Quotes from Today's Practice

[MDHuskFan]

Jared Terrell at URI, Latif Rivers and Naofall Folahan at Wagner

At URI, Matthews, Martin, Garrett, and Dowtin all started as freshmen but not from the start

Didn’t want to @ you in the question, but figured you were most likely to respond.
Thank you

 

[Umami Zen]

Yep, Doron was so slow as hell and he pushed pace better than any point guard UConn has ever had.

Nadav wasn't too shabby as a point forward on the break despite his lack of foot speed .

 

[HuskyHawk]

Look for AJ to release on the shot. He’s going to be the guy to hit on the break.

I'm going to shock some here and say something positive about Polley, but he gets out well on the break. Also shoots better in fast break situations. This is part of the reason he doesn't get rebounds of course.

 

[Umami Zen]

There is team speed on this roster with certain lineups. Can the Bigs outlet quickly-accurately and/or can the guards(initial ballhandler) get it to the wings/athletes??

An advantage for DH if he sees value in letting them run on occasion.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes, speed absolutely matters when court vision is normal. The ball has to move up the court somehow. If you can't pass it up the court, you have to be fast.

I was also waiting for someone to bring up Magic. Earlier this thread @Huskyforlife said it's always a good place to start when you compare everyone to a Nat'l championship PG. I guess using the greatest PG ever and top 3 NBA player all-time is a good comparison too. I'll make it simple for you. RJ Cole is no Magic Johnson. He's no KEA either.

If you are going to lack measurables, you better have elite vision- see Doron Sheffer or Marcus Williams. Or Magic Johnson. They could thread a pass 30' up the court no problem. RJ can't do that either.

There's no need to make RJ in to some intersteller superstar. He is what he is and what we saw last year. He may improve incrementally this year. I hope he does. He may make a huge leap. I think that's unrealistic but if he does, I"ll gladly eat crow and cheer him on.

I don't think he's a superstar. I think he's a steady ball handler and a + shooter. He's not great going to the rim. His D improved and he's now a solid defender. No, he's not Magic Johnson. I just don't think he's the limiting factor in our ability to play faster.

I expect that Jackson, when he is in, will run the offense much of the time. I don't think the PG is necessarily the guy who runs the break or even the offense in the modern game. The role of the PG is to be a good enough ball handler that you make it hard to press.

 

[Pmurph678]

Biggest problem with Cole is he can’t breakdown his defender. Can cause our offense to get stale real quick.

Showed against Maryland, Gaffney came in and could attack the rim, Cole couldn’t.

 

[QDOG5]

Donny Marshall was the best I've ever seen at releasing on the fast break. Not just at UConn. I mean the best I've ever seen in college hoops.

 

[Umami Zen]

Donny Marshall was the best I've ever seen at releasing on the fast break. Not just at UConn. I mean the best I've ever seen in college hoops.

Donny had wheels. Also was an elite HS soccer player. JC was quoted as saying he was his fastest player on the teams he played on--including the guards.

Combine his speed with BB IQ and he was lethal on the break.

 

[Kitaman]

Who else besides Taliek, KO and Alterique would you consider RJ to have better offensive skills?

Craig 'Ball Pounder' Austrie

 

[Fatroony5]

Pushing the pace has little to do with his end-to-end speed. It's about accurate hit ahead passes and a mentality. You aren't head down sprinting with the ball in your hands as a PG.

I think people are watching these elite (athletic wise) NBA guards like Morant, Fox etc and thinking you need explosiveness & elite speed to push the ball. That’s just not true. Steve Nash and the Suns revolutionized the game with their tempo & I wouldn’t say Steve Nash is exactly fast. What Nash did so well was change speeds, get to his spots, and had a great feel for when to attack/hunt his shot vs look for others. RJ can play, I like his game, he’ll be fine. I loved what Diggins said previously about changing speeds, & having an overall feel for the game. That matters way more than just being fast. Some guys are really fast but only know one speed.

 

[Chief00]

RJ is not the athlete that KO or Taliek and most of the others are. He doesn’t have the combination of size, strength, speed and ups. That seems unarguable.

However, he has more offensive skills than a lot of those on the list, including KO and Taliek. Obviously not than KEA.

Ironically, I think that made KO and Ray comfortable in their roles. KO had Ray to pass to and Taliek had a whole array of shooters to pass to. Made their role simple and defined. No feeling they were missing out.

 

[Mr. French]

I like you math. 4 is half of 12.

And I'd agree that RJ is better offensively than Tate, Ricky, KO and Taliek.

Someone else mentioned Marcus Williams should be on the list. I'd put him slightly above RJ but numerically they are pretty close offensively.

Marcus Williams might have been the best PG in the country when he played.

 

[CL82]

I'm going to shock some here and say something positive about Polley, but he gets out well on the break. Also shoots better in fast break situations. This is part of the reason he doesn't get rebounds of course.

Interestingly, one of the comments from Hurley on Jackson was on his rebounding ability. That is at least a little incompatible with him getting out on the break.

I don’t love the pull up three on the break, unless defenders have beaten you back and settled into the paint. I do agree, though, that is one of Tyler‘s strengths.

I’ve said this all during the off-season, but this team has got to find easy baskets. The quick outlet pass is one way to do that.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Marcus Williams might have been the best PG in the country when he played.

The sub topic we were on was on the PG's offensive capabilities. Marcus is definitely a better passer than RJ but if you look at ppg, fg%, 3pt fg%, FT% they are pretty close.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Interestingly, one of the comments from Hurley on Jackson was on his rebounding ability. That is at least a little incompatible with him getting out on the break.

I don’t love the pull up three on the break, unless defenders have beaten you back and settled into the paint. I do agree, though, that is one of Tyler‘s strengths.

I’ve said this all during the off-season, but this team has got to find easy baskets. The quick outlet pass is one way to do that.

Jackson is by far the best at passing the ball down the court to push the tempo. He had some beauties last year that just hit his teammate in stride at the right angle with the right amount of touch. He is extremely gifted like that. He's also great on the leak out and catching the pass to attack the rim.

 

[husky429]

Interestingly, one of the comments from Hurley on Jackson was on his rebounding ability. That is at least a little incompatible with him getting out on the break.

I don’t love the pull up three on the break, unless defenders have beaten you back and settled into the paint. I do agree, though, that is one of Tyler‘s strengths.

I’ve said this all during the off-season, but this team has got to find easy baskets. The quick outlet pass is one way to do that.

You've gotta tailor that to the player. In the NBA with great shooters, that is a super high % shot.

Outside of Hawkins, Polley, maybe Cole, I wouldn't think transition 3s should be in our wheelhouse.

Also gotta consider that our strength is offensive rebounding with Sanogo and Martin especially. Transitiob 3s make that tougher at times

 

[HuskyHawk]

Interestingly, one of the comments from Hurley on Jackson was on his rebounding ability. That is at least a little incompatible with him getting out on the break.

I don’t love the pull up three on the break, unless defenders have beaten you back and settled into the paint. I do agree, though, that is one of Tyler‘s strengths.

I’ve said this all during the off-season, but this team has got to find easy baskets. The quick outlet pass is one way to do that.

Oh I expect him to sky for balls and immediately spot somebody running down court and throw a Scott Burrell worthy 3/4 court pass for a dunk OR grab the ball and immediately head up court with either a lead guy or a trailer. He's going to have a couple Dr. J style coast to coast dunks.

Polley is money on that pull up 3. I don't want everybody taking it, but that is his best shot (and I honestly don't trust him to convert at the rim).

 

[mauconnfan]

Biggest problem with Cole is he can’t breakdown his defender. Can cause our offense to get stale real quick.

Showed against Maryland, Gaffney came in and could attack the rim, Cole couldn’t.

He did but maybe that game and a couple others. Besides that things were stale more often with his East-West offense. He needs to be that guy he was late versus the Terrapins much more consistently to get more minutes as well as guard off the dribble a lot better. His potential jump in impact could be huge if he improves in those areas. He definitely shot it well enough last year from deep. Will be interesting!

 

[Mr. French]

The sub topic we were on was on the PG's offensive capabilities. Marcus is definitely a better passer than RJ but if you look at ppg, fg%, 3pt fg%, FT% they are pretty close.

Yep, I know. No biggie. I like RJ a lot actually. And I get your point overall.

But Marcus was pretty good at scoring too, and I haven't looked deeply at their numbers. He was a much better offensive player than RJ.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The sub topic we were on was on the PG's offensive capabilities. Marcus is definitely a better passer than RJ but if you look at ppg, fg%, 3pt fg%, FT% they are pretty close.

Marcus played in a much better conference though.

 

[Palatine]

DHam was able to rebound the ball, push it down court and get a lay up, the definition of a one man fastbreak. And he he did it regularly. Not the fastest guy there out there but very fast with the ball.

 

[tower1]

Maybe it's not intentional but your posts come across with a legitimate hatred for RJ

You need to face it, He is an average to below average point guard ! No one hates him just the truth !

 

[The Shot]

You need to face it, He is an average to below average point guard ! No one hates him just the truth !

An average to below average point guard doesn’t get picked preseason second team in the Big East and already have an All-America honorable mention to his name. I think we all agree he’s not Kemba but your take has to be trolling. He’s a good point guard, the only thing debatable is how good.

 

[Umami Zen]

RJ had a year with Covid challenges during the summer last year. He's now coming through a full summer/SnC conditioning off-season ..And had an abbreviated BE season where he's learned about the speed/athleticism of the guards he's playing against.

He's not KEA. But he's a baller with pride. He'll be fine as long as he distributes the ball to his athletes and is found by his teammates when he's open. He's not going to get his shot off by shakin' and bakin'. Got to be open in his spots.

He's surrounded by a lot of talent for the first time in his college career. I think he knows that.

 

[jibsey]

You need to face it, He is an average to below average point guard ! No one hates him just the truth !

He can make 3 point shots. What other guard is doing that consistently for us? Thought so.