Providence Post Game Thread

[El Obrero]

Yo, anyone get a ransom note yet? Cuz somebody done hijacked this thread!

 

[gsmooth]

The longer we go between seeing A games, I am starting to wonder if we’re seeing it, but it’s just not very good.

We’ve now played 85 minutes against Providence and the takeaway is that we seem to be a little bit better than they are. We have not moved forward yet in the way that other potential one seeds have. We’re needing overtime and late game rallies to squeak out these Quad 2 wins - need to get better over the next six weeks.

Exactly. There is still time for them to get better, like the 2023 team, but I am wondering if this is who they are.

I am just not sure this team is all that good of a perimeter shooting team. Everyone kept saying in November Solo will get his shooting back, but I am not so sure. I know his wrist injury is most likely hurting his shooting, but this bad stretch, with the exception of a few good games behind the arc, continued from last year's NCAAT.

 

[gsmooth]

The team as it looks today looks more vulnerable to getting knocked out by an 8 seed than it does making an NC run.

Let's hope this doesn't happen, but right now they are not playing all that great. I can understand getting the ugly road win in the Big East, but games at home should have bigger MOVs. There is still time, though, and they can improve and get right for March, but it has to start now. A great way to start that would be with a win in Omaha.

 

[KingAG]

Exactly. There is still time for them to get better, like the 2023 team, but I am wondering if this is who they are.

I am just not sure this team is all that good of a perimeter shooting team. Everyone kept saying in November Solo will get his shooting back, but I am not so sure. I know his wrist injury is most likely hurting his shooting, but this bad stretch, with the exception of a few good games behind the arc, continued from last year's NCAAT.

They’re a streaky shooting team. All of them. When it’s good it’s good. But when they go cold, they go really cold. Until the under 4 when they become the best team in the nation again.

 

[HW611]

Maybe paragraph text is too hard. Let me try doing this via bullet points.

• Calhoun did not play White meaningful minutes all year.
• Calhoun had health problems and took a leave of absence
• George Blaney filled in for Calhoun
• George Blaney played Marcus White
• Marcus White played very well
• Calhoun came back and White was playing too well to keep on the bench
• White stayed in the rotation and helped us win postseason games.

I hope that helps. Assuming you’re real. You might be some form of AI slop.

The point is he did end up playing him, a lot. Even if Blaney started it. He continued and rode with him. As a freshman at that who was originally committed to DePaul.

This wasn’t some crazy high ceiling player he was holding back. He got passed up by 2 freshman the next year.

This is the example you all want me to believe is the same as having two juniors Hurley has been hyping up for years.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Yep, Calhoun didn't tolerate bad habits/bad play from his stars. He didn't give them any of that long leash Hurley gives Karaban and he coached the bad stuff right out of them like he did with Jerome Dyson (our best player according to Huskywarrior in 2009-2010.) That's why Dyson averaged 4 turnovers per game that season, shot under 40% from the field, under 30% from three and had a combined 8 points, 4 assists, and 11 turnovers in his last two Big East games as a Husky.


Remember Darnell Beverly? Remember when Marcus White couldn't beat out Rashad Anderson and Denham Brown?

I've never seen someone out themselves like this. Dude never even watched the Calhoun teams play.

Donnell* Beverly.

I went to Vegas ages ago. I was killing time waiting to board the plane, and end up scrolling past an Instagram post from Donnell (I was probably 1 of his 1,000 followers).

He's pictured on a private jet heading to Vegas with a big crew to celebrate his best friend Russ Westbrook's engagement. I chuckle at the coincidence and remark to my friend... What if...

A couple hours later we touch down in Vegas, check in at the Wynn, and head to our rooms. We're navigating the casino with our bags to find the elevator bank. All of a sudden I look up and the entire bachelor party is walking towards us. I hesitate and let the moment slip by.

I regret it to this day... Giving props to Donnell while ignoring Russ (this was two years prior to his MVP season) would have brought the house down.

 

[HW611]

Yep, Calhoun didn't tolerate bad habits/bad play from his stars. He didn't give them any of that long leash Hurley gives Karaban and he coached the bad stuff right out of them like he did with Jerome Dyson (our best player according to Huskywarrior in 2009-2010.) That's why Dyson averaged 4 turnovers per game that season, shot under 40% from the field, under 30% from three and had a combined 8 points, 4 assists, and 11 turnovers in his last two Big East games as a Husky.


Remember Darnell Beverly? Remember when Marcus White couldn't beat out Rashad Anderson and Denham Brown?

I've never seen someone out themselves like this. Dude never even watched the Calhoun teams play.

Dyson is one of the only examples you can give of his top players with those kind of habits. And I literally just posted a video of Calhoun subbing him out :30 seconds into a game. So I don’t know why you’re comparing his leash to Karaban. This kind of stupid stuff is why I don’t respond to you.

As far as his development. Let’s just say he’s the Iverson of UConn basketball when it came to practice but being able to leave it all out on the court at the same time.

That was a Dyson problem. Not Calhoun problem. If you worked hard and were coachable, you usually turned out to be one of the best players in the country. Calhoun has a very long list of those guys.

 

[dennismenace]

I think people think that anyone not named Ricky Moore isn’t a great perimeter defender, when the reality is that under current rules and officiating, Moore would be committing 20 fouls every game.

If he was playing for Uconn yes. No more offensive charging fouls against our opponents. He would have to have practice in the parking lot with a pickup truck "backing him down." Or watch video tapes of the man with his own rulebook Colin Gillespie bowling over everyone unless they were Sanogo. Then he'd find out that other teams are permitted to continuously commit intentional fouls of grabbing jerseys, shorts, arms or legs but not him. These are the rules of the Big East officials. We had a token jersey grab intentional foul for the first time I can remember last game. And Brian O'Connell was on the floor! I guess Danny finally shamed a ref. Our offense is undefendable in conference play because our opponents don't have the intellect or training to handle it. So they "muck it up" to quote Ed Cooley. That is why we looked unbeatable in the NCAA's where rules are still rules.

Many have commented that the games we are watching are not basketball and that is why they are so hard to watch. It's a travesty and either the league will have to change or we should find a new league. To stay in this league involves roster construction of football types, not long wiry guys. It's like the Big East is in its own world and brand of bully boy street ball. Not saying it has to be like west coast style but just enforce the rules as written. At one point a number of decades ago the Big East was much more dominant (like say Georgetown) because this style was allowed in the NCAA's and then (remember!) they later disallowed hand checking! "Do not touch!" From one extreme to another.

Shout out to Dan Hurley. He builds great defensive teams and then starts integrating state of the art Euro style and no one wants to have to absorb that so the refs pretend that each team can have its own rules in order to have things "balanced."

Hey refs (League office): Are we in the 80's NBA or the modern era?

 

[boog204]

You’re right man. Calhoun should’ve did better by… Marcus White.

Could’ve been the next Rodman if he played him sooner and didn’t wait.

Yup, just like Gaffney and Solo... All of our coaches "should've did better."

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Wonder what they could have been talking about immediately after the game

 

[Mr. French]

Dyson is one of the only examples you can give of his top players with those kind of habits. And I literally just posted a video of Calhoun subbing him out :30 seconds into a game. So I don’t know why you’re comparing his leash to Karaban. This kind of stupid stuff is why I don’t respond to you.

As far as his development. Let’s just say he’s the Iverson of UConn basketball when it came to practice but being able to leave it all out on the court at the same time.

That was a Dyson problem. Not Calhoun problem. If you worked hard and were coachable, you usually turned out to be one of the best players in the country. Calhoun has a very long list of those guys.

No matter the examples or responses, you’ll dismiss them. This is why no one takes you seriously. Oh, and the fact you’re wrong a lot but simultaneously condescending.

Do you think Karaban never gets coached or subbed out? Do you think Calhoun would be benching him for missed shots? Do you believe all of this wholeheartedly or are you just so dug in you can’t stop?

 

[Lafayette]

OMG any more Ross and White mentions and this thread is less post Providence game and more disco nights.

Many players get better by Junior year, some by leaps and bounds, some by physicality.

Freeman and Armstrong became gym rats and got much bigger and filled specific roles for the team.

Ross and Stewart. are role players and 50/50 if they would start on another team. They are not stars, are good backups for specific cases (Ross for defense, Stewart for small forward defense and occasionally scoring). We need to stop wishing they were better than they are.

Regarding Maheney I don’t recall the entire yard saying great PG pickup. Dude wasn’t even a point guard. Nice kid, not a great fit for UConn point.

Furphy - he’s a year away both physically and offensive flow. But he is a disruptor, scorer and gamer with Cam like attitude and shooting (Hurley mentions the comp - google it)

This thread has reached a terminal point and in the words of Roberto Duran: “No mas!”

 

[ucp990411]

Ross and Stewart are like 5th round draftees in MLB. When given a chance and they go 1 for 20 they are buried and forgotten about. Solo and Karaban are like first round picks. They go 1 for 20 they are given lots more chances. Ross and Stewart have not taken advantage of their opportunities

 

[dennismenace]

View attachment 116530

Wonder what they could have been talking about immediately after the game

NIL probably.

 

[aboogieee]

This doesn’t just pertain to Ross either. As aceboogie (can’t remember his username) pointed out, Hurley said he’d start calling plays for Stewart after Texas. That has not been happening.

Nobody responded to that very good question he had though about Stewart’s situation.

There’s a set run for Stewart around the 10:51 mark, but if you go back a few possessions—after a Vaaks miss, Stewart secures the rebound and then turns it over. It looks like the type of play another poster mentioned: after the rebound, he’s not fully in attack mode, slows things down, and tries to find Reibe, but the pass is poor. In that same situation, Dillon Mitchell and Jamier Jones are finding a way to get to the rim.

Despite the turnover, Hurley still ran a play for him. #noticing

 

[Donyell 360]

Maybe a Creighton game give a little run to twin towers. Yes, I know foul danger; but love to see Eric take 2 or 3 what will be wide open triples with Reed getting attention down low.

You know he wants to...

That would be fun to watch, but I trust Hurley to make the right call. I love the Reed/Reibe rotation. It makes us pretty insulated from foul trouble at the 5. The center postion is one of this teams strengths.

 

[aboogieee]

Maybe a Creighton game give a little run to twin towers. Yes, I know foul danger; but love to see Eric take 2 or 3 what will be wide open triples with Reed getting attention down low.

You know he wants to...

Just imagining Reibe chasing Traudt from the low block through two screens to the three-point line is sending me.

 

[HW611]

There’s a set run for Stewart around the 10:51 mark, but if you go back a few possessions—after a Vaaks miss, Stewart secures the rebound and then turns it over. It looks like the type of play another poster mentioned: after the rebound, he’s not fully in attack mode, slows things down, and tries to find Reibe, but the pass is poor. In that same situation, Dillon Mitchell and Jamier Jones are finding a way to get to the rim.

Despite the turnover, Hurley still ran a play for him. #noticing

Love to see it. Would also like to see stuff drawn up to get Stew going downhill or in the post more.

 

[aboogieee]

Love to see it. Would also like to see stuff drawn up to get Stew going downhill or in the post more.

I’ve always thought the downhill handoff at the top was a better action for Stewart than for Karaban, though Karaban has had good to great success when he’s overplayed and drives to the rim.

With this new wrinkle for Stewart, who’s to say they won’t keep adding more?

They finally ran the corner skip a few games ago, it resulted in a turnover, and I don’t think we’ve seen it since.

 

[superjohn]

Donnell* Beverly.

I went to Vegas ages ago. I was killing time waiting to board the plane, and end up scrolling past an Instagram post from Donnell (I was probably 1 of his 1,000 followers).

He's pictured on a private jet heading to Vegas with a big crew to celebrate his best friend Russ Westbrook's engagement. I chuckle at the coincidence and remark to my friend... What if...

A couple hours later we touch down in Vegas, check in at the Wynn, and head to our rooms. We're navigating the casino with our bags to find the elevator bank. All of a sudden I look up and the entire bachelor party is walking towards us. I hesitate and let the moment slip by.

I regret it to this day... Giving props to Donnell while ignoring Russ (this was two years prior to his MVP season) would have brought the house down.

I was having some fun with Huskywarrior who thinks his name is Darnell Beverly and who thinks Marcus White was competing for playing time with Rashad and Denham.

You should've hung out with them!

 

[BFieldHusky]

Great resume builders, non indicative of how the result would look today on a neutral floor. Some teams have picked up play. For instance, Illinois would be favored right now. These games were two months ago at the very beginning of the year.

Needed to put Ball at the point to get him ready for the NBA.

Illinois wouldn't be favored on a neutral floor right now. Another strange take by you.

 

[Leebo]

Illinois wouldn't be favored on a neutral floor right now. Another strange take by you.

Illinois has a higher efficiency rating than we do, whether it's kenpom or Torvik, and probably others as well.

Obviously gambling doesn't always perfectly align with efficiency, but it's not unreasonable to think we'd open as narrow underdogs to Illinois.

 

[Nameless]

Things have not looked good lately and it's 5 out of the last 6 games where things are a major struggle with the schedule about to get a lot tougher.

There's a little of it being the Big East and the way it's reffed and how we're scouted but it's pretty clear to me what our big problem is. Solo and Tarris have been dealing with injury for a long time and then you tack on Mullins in and out of the lineup. Solo shouldn't have even been playing tonight, I've dealt with what he's going through with his wrist over the years and it's awful. He won't get any sleep tonight because the wrist will be stiff as a board and even the slightest movement will be excruciating pain and it's going to be awful for him for at least the next few days. He played really badly but he absolutely gutted it out tonight and still hit a couple of big shots. He's a tough guy.

Our next biggest problem ties into our biggest problem. Jaylin and Ross are giving us nothing on the offensive end. Their defense has been good overall but even that really bad tonight...

Hurley is stuck, he knows Solo shouldn't have been playing tonight but he felt he needed him to get the win because there's no Mullins and Jaylin and Ross are big donuts out there.

I really want a 1 seed but I'm okay dropping a couple of it gets us healthy.

It was nice to see Reibe play well and Malachi had a great game despite missing another wide open layup. I want Silas to be in aggressive mode scoring the ball. We really need him to take over and he's fully capable, he's one of the best players in the country.

20-1 but we have major issues surrounding health and the play of the two junior forwards.

Do you know what exactly is wrong with his wrist? All I know is that he has been playing with it injured the whole season, and it was clear as day that it was impacting his shot last night. You said in your post you know exactly how it is to be dealing with that type of injury, so just curious if I've missed something.

I'm in total agreement and said so on another board, I would rather sit him and let him get healthy. I feel like his 3 point shot is way more important to our success in the tournament than the difference between a 1 and a 2 seed is. I think we're better than anyone when fully healthy so the seeding doesn't matter much to me

 

[superjohn]

Do you think the AP Poll determines the spread? You are predictable as can be.

You didn't even know Wagler was in their rotation when they played us despite him averaging 15 ppg. We already know you don't think UConn beating Illinois by 13 factors in at all and Reed and Mullins being on a minutes restriction and combining for 4 points factors in at all.

 

[7774]

Illinois wouldn't be favored on a neutral floor right now. Another strange take by you.

Yep, #2 UConn would be underdogs on a neutral court against #9 Illinois a team they already beat by 13 points at MSG.

RuffRuff never disappoints.

What am I missing here? They’re 8 spots ahead of us on Kenpom, so they would be favored. Are we talking about the number it would get bet to?

 

[KingAG]

What am I missing here? They’re 8 spots ahead of us on Kenpom, so they would be favored. Are we talking about the number it would get bet to?

They'd be favored on KenPom. Not necessarily Vegas.

 

[KingAG]

Illinois has a higher efficiency rating than we do, whether it's kenpom or Torvik, and probably others as well.

Obviously gambling doesn't always perfectly align with efficiency, but it's not unreasonable to think we'd open as narrow underdogs to Illinois.

It's not unreasonable. But its okay to say it'd be dumb.

 

[superjohn]

What am I missing here? They’re 8 spots ahead of us on Kenpom, so they would be favored. Are we talking about the number it would get bet to?

You seem to be missing that we already beat them by 13 in Reed's first game back off of injury and Mullins first game as a Husky off of injury. They had a combined 4 points.

 

[7774]

You seem to be missing that we already beat them by 13 in Reed's first game back off of injury and Mullins first game as a Husky off of injury. They had a combined 4 points.

Vegas doesn’t care about any of that. They just look at Kenpom and cash checks. You’re talking about things bettors care about, which is why I asked if you were talking about where the line would end up, because there is a 0% chance that some team that is better in the metrics and the eye test right now is an underdog to us on the opening line.

 

[superjohn]

Vegas doesn’t care about any of that. They just look at Kenpom and cash checks. You’re talking about things bettors care about, which is why I asked if you were talking about where the line would end up, because there is a 0% chance that some team that is better in the metrics and the eye test right now is an underdog to us on the opening line.

So Vegas doesn't factor in one team beating the cr@p out of the other team already and doesn't factor in injury, minutes restrictions, what players are available etc.?