Solo Ball the one-man escape hatch

[CTBasketball]

The proper futuristic comparison to Solo Ball is a more athletic Rashad Anderson.

Solo needs some daggers before that comparison is true. Both fundamentally bad on defense.

 

[aceboon]

I'll give Diarra a pass because he's still solid and being asked to carry way too much of a burden offensively.

Solo is the worst defender I've ever seen, relative to size and athleticism. It's making me question Dans ability to teach defense. He's like if Hawkins played Mahaney defense.

Ross looked like he had potential, but he bites at everything and you can tell he's desperate to make splash plays on defense. Think there's still a chance he'll figure it out next year, he needed this experience.

Stewart is getting tons of credit for stopping Dixon, but I thought the constant doubles were a larger factor.

Samson still smacking people 40 feet from the hoop has me looking at Dan funny too. How is this still a problem? Dude is a 5th year senior and fouls like a true freshman.

He's not a 5th year senior

 

[jibsey]

If Solo could just up his driving game it would be big.

 

[ctchamps]

He's not a 5th year senior

Second year of game experience. Reed Jr. has double the college playing experience.

Plus Samson has avoided these silly fouls recently. As long as he doesn't continue and make this a trend it's silly to make it an issue.

 

[AllHusky]

Solo a little slow to drive to the basket after receiving pass. He is a 3 point shot first guy, rather than a drive and see what comes up guy. He could take a quick 2 dribble drive to the hoop and backpedal for a 3, but right now I'd say he catches and looks to shoot, not drive. By the time he realizes he's not clean for the 3, the opportunity to probe with a drive all the way or dish is probably gone. Could change, as he is morphing rapidly in a positive way.

I think you'll see him make more defensive plays soon. Same as indecision about driving, he is still a little slow to anticipate and stay ahead of the play right now. One poster mentioned ball watching. Yes, agreed, especially when he is on opposite side from the ball. He is vulnerable to back doors and skip passes over the top to the man who he is loosely guarding.

Watched the move by Brickus when he made Solo look sick on a drive. I can see Solo defending that effectively real soon. Quicker brain, quicker feet and great length and athleticism and that's a stop,
Reply

 

[Huskyforlife]

He's not a 5th year senior

Correct, not the first time I've made that mistake with him, feels like he's been here forever.

Point still stands regardless.

 

[JohnFSilver]

He had a drive through traffic in the 2nd half that was the best take I’ve seen from him all year.

Would love for him to keep developing that, along with his find to Stewart, and the pull up mid range to really get his overall game going.

He has the tools to be the best guard in the country if he can do all of that consistently.

Doesnt need the midrange for now. Work on D. Would rather have him be a three and layup guy.

 

[Rico444]

“We recruit really good offensive players now and we force them to play defense,” Hurley said. “We force them to rebound the ball like it’s a life-or-death proposition, because ball possession represents life in my mind.”

“It’s hard to win championships and it’s hard to win a tournament like the NCAA Tournament unless you can score,” he said. “It’s hard to get out of the first round if you’re in a rock fight, because you feel enormous pressure in the first round of NCAA Tournament games when you coach at UConn. The best way to mitigate that is to have a high-power offense that can go on runs… to blow up a game because you’ve got firepower.”

So the question is can any player be taught to play very good defense? Or do some players have physical limitations that prohibit them from being good defenders? Has Hurley overrated his ability to turn offensively talented players into very good defenders?

I was actually going to start a thread on this with those questions but figured I'd wait until the end of the season to see if the defense improved a lot.

Some players are just limited and won't ever be great defenders (see Mahaney, Aidan). Others have the athleticism and size to be very good or great and can absolutely be molded to get there. That's where Solo is, and I expect by the time he leaves Storrs he will be there.

 

[mauconnfan]

100% the reason for Hass. It's ok. He has been excellent for us.

Has he been excellent? No because you can’t just play 1 half. Last 2 games he had awful ( not exaggerating) 1st half’s which was a big reason we have been down a good amount in those games. He comes out 2nd half fist pumping and making plays but I’m wondering why this can’t be from the opening tip. Maybe it’s a 6th man mentality? He needs to show up from the tip today, both ends and make plays or we could be looking at a deficit again. Hes been really good at times but we really need Nowell I think to help him out.

 

[mauconnfan]

Some players are just limited and won't ever be great defenders (see Mahaney, Aidan). Others have the athleticism and size to be very good or great and can absolutely be molded to get there. That's where Solo is, and I expect by the time he leaves Storrs he will be there.

Mahaney is better than Ball on D as we speak. It’s amazing to me with his athleticism he’s really this bad. Add to it he’s not very good off the ball in both help and rebounding. He had a killer weakside miss on a box out down the stretch as he watched his guy put back a rebound for 2 big points. Too long and built to play D to continue to be inadequate. I know we need him to play because he can make shots but he doesn’t deserve all the minutes honestly with his defensive efforts.

I will say his rebounding has improved I will give him that.