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thanks. Wha else you got for us?
UConn Secret Scrimmage
- Thread starter Storrs South
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Be careful to not take too much away from the end result of these scrimmages. They're not managed the same as a real game. Would love to see how some of the players did but the end result doesn't matter much. Good to hear Castle and Johnson played well.
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Finally some actual info.
This seems like about where we'd expect the team to be. The Castle report is encouraging given how mum people have been about him in early practices.
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As of 12:45 PM today (Sunday), there is no real clue on the UVA message board as to what happened yesterday. They've picked up the post from here that UConn won by 5 and seem to be commentng on that post rather than any first-hand observation.
There are two comments that at first seemed positive ...
"UConn's back-up big more than held his own against any of ours."
"The back-up big man on UConn looks to be a quality big."
...but I now think that these were based on the post they picked up from here.
fwiw.
There are two comments that at first seemed positive ...
"UConn's back-up big more than held his own against any of ours."
"The back-up big man on UConn looks to be a quality big."
...but I now think that these were based on the post they picked up from here.
fwiw.
Just to put some of this into perspective: Last year when Virginia and UConn scrimmaged, UVa was returning all its starters from the previous season, and something like 90+% of its scoring. This year, there are only four players on the squad who were active last year. Only one was a starter, and one sat on the end of the bench. There are two more players who redshirted in 2023. There are seven new players on the 2024 edition: two grad transfers, another transfer, and four frosh. Also, none of the post players have ever seen a minute of action in a Virginia uniform. Until September, none of them had participated in a formal practice. Given that Coach Bennett's schemes take a bit of time to master, and that this is especially true for the post players' defense, there is reason to expect Virginia to struggle a bit early in the season. If the scrimmage score was close, I'm guessing it had to do with both coaches experimenting with various combinations and sets. I doubt that it was indicative of more. There is some talent on the UVa squad this year, but that it will take a while to gel is the conventional thinking. That Coach Bennett has had equally inexperienced teams in the last six years, without nearly this year's balance or depth, and hasn't finished out of the top half of the league seems to be confounding preseason predictions.
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Speaking for myself, I appreciate 73CAV's post and think he is exactly on target in his evaluation of the scrimmage.
It is worth observing, by comparison, that UConn has six new players on the 2024 roster -- a transfer and five frosh, having lost three starters and five of the first eight players in its rotation. Add the unavailability of its starting center, and you have a team with a lot of experimentation to do in its first scrimmage. The "final score" is indeed meaningless, but it would be interesting to know how some of the experimentation went.
It is worth observing, by comparison, that UConn has six new players on the 2024 roster -- a transfer and five frosh, having lost three starters and five of the first eight players in its rotation. Add the unavailability of its starting center, and you have a team with a lot of experimentation to do in its first scrimmage. The "final score" is indeed meaningless, but it would be interesting to know how some of the experimentation went.
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This is such an important point to remember in any of these scrimmage scores. Coaches use these as a chance to throw at the wall and see what sticks as much as they do running lineups they expect to actually use.
Just got some info from my buddy. Castle led the way in scoring with 19, with Samson not behind with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer's shot was crisp, going 3/4 from 3 and finished with 10 points. Newton was a bit quiet with only 4 points but had 11 assists.
Other mini observations:
-Don't sleep on Solo Ball. Had some explosive dunks and lockdown defense. Ajax 2.0?
-Hassan Diarra went 2/3 3PT in the game...
-Karaban was a bit quiet as well but did make some impact plays on defense and looks more free.
-Youssouf Singare is not as raw as you think. YS got two putback dunks and 4 rebounds in the span of a couple minutes. If we need him, he could hold his own against BE bigs.
-Apostolos Roumoglou scored 7 points. Could he actually log minutes this year?
Other mini observations:
-Don't sleep on Solo Ball. Had some explosive dunks and lockdown defense. Ajax 2.0?
-Hassan Diarra went 2/3 3PT in the game...
-Karaban was a bit quiet as well but did make some impact plays on defense and looks more free.
-Youssouf Singare is not as raw as you think. YS got two putback dunks and 4 rebounds in the span of a couple minutes. If we need him, he could hold his own against BE bigs.
-Apostolos Roumoglou scored 7 points. Could he actually log minutes this year?
Great stuff, thanks.
For the bigs, have to keep in mind that Virginia fans think the weakest part of their team is interior defense. So we should definitely not get carried away with Samson/Youssouf's performances.
Newton was likely guarded by Reece Beekman, who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire country, so not surprising he was a bit quiet scoring-wise.
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You're right. He had 11 assists, so that's good. Take what the defense gives you.
Huskyforlife
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Who won?
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This is completely made up.
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According to a few posts above, we won by 5
Huskyforlife
Akokbouk
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Yeah but this guy might have different info.
Hunt for 7
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Sounds like nothing but good news. SC is probably our best player right now. Taking nothing away from Clingan and Karaban and I expect some who will disagree. Not sure why but I am getting the feeling that we are going to see something special from SC this year. Samson scoring and rebounding what is there not to like if it is all accurate information.
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I might get flack for saying this, but I think Newton is our best player right now. Super confident, great shooter, obviously takes what the defense gives.
Not saying Steph won’t pass him up as we get deeper into the season
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Can you spill the beans then…please
Chin Diesel
Power of Love
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Got the youngins' some reps against a well-coached opponent.
No one got hurt.
Mission accomplished.
No one got hurt.
Mission accomplished.
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I think it would be hilarious if Dan and the staff told different stats to a bunch of guys to see who would leak the info
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The NBA Used An Espionage Trick Known As 'Canary Trap' To Catch Teams Leaking Info To The Media
The National Basketball Association fined...
Or
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I knew I should have been suspicious when Dan told me Dylan Cardwell played solid off the bench.
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kind of contradicts what we heard with Alex.
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