Three Man Weave Twitter Preview Thread - #8

[Mr. Hand]

Believe me, I would love to be wrong

You'd never guess from reading your posts.

 

[BlueMAB]

If Clingan can play 30mpg without getting winded (and the subsequent foul trouble), I'd think we are an exceptionally dangerous team. A lot of our success will be on how much work he has put into his conditioning this summer.

A Singare/Johnson at their best is going to be a fraction of Clingan's impact. He's just too big to not be a factor in every play. He needs to be on the floor.

I think Hurley said he is hoping for 26-28 minutes from Clingan.

 

[husky429]

I think Hurley said he is hoping for 26-28 minutes from Clingan.

I imagine he'd average maybe 25mpg just because he'll play less vs cupcakes and when we inevitably blow out 90% of our high-major opponents.

28 versus good teams seems like a solid goal.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I like this analysis. Having both Samson and Singare as backups to Clingan gives Danny a lot of options. Samson has the capacity to be inside/outside and he has great athleticism. Singare just needs to hold down the defensive end with shot blocking and rebounds and an occasional put back.
I have confidence in the staff and Danny to put together the right options to get wins and instill confidence in these guys. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at what the rest of that team can do; especially Cam and Castle. Man do we have talent although some of the bench is young. Can't wait! It should be a banner year for Boneyard posting too!

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

 

[EZPass]

Think Castle is the guy who might hold the key to the whole thing.

 

[Tiamat7]

I am bullish on this year's team, for sure. However, I think Sanogo's easy buckets down low are being overlooked. You could always count on those high percentage shots in tight games.

Clingan, hopefully, can replace much of it. But it also depends on getting him the ball in the right place, and a myriad of other factors.

I also don't expect three freshmen to contribute meaningfully in January. If we can get 2 of the 5 to perform at a high level, that will be sufficient. Castle plus one more.

 

[mauconnfan]

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

Yeah Spencer is not Hawkins in many ways but in some he is a better overall ingredient. Maybe even more so this year than he would’ve been last. The steady, consistent, savvy vet added to what overall is a young squad is a wonderful addition.

 

[NJHusky]

I expected Clingan to be our backup center from day 1. I was surprised by just how ready he was. The kid is a worker.

Johnson is a hell of an athlete, but the 6'10 200lb freak athletes are high ceiling and low LOW floor. Between injuries and no really playing for 2 years, it's hard to expect much IMO.

Believe me, I would love to be wrong, but I am not seeing it yet.

You know a lot more bball than I’ll ever understand. I guess I think being in the system for 2 years and that Hurley worked hard for him not to portal leads me to expect more from him as the backup than I expected from frosh Dc. Obviously I underestimated DC significantly and doubt he will have the anywhere near the impact DC did. He just needs to be competent

 

[Ricker]

I am repeating myself, but still wish we would find an additional 6'9+ big with the last scholarship. Several teams found such players in the last 2 weeks from overseas. Foot injuries with bigs have a way of becoming chronic a la Freemantle. I wish we had hedged our bet.

 

[Scrutineer]

I played around with some pre-season rankings and returning minutes/used possessions.

Over the last 2 seasons, there were 4 teams that finished in KenPom's top 3 the year before, returned similar-to-us less than 50% of their usage, and yet were still ranked in the top 10 pre-season by AP going into the next year. All 4 got 1-seeds the next year.

Glad that's settled so I can relax........

 

[August_West]

The thing in last years 40 there were arguably times and matchups that Clingans minutes were better.

Not arguably, but definitively. And that is talking about backing up the potential BE POY ( if we came higher than 4th). His minutes off the bench and efficiency and especially change of look behind Sanogo were priceless. No one salivated sending Sanogo to bench, in fact it hurt other teams in certain spots. Now obviously Donovan is a stud and is going to kill people this year, but our 5 spot minutes were a unicorn last year and absolutely scary. Nobody on our roster is backing up the 5 the way Clingan did last year. Not even close.

 

[Scrutineer]

I think on paper this team is better offensively, which is a bit blasphemous considering last year's team finished #3 in offensive efficiency, and the adjusted figure was the best mark in our KenPom-era team history (since '97). And it was the best by far (like 3 points per 100 pos over '04 and '06, which is generally the difference between an okay offense and a good offense like 2013 to 2014).

So everything is telling me 1) regression, especially shooting and 2) I'm underrating last season.

But man. The more I look at this team, the more I love it on paper.

The only thing that gives me pause is that while Castle is going to be awesome, he may process the game a little slower than Jackson. Jackson got himself in trouble at times by doing things too fast, but his immediate unselfish play set the tone for the team.

That and we have a bunch of scorers and shooters, but do we have the guys who will get the tough out-of-area rebound due to sheer hustle/will?

Paper is fun preseason but as much as I want us to be as good as we appear on paper I can't recall any teams (not just us) recently who performed on the court as well as they did on paper preseason.
Just a gut feeling as I haven't gone back to look at preseason polls and how the highly ranked teams ranked fared, but more teams seem to over achieve as we can certainly attest.......

 

[Scrutineer]

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

I agree on Spencer having talent but the big thing with Hawkins was his ability to come off a screen, at high speed, turn, and make a shot when we really needed to make one. And they were most often deep three's.

 

[HuskyHawk]

One of the reasons being a college basketball fan is so much fun is that there are always questions. You never know how freshman will perform or when a guy who was merely good, like Kemba, will put a team on his back the following year. Yet it happens every year, some guys come out of nowhere. Others disappoint.

Last year we were really fortunate. DC and Alex were better than we had any right to expect. Joey was better than expected. Newton was as advertised. Hawkins made the jump we hoped he'd make. Andre found ways to contribute. Adama was even better than the year before. I'm just planning to enjoy the ride and hope we are fortunate again.

 

[pj]

For us to be elite Castle’s rebounding is key.

Interesting observation. I would have guessed that for Castle the keys would be defensive intensity and his decision-making on offense, since he'll have the ball in his hands a lot. What makes you think his rebounding may be the difference-maker?

 

[husky429]

Interesting observation. I would have guessed that for Castle the keys would be defensive intensity and his decision-making on offense, since he'll have the ball in his hands a lot. What makes you think his rebounding may be the difference-maker?

Castle needs to shoot well. Gonna be hard to find PT if he's shooting 25% from 3. He's been inconsistent historically.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I agree on Spencer having talent but the big thing with Hawkins was his ability to come off a screen, at high speed, turn, and make a shot when we really needed to make one. And they were most often deep three's.

That’s why he’s a #1 perimeter option. He was a difficult shot maker and even while shooting just (haha at just) 39% from 3, defenses were terrified to leave him open and went out their way to game plan for it.

Spencer isn’t going to have that effect and wouldn’t be fit for that role. But he can kill in the one he may have here to make him productive and efficient.

 

[August_West]

Castle needs to shoot well. Gonna be hard to find PT if he's shooting 25% from 3. He's been inconsistent historically.

Historically, historical changes have come out of war.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Castle needs to shoot well. Gonna be hard to find PT if he's shooting 25% from 3. He's been inconsistent historically.

He looked like one of the best players in Europe shooting 28% from 3. It’s not that big of a deal.

Post in thread 'Box Scores'
Box Scores

 

[HuskyHawk]

Interesting observation. I would have guessed that for Castle the keys would be defensive intensity and his decision-making on offense, since he'll have the ball in his hands a lot. What makes you think his rebounding may be the difference-maker?

Not directed to me, but he's effectively replacing Andre in the lineup. It's going to matter. I know we call him a PG, but defensively he's a SF. He needs to board.

 

[dennismenace]

Not arguably, but definitively. And that is talking about backing up the potential BE POY ( if we came higher than 4th). His minutes off the bench and efficiency and especially change of look behind Sanogo were priceless. No one salivated sending Sanogo to bench, in fact it hurt other teams in certain spots. Now obviously Donovan is a stud and is going to kill people this year, but our 5 spot minutes were a unicorn last year and absolutely scary. Nobody on our roster is backing up the 5 the way Clingan did last year. Not even close.

In some matchups Clingan was perhaps a better matchup than Sanogo but Dan Hurley stayed with the process and the 40 minute version of the duo proved too much for just about everyone; especially down the stretch in the tournament. LOL it was pretty terrifying for a fresh Clingan to come on after having to work against the very physical and tireless Sanogo. Ray Allen said "they didn't have an answer for Sanogo" and that was true and what made that even more devastating was having DC lurking in the background just waiting to get in and go on a rampage.

 

[pj]

Not directed to me, but he's effectively replacing Andre in the lineup. It's going to matter. I know we call him a PG, but defensively he's a SF. He needs to board.

Andre got 6.8 rebounds per game last year, Tristen Newton got 4.5. If Castle rebounds like Newton last year, and Newton increases his rebounds, do we need Castle to rebound as well as Andre?

We have a long team and our coaches are good at teaching rebounding. Somehow I doubt rebounding will be a problem.

I can see us losing 2 rebounds per game by trading Andre for Castle, but gaining >2 points per game from Castle's better shooting, and overall seeing an even trade.

 

[dennismenace]

Not arguably, but definitively. And that is talking about backing up the potential BE POY ( if we came higher than 4th). His minutes off the bench and efficiency and especially change of look behind Sanogo were priceless. No one salivated sending Sanogo to bench, in fact it hurt other teams in certain spots. Now obviously Donovan is a stud and is going to kill people this year, but our 5 spot minutes were a unicorn last year and absolutely scary. Nobody on our roster is backing up the 5 the way Clingan did last year. Not even close.

It's possible though that he may be better than Sanogo as the starting 5.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Andre got 6.8 rebounds per game last year, Tristen Newton got 4.5. If Castle rebounds like Newton last year, and Newton increases his rebounds, do we need Castle to rebound as well as Andre?

We have a long team and our coaches are good at teaching rebounding. Somehow I doubt rebounding will be a problem.

I can see us losing 2 rebounds per game by trading Andre for Castle, but gaining >2 points per game from Castle's better shooting, and overall seeing an even trade.

He isn't going to rebound like Andre. I don't expect it. Nobody should. But he can't rebound like a 5* PG either. I'm hoping he gets some on the offensive end too, if they guard him with small guys. I'm not sure Newton can do much more than 4.5. Alex can step up and do more. than his 4.5. Clingan will be in drop way more than Sanogo was, so he'll likely be a machine on the boards. Andre had outsized rebounding responsibilities with Sanogo hedging.

 

[Waquoit]

The goal isn't to shoehorn these guys into what worked last year. It's to find what works with the new crew and build from there.

 

[BlueMAB]

He looked like one of the best players in Europe shooting 28% from 3. It’s not that big of a deal.

Post in thread 'Box Scores'
Box Scores

Andre Jackson shot 28% from 3 last year. Not that big of a deal?

There was a lot of discussion on this board about that.

I know Castle can create his own shot and get to the rim far better than Andre. But 28% from 3 doesn't make his efforts to get to the rim any easier.

 

[Ricker]

The Almanac preseason bracketology

2 Seeds UConn & Creighton & Marquette (We are matched with Duke as the #1)
5 Seed Nova
8 Seed St Johns
10 Seed PC
11 Seed Xavier

7 teams in, but I think Xavier with recent multiple injuries will be hard pressed to get in now.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Andre Jackson shot 28% from 3 last year. Not that big of a deal?

There was a lot of discussion on this board about that.

I know Castle can create his own shot and get to the rim far better than Andre. But 28% from 3 doesn't make his efforts to get to the rim any easier.

Andre didn’t have a three point shooting issue. He had an overall scoring issue.

It was actually when we stopped asking him to be a 3 point shooter is when he started to thrive. You just have to play to guys strengths.

Castle has more than enough scoring ability to not have to be a consistent three point shooter to be effective. The fix for it if he’s struggling is simply not settle for many and get easier shots.

 

[BlueMAB]

Andre didn’t have a three point shooting issue. He had an overall scoring issue.

It was actually when we stopped asking him to be a 3 point shooter is when he started to thrive. You just have to play to guys strengths.

Castle has more than enough scoring ability to not have to be a consistent three point shooter to be effective. The fix for it if he’s struggling is simply not settle for many and get easier shots.

eehhhhh okay, not worth debating about. but it's not an either/or situation. part of his scoring issue was his inability to consistently make wide open shots from 3. you can't say one didn't impact the other. his poor shooting from deep is why we had to move him to the baseline in the offense. he thrived because we didn't ask him to do the thing that was an issue for him.

Castle brings a much more polished offensive game to the court, if Andre had his ability to get to the lane and finish he'd have been a top 5 pick. But 28% needs to improve for him and the team to reach their potential. I can't see Hurley parking him on the baseline the way we did with AJ

 

[Deleted at users request]

eehhhhh okay, not worth debating about. but it's not an either/or situation. part of his scoring issue was his inability to consistently make wide open shots from 3. you can't say one didn't impact the other. his poor shooting from deep is why we had to move him to the baseline in the offense. he thrived because we didn't ask him to do the thing that was an issue for him.

Castle brings a much more polished offensive game to the court, if Andre had his ability to get to the lane and finish he'd have been a top 5 pick. But 28% needs to improve for him and the team to reach their potential. I can't see Hurley parking him on the baseline the way we did with AJ

I don’t think Andre’s 3 point shooting effected his finishing at the rim. He was just never a good finisher through traffic. He didn’t have any mid range game either. Neither of those are going to be a problem for Castle and he won’t have to lean on 3 point shooting to be successful.

We won a championship too with Andre as one of the most impactful players on the team. Bad shooting and all.

It’s absolutely blasphemous to attribute Castle’s playing time to how well he shoots from 3 when there’s so many other things he does at a high level.