Skylark thoughtz(TM)

[husky429]

Watching back, his passing in the middle against the zone was absolutely elite. All different plays and angles. We're going to destroy teams that zone us this year, which is great because that means they need to defend our bigs 1v1.

First thing I noticed as well. Obviously stonehill sucks and it will be 100x harder vs real comp, but he wasn't just "being bigger" making those passes--he was finding the pockets of space and making a bunch of different reads.

Only thing I didn't like was when he faced up and drove. Missed pretty badly at the rim. Maybe just first game jitters

 

[UCfor3]

Karaban looks like a poor man's Larry Bird.

Jimmy Chitwood vibes.

 

[jibsey]

Imagine Karaban by year 3. Shooting abysmal, even Hawkins before he went down, but we have to have Hawkins scoring on this team. Can’t wait for Ajax, it’s funny how 1 player can make a big difference and he will.

 

[RichZ]

OK people, I didn't say I hated Karaban. I was hoping to be impressed by the newcomers. Diarra and Clingan were better than I had anticipated them being. Newton and Alleyne lived up to, but didn't exceed my expectations. Maybe
I'd been building Karaban up too much in my mind over the nearly a year since he'd been here. Thought he'd be farther along than he appeared to be last night.


My wife, who pretty much never watches basketball, said I was in a sour mood after the game, so she figured we lost. I told her we won by 31 points, and she asked why I was upset. I explained that the injury to Hawkins, and that concussion protocol takes a few weeks anyway, and since it's second concussion in less than a year, they will be extra cautious. That got her curiosity up, and she wanted to see it. Watching it really affected her, and now she's mad at me for telling her about it and "making" her watch it.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Newton has to be more assertive in that lead guard role and calm everyone down. It seemed no one was actually in charge on the floor . We looked like 5 guys on a Sat morning y game at times . Everyone trying to impress individually but only flashes of cohesion. That performance was not totally unexpected with so many new parts.

Diarra was out of control pushing the ball to the basket even into traffic but his quickness and effort were strong.
Shooting the three was abysmal, if repeated at Storrs Friday then its cause for concern.
You could attribute last night to a strange Hartford environment and first night jitters.
Jackson might bring more sanity to the offense. Hawkins injury was a strange as his back hit the floor first hopefully negating the impact some
Cligan’s effort more than his skill impressed me. Plus he showed better footwork than I expected.
Karaban is raw but obviously can not only shoot but take it to the hoop and pass pretty well. He is only a freshman so guys expecting a finished product will be disappointed
Karaban can be a guy that help’s Sanogo.
I didn’t see much of Johnson and he was playing the 5 more than the four in the second half.
I tried watching on FS1 TV but they were switching games. I watched on the App using my Direct TV sign on . i also watched a little of Creighton and Xavier.
That team gave Creighton fits .
Joey C’s 20 footer was impressive.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Karaban looks like a poor man's Larry Bird.

im thinkin that u are, or recently were, a bball player. if not, then from the time u did till now, u successfully managed to not have ur brains leak out of ur head. u should share how u did that with many here. they need the help. awesome.

 

[August_West]

Would you prefer Jalen Gaffney ?

Honestly?

Maybe. Ask me again in a couple months.

 

[PAHusky]

Would you prefer Jalen Gaffney ?

I would not prefer Gaffney.

However, I also think you're presenting a false dichotomy here. We only have to choose between the current crop of guards and Gaffney because that's exactly who Hurley recruited in the last few years. Again, before I'm swamped by the Hurley defenders, I like DH and think he's right for the job, but we're only in the position we are with guards because of his roster construction.

 

[Psolo12]

Honestly?

Maybe. Ask me again in a couple months.

Did you watch Gaffney play last year?

 

[August_West]

Did you watch Gaffney play last year?

Ive watched him play (up close) his whole career at UConn. So yes.

 

[lange10]

My fear is that Alleyne, Newton, and Diarra are all serviceable. They are not great. That is a problem.

If Sanogo, Hawkins, & Jackson are what we expect them to be this year, then all we need is for Alleyne, Newton, & Diarra to be consistently serviceable.

Breath of fresh air having a quality back up PG in Diarra. Love his change of pace. He can break down his defender, too. We need that.

Alleyne looked poised & his experience showed. He was one of the few that didn’t seem overly rushed early on. Liked his composure. Also liked how he + Karaban operated in the middle of the zone.

Newton didn’t knock down a field goal but he took 12 FT. For years we’ve had issues getting to the line. If he can draw fouls & knock down FT, that’s huge.

None of this matters unless Jordan is healthy though. Poor guy. Hopefully he’s back up to speed soon.

 

[August_West]

I would not prefer Gaffney.

However, I also think you're presenting a false dichotomy here. We only have to choose between the current crop of guards and Gaffney because that's exactly who Hurley recruited in the last few years. Again, before I'm swamped by the Hurley defenders, I like DH and think he's right for the job, but we're only in the position we are with guards because of his roster construction.

This............... recruited kids Gaffney, Floyd, and Diggins vs transfer kids Newton, Alleyne and Diarra. I dont have the answer on what would be better for us this year, but neither does anyone else at this time. But its the 'yard, the incoming are always supermen. The outgoing are always flawed.

Hurley recruited the former, got latter in the portal out of necessity.

On that subject, Johnson vs. Akok? Who you have as 9th or 10th rotation big?

I support all of them (current and former) but in the transfer portal era these are legit and not inflammatory questions.
It is an interesting time in college hoops.

 

[Jaydumo20]

OK people, I didn't say I hated Karaban. I was hoping to be impressed by the newcomers. Diarra and Clingan were better than I had anticipated them being. Newton and Alleyne lived up to, but didn't exceed my expectations. Maybe
I'd been building Karaban up too much in my mind over the nearly a year since he'd been here. Thought he'd be farther along than he appeared to be last night.


My wife, who pretty much never watches basketball, said I was in a sour mood after the game, so she figured we lost. I told her we won by 31 points, and she asked why I was upset. I explained that the injury to Hawkins, and that concussion protocol takes a few weeks anyway, and since it's second concussion in less than a year, they will be extra cautious. That got her curiosity up, and she wanted to see it. Watching it really affected her, and now she's mad at me for telling her about it and "making" her watch it.

You don't have to defend yourself. He didn't jump off the screen to me either. Not that that means much though, because the only thing I was watching for is how we shot from long distance. That was my only concern. We've been searching for that guy for 8 years now. But i do love how deep we are. It'll be a good year, if a shooter emerges, it could be a banner year.

 

[Waquoit]

OK people, I didn't say I hated Karaban. I was hoping to be impressed by the newcomers. Diarra and Clingan were better than I had anticipated them being. Newton and Alleyne lived up to, but didn't exceed my expectations. Maybe
I'd been building I'd been building Karaban up too much in my mind over the nearly a year since he'd been here. Thought he'd be farther along than he appeared to be last night.

Your expecations were impossibly high then. I think this take is so bad it has affected the credibility of future Thoughtz(TM), imo.

 

[uconngb]

Your expecations were impossibly high then. I think this take is so bad it has affected the credibility of future Thoughtz(TM), imo.

couldn't agree more. I'm cancelling my subscription to Thoughtz

 

[CL82]

But its the 'yard, the incoming are always supermen.

Ya think?

Karaban looks like a poor man's Larry Bird.

Jimmy Chitwood vibes.

 

[Waquoit]

couldn't agree more. I'm cancelling my subscription to Thoughtz

I'm not, it's just that...

 

[elmcityboy]

shoutout to "uconn film room" (are they on this site?) for putting together a compilation of karaban in the middle of the zone. he made the right decision basically every time here, and easily could have finished with another 2 points and 2-3 extra assists. definitely needs to put on some muscle to finish through that contact, though.

 

[husky429]

shoutout to "uconn film room" (are they on this site?) for putting together a compilation of karaban in the middle of the zone. he made the right decision basically every time here, and easily could have finished with another 2 points and 2-3 extra assists. definitely needs to put on some muscle to finish through that contact, though.

Whether or not we scored much from the plays is irrelevant to me at this point in the season--everyone had first game jitters. Karaban is making a variety of reads from the high post: various kicks outs, no-look dumps to Sanogo, taking it to the hole himself. That is HIGH LEVEL passing. As good as Whaley was, he had none of these reads in his bag.

When I watch this type of game, these are the kinds of skills I'm looking for. I already know we can dominate Stonehill physically, but dominating with skill and BBIQ is something that can translate to better opponents as he adjusts to the pace of the game.

 

[auror]

Whether or not we scored much from the plays is irrelevant to me at this point in the season--everyone had first game jitters. Karaban is making a variety of reads from the high post: various kicks outs, no-look dumps to Sanogo, taking it to the hole himself. That is HIGH LEVEL passing. As good as Whaley was, he had none of these reads in his bag.

When I watch this type of game, these are the kinds of skills I'm looking for. I already know we can dominate Stonehill physically, but dominating with skill and BBIQ is something that can translate to better opponents as he adjusts to the pace of the game.

And the two touch passes show that he's making those reads instantaneously. That second of processing is often the difference between good and great looks against a zone as the D shifts. Incredibly impressive as a freshman.

 

[Luna]

I noticed that Diarra was limping towards the end of the game… hope he is all right

 

[superjohn]

shoutout to "uconn film room" (are they on this site?) for putting together a compilation of karaban in the middle of the zone. he made the right decision basically every time here, and easily could have finished with another 2 points and 2-3 extra assists. definitely needs to put on some muscle to finish through that contact, though.

His finishing over athleticism is the only thing I didn't like about him in the Peach Jam games I watched. He's really good to great at everything else. He shoots it from deep, he can bring the ball up the court, he battles, he's a really good passer, he makes all his ft's.

Clingan and Karaban are going to make the ball movement so much better for this team. Ball movement/vision/making the right look is going to be a huge upgrade over last season.