Questions About Stewart

[jibsey]

Is he going to get increased minutes going forward based on what we just saw? His 3 point shot got off quick and smooth and his size and athleticism are great. He is prone to foul and I wonder if his D is good enough. Alexis the much better shooter generally but can they be on the floor together?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Is he going to get increased minutes going forward based on what we just saw? His 3 point shot got off quick and smooth and his size and athleticism are great. He is prone to foul and I wonder if his D is good enough. Alexis the much better shooter generally but can they be on the floor together?

He should get more minutes going forward just to keep Alex fresh at a minimum. He’s been way more active in off-ball screens and cutting recently. A lot will still be matchup dependent I would think.

He and Karaban could be a problem for FAU if we get that matchup because FAU really doesn’t have much to matchup with those two.

 

[KembaRunner]

Feels like Stewie grabbed a timely offensive rebound in each of the last three games by out hustling everyone else.

At worst I think we find 8-10 minutes for him each game but he can play his way into more.

 

[aburks41]

As long as he keeps shooting with confidence and playing good defense, yes. Karaban shouldn't have to play 35 MPG anymore, we need to keep his legs fresh during this final push

 

[businesslawyer]

The thought that, having finished the regular season as the #1 team in the country, WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY WE PLAY IN ANY MATERIAL RESPECT is fantasy. Alex may get a minute or two more of rest, especially in second halves where sometimes he didn’t come out at all, and may be more protected if he’s flirting with foul trouble, but we’re not going to start playing differently with two forwards on the court for almost the first time this year starting now. And shouldn’t.

 

[REB1094]

Nothing will change. Hurley’s formula and substitution patterns work. If we need to get AK a rest or there’s frontcourt foul trouble, Stewart will get minutes.

Hurley’s plan is max minutes possible for the top 5, fill in the gaps with 6 and 7. Stewart is 8

 

[August_West]

Nothing will change. Hurley’s formula and substitution patterns work. If we need to get AK a rest or there’s frontcourt foul trouble, Stewart will get minutes.

Hurley’s plan is max minutes possible for the top 5, fill in the gaps with 6 and 7. Stewart is 8

That's pretty much it, there is a touch more nuance to it, but broadly that is how he works it. The nuance I speak of is that he wont hesitate depending on matchups to go to Diarra early even without foul trouble. Depends which guard is having trouble that day, and what the defensive matchups are. But Diarra is way more than a gap filler the way Hurley utilizes him.

 

[Sibeerian]

A while back it seemed like we'd reached our maximum potential. Then Castle found a new gear, Samson took a big step forward and now Stewart has gotten into the flow. Bench is there when we need it with little drop-off.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The thought that, having finished the regular season as the #1 team in the country, WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY WE PLAY IN ANY MATERIAL RESPECT is fantasy. Alex may get a minute or two more of rest, especially in second halves where sometimes he didn’t come out at all, and may be more protected if he’s flirting with foul trouble, but we’re not going to start playing differently with two forwards on the court for almost the first time this year starting now. And shouldn’t.

It’s not really a change though. It would be a continuation of a trend. Jaylin has been seeing more minutes. He’s been double digit minutes in 4 of the last 5 games. With the exception of the DePaul drubbing, he had gone 8 straight without reaching that mark before that stretch. Karaban played too much out of necessity early in the year because the other option was going four guards. Jaylin’s recent play probably puts Hurley much closer to what he’d have in an ideal world.

 

[jibsey]

Samson looked really good last couple games and I’m not just talking numbers. Guys have highs and lows out there even Clingan so having guys like SJ and Stew do good things is a bonus. But Stew showed a confidence, no tentativeness of a freshman. Eventually he’s a take over the game player.

 

[Coach J]

A couple of things about Stewart: He also gave us a spark in the first half vs St. John's, in both games he logged 11 minutes, prior to that he was scoreless in the previous 4 games and only got a basket in each of the 3 games prior to that and to be frank he could not find his stroke since he went for 11 points against Depaul. The only reason Hurley went to him was because AK got beat by his man 3 possessions in a row - so he went in for his defense and maybe because he had the freshest legs on the court he was able to give us those 3 Huge buckets from deep. So I imagine unless it is for a defensive match-up or to give Alex a little more rest you are going to see about the same amount of time he would get in a close game. When Cam, Steph and Tristen all can't get things going like in the first half vs Marquette I wouldn't mind DH giving Solo a few minutes to see if he can get hot. As we saw on Saturday night an unexpected shot of offensive can devastate an opponent.

 

[bigknight3]

The thought that, having finished the regular season as the #1 team in the country, WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY WE PLAY IN ANY MATERIAL RESPECT is fantasy. Alex may get a minute or two more of rest, especially in second halves where sometimes he didn’t come out at all, and may be more protected if he’s flirting with foul trouble, but we’re not going to start playing differently with two forwards on the court for almost the first time this year starting now. And shouldn’t.

This sums it up. If J-Stew is needed, we can have a little more confidence. But we aren't changing this up drastically at the end of a season where we've only lost 3 times.

 

[bendm]

if he misses his first two 3s he comes out, if he makes at least one he stays in longer

 

[Jbirdp5]

I think more so than the made 3s, he went in after Alex was struggling with an athletic 4 and basically cooled him right off. It’s a great tool for Hurley to use if an athletic 4 is going off on us.

 

[tzznandrew]

He's gonna get some good minutes because we're going to romp our way through Brooklyn. In Boston, we'll find out. Glad he has confidence though.

 

[Waquoit]

I think more so than the made 3s, he went in after Alex was struggling with an athletic 4 and basically cooled him right off. It’s a great tool for Hurley to use if an athletic 4 is going off on us.

Hey Jbird, you shot me a couple of Alerts on another thread but apparently I'm locked out of that one. All I can say is I heard what I heard but it certainly could be stale by now given his great recent performances.

 

[RichCTBB]

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Is he going to get increased minutes going forward based on what we just saw? His 3 point shot got off quick and smooth and his size and athleticism are great. He is prone to foul and I wonder if his D is good enough. Alexis the much better shooter generally but can they be on the floor together?

Well, I saw their power forward manhandle AK on 3 or 4 consecutive offensive possessions, only for it to stop when Stew came in the game. Hopefully we will not need it, but its nice to know that he can provide something on the defensive side of the ball. I am perfectly comfortable with AK on offense.

 

[AllHusky]

Only time I remember seeing AK get beat up like that. Thought his defense was a real plus this year. Stewart learning everything flows through defense. He will be a major factor if he continues to embrace that.

 

[James]

Only time I remember seeing AK get beat up like that. Thought his defense was a real plus this year. Stewart learning everything flows through defense. He will be a major factor if he continues to embrace that.

Been fun to watch how well the staff develops the players (just look at clingan w/ the increase in minutes). Stew is almost forced to develop his offensive/defensive iq, effort on every possession, and execution of defensive schemes. Tremendous boon of winning a ton is the young players start to see what are important/critical skillsets for winning basketball games.

He'll have his shot at big moments as a bench guy in the tourney, dont need to tinker too much with rotation as others have noted.

 

[gtcam]

I think the NBE championship game was the 1st time I felt that AK allowed his offensive slump to have a negative rollover to his defensive performance.
He has to get out of this funk - asap. He is too valuable of a player that UConn needs to be on top of his game.
UConn has a HUGE target on it's back.

 

[tzznandrew]

Tremendous boon of winning a ton is the young players start to see what are important/critical skillsets for winning basketball games.

Right. It reinforces what the coaches say and builds trust.

 

[IndyLives]

He's our secret weapon. He can jump out of the gym on both ends. When we have foul trouble (inevitably), the nation will be surprised on how good he is.

 

[1999GoodSon]

Interesting piece about him on UCONN+. I guess he's always been known for his hair, a lot of it. Shows up the 1st day and I think it was Solo (they've known each other)that started riding him hard cause his hair was short and telling him he probably isn't any good anymore. As we saw, he's pretty damn good, and the moss is back!

 

[navery12]

No. It does give Hurley another option for when Clingan and Johnson are in foul trouble to run Stewart and Karaban out there at the 4 and 5 spot