The Casual's Thoughts on Opening Night

[Castlevania]

I know this was a game against inferior talent and size, but its the first game of the season, and I'm an excited casual!

Alleyne flashed early and looked like a dude. Took Newton a bit longer to get going scoring wise, but his assist to Adama early was eye opening and both of these guards will be steady hands all season. That Newton one-two with Adama in the 2nd half was a thing of beauty.

Tough start for Hawkins. I hope its nothing too serious, but I suspect he will at least sit out the next game (possibly 2), to make sure he's 100% before going back at it. I remember the team playing a bit too rushed and fast on offense for a good portion of the night, and Hawkins going up a bit too aggressively for that rebound and couldn't find his feet on the way down. Little things like that add up into mistakes. Poor shooting night from 3, because a lot of it was just rushing shots and probably first game jitters.

Hassan Diarra (HD!) surprised me, he will be spark plug off the bench all year, super excited to see more of him. His vision is sublime. His quickness and burst is great to see. This kid is a breath of fresh air! 7 dimes, I'll take it!

Samson is far from a finished product, and I'm thinking he will still contribute this year, he had a nice put back that got me up off the couch. I feared he would be one of those two and done type of prospects. But I think he will stay longer at UConn, he will blossom later in his career much like Hilton and Chuck. I hope he surprises us this year though.

Clingan is an absolute gem, defense, rebounding, dunks, screens, I love it. It will be interesting to see him continue to develop and see what he does against stiffer competition.

Adama was.. Adama! Except, I remember him facing up a couple times on the high block and looking to make a move to the basket. That one play where he was dribbling down the court, not looking for a guard to pass the ball to, almost like a point forward, and facilitating and dishing a nice pass. He had a really nifty assist in there too. Amazing. This is what I was talking about during the off season about him polishing up his all around game for the next level, and not just being solely a post up guy. Bravo!

Karaban! What a player he already seems to be. A pure stroke from deep, can finish at the tin and from midrange too, really sees the floor nicely and can make the deadly passes required to do damage. Had a couple of boneheaded turnovers, but so did a lot of the guys, it was the first game, I look for things to slow down a bit and improve.

Joey C had some splashes from deep which was nice to see, but his defense needs some work. I expect Hurley to point some stuff out to him in the film room here shortly.

Overall there was some sloppy play and the shooting from 3 needs to improve, but I think most of those two things will get better as the team gels more down the line. There is some nice meat on the bone with this team and I think has the parts to align with the mojo. I think Hawkins and Jackson being out early will give the newer guys some needed playing time to develop and once both come back, watch out, we will be smokin' and cookin'.

 

[Fishy]

It was sloppy as hell.

Newton’s going to struggle a bit trying to become more of a point guard than a “you have to do everything“ guard he was at ECU. The sidearm passes need to go away forever and not come back. Diarra looked much better, but we need Newton.

I thought Samson was just way too keyed up for his first start and got himself two very silly early fouls trying to do too much.

Joey California is a smart player, but I suspect his size and defense will limit him to more spot duty. Thought Alleyne looked good, but definitely will not be looking at 30 minutes when Hawk and Jackson are back. Looked stronger than I remembered - good piece to have.

Sanogo looked great - passing, moves to the bucket, etc. Thank you for not shooting threes.

Thought Clingan looked much more ready than I expected. He and Karaban are just good - Karaban is going to be the kind of player who you absolutely hate when he’s on another team because he can just do so much. Those two are gonna be a problem.

The others…I dunno. Greek kid‘s free throws looked good. Donny Marshall had some good things to say about him. Don’t really see a path to PT this year for any of the kids who came in during the final minute. Springs has been a good solider, but it is what it is.

Basically, we looked about as disjointed as I expected we’d look - lots of new parts, two kids with injuries, etc. The three point shooting was abysmal, but thank you to Sanogo and Clingan for not attempting any. Lots of fouls, lots of turnovers - Friday should be better.

 

[jibsey]

Karaban knows where to be and what to do out there, glad he’s with us because it’s usually other teams that have players like this that we envy.

 

[OkaForPrez]

I know this was a game against inferior talent and size, but its the first game of the season, and I'm an excited casual!

Alleyne flashed early and looked like a dude. Took Newton a bit longer to get going scoring wise, but his assist to Adama early was eye opening and both of these guards will be steady hands all season. That Newton one-two with Adama in the 2nd half was a thing of beauty.

Tough start for Hawkins. I hope its nothing too serious, but I suspect he will at least sit out the next game (possibly 2), to make sure he's 100% before going back at it. I remember the team playing a bit too rushed and fast on offense for a good portion of the night, and Hawkins going up a bit too aggressively for that rebound and couldn't find his feet on the way down. Little things like that add up into mistakes. Poor shooting night from 3, because a lot of it was just rushing shots and probably first game jitters.

Hassan Diarra (HD!) surprised me, he will be spark plug off the bench all year, super excited to see more of him. His vision is sublime. His quickness and burst is great to see. This kid is a breath of fresh air! 7 dimes, I'll take it!

Samson is far from a finished product, and I'm thinking he will still contribute this year, he had a nice put back that got me up off the couch. I feared he would be one of those two and done type of prospects. But I think he will stay longer at UConn, he will blossom later in his career much like Hilton and Chuck. I hope he surprises us this year though.

Clingan is an absolute gem, defense, rebounding, dunks, screens, I love it. It will be interesting to see him continue to develop and see what he does against stiffer competition.

Adama was.. Adama! Except, I remember him facing up a couple times on the high block and looking to make a move to the basket. That one play where he was dribbling down the court, not looking for a guard to pass the ball to, almost like a point forward, and facilitating and dishing a nice pass. He had a really nifty assist in there too. Amazing. This is what I was talking about during the off season about him polishing up his all around game for the next level, and not just being solely a post up guy. Bravo!

Karaban! What a player he already seems to be. A pure stroke from deep, can finish at the tin and from midrange too, really sees the floor nicely and can make the deadly passes required to do damage. Had a couple of boneheaded turnovers, but so did a lot of the guys, it was the first game, I look for things to slow down a bit and improve.

Joey C had some splashes from deep which was nice to see, but his defense needs some work. I expect Hurley to point some stuff out to him in the film room here shortly.

Overall there was some sloppy play and the shooting from 3 needs to improve, but I think most of those two things will get better as the team gels more down the line. There is some nice meat on the bone with this team and I think has the parts to align with the mojo. I think Hawkins and Jackson being out early will give the newer guys some needed playing time to develop and once both come back, watch out, we will be smokin' and cookin'.

I'm sorry friend, but once you throw out Hilton and Chuck comps you lose your casual status. Nice post.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Agree it was super sloppy. Good tuneup game to get some of that out of the way. Shooting needs work. Chalk it up to rust and excitement.

Adama didn't look sloppy. He's dominant. Our ability to pass in to him from Karaban, Johnson, Clingan (eventually Jackson) helps. But we made that pass when we shouldn't a few times. That will be turnover city against good teams. Loved him putting it on the floor.

Newton looked pretty smooth. Assume he will find his rhythm and his shot will fall. Needs to play tighter defense. Plays under control.

Diarra was quick, a real pest on defense and strong going to the rim. I like the way he shields the ball, we've had too many guards who didn't do that well. Still can be a bit out of control at times.

Karaban was as advertised, good shooter, good position rebounder, overall heady player. Needs to get stronger against the teams we will face. I expect him to get more run at the 3 if Hawkins is out, as we saw last night.

Johnson had the early fouls, but played solid defensively, both smothering the perimeter and help on the interior. I think he'll find his flow on offense. Was interesting to see Hurley play him, Clingan and Karaban in a 2-3 zone. That's a huge lineup. It's fantastic to have that in the toolkit this year.

Alleyne looks like a "scorer" more than a shooter, and played a solid all around game. Probably best other than Sanogo. Not too surprising for a 3 year starter in the ACC. He was composed out there.

Clingan moved well, and of course dominated a tiny team with sheer size, both with dunks and blocks. Passing ability is as advertised. He'll play more than I probably thought, but I expect his minutes to be fairly matchup dependent once we are at full strength. He won't see many opponents like this.

The Hawkins injury was a blow, for him and the squad. If he's out any extended period, it shifts some things. Alleyne started and now he's the likely SG, Who starts at the SF? Karaban? Or do we run Newton at SG and Diarra at PG? Either way we're now a bit thin. More minutes for everyone and guys need to step up.

 

[Castlevania]

I'm sorry friend, but once you throw out Hilton and Chuck comps you lose your casual status. Nice post.

I may be casual on the message boards, but I still watch every game, and know 'not normal' amounts of history about the program haha

 

[CL82]

Newton’s going to struggle a bit trying to become more of a point guard than a “you have to do everything“ guard he was at ECU. Diarra looked much better, but we need Newton.

So you are saying things look better with HD?

 

[Dove]

So you are saying things look better with HD?

 

[Castlevania]

So you are saying things look better with HD?

You could say that HD's vision is in HD, he was dishing solutions out there last night!

 

[Chief00]

It was sloppy as hell.

Newton’s going to struggle a bit trying to become more of a point guard than a “you have to do everything“ guard he was at ECU. The sidearm passes need to go away forever and not come back. Diarra looked much better, but we need Newton.

I thought Samson was just way too keyed up for his first start and got himself two very silly early fouls trying to do too much.

Joey California is a smart player, but I suspect his size and defense will limit him to more spot duty. Thought Alleyne looked good, but definitely will not be looking at 30 minutes when Hawk and Jackson are back. Looked stronger than I remembered - good piece to have.

Sanogo looked great - passing, moves to the bucket, etc. Thank you for not shooting threes.

Thought Clingan looked much more ready than I expected. He and Karaban are just good - Karaban is going to be the kind of player who you absolutely hate when he’s on another team because he can just do so much. Those two are gonna be a problem.

The others…I dunno. Greek kid‘s free throws looked good. Donny Marshall had some good things to say about him. Don’t really see a path to PT this year for any of the kids who came in during the final minute. Springs has been a good solider, but it is what it is.

Basically, we looked about as disjointed as I expected we’d look - lots of new parts, two kids with injuries, etc. The three point shooting was abysmal, but thank you to Sanogo and Clingan for not attempting any. Lots of fouls, lots of turnovers - Friday should be better.

Good summary. Agree, Adama and Donovan don’t need to take 3’s nor should they. Defense will be the key if Joey California stays on the court, he has a nice stroke.
Donovan, the opponent couldn’t adjust to his size when he played defense.
Given how others shoot, Karaban’s shooting is going to give him some minutes. He rebounds and defends just good enough that they are not liabilities, at least against bad teams.
Sanogo is by far our star and the other guys will need to recognize that on offense. I am concern about Jackson’s and Hawkin’s injuries hindering our cohesiveness of play early in the season, when we play our elite OOC games.
We have some guys who seem to try to play up tempo from defense to offense. I enjoy that and Diarra will be key to that as will Jackson when he returns.

 

[HooperScooper]

Sanogo looked great - passing, moves to the bucket, etc. Thank you for not shooting threes.

So you were saying..........

 

[Fishy]

So you were saying..........

The answer is still no, do not do it.

 

[HooperScooper]

The answer is still no, do not do it.

So you were saying......Lol

So if he shoots like 1.5 a game and shoots at least 40% on them then you still don't think he should shoot them when he is wide open?

 

[pj]

So you were saying......Lol

So if he shoots like 1.5 a game and shoots at least 40% on them then you still don't think he should shoot them when he is wide open?

14 minutes in against Buffalo:

Adam Sanogo: 1-1
Rest of team: 0-11

Sanogo from 3 and Newton from the free throw line is the offense.

 

[HooperScooper]

The answer is still no, do not do it.

So you were saying?

Am I the only one who feels that @Fishy needs to admit he was wrong?