Rhode Island Post Game Thread

[WhereistheDove?]

Don’t kill me. Sleepers with their recap, along with two other videos on Reibe and Mahaney.

I’m not a Sleepers hater but my god the guy on the left is awful. I find myself disagreeing with almost every one of his takes. He’s the equivalent of a message board poster that has no clue what they’re talking about but will present their opinion with an incredible amount of undeserved confidence.

 

[auror]

I’m not a Sleepers hater but my god the guy on the left is awful. I find myself disagreeing with almost every one of his takes. He’s the equivalent of a message board poster that has no clue what they’re talking about but will present their opinion with an incredible amount of undeserved confidence.

Yeah the guy on the left stinks. He's like the producer filling in because the normal guy had a baby. He has terrible takes and 0 entertainment value.

 

[auror]

On our transition/offense last 2 years. We were absolutely killer in transition. Top grades in efficiency and fairly frequent. It's just that when we were not in transition, we played deliberate and then got a ton of offensive rebounds, which are reflected in the pace stat as being extra slow.

For data, we were in the 79st percentile of getting out in transition last year and then literally 100th percentile of efficiency in transition. We were 77th percentile of 3s taken as % of total FGs taken in transition.

No, we weren't Alabama speed, but the last 2 years we've already been living the dream of "both fast and slow" as it were. I don't see Hurley changing this at all.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

lets not overreact

This is the Boneyard. It's what we do.

 

[Huskyforlife]

On our transition/offense last 2 years. We were absolutely killer in transition. Top grades in efficiency and fairly frequent. It's just that when we were not in transition, we played deliberate and then got a ton of offensive rebounds, which are reflected in the pace stat as being extra slow.

For data, we were in the 79st percentile of getting out in transition last year and then literally 100th percentile of efficiency in transition. We were 77th percentile of 3s taken as % of total FGs taken in transition.

No, we weren't Alabama speed, but the last 2 years we've already been living the dream of "both fast and slow" as it were. I don't see Hurley changing this at all.

Were we literally 100th percentile for efficiency in transition? Surprised I haven’t seen this stat until now.

 

[dennismenace]

It won’t be as good. The defense in the tournament was epic. This team doesn’t have that defensive ceiling. It probably doesn’t have the ceiling of the 2023 team either.

That said, it should be good enough for the offense to carry UConn most of the time. Remember UConn won each game in the tournament the last two years by double digits. There is wiggle room.

Good take. Also, from a positive standpoint, this team may be the deepest all around team ever. And there are a LOT of really talented players. I think this team's strength will be in wearing down opponents with relentless stress on both ends of the court. Track meet.

And I cannot wait!!

 

[dennismenace]

That sequence was the best he has looked so far. He still seems like he's buried on the bench, but it sure look like he can contribute

Not to worry. Necessity is the mother of invention. I think we know down deep he is a dog. His day will come.

 

[dennismenace]

The only area that wasn't really exposed was how UConn can defend vs a high quality PG. URI doesn't seem to have a true PG. I'm sure HD and SB can put effective pressure on good to elite PGs but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

I think the tandem of Hass and Nowell (both dogs) will arise if there is a star PG opponent.
And not sure I would wish that combo on anyone.

 

[auror]

Were we literally 100th percentile for efficiency in transition? Surprised I haven’t seen this stat until now.

 

[microfich]

Good take. Also, from a positive standpoint, this team may be the deepest all around team ever. And there are a LOT of really talented players. I think this team's strength will be in wearing down opponents with relentless stress on both ends of the court. Track meet.

And I cannot wait!!

This will happen.
We will be a different team without Clingan playing traffic cop and my only concern is rebounding. Samson still getting pushed around by Javonte Brown? (credit to Brown, though, he has played up)
I doubt any school out there has a talent like Mahaney coming off the bench. Player.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

This is bizarre. Samson is being judged based on the specific skills needed to be successful on a basketball court. At least as far as I've seen. The folks complaining about his dunks are weirdos... dunks are good. And the hedging isn't a problem either--Hurley is putting pressure on him now to see how much we can create havoc without sacrificing the overall defense.

I think it's pretty simple and fans are making it too complicated. Samson is good. He's not going to be great until he figures out the rebounding and fouling.

By the same token Reed is also good. He will also not be greatuntil he figures out the things that plagued him last year: turnovers and shooting %.

Whichever of the two does the best job shoring up their individual weaknesses is going to be the starter getting 25 mins a game.

I agree with this. I meant by the quote that Samson clearly doesnt have all the qualities needed to be a traditional Center. Not a bruiser, it just isnt going to happen. He brings different things (speed/athleticism). We keep judging him versus the standard he won't achieve; but he has different intangibles (hence the quote). Yes he needs to rebound better regardless. My comparison is Solo, who many complain about his passing stats. Just not really the strength of his game, but we get other plus intangibles to offset.

 

[uh-no]

I agree with this. I meant by the quote that Samson clearly doesnt have all the qualities needed to be a traditional Center. Not a bruiser, it just isnt going to happen. He brings different things (speed/athleticism). We keep judging him versus the standard he won't achieve; but he has different intangibles (hence the quote). Yes he needs to rebound better regardless. My comparison is Solo, who many complain about his passing stats. Just not really the strength of his game, but we get other plus intangibles to offset.

his intangibles are a really great asset while he's sitting on the bench in foul trouble every game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Let’s give samson a chance, it was one scrimmage. Reed was awful in the first half and much better in the second half. A lot of new pieces so lets not overreact to one practice game

I mean, we've also seen Johnson for 3 years now (playing significant minutes for 1).

If we're seeing the same things from him in this scrimmage that we saw all of last year, Occam's Razor suggests that it's much more likely that he's largely the same guy as last year than it is that he's a significantly more savvy rebounder and just happened to have a bad game in that department this one time.

 

[Hunt for 7]

I think Samson will keep the starting role for a good part of the season unless Tarris really catches on quickly. We are changing his whole game. The Hurley quote about him wanting to be Hakeem ( who was more finesse than power) I think was telling. For Reed Jr. to play the role we need he needs to use that big body in a physical way and from I saw he has some work to do.

It’s interesting because he got 10 rebounds and while I watched what caught my eye was his lack of physicality. He is going to get minutes and maybe even more than Samson but my guess is that will be because Samson will have 2 fouls in the first half of every game we play.

What we know is who Samson is and he has put his time in to earn the starting role. I think Tarris is going to have to play with a much increased sense of urgency and physicality to become a starter. And those changes take time. He did look lost in the first half and for someone his size putting up those week floaters was almost exactly what we first so from Adama. It took a season and off season to get him playing the way Hurley wanted.

Just imagine that big body having a mean streak, a little Cam injection, that is what I think they want to see in Tarris. We are so athletic this year I can see teams trying even harder to muck up the game. Very few if any teams are going to want to run with us. Someone made the Alabama comparison and I do think we will see an attempt to increase our shot volume this year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

On our transition/offense last 2 years. We were absolutely killer in transition. Top grades in efficiency and fairly frequent. It's just that when we were not in transition, we played deliberate and then got a ton of offensive rebounds, which are reflected in the pace stat as being extra slow.

For data, we were in the 79st percentile of getting out in transition last year and then literally 100th percentile of efficiency in transition. We were 77th percentile of 3s taken as % of total FGs taken in transition.

No, we weren't Alabama speed, but the last 2 years we've already been living the dream of "both fast and slow" as it were. I don't see Hurley changing this at all.

We were fast when it benefited us and slow when it benefited us.

We completely controlled the game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I missed the start of the game, but a question is Solo Ball the starter/majority minutes at 3 ?
Meaning that both Stewart and Ross are behind him and possibly behind McNeeley (cuz Alex is playing 34 mins in BE games)?

I thought Stewart was poised to be the breakout star, but clearly it is Solo. It could become both if Solo plays more 2.

Is there an offensively potent "Death by 3's" possible lineup of 5 shooters with Diarra(or Nowell), Mahaney, Ball, McNeeley and Karaban?!

Karaban at the 5 like he did in emergencies last year is also a way to get McNeeley more burn at 4 and open up minutes for Stewart/Ross.

From what I saw Ball is never a 3 and is the starting 2. I think it's more likely we occasionally see McNeeley at the 2 with both Stewart and Karaban.

PG Diarra - Mahaney - Nowell
SG Ball - Mahaney - Ross
SF McNeeley - Stewart - Ross
PF Karaban - Stewart - Abraham
C Johnson - Reed - Singare/Karaban

 

[cp176]

Couple of things ... first of all replacing Clingan is like Purdue trying to replace Edey. Very unlikely so you work with what you got and we will have plenty. A lot of the rebounding burden falls on the shoulders of the other guys. i think Johnson and Reed will be just fine. My worry I guess is a potential lack of height in the back court. As vital as Clingan was for us, Castle and Newton were equally as valuable. Quick, versatile, and big. Rotation, box outs, and communication will be keys. I think that our guards as a group are excellent and should be able to give teams fits in the back court. In the front court, teams with bigger, longer guards are going to try to back them down, they won't be able to do it because Dan Hurley knows how to deal with it.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Couple of things ... first of all replacing Clingan is like Purdue trying to replace Edey. Very unlikely so you work with what you got and we will have plenty. A lot of the rebounding burden falls on the shoulders of the other guys. i think Johnson and Reed will be just fine. My worry I guess is a potential lack of height in the back court. As vital as Clingan was for us, Castle and Newton were equally as valuable. Quick, versatile, and big. Rotation, box outs, and communication will be keys. I think that our guards as a group are excellent and should be able to give teams fits in the back court. In the front court, teams with bigger, longer guards are going to try to back them down, they won't be able to do it because Dan Hurley knows how to deal with it.

I think Solo stands the best chance to assume the role of Castle on this year's squad. Yea he's not as tall, but he's much more athletic and has the ability to body up and battle big guards and small forwards. He was all over the place in the URI game, forcing steals, disrupting passes, crashing the boards. The things he needs to still get better at (that Castle excelled at as the season went on) are on-ball defense and creating offense.

Don't sleep on Ross as someone who may be able to be an additional big guard stopper as needed vs. certain teams (without a significant dropoff in offense vs. say Diarra or Mahaney).

Mahaney or Diarra can't assume the role of Newton but they don't need to. They will (especially Diarra, we've seen it already) disrupt via ball pressure.

Overall, I'm confident our defense will shore up and adjust for the differing skillsets for our 24-25 squad compared to 23-24. In the Hurley era, we always end up with above-average D as the season wears on.

How scared were people about our defense after watching open practice/the first few games last year when Cam was on the court? Yet, he turned from a liability to an asset as the season went on.

!

 

[Dogdeacon]

From what I saw Ball is never a 3 and is the starting 2. I think it's more likely we occasionally see McNeeley at the 2 with both Stewart and Karaban.

PG Diarra - Mahaney - Nowell
SG Ball - Mahaney - Ross
SF McNeeley - Stewart - Ross
PF Karaban - Stewart - Abraham
C Johnson - Reed - Singare/Karaban

Got it, rewatched and saw that Ball only played guard, missed Stewart's early minutes on first viewing and it is interesting that McNeeley played the first 7+ minutes without a sub. I guess Stewart can get to 20-25M playing say 7-10M at PF and 12-17M at SF. Then Ross is mostly a guard
Karaban and Ball seem to have starting/most minutes locked down at the 4 and 2
1 seems pretty set for Diarra & Mahaney with oppty more Nowell if either is off.
3 The McNeeley - Stewart - Ross logjam at the 3 seems by far to be the most difficult to optimize talent on the floor and get everyone time.
5 As being discussed figuring out interior defense and rebounding is key to earn time at the 5, I would like to see Singare with better players at times. He got more boards in 4 minutes albeit garbage time than Sampson.

 

[ctbro1999]

I think Solo stands the best chance to assume the role of Castle on this year's squad. Yea he's not as tall, but he's much more athletic and has the ability to body up and battle big guards and small forwards. He was all over the place in the URI game, forcing steals, disrupting passes, crashing the boards. The things he needs to still get better at (that Castle excelled at as the season went on) are on-ball defense and creating offense.

Ball may be a couple inches shorter than Castle, but I believe he has the same wingspan and superior vertical. So he can play like a 6'6+ guy even though he may only be 6'3 or 6'4.

I only watched the highlights, but looked like Solo made several nice hustle plays on defense...something we really didn't see much of last season.

 

[husky429]

I agree with this. I meant by the quote that Samson clearly doesnt have all the qualities needed to be a traditional Center. Not a bruiser, it just isnt going to happen. He brings different things (speed/athleticism). We keep judging him versus the standard he won't achieve; but he has different intangibles (hence the quote). Yes he needs to rebound better regardless. My comparison is Solo, who many complain about his passing stats. Just not really the strength of his game, but we get other plus intangibles to offset.

FWIW if Monday was an indication, Solo is going to show a leap in his passing ability. There were a couple post-feed reads yesterday that he did not have in his bag last season. I don't think he'll ever pass like Tristen or anything, but maybe knowing that he's going to be getting 20+mpg and being a vet on the team, he won't feel the pressure to go out and "get his."

 

[husky429]

I think Solo stands the best chance to assume the role of Castle on this year's squad. Yea he's not as tall, but he's much more athletic and has the ability to body up and battle big guards and small forwards. He was all over the place in the URI game, forcing steals, disrupting passes, crashing the boards. The things he needs to still get better at (that Castle excelled at as the season went on) are on-ball defense and creating offense.

Don't sleep on Ross as someone who may be able to be an additional big guard stopper as needed vs. certain teams (without a significant dropoff in offense vs. say Diarra or Mahaney).

Mahaney or Diarra can't assume the role of Newton but they don't need to. They will (especially Diarra, we've seen it already) disrupt via ball pressure.

Overall, I'm confident our defense will shore up and adjust for the differing skillsets for our 24-25 squad compared to 23-24. In the Hurley era, we always end up with above-average D as the season wears on.

How scared were people about our defense after watching open practice/the first few games last year when Cam was on the court? Yet, he turned from a liability to an asset as the season went on.

!

Ross probably isn't going to play a ton of minutes, but I think he would be a great option when we need that injection of energy. Those games where the team is in a lull playing one of those slow, boring teams like Creighton. Throw him in at the under-12 for an injection of energy and a couple of 3s to get the crowd going.

 

[444JR]

• Seems like a lot of games last year that were closer at halftime and then we blow them out in the second half

I noticed this too. Like a fighter measuring what the other guy has early then picking them apart in the later rounds before a knockout.

 

[UCan3]

After seeing our freshman play on Monday, the one thought I had was…

Cooper who?

 

[superjohn]

Ball may be a couple inches shorter than Castle, but I believe he has the same wingspan and superior vertical. So he can play like a 6'6+ guy even though he may only be 6'3 or 6'4.

I only watched the highlights, but looked like Solo made several nice hustle plays on defense...something we really didn't see much of last season.

Some of the reported measurables on Ball seem absurd. He's been listed with a 45 inch vertical and a 7'0 wingspan. That would make him one of the freakiest basketball athletes ever. He is a freak but that just seems ridiculous. I do believe 40 inch vertical with a 6'10 wingspan for him and he has huge hands. It's why NBA scouts will be all over him this season when they see him play.