Reed needs to start

[Kenny11]

Last season we really had 3 excellent point guards with newton, castle and Spencer and a 4th solid point guard in Diarra. This season our point guard play hasn’t been as good although Diarra is going to be fine. Samson obviously thrives with point guards that can drive and hide whether they are going to shoot or pass. Last year cam had so many little layups and floaters because the defense thought he was going to throw the lob to Johnson or Clingan. I think that threat and how Samson runs the floor is why he’s been starting. Hurley is not too stubborn to change it.

 

[alphasigko]

Maybe it's because the team can play faster with Johnson in the game. Maybe Hurley believes it is easy to guard the arc with Johnson inside. Maybe it's because Johnson knows the offense and is a better passer. Maybe Johnson is in better shape and a better athlete. Maybe he thinks Johnson has a higher upside.

If you think it's "blind loyalty," and that Hurley is incapable of having your objective analysis, you must have a low opinion of our coach

Could be any or none of these. Two comments on your list: Johnson is hardly ever "inside" except after a dunk as he is too busy hedging and trying to get back on his man, and, I am not sure minimal rebounding and blocking-out skills plus excessive fouling constitute a higher "upside".

 

[mauconnfan]

Did it ever occur to you that the reason Samson Johnson high hedges so far up court is because Hurley wants him to? And the reason he tries to block so many shots (which hurt his rebounding numbers) is because Hurley wants him to? That, perhaps, the reason he starts is that he is doing exactly what the coach asks him to do? BTW, after 8 games Reed has played 156 minutes and Johnson 144. For the record Samson Johnson averages over 5 rebounds a game for 40 minutes.

Watch our offense. Johnson tends to play in the high post and Reed tends to play in the low post. Think they are doing that on their own? They are very different players and Hurley uses them differently. DUH. On defense, the rebounds that Samson Johnson loses often go to Ball or Steward or McNeeley, etc.

Make peace with it.

Don’t give me DUH crap you idiot. He hedges too high and no coach on earth wants him to create a scramble to find open people he wants him to get back to his guy smart guy. Make peace with this he sucks overall and can’t rebound at all. Don’t try to make it what it’s not with some twisted idea that you’re right.

 

[Kowalski]

Yeah I think you've got the reason. Johnson is the better weakside rim protector. We start Ball and McNeeley, who are poor defenders and get blown by a lot. Whereas the backups only really have Mahaney as a weak on-ball defender. So Johnson's rim protection impact is greater with the starting group.

Agree. I think Hurley values the rim protection more & especially since they were constantly leaving perimeter shooters open in Maui. Samson Johnson’s not Clingan in that regard but probably better than Reed. Last year, Spencer wasn’t the best on ball defender but he was effective at running shooters off the 3 pt line because he knew Clingan was there if he got beat.

 

[jibsey]

I do not understand Samson running around at the 3 point line on defense. On offense he sets screens and rolls for a lob, fine but on D all he can do is foul and allow a drive with the rim unprotected. Of course he fouls at the rim too.
Look, our coaches understand this better than we do but unless the big man he is guarding is an elite 3 point shooter let the guy screen or shoot out there and stay inside for the rebound.
We don’t win without rebounding and defensive superiority.

 

[yungdowork]

Don’t give me DUH crap you idiot. He hedges too high and no coach on earth wants him to create a scramble to find open people he wants him to get back to his guy smart guy. Make peace with this he sucks overall and can’t rebound at all. Don’t try to make it what it’s not with some twisted idea that you’re right.

People said the same thing about Whaley and Sanogo in terms of their hedging, so it seems pretty obvious there is at least one coach who wants that

 

[mauconnfan]

People said the same thing about Whaley and Sanogo in terms of their hedging, so it seems pretty obvious there is at least one coach who wants that

Wow let’s not compare Whaleys hedge to any of those others. He was the absolute best we’ve seen and made actual steal quite often so he had a leash. Sanogo stayed close to home a lot, but also got burned but he could score and rebound down the other end so let’s no compare them either.

 

[jake14mw]

This issue of Johnson getting as many minutes as he has been playing has probably been as big of a mystery as any to me. I think people have posted some reasonable theories here. I believe the staff will figure out what the team needs to do improve our play from the 5 position. They have figured out tough issues in past seasons, like they did with what to do with Jackson on offense when teams were not playing defense against him.

 

[Palatine]

Don’t give me DUH crap you idiot. He hedges too high and no coach on earth wants him to create a scramble to find open people he wants him to get back to his guy smart guy. Make peace with this he sucks overall and can’t rebound at all. Don’t try to make it what it’s not with some twisted idea that you’re right.

Do you watch the games? Johnson gets back to the opposing center virtually every time he high hedges. I'm not saying I'm right. Read my post I am clearly guessing and gave numerous examples of my speculation.

I am not saying I'm right. I saying Hurley is right and you're wrong.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wow let’s not compare Whaleys hedge to any of those others. He was the absolute best we’ve seen and made actual steal quite often so he had a leash. Sanogo stayed close to home a lot, but also got burned but he could score and rebound down the other end so let’s no compare them either.

Whaley was great at it and recovered quickly. Adama got much better at it by his junior year. Johnson isn't nearly as bad at it as you suggest. I think what we see is what we saw in that bad stretch in 2023, the guys behind aren't doing the job of covering the rim. Alex is good at that now (note his improved block rate) but Liam doesn't really have it down and is often late. Stewart is better at it. Playing defense at the 3-4 in our system is really hard. It doesn't help that the poor perimeter defense means even more guys are free to attack the rim.

As it was then, it is now. It's a collective team defensive issue. It's not on Johnson or Reed. Reed doesn't hedge as high because he isn't quick enough to get back.

In any event, this is the team we have. Looking forward to adjustments and better play.

 

[mauconnfan]

Whaley was great at it and recovered quickly. Adama got much better at it by his junior year. Johnson isn't nearly as bad at it as you suggest. I think what we see is what we saw in that bad stretch in 2023, the guys behind aren't doing the job of covering the rim. Alex is good at that now (note his improved block rate) but Liam doesn't really have it down and is often late. Stewart is better at it. Playing defense at the 3-4 in our system is really hard. It doesn't help that the poor perimeter defense means even more guys are free to attack the rim.

As it was then, it is now. It's a collective team defensive issue. It's not on Johnson or Reed. Reed doesn't hedge as high because he isn't quick enough to get back.

In any event, this is the team we have. Looking forward to adjustments and better play.

Oh agree fully with you on the overall no doubt. But in turn, maybe blame it on DH for asking him to but he can’t be late getting back because the others aren’t as god as last year and are smaller as well. Less aggressive and staying home is more important then because they aren’t as good in guarding and helping. They aren’t a fast team let’s admit that so he can’t be 25-30 feet out all that often. And he doesn’t rebound that’s not a false statement that needs to get better and amazingly it hasn’t.

 

[mauconnfan]

Do you watch the games? Johnson gets back to the opposing center virtually every time he high hedges. I'm not saying I'm right. Read my post I am clearly guessing and gave numerous examples of my speculation.

I am not saying I'm right. I saying Hurley is right and you're wrong.

Disagree he doesn’t get back often and yes I watch the games. He creates the scramble which leaves wide open shots with this team. He’s not the only reason mind you, they have very few answers besides Alex due to defensive inefficiencies but getting stuck too far is not good for this years squad they’re just not good yet on that end. Stay home and if it is Dan asking him to then he may want to rethink his aggressiveness because it’s not working. And get a rebound please!

 

[ctchamps]

Oh agree fully with you on the overall no doubt. But in turn, maybe blame it on DH for asking him to but he can’t be late getting back because the others aren’t as god as last year and are smaller as well. Less aggressive and staying home is more important then because they aren’t as good in guarding and helping. They aren’t a fast team let’s admit that so he can’t be 25-30 feet out all that often. And he doesn’t rebound that’s not a false statement that needs to get better and amazingly is hasn’t.

I know from the chat you didn’t watch the UMES game. In the second half with a lineup of Diarra, Ross, McNeeley, Stewart and Johnson the amount of disruption, deflection, steals with Johnson’s hedging was a thing of beauty and was the first time this season the energy on defense was exciting.

Nowell subbed in for Diarra when he picked up a third foul and missed an assignment of coverage on the hedge for an easy two by Johnson’s player but he’ll get there.

You are correct. If the guards can’t figure things out we’re going to have to “dumb” down the defense. I’m just not in the mindset that we should give up on team development.

Whichever way this goes Johnson is doing what the coaching staff wants (except for stupid fouls). The staff must believe they can come up with a lineup that will work around Johnson.

The big dilemma is that they have to reconfigure the starting lineup. They’ve already moved Diarra in the starting lineup over Mahaney.

Now they have to make the more difficult decision of whether they should put in someone else to start over Ball. Ball is showing signs he can be as great an offensive weapon as Hawkins. But the rest of his game is still not developed. He’s minimized Johnson’s strengths on both ends of the court. His lobs are as ugly as they come.

 

[REB1094]

The hedge only works when the other guys are rotating properly behind it. Any combination of Bouk/Tyrese/Andre/Polley/Hawkins/Karaban/Castle/Cam/Newton ranged from acceptable to excellent

Solo/Liam have not been good at it, which is why even though Samson always recovers, there always seems to be an open shooter that we’re scrambling to reach. Not Samson’s direct fault, but I’d bet a good chunk of teams ripping the nets from three against us is because we can’t rotate properly against the most common action in basketball (pick and roll)

One has to assume that we get better at this as the season goes on, but for now it’s hurting us bad. I think Tarris hedges pretty well. Tarris just tries to stop the ball handler (like Adama) where Samson seems to want to run them 35 feet from the hoop (like Whaley)

 

[CardiacAndre7]

They just really need to work on off ball defense, obviously on ball as well. We have too many perimeter players that are heavy footed it seems. That only works when you have an eraser like Clingan back there. Solo, Liam, Stewie, Ross and Mahaney need to be doing a ton of lateral quickness drills.

I feel like Abraham could be a stopper. He came in with that sort of reputation. DH seems a bit stuck in his ways with the guys he thought would have the biggest impact coming into the season. Shifted somewhat with Nowell getting more run, but if IA can defend, he should get time, because not many of our perimeter guys appear to be able to right now.

 

[Shamon30]

Johnson might be a starter in the mold of Phil Nolan or freshman year Hilton Armstrong. Perhaps he sees some sort of value in having Reed be a 6th man. However, the number of minutes Johnson is getting would contradict that argument. Maybe Hurley feels Reed needs to work up to playing 30 mpg against top-level competition? I don't know.

 

[JerseyAlum]

Not everyone agrees. Do you have a theory why Hurley disagrees?

Does not matter if Hurley agrees if Johnson fouls means he sits. Reed will get time by default.

So its only a matter of time before Reed starts, has more pts and rebounds and is decent blocker of shots. Reed is almost averaging a double double off the bench while Johnson is not.

And our offense is much better if teams have to respect a cebter playing down low. All they care about is Johnson give and go and that’s his only real value offensively.

This also has a lot to do with Ball as a terrible defender. I like Stewart more here and he has the size and athleticism to be a better defender than Ball and he shoots at least as well. I like Stewart as lil’ Andre.

 

[CT2SC]

Hurley is loyal to a fault with players. He’s been like that since he’s gotten here. He takes forever to play the better players

He started the five best guys last season including Castle as a freshman. He’s starting McNeeley now as a freshman. What better players (except Reed) haven’t started?

 

[husky429]

I am not as opposed to the high hedge from Johnson as some. I think it's effective... and if it wasn't being shows to be effective on the tape, Hurley would have moved away from it 2 years ago. He's certainly not as good at the hedge as Whaley was...but it's an effective and exceptionally disruptive defense. And I believe it is the BEST defense for Samson, because he's horrible at defending the post 1v1 like other coverages will often require.

IMO the high hedge just not a BASE defense like the drop coverage we saw from Clingan last year. The high hedge and double is better served as an energy-off-the-bench change of pace defense that throws a confusing wrinkle at the opponents.

This is all to say... Samson in a 15mpg bench role as a disruptor is where he needs to be. His play style makes it obvious.

 

[yungdowork]

He started the five best guys last season including Castle as a freshman. He’s starting McNeeley now as a freshman. What better players (except Reed) haven’t started?

Sanogo not starting during his freshman year raised some eyebrows. However, you might remember him getting cooked by Kalkbrenner (who had 5 dunks in the second half alone) on the defensive end while shooting 6-16. (Whoops, I just realized this game was his sophomore year. My fault I misremembered)

A ton of people thought Hurley should have been playing Diggins, or Javonte Brown-Ferguson, or whoever else, and Hurley has been vindicated just about every time. Obviously Reed is better than those guys, but Hurley would know that better than anyone.

I do think that what Samson brings to the court is probably unsustainable for more than about 20-25 minutes a night, but I also think the fact that he always plays with maximum effort goes a loooong way in keeping Hurley's favor. You can say a lot about Samson's game, you can never say he isn't putting in the effort.

 

[bmayuc]

Serious Question - Do the PPP efficiency stats include possessions that are extended by an offensive rebound, or are those calculated as a 2nd possession/shot?

The fact that Samson is so allergic to rebounding must demoralize the rest of the team watching him get mauled in there. And as teams are now having him in the scouting report as primary instead of backup really puts a further spotlight on his weaknesses.

End of story - he's a quality backup and a bad starter. Seems an easy fix as long as egos are not what is stopping this move. Samson will be much more effective in his former role and provide the team much needed structure/stability

 

[JerseyAlum]

Disagree he doesn’t get back often and yes I watch the games. He creates the scramble which leaves wide open shots with this team. He’s not the only reason mind you, they have very few answers besides Alex due to defensive inefficiencies but getting stuck too far is not good for this years squad they’re just not good yet on that end. Stay home and if it is Dan asking him to then he may want to rethink his aggressiveness because it’s not working. And get a rebound please!

Main question is did Johnson "improve" from last year to this year like say Ball or Stewart or Ross has done? I say no, and he is what he is and has always been: an energetic rim rocker/protector who gets more dunks than anything else but that makes him very one dimensional. Best for him was coming off the bench after Clingan erased so much that he has energy and the opposing teams were worn down.

Reed, Jr is a two year starter, has managed almost a double-double from the bench, and has to be respected as an offensive piece while Johnson is often too predictable on offense and not respected as a player (to wit, most teams think Karaban is our only true scorer and defender).

If Hurley can swap in Diarra for Mahaney he can certainly swap in Reed for Johnson.

 

[Hunt for 7]

May I recommend watching the 30-0 run against IL in last years Regional Final. Because that has to be heaven for a UConn men’s BB fan and as such should be visited on a as needed basis.

Kind of like break the glass and watch in case of emergency.

Maybe I did it a little early but it cheered me up. Living in the not so distant past is not so bad!

 

[444JR]

Does not matter if Hurley agrees if Johnson fouls means he sits. Reed will get time by default.

So its only a matter of time before Reed starts, has more pts and rebounds and is decent blocker of shots. Reed is almost averaging a double double off the bench while Johnson is not.

And our offense is much better if teams have to respect a cebter playing down low. All they care about is Johnson give and go and that’s his only real value offensively.

This also has a lot to do with Ball as a terrible defender. I like Stewart more here and he has the size and athleticism to be a better defender than Ball and he shoots at least as well. I like Stewart as lil’ Andre.

Stewart definitely has the same playmaking/ball movement bug that Andre had, albeit less athletic and less flashy. Clearly a much better shooter/scorer than Andre Jackson was.

 

[CT2SC]

There’s been plenty of times in the past that we didn’t start the 5 best guys. Olander, Austrie, Pikiell etc. something about Samson’s game though (and Hass to some extent too) it just seems better suited to coming off the bench and bringing that burst of energy.