Tristen playing now

[Huskyforlife]

That’s the whole point. Oriaki won the year before too and still got replaced by the more talented freshman. At the end of the day talent trumps all and Castle is expected to be that talented. I hope Newton is prepared to play off of him.

The fit with Newton and Castle is much better than Oriakhi and Drummond though. Plus Andre and Alex both started anyways.

 

[Kenny11]

We need more shooting and Newton can provide that. I don’t think he will have a problem handling the ball a little less if he gets to jack a couple more 25 footers per game

 

[businesslawyer]

That’s the whole point. Oriaki won the year before too and still got replaced by the more talented freshman. At the end of the day talent trumps all and Castle is expected to be that talented. I hope Newton is prepared to play off of him.

Man, are you off on this one. First, and unfortunately, AO and Drummond started together that year. Second, there is zero doubt that had we started that year playing the championship lineup, with Shabazz taking over Kemba’s role, and made Drummond earn his way into that rotation (which he would have), we wouldn’t have gone the entire season with that roster without having a single good win.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The obvious difference between the Oriakhi/Drummond and Newton/Castle comparison is there was little wiggle room to play Andre and Alex together and plenty of ways to play Newrom and Castle together. That is one of the major advantages of having big guards who are 6'4" or taller. In college you can move someone to the 3 spot without issues.

If Newtom comes back he's playing right about 30mpg. Some will be as the PG and some will be off the ball. IDK if Castle is a 25mpg or 30mpg player but he will be the same. Some as PG and some off the ball.

 

[TheHorde]

The obvious difference between the Oriakhi/Drummond and Newton/Castle comparison is there was little wiggle room to play Andre and Alex together and plenty of ways to play Newrom and Castle together. That is one of the major advantages of having big guards who are 6'4" or taller. In college you can move someone to the 3 spot without issues.

If Newtom comes back he's playing right about 30mpg. Some will be as the PG and some will be off the ball. IDK if Castle is a 25mpg or 30mpg player but he will be the same. Some as PG and some off the ball.

Yup. TN returning not only is a non issue in terms of chemistry and playing time, it would be a huge net plus. And it would enable the freshmen to be slowly worked in when they’re truly ready.

 

[August_West]

The obvious difference between the Oriakhi/Drummond and Newton/Castle comparison is there was little wiggle room to play Andre and Alex together and plenty of ways to play Newrom and Castle together. That is one of the major advantages of having big guards who are 6'4" or taller. In college you can move someone to the 3 spot without issues.

If Newtom comes back he's playing right about 30mpg. Some will be as the PG and some will be off the ball. IDK if Castle is a 25mpg or 30mpg player but he will be the same. Some as PG and some off the ball.

Yup the situations are not remotely similar.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

The starting PG and star of the National Championship game isn’t going to take a backseat to a Freshman, no matter how talented. I expect Tristen to be an all league player.

Remember everyone I’m responding to this right here when I talk about Oriaki.

Newton may definitely have to take a backseat to Castle. Like Oriaki did with Drummond.

 

[AntG168]

Remember everyone I’m responding to this right here when I talk about Oriaki.

Newton may definitely have to take a backseat to Castle. Like Oriaki did with Drummond.

No he won’t. Newton is 6’5 and Castle is 6’7. They’ll play with each other. And they’ll be damn good together. Idk why this is hard to comprehend

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

No he won’t. Newton is 6’5 and Castle is 6’7. They’ll play with each other. And they’ll be damn good together. Idk why this is hard to comprehend

I consider Newton moving off ball and out of position to be that fwiw. Like Oriaki having to move and play the 4.

I’m not as sold as everyone else on Newton playing the 2. But we’ll see how that goes. Still going to be nice to have a steady guard ballhandler back there.

 

[uconnfan68]

Our history is full of multiple ballhandlers in the same lineup. We'll manage.

 

[AntG168]

I consider Newton moving off ball and out of position to be that fwiw. Like Oriaki having to move and play the 4.

I’m not as sold as everyone else on Newton playing the 2. But we’ll see how that goes. Still going to be nice to have a steady guard ballhandler back there.

He won’t be off the ball exclusively. Him and Castle will alternate ball handling duties. Newton and AJax just did it this season. Newton wasn’t exclusively handling the ball this year. Our offense was a lot of movement off ball and passing oriented. He and Castle will be fine. No one is taking a “back seat”

 

[businesslawyer]

Newton wasn't truly a #1 point guard this year. We often ran sets where there was no PG -- just a lot of movement with everyone participating -- and when we did run a set with a primary ballhandler, it was often AJ or Joey or Diarra handling the ball and Newton off it. Even if Newton and AJ both come back, we'll be fine with Newton, AJ and Castle playing together and there is no rule requiring that one of them be a true lead guard and the other two not be.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I consider Newton moving off ball and out of position to be that fwiw. Like Oriaki having to move and play the 4.

I’m not as sold as everyone else on Newton playing the 2. But we’ll see how that goes. Still going to be nice to have a steady guard ballhandler back there.

Did people not watch us last year? There is no PG. Castle will play like a Jackson that can score, and perhaps not rebound as much. We need multiple facilitators in our offense. Nobody gets to be a ball dominant PG. Newton wasn't last year, nor was Jackson. I don't see how this is an issue at all. It's really an ideal fit.

Question is shooting guard, where Ball will need to step up unless there is a transfer. Or we could play one of the forwards.

 

[aburks41]

Did people not watch us last year? There is no PG. Castle will play like a Jackson that can score, and perhaps not rebound as much. We need multiple facilitators in our offense. Nobody gets to be a ball dominant PG. Newton wasn't last year, nor was Jackson. I don't see how this is an issue at all. It's really an ideal fit.

Question is shooting guard, where Ball will need to step up unless there is a transfer. Or we could play one of the forwards.

Exactly. We had numerous times where Alleyne or Joey were bringing the ball up. I'm pretty sure Raftery mentioned in the Miami game how difficult we were to press because we would throw lineups out there with 4 ball handlers.

Also, is HuskyWarrior forgetting the Bazz/Boat duo? Two dominant on-ball PG's and I think they turned out just fine...

 

[InTheRed]

That’s the whole point. Oriaki won the year before too and still got replaced by the more talented freshman. At the end of the day talent trumps all and Castle is expected to be that talented. I hope Newton is prepared to play off of him.

Last year's team played best when Newton was more involved and that team has 3 guys that might be drafted this year. So Hurley's biggest mistake would be forgetting what he learned last year about Newton.

 

[Samoo]

Remember everyone I’m responding to this right here when I talk about Oriaki.

Newton may definitely have to take a backseat to Castle. Like Oriaki did with Drummond.

May definitely? Is that like being a little pregnant?

 

[Waquoit]

Eh, Oriaki would’ve thought the same thing.

And how did that season work out?

 

[husky429]

If Newton came back, the starting backcourt would be Newton and Castle. Newton would probably get to play off the ball and shoot and score more which would make him look good in next year’s draft. I think the 2 of them would share PG responsibility, but early on while Castle adjusts, Newton would be primary PG.

Wouldn't be surprised to play 3 guards with Newton, Castle, and Solo (or one of these transfers). Castle would be protected on defense guarding the SF spot, and he and Newton could still run the offense together.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Wouldn't be surprised to play 3 guards with Newton, Castle, and Solo (or one of these transfers). Castle would be protected on defense guarding the SF spot, and he and Newton could still run the offense together.

In that scenario Newton needs to play D like he has in the G League Combine. He was pretty rough on ball at points last year.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wouldn't be surprised to play 3 guards with Newton, Castle, and Solo (or one of these transfers). Castle would be protected on defense guarding the SF spot, and he and Newton could still run the offense together.

He's clearly big enough to be a college SF, just like Andre, even if he's an NBA guard. No doubt Hurley will want flexible lineups that can go bigger, smaller, more athletic, more shooting, and Newton helps with that no matter what.

 

[husky429]

In that scenario Newton needs to play D like he has in the G League Combine. He was pretty rough on ball at points last year.

In that scenario, Solo would be guarding the 1.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

In that scenario, Solo would be guarding the 1.

Right. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched Solo a ton, does he have the quickness/shiftiness to come in and guard college 1s?

 

[Kenny11]

I consider Newton moving off ball and out of position to be that fwiw. Like Oriaki having to move and play the 4.

I’m not as sold as everyone else on Newton playing the 2. But we’ll see how that goes. Still going to be nice to have a steady guard ballhandler back there.

Newton did play the 2 this season sometimes and was fine. Sometimes Jackson initiated the offense or Diarra and newton was on the wing. Castle seems like a pg but we haven’t seen him play against this level of competition yet. Maybe it takes him a little while to get rolling playing pg and he does better on the wing. To me it seems very workable.

 

[boog204]

Castle and Newton would be fantastic together. Anyone thinking that this is even close to Oriakhi and AD is totally off. AO and AD were both offensively limited players who were only effective if they got the ball 3 feet from the hoop. Playing them together, in a lot of ways, was like playing 3/4 on 5 in a half court setting. Castle and Newton can easily play together. Hell, we got really good when Tristan had the ball in his hands less and AJ was able to handle/distribute more.

 

[husky429]

Right. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched Solo a ton, does he have the quickness/shiftiness to come in and guard college 1s?

He's going to have better lateral speed and quickness than anyone on our team. He's an Andre-esque athlete in a 6'3 body.

The big question for him (and all our freshman) will be if they can pick up the team defense. Hurley's defensive scheme takes a lot of film work and a high IQ to pick up.

The other question for Solo will be shooting abd handles. Last summer he was too limited shooting the rock to be a big piece of a top-25 team right away. That very well could have changed at Brewster, however. They're as good of a developmental program as anywhere.