Rahsool Diggins’ HS coach supporting UConn men’s basketball frosh | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Rahsool Diggins’ HS coach supporting UConn men’s basketball frosh

bendm said:
Not really. The list goes back 30 years and the fact that only 2 or 3 of the guys on it became major players while at UConn is the takeaway.

Likewise, I’m sure a list of all the freshmen that averaged more than 10mpg over the past 30 years would be almost entirely filled with stars
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Thar's not an assumption you can make without the roster construction or the reasons for the low minutes.
 
Northbound said:
These guys have to get more run early on - they got no action early and now they get in a game at any point are like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs - jittery and frenetic.
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That’s the big issue. Diggins and Johnson should’ve been getting serious minutes against scrub competition.

Instead we played starters to gain chemistry and now we have no chemistry and forgot how to shoot. Throwing a freshman in now with no experience is setting them up for failure.
 
Hurley needs to do what JC used to do - sub out the entire group of starters and put in the young guys. Whaley and polley are fine, but they are not getting the job done. I love those two and they have a lot of heart. They are not allstars - they are warm bodies in places where we could do worse. Polley had one game where he lit it up from three but has been lackluster since. It’s time to see what RD and SJ can offer. Hawkins also needs much more playing time. Gaff, unfortunately, should really never see any time on the court.
 
The question, which we will never know the answer to, is would Rashool be more prepared to contribute if he were given more playing time early in the season? Sure he made some offensive/defensive mistakes, but could those be rectified or reduced if he had more floor time?

Coming in cold for 2 minutes of garbage time, is not a healthy development plan. My fear is that he will be a freshman again next year.
 
A head coach announcing who is going to be a pro or have their name up on the wall before they have done anything has to stop. This applies to AJax and Johnson on the current roster. It is the same as saying you better get us now and then everyone waiting for the results. Saying a player is going to have his name on the wall and then not playing him makes no sense. Less talk more action and let the players play speak for itself.
 
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Another bit of context is that not being able to play at least some modicum of defense will keep freshman off the floor. From the little we've seen out of Diggins and Johnson in games leads me to believe that their defense is not good enough yet to warrant minutes; no matter how good their offensive skills may or may not be.

I bet the coaching staff that sees these guys every day in practice has a better read on this than anyone on this board.

The good thing for the program is that Floyd and Karaban will be in the mix next year, so there's hope that amongst those two plus Diggins and Johnson that guys will step up into the vacated space left by Polley, Whaley, and presumably Martin (and maybe Cole).

I still think there's a slight/decent possibility that we'll dip into the transfer portal for the right player if it is (painfully) obvious that the underclassmen aren't quite ready yet given Martin and Cole both move on.
 
jrazz12 said:
I was curious how 6.3 was calculated because that didn't sound accurate at all. But I guess it's just based on games played. 44 minutes/7 GP. In reality his number is 2.1 MPG because of all the DNP, not sure if the other years are calculated the same but that looks really bad.
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Good point on factoring in the DNPs.

Rahsool's recorded 14 DNPs out of 21 total games (.667) and Johnson's recorded 11 DNPs out of 21 total games (.524). Who knows how their seasons will finish out, but the guys from the above list that had at DNPs in at least 50% of the games from their freshman seasons:

2012-13: Leon Tolksdorf (19 DNPs out of possible 30 games - .633)
2010-11: Enosch Wolf (27/33 - .818)
2009-10: Jamaal Trice (23/34 - .676)
2008-09: Scottie Haralson (19/36 - .528)
2006-07: Ben Eaves (20/31 - .645)
2005-06: Rob Garrison (17/34 - .500)
2001-02: Chad Wise (23/34 - .676)
2000-01: Robert Swain (21/32 - .656)
1997-98: Albert Mouring (22/37 - .595)
1996-97: Sam Funches (17/33 - .515)
1994-95: Ruslan Inyatkin (20/33 - .606)
 
Happy to hear his HS coach is adding perspective and keeping him focused. The "trust" part that he talks about in the article re: Dan Hurley and Sool I'm sure is partially influenced by the original conversations leading up to his commitment about expectations and PT. Kids remember those conversations.

Players want to play. Sool is a prideful kid. Hopefully he keeps his energy directed in the right areas and continues to improve in practice.Working hard with the Snc Program to get stronger. Has to be ready when his number is called. And it will be.
 
Gaff hasn't proven he deserves to be in over Diggins. Martin has spurts when he's hot but he has been terrible around the rim and then he'll go into hiding. I don't understand how Diggin's can't even get a few minutes a game to get on the court to just get some experience on the stage. Put him with Cole and let him just get comfortable. Let Diggins handle the ball and let's see. We just saw what happens with foul trouble and injuries this past Nova game. Johnson hasn't played and then gets thrown into the fire.
 
Northbound said:
These guys have to get more run early on - they got no action early and now they get in a game at any point are like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs - jittery and frenetic.
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My gripe regarding PT, and this applies to Geno as well who put 1 backup in vs TN this weekend when they were up by 20, is that the game won't "slow down" for them if they don't get time. You also never know when you might need them due to injuries or Covid, like the Villanova game. No Akok and early fouls and now we need Samson.
 
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Disagree with those disparaging Gaffney over Diggins in this thread. Gaffney is more of a combo guard & that's essentially his issue when he has to backup RJ against any defense that pressures the ballhandler. But Gaffney also can be steady on both ends and provide the occasional spark.
I honestly haven't seen much from Diggins in his minutes against scrubs that merits him getting burn over Gaffney. Prone to TOs, loses man on D, dies on picks etc.., frankly he is a year away from being a year away. Could bridge that gap this summer by adding speed, strength and quickness, but right now he looks like a high school player trying to play with college players.
 
tcf15 said:
Good point on factoring in the DNPs.

Rahsool's recorded 14 DNPs out of 21 total games (.667) and Johnson's recorded 11 DNPs out of 21 total games (.524). Who knows how their seasons will finish out, but the guys from the above list that had at DNPs in at least 50% of the games from their freshman seasons:

2012-13: Leon Tolksdorf (19 DNPs out of possible 30 games - .633)
2010-11: Enosch Wolf (27/33 - .818)
2009-10: Jamaal Trice (23/34 - .676)
2008-09: Scottie Haralson (19/36 - .528)
2006-07: Ben Eaves (20/31 - .645)
2005-06: Rob Garrison (17/34 - .500)
2001-02: Chad Wise (23/34 - .676)
2000-01: Robert Swain (21/32 - .656)
1997-98: Albert Mouring (22/37 - .595)
1996-97: Sam Funches (17/33 - .515)
1994-95: Ruslan Inyatkin (20/33 - .606)
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Yikes. So basically only Mouring became a legitimate contributor.

Now, there is the asterisk that we (and a lot of other teams) have an unusually old roster with the extra year of eligibility, and we are in "win now" mode, but the overwhelming history is that if a freshman is going to contribute at any point in their career, they would already be giving us something in their first year.
 
IMO the HS coach is trying not to alienate the biggest basketball program in the area.
 
Fairfield_1st said:
My gripe regarding PT, and this applies to Geno as well who put 1 backup in vs TN this weekend when they were up by 20, is that the game won't "slow down" for them if they don't get time. You also never know when you might need them due to injuries or Covid, like the Villanova game. No Akok and early fouls and now we need Samson.
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This assumes a game is the only place players can develop whereas a far bigger percentage of player development, coaching & improvement takes place in practice. We see 40 minutes of a guy sitting & that's our total context of his progression. Coach can run players in various scenarios for hours in practices to try and get them ready for games. Yes there is almost nothing like game conditions, but you can get darn close and develop & gauge how ready players are to step out under the brightest lights. Plus you can start & stop scrimmages on the spot to correct errors live - that teaching is often better for development than trial & error on the bigger stage where people like myself unfairly judge Diggins for 2 minutes.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Yes there is almost nothing like game conditions, but you can get darn close and develop & gauge how ready players are to step out under the brightest lights.
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And then there is the case of Ajou Ajou Deng.
 
Dogdeacon said:
This assumes a game is the only place players can develop whereas a far bigger percentage of player development, coaching & improvement takes place in practice. We see 40 minutes of a guy sitting & that's our total context of his progression. Coach can run players in various scenarios for hours in practices to try and get them ready for games. Yes there is almost nothing like game conditions, but you can get darn close and develop & gauge how ready players are to step out under the brightest lights. Plus you can start & stop scrimmages on the spot to correct errors live - that teaching is often better for development than trial & error on the bigger stage where people like myself unfairly judge Diggins for 2 minutes.
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Then there are the players who are great in practice, but not so much in games or the opposite those who don't practice well but step up when the lights come on.
 
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Kathy said:
Thar's not an assumption you can make without the roster construction or the reasons for the low minutes.
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huh? no you're missing the point. that list is clearly showing that over the past 30 years the freshmen that average under 10 mpg seldom pan out. doesnt matter if it's due to roster construction or otherwise, they just usually arent good enough.
 
Goatmeat said:
Hurley needs to do what JC used to do - sub out the entire group of starters and put in the young guys. Whaley and polley are fine, but they are not getting the job done. I love those two and they have a lot of heart. They are not allstars - they are warm bodies in places where we could do worse. Polley had one game where he lit it up from three but has been lackluster since. It’s time to see what RD and SJ can offer. Hawkins also needs much more playing time. Gaff, unfortunately, should really never see any time on the court.
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He is not comfortable in his skin to go out on the limb by subbing the whole squad. Also don't forget he is building a coaching resume, welcome to big time.
Gaff has some good qualities that prevents him from playing to his actual abilities. It's hard to come into a game when you have been sitting for awhile while most of the players have been in the flow of the game so I disagree on that issue.
 
Dogdeacon said:
This assumes a game is the only place players can develop whereas a far bigger percentage of player development, coaching & improvement takes place in practice. We see 40 minutes of a guy sitting & that's our total context of his progression. Coach can run players in various scenarios for hours in practices to try and get them ready for games. Yes there is almost nothing like game conditions, but you can get darn close and develop & gauge how ready players are to step out under the brightest lights. Plus you can start & stop scrimmages on the spot to correct errors live - that teaching is often better for development than trial & error on the bigger stage where people like myself unfairly judge Diggins for 2 minutes.
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What I said was they need game time for it to "slow down" for them. I didn't assume it's the only place for them to develop, I'm not that stupid. I know there's all sort of development that goes on in practice, but I wasn't addressing that. I didn't play sports past high school and didn't coach, so it's just my uneducated feeling. I feel like there's something to be said for real game speed against players you don't see every day in practice. There's also a level of pressure being in the game in front of a crowd and TV audiences that doesn't happen in practice.
 
8893 said:
My fear is the one we're not supposed to discuss here, but we're all thinking.
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Really! You had to go there? I have been thinking about that 6 games back and how it may trickle down to future players also.

Season 9 Breaking Up GIF by The Office
 
Fairfield_1st said:
What I said was they need game time for it to "slow down" for them. I didn't assume it's the only place for them to develop, I'm not that stupid. I know there's all sort of development that goes on in practice, but I wasn't addressing that. I didn't play sports past high school and didn't coach, so it's just my uneducated feeling. I feel like there's something to be said for real game speed against players you don't see every day in practice. There's also a level of pressure being in the game in front of a crowd and TV audiences that doesn't happen in practice.
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Shouldn't have implied tunnel vision game only thinking as strongly as I did towards you, I was also responding more to the overall theme in thread that Diggins definitionally isn't developing and career trajectory is predetermined based on his limited minutes. This is the only metric we have so its not without merit.

To rephrase my point; minutes played & earned in games is a good way to gauge how good a player performs during the entirety of his time with the team but not a good way to either ensure or assess that he is developing & progressing. In the past players like Toraino Walker, Marcus White & Kirk King had mostly limited minutes their frosh or early years, then emerged late & played key roles. That's still on the table for Diggins & Sampson.

There is definitely a difference between practice vs game pressure, speed and playing in 'big games'. I've said in other threads that I think Hawkins is now at the point that he is mostly reliable at home & less likely to perform well on road (stats vs Nova a good sign for Hawk) and this still happens even for NBA reserves. And of course obviously you can't perform in games until you play in games & occasionally it can be only that highest pressure that brings the diamond out of the rough.
 
UConnSwag11 said:
Gaff hasn't proven he deserves to be in over Diggins. Martin has spurts when he's hot but he has been terrible around the rim and then he'll go into hiding. I don't understand how Diggin's can't even get a few minutes a game to get on the court to just get some experience on the stage. Put him with Cole and let him just get comfortable. Let Diggins handle the ball and let's see. We just saw what happens with foul trouble and injuries this past Nova game. Johnson hasn't played and then gets thrown into the fire.
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No clue why you included Martin in this comment because he has been great this year. The guy is averaging 13/6/2 on 48/44/63 percent shooting splits and is a great defender. He also has the best 2pt FG% on the team besides our 2 bigs, so saying he's been terrible around the rim is likely just bias from last year.

I'm all for giving Diggins a few minutes but if it comes at the expense of Martin we are in big trouble. Take them from Gaffney/Polley and maybe a few from Jackson.
 
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bendm said:
huh? no you're missing the point. that list is clearly showing that over the past 30 years the freshmen that average under 10 mpg seldom pan out. doesnt matter if it's due to roster construction or otherwise, they just usually arent good enough.
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My point is different coach, different reasons for not playing. Some of those guys didn't play because they weren't as good as those ahead of them and probably shouldn't have been recruited to begin with. I am hoping that is not the case here.
 
8893 said:
And then there is the case of Ajou Ajou Deng.
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Why bring THAT up?!
Two theories:
A (99%): Ajou Ajou Deng was a big deal ONLY because he was mentioned as the team's best player on the 1999 final four telecast by professional hyperbolists Billy Packer & Dick Vitale. And it was purposefully spoon fed to the ravenous 'act like I know more than everyone' Packer as a smoke-screen to lower everyone's radar on how good the 1999 Huskies actually were so that they could smoke the heavily favored Dookies. Also revenge for Packer single-handedly getting Chris Smith's crossover dribble called for half a dozen carries a few years earlier.

B (1% chance): There was some brief window where practice Ajou was as good or better than younger brother Luol who had a very good NBA career. Whether the practice performances would have or could have translated to games is a dubious proposition at best given what we saw and health, but it is at least theoretically possible.
 
bendm said:
huh? no you're missing the point. that list is clearly showing that over the past 30 years the freshmen that average under 10 mpg seldom pan out. doesnt matter if it's due to roster construction or otherwise, they just usually arent good enough.
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I had the same thought as Kathy. It’s a different coach. Are there freshmen that Calhoun played 10+ minutes that are not showing up on this list that would have played fewer minutes under Hurley? We’ll never know. But it’s not comparing apples to apples with a different coach.
 
UConnSwag11 said:
Gaff hasn't proven he deserves to be in over Diggins. Martin has spurts when he's hot but he has been terrible around the rim and then he'll go into hiding. I don't understand how Diggin's can't even get a few minutes a game to get on the court to just get some experience on the stage. Put him with Cole and let him just get comfortable. Let Diggins handle the ball and let's see. We just saw what happens with foul trouble and injuries this past Nova game. Johnson hasn't played and then gets thrown into the fire.
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Ultimately, I agree. The kid's a top 50 recruit, how horrific can he be?

My main issue with Gaffney is that he doesn't really DO anything ... he's just kinda there. I'm positive Diggins can at least do that.

My other main issue, at many have said, is that he could have gotten some game action early in the season. I also understand wanting to develop the chemistry with the main guys first, before thinking about the frosh, but man I can't imagine for 7-10 mins a game Diggins couldn't play the 1 and just not screw up too bad while Cole runs the 2 or gets some rest.

While saying all that, I do think this is more unique than others in the past and I truly believe he will be fine if everyone sticks to the game plan ... by next year he'll have a much bigger role. I just hope he isn't soured. Every kid wants to play, but a lot of kids can still have that mentality of waiting and working for their chance. That's my hope for Sool. I am geeked for him as a player.
 
I think people are missing some key details. Diggins hasn’t been good in the limited minutes he has played. Gaffney has been better than people think. Better than 2-1 assist to turnovers ratio. Shooting 80% at the line. His 3 point shooting is way down, but his defense has been much better. He’s pretty much what you want in a 15 mpg backup PG.

As for Diggins, back when UConn wasn’t handling the press he seemed viable. But then we learned to keep Jackson back and that issue vanished. I don‘t see much room to get him minutes right now. Next year will be interesting if Cole returns. In some ways the team has too many guards compared to past UConn teams.
 
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