Stonehill Post Game Thread

[Get a Job]

Could be. They didn’t seem very rational, so I don’t know what else they could be protesting.

Their signage said Veterans for Peace

 

[UChusky916]

We have a squad.

Our ball movement is better this year than last. Might put up more assists per game, even though we were among the best in that stat category last year.

If Spencer would have shot his average 3-pt % today, we might have put up 125 or more. He didn't let missed shots impact his game in other ways... moved the ball well, not worried.

Team clearly let foot off the gas a bit on D in 2nd half, and Stonehill hit a few shots.

I know the competition has been poor, but you can tell this team is legit.

 

[TheRealKBuks]

Their signage said Veterans for Peace

As long as its not "just stop oil". That's a movement doing itself no favors

 

[Rocktheworld]

Clingan was in the book store after the game

 

[Waquoit]

Maybe ask Waquoit.

I can just say that they didn't block anything and they weren't disruptive. Nothing like the crew that yelled "baby murderer" at me for 5 years running until COVID. Don't remember any BY comments back then.

 

[JohnnyJr]

Right, even without a true PG, we have plus passers at every position. The team will be a nightmare to zone.

My biggest bright spot is Castle because it is clear he gets it. There were a couple of occasions in the first game when I noticed Castle hadn’t gotten the ball for a while and I worried he might start jacking. But he is clearly a pass first player, and as such, he continues to make the extra pass. I think over time he will play more on-ball and Newton will thrive with a score first mentality. So many kids in his situation are either asked to carry a team from the jump, or to figure it out with a crew of other talented but inexperienced freshman. Adding one super stud to experienced squad is for sure the “meta.”

It’s crazy I used to hate playing zone teams with Ollie and even Calhouns offenses sometimes but this team didn’t have any trouble

 

[Rocktheworld]

Guys, defense takes time. It will come together. It’s game 2.

Newton is going to be on an all-BE campaign and everything will eventually go through him as it did in the tournament last year. Loves seeing Castle get more aggressive. Loved seeing Solo get more comfortable out there. Great for Samson to keep getting minutes. If anything, Clingan almost looks the same and he needs to improve his touch.

I was hoping for Diarra to show out but he has yet to do so. He’ll obviously always be valuable on defense but we were all hoping for some offensive improvement

 

[Waquoit]

Guys, defense takes time. It will come together. It’s game 2.

The defense was fine The other team is going to score more when we score at will. One has to be trying very hard to find negatives from this game.

 

[ThabeetDown]

I haven’t loved the defense the last two games but I’m worried. You see the 67 points but also realize this pace was very fast (77 possessions—would have been tied for our second highest possession game last year). Stonehill forced our hand to play fast and that’s going to raise the scoring on both ends.

I think this team will lock it up next week in The Garden. Hurley ain’t going to let poor defense fly.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

It’s crazy I used to hate playing zone teams with Ollie and even Calhouns offenses sometimes but this team didn’t have any trouble

They’re using Castle in that zone buster role and he seems perfect for it.

 

[Waquoit]

They’re using Castle in that zone buster role and he seems perfect for it.

And Karaban

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Stonehill shot out of their mind and lost by 40

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I agree with others that our guards are great right now. Castle and Newton together gives us a lot of options and Cam playing off them works well too.

Not sure what Diarra’s role offensively will be for us as the season goes on. I hope we start letting Ball have a hand at being the lead ball handler for spurts to help him attack and create more.

Think having a rotation of Newton, Castle, and Ball as lead ball handlerswould be really good moving forward to work on.

 

[storrsroars]

Benigni is a senior. This was his third D1 game (and his best game to date), and i can't tell if he's ever played for any college in any division. Anyone from the E. Hampton area know his story and how he wasn't on anyone else's radar (not us, but like CCSU and the like).

 

[UConnSwag11]

Clingan needs these games to get his stamina up

 

[UConnSwag11]

Due to Cam’s release I thought his shot would be much slower. It’s a fast release which is great

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Benigni is a senior. This was his third D1 game (and his best game to date), and i can't tell if he's ever played for any college in any division. Anyone from the E. Hampton area know his story and how he wasn't on anyone else's radar (not us, but like CCSU and the like).

He was really RINGING THE BELL today

 

[Omahabound]

Where will the bench scoring come from? Samson? Diarra? Its 2 games in, a lot on the frosh. I think the bench is legit concern.

 

[TheChamps990411]

The 4 of newton, castle, karaban and DC is elite

Offensively, sure. Defensively could be an issue. DC defensively is elite but Karaban has to prove hes gotten better and Newton can be really good in spurts then at other time seems to get a bit lost out there. Castle looks like he could be really good. But then again he just looks like he could be good at whatever he wants to do. He is quick with a lot of moves and looks like he can get to the basket at will. If his jumper starts falling, yikes!

 

[Huskyforlife]

Where will the bench scoring come from? Samson? Diarra? Its 2 games in, a lot on the frosh. I think the bench is legit concern.

This is my only real concern. The freshmen are playing like freshmen. You can tell they’re legit talents, but will they be consistent enough to be reliable against better teams? A little afraid we’re gonna see a lot of 35+ minute box scores from our starters against plus comp.

 

[navery12]

Where will the bench scoring come from? Samson? Diarra? Its 2 games in, a lot on the frosh. I think the bench is legit concern.

Samson, Ball, Ross, Stewart should have no problem combining for 15-20 points a game. And with our starting lineup that's all we need

 

[JohnnyJr]

Samson, Ball, Ross, Stewart should have no problem combining for 15-20 points a game. And with our starting lineup that's all we need

Looks like last year we got 20ppg out of our bench but we also only had 3 starters average double figures. All 5 might this year so we shouldn’t need as much

 

[UConnSwag11]

Samson, Ball, Ross, Stewart should have no problem combining for 15-20 points a game. And with our starting lineup that's all we need

I think out of that group Ball can have a floor of 6-8 followed by Samson or Stewart

 

[UConnSwag11]

My only concern as of now is if Clingan is in foul trouble, how will Johnson fair defensively against bigger opponents?

I think Castle will be able to be a really good defender which should help with the loss of Jackson

 

[Omahabound]

Starting lineup is legit, no question. It can be matched up with m anybody as of Nov. I don’t see 20 ppg as a given from Ball Ross Stewart. Their freshman and unknown when it comes to hostile environments, road games, foul trouble, pressure etc.