concerning that they haven't. We are winning games lately strictly based on having more talent than the other team. The longer the season goes, the less that will be the case. This stuff needs to be cleaned up.

We are not just winning on talent alone. We also win because our system, coaching, training, depth, and intelligence.

 

[UConnJim]

I think one of the problems facing the offense is the lack of good passers. During the 2023/2024 season, UConn had a lot of guys who were good passers and had good assist to turnover ratios. This year, UConn does not have that. Ball has an assist to TO ratio of ~1 which is not good enough in the Hurley offense for someone who is a ball handling guard. Mullins also has an assist to TO ratio of ~1 same as Ross and Reed. Stewart is slightly better, but the ball needs to be in the hands of Demery, Smith, or Karaban for the offense to run smoothly. Does that mean the offense needs to be tweaked?

2023/2024 assist to TO ratios:
Spencer 3.6, Newton 2.5, Diarra 2.2, Karaban/Clingan/Castle 1.9, Stewart 1.5, Ball 0.8, Johnson 0.6

2025/2026 assist to TO ratios:
Smith 3.4, Demery 3.2, Karaban 2.6, Stewart 1.4, Ball 1.1, Reed/Mullins 1.0, Ross 0.8, Reibe 0.6

In 2023/2024, UConn had 7 players with assist to TO ratios >1.5. This year, there are 3.

 

[Gurleyman]

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.

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.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

This is a bizarre comment to make, after a win, about a team that is 20-1

Is it?

How does AK taking a huge percentage of shots, while making a small percentage of them, help the team win?

This is not an NBA season where 3,4,5 games don’t matter while you work out the kinks in your shooting stroke. Every game matters. And if during a game, if a player isn’t hitting shots, they shouldn’t take a high volume of them. Take your normal number of shots but not a abnormally high volume of them.

That being said, it’s understandable in this particular game with Mullins being out and Solo being injured, and Ross and Stewart not contributing, that AK felt that he needed to carry the team.

When Mullins is back, AK should not continue forcing up a high volume of shots when he’s not hitting. Same with Solo. Dial it back when you’re not making shots.

 

[NJHusky]

Has a Uconn team every missed so many bunnies? Wasnt there a stretch where Tyrese was shooting better from 3 than from layup?

Yeah, I don't think that's it at all. We're hurt and guys can't make anything lately. It's tough to win any games convincingly when you can't put the ball in the basket. So many missed layups, missed wide open jumpers, and missed ft's game after game now.

 

[navery12]

Is it?

How does AK taking a huge percentage of shots, while making a small percentage of them, help the team win?

This is not an NBA season where 3,4,5 games don’t matter while you work out the kinks in your shooting stroke. Every game matters. And if during a game, if a player isn’t hitting shots, they shouldn’t take a high volume of them. Take your normal number of shots but not a abnormally high volume of them.

That being said, it’s understandable in this particular game with Mullins being out and Solo being injured, and Ross and Stewart not contributing, that AK felt that he needed to carry the team.

When Mullins is back, AK should not continue forcing up a high volume of shots when he’s not hitting. Same with Solo. Dial it back when you’re not making shots.

Yes, it is. We have won 83% of our games since Alex Karaban started playing for UConn, and he's been getting close to 30 minutes the entire time. Just listen to our 2 time National Championship coach talk about him.

And here's the thing, Alex Karaban has an 18.4% usage rate which is the lowest of all 5 starters. He's not forcing up shots, he's taking the least percentage wise of all 5 starters

 

[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.