UConn vs Texas Post Game Thread... | Page 7 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Texas Post Game Thread...

It is almost as if Mahaney is a freshman. I think he'll be in a good game/bad game period for awhile and is still more in phase of coaches breaking his game all the way down vs. building it back up. I did like that last night he played tenacious D and forced a turnover on a drive after a couple of offensive mistakes. Going into yesterday's game I was hopeful that Aidan would build on the success of the Baylor game, but seemed more like he had no chance in a road environment.

Optimistically the competition for minutes between Nowell and Mahaney should improve both. Mahaney has more to offer within the sparkplug pure scoring off the bench role, with Nowell offering the long-term overall game and upside.
Mahaney when someone presses up on him he really struggles. Baylor guards gave him some breathing room, Texas did not. He just can't run the offense as a PG. He is a natural 2 guard who should be running off screens.

With Nowell out I expect Diarra to play 30 plus minutes. His feel for the offense is getting better and better. He's a natural PG and Mahaney isn't.
 
Well said.

Our play kept the the fans sitting on their hands with closed mouths but it seemed like the crowd noise was muted at times by the telecast.
Was at the game. Not a loud place. Maybe the football loss had something to do with the mood but not as much energy as other venues I’ve been to
 
I'm really glad Solo showed signs of hope on defense. And he showed he's more than a 1-dimensional catch and shoot 3 guy.
Solo can shoot, no doubt about that. He also had a nice scoop hoop driving to the rim late in the first half. Much improved defensive game for Solo.

The team was +4 with Singare in the game. Up 14 when he entered the game and up 18 when he exited.
 
I was at game. Glad we jumped out quick. I thouhht that was key. Some random away game fan thoughts:

Texas fans pretty respectful overall; many were happy to engage/discuss; most dont like their coach; Texas made a lot of tough shots to even stay within shouting distance but not much team play; fans think Hurley is great but annoying; arena very nice; did not ever wait for more than a minute at concession stands; happy hour every game until national anthem and all drinks half price; quite a few Uconn fans at game more than I expected.
 
Mahaney when someone presses up on him he really struggles. Baylor guards gave him some breathing room, Texas did not. He just can't run the offense as a PG. He is a natural 2 guard who should be running off screens.

With Nowell out I expect Diarra to play 30 plus minutes. His feel for the offense is getting better and better. He's a natural PG and Mahaney isn't.
Totally agree. The offense doesn't run well with Mahaney in at PG. He is a SG and Dan realizes it. He even plays Mahaney at 2Guard when he subs for Ball. I think the key to UConn this year is Nowell. I love Diarra and he has to run the PG now but he just doesn't score and his outside shot is just not there. I think if Nowell if healthy will eventually become the PG with Diarra backing him up. I mean maybe Diarra can find his offense and i will be surprised. Either way Diarra is playing well dishing out the ball, driving to the hoop and playing top notch D. I love this kid no matter his role going forward.
 
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Totally agree. The offense doesn't run well with Mahaney in at PG. He is a SG and Dan realizes it. He even plays Mahaney at 2Guard when he subs for Ball. I think the key to UConn this year is Nowell. I love Diarra and he has to run the PG now but he just doesn't score and his outside shot is just not there. I think if Nowell if healthy will eventually become the PG with Diarra backing him up. I mean maybe Diarra can find his offense and i will be surprised. Either way Diarra is playing well dishing out the ball, driving to the hoop and playing top notch D. I love this kid no matter his role going forward.
Also agree 100%. Wonder if it is somewhat a size/strength issue and if that can be improved upon? Obviously can't add 15lbs of muscle during the season, but possible over a 2-year span. He's a SG/scoring off the bench for the time being.

There are a lot of shooters, but it is a hole in the offense when UConn's starting PG is only good for ~3 attempts from 3 per game and almost never good creating either a shot or drive in a late shot clock situation. Liam may be the best option to have the ball with under 5 seconds to shoot.
 
Diarra threaded the needle with some absolute dimes today. By far his most consistent performance running the offense. Great game from him.
Diarra did have some great assists. Unfortunately, he missed one of the easiest when he overthrew a trailer (can't remember who) after stealing the ball in the first half.
 
Great to see Ball stepping up his game--he has such potential.
I hope we continue to see more offensive motion so Diarra can move the ball instead of dribbling interminably.
 
Diarra did have some great assists. Unfortunately, he missed one of the easiest when he overthrew a trailer (can't remember who) after stealing the ball in the first half.
He had 11 assists. As long as we get points from AK, Liam and Solo, doesn’t need to do more than hit his open shots and run the offense. I thought he played great, between both ends.
 
Totally agree. The offense doesn't run well with Mahaney in at PG. He is a SG and Dan realizes it. He even plays Mahaney at 2Guard when he subs for Ball. I think the key to UConn this year is Nowell. I love Diarra and he has to run the PG now but he just doesn't score and his outside shot is just not there. I think if Nowell if healthy will eventually become the PG with Diarra backing him up. I mean maybe Diarra can find his offense and i will be surprised. Either way Diarra is playing well dishing out the ball, driving to the hoop and playing top notch D. I love this kid no matter his role going forward.

You don’t need a pure point guard in Hurley’s offense, you just need two guards and a wing that make quick reads in the half court. Calhoun’s offense, with its emphasis on speed and transition, demanded a really strong traditional point guard.
 
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He had 11 assists. As long as we get points from AK, Liam and Solo, doesn’t need to do more than hit his open shots and run the offense. I thought he played great, between both ends.
Yeah assist wise he was marvelous…did not like him taking that 3 with Liam wide open.

Singare was great for the purpose of closing the first half with our main bigs at 2 fouls not 3 and great experience gained.

Was there and chatting throughout with some grads behind me who were awesome. One of the best road games I could attend and everyone was super respectful.
 
Singare fouled 4 times in 8 minutes, but it looked more like inexperience. I liked the way he moved his feet and slid to cover and then recover on drives. It looks like having the two bigs in foul trouble was manageable.
I love using Singare when our two primary centers are in foul trouble. It gives him experience, it allows us to keep them on the bench, and we don't have to expend AK energy playing him as the 5.
 
Yeah assist wise he was marvelous…did not like him taking that 3 with Liam wide open.

Singare was great for the purpose of closing the first half with our main bigs at 2 fouls not 3 and great experience gained.

Was there and chatting throughout with some grads behind me who were awesome. One of the best road games I could attend and everyone was super respectful.
Austin is a very cool city too. Went for a run down on the Colorado, super active scene. Saw the wider area on Lime scooters, checked out 6th Saturday night - that was interesting. Overall great vibe, feels very liveable. Lives up to the hype.
 
Austin is a very cool city too. Went for a run down on the Colorado, super active scene. Saw the wider area on Lime scooters, checked out 6th Saturday night - that was interesting. Overall great vibe, feels very liveable. Lives up to the hype.

Good uconn presence over in sections 120-123 last night. Saw a bunch of fans on Congress walking around. Ran the Colorado as well on Saturday and finished at the Capitol.
 
Diarra did have some great assists. Unfortunately, he missed one of the easiest when he overthrew a trailer (can't remember who) after stealing the ball in the first half.
That was Liam McNeeley. He should of done a bounce pass as the defender had jumped pretty high.
 
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You don’t need a pure point guard in Hurley’s offense, you just need two guards and a wing that make quick reads in the half court. Calhoun’s offense, with its emphasis on speed and transition, demanded a really strong traditional point guard.
The problem is Mahaney is having issues handling the ball under pressure and isn't really allow the offense to move the ball. When Diarra is in the offense moves a lot crisper.
 
I love using Singare when our two primary centers are in foul trouble. It gives him experience, it allows us to keep them on the bench, and we don't have to expend AK energy playing him as the 5.
Yep I was hoping for this in preseason and early on that Singare(when our other 2 bigs are in foul trouble) would get run instead of Karaban at the 5. He is playing well on D for the most part.
 
There seems to be a variety of things he needs to clean up to feel trusted, including not fouling. Hurley is moving into the “trust” part of the schedule. If they’re putting Hassan on a 6’6” offensive weapon over Ross, then you know right there they don’t fully trust Jayden.

The Tre hating is ridiculous. Seems like a great kid. If anything they were clearing out the floor for him and Kaluma and playing 2 on 2 basketball at times. When I mentioned he was the most talented kid on the floor, which he was, on the BY chat you’d think I called their kid a name. Legit mocks have him as high as 5th pick. He’s a freshman, not a finished product. Objectivity people - try it on for size.
He's just a kid and if I had a bet, I'd bet he is every coaches dream. He was the best player on the floor. With respect to Ross, I also agree with you but at some point it is a job that physically he should be able to do. Diarra is one tough young man and the job he did in that first half on Johnson was awesome.
The bigger question I have is when do these guys figure out that it just isn't all about scoring? When non-scorers score that is wonderful but keeping a legit scorer from scoring takes a mental and physical approach that you have to see value in. My biggest gripe about most AAU programs is that they lose that under the radar athlete who is willing to do the dirty work that every successful team truly needs.
 
Matthew Mcconaughey GIF
 
The only way I see Singare getting any time will be if both of our centers continue to pick up a whole bunch more silly fouls. He had 5 to give and he used up almost all of them in the first half.
 
The only way I see Singare getting any time will be if both of our centers continue to pick up a whole bunch more silly fouls. He had 5 to give and he used up almost all of them in the first half.
I'm gonna make a prediction that there will be a "Singare Game" this season where he comes up huge in a game and actually makes a difference in the outcome. And I hope to god it's because he plays so well in practice he gets a shot at some real minutes and not because we lost 1 or both of our bigs. Lol
 
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I thought Singare did pretty well on offense staying up high and setting picks- I can see definite potential with him. And while it was a relatively quiet game offensively for Liam, he did well on defense and rebounding. Team is looking dangerous again.
 
I mean it’s all going to come down to defense. We still very much need to figure that out. We have plenty on offense
 
Tre Johnson is a mega talented kid coming into a Rodney Terry offense with a number of new pieces. He has to play the part, and a top 6/7 pick. Plays with fire and you can tell winning matters to him.

Miscellaneous:

Travis Knght and Jake Voskuhl in the first row behind UConn bench, not far from Bill Murray. Grabbed a pic with Bill after.

Liam’s mom is very popular with the players, I think she hugged every one that came out after the game.

Aidan 6’2” max and that may be a stretch.

Matt Mconaghey showed up in a burnt orange suit late first half, floor seat.

Lots of KD stuff in the stores.

Texas does a fight song with the team on the floor and crowd after the game, even after the loss. I found that unique.

Danny finally getting to a point where if they want to win this year, he’s going to focus coaching up a much smaller group of guys and teaching them how to play together. Too hard getting many pieces working in symphony. With that you saw a more refined, better executing team yesterday. Maui may have been a breaking point in trying to overextend the whole “depth” piece. Reality is that the bench guys just aren’t there yet.

Stew had blunders on D, and you could see why the short leash at times. One time playing Weaver, who took a pick from AKs guy, rather than play the obvious under, he just ran into it causing confusion and Weaver got an easy layup. Nailed a timely three, but his shot is a knuckle ball with no rotation. Athletic big kid but still very unrefined, and feels really young.

Ross played good d on Tre in his few chances, he just offers very little offensively.

Youssef gave us 8 really solid minutes. Did everything you could ask.

I think it’s safe for say that unless AM has an epiphany it’s unlikely we see him as much more than what we saw yesterday in key matchups, which was 6 minutes (2 turnovers).

Ben Crenshaw under the basket as well, saw him on a replay OOBs on the baseline he was 2 rows back on the floor.
 
There seems to be a variety of things he needs to clean up to feel trusted, including not fouling. Hurley is moving into the “trust” part of the schedule. If they’re putting Hassan on a 6’6” offensive weapon over Ross, then you know right there they don’t fully trust Jayden.

The Tre hating is ridiculous. Seems like a great kid. If anything they were clearing out the floor for him and Kaluma and playing 2 on 2 basketball at times. When I mentioned he was the most talented kid on the floor, which he was, on the BY chat you’d think I called their kid a name. Legit mocks have him as high as 5th pick. He’s a freshman, not a finished product. Objectivity people - try it on for size.
Objectivity ???? Come on man!! We got no stinking objectivity on this board. That would be no fun…….:)
 
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Imma gonna dub it Jersey City South.

But really chill here and heading back tomorrow. Likewise checked out Colorado/Congress and it is a lot “wider” (think #streets) in liveliness than I recall.

Really engaging people everywhere I’ve been.

Gonna see if Cheer up Charlie is a good vibe tnt
 
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