Solo's performance last night after watching replay

[CardiacAndre7]

Again, I do not care what you all who’ve never played basketball say about whether what I’m observing is wrong or not.

The kid used to be able to slash just fine. When he came here he had Newton, Cam, Castle, Diarra, and Karaban all ahead of him as far as guys Hurley trusted to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rim.

With, what I hope, is well known about Hurley’s hesitancy to trust non one and done freshman, Solo was not going to have many chances or rope to make drives to the rim. Hurley talked up his shooting his whole freshman year because that was his role and what he wanted him to do.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that after a year of not working on this skill it’s rusty. Does he even work on it if Liam doesn’t get hurt to make him have to do more than be a shooter?

Hurley has a lot of positives that obviously result in winning a lot. But he’s not perfect and we don’t have to be obtuse about this.

I have played basketball all my life, and unless you played D1, you haven’t played at a higher level than I have. So gimme a break with you knowing basketball bs. Even if you did play at a higher level, you’re still incorrect. “And trusted to put the ball on the floor more”? Brother, if you can consistently put the ball on the floor, no coach in their right mind would stop you from doing so, it opens the entire game up. That is just such a silly statement.

I’d venture a guess that it is the first game of Solo’s college career he led the team in assists. And that was with Diarra out and McNeeley scoring at will. Solo was comp’d with Russ because of body type and athleticism, that is where their comparisons END. Anyone with a basketball mind and a set of eyes can see that. Solo plays literally nothing like Russ.

I want to tackle everything in that post because it just goes against any type of coaching protocol at a high level, but it seems unnecessary to rub dirt in it.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I have played basketball all my life, and unless you played D1, you haven’t played at a higher level than I have. So gimme a break with you knowing basketball bs. Even if you did play at a higher level, you’re still incorrect. “And trusted to put the ball on the floor more”? Brother, if you can consistently put the ball on the floor, no coach in their right mind would stop you from doing so, it opens the entire game up. That is just such a silly statement.

Kemba and Shabazz had a close to 20% turnover rate their freshman years.

For comparison, Castle had 13%, Newton had 15%, Cam had 8%, and Alex had 7%. You can find these numbers in the advanced stats category of basketball reference.

Do you think Hurley would’ve allowed them to make the mistakes they did on last years team as freshmen?

Solo could slash. But like any freshman that’s not a ready made NBA prospect, giving him the freedom to do that would’ve naturally came with mistakes that Hurley was not going to allow with the stacked roster we had and won with.

One more thing. Absolutely hilarious that the first time Solo is the “guard” on the floor that he leads the team in assists. Almost like he could do it if that was his role and what he was asked to do.

 

[caw]

I don't think anyone can say if Ball could "slash" last year. It most certainly was not his role on the team and we all know his PT dipped after half the season was over.

This year he has been much more in the shooter role until the past game and a half. It's a question of if this is improvisation by Hurley is due to necessity, faith in Ball's ability, or Ball improving, or something else. Without Hurley/Ball speaking on it, there is no right answer.

 

[TheChamps990411]

First off McNeeley is the dude, the star, Thor who refused to lose and willed us a curse-breaking win for Hurley and the team. Credit where credit is due.
But I'm not sure if anyone noticed or brought up in the post game thread: while playing with injured wrist and shots off at the arc, Solo started mixing it up inside, shooting mid-range jumpers, and relentlessly attacking the rims more and more... Along with that, he also logged 5 rebounds, 3 dimes, 1steal, and 1 impressive block at the rim...

My impression: we got ourselves another special kid, smart, skillful, and tough as nail. We are going to be a force to reckoned with when everyone is healthy.

I was very encouraged by the way we looked when both Diarra and Mahaney were not on the floor. Samson/Reed , Karaban, Stewart, Liam and Solo looked pretty good if the bigs could stay out of foul trouble.