UConn in the NBA Nov 2025 | Page 8 | The Boneyard
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UConn in the NBA Nov 2025

caw said:
This is obviously great but teams are doing a very good job of screening him to get the switch and really dragging Barnes/Champ after, from what I've seen.
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It’s also just not correct. Booker hit multiple shots while guarded by Steph. I don’t remember the rest enough to fact check them.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
It’s also just not correct. Booker hit multiple shots while guarded by Steph. I don’t remember the rest enough to fact check them.
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Yep, well maybe. Hard to gauge how they are recording it for that tweet.

Booker went:

3 on Vassell
2 on Harper
2 on Castle/Wemby (Castle was screened off but did challenge from behind with Wemby the man in front. You could put this on Wemby as he did switch. McLaughlin was also digging from the other side.)
3 on Vassell
2 on Castle (or Wemby) hard to tell who was closer. I'd say Castle here but I could see the argument for Wemby as he was kind of challenged initially but dropped back as Booker was rising to his shot. Castle challenged late coming through the screen.
2 on Barnes
2 Cherry picking fast break
2 on Castle (great one on one fade away from Booker)
2 on Barnes
2 on Vassell

I'd say two-three were on Castle but you could argue one with poor switching defense by Wemby on two others.

For those two shots, Wemby kind of played a soft drop, with a hand extended but not really challenging the shot, and definitely not hedging the screen. So both times Castle had to fight through the screen and try and challenge while Booker was already in his shooting motion. I can see the argument they belong on Wemby as he was the man in front when Booker began his shooting motion. I think they were somewhat giving Booker the midrange on those plays with Wemby more focused on protecting the paint.

EDIT: I only watched the Booker highlights and they obviously don't show misses so not sure if Castle was actually defending him for his five misses of the game.
 
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caw said:
Yep, well maybe. Hard to gauge how they are recording it for that tweet.

Booker went:

3 on Vassell
2 on Harper
2 on Castle/Wemby (Castle was screened off but did challenge from behind with Wemby the man in front. You could put this on Wemby as he did switch. McLaughlin was also digging from the other side.)
3 on Vassell
2 on Castle (or Wemby) hard to tell who was closer. I'd say Castle here but I could see the argument for Wemby as he was kind of challenged initially but dropped back as Booker was rising to his shot. Castle challenged late coming through the screen.
2 on Barnes
2 Cherry picking fast break
2 on Castle (great one on one fade away from Booker)
2 on Barnes
2 on Vassell

I'd say two-three were on Castle but you could argue one with poor switching defense by Wemby on two others.

For those two shots, Wemby kind of played a soft drop, with a hand extended but not really challenging the shot, and definitely not hedging the screen. So both times Castle had to fight through the screen and try and challenge while Booker was already in his shooting motion. I can see the argument they belong on Wemby as he was the man in front when Booker began his shooting motion. I think they were somewhat giving Booker the midrange on those plays with Wemby more focused on protecting the paint.

EDIT: I only watched the Booker highlights and they obviously don't show misses so not sure if Castle was actually defending him for his five misses of the game.
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I think he was for 4 of them. I watched that game and was impressed with how he forced Booker to shoot contested fadeaways. Which he missed for a while and then he finally made a couple of them (he’s averaging 30 ppg - so he’s going to make some). I unofficially had it as Booker shooting 3-7 head-to-head watching the game - not counting the last one coming when he was the primary defender and Vassell flew out late to help when Steph was late getting around the screen.

I guess there’s a nuance as to whether you technically scored “on” someone if you used a screen to get an advantage. That might make that 1-6 closer to accurate if a screen negated the attempt. But if that stat is legit, you have to use the same standard on misses and makes (ie if Steph fought over a screen and had a good contest, that shouldn’t be a miss head-to-head if you wouldn’t have counted it if it went in).
 
Spencer with an ok night - 9 points (2-6, 4-4 FT, 1 assist, 1 TO). Was also out there in crunch time (down by 10) to try to give an offensive lift.

A little bit of “pass it to the UConn guy bias” on my part here - but I hate watching guys like Jaren Jackson Jr. play. Guys who give you 20 ppg and 1 apg and don’t see any of the four guys wearing the same color shirts.
 
Gurleyman said:
I think he was for 4 of them. I watched that game and was impressed with how he forced Booker to shoot contested fadeaways. Which he missed for a while and then he finally made a couple of them (he’s averaging 30 ppg - so he’s going to make some). I unofficially had it as Booker shooting 3-7 head-to-head watching the game - not counting the last one coming when he was the primary defender and Vassell flew out late to help when Steph was late getting around the screen.

I guess there’s a nuance as to whether you technically scored “on” someone if you used a screen to get an advantage. That might make that 1-6 closer to accurate if a screen negated the attempt. But if that stat is legit, you have to use the same standard on misses and makes (ie if Steph fought over a screen and had a good contest, that shouldn’t be a miss head-to-head if you wouldn’t have counted it if it went in).
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Yeah, I'm not sure how they are counting who is the primary during the shot. I mean, to get 1-6 you have to count two makes on Wemby, and Wemby is playing more of a drop than a switch/hedge so I'm not sure why you would put that on Wemby. And both times Castle does fight through for a decent contest. That said, with Wemby's length he might actually still be the closest defender during the shot (which IMO is a bad way to judge who the defender is).
 
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Gurleyman said:
I think he was for 4 of them. I watched that game and was impressed with how he forced Booker to shoot contested fadeaways. Which he missed for a while and then he finally made a couple of them (he’s averaging 30 ppg - so he’s going to make some). I unofficially had it as Booker shooting 3-7 head-to-head watching the game - not counting the last one coming when he was the primary defender and Vassell flew out late to help when Steph was late getting around the screen.

I guess there’s a nuance as to whether you technically scored “on” someone if you used a screen to get an advantage. That might make that 1-6 closer to accurate if a screen negated the attempt. But if that stat is legit, you have to use the same standard on misses and makes (ie if Steph fought over a screen and had a good contest, that shouldn’t be a miss head-to-head if you wouldn’t have counted it if it went in).
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Yeah I watched pretty much the full game, he was hounding Book but as any great player does, he made tough shots. He made at least 3 while being guarded by Steph, and I am pretty sure it was more. That is no detriment to Steph, D Book is just obviously that good.
 
ctbro1999 said:
Me too.

Castle having another strong game though. 7-14, 7 assists, 0 TOs.
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He looks really good. Shooting maybe isn’t there but that’s the thing we all knew he had to work on. Not all assists are created equal - sometimes you just swing it to people who then do all the hard work - but he’s getting difficult ones to get people dunks and layups. One bounce pass to Kornet through traffic I don’t even know how he got it through there.

Edit: they gave him a turnover that wasn’t really his fault - someone tried to give him a quick pass from a couple feet away he wasn’t ready for and he couldn’t pull it in. Usually the nba stats guys give it on the pass.
 
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If you get a chance to watch this game on replay on league pass or wherever, watch it. Spurs come back from down 10 in the fourth. Castle was tremendous. Every assist was a highlight reel one - and he had a couple more that led to fouls rather than the Bulls giving up the easy two. Also a key steal late. Made two FTs late.

He ends with 11 assists and 1 turnover and the one TO shouldn’t have been his. The 11 assists were every bit legit - getting guys dunks.
 
Steph's a star: 18.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 7.3 APG, 1.9 SPG

But he's got to be better from 3 -- he's shooting 24%. If he can get to 35%, he'll be a superstar.

The TOs haven't been great (4.7 is pretty rough) but over the last 3 games his A:TO ratio of 37:8 is fantastic.

www.espn.com

Stephon Castle Career Stats - NBA - ESPN

Complete career NBA stats for the San Antonio Spurs Guard Stephon Castle on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
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On the flip side Clingan is struggling to score recently while shooting close to half his shots from 3.

And that's the thing that'll make me mad about his focus on that. Learn how to dominate inside before trying to make the basis of your game making a shot he's currently shooting under 25% from the field doing.

It's stupid and honestly, a sign of immaturity.
 
nomar said:
Steph's a star: 18.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 7.3 APG, 1.9 SPG

But he's got to be better from 3 -- he's shooting 24%. If he can get to 35%, he'll be a superstar.

The TOs haven't been great (4.7 is pretty rough) but over the last 3 games his A:TO ratio of 37:8 is fantastic.

www.espn.com

Stephon Castle Career Stats - NBA - ESPN

Complete career NBA stats for the San Antonio Spurs Guard Stephon Castle on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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The cool thing about him being in the role he's in now is that 3s won't affect his game as much as it would playing off ball.

It's not as necessary being a good spot up shooter when he's initiating the offense and looking to get downhill almost every play. Gets to play more towards his strengths and not highlight his weaknesses as much.

It'll be helpful, but he's in a position now where it won't make or break his game.
 
Gurleyman said:
He looks really good. Shooting maybe isn’t there but that’s the thing we all knew he had to work on. Not all assists are created equal - sometimes you just swing it to people who then do all the hard work - but he’s getting difficult ones to get people dunks and layups. One bounce pass to Kornet through traffic I don’t even know how he got it through there.

Edit: they gave him a turnover that wasn’t really his fault - someone tried to give him a quick pass from a couple feet away he wasn’t ready for and he couldn’t pull it in. Usually the nba stats guys give it on the pass.
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ESPN play by play initially had it as Johnson's turnover but they changed it near the end of the game (I guess they are a bit behind getting the official stats).
 
Yesterday:

Liam - 7 points on 2-7 off the bench

Clingan - 2 points on 1-5 (0-2 3P), 9 rebounds. Hitting a major wall

Castle - 19 points on 9-19 (sounds bad but it’s 47%, really good). 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, only 1 TO

AJax - DNP-CD

Hawkins - 1 point on 0-3 (0-2 3P, 1-3 FT). Looks like Micah Peavy is starting to take over his minutes
 
HW611 said:
The cool thing about him being in the role he's in now is that 3s won't affect his game as much as it would playing off ball.

It's not as necessary being a good spot up shooter when he's initiating the offense and looking to get downhill almost every play. Gets to play more towards his strengths and not highlight his weaknesses as much.

It'll be helpful, but he's in a position now where it won't make or break his game.
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We know you hate them taking 3s, it’s been stated and repeated.
 
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