Tarris Reed…from 3?!?

[RuffRuff]

I think Duren's is more explosive and Reed is more skilled. Which is better suited for the professional ranks is hard to say but Reed has a lot of catching up to do as they are approximately the same age.

Reed is also bigger.

 

[Umami Zen]

Nice stroke for a big dude. Will certainly help him during NBA team pre-draft workouts next spring. Not sure Danny is gonna give him the green light-Maybe a yellow light. To shoot them this season. Which means you'd better be making them at a pretty high rate and within the context of game script/flow or you'll be joining me on the bench for a breather. LOL

 

[superjohn]

There was a poster who started a thread that was something like Tarris Reed is going to have the best season ever from a UConn center. He caught a lot of heat for it and I feel it was undeserved.

In terms of strictly #'s I think Tarris has a decent chance at having the best statistical season we've ever had from a center. I expect a monster season from him, something like 17/12/3 on 65% shooting. We're not going to see anything close to an even split in minutes again at the position. I'm high on Reibe's potential and what he can give us as a freshman but Tarris is miles ahead of him at this point. I've said in the past we will have a two headed monster again at center and I'm backtracking on that a bit. We'll have that in a way because their skills are so different just as Sanogo and freshman Donovan were so different but we're going to need to ride and rely on Tarris more. I expect something around 30 mpg for him. This isn't a knock on Reibe, I just think the Kodiak is that good.

In the seven games Tarris played 25 or more minutes last season he averaged 17.1 ppg, 11.6 rebs, 2.9 blocks on 71% shooting from the field.

 

[nomar]

When at UConn, I once watched Alex Oriakhi spend about 15 minutes working on 3’s at about a 60-70% clip…. Just saying.

Hey, as long as Tarris gets to shoot 3s from the top of the arc with nobody within 20 feet of him, I think 60-70% is a real possibility!

 

[nomar]

There was a poster who started a thread that was something like Tarris Reed is going to have the best season ever from a UConn center. He caught a lot of heat for it and I feel it was undeserved.

In terms of strictly #'s I think Tarris has a decent chance at having the best statistical season we've ever had from a center. I expect a monster season from him, something like 17/12/3 on 65% shooting. We're not going to see anything close to an even split in minutes again at the position. I'm high on Reibe's potential and what he can give us as a freshman but Tarris is miles ahead of him at this point. I've said in the past we will have a two headed monster again at center and I'm backtracking on that a bit. We'll have that in a way because their skills are so different just as Sanogo and freshman Donovan were so different but we're going to need to ride and rely on Tarris more. I expect something around 30 mpg for him. This isn't a knock on Reibe, I just think the Kodiak is that good.

In the seven games Tarris played 25 or more minutes last season he averaged 17.1 ppg, 11.6 rebs, 2.9 blocks on 71% shooting from the field.

I think he's going to have a great year.

Emeka averaged 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, and 4.1 bpg and shot 60% as a junior. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg and 4.7 bpg and shot 58%. Thabeet averaged 13.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, and 4.2 bpg and shot 64% as a junior.

If he approaches any of those, then we're gonna have a heckuva year.

 

[Husky68]

He looked like Larry Bird shooting. Don't care if he ever takes a 3 this year, that is some fine shooting form. Don't understand how guys make shooting from that far away seem so effortless.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think he's going to have a great year.

Emeka averaged 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, and 4.1 bpg and shot 60% as a junior. As a sophomore, he averaged 15.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg and 4.7 bpg and shot 58%. Thabeet averaged 13.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg, and 4.2 bpg and shot 64% as a junior.

If he approaches any of those, then we're gonna have a heckuva year.

Emeka played 32.4 minutes/game his junior year. If you take Tarris' stats from last year alone and stretch across 32.4 minutes, he'd be at:

15.6 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks

Not too shabby. Key for him will simply be able to stay on the floor long enough to make it happen.

 

[RuffRuff]

He looked like Larry Bird shooting. Don't care if he ever takes a 3 this year, that is some fine shooting form. Don't understand how guys make shooting from that far away seem so effortless.

He's got great form - and did bump his FT% to 65%ish last year, but 7 or so from previous at UM.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Good form but I doubt he’s shooting a three unless he’s wide, wide (wide) open similar to Adama’s three point attempts.

 

[Shamon30]

He looks a lot better than Sanogo and Clingan did from 3 though. His form is perfect and he doesn’t seem to be aiming at all, it’s very fluid. I could see him shooting some 3s. I have a lot of hope that he can be surprisingly good this season. He’s a huge talent. If he came here as a freshman he’d be one of the best players in the country.

That said, I think it was Facey that had a similar looking video in preseason. Perfect stroke, nailing shot after shot. He still didn’t shoot 3’s in games.

He's shot the 3 decently in Europe.

 

[jibsey]

He definitely has good form, better than I would have expected, but I am skeptical this will translate into games. My problem is that these are all essentially "rhythm 3s" catch while stepping forward and shooting, the easiest kind to make, but its not the kind of 3s he'd potentially take in a game. Any three he takes would likely be after standing still with the ball for a few seconds unguarded and taking a shot, that's a lot harder if you're not a natural shooter.

In a game where the defense sags off him at the 3 point line? Yes, he should practice that in addition to catch and shoot. He gets the ball, holds it as he looks to pass, then shoots it. Adama did that ok.

 

[caw]

Who are these 25 and under coveted centers known for stretching the D?

You are correct that a lot of them are not super young and only about a third of starting centers were truly threats from deep last year. Only 11 made over 1 a game last year (and two arguably are not really centers in KAT and Reid):

Older (31+): Horford (36.3%), Vucevic (40.2%), Lopez (37.3%)

Prime age (26-30): Porzingis (41.2%), Turner (39.6%), KAT (42%), Jokic (41.7%), Huff (40.5%), Bam (35.7%)

Young (25 and younger): Wemby (35.2%), Reid (37.9%)

Others who have done well in past years: Carter Jr, Reath, Embiid.

 

[HW611]

You are correct that a lot of them are not super young and only about a third of starting centers were truly threats from deep last year. Only 11 made over 1 a game last year (and two arguably are not really centers in KAT and Reid):

Older (31+): Horford (36.3%), Vucevic (40.2%), Lopez (37.3%)

Prime age (26-30): Porzingis (41.2%), Turner (39.6%), KAT (42%), Jokic (41.7%), Huff (40.5%), Bam (35.7%)

Young (25 and younger): Wemby (35.2%), Reid (37.9%)

Others who have done well in past years: Carter Jr, Reath, Embiid.

Thank you for these numbers. The centers should learn to shoot 3s to help their NBA career narrative is so overblown and I think this showcases that. Especially recently.

If you’re a star like Embiid, Jokic, or Wemby who are the center of offenses than sure. But if you’re just a guy there’s much better things you can invest your time in. (And even with Wemby I wouldn’t be surprised if they do him like Chet and bring in a real center and let him play the 4)

 

[Excalibur]

Reed is also bigger.

If you believe the off season increase from Reed, he has done inch and maybe ten pounds.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Good form but I doubt he’s shooting a three unless he’s wide, wide (wide) open similar to Adama’s three point attempts.

Sanogo put up 52 3’s his last season. I think that’s the absolute high watermark for Reed this season. Likelihood is he’s far closer to zero than that number this year IMO.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Sanogo put up 52 3’s his last season. I think that’s the absolute high watermark for Reed this season. Likelihood is he’s far closer to zero than that number this year IMO.

I meant more that he’ll only shoot when the defense sags off of him and dares him to shoot, but yeah he’s not taking that many threes. I didn’t realize Adama took that many for some reason.

 

[Shamon30]

I feel like Hilton Armstrong is a guy who could have developed a good 3 point shot. He had a very nice mid range jumper as well as the speed and athleticism to get open for good looks. I remember he once shot a 3 out of the blue one game in his senior year. Marcus Williams looked shocked and Jim Calhoun was quite annoyed, even though he drained it. I remember coach saying something like, "Ok, you got to see Hilton shoot a three. You're never going to see it again."

 

[gsmooth]

In a game where the defense sags off him at the 3 point line? Yes, he should practice that in addition to catch and shoot. He gets the ball, holds it as he looks to pass, then shoots it. Adama did that ok.

Tarris will be shooting the 3s that Sanogo was taking. He won't be taking the type of 3s that Hawkins was shooting which was running off of screens or taking1-2 dribbles and then stepping back and shooting 3s where a defender had his hand up.

But make no mistake about it, if Tarris is making 19-52 from 3 for the season, like Sanogo did in the 2023 season, that's a game changer. If it doesn't pull the opposing center from the basket, that's a potential extra 6-9 points a game for UConn. It will stress out the opposing coaching staff as they will struggle to make the decision of if their center should go out to the 3 pt line to defend. Remember when Sanogo opened the Final Four game against Miami with 2 3s made? That was much more than 6 points-it set the tone. Sanogo was not afraid of the moment and his teammates followed that line of thinking.

 

[RuffRuff]

Tarris will be shooting the 3s that Sanogo was taking. He won't be taking the type of 3s that Hawkins was shooting which was running off of screens or taking1-2 dribbles and then stepping back and shooting 3s where a defender had his hand up.

But make no mistake about it, if Tarris is making 19-52 from 3 for the season, like Sanogo did in the 2023 season, that's a game changer. If it doesn't pull the opposing center from the basket, that's a potential extra 6-9 points a game for UConn. It will stress out the opposing coaching staff as they will struggle to make the decision of if their center should go out to the 3 pt line to defend. Remember when Sanogo opened the Final Four game against Miami with 2 3s made? That was much more than 6 points-it set the tone. Sanogo was not afraid of the moment and his teammates followed that line of thinking.

Would love to know how many of those Sonogo threes were when were up by 10+ or so. I highly doubt Reed shooting 3s is any fundamental part of the offense - can see him hoisting a few if we are up in low risk situations.

 

[Excalibur]

Would love to know how many of those Sonogo threes were when were up by 10+ or so. I highly doubt Reed shooting 3s is any fundamental part of the offense - can see him hoisting a few if we are up in low risk situations.

Sanogo hit two vs Miami in the Final Four in the first half when the game was still close.

He also kept us in the game at Creighton with three makes and had another two in the earlier win.

 

[gsmooth]

Would love to know how many of those Sonogo threes were when were up by 10+ or so. I highly doubt Reed shooting 3s is any fundamental part of the offense - can see him hoisting a few if we are up in low risk situations.

Just to add on to Excalibur's response above, Sanogo was not taking non-pressure 3s during the season. He was making them throughout the season in games with a lot of game pressure. In the first game against Creighton in Gampel, he had 2 3s and he dominated Kalkbrenner in the paint as well (I have only seen Oduro of Providence come as close to cooking Kalkbrenner in a game). In the 2nd game against Creighton in Omaha Sanogo missed a game tying 3, but you will notice Trey Alexander sprinted out to contest as Sanogo made 3 of 5 3 pointers including one at the buzzer before halftime.

Having said all of that, the other way to erase shot blockers or at least diminish their effectiveness is to post them up, provided the player has good post up skills, or post them up even without the ball or get between them and the person dribble penetrating to the basket to clear the drive to the basket. Knocking them off balance like a Jake Voskuhl, Okafor, and Sanogo did works. Tarris Reed Jr. is more than capable of pushing others around. Tarris just needs to stay out of foul trouble.

 

[HooperScooper]

Just to add on to Excalibur's response above, Sanogo was not taking non-pressure 3s during the season. He was making them throughout the season in games with a lot of game pressure.

That's what I was thinking in response to @RuffRuff's post. But it's too much work to go back and do the research to prove it.