Solo Ball is mentally and physically stronger. Can he elevate his game?

[HooperScooper]

Article from Mike Anthony.

“Defense is more of a mentality thing. That’s the one thing I learned over this past year: you have to have the mentality that this dude in front of me is not going to score. That’s the mentality I’ve kind of picked up. I’ve gained nine pounds of muscle. So that’s been a big part of this offseason, too, just getting stronger, staying disciplined, staying mentally there.”

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/solo-ball-dan-hurley-uconn-huskies-basketball-21064838.php

The RuffRuff Alternate Access™:
Solo Ball is mentally and physically stronger. Can he elevate his game for UConn?

 

[Lafayette]

AK interview “media availability” he spoke highly of Solo jump from soph to junior including defense. We shall see…

 

[Iluvsuebird]

During this Hurley run I have fallen in love with lots of players. TN won me over. Andre was awesome. Sanogo and Clingan were incredible. And don't get me started with Alex, Spencer and Castle. But this kid Solo Ball has the chance to replace them all. I admire this kid because he has gotten better at every step. When Castle went down early on that year, he acquitted himself very well in his absence. Then barely played when Castle came back. But instead of letting the lack of playing time affect him, he came back last year noticeably better. Without his consistent shooting we do not make the tourney last year. So when people ask "can he get better"? I say hell yes he can. He has proven that already. Match a new mindset with this superior skills and freakish athletic ability? You get yourself an All-American my friends. A better version of Hawkins. A player who may just be one of the best guards to play at UConn. I can't wait to see him perform.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

During this Hurley run I have fallen in love with lots of players.

Post/handle

 

[REB1094]

Solo has a high floor and astronomical ceiling. Maybe I'm overhyping him because he's one of my favorite players on the roster right now (maybe #1 favorite). But he comes back as the same exact player but is a dog on defense, he's an All BE 1st team level player. The offense is so balanced that maybe there's just not enough shots for anyone to score enough to be a lock, but the talent is there

 

[Stasher599]

Solo totally proved me very wrong last year because I thought Stewart was going to have the bigger jump. I did not realize what a sniper he would become and now I think if he can make a similar jump this will be his last year in the UConn uniform.

 

[RuffRuff]

Solo totally proved me very wrong last year because I thought Stewart was going to have the bigger jump. I did not realize what a sniper he would become and now I think if he can make a similar jump this will be his last year in the UConn uniform.

I’m super pumped to see what advancements all these guys made. We need Solo works his tail off and has some great measurements, let’s see how he uses them this year.

 

[Mr. French]

During this Hurley run I have fallen in love with lots of players. TN won me over. Andre was awesome. Sanogo and Clingan were incredible. And don't get me started with Alex, Spencer and Castle. But this kid Solo Ball has the chance to replace them all. I admire this kid because he has gotten better at every step. When Castle went down early on that year, he acquitted himself very well in his absence. Then barely played when Castle came back. But instead of letting the lack of playing time affect him, he came back last year noticeably better. Without his consistent shooting we do not make the tourney last year. So when people ask "can he get better"? I say hell yes he can. He has proven that already. Match a new mindset with this superior skills and freakish athletic ability? You get yourself an All-American my friends. A better version of Hawkins. A player who may just be one of the best guards to play at UConn. I can't wait to see him perform.

Solo and Castle may end up my favorite players from this run. I’m with you.

 

[UCan3]

During this Hurley run I have fallen in love with lots of players. TN won me over. Andre was awesome. Sanogo and Clingan were incredible. And don't get me started with Alex, Spencer and Castle. But this kid Solo Ball has the chance to replace them all. I admire this kid because he has gotten better at every step. When Castle went down early on that year, he acquitted himself very well in his absence. Then barely played when Castle came back. But instead of letting the lack of playing time affect him, he came back last year noticeably better. Without his consistent shooting we do not make the tourney last year. So when people ask "can he get better"? I say hell yes he can. He has proven that already. Match a new mindset with this superior skills and freakish athletic ability? You get yourself an All-American my friends. A better version of Hawkins. A player who may just be one of the best guards to play at UConn. I can't wait to see him perform.

Great take.

If there was one thing that made last year a bit hard to gauge players development it was the lack a point guard for large stretches. Liam/Solo all handling the ball way more than they thought and not much came easy to them.

Fast forward this year, things should be much, much different.

For me the mental part w/ Solo is he had at last 2-3 turnovers at the end of games that at times, looked to be him losing focus / literally not up for the moment. These were hard to watch. Solo not protecting the ball.

I hope to see all that Solo can be this year for full 40 minutes, he does have a chance to be one of the best.

 

[Lafayette]

I’m super pumped to see what advancements all these guys made. We need Solo works his tail off and has some great measurements, let’s see how he uses them this year.

This!

It is all about the core returners and what improvements they made. Solo, Jaylen, Jayden, Tarris, AK - if even 3 of 5 improve to an appreciable difference from last year then supplemented with Silas and Malachi as deep ball handlers, Mullins as insta threat, plus 3-4 other guys who can add meaningful minutes as needed and this will be a great year.