Shout out to Ross

[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!

 

[6Nattys4Us]

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.

Ross is a good defender. Saying superb is Castle-like, and they are worlds apart as defenders. Marquette's guards were driving on Diarra easily, and when Ross was in, they had a harder time turning the corner, yet they still would score.

On offense he made some bonehead moves (dribbling for a shot with 1 sec left, passing to the feet of Johnson), but also - given he was a point guard then grew - brought the ball up multiple times, dished well so my grades for Ross:

Defense: B-
Offense: B

 

[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.

 

[Scrappy3]

The ball/ross pg duo worked well. Couldn’t do it all gsme but 3/4 min a half u could

 

[jibsey]

Team defense even without Liam was in general very good yesterday. That is a key to where this team goes because Solo won’t get 25 every game.

 

[Scottobot]

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

His defense in Marquette game was by far his best of the season, and perhaps the best on ball defense anyone on UConn has played all year. With Diarra battling injury, Ross was the only person who could guard Cam Jones. Jones scored on 4 drives in a row in second half, and Ross came off the bench and shut it down. That was needed to secure the win.

 

[DRBackup]

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

He's a great, athletic defender. His problem had / has been that he goes for every single fake and takes himself completely out of the play in the process. I didn't notice him going for a single fake against Marquette.

 

[Hunt for 7]

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

I think Ross ends up covering Luis Jr and unfortunately that leaves Liam to guard a very physical Richmond while coming off the ankle injury. Fully healthy I like how we match up with St Johns. I think Ross can neutralize their leading scorer and Liam can guard Richmond effectively. That leaves their center Ejiofor who is their second leading scorer Reed matches up better physically but I think Samson athleticism could work to his advantage.

St Johns is a big team, but they are not deep. If you look at their box scores it looks like Pitino just plays the players who are playing good in that game. The team is centered around 3 players Ejiofor, Richmond and Luis. The other parts seem to be interchangeable. Scott is not an offensive threat. And Wilcher and Smith are pretty much the other players that can score. Short rotation most games one man off the bench gets double digit minutes the rest of the reserves play less than 10 minutes. He rides his best players game to game other than the big three.

 

[Stinger92860]

Ross played with more poise than I have seen from him. Seems like the game slowed down for hm against Marquette. Let’s see if he can keep bringing it.