Steph Castle goes off for 32.

[UconnU]

https://twitter.com/balapattyszn/status/1896391317456068964?s=61

Do you guys remember when he committed one of the only knocks was “average athlete”. Now people are comping him to D-Rose, he’s in the dunk contest and the best athlete on an NBA team. Was it a poor scout or did he become more athletic?

 

[3rdbass]

https://twitter.com/balapattyszn/status/1896391317456068964?s=61

Do you guys remember when he committed one of the only knocks was “average athlete”. Now people are comping him to D-Rose, he’s in the dunk contest and the best athlete on an NBA team. Was it a poor scout or did he become more athletic?

Who called him an average athlete? I think people even on the BY saw an above average but not elite. They didn't realizee that he had this next level. I think a lot of that was due to his knee injury he had. Once he got more comfortable and back to health you saw flashes of this at the end of the year. I'm still laughing at posters who compared Liam to Steph as far as athletic talent. That was the biggest joke I saw on the BY. Not trying to put Liam down but he is average at best Athlete and not in Steph's stratsophere.

 

[bendm]

I don’t think I’m falling victim to revisionist history but the average athlete label isn’t ringing a bell. When we got him I assumed he’d be the second best athlete Hurley has had after AJ.

 

[aceboon]

Steph is a very good athlete but anyone comparing his athleticism to DRose didn't see peak DRose

 

[3rdbass]

I don’t think I’m falling victim to revisionist history but the average athlete label isn’t ringing a bell. When we got him I assumed he’d be the second best athlete Hurley has had after AJ.

Actually some here thought Liam was just at Athletic.

 

[caw]

I honestly don’t know if I ever called him average but he certainly did not show the eye popping athleticism of AJ in high school. Even at UConn he didn’t show it a ton.

A lot of it is masked by his superb body control, strength and footwork. I wonder if he is using it more now because he has to in the NBA where almost everyone is a great athlete.

He’s doing a ton now in the NBA that he didn’t even a year ago. His hesitation layup package is probably the best in the NBA right now. He goes from acceleration to almost full stop in a split second and the defender usually is caught flying by.

 

[dogpause]

The only knock I remember was that he was not considered a great shooter. That was true, but he kept improving. But around the basket, he was perhaps the best finsiher we've ever had, with the possible exception of Caron. Taris is now in the conversation too.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I'm going to push back on the insinuation that Liam isn't athletic. He may not be a leaper but for instance his speed, and strength are definitely above average.

 

[3rdbass]

I'm going to push back on the insinuation that Liam isn't athletic. He may not be a leaper but for instance his speed, and strength are definitely above average.

Above average for NBA? I don't think so. He is a crafty player with average athletic ability which isn't a bad thing. He is a hard worker with great dribbling skill. Karaban for instance is a below average athlete by NBA standards and can't dribble that well. Liam can shoot the ball and dribble. That is what is going to make him special. He definitely isn't fast or quick as he gets beat a lot on defense and has trouble getting separation on penetration. At this level he can use his height and strength to score but that is going to be harder at the next level.

 

[3rdbass]

I mean he looks pretty athletic is these clips. Probably due to how smooth and effortless he does it makes it seem easy? This was all regular season action last year for us.

Watching this clip makes me sad. As he was such an exciting player last year and would of loved him on this team as thee missing piece to glory.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Stephon Castle has the most appendicular coordination of any basketball player I've seen in a UConn uniform.

It's a trait Ray Allen and Caron Butler had in spades as well.

 

[TheHorde]

With a 0 +/-. Fox and Paul were I believe -21 and -22. Fox played 34 minutes and Paul played 28 minutes.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Rookie of the Year! Gonna be a great sell to recruits too!

 

[gtcam]

The only knock I remember was that he was not considered a great shooter. That was true, but he kept improving. But around the basket, he was perhaps the best finsiher we've ever had, with the possible exception of Caron. Taris is now in the conversation too.

Bill Corely, Corny Thompson, I could go on
There was UConn basketball before the 21st century

 

[JakeTheDog]

He should have been the #1 pick but being in San Antonio with a hopefully healthy Wemby is the best thing for his career.

 

[jibsey]

I described Castle last year as a player made out of steel. Never had a stronger player of his size at his position at UConn. As a freshman. He stayed in front on defense and gave no ground, good luck trying to fight him for a rebound.
Strength going to the basket too. The only thing we didn’t see very early was great shooting and he has clearly overcome that.
I’m still dreaming about what we would look like if we had him for year 2.

 

[Samoo]

I described Castle last year as a player made out of steel. Never had a stronger player of his size at his position at UConn. As a freshman. He stayed in front on defense and gave no ground, good luck trying to fight him for a rebound.
Strength going to the basket too. The only thing we didn’t see very early was great shooting and he has clearly overcome that.
I’m still dreaming about what we would look like if we had him for year 2.

He really should have stayed a second year...

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

He really should have stayed a second year...

For what? He was clearly ready. Lol

 

[HuskyInfinity]

As an aside, that Tik tok really made me miss Tristen

 

[3rdbass]

As an aside, that Tik tok really made me miss Tristen

Yeah Tristen and Castle were my 2 favorite huskies last year. I would loved to have gotten a Nike Jersery with them on it.

 

[REB1094]

Steph is a beast. Obviously losing Wemby is a terrible thing, but it’s opened up a lot of usage and shots. For some reason Castle is still coming off the bench, but he’s speeding up his development curve by plugging that gap and playing well

These reps will be VERY helpful for when Wemby returns next year. Castle, Fox, and Wemby will be a very strong big 3 for a long time

 

[Scottzer]

How many guys with his talent level have ever sacrificed so much for the team as he did last year? His lockdown D was understood, but not fully appreciated last year. Without him, the Purdue game may have gone differently. Now, in the NBA we see him locking down Curry, forcing SGA into travels, etc.
Offensively, we didn’t need to fully utilize his skill set - but it still showed up in the FF. He looked plenty strong enough for the NBA, but his athleticism looked NBA average. But we saw a glimmer of it in his worst offensive game of the tourney vs Illinois. That dunk was sick, and it was on a very good defender (Shannon), whom he also locked up.

Hurley wasn’t kidding when he said he’s just scratching the surface of his potential on draft night. In the NBA, he just dribbles through guys in a way that doesn’t look possible.

 

[3rdbass]

How many guys with his talent level have ever sacrificed so much for the team as he did last year? His lockdown D was understood, but not fully appreciated last year. Without him, the Purdue game may have gone differently. Now, in the NBA we see him locking down Curry, forcing SGA into travels, etc.
Offensively, we didn’t need to fully utilize his skill set - but it still showed up in the FF. He looked plenty strong enough for the NBA, but his athleticism looked NBA average. But we saw a glimmer of it in his worst offensive game of the tourney vs Illinois. That dunk was sick, and it was on a very good defender (Shannon), whom he also locked up.

Hurley wasn’t kidding when he said he’s just scratching the surface of his potential on draft night. In the NBA, he just dribbles through guys in a way that doesn’t look possible.

So you are the one that though he was NBA average? To me as seen in the Tik Tok video above he is anything but NBA average. He was always a lever above that but weren't sure if he could elevate that since he was just coming back from a knee injury last year. In the final four watching him live my younger brother and i knew he was going to be a great NBA athlete with how he played in those 2 games. The thing is Steph is doing stuff Andre should be doing if he had any NBA offensive skills which sadly he doesn't.

 

[Deepster]

There was a clip of him in a hard tussle with Edey for a loose ball. Every night there's a clip of him viciously dunking on someone. He's a lockdown defender. And he's got a real edge to him. I hate saying it, but some of those aspects are a little "Jordanesque".

 

[aburks41]

Castle doesn't give the impression of being an explosive athlete because he has something called "superstar tempo". You watch him move and it all looks so fluid and effortless. Man I wonder what his statline would be like if he stayed this year...probably putting up 20/10/10 every single game