Samson Johnson why not?

[DawgDays22]

I really don't understand, I mean I get it him and diggins are freshmen but why not give them a shot and I don't mean for 4 or 5 mins give the 15 to 20 in 1 or 2 games and see what you have. I mean Dan Hurley has claimed what a bright future Samson has for sure so why not it's not like things are perfect right now and we could use a spark. Plus for diggins why not it's not like Gaffney is a star. Anyway just my thoughts.

 

[dogpause]

Well, Samson finally got some minutes, against the best team in the BE over the las few years. Minutes that he wasn't very prepared for because he's had almost no PT. Despite this, I thought he did pretty well, was active, and didn't look intimidated.

 

[Conndog]

Agree, give him some time.

 

[mauconnfan]

He had a rough time, bobbled the ball a little and got beat bad on D once when he fouled because he jumped on a ball fake. But he did recover and play his man better the next opportunity, so he learned immediately. So I certainly get taking him out when he did, sit him discuss what happened. But why not throw him back in? I mean of course he was nervous he never plays and he’s at Nova versus the best BE team.

 

[UConnSwag11]

when we was in we actually held up well. The game didn’t get out of hand. But with foul trouble and injuries this is why when you play bad teams during the season the bench needs more than three minutes.

 

[HuskyFich]

Please watch his first 4 possessions or so on Defense...Tuesday will be a better game for him.

 

[navery12]

Because he played and got his lunch eaten by Eric Dixon. Hopefully he gets Akok's 5-10 minutes Tuesday against Marquette though

 

[UCfor3]

Because he played and got his lunch eaten by Eric Dixon. Hopefully he gets Akok's 5-10 minutes Tuesday against Marquette though

To be fair, Dixon ate everyone's lunch yesyerday including Sanogo. Some of his dinner too.

 

[Ts5034]

when we was in we actually held up well. The game didn’t get out of hand. But with foul trouble and injuries this is why when you play bad teams during the season the bench needs more than three minutes.

Agree. Ive been saying It’s like the chicken and egg scenario. Samson/Rahsool have not been playing because they are not ready, but when they see the court, they have a tough time adjusting because they have seen such limited in game minutes.

 

[Huskybass]

Agree. Ive been saying It’s like the chicken and egg scenario. Samson/Rahsool have not been playing because they are not ready, but when they see the court, they have a tough time adjusting because they have seen such limited in game minutes.

Let Johnson and Diggins play big minutes. We aren't going to win any big games anyway. We couldn't even beat Villanova yesterday with their starting backcourt out once Gillespie injured his ankle.

I wanted to believe Hurley was the guy to return UConn to greatness. I now realize that was wishful thinking.

 

[8893]

I wanted to believe Hurley was the guy to return UConn to greatness. I now realize that was wishful thinking.

C'mon man, it's a fair question whether he can get us back to the top of the mountain, but I think he has made enough progress that the jury is still out on that score.

I can be as skeptical and critical as they come, but I remain hopeful that he becomes better at his job, which should be the expectation.

 

[Palatine]

Johnson was non-existent on the offensive end and didn't really contribute on the defensive end. We have too many passengers as it is.

I have watched his high school tape. He is a great player. He should probably get a few minutes to accustom him to the college game. But he hasn't earned them.

 

[Huskybass]

C'mon man, it's a fair question whether he can get us back to the top of the mountain, but I think he has made enough progress that the jury is still out on that score.

I can be as skeptical and critical as they come, but I remain hopeful that he becomes better at his job, which should be the expectation.

You can say the jury is still out. I see a stubborn, overly emotional coach who gets outcoached regularly.

Let me put it another way. Jay Wright wins yesterday with his squad. He would have also won with ours.

 

[Pahuskie1]

This Post may be a little off the mark but since I live in the Bucks County area of Pa I was so excited to see Rahsool Diggins had signed with UConn. I know Diggins was real good at scoring and distributing the ball while at Archbishop Wood. What was exciting to me was his ability to get to the basket, along with a solid mid range jumper, and his knack of penetrating into the paint and finding open teammates.......what we need so badly. He is a good ball handler and comes from playing a hard nose Philadelphia style defense. I know he has only played very limited minutes but we need him to get minutes to learn the system. Maybe if we have a more rested Cole at the end of a close game our odds of winning would go up. Coach Hurley needs to take a chance and find out how good our team can be and with a potential point guard like Diggins we may all be pleasantly surprised.

 

[8893]

You can say the jury is still out. I see a stubborn, overly emotional coach who gets outcoached regularly.

Let me put it another way. Jay Wright wins yesterday with his squad. He would have also won with ours.

I don't disagree; I just think he can improve. Or at least I hope he can.

 

[Giddyup5]

You can say the jury is still out. I see a stubborn, overly emotional coach who gets outcoached regularly.

Let me put it another way. Jay Wright wins yesterday with his squad. He would have also won with ours.

Comparing Hurley to Wright is almost as bad as comparing Hurley to Calhoun.

Stop it.

 

[Huskybass]

Comparing Hurley to Wright is almost as bad as comparing Hurley to Calhoun.

Stop it.

Sorry if using a current, real world example burst your bubble. Jay Wright owned Hurley yesterday. Hurley is a solid program coach, suspect game day coach, and usually winds up on the wrong side of close games. Sorry if you can't handle reality.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I'm very close to "why not" for almost any idea. My opinion of the team was not great before the last 2 games. Obviously last week didn't help.

Give it another week. If we have the similar results as last week, then pretty much everyone will be on board with major minutes increases for all the freshman. Start prepping for next year.

It appears to be working for Creighton. I assume they are going to be a preseason favorite next year.

 

[navery12]

Sorry if using a current, real world example burst your bubble. Jay Wright owned Hurley yesterday.

Yes he did, the point is that Jay Wright is currently the best coach in all of college basketball. I'd be ecstatic if Hurley becomes half of Jay Wright because that's a championship winning coach

 

[Giddyup5]

Sorry if using a current, real world example burst your bubble. Jay Wright owned Hurley yesterday. Hurley is a solid program coach, suspect game day coach, and usually winds up on the wrong side of close games. Sorry if you can't handle reality.

Wright is in his 60s. He didn’t get to where he is overnight.

I am becoming more and more critical of Hurley, especially his defensive schemes. But to compare him to Wright in his prime is unfair.

 

[HooperScooper]

Please watch his first 4 possessions or so on Defense...Tuesday will be a better game for him.

He also caused a turnover on offense because he was in the wrong position and looked lost. Between that and getting beat on defense he didn't look like he should have been in this game. But you can definitely make the argument that he should have played more earlier in the season in many of the blowouts and then he would have been more ready for positive contributions later in the season.

 

[navery12]

Wright is in his 60s. He didn’t get to where he is overnight.

I am becoming more and more critical of Hurley, especially his defensive schemes. But to compare him to Wright in his prime is unfair.

Exactly, they both spent 8 years at their previous stops (Hofstra for Jay, Wagner/URI for Dan) before getting their Big East job. Jay is in year 21 at Villanova and Dan is in year 4 at UConn, it's an apples and oranges comparison.

 

[uconnfan68]

He had a rough time, bobbled the ball a little and got beat bad on D once when he fouled because he jumped on a ball fake. But he did recover and play his man better the next opportunity, so he learned immediately. So I certainly get taking him out when he did, sit him discuss what happened. But why not throw him back in? I mean of course he was nervous he never plays and he’s at Nova versus the best BE team.

And in front if the largest crowd he’s ever been in front of. I felt badly for him. Hurley didn’t do him any favors.

 

[Icehawk]

@HooperScooper - I think Johnson was improving though even in those limited minutes, the mistakes unfortunately are to be expected with his basically zero playtime previously. I’d like to find him a few minutes a game, maybe early, so he can start gelling.

 

[JB75]

I kno we get talked about this ad nauseum but I still don’t understand it. Hurley had a chance to play Diggins and Johnson in that little stretch against the cupcakes in December and refused to - I will still never understand why —as much as Gaffney is struggling now- chance of diggins playing at this point is slim. To me though I see it as a nothing to lose situation , in fact there’s numerous positives to giving diggins a chance:
1) maybe lights a spark under gaffney
2) maybe diggins shows us a little something in games(we never see him so don’t know)
3) risk diggins transferring by blatantly not playing him
4) he gets game time experience for next year or in case we need him this year due to injury—
I still don’t get how he doesn’t see a few mins. I mean how bad can the Philly city player of the year be? Can’t be worse than what we have now. Also, as a side note, why does it seem like every team in the country from Vermont to Lehigh to Creighton to nova has a guy who can put the ball in the bucket but us? Mystifying

 

[microfich]

So you're not performing in practice and the coach elevates you because of what, potential?
Where have you ever seen potential getting significant playing time over earning it? It doesn't and should never work that way. It embitters those that deserve the PT, increases the chance of losing and most likely shakes the confidence of the elevated player who will abundantly fail.
Playing kids in games before they are ready is a recipe for failure, not growth. Spoon-feeding is a ready excuse for a fan who has never coached a team.
Kids learn by practicing and become better performers over time, not because they've been fed to the wolves.

 

[Ratso]

Wright is in his 60s. He didn’t get to where he is overnight.

remember all of the years he used get top 25 mcd‘s burger boys and never got past the sweet 16. he finally figured out a way to get kids who fit his system and didn’t have to be 5*. I see a similar formula @ Baylor now.

 

[I Bleed Blue]

Bump. Free Samson! Hope he gets some meaningful minutes in the second half with Sanogo in foul trouble.

 

[Austin316]

Bump. Free Samson! Hope he gets some meaningful minutes in the second half with Sanogo in foul trouble.

This is the game to dish out minutes

 

[connVA]

Bump. Free Samson! Hope he gets some meaningful minutes in the second half with Sanogo in foul trouble.

The way this is going, if there isn't 5+ minutes of extended garbage time to get him, Gaff, and Diggins some reps at the tail end of this one, something's gone very wrong. The Hoyas literally do not know how to play defense.