Check out this post for a refresher on what I do here.
Interesting matchup stylistically. I like playing Stonehill despite their not great metrics. Their 5-out offense and player versatility provide a good challenge to our personnel and Donovan specifically defensively. It's a warmup to Nova or Marquette a bit. The starting lineup (and starters + Johnson) killed them at the start of both halves, but did get outscored for 1 stint in the middle of the 2nd half. The non-big 4 of the starters were all at least +30 +/- for the game (and Clingan/Johnson combined for +32), but we did struggle a bit defensively with their scheme (and Benigni had some crazy finishes/shotmaking). Our offense in general is awesome. According to ShotQuality, we're 2nd in the country in 'Rim and 3' Rate, so we're getting only the best shots and also getting to the line (21/23!) We haven't even shot well from 3 yet as a team and have had 1.38 and 1.39 PPP, which is elite (and yes competition has been poor defensively).
Name (Positive, Negative, Net)
Newton (34, 7, +27 MVP) - Strong performance from Newton, 22 points, 7 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl. Obviously shot it well, especially the first half. He didn't attempt a 3 in the 2nd half after going 4/7 in 1st, but took it to the rim well and passed well. Had his hands in so many plays, which shows up with the 5 steals. He had an unbelievable first 5 minutes of the 2nd half when we were pressing, which I have him down for +12 in that stretch alone. The team pressed the lead from 22 to 34 in that stretch. He made a couple mistakes in the 1-3-1 in 1st half and a few turnovers and fouls, that was most of his mistakes.
Spencer (20, 15, +5) - Just not a strong game from Spencer. He missed a ton of open looks. He was only charged with 3 TO but I have him as responsible for a few more plus a few fouls. He also got beat a few times defensively 1 on 1 including a couple times backdoor. But he's still a smart player who is very unselfish (6 assists). He's also active defensively despite those 1v1 shortcomings, and our defense still rated out pretty strongly while he was on the court. I'm confident the shot will start falling.
Castle (26, 4, +22) - Awesome game. 17 points, 8 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk. I'm so impressed by a lot of the little things, like the way he cuts off penetration on defense without fouling, or the way he reads the defense to find a better pass than the simple pass. And he plays pretty shockingly mistake free for being a freshman oversized PG who provide so many advantages: no fouls and only 1 TO. While watching I thought to myself, "Wow, we had a great 2nd half" (16/3). But he also had a great 1st half (10/1). As you can see in the graphic at the bottom, he had a ludicrously strong game in the advanced analytics. After 2 games, he's 2nd among Power 6 players in RAPM behind only Zach Edey. Evan Miya had him 184th in his player rankings in the pre-season based basically just off his recruiting rank, and he's up #12 overall (the 2nd biggest jump in rating among major conference players).
Karaban (17, 6, +11) - A bit of a quiet game from Karaban. Rebounded well in the 1st half. Only 8 shot attempts and still had 15 points, very efficient. 2 blocks and 2 steals along with a number of good contests on D. He's just so solid.
Clingan (25, 9, +16) - An offensive rebound, putback, and interior defense machine. Couple nice drop step moves. Still yet to make his first 3. His perimeter defense was not great; he's just too heavy to chase guys around screens or close out hard. He fell for a couple pumpfakes at the 3 point lane the last couple of games. I suspect we went with the 1-3-1 zone to protect him against the switchable 5-out offense they were running (and to get practice with that D in general as our changeup like we used it last season). Had several nice passes out of the low post and perimeter in the 2nd half especially. Only credited with 1 assist, but several led to wide open misses or drawn shooting fouls.
Johnson (12, 2, +10) - Easier defensive day for him in this one since they basically didn't play out of the post at all. Guarded better than Clingan in space. Didn't make a ton of mistakes, only 1 foul this game. When he did make a mistake, like letting that guy get behind him in transition, he erased it. That's his potential for sure. Didn't connect quite as well with the guards on a few alley-oops, but had a nice cutting layup on an ATO and had his best passing day yet. Passing is infectious, and our guards and wings set a very good example for our bigs. Helps that Karaban, Ball, and others are good cutters, too.
Ball (10, 4, +6) - Love watching him on D. Gives great effort and flies around the court. We had him in the back of the 1-3-1 to cover the corners and he did a pretty good job, though the rookie lineup running the zone were a little sloppy at times. Good cutter, made an open 3, only credited with 1 steal, but forced several other turnovers as part of traps.
Diarra (9, 4, +5) - Not quite as good a game as last game, but still did a pretty good distributing the ball (5 valuable passes in 12 min). The offense doesn't hum quite as well with him in, though. Has done a better job not over-penetrating this year compared to last. Also good to see him make a catch and shoot 3, that'll be a big part of him being able to stick in the rotation.
Ross (7, 3, +4) - Just like Ball, he just has a great size/speed/strength combination that makes him seem like he's flying around the court compared to the opponents. The form on his jumper looks super solid and repeatable, if a little slow. He's also unselfish and has made the (correct) extra pass a few times now, which is just one of those things that makes you fall in love with a player.
Stewart (5, 2, +3) - He was pretty invisible in his couple minutes in the 1st half, but made a few real wow plays in garbage time. He has a very good handle for his size and definitely has shown flashes of being able to be an on-ball player in the future. He also looked pretty solid on offense popping to the middle and finding Diarra for a 3 against a 2/3 at the end of the game. He helped pushed the lead back to 40 at the end.
Interesting matchup stylistically. I like playing Stonehill despite their not great metrics. Their 5-out offense and player versatility provide a good challenge to our personnel and Donovan specifically defensively. It's a warmup to Nova or Marquette a bit. The starting lineup (and starters + Johnson) killed them at the start of both halves, but did get outscored for 1 stint in the middle of the 2nd half. The non-big 4 of the starters were all at least +30 +/- for the game (and Clingan/Johnson combined for +32), but we did struggle a bit defensively with their scheme (and Benigni had some crazy finishes/shotmaking). Our offense in general is awesome. According to ShotQuality, we're 2nd in the country in 'Rim and 3' Rate, so we're getting only the best shots and also getting to the line (21/23!) We haven't even shot well from 3 yet as a team and have had 1.38 and 1.39 PPP, which is elite (and yes competition has been poor defensively).
| Players | POS (+) | NEG (-) | NET |
| Newton | 34 | 7 | +27 |
| Spencer | 20 | 15 | +5 |
| Castle | 26 | 4 | +22 |
| Karaban | 17 | 6 | +11 |
| Clingan | 25 | 9 | +16 |
| Johnson | 12 | 2 | +10 |
| Ball | 10 | 4 | +6 |
| Diarra | 9 | 4 | +5 |
| Ross | 7 | 3 | +4 |
| Stewart | 5 | 2 | +3 |
Name (Positive, Negative, Net)
Newton (34, 7, +27 MVP) - Strong performance from Newton, 22 points, 7 reb, 4 ast, 5 stl. Obviously shot it well, especially the first half. He didn't attempt a 3 in the 2nd half after going 4/7 in 1st, but took it to the rim well and passed well. Had his hands in so many plays, which shows up with the 5 steals. He had an unbelievable first 5 minutes of the 2nd half when we were pressing, which I have him down for +12 in that stretch alone. The team pressed the lead from 22 to 34 in that stretch. He made a couple mistakes in the 1-3-1 in 1st half and a few turnovers and fouls, that was most of his mistakes.
Spencer (20, 15, +5) - Just not a strong game from Spencer. He missed a ton of open looks. He was only charged with 3 TO but I have him as responsible for a few more plus a few fouls. He also got beat a few times defensively 1 on 1 including a couple times backdoor. But he's still a smart player who is very unselfish (6 assists). He's also active defensively despite those 1v1 shortcomings, and our defense still rated out pretty strongly while he was on the court. I'm confident the shot will start falling.
Castle (26, 4, +22) - Awesome game. 17 points, 8 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk. I'm so impressed by a lot of the little things, like the way he cuts off penetration on defense without fouling, or the way he reads the defense to find a better pass than the simple pass. And he plays pretty shockingly mistake free for being a freshman oversized PG who provide so many advantages: no fouls and only 1 TO. While watching I thought to myself, "Wow, we had a great 2nd half" (16/3). But he also had a great 1st half (10/1). As you can see in the graphic at the bottom, he had a ludicrously strong game in the advanced analytics. After 2 games, he's 2nd among Power 6 players in RAPM behind only Zach Edey. Evan Miya had him 184th in his player rankings in the pre-season based basically just off his recruiting rank, and he's up #12 overall (the 2nd biggest jump in rating among major conference players).
Karaban (17, 6, +11) - A bit of a quiet game from Karaban. Rebounded well in the 1st half. Only 8 shot attempts and still had 15 points, very efficient. 2 blocks and 2 steals along with a number of good contests on D. He's just so solid.
Clingan (25, 9, +16) - An offensive rebound, putback, and interior defense machine. Couple nice drop step moves. Still yet to make his first 3. His perimeter defense was not great; he's just too heavy to chase guys around screens or close out hard. He fell for a couple pumpfakes at the 3 point lane the last couple of games. I suspect we went with the 1-3-1 zone to protect him against the switchable 5-out offense they were running (and to get practice with that D in general as our changeup like we used it last season). Had several nice passes out of the low post and perimeter in the 2nd half especially. Only credited with 1 assist, but several led to wide open misses or drawn shooting fouls.
Johnson (12, 2, +10) - Easier defensive day for him in this one since they basically didn't play out of the post at all. Guarded better than Clingan in space. Didn't make a ton of mistakes, only 1 foul this game. When he did make a mistake, like letting that guy get behind him in transition, he erased it. That's his potential for sure. Didn't connect quite as well with the guards on a few alley-oops, but had a nice cutting layup on an ATO and had his best passing day yet. Passing is infectious, and our guards and wings set a very good example for our bigs. Helps that Karaban, Ball, and others are good cutters, too.
Ball (10, 4, +6) - Love watching him on D. Gives great effort and flies around the court. We had him in the back of the 1-3-1 to cover the corners and he did a pretty good job, though the rookie lineup running the zone were a little sloppy at times. Good cutter, made an open 3, only credited with 1 steal, but forced several other turnovers as part of traps.
Diarra (9, 4, +5) - Not quite as good a game as last game, but still did a pretty good distributing the ball (5 valuable passes in 12 min). The offense doesn't hum quite as well with him in, though. Has done a better job not over-penetrating this year compared to last. Also good to see him make a catch and shoot 3, that'll be a big part of him being able to stick in the rotation.
Ross (7, 3, +4) - Just like Ball, he just has a great size/speed/strength combination that makes him seem like he's flying around the court compared to the opponents. The form on his jumper looks super solid and repeatable, if a little slow. He's also unselfish and has made the (correct) extra pass a few times now, which is just one of those things that makes you fall in love with a player.
Stewart (5, 2, +3) - He was pretty invisible in his couple minutes in the 1st half, but made a few real wow plays in garbage time. He has a very good handle for his size and definitely has shown flashes of being able to be an on-ball player in the future. He also looked pretty solid on offense popping to the middle and finding Diarra for a 3 against a 2/3 at the end of the game. He helped pushed the lead back to 40 at the end.
