Shout out to Ross

[TheShot1990]

12 min to go in the first half, Ross got the rebound, brought the ball up the court, switched hands on his defender, then found Ball under the basked who dished to Reed for the easy layup. He wasn't doing this against top ten teams early in the season.

You also can't measure the times Kam Jones drove on him, then turned around and gave up the ball cause he didn't want to deal with him.

Agreed, he's still jumpy and sloppy but far less so.

He will be a player.

 

[ValleyGuy]

Someone in the chat ripped him for being “terrible at the end of the shot clock.” Twice in this game he got the ball with 1 second on the clock in tough spots. Even the one at the end of the game the other day was him receiving a terrible pass from Hass where he couldn’t gather because of a close out. With that one he should get some blame bc he has to know when to pull up. But the two last night were not his fault.

Not at all. I laughed and can’t help but think they were doing it on purpose

 

[REB1094]

When Ross is calm and in a rhythm, he uses his length and athleticism to make life really difficult for his matchup. When he’s jittery and panicking, guys walk by him to the hoop. Some of that has to do with the offensive side of the ball - if other guys can keep the scoring afloat, Ross can focus solely on defense

Part of his development will be to stay calm and stay in a rhythm more often. Good job yesterday, reminded me of his Gonzaga game

Will need that same consistency against St John’s as well. Hopefully he’s turning the corner!

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Ross will probably be an important part of the defense we play on Kadary next Friday. I’m not sure if Hass or Solo will be able to contain him. I also could see Liam covering him at times with certain lineups

 

[UC0NN]

It's been said for a while, when Ross stops falling for the pump fake and draping his arms all over his defender, you will see a defensive star. And you saw that last night.

He has elite quickness and length, and a motor that never stops.

 

[HailUConn]

He is still a young buck. You can see what Hurley sees in him, a defense stopper. His defense is coming along although he still bit on those pump fakes. He will learn thru mistakes and always play his butt out.

I also wanted to point out, a nice sequence for him, he did drive under basketball from the right corner and made a smooth 10-ft fadeaway jumper. Maybe that's what he should focus on, mid-range jumpers inside the arc since his handle on the ball is decent and his 3 ball is not there yet.

 

[HuskyCane]

Ross looked much more composed as the game went on and is showing flashes of being the lock down defender this team needs. I really liked him bringing the ball up court, he showed some handle and was able to dish off and get the offense started. If he can continue to develop that raises the ceiling of this team...

 

[controlfade]

His defense was stellar last night and deserves the praise he is receiving.
He still looks completely lost on offense, hopefully this part of his game can develop

 

[Palatine]

Are the any Boneyarders left that still think that Ross is poor defender? There were a few last week.

Ross was superb. At the end of the game Jones was dragging Diarra inside and scoring at will. He was single-handedly bringing them back. Hurley put Ross on Jones (the favorite for BE POY) and Ross rose to the occasion. He is flashing Lyman DePriest vibes.

 

[UofCT]

Ross will probably be an important part of the defense we play on Kadary next Friday. I’m not sure if Hass or Solo will be able to contain him. I also could see Liam covering him at times with certain lineups

Hurley should start Ross on Friday for this very reason.

Edit: I take this back. Forgot Liam is coming back!

 

[mauconnfan]

Wanted to make this a separate thread because I’ve been absolutely killing him for his defense. Tonight his defense was great and with as bad as Stewart was w the ball we needed him to step in and he did in a big way.

Kudos to Ross, I gladly eat my words and hope he can build on this

It’s disappointing you were killing him like that! Ok ok I was too and the Crow Thread here is perfect for us the kid was good last night. And you know the key, simple move your feet and then STAY ON YOUR FEET. He will be asked to do the same for some minutes vs Kadary next week and tha the key. Kadary plays well below the rim just play D hands up then box out and go get the rebound. He was real good on that end last night kudos to Jayden!!!

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Wanted to make this a separate thread because I’ve been absolutely killing him for his defense. Tonight his defense was great and with as bad as Stewart was w the ball we needed him to step in and he did in a big way.

Kudos to Ross, I gladly eat my words and hope he can build on this

Thanks for starting this thread.

With Diarra graduating and McNeeley likely going to the NBA, there isn't a clear non-big who I can look at next year's potential roster and be like "he's going to be our defensive stopper."

I think Nowell's got on-ball, PG defensive potential, but Ross looks like that guy who can develop into a defender who can switch one-to-four with ease, adding in his distribution capabilities, and you've got an interesting Swiss Army knife type guy.

Right now, he's still got a jitteriness about him, but it comes from an endearing willingness to play hard and do right and with more game reps and 5-10 more pounds of muscle, I think he'll grow into a fan favorite next season.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

I am waiting for his final evolution into full AJax, where he is running the point some next year.

Only half kidding.

 

[HooperScooper]

"When Liam went out, we were a legitimate top-12, top-15 level team," Hurley added. "His absence hurt our level a lot. All of our numbers took significant dips, and obviously we lost games. So now, with the development of Solo and Jaylin Stewart, I think that sophomore class in general — J-Ross's defense today — this could be a blessing."

 

[CTBasketball]

Are the any Boneyarders left that still think that Ross is poor defender? There were a few last week.

Ross was superb. At the end of the game Jones was dragging Diarra inside and scoring at will. He was single-handedly bringing them back. Hurley put Ross on Jones (the favorite for BE POY) and Ross rose to the occasion. He is flashing Lyman DePriest vibes.

Yes. Too many mental lapses.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I am waiting for his final evolution into full AJax, where he is running the point some next year.

Only half kidding.

Kidding or not, he was a PG early in HS until he had a huge quick growth spurt.

He's a kid who needs some confidence and I think he is his worst critic.

There was one exchange last night I loved. He got called for a foul and he began to complain to the ref about the Marquette players pushing off and AK put his arm around his neck and pull him into the huddle gently and say "It's okay" and something else to get Ross to move forward mentally.