Solo Ball’s minutes last night? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Solo Ball’s minutes last night?

Dauster is another reactionary guy who tends to be captured by the moment which leads to some nonsense talk.

I like that he's a UConn guy and he has some good stuff to say but I watch The Field of 68 for Tyler Hansbrough and Terrence Oglesby.
Love TH & TO. Also my favs. To call Dauster someone who lacks cred is kinda silly. The guy does it for a living, played hoops in college, sees this stuff up close and is a UConn fan. Maybe he's a little dramatic for content sake, but he's not some outlandish view.

Let's see how the Hall game plays out. Last night was not the first time Ball was sat in key spots. I don't think Hurley is going to be overly loyal this year if it means putting the team in a compromised spot.

And yes, he's an amazing kid. All of them are. You can separate off court character and on court tendencies.
 
A year ago, or even a couple of months ago, I would have said you're right, but Stewart has really elevated his defensive game this year. Ball has also improved defensively but I would give the edge to Stewart at this point.
Sorry are we watching the same sport?

Stewart is a fine bench option, but before last night I’d say he’d fallen behind Ross in the pecking order in terms of play this season.

We won so people forget the bad turnover Stewart had late in the game as well as the boneheaded transition 3 with like 20+ seconds on the shot clock.

Stewart has not gotten better since he stepped on campus. He’a a long body who’s a decent defender and rebounder and he can get streaky from 3. He’s not Solo freaking Ball.

I think we also have to remember his family member is commentating these games and is VERY quick to narrate around everything he does once he steps on the floor, which isn’t nothing in terms of influencing perception.
 
For all that was bad vs Providence (poor overall D, Solo D, etc) - nothing quite cures that like DePaul at home!
 
My reaction to 90% of the posts in this thread . . .


Iron Man Eye Roll GIF
 
You want a coach who coaches to win the game. It's on Solo to not sulk and come back stronger.
 
.-.
Did you notice his reaction at the end of the game? Sulking seems like the furthest thing from his mind . . .
No and good. I wasn't worried, I was just sayin'.
 
I just hate that logic....a foul is a foul no matter when it occurs. If that shot went in, this Board would still be in meltdown mode today over the non-call.
Trust me, I get it but that’s basketball for ya.
 
Yup. And Mullins makes up for the offense Solo provides. Let’s see how much this lineup plays together. Solo coming off the bench?
Solo is NOT coming off the bench. Dan Hurley sent him a clear message and he will respond.
 
Sorry are we watching the same sport?

Stewart is a fine bench option, but before last night I’d say he’d fallen behind Ross in the pecking order in terms of play this season.

We won so people forget the bad turnover Stewart had late in the game as well as the boneheaded transition 3 with like 20+ seconds on the shot clock.

Stewart has not gotten better since he stepped on campus. He’a a long body who’s a decent defender and rebounder and he can get streaky from 3. He’s not Solo freaking Ball.

I think we also have to remember his family member is commentating these games and is VERY quick to narrate around everything he does once he steps on the floor, which isn’t nothing in terms of influencing perception.
Nothing you said has anything to do with my comments. What does Ross have to do with it? Or Stewart's shot selection? Where did I say he should be starting? Where did I say he was better than Ball overall? The topic was his DEFENSE which has clearly improved from last year (as has Ball's).

To say that Stewart hasn't improved since he stepped on campus is pure idiocy.
 
.-.
Solo was -19 and Stewart was +18 in a game we won by 5 points. I think that’s all you need to know.
He was dreadful. Huskies making a run and he makes a sloppy pass for a turnover and then defensive rebound comes directly to him he winds up losing an uncontested rebound while falling to floor. I think that is when danny had seen enough. Hopefully he gets his confidence back
 
I don’t think Solo and Braylon are redundant enough to consider making a lineup change. Stewart or Ross can come in and replace someone for defense when needed, like yesterday

But despite Solo getting benched and only scoring 10 points, he’s still our leading scorer. Let’s not forget his back to back 17 points on 50%+ shooting in the last week. Or his 26 point explosion to start BE play

There are games Solo will be bad (yesterday) and there are times Braylon will be bad (Marquette). The benefit of having this level of depth is that you can make those offense/defense tradeoffs and not get burned as a team

Speaking of team, shoutout Solo Ball for being the first guy off the bench to rush and chest bump Silas after the buzzer
 
Hurley benched him because he was playing bad defense and wasn’t bringing enough offense to make up for it

Reminded me of Jordan Hawkins against Iowa St in 2023. We all know how that ended so hopefully Solo uses this to improve
I have less than zero memory of us playing Iowa State other than getting steamrolled by them with Royce White, and the return favor with DeAndre Daniels turning into KD for a game (and their guy who scored like 112 points that game)
 
Solo is fine. This happens all the time in the NBA where a top player isn't in the game down the stretch because something else was working better. It happened last week with Stephon Castle against the Knicks when Julian Champagne hit 10 threes...next game it was back to the usual.
 
I have less than zero memory of us playing Iowa State other than getting steamrolled by them with Royce White, and the return favor with DeAndre Daniels turning into KD for a game (and their guy who scored like 112 points that game)
That was the Phil Knight championship game after we beat Alabama - just another one of those double-digit beatdowns out of conference we became known for. They all blend together.
 
.-.
A year ago, or even a couple of months ago, I would have said you're right, but Stewart has really elevated his defensive game this year. Ball has also improved defensively but I would give the edge to Stewart at this point.
Fair enough. I probably haven't paid close enough attention to Stew's defense this year and still have his past struggles in my mind. In the past he has looked like he was on skates at times on the perimeter. If Stew continues to play crunch time minutes over Ball then I will have to concede you are probably right, but we will see. One game is not a trend, but I will be curious to see how it plays out.
 
Love TH & TO. Also my favs. To call Dauster someone who lacks cred is kinda silly. The guy does it for a living, played hoops in college, sees this stuff up close and is a UConn fan. Maybe he's a little dramatic for content sake, but he's not some outlandish view.

Let's see how the Hall game plays out. Last night was not the first time Ball was sat in key spots. I don't think Hurley is going to be overly loyal this year if it means putting the team in a compromised spot.

And yes, he's an amazing kid. All of them are. You can separate off court character and on court tendencies.
I didn't say Dauster lacks credibility, I said he's a reactionary and he tends to say some nonsensical stuff because of it. I also said he has some good stuff to say.

I said I like that he's a UConn fan and I tried to be as charitable as I could be. I just find Hansbrough and Oglesby much better to listen to on The Field of 68.

Not sure how Dauster averaging 2 points per game for a horrible D3 program adds anything to his opinions and analysis.
 
Dauster brought it up on his pod, so just relaying it here: is there a scenario in which Hurley decides J Stew is a better fit for the starting lineup and Solo comes off the bench?
Well there is always a scenario, like if Stew continues to improve his offense and Solo continues to struggle from 3, but I would pump the brakes on that prediction. Let's give it another game or two.
 
I don't care if he starts or not but I've been very happy with Stewart's contributions lately. He looks a lot more active and engaged, and you can tell that Hurley has more confidence in him. Would still like to see him get a little bit of license to create in some kind of iso situation because I think he's got some skills that aren't being exploited but he's been very solid.
 
Ball was getting burned left and right on drives and turned his back on a 3. His defense was poor.

Uconn was terrible on 3 point rotation defense all night long. They were kind of casual in closeout, leading to wide open 3s all night long. When a team gets 24 wide open clean looks they are going to hit them. Karaban and Reed were slow on closeout. Probably some of the worst Uconn 3 point defense they have ever played.

Wondering how much of that was scouting analysis vs disinterest. No way AK did not care.
 
.-.
That was the Phil Knight championship game after we beat Alabama - just another one of those double-digit beatdowns out of conference we became known for. They all blend together.

I remember the 'Bama game b/c it was a pre-game Brandon Miller love fest. I've got absolutely nothing for the Iowa State.
 
It’s a strange situation. For purposes of offense, you just don’t need all of our five starters on the court at the same time. There’s only so much firepower you need when only one player gets to shoot per possession. Sacrificing one of Solo, Brandon and Alex for more of a glue guy, and having the offensive star fresh to be on the floor getting shots with Reibe and Smith and Ross, makes a lot of sense.

But we’re a long, long way from Solo not starting, even if the starting five is not our best unit. You just may see less of the five starters playing together.
One of the reasons for it is that Mullins is also better at the 2. There are some difficult defensive responsibilities for our 3, especially when we high hedge. Stewart knows those and can execute them. Mullins, not really. So you're upgrading not just Stew > Ball on defense, but upgrading Mullins and also getting better rebounding and passing.

Unlike McNeeley who showed he could bang in the paint early on, and Castle who could guard anybody, Mullins lives outside the arc and isn't physical enough for the SF role.
 
Wondering how much of that was scouting analysis vs disinterest. No way AK did not care.

AK had a halfhearted closeout on a three that had me screaming until I realized it was Mela who's a sub-30 percent three point shooter for his career. Just one of those nights (that tends to happen in Providence for some reason).
 
Not sure how Dauster averaging 2 points per game for a horrible D3 program adds anything to his opinions and analysis.
I generally find people that have played a sport competitively probably have a better understanding of a game they watch.

They’ve done the work and have been coached to see things. Often guys that play at a lower level are the better coaches/analysts because they had to work harder and high level athletes don’t understand that everyone isn’t as gifted as they are.

In sports I played I can see more and understand the nuance of commentary much better.
 
.-.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,530
Messages
4,580,615
Members
10,491
Latest member
7774Forever


Top Bottom