TSam

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Samuel has 5 points and 3 assists for Penn State so far tonight. Good for him hopefully he can be a good player for them.

 

[Mots010]

Did TSam trade up to Penn St?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Did TSam trade up to Penn St?

Saw the writing on the wall before anyone else

 

[Showballot]

Sam Casell Jr. had 28 points tonight for Iona vs Florida State.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Sam Casell Jr. had 28 points tonight for Iona vs Florida State.

Wtf.....

 

[tcf15]

Wtf.....

on 21 shots. 5-14 from 3.

 

[Fishy]

Sam is always going to have a game here and there when he scores, but his points are usually very expensive - you're not going to go very far with Sam shooting 21 times a game.

 

[Hoophound]

It's a reflection of our offense. Sam Cassell can't play in an NBA offense. Unfortunately, neither can any of our current players.

I knew Cassell would be good at Iona and I knew TSam was worth keeping around. The problem is not just the players, its the system. You can't play 1 on 5 basketball without very, very elite talent.

 

[Hoophound]

Sam is always going to have a game here and there when he scores, but his points are usually very expensive - you're not going to go very far with Sam shooting 21 times a game.

Sam could never get 21 clean looks in our offense. Never.

 

[champs99and04]

It's a reflection of our offense. Sam Cassell can't play in an NBA offense. Unfortunately, neither can any of our current players.

I knew Cassell would be good at Iona and I knew TSam was worth keeping around. The problem is not just the players, its the system. You can't play 1 on 5 basketball without very, very elite talent.

Terrence Samuel doesn't fit very well in any offense, besides maybe the one where nobody has a scouting report on him like he played in during the title run. As Gilbert and Adams are finding out, guards who can't shoot reliably die. And Samuel can't shoot at all.

Cassell would score some points for us if we let him have free reign, but he was never going to play here with the way he guarded and he couldn't beat anybody off the dribble.

No doubt coaching is a major problem, but those kids didn't transfer because Ollie screwed it up for them, they transferred because they couldn't solve our problem.

 

[zls44]

Sam could never get 21 clean looks in our offense. Never.

What the hell makes you think they were clean looks?

 

[Burnsbros23]

I liked Cassell more than Samuels

 

[Hoophound]

Sam probably got clean looks because:
A. Sam isnt super talented at creating space.
B. Iona runs an offense that produces good shots, it's what they do.
C. Iona scores in transition--a lot (like we used to). Pushing the ball then kicking out for open 3's.

Of course, he might have been scoring in traffic, but my assumption is that he was able to get decent shots by finding them within the Iona offense or in transition off both makes and misses. Iona is a high scoring team and has been for years. They create open shots. They do not play good defense.

As for Samuel, he is not a great player, but those that were so relieved he transferred were being obnoxious. He basically won us a couple of tourney games and turned the tide in several others with aggressive play and pushing the ball up court. He was doing that as a freshman. You might want to ask why our players don't get better each year. Running guys off or saying they suck when they don't develop only to replace them with other guys that don't develop is a trend. Our offense is a major factor in our players looking bad. Who looks good? Exactly.

 

[mauconnfan]

I don't think anyone was obnoxious about him leaving he just wan't that good, limited like the rest of his senior class is. And he'd play very little again as he would have last year. He's a great kid and his 5/3 for Penn State is about right good for him. He's not the reason we lost to Wagner and Northeastern nor is Sam Jr.

Good for them!

 

[Hoophound]

I don't think anyone was obnoxious about him leaving he just wan't that good, limited like the rest of his senior class is. And he'd play very little again as he would have last year. He's a great kid and his 5/3 for Penn State is about right good for him. He's not the reason we lost to Wagner and Northeastern nor is Sam Jr.

Good for them!

Yes, people were thrilled to see him go. Also, while TSam wasn't very good, and I am not arguing that he was, 3 gritty plays could have turned the tide in these losses. We just can't generate momentum. That's just what TSam did at times. Again, those moments dissipated the longer he was here. Why? Lack of development. No, TSam wasn't great, but we don't win the 2014 title without him. He was a spark plug that lost his spark.

"Sam Cassell couldn't play at this level" is the mantra here. He goes to Iona and scores 28. Yes, its Iona, but it is 28 points not 8 points. The lack of a system here is a major issue. Again, Sam wasn't very good, I get it. He was too slow. But a guy who scores 28 at Iona right out the gate should be good enough to play back up here.

I watched two great high school teams tonight. One was clearly more talented than the other and had bigger, stronger, faster players...they lost by around 20. The "inferior" team ran a motion offense and showed patience. They played tenacious D and their coach implored them to pounce on the weak ball handlers, he called out "shooter" constantly, he had them back off guys that couldn't shoot the 3 but could drive. He worked the sideline tirelessly. It was an absolute clinic and all I could think about was UConn and what a disaster this stand around offense and lax defense is. Enough blaming the players. Some are very talented, some aren't. None are improving.

 

[gtcam]

I'm always glad when former Huskies are productive after the leave
Except if they do it vs. UConn
Sometimes there just isn't a good fit

 

[gtcam]

Yes, people were thrilled to see him go. Also, while TSam wasn't very good, and I am not arguing that he was, 3 gritty plays could have turned the tide in these losses. We just can't generate momentum. That's just what TSam did at times. Again, those moments dissipated the longer he was here. Why? Lack of development. No, TSam wasn't great, but we don't win the 2014 title without him. He was a spark plug that lost his spark.

"Sam Cassell couldn't play at this level" is the mantra here. He goes to Iona and scores 28. Yes, its Iona, but it is 28 points not 8 points. The lack of a system here is a major issue. Again, Sam wasn't very good, I get it. He was too slow. But a guy who scores 28 at Iona right out the gate should be good enough to play back up here.

I watched two great high school teams tonight. One was clearly more talented than the other and had bigger, stronger, faster players...they lost by around 20. The "inferior" team ran a motion offense and showed patience. They played tenacious D and their coach implored them to pounce on the weak ball handlers, he called out "shooter" constantly, he had them back off guys that couldn't shoot the 3 but could drive. He worked the sideline tirelessly. It was an absolute clinic and all I could think about was UConn and what a disaster this stand around offense and lax defense is. Enough blaming the players. Some are very talented, some aren't. None are improving.

Great points
I wouldn't be too quick in saying don't blame the players - maybe, just maybe, they aren't doing what they are supposed to do
I'm not sure but I do know there is a lack of motion so far at UConn.
I was watching Maryland/Georgetown, Mich St/Kensucky and Wisconsin/Creighton last night and while there were lots of flaws there was activity off the ball BUT what made it work was the guards were always swinging the ball from side to side and hitting the cutter at the foul line. If there was an open shot they took it. Much active screening but so many illegal screen calls.

 

[polycom]

It's been mentioned above but it really comes down to the fact that we run an NBA offense without NBA talent. There is a reason dribble hand off works in the NBA and it isn't because coaches draw up great sets. It's that the offense in the NBA is so much better than the defense in the NBA that it works. Dribble hand off doesn't work when the defense is better than the offense. TS and Sam Cass Jr will never be a good in an NBA system as mentioned before however in college they can make it work if they play in a system that is dedicated to cutting, screening and running.

 

[SirHypeAlot]

God I love seeing that. Good for Sam - guy has never seen a shot he doesn't like.

 

[Hoophound]

Great points
I wouldn't be too quick in saying don't blame the players - maybe, just maybe, they aren't doing what they are supposed to do
I'm not sure but I do know there is a lack of motion so far at UConn.
I was watching Maryland/Georgetown, Mich St/Kensucky and Wisconsin/Creighton last night and while there were lots of flaws there was activity off the ball BUT what made it work was the guards were always swinging the ball from side to side and hitting the cutter at the foul line. If there was an open shot they took it. Much active screening but so many illegal screen calls.

We've seen this before. Remember when Coombs -McDaniel had his best game and we finally solved a zone? He flashed to the foul line and hit a bunch of short jumpers. Let's send Larrier and Jackson to the foul line area instead of everyone standing around the 3 point line watching. The game will open right up.

 

[Kembacity]

Terrence gon' have to bop me on the head, because I hope I'm having a nightmare right now

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Terrence gon' have to bop me on the head, because I hope I'm having a nightmare right now

Deep cut from the ollieism book.

 

[ktuck911]

Wtf.....

we had too many guards for Handsome Sam to show off his game.. We need a little more balance up front to go with our backcourt strength...

 

[zls44]

Leon Tolskdorf is getting big minutes for American this year!

 

[Burnsbros23]

Id prolly want Tolksdorf back over Tsam and Cassell at least hes 6'8 and can hopefully shoot now.