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Samson Johnson Blurb

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www.sfgate.com

Why UConn men's basketball junior Samson Johnson will have opportunity this year: 'He’s looked great'

Samson Johnson hasn't had the chance to play much in his first two seasons at UConn, but the Husky is anxious to show his NBA potential.
www.sfgate.com www.sfgate.com

Nothing new here, but this article popped up in a couple of places today. Love that he stuck around, hoping he keeps our "40 minutes of Hell in the Paint" going from last year. As excited as we are for all of our newcomers, and returning stars, I think the fact that we have a bouncy 6'10" 3 and D guy lurking in the shadows gets overlooked.
 
Me wonders if we'll see some Villanova style offense when Samson is on the court. If he's a legit 3pt threat, he'll drag the opposing center out and then we can just have Castle or Newton back down whatever guard is defending them. Use their size as a mismatch
 
In the limited minutes we've seen from him, the primary concern I have is that he seems a bit foul-prone, but most young players do. I'm really excited to see what he can offer, and I think Clingan and Singare will keep making him better in practice.

I saw the winners of one of the recent scrimmages was a team with him and Singare on it, while Clingan was on the losing squad. Hopefully that's a sign that he might be more ready than I was thinking.
 
aburks41 said:
Me wonders if we'll see some Villanova style offense when Samson is on the court. If he's a legit 3pt threat, he'll drag the opposing center out and then we can just have Castle or Newton back down whatever guard is defending them. Use their size as a mismatch
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Good thought. I hope this is another offensive look we can throw at them. My only small concern is can he translate gym 3's and production to game production.
Side note: one of the more frustrating aspects of being a fan: hearing a coach/media comment on how good a person looks in practice and seeing very little of that in-game. (
 
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yungdowork said:
In the limited minutes we've seen from him, the primary concern I have is that he seems a bit foul-prone, but most young players do. I'm really excited to see what he can offer, and I think Clingan and Singare will keep making him better in practice.

I saw the winners of one of the recent scrimmages was a team with him and Singare on it, while Clingan was on the losing squad. Hopefully that's a sign that he might be more ready than I was thinking.
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Agreed. Foul prone, and his hands when he has to hold the ball for longer than a catch.

Hoping the fouls just came with knowing he was getting shorter minutes, so foul trouble wasn't a concern.
 
He will have every opportunity to grab first available minutes in the front court after DC and AK. Even if those two play great there is 20-25 mpg available for Johnson.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
Good thought. I hope this is another offensive look we can throw at them. My only small concern is can he translate gym 3's and production to game production.
Side note: one of the more frustrating aspects of being a fan: hearing a coach/media comment on how good a person looks in practice and seeing very little of that in-game. (
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Well yeah, it only works if he is a good enough threat to drag the center away from the paint. We'll see
 
He'd be a nice change of pace peace to rest Donovan. Think about the defender who's being forced to do a ton of work in the paint against Clingan and when Donovan finally goes to the bench for a break you have to chase Johnson around the arc.
 
I am extremely skeptical that Singare will be able to give us minutes out of the gate, leaving SJ as the only backup center. There will be tons of available minutes. DC did a great job staying out of foul trouble but will that remain the case when his minutes double? A quick 2 charges early in the 1st? It’s not just that there are potential minutes for Samson. There are games when we will need him for 30 minutes. And I think he will be much more suited as a college C than PF.
 
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Now is Samson's chance to be remembered as a player who mattered to this program. I think we generally know about what we're going to get out of everyone but the freshman (ish). If Samson can be a capable backup at the 4/5, our ceiling is championship high. We saw the value of a capable second unit last season.
 
I’m personally not too worried about Samson. The talent is there and he gets to ease in as a backup center with plenty of minutes available. He seems like the kind of guy that simply has to play and get his feet under him/in a rhythm to be a good contributor. He’ll have a very defined a solid role this year.
 
yungdowork said:
In the limited minutes we've seen from him, the primary concern I have is that he seems a bit foul-prone
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Bigs/PFs who get backup/minimal minutes are almost always much more foul prone than bigs who get substantial minutes, simply because they have in the back of their mind that the chance of fouling out is incrementally low and they have "five fouls to give".

Last year's foul charged per 40 leaders were Clingan, Johnson and Springs, in that order. Just a quick KenPom search and I notice same thing with UCLA (Etienne, Nwuba), Gonzaga (Reid, Gregg) and Kansas (Uden, Clemence).
 
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FWIW..I see Samson as our X factor this year.. In the minutes he's given.. Prob 20-25.. Can he provide quality production?? I believe he can and will. A ton of talent around him to challenge him in practice and then .. On the court.. When the lights are on.. Let's do this Sam
 
Hey Adrien! said:
Bigs/PFs who get minimal minutes are almost always much more foul prone than bigs who get substantial minutes, simply because they have in the back of their mind that the chance of fouling out is incrementally low and they have "five fouls to give".

Last year's foul charged per 40 leaders were Clingan, Johnson and Springs, in that order. Just a quick KenPom search and I notice same thing with UCLA (Etienne, Nwuba), Gonzaga (Reid, Gregg) and Kansas (Uden, Clemence).
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I loved that we let Clingan be super aggressive with the fouls most of the season, too. You learn the limits of the refs whistle by pushing the boundaries every game. Clingan is going to come back with a really good sense of what he can get away with.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
Good thought. I hope this is another offensive look we can throw at them. My only small concern is can he translate gym 3's and production to game production.
Side note: one of the more frustrating aspects of being a fan: hearing a coach/media comment on how good a person looks in practice and seeing very little of that in-game. (
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Yes, I've said over and over again that Johnson is exactly the type of player who can end up with an enormous gap between hype/looking amazing in workouts and game production. (Karaban, incidentally, is the exact opposite.)

This is a huge question mark going into the year.
 
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All the major backup big man minutes are his to start the season. If he's as good as the staff says he is, then I say give him a lot of time early in the season. He's bought in and he's showed the program his loyalty, time to give him his part of the deal

Let him play through mistakes and only keep him on the bench if he consistently proves that he doesn't belong on the court (I'm 99% sure that won't be the case). On paper, him and Singare should be a really fun duo to watch if AK/Clingan both have to sit. Offensively challenged for sure, but two really long and athletic bigs that should own the paint. Of course this would only be in small minute spurts
 
He could be the other stating forward. Hurley thinks he can be a lottery pick. You don't get that by coming off the bench. Last year Hurley was giving him the time to heal knowing UConn was loaded. That will be one tall team. The other starting guard will be either Castle or Spencer. This team is loaded enough to filter the freshman in. By tournament time this team should be a monster.
 
gmc1055 said:
He could be the other stating forward. Hurley thinks he can be a lottery pick. You don't get that by coming off the bench. Last year Hurley was giving him the time to heal knowing UConn was loaded. That will be one tall team. The other starting guard will be either Castle or Spencer. This team is loaded enough to filter the freshman in. By tournament time this team should be a monster.
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Castle, Newton and Spencer are starting 1-3. Samson is going to be a backup as PF-C. He won't see the 3 as we have too many players as is that can play there.
 
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3rdbass said:
Castle, Newton and Spencer are starting 1-3. Samson is going to be a backup as PF-C. He won't see the 3 as we have too many players as is that can play there.
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Hurley will find ways to use Samson. Let's not forget that in addition to Hawkins, Samson was the best player in the UVA scrimmage. He also earned the starting PF spot over Karaban last year.
 
The version of Samson that can shoot 3s is benching somebody, and leaving as a first round pick. I don’t think anyone realizes how absurd it would be.

But I’m guessing he settles into a versatile defensive role, and uses his length and athleticism to be a vertical threat in some capacity. An effective reserve, that shows enough to start as a senior.
 
Huskyforlife said:
The version of Samson that can shoot 3s is benching somebody, and leaving as a first round pick. I don’t think anyone realizes how absurd it would be.

But I’m guessing he settles into a versatile defensive role, and uses his length and athleticism to be a vertical threat in some capacity. An effective reserve, that shows enough to start as a senior.
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Dion Waiters 6th Man to top 5 pick track. ;)
 
UofCT said:
Hurley will find ways to use Samson. Let's not forget that in addition to Hawkins, Samson was the best player in the UVA scrimmage. He also earned the starting PF spot over Karaban last year.
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I didn't say he would play. I just said he will be playing more of the 4 and the 5 than the 3.
 
Maybe my age-addled mind is just screwing with me for fun, but I have it in the back of my head (might be a real memory, might just be a misremembrance) that it was Johnson that the staff was scouting when Kimani 'discovered' Adama, who wasn't even ranked until he signed with UConn, then settled in at 87 or thereabouts, while Samson was ranked in the 50s at the time.
 
I don’t think Dan begs a non talented player, who’s outside the rotation to stay. What happened with his injury was tragic for his timeline, but I still believe Samson was gonna be a key peice of a championship rotation had he stayed healthy, and would be a major breakout candidate heading into this season. I think we’re getting 2 very solid years out of him coming up.
 
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