The Ross Enigma

[uconngb]

That's a good reason to give him the start, not necessarily a reason to give him big minutes. It earns him enough minutes to get film and see what he has to work on.

This…..if he’s great in practice, good for him. But if he can’t do it with the lights on, he doesn’t deserve the minutes he’s getting. This is a black and white business unfortunately. He was useless yesterday.

 

[uconngb]

Stewart needs to play over him. It's just that simple.

Pretty basic

 

[bmayuc]

To me this is not some big secret. Some guys have that innate confidence and swagger and play bigger as the lights get brighter as a core trait. Some don't. Khalid El-Amin? Dude had it from game 1. Liam McNeeley? Got it.

We've all played ball with the guy who was a stud in practice and then froze up when the crowd piles in. Conversely, we've all known the guy who was fine in practice and then the game hits and he levels up.

People call it different things... Being a "gamer", having the game "Slow down for him" or whatever. but clearly Jayden doesn't have it right now and its a liability when he's on the court.

The real question is how long of a leash does Hurley give him - because if he pulls the plug its going to be very hard for Jayden to then be resilient and overcome that public benching.

 

[uconngb]

This is like a NYTimes puzzle where you have to find the common theme - all of these players have somehow teased & seduced UConn fans into frenetic hope and allure. You don't have to necessarily play for the team to do that, simply bait and watch the salivation.

That was also a very quick list of 5 - unlikely to be all that accurate. If you have better, have at em.

You don’t have to be a genius to get what you were going for. You could have thrown Hamidou in there as well

 

[uconngb]

To me this is not some big secret. Some guys have that innate confidence and swagger and play bigger as the lights get brighter as a core trait. Some don't. Khalid El-Amin? Dude had it from game 1. Liam McNeeley? Got it.

We've all played ball with the guy who was a stud in practice and then froze up when the crowd piles in. Conversely, we've all known the guy who was fine in practice and then the game hits and he levels up.

People call it different things... Being a "gamer", having the game "Slow down for him" or whatever. but clearly Jayden doesn't have it right now and its a liability when he's on the court.

The real question is how long of a leash does Hurley give him - because if he pulls the plug its going to be very hard for Jayden to then be resilient and overcome that public benching.

Hopefully not much longer

 

[Palatine]

If you look back to last year, Ross was our leading scorer in the European exhibitions. The potential is there. Hurley believes he can turn that potential into accomplishment as evidenced by the playing time Hurley has given Ross. Hurley sees something that many on the BY do not. Ultimately, it is Ross himself who has to turn that potential into reality. Will it happen? Stay tuned.

 

[TheShot1990]

I'm awesome on the driving range. Play me for $5, I miss 3 foot putts. I think this is Jayden's issue. He's trying too hard. Relax kid.

 

[RuffRuff]

Of all the players who are getting playing time Ross has had the least amount of college game experience prior to this season other than Liam. Plus he's had two strikes against him which I've mentioned numerous times. The first is he had a sudden large and late growth spurt which sometimes takes time to adjust to. The second is, because of that spurt, after playing point guard all his life he started playing as a wing.

He's just starting to get into a rhythm coming off the bench as a role player. Now with Liam out he's a starter. New body, new position, new players, new scheme, new role. Apparently he's got the talent. Now he has to become comfortable with it.

You'd think then as an ex PG he'd exhibit some PG skills. Yes on time needed, but then you have a number of freshman difference makers around the country who are instant impact. Duke has a few of those guys, we have one and every good team has some young guys that will also get better with time, so it's all relative unless we are banking on Danny's development being exponentially better. I'm not sure I buy it for this year, but I will definitely stay tuned.

 

[superjohn]

To me this is not some big secret. Some guys have that innate confidence and swagger and play bigger as the lights get brighter as a core trait. Some don't. Khalid El-Amin? Dude had it from game 1. Liam McNeeley? Got it.

We've all played ball with the guy who was a stud in practice and then froze up when the crowd piles in. Conversely, we've all known the guy who was fine in practice and then the game hits and he levels up.

People call it different things... Being a "gamer", having the game "Slow down for him" or whatever. but clearly Jayden doesn't have it right now and its a liability when he's on the court.

The real question is how long of a leash does Hurley give him - because if he pulls the plug its going to be very hard for Jayden to then be resilient and overcome that public benching.

Yes but guys like El-Amin and McNeeley are just way more skilled and way better players than Ross.

 

[PlayItLeo]

To me, Ross is someone who needs to be "unlocked" like January 2023 Andre Jackson, and I don't think you get him there by letting him get 1 or 2 3PAs per game when he's got no shooter's touch right now. With his size and athleticism, I'd want him singularly focused on offensive rebounding and layups/put-backs to be effective this season. He just needs to see SOMETHING go through the net these days and putting January '23 Andre in the dunker's spot seemed to repair him enough for what we needed at that time. Developing a 3-point shot can be an offseason project, as that likely won't be fixed, or at least consistent, in the next 2+ months.

 

[bmayuc]

Yes but guys like El-Amin and McNeeley are just way more skilled and way better players than Ross.

There is a skill component and there is a confidence/makeup component. Its not like its a clean line between the two but there is no question the guy is more skilled than he's shown, its just not translating. He LOOKS skittish out there. The question is how long do ya nurse him along hoping it comes together.

 

[RuffRuff]

Teased and seduced, frenetic hope and allure?

Is this the boneyard or is this Penthouse Letters?

I now know what your read in your non BY time. Don’t keep that old stash all to yourself.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

If you look back to last year, Ross was our leading scorer in the European exhibitions. The potential is there. Hurley believes he can turn that potential into accomplishment as evidenced by the playing time Hurley has given Ross. Hurley sees something that many on the BY do not. Ultimately, it is Ross himself who has to turn that potential into reality. Will it happen? Stay tuned.

I don't disagree on the potential stuff but Ross was not their leading scorer in Europe last year. I don't know where you came up with that.

 

[CTBasketball]

It’s pick your poison at the 3/4 right now.

If Ross played defense I’d be all for him finding it on the offensive end. But he doesn’t play defense. He is a huge negative right now.

Stewart has forgot how to play defense, but we know he is more than capable offensively. You have to think he can unlock both facets.

 

[mauconnfan]

I've considered the bolded statement as a possibility. However other people who've observed Ross in practice including NBA scouts have made statements about Ross's potential as well. Therefore I don't think this is just a psychological play.

We heard about Stewie as a potential 1st rounder this year too none of that means much. And honestly Ross has shown potential on defense but by no means has he proven anything at all. Hes been beaten of the dribble often as of late and fouls jumping to block too much. This needs to be Stewart from what I see but he may need to show up for practice a bit more to get the nod?

 

[mauconnfan]

It’s pick your poison at the 3/4 right now.

If Ross played defense I’d be all for him finding it on the offensive end. But he doesn’t play defense. He is a huge negative right now.

Stewart has forgot how to play defense, but we know he is more than capable offensively. You have to think he can unlock both facets.

Stewie cut off his man twice yesterday and did a nice job also got beat bad once too but in little time for both I’ll take the guy that gets 5 and 5 all day.

 

[dennismenace]

It’s make or break time for him with Liam out. He has to be aggressive and at least fail forward though. He didn’t take many shot attempts on Saturday.

Seems like a confidence and mental thing at the moment.

I would have to agree with you because Danny and probably the staff as well has seen enough (which we have not) in practice to give him the upside on playing time. He is long, aggressive and athletic. We need someone to shutdown the three point line of opponents. Perhaps defensively he sees him as the lockdown defender against the opponents best 1-4 offensive player as with Andre Jackson or Stephon Castle.

We do not know what Dan Hurley and the staff has seen of Jaylin Stewart in practice but his strengths do not appear to match what the staff is looking for in terms of lockdown defender 1-4 which I think (opinion) is what they are looking for. Stewart is more of a forward/big to me.

I'm not going to second anyone on that staff. I have mentioned elsewhere that I hoping to see IA get more minutes as a possible defensive stopgap in the lockdown 1-4 defender role but again I don't know what the staff knows from practice and how they are putting the whole pie together. I can live with that and just trust them. We have to remember that we have the best coaching staff in college bb.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I would have to agree with you because Danny and probably the staff as well has seen enough (which we have not) in practice to give him the upside on playing time. He is long, aggressive and athletic. We need someone to shutdown the three point line of opponents. Perhaps defensively he sees him as the lockdown defender against the opponents best 1-4 offensive player as with Andre Jackson or Stephon Castle.

We do not know what Dan Hurley and the staff has seen of Jaylin Stewart in practice but his strengths do not appear to match what the staff is looking for in terms of lockdown defender 1-4 which I think (opinion) is what they are looking for. Stewart is more of a forward/big to me.

I'm not going to second anyone on that staff. I have mentioned elsewhere that I hoping to see IA get more minutes as a possible defensive stopgap in the lockdown 1-4 defender role but again I don't know what the staff knows from practice and how they are putting the whole pie together. I can live with that and just trust them. We have to remember that we have the best coaching staff in college bb.

I agree with that assessment. Ross moves the best out there and IA seems like he’s up next after that. From the very little we’ve seen from IA though it seems like he’s more confident, comfortable, and refined.

Hopefully he looks ready when his time comes.

 

[alphasigko]

This offense moves the ball slower and has less movement overall than last years, and I think that hurts JStew’s game most.

This! The offensive movement this year, when compared to last year, could be considered as non-existant. And the movement when there is any, is slow motion in comparison.

 

[dennismenace]

I think at some point (with the caveat that I'm not a national championship winning coach) Dan Hurley needs to just pick one or the other and give them the lion's share of the minutes with Liam out. At this point Ross hasn't really shown anything beyond a few above average defensive plays and almost nothing on the offensive end, so I think you have to go with Stewart, who has at least shown in flashes that he can contribute offensively.

The inability of the sophomore class to make the leap this year from bench pieces to top-25 level starters is what's separating us, in my opinion, from a sweet 16 and a national championship level team. Stewart, Ross and to a lesser extent Solo are not anywhere near what Dan Hurley billed them as over the summer. That really trickles down in a lot of negative ways - forcing more offensive burden onto Karaban (game not suited for it) and a freshman Liam, increased defensive responsibilities of the bigs, etc.

I tend to agree with you but my initial response had been IA who may be potentially better than either but I am now resigned to accepting what the staff has chosen to go with and seems to be the consensus of a lot of respected opinions on the BY as well. We shall see; trust in the staff (which is the best in college bb) is all we can do.

 

[RuffRuff]

I tend to agree with you but my initial response had been IA who may be potentially better than either but I am now resigned to accepting what the staff has chosen to go with and seems to be the consensus of a lot of respected opinions on the BY as well. We shall see; trust in the staff (which is the best in college bb) is all we can do.

Staff may see similar things but how they are different is that they are not nearly as knee jerk as posters and see the full 360 of the situation. There may be plenty of details we don’t see that are important to overall team health. Can trust it and question it at the same time.

What fun would this place be if all we recited was “in staff we trust” ?

 

[dennismenace]

Just trying to defend the honor of Rodney Purvis, that's all

You'd think then as an ex PG he'd exhibit some PG skills. Yes on time needed, but then you have a number of freshman difference makers around the country who are instant impact. Duke has a few of those guys, we have one and every good team has some young guys that will also get better with time, so it's all relative unless we are banking on Danny's development being exponentially better. I'm not sure I buy it for this year, but I will definitely stay tuned.

You reminded me that Andre Jackson was a point guard until he shot up in HS. It hasn't translated to pg at the next level but he has so many other attributes he can play at the next level but not as pg.

 

[NJHusky]

I have three thoughts on this team:
1. We are going to be a poor defensive team no matter what.
2. We need a backup PG for March when Hass is fasting.
3. Given #1, our optimal offensive players should be the only ones in the rotation.

I totally forgot about the fasting! That makes getting Nowell up to speed an even bigger issue, since Dan Hurley admitted Aiden isn’t a pg.

 

[gsmooth]

I have three thoughts on this team:
1. We are going to be a poor defensive team no matter what.
2. We need a backup PG for March when Hass is fasting.
3. Given #1, our optimal offensive players should be the only ones in the rotation.

The rotation I hope we get:
Diarra 30/Nowell 10
Ball 15/Mahaney 25
McNeeley 25/Ball 15
Karaban 35/McNeeley 5
Johnson 20/Reed 20

That will be the rotation we need in March. Ross and Stewart are too inconsistent. Hass will need blows. If we want to beat good teams we will have to out score and out shoot them. Embrace that we can’t defend and that Mahaney isn’t a PG and go out and score points.

2. We need a backup PG for March when Hass is fasting.

You beat me to it, Brochacho. I got back from the game yesterday and was tired and I worked all day today so I have not posted, but this was one of the points I was going to make.

Even without fasting, I would like to see someone play some PG so Hass can get rest as it's tough enough playing 35 minutes/game. When it comes to Ramadan, that is going to cover the last few games of the regular season and almost all of March Madness depending on how far UConn goes, that will make it that much tougher and demanding on Hass. I know Hass is disciplined with his diet and times, just like Sanogo was, but a backup PG is a must, not a luxury.

1. We are going to be a poor defensive team no matter what.

I am not sure the staff agrees and I agree, but one thing is for sure: UConn won't be nearly as good defensively as they were the last 2 years. If you are assumption is correct though, yes UConn will have to resort to shoot outs and outscoring with sparse minutes for Stewart and/or Ross.

 

[Dove]

Can't be. I made it to the end of the OP's post without losing interest.

I always chuckle when "OP" is used. Just scroll up and find their name.

 

[UCTitleTown]

There are plenty of practice all-stars in this world. I was one of them. But at the end of the day, you've gotta produce in games or see the bench.

The problem, IMO, is that none of the 3 really deserve to start. Every one of them is a decent bench option with not enough skill on either end to start for a final-4 team right now. That's why we recruited McNeeley in the first place.

Why couldn't you do it in games? Bottle it and start a sports consulting business on what not to do to succeed.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

What fun would this place be if all we recited was “in staff we trust” ?

I'm not so certain that it would be less fun if posters questioned less, prescribed less, and competed less for offering the right answer sooner than everybody else.

In Sunday's haiku thread, the top question was who would step up without Liam playing. The top answers were Jayden and Jaylin. Aidan and Tarris had more to do with the double digit deficit turning into a double digit lead than the two Jays did.

After the DePaul game, posters correctly noted that Solo went at the basket more than before, and that some efforts were stopped and some converted. Some noted improvement in defensive footwork. Nobody has made much mention of Solo going to the basket on Sunday, but he continued.

Aidan's offensive moves were also a continuation, and I expect more. And Tarris is clearly projecting greater confidence during periods when hecassertes himself eith strength and skill.

This thread reads as though it's not still the first week in January. Both of the last two years included complaints in January that the roster was closed, and that the rotations had seemingly settled without more opportunity to learn about and adjust the pieces. Much is still in play with this team.

Some posters here are already contradicting the hopeful posts that Liam's injury presents unexpected opportunities for more player development.

This team has played 10 games against major competition, and has a 7-3 record, having scored only 25 more combined points than the opposition. 2 games in Maui were close at the end.

Since December, 5 of the 7 wins were close victories; 2 were against teams ranked higher at the time; and 1 was Dan Hurley's highest-ranked true road game win against a P4 opponent ever. These are all growth markers for the coaching staff.

Never lose sight that the games will be played one at a time. They'll be prepared for one game at a time.

Yes, the margin for error seems quite slim, as the team maneuvers for a good NCAA seeding while the league opponents may not present as many opportunities to shine as we'd like. And yes, the team is not yet consistent in areas that arouse insecurities in all fans.

The coaches and the players are well worth watching, and we don't know where things are going. There are many moving pieces, many questions, and many possibilities, and the only thing we know with confidence is that it's not going to be a smooth and certain path to ultimate success. And we are unavoidably considering ultimate success once again.

There's only one other college basketball team that I see similarly, and I'm following them with comparable interest. Both teams have the same name on their uniforms. Both teams have a lot to work with and a lot of work to do. I'm watching.

 

[ctchamps]

This…..if he’s great in practice, good for him. But if he can’t do it with the lights on, he doesn’t deserve the minutes he’s getting. This is a black and white business unfortunately. He was useless yesterday.

He wasn’t useless in the last six minutes of the DePaul game. He and Samson were excellent on defense and interfered with a run that could have resulted in a loss. So perhaps it was one of the reasons they chose to start Ross in the Providence game.

Agree his first go as a starter was a failure. The coaches were on top of it. He played 11 minutes versus Stewart’s 17.

It’s seems obvious to me that at the same time the coaches are trying to win games they’re trying to get Stewart and Ross minutes to develop them. I’m not arguing against the statement that some players can do well in practice but fail when the lights come on. I’m arguing that Ross has not played enough minutes for me to put him in this category. I’m unclear if it’s a lack of experience versus an inability to perform.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm not so certain that it would be less fun if posters questioned less, prescribed less, and competed less for offering the right answer sooner than everybody else.

In Sunday's haiku thread, the top question was who would step up without Liam playing. The top answers were Jayden and Jaylin. Aidan and Tarris had more to do with the double digit deficit turning into a double digit lead than the two Jays did.

After the DePaul game, posters correctly noted that Solo went at the basket more than before, and that some efforts were stopped and some converted. Some noted improvement in defensive footwork. Nobody has made much mention of Solo going to the basket on Sunday, but he continued.

Aidan's offensive moves were also a continuation, and I expect more. And Tarris is clearly projecting greater confidence during periods when hecassertes himself eith strength and skill.

This thread reads as though it's not still the first week in January. Both of the last two years included complaints in January that the roster was closed, and that the rotations had seemingly settled without more opportunity to learn about and adjust the pieces. Much is still in play with this team.

Some posters here are already contradicting the hopeful posts that Liam's injury presents unexpected opportunities for more player development.

This team has played 10 games against major competition, and has a 7-3 record, having scored only 25 more combined points than the opposition. 2 games in Maui were close at the end.

Since December, 5 of the 7 wins were close victories; 2 were against teams ranked higher at the time; and 1 was Dan Hurley's highest-ranked true road game win against a P4 opponent ever. These are all growth markers for the coaching staff.

Never lose sight that the games will be played one at a time. They'll be prepared for one game at a time.

Yes, the margin for error seems quite slim, as the team maneuvers for a good NCAA seeding while the league opponents may not present as many opportunities to shine as we'd like. And yes, the team is not yet consistent in areas that arouse insecurities in all fans.

The coaches and the players are well worth watching, and we don't know where things are going. There are many moving pieces, many questions, and many possibilities, and the only thing we know with confidence is that it's not going to be a smooth and certain path to ultimate success. And we are unavoidably considering ultimate success once again.

There's only one other college basketball team that I see similarly, and I'm following them with comparable interest. Both teams have the same name on their uniforms. Both teams have a lot to work with and a lot of work to do. I'm watching.

When I created this thread I expected a lot more pushback against Ross and Hurley’s usage of Ross. I’m pleasantly surprised that many posts have been thoughtful and reflective of what might be happening instead of outright dismissive.

My OP (@Dove ) was intended to get posters to consider what could be the underlying reasons the coaching staff are utilizing players the way they are as opposed to the more frequent statements stating our opinions about what they are doing wrong and should be doing instead.

There are many posts that make me glad I chose to start this thread. But your post tops them all because it reflects everything I feel about this season for both the men’s and women’s teams. Thank you.

 

[Seamus84]

This! The offensive movement this year, when compared to last year, could be considered as non-existant. And the movement when there is any, is slow motion in comparison.

Both JS and JR are reasons for the slower ball movement. Other than dribble hand-offs and catch & shoot, they struggle to contribute to the flow of the offense. I’d settle for Ajax-lite at this point and then hope one develops into Ajax 2023 next year.