Solo Ball is weekly Big East Player of the week | The Boneyard

Solo Ball is weekly Big East Player of the week

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18 a game in Big East play as a sophomore is crazy.

Again, when he gets handle and a better ability to attack the rim, we’re talking best guard in the country. 25 PPG player and someone who is unguardable on the levels of a Kemba and Shabazz.

If we can turn him into a lead guard next year while doing it he’s a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
 
18 a game in Big East play as a sophomore is crazy.

Again, when he gets handle and a better ability to attack the rim, we’re talking best guard in the country. 25 PPG player and someone who is unguardable on the levels of a Kemba and Shabazz.

If we can turn him into a lead guard next year while doing it he’s a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
Again, Solo is not a lead guard and just never will be. That’s okay, but you cannot die on this hill. Hawk will never be a lead guard either, they are the same type of player.
 
18 a game in Big East play as a sophomore is crazy.

Again, when he gets handle and a better ability to attack the rim, we’re talking best guard in the country. 25 PPG player and someone who is unguardable on the levels of a Kemba and Shabazz.

If we can turn him into a lead guard next year while doing it he’s a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
Feels like if he keeps this up he may pull an Alex this year and go through the process. Still too early to tell.
 
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Again, Solo is not a lead guard and just never will be. That’s okay, but you cannot die on this hill. Hawk will never be a lead guard either, they are the same type of player.
More and more people outside of the typical group who want to hold onto this idea are coming around on it.

Even this tweet came across my TL after the Marquette game. Just support our players potential bruh lol. No need to try and limit our guys.

 
Again, Solo is not a lead guard and just never will be. That’s okay, but you cannot die on this hill. Hawk will never be a lead guard either, they are the same type of player.
Solo actually has a really tight handle. Hawkins struggled just dribbling the ball (still struggles in the NBA) while Solo skips up the court and gets into sets between the legs and behind the back through pressure

He definitely doesn’t have PG instincts, but if he can even start building those skills then it’d go a long way. If he develops an attacking game off the dribble and elementary PG skills, that’s a really solid NBA prospect

6’3 sharpshooter CG sounds a lot better than 6’3 sharpshooter SG
 
More and more people outside of the typical group who want to hold onto this idea are coming around on it.

Even this tweet came across my TL after the Marquette game. Just support our players potential bruh lol. No need to try and limit our guys.


You’re gaslighting. Plus, many in the replies said just what I said.

It’s not being unsupportive, it’s realistic. Our team is top-5 in the country in assists, Solo plays huge minutes, and he averages 1.4 assists per game. There was a 7 game stretch mid season where he had 2 total assists. He’s a shooting guard, he doesn’t have the instincts a PG needs to run an offense, and that is fine. It’s certainly working well right now.
 
18 a game in Big East play as a sophomore is crazy.

Again, when he gets handle and a better ability to attack the rim, we’re talking best guard in the country. 25 PPG player and someone who is unguardable on the levels of a Kemba and Shabazz.

If we can turn him into a lead guard next year while doing it he’s a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
If Ball manages to handle the ball as well as one would expect of a shooting guard it will be a big leap. The standard for PG at UConn is rather low with the current system, but I highly doubt he makes it there. Plus I don't want Ball passing, I want him getting open and shooting.
 
18 a game in Big East play as a sophomore is crazy.

Again, when he gets handle and a better ability to attack the rim, we’re talking best guard in the country. 25 PPG player and someone who is unguardable on the levels of a Kemba and Shabazz.

If we can turn him into a lead guard next year while doing it he’s a top 10, maybe top 5 pick.
He has shown no proclivity for passing the ball or facilitating the offense. He's a sniper. It might be enough (+ his athleticism) to get him paid this year. But I see zero chance that he's the starting PG on this team next year. Nowell will likely have that job, or a transfer.
 
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More and more people outside of the typical group who want to hold onto this idea are coming around on it.

Even this tweet came across my TL after the Marquette game. Just support our players potential bruh lol. No need to try and limit our guys.


Solo is not a PG
 
No, Solo is not going to be a pg. and, yes, we need something of at least a true combo guard -we have games where the opposition’s defense blows up our actions (Kansas, Creighton, Xavier) and we always need a guy or two who can dribble penetrate and make something happen.
 
No, Solo is not going to be a pg. and, yes, we need something of at least a true combo guard -we have games where the opposition’s defense blows up our actions (Kansas, Creighton, Xavier) and we always need a guy or two who can dribble penetrate and make something happen.
Diff between being able to dribble penetrate and be a PG.

Duke for instance isn’t running a PG out there. Proctor is anything but a PG, not saying that is the right model.

Memphis is running Haggerty and Hunter out there, neither traditional PGs. I didn’t realize Haggerty is only a sophomore, what a get.
 
Solo actually has a really tight handle. Hawkins struggled just dribbling the ball (still struggles in the NBA) while Solo skips up the court and gets into sets between the legs and behind the back through pressure

He definitely doesn’t have PG instincts, but if he can even start building those skills then it’d go a long way. If he develops an attacking game off the dribble and elementary PG skills, that’s a really solid NBA prospect

6’3 sharpshooter CG sounds a lot better than 6’3 sharpshooter SG
Hawkins might struggle handling but when he can he attacks the rim with authority by some of his huge dunks even in NBA. We still haven't really seen that with Ball. I agree Ball has a better handle but he just doesn't seem to be a blow by your guy driver yet for some reason. He uses hesitation dribbles to get to his spots.
 
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I just think we need to get away from the whole PG conversations. We now have wings and guards and maybe throw a center into that group. 1-4 positions are now all interchangeable. Alex brought ball up a few times against Marquette. Ross did as well. Stewart also. I just don’t think you need the traditional point guard anymore. You have two guards and two wings that can handle the ball and set up the offense and go from there. Once UConn is in their set offense everyone especially the center is facilitating ball movement.

Ball is now getting to the basket. If he can find a way to score off the dribble more create his own shot so to speak and Liam went out already being able to do that, I think that is a good thing.

I do think if Liam comes back healthy this will be another situation where his absence accelerated the development of some key pieces. But they may have gotten there anyway and we would only have one or no conference losses.

But now it looks like, we will have options at the end of close games other than Diarra.
 
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Hawkins might struggle handling but when he can he attacks the rim with authority by some of his huge dunks even in NBA. We still haven't really seen that with Ball. I agree Ball has a better handle but he just doesn't seem to be a blow by your guy driver yet for some reason. He uses hesitation dribbles to get to his spots.
Hawkins getting to the rim was not a strength. Kid was drafted for one thing, to be a sniper. Was a pretty one dimensional player that fit perfectly into that teams roster. Unfortunately don’t know if he’s long for the NBA as it doesn’t appear to be translating, threw up another stinker tonight and down below 37% on the year. When you’re drafted to shoot, that ain’t gonna cut it.

Solo has a stronger frame than Hawk and room to put on more muscle.
 
Hawkins getting to the rim was not a strength. Kid was drafted for one thing, to be a sniper. Was a pretty one dimensional player that fit perfectly into that teams roster. Unfortunately don’t know if he’s long for the NBA as it doesn’t appear to be translating, threw up another stinker tonight and down below 37% on the year. When you’re drafted to shoot, that ain’t gonna cut it.

Solo has a stronger frame than Hawk and room to put on more muscle.
Unless you’re just the absolute best, you are not going to survive the NBA with your best and only skill being the hardest shot in basketball.

It is just not feasible. You’ll have times when you’re on and hot. But it’s not a recipe for consistency.

Being able to attack and be a three level scorer is something you can lean on when your shot may not be falling. Solo also has a BEAUTIFUL pull up jump shot that few times he’s gone to it. Him working on his handle would allow him to incorporate that more into his game as well.

The last level of out sensei guard training we used to do here would be learning how to use your elite midrange to draw fouls. But I won’t get carried away ;)
 
Unless you’re just the absolute best, you are not going to survive the NBA with your best and only skill being the hardest shot in basketball.

It is just not feasible. You’ll have times when you’re on and hot. But it’s not a recipe for consistency.

Being able to attack and be a three level scorer is something you can lean on when your shot may not be falling. Solo also has a BEAUTIFUL pull up jump shot that few times he’s gone to it. Him working on his handle would allow him to incorporate that more into his game as well.

The last level of out sensei guard training we used to do here would be learning how to use your elite midrange to draw fouls. But I won’t get carried away ;)
Yup / so much more confident that a kid like Castle with such a good all around game can develop a shot than I am a great shooter like Hawkins developing an all around game.

Give me Solo with an offseason of 10lbs of muscle into next season and using his shoulder to draw contact in the lane and we may be talking lottery.
 
Yup / so much more confident that a kid like Castle with such a good all around game can develop a shot than I am a great shooter like Hawkins developing an all around game.

Give me Solo with an offseason of 10lbs of muscle into next season and using his shoulder to draw contact in the lane and we may be talking lottery.
Get him to 4 assists a game and I’m predicting top 10. Possibly 5
 
Hawkins getting to the rim was not a strength. Kid was drafted for one thing, to be a sniper. Was a pretty one dimensional player that fit perfectly into that teams roster. Unfortunately don’t know if he’s long for the NBA as it doesn’t appear to be translating, threw up another stinker tonight and down below 37% on the year. When you’re drafted to shoot, that ain’t gonna cut it.

Solo has a stronger frame than Hawk and room to put on more muscle.
I think you missed my point. When Hawkins gets to the rim he has more explosiveness than Ball. Ball hasn't shown that explosiveness going to the rim. I think Ball isn't too quick he is just a good jumper but he has trouble exploding when going to the rim and is using more hesitation dribbles to get by his man. He certainly isn't Ben Gordon good in penetrating who also had more explosiveness. It feels odd as that was what he was known for in High School. He seems more of a shooter and crafty dribbler.
 
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