Rhode Island Post Game Thread

[uh-no]

Once again, if you are paying attention at all, this is an IMPROVED Samson Johnson, you nitwits!

improved doesn't mean anything if he can't stay on the floor.

 

[NJHusky]

Kalkbrenner will just overpower SJ, and SJ will have 2 fouls in less than 10 minutes while trying, and failing, to guard him.

Unfortunately, my early thoughts were "how many good bigs do we play this year"....don't see how SJ can cover Kalk since Brown seemed to get whatever he wanted

 

[FreeKlaiber]

Samson an offensive weapon? He’s purely a lob dunk guy. He did have one post move that went in, albeit awkward. He certainly presents a “feature” on offense with the lob dunk, although not sure I’d call him a weapon. I can see teams that know us take that totally away as it tends to be predictable and defendable if anticipated.

Even if your supposition that his offensive game is limited to lobs is true (I think you will be proven wrong fwiw) , Mark Gastineau and Charles Haley could only sack the quarterback. They specialized at one thing, neither played the run. Other teams still couldn't stop it. How many dunks did he have last yr? We have so many options on our sets, if anything is taken away, we get something else. Ok, sag off with McNeely or Ak's man to take it away lol. Weak take.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Unfortunately, my early thoughts were "how many good bigs do we play this year"....don't see how SJ can cover Kalk since Brown seemed to get whatever he wanted

WATCH. THE. GAME. TAPE. Brown DID NOT "get whatever he wanted".

BTW, Brown is no uncoordinated bum stiff. He's a fairly athletic 7' 255# center. Also recall he had 1 year of coaching by some pretty talented coaches. He's been around awhile and is a redshirt junior.

Kalk is a 15th-year senior with a low motor, chronic lethargy, and mediocre athleticism.

 

[RipCity]

The best scenario for this team is Reed making a huge stride over the course of the year like Whaley did in the 2019-2020 season. Reed needs to be a defensive stopper and go up strong on offense to shoot a high percentage. Nothing fancy. He didn’t look ready to do that yet. He brings the ball so low that his shot gets altered by the time the ball is at his shoulders. Defensively he got lost a bunch too. But he hasn’t had that much practice time with this staff yet so I expect it to change. He has a lot of room for improvement, whereas Samson is never going to be able to bang inside or rebound well for his position. That ship has sailed. They have to pick their spots with Johnson but he is the best vertical lob threat in the country and that will be important too

 

[JustbrewitMan]

improved doesn't mean anything if he can't stay on the floor.

He played 20min in an exhibition game, had 2 weak phantom fouls called against him, and picked up his 4th past the midway point of the 2nd half. On a roster where he is expected to almost evenly split time with Tarris Reed, if he can replicate what he did against URI all season, we are gonna be JUST FINE at the 5 position.

 

[NJHusky]

WATCH. THE. GAME. TAPE. Brown DID NOT "get whatever he wanted".

BTW, Brown is no uncoordinated bum stiff. He's a fairly athletic 7' 255# center. Also recall he had 1 year of coaching by some pretty talented coaches. He's been around awhile and is a redshirt junior.

Kalk is a 15th-year senior with a low motor, chronic lethargy, and mediocre athleticism.

I don’t have time to rewatch an exhibition game I already watched. I don’t have to agree with your opinion…and it seems like numerous other posters don’t either

Brown had 16/10 on 5-7 shooting. You’re right, he was dominated by Sam’s 8/1

You prove my point…you said Brown isn’t a stiff and he bested SJ…so that’s why my comment about being worried about true bigs

 

[7774]

He played 20min in an exhibition game, had 2 weak phantom fouls called against him, and picked up his 4th past the midway point of the 2nd half. On a roster where he is expected to almost evenly split time with Tarris Reed, if he can replicate what he did against URI all season, we are gonna be JUST FINE at the 5 position.

You get committing 4 fouls is bad right? Like it negatively impacts winning, even if you can "afford" to give the fouls. A guy playing 10% of the minutes and committing 29% of fouls required to put the other team in the bonus both halves is bad.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

The best scenario for this team is Reed making a huge stride over the course of the year like Whaley did in the 2019-2020 season. Reed needs to be a defensive stopper and go up strong on offense to shoot a high percentage. Nothing fancy. He didn’t look ready to do that yet. He brings the ball so low that his shot gets altered by the time the ball is at his shoulders. Defensively he got lost a bunch too. But he hasn’t had that much practice time with this staff yet so I expect it to change. He has a lot of room for improvement, whereas Samson is never going to be able to bang inside or rebound well for his position. That ship has sailed. They have to pick their spots with Johnson but he is the best vertical lob threat in the country and that will be important too

Basically agree. One of the things that I actually woke up to is that SJ did in spades in the URI game is on offense, he draws the other teams' primary rebounding threat away from the hoop to suboptimal rebounding and help-defense positions.

On defense, he was very effective in limiting JB from securing rebounds. He was surprisingly pretty decent fundamentally on his seals and boxouts on JB.

If you don't believe me, rewatch the game closely.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

So many people here just don't really understand modern basketball strategy and analytics.

 

[NJHusky]

He played 20min in an exhibition game, had 2 weak phantom fouls called against him, and picked up his 4th past the midway point of the 2nd half. On a roster where he is expected to almost evenly split time with Tarris Reed, if he can replicate what he did against URI all season, we are gonna be JUST FINE at the 5 position.

It’s URI, he should have dominated as a Sr…how’s he going to do going against a top 15 team with a good big.

Im not trying to trash him, just pointing out what I see is very different than what you see.

The coaches will continue to figure out how to use him best.

 

[RuffRuff]

You project yourself as a poster with lots of hoops insights. Please review the game tape yourself or at least read my summaries of SJ's play against URI. If you can't see that he brings much more to our offense than lob dunks, you've lost credibility. The threat of the lob dunk opens up many other players for easier dribble drives, 3pt jumpers, and also occupies a C/F guy that allows our F/G players to more effectively crash the boards.

Also, that baseline jumper was not "albeit awkward". Sheesh.

I appreciate the positive tape review, really do. That is diligence, and clearly educated feedback. I’m sure I’m missing lots of good stuff with an over focus on the wtf moments. I’m first to agree I’m a spoiled Samson half empty balloon knot and need to change my sh&t. I do agree the lob threat does open things up for others.

One thing to ensure captured is that some of the wtfs is not a one game thing. As a data guy it’s hard to deny the foul rate and lack of rebounding per minutes played. At 16.5 minutes a game last year against backup 5s he averaged 2.9 rebounds a game, 3 fouls a game. Scale that to 25 minutes against starting 5s and that’s fouling out and less than 5 boards a game. That’s borderline problematic. All I’m hoping for is to see him break some habits and figure out how to do the baseline stuff for a 5. A bad call or not the theme is out. My biggest concerns with Samson isn’t the offensive limitations, it’s the glass and defensive stuff. He gets backed down easily (resulting in the fouls) and commands no acreage on the boards. Watching the URI big take an offensive rebound off a FT over him is symptomatic of the overall. The kid clearly can get up, just has no nose for the ball. It feels like a timing and awareness thing. I’m pulling for him just may whine a bit until I see the lights go on. Too much at stake this year. Deal with it .

 

[BlueMAB]

Mahaney clearly should be starting.

Yeah our coaches are so stupid. Don’t know how they can’t see it.

/s

 

[imno1]

I thought it had been stated that we would see a little more versatility to Samson's offensive game but it was mostly handoffs and roll to the rim in the exhibition. I'm rooting for Johnson but a starting center needs to grab more than 1 or 2 rebounds per game. Even if he gets overpowered inside it's hard to fathom that someone with Samson's quick ups can't corral more boards.

 

[UConnStats]

Disagree on Diarra. He was arguably the best defender on the team two years ago over Andre Jackson. Even if not, Diarra has been a top-3 defender each of the last 2 years often turning games around with his D (the Georgetown Joey C game comes to mind).

Then at end of last year his layup package made him money driving to the hoop and some 3's started to fall.
This year he's adding assists and the 3-point shot looks better. Other than TO at end of first half very solid decision making with the ball. Diarra had 9 assists with just 2 TO in 20 minutes, pretty great for first PG outing. Nowell only played 6 minutes so just no way to gauge him other than to notice that he only got 6 minutes vs Mahaney getting 23 b/c he is/can be 1st backup at both PG and SG.

Yeah as much as you want to find time for everyone, Diarra is their best defender and passer at this point. He will play plenty.

It will be interesting to see Ball’s defense against taller players. He has a plus wingy (it’s been reported as long as 7 ft) and he’s a strong kid. If he can consistently guard 3s that will give them much more opportunity to play all 3 of Diarra, Mahaney, and Ball at once.

There are 160 Min/G at the 1-4. Karaban will play about 32, but this year let’s say they go small with him at center for 5 minutes per game. That leaves 133 minutes at the 1-4 for everyone else.

27 Diarra
27 Mahaney
27 Ball
27 McNeeley
25 Stewart

That would theoretically eat up every single minute. I’m sure Ross and Nowell will see some PT too. There will be injuries, foul implications, individual underperformance, etc that will impact things. Still, the bottom line is that there are plenty of minutes for the guys who we expect to be focal points of the team. Who technically gets the starting nod is irrelevant to me personally.

 

[husky429]

Samson an offensive weapon? He’s purely a lob dunk guy.

I'm probably more critical of Samson than most, but I think dismissing or diminishing his lobs and dunks is pretty silly. His ability to elevate and finish over people is probably the best the Big East has seen in a decade. No, he's not scoring 15ppg on lobs alone, but the vertical pressure he puts on the rim gives our guards free reign to go 1v1 at will on the perimeter without worry of help.

My only concern is with post touches. Because he isn't a 1v1 post-up threat, the opposing team is (and has) stayed true on our shooters. And Samson's lack of passing makes those moments tougher. It takes away a look for our offense and will make us easier to defend. If Samson has improved his system passing and can keep that ball moving, he's one step closer to being our starter all season.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I appreciate the positive tape review, really do. That is diligence, and clearly educated feedback. I’m sure I’m missing lots of good stuff with an over focus on the wtf moments. I’m first to agree I’m a spoiled Samson half empty balloon knot and need to change my sh&t. I do agree the lob threat does open things up for others.

One thing to ensure captured is that some of the wtfs is not a one game thing. As a data guy it’s hard to deny the foul rate and lack of rebounding per minutes played. At 16.5 minutes a game last year against backup 5s he averaged 2.9 rebounds a game, 3 fouls a game. Scale that to 25 minutes against starting 5s and that’s fouling out and less than 5 boards a game. That’s borderline problematic. All I’m hoping for is to see him break some habits and figure out how to do the baseline stuff for a 5. A bad call or not the theme is out. My biggest concerns with Samson isn’t the offensive limitations, it’s the glass and defensive stuff. He gets backed down easily (resulting in the fouls) and commands no acreage on the boards. Watching the URI big take an offensive rebound off a FT over him is symptomatic of the overall. The kid clearly can get up, just has no nose for the ball. It feels like a timing and awareness thing. I’m pulling for him just may whine a bit until I see the lights go on. Too much at stake this year. Deal with it .

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Believe me, his wtf moments also drive me crazy too. I know they happen, and he needs to improve on them for him/us to be great again this year.

I'm really encouraged from this sample size of 1, plus all the buzz from coaching and media observers who consistently say Samson looks much improved. He didn't get called for any moving screens, and if you go back and look at his fouls, 3 of them were truly suspect fouls. Yes, those will sometimes get called from game-to-game and you need to deal with them, but it's unlikely to get 3 of them consistently each game.

In the rewatch, I saw (and documented) many instances where last-year's Samson would have committed a silly foul. Encouragement that he didn't.

But yep, he absolutely needs to extend these improvements over multiple games before I'm 100% convinced too.


BTW, that annoying rebound Brown got over him at 08:07 that you refer to is kinda just a bad bounce. If you think Samson should've secure that rebound, your expectations may be a bit too high:




Cheers to more great discussions during the season!

 

[uh-no]

It’s URI, he should have dominated as a Sr…how’s he going to do going against a top 15 team with a good big.

Im not trying to trash him, just pointing out what I see is very different than what you see.

The coaches will continue to figure out how to use him best.

exactly. it's URI...not Duke, not houston, not alabama, not creighton....etc

If he nearly fouled out in 20 minutes there, what is he gonna do against a real team?


Also PS to the other guy: Phantom fouls still foul you out. WHen he's on the bench 5 minutes into the game with 2, you don't get to pretend one didn't exist because you determined it "phantom." Dude needs to not foul. This is a pattern, not a one off.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

If he nearly fouled out in 20 minutes there, what is he gonna do against a real team?

You talking about McNeely here or Johnson?

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I don’t have time to rewatch an exhibition game I already watched. I don’t have to agree with your opinion…and it seems like numerous other posters don’t either

Brown had 16/10 on 5-7 shooting. You’re right, he was dominated by Sam’s 8/1

You prove my point…you said Brown isn’t a stiff and he bested SJ…so that’s why my comment about being worried about true bigs

You can't just look at a basic boxscore and say "Brown dominated SJ"...well you CAN, but its disingenuous.

Look, I don't expect everyone to be so rabid of a fan that you have the time or desire to rewatch games closely and critically. But if you don't do that, maybe you should perhaps put some credibility to observations and stats offered up by those nutcases who did

If you breakdown Brown's stats and look at what he got when (1) Samson and he were on the floor together and (2) Samson and he were actually guarding each other...here's what Javonte's key statline looked like:

-Directly vs. Samson: 4pts/2reb
-The rest (12pts/8reb) were gotten when Samson was either on the bench or when Samson was nowhere near him because of gameflow/switching

Do you still want to say Brown dominated him?

I might say that Samson effectively neutralized Brown while also giving up 2" in height and 30# in weight.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

You get committing 4 fouls is bad right? Like it negatively impacts winning, even if you can "afford" to give the fouls. A guy playing 10% of the minutes and committing 29% of fouls required to put the other team in the bonus both halves is bad.

Samson's 4 fouls:

9:32 mark, 1st half. A little soft, but JB beat him to spot, fine with this call:


7:32, 1st half. This is a Phantom Foul:


15:52, 2nd half. Camera angle is not ideal, but this is a real soft foul call:
10/14/2024 - Men's Basketball v. URI (Exhibition)

8:09, 2nd half. Samson boxes Brown out, leaps forward towards ball. #55 circles around from under hoop. Both collide in mid-air. Why does SJ get called for this foul? Real weak sauce.
10/14/2024 - Men's Basketball v. URI (Exhibition)

 

[JustbrewitMan]

You get committing 4 fouls is bad right? Like it negatively impacts winning, even if you can "afford" to give the fouls. A guy playing 10% of the minutes and committing 29% of fouls required to put the other team in the bonus both halves is bad.

Don't shoot the messenger here, but using your criteria, you're implying that McNeeley is also bad.

 

[Scrutineer]

OK Samson haters, some more homework for you to study. Here's his first rotation (~5min) of the 2nd half. Please read closely if you can. Feel free to ask questions if there's anything you can't comprehend.


D1-SJ & JB start the set up high. JB sets screen on left side, SJ comes off JB and high-hedges. SB stays also stays w/ guard. AK is in lane to cover JB while SJ hedges. AK goes back to cover his man in right corner as SJ effectively recovers back to JB. URI guard drives on SB, and dribbles ball of foot. AK recovers, TO. No RebO.

O1-SJ stays at FT line, sets a couple screens, gets ball at top of key, dishes to Liam on left. SB cuts to hoop off AK screen, gets fed for easy layup. Standard beautiful UConn offense stuff. No RebO.

D2-URI pushes pace, guard makes it into lane, but SJ is there and he’s forced to pull it back and set up offense. JB enters lane, SJ fronts him & keeps him on left side. Guard drives, misses shot attempt. JB is effectively sealed off, AK gathers rebound. No RebO.

O2-AK brings ball up. SJ flashes to top of key, gets pass, 2 dribbles to right, reverses, dribbles left, fakes pass to AK on right wing, gives it to Hass, sets screen for Hass, rolls, get the lob & flushes an alley-oop dunk. Just so, so bad SJ! Why are you dunking that ball…catch it, step back and shoot a jumper! Just another horrible offensive set and another horrible low-percentage shot. And another possession where you didn’t get a rebound. I wonder what will the BY say???

D2-URI pushes pace, gets into a set, JB looks to set screen right FT line for URI guard. Liam defending. SJ looks to pop out and hedge. URI guard reverses direction, blows by Liam (again, oof). Liam fouls on the layup attempt. No RebO. URI player misses 2nd FT. SJ does a textbook boxout of JB. Ball bounces a couple feet out from the rim. JStew comes in lane uncontested, but tips the ball OOB. BTW, this is counted as a URI team rebound. URI dominated us 7-3 on team rebounds (lol). URI inbounds. JB tries similar play as 1st half IB play, but SJ gets thru screen & stays in front of him this time. Solo disrupts the IB pass and forces a TO. No RebO.

O3-Hass pushes the pace, fires a beautiful outlet pass to JStew, who makes a nifty athletic defended layup. Hmm. No RebO again. Wish our guys would miss some more shots so SJ could gather some rebounds.

D3-SJ & JB set up right side FT line. URI guard drives, SB reaches around and pokes ball OOB. IB from right baseline. Lob to JB caught at FT line. JB hands off to guard, another guard flashes to 3pt line, drains 3. FWIW, SJ’s box out of JB is more than adequate. No RebO.

O4-Set runs, SJ sets screen at right FT that leaves Hass wide open for a top of key 3. SJ flashes down right lane to try to rebound, but it caroms left-center. JStew & URI player battle for reb, URI player tips it out. No RebO.

D4-URI pushes pace, JB sets up on left block. JStew is on the blocks, so he picks JB up. SJ picks up Green (URI forward) on left wing. JStew & JB battle. JB gets entry pass 2ft outside restricted zone line. One dribble, he backs JStew to restricted zone line, AK switches down to try and swat ball from JB. SJ also starts to come down lane to try and seal off JB. AK misses steal, JStew sags off JB, JB quick pivots for the shot. SJ is ~3ft from JB. He actually concedes the shot to JB…likely because a block attempt would result in a foul. This is big-picture smart from SJ. Again, ‘23-‘24 SJ probably tries to contest and ends up fouling JB. No RebO.

O5-SJ sets 3-4 high screens, play ends with AK driving left lane and making layup. No RebO.

D5-SJ & JB set up on left block & battle for position for a few sec. JB flashes up to top of key, URI player launches 3 from left wing. SJ makes it back to center of lane. Hass & SB battle each other for the reb on right side of lane, ball deflects to URI player, who drives lane into a 1-on-1 with SJ. SJ presence causes URI player to try a pump-fake, SJ goes up, URI player tries to initiate contact for a foul, SJ is able avoid it. Hass comes from behind and blocks shot attempt. AK recovers block. No RebO. But excellent defense!

O6-AK pushes pace, passes to SB who sets up wide open in left corner. Drains the 3. No RebO.

D6-JB starts on right FT line with SJ. JB sets screen top of key & SJ high-hedges. Much to Chief’s chagrin, he effectively recovers back to the lane to D up on JB again. Plays pretty good post defense. No attempt to get a pass to JB because he’s defended well. URI player drives left lane, draws a real nickel-dimer foul on AK. Green makes 2nd FT. No RebO.

O7-Set evolves, SJ sets screen for JStew at right FT line, rolls down to left block. JB defends him and is in natural position for a reb if a shot goes up. JStew dribble-drives, shoots from around 8ft, miss comes off right-middle. JB in position to secure the reb. SJ would have to either (1) try to maneuver around JB, putting him in the way of JStew’s lane drive, or (2) commit an over the back foul to go after the rebound. He does neither, which seems like the right decision.

D7-JB sets up top of key SJ behind him. Sets what I think is called a ghost screen, as he sets, & then immediately flashes down left lane. SJ is positioned well between JB and the URI guard, who get around SB and drives the right lane. He attempts to throw a lob to JB. It goes high and behind hoop (in order to get over SJ). JB bobbles it, recovers partially on the left block. A foul is called at 15:52 and they go to commercial break. Hurley looks distraught. The announcers never say who the foul is on. Can’t hear the area announcer either. Found a game log. They call this a foul on SJ. This is an ABSOLUTE TRASH CALL by the refs. Watch it yourself if you don’t believe me.

D8-Inbounds almost stolen by JStew. Dish to cutting URI guard. He drives right, SB blocks shot, it goes OOB. Interesting FYI for those who didn’t know…this is counted as an “URI Team Offensive Reb” for boxscore purposes. URI inbounds to JB, with SJ in good defensive position. SB comes over and makes the strip-steal.

O8-SB pushes pace, fires a crosscourt pass to Mahaney. Layup attempt is goaltended by JB.

D9-Some various ball movement on right side. SJ & JB battle on left block. URI takes 3pt shot, SJ seals off JB effectively. Long rebound right wing secured by AK. No RebO.

O9 – AK pushes pace. Drives lane. Shot attempt blocked OOB. SJ subs out at 15:13 mark.


TL/DR Summary:

Once again, a highly-effective ~5 min run for SJ. Played excellent D, two successful high-hedges, disrupted drives, set a ton of screens without fouling, played active role in offense. Limited JB’s opportunities to get rebounds. Got called for a phantom foul.

Once again, if you are paying attention at all, this is an IMPROVED Samson Johnson, you nitwits!

You're going against the party line so it's a tough sell here. Use the method some choose........assemble a posse to give you likes and maybe the momentum will swing your way.

 

[DogMania]

Samson's 4 fouls:

9:32 mark, 1st half. A little soft, but JB beat him to spot, fine with this call:


7:32, 1st half. This is a Phantom Foul:


15:52, 2nd half. Camera angle is not ideal, but this is a real soft foul call:
10/14/2024 - Men's Basketball v. URI (Exhibition)

8:09, 2nd half. Samson boxes Brown out, leaps forward towards ball. #55 circles around from under hoop. Both collide in mid-air. Why does SJ get called for this foul? Real weak sauce.
10/14/2024 - Men's Basketball v. URI (Exhibition)

I thought some of the calls on him were head scratchers and should have been no calls.

 

[metsfan2323]

Is there any chance that Singare ends up being our best rebounder and rim protector? Also given our extreme depth at forward I wonder if we see more of Karaban and possibly Abraham at center.