UMass Lowell Post Game Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UMass Lowell Post Game Thread

superjohn said:
Hurley is the one coaching them and he's forgotten more basketball than I'll ever know and he's mentioned '23 but I see the makeup and the reliance on our top 6 being more like '24
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Idk I see 23 comps too with the exception of AJ v Mullins the starting lineup is almost a carbon copy:

TNew = Silas. Big transfer PG first year in the system.
Hawk = Ball. Elite shooter but kinda 1 dimensional.
AJ = Mullins. Best athlete on the team.
AK = AK but 3 years older
Sanogo = Reed. Walking double double but better rim protector.

Both teams went 9 deep.

I’m confident this team is better at 3 positions than the 23 squad with Ball, AK, Reed. The question marks are Silas and Mullins but that’s why smith is going to be so important as a safety net if either are struggling.
 
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The problem with these early season cupcake games. We are better than we were against New Haven and probably not as good as we looked tonight. We won't know anything until the BYU game. Need some game that are one possession games with 5 minutes left. Those are more exciting than these.
 
superjohn said:
I really want Jayden and Jaylin to emerge. I worry about our athleticism and wing size but I just think there's going to be a major drop off going to them compared to our starters. I think our starters + Malchi are going to be really damn good and efficient, any one of those guys can get 18 points in a game.

As for '23

We don't have any starter who is anything like Jackson in '23. He was an athletic freak who could push the fastbreak, run point, chase people down for insane blocks but he really had no scoring ability and would get dared to shoot by McDermott. There's nothing like Clingan in '23 coming off the bench for this team and there's no flamethrower coming off the bench like Joey C in '23.
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I know the level of competition is not great, but through 2 games Jaylin Stewart is averaging 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Obviously needs to keep it up against good competition, but I think the switch has been flipped. Even when he was showing flashes last year it was usually empty points and he was just floating around and not bringing anything else. So far that's not the case this year
 
superjohn said:
To expand on this. I think our depth is overrated, it's solid but I don't think we're really beating teams with it. This starting 5/top 6 reminds me of '24. They're not as good as '24, best college team I've ever seen but similar in makeup and it's what's going to beat teams. Veteran backcourt- Silas is most likely going to be more like first year Tristen instead of all-American Tristen but he will get better as season goes along. Solo is a veteran flamethrower like Cam, he doesn't have the overall game Cam had but he's one of the best shooting guards in the country and likely going to be 1st team all Big East. Star one and done freshmen at small forwards in Braylon and Castle, different games but both huge impact players. AK should be a better AK. Two dominant centers who do it very differently and a change of pace point guard off the bench in Malachi and Diarra.

Hurley is the one coaching them and he's forgotten more basketball than I'll ever know and he's mentioned '23 but I see the makeup and the reliance on our top 6 being more like '24.
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I think I get what you are saying and you are right that the top 7-8 will likely dictate how the season goes.

However, the quality depth is a huge upgrade which will help UConn weather any injuries/illness, or foul issues. And it should allow Hurley to maximize effort with plenty of rest time against inferior opponents. That will certainly help during the BE grind.

When Mullins gets back the 1-10 is extremely capable of playing for UConn. That wasn’t true in 24. 24 basically had a top 7 and some sporadic play from one of Ball or Stewart.

I’d say this team is a mix of 23 and 24. High caliber starting five like 24 (with no real significant weaknesses) but depth like 23 had to start the season (before Samson and Diarra had injuries that roster was a solid 1-10).
 
navery12 said:
I know the level of competition is not great, but through 2 games Jaylin Stewart is averaging 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Obviously needs to keep it up against good competition, but I think the switch has been flipped. Even when he was showing flashes last year it was usually empty points and he was just floating around and not bringing anything else. So far that's not the case this year
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Pleasantly surprised with both Stewart and Ross thus far. I expected a step up from
Stewart, I still think he is super talented, but I admittedly wasn’t super stoked on Ross, which I think you would agree with.

Only sticking point, and somewhat minor but an observation: It seems when both of them drive they lose control of the ball more often than they should, I think both did multiple times tonight. They go for a spin or a jump stop and get stripped or simply lose it themselves. Interesting to see if it becomes a pattern.
 
navery12 said:
I know the level of competition is not great, but through 2 games Jaylin Stewart is averaging 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Obviously needs to keep it up against good competition, but I think the switch has been flipped. Even when he was showing flashes last year it was usually empty points and he was just floating around and not bringing anything else. So far that's not the case this year
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Not sure if he can keep this production up once Mullins comes back. Unless you think by the time he comes back Stewart won’t be giving up the spot?
 
I’m still trying not to take too much away from games against very obviously super out matched opponents and an extremely small sample. But some early thoughts subject to change…

But man, Reed looks ready for some kind of season, i won’t say it yet, but I'm thinking it.

At least Stew and Ross look like players now, not sure they’re starting caliber yet, but they look like playable depth on a good team. Maybe next year the starting breakout for either or both can happen?

Wish Furphy was healthy for this game, woulda been perfect to get extended run.

The Demary/Smith PG duo could be the separator from the other top seeds, don’t think anyone else has PG play at this level from the starter and backup.
 
Devland said:
The problem with these early season cupcake games. We are better than we were against New Haven and probably not as good as we looked tonight. We won't know anything until the BYU game. Need some game that are one possession games with 5 minutes left. Those are more exciting than these.
Expand ...
We missed wide open threes in the UNH game and made them tonight. Plus in that UNH game we missed ten layups. Lot of assists lost Monday. Lot of assists made tonight. On defense UNH made a lot of contested baskets. UMass Lowell couldn't make uncontested free throws. That's the difference between having major runs and blowing a team out versus a game "feeling" ugly.

I wasn't worried about the team after Monday's game. I have the same optimism about this team after today's game that I had before the season began. But the team still needs certain players to continue improving and Mullins back with the hope he can get up to speed after six weeks of precious time lost. So not ready to proclaim them a shoe in for the final four.

We have a lot of reactionary fans. Too quick to give up when the games are poor, too quick to go through a wall when the team is dominating. We've had a few seasons where the team had returned most of the players from the previous season. A season in which they were very close to being dominant. They came in the following season playing from beginning to end like champions. But that was rare. The overwhelming norm for most of our seasons is unpredictability and variability game to game.

The only constant is our fans. I've been on this forum and its previous iterations a long time. A bad game (especially an unexpected one) we get twenty pages of be at ching and moaning. A good game we get three or four pages.

There were several periods of grumbling leading to a crescendo of fans wanting to fire JC and then we have a great season and the grumbling ends. I'm sure some of us remember hearing JC would never get a legitimate center. He was given the moniker "the donut coach". Then there was a strong chorus of fans who moaned he was a coach that would never get us past the sweet sixteen.

I always thought sports was the one form of entertainment that differed from all other types because the performance and outcomes were uncertain. I thought those two conditions were what what makes winning special. You take the losses to remind you how precious it is when there are victories.

Winning six championships is incredibly ridiculous. It shouldn't have happened. We have been incredibly fortunate. And hopefully it won't end there. But to insist that this is a given one year to the next and react like the world has ended when it doesn't is a major weakness in the character of fans.

We berate our players who don't play with determination and energy. Traits that show a players character. Yet frequently the loudest complainers don't look in the mirror and realize their complaining is a weakness in character. Critiquing is valuable. But most of the time people think they are critiquing when all they are doing is trying to hurt the players, team and coaches. These fans write in a manner that is meant to ridicule, belittle, or marginalize. It's meant as payback. And for what? A bad form of entertainment? You go to a restaurant, have a bad meal you don't go back. You read a book from an author and don't like the writing style you don't buy any other books written by that author. If you root for a team and it doesn't meet your expectations or needs just pick another team. Hint, hint be a fan of the women's team.
 
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Huskyforlife said:
Not sure if he can keep this production up once Mullins comes back. Unless you think by the time he comes back Stewart won’t be giving up the spot?
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No I think Mullins is definitely gonna start still. But I don't that needs to mean Stewart can't contribute. Even if we don't need him to the point is more that he's capable of it (hopefully)
 
ctchamps said:
We missed wide open threes in the UNH game and made them tonight. Plus in that UNH game we missed ten layups. Lot of assists lost Monday. Lot of assists made tonight. On defense UNH made a lot of contested baskets. UMass Lowell couldn't make uncontested free throws. That's the difference between having major runs and blowing a team out versus a game "feeling" ugly.

I wasn't worried about the team after Monday's game. I have the same optimism about this team after today's game that I had before the season began. But the team still needs certain players to continue improving and Mullins back with the hope he can get up to speed after six weeks of precious time lost. So not ready to proclaim them a shoe in for the final four.

We have a lot of reactionary fans. Too quick to give up when the games are poor, too quick to go through a wall when the team is dominating. We've had a few seasons where the team had returned most of the players from the previous season. A season in which they were very close to being dominant. They came in the following season playing from beginning to end like champions. But that was rare. The overwhelming norm for most of our seasons is unpredictability and variability game to game.

The only constant is our fans. I've been on this forum and its previous iterations a long time. A bad game (especially an unexpected one) we get twenty pages of be at ching and moaning. A good game we get three or four pages.

There were several periods of grumbling leading to a crescendo of fans wanting to fire JC and then we have a great season and the grumbling ends. I'm sure some of us remember hearing JC would never get a legitimate center. He was given the moniker "the donut coach". Then there was a strong chorus of fans who moaned he was a coach that would never get us past the sweet sixteen.

I always thought sports was the one form of entertainment that differed from all other types because the performance and outcomes were uncertain. I thought those two conditions were what what makes winning special. You take the losses to remind you how precious it is when there are victories.

Winning six championships is incredibly ridiculous. It shouldn't have happened. We have been incredibly fortunate. And hopefully it won't end there. But to insist that this is a given one year to the next and react like the world has ended when it doesn't is a major weakness in the character of fans.

We berate our players who don't play with determination and energy. Traits that show a players character. Yet frequently the loudest complainers don't look in the mirror and realize their complaining is a weakness in character. Critiquing is valuable. But most of the time people think they are critiquing when all they are doing is trying to hurt the players, team and coaches. These fans write in a manner that is meant to ridicule, belittle, or marginalize. It's meant as payback. And for what? A bad form of entertainment? You go to a restaurant, have a bad meal you don't go back. You read a book from an author and don't like the writing style you don't buy any other books written by that author. If you root for a team and it doesn't meet your expectations or needs just pick another team. Hint, hint be a fan of the women's team.
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Hurley berates the players when they don't play with determination and energy. It's what Hurley expects from his players. The fans on this board don't but they will call it out when they see a lack of determination and energy. The players are paid extemely well for their efforts. It's not a weakness in character from the coach or the fans. Nobody is trying to hurt the players, team, and coaches. Fans aren't belittling, ridiculing, and marginalizing the players. None of what people post here is meant as payback.

This is a strange post.
 
Palatine said:
It was like watching a UConn women's game. They regularly go up 60 on their opponents.
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Screenshot of text exchange with my sister...
 

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Almost like once we are playing with our potential AA and not the freshman in the early stages of the Hurley build a center program we look like the stacked team we thought we would be.

Go figure.

Per game Ross get more aggressive post.
 
ctchamps said:
We missed wide open threes in the UNH game and made them tonight. Plus in that UNH game we missed ten layups. Lot of assists lost Monday. Lot of assists made tonight. On defense UNH made a lot of contested baskets. UMass Lowell couldn't make uncontested free throws. That's the difference between having major runs and blowing a team out versus a game "feeling" ugly.

I wasn't worried about the team after Monday's game. I have the same optimism about this team after today's game that I had before the season began. But the team still needs certain players to continue improving and Mullins back with the hope he can get up to speed after six weeks of precious time lost. So not ready to proclaim them a shoe in for the final four.

We have a lot of reactionary fans. Too quick to give up when the games are poor, too quick to go through a wall when the team is dominating. We've had a few seasons where the team had returned most of the players from the previous season. A season in which they were very close to being dominant. They came in the following season playing from beginning to end like champions. But that was rare. The overwhelming norm for most of our seasons is unpredictability and variability game to game.

The only constant is our fans. I've been on this forum and its previous iterations a long time. A bad game (especially an unexpected one) we get twenty pages of be at ching and moaning. A good game we get three or four pages.

There were several periods of grumbling leading to a crescendo of fans wanting to fire JC and then we have a great season and the grumbling ends. I'm sure some of us remember hearing JC would never get a legitimate center. He was given the moniker "the donut coach". Then there was a strong chorus of fans who moaned he was a coach that would never get us past the sweet sixteen.

I always thought sports was the one form of entertainment that differed from all other types because the performance and outcomes were uncertain. I thought those two conditions were what what makes winning special. You take the losses to remind you how precious it is when there are victories.

Winning six championships is incredibly ridiculous. It shouldn't have happened. We have been incredibly fortunate. And hopefully it won't end there. But to insist that this is a given one year to the next and react like the world has ended when it doesn't is a major weakness in the character of fans.

We berate our players who don't play with determination and energy. Traits that show a players character. Yet frequently the loudest complainers don't look in the mirror and realize their complaining is a weakness in character. Critiquing is valuable. But most of the time people think they are critiquing when all they are doing is trying to hurt the players, team and coaches. These fans write in a manner that is meant to ridicule, belittle, or marginalize. It's meant as payback. And for what? A bad form of entertainment? You go to a restaurant, have a bad meal you don't go back. You read a book from an author and don't like the writing style you don't buy any other books written by that author. If you root for a team and it doesn't meet your expectations or needs just pick another team. Hint, hint be a fan of the women's team.
Expand ...
Well, you're not wrong.

I find it remarkable how common it is for posters to speculate & predict a season's outcome before the new year, as though player health and team chemistry don't impact things as much as they do every single year.

I'm grateful to be rooting for two teams with many options to provide me with delight... one game at a time.
 
Devland said:
The problem with these early season cupcake games. We are better than we were against New Haven and probably not as good as we looked tonight. We won't know anything until the BYU game. Need some game that are one possession games with 5 minutes left. Those are more exciting than these.
Expand ...
Yup - can’t ride the highs and lows of tomato cans, they show almost nothing. We can learn from last year. This is when everyone comes out thinking Jaylen Stewart turned a corner.

The only thing to glean from this one is Tarris makes a massive difference but we knew that already.

Not sure this team is reminiscent of either 23 or 24. We have no Ajx, no Cling, no Cam anywhere on this team. We haven’t seen enough of Mullins to even understand what part he’ll play. Unique blend.
 
Our guards (Demary, Malachi and Solo) showed great speed in transition. With that overall depth they are going to quickly demolish some teams this year. It will come if they stay focused on D. Eventually they will have the complex half court offense when the new guards get more oriented. It's going to be another great season. Love those guards and the Kodiak.
 
Have to like that the only players to shoot under 50% were deep bench pieces. The ball was moving better and the defense was more aggressive. I know it's easy competition but that was IMPRESSIVE!

For those that were there last night or have been to PB, is it as nice as it looked and Donny was saying?
 
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HW611 said:
Almost like once we are playing with our potential AA and not the freshman in the early stages of the Hurley build a center program we look like the stacked team we thought we would be.

Go figure.

Per game Ross get more aggressive post.
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I was hoping Ross defended the perimeter better.
 
Completely unacceptable. How could we give up at 3 at the end of the first half? This team is NOT ready…

Just kidding! That was fun to watch. The game was over in just a few blinks. My favorite part? The defensive rotations were really good. Guys knew where they were supposed to be, and they were there. That was not the case last year

My favorite behavior from each player. Keeping it all positive today
  • Silas: still playing a distributor role, but when he decides to score, he makes it look so effortless
  • Solo: continues to show an expanded scoring package (including turning defense into offense). Hope to see a lot more of this
  • Stewart: so versatile. Willing to shoot threes, post up, cut, and crash boards
  • Karaban: this is his role. Hit the open shots, don’t force bad ones, keep the offense humming with movement (and I guess throw down some fast break dunks?)
  • Tarris: lol. Man among boys. What a beast
  • Ross: high flyer! Electric dunks
  • Malachi: showed more control and had a fantastic game to show for it
  • Millender: scrappy! Loved seeing him fight for offensive rebounds and dive after the ball up 60
  • Reibe: for a freshman, he’s really at finding good positioning and recognizing when he’s in bad position and keeping the offense moving
  • Koroma: loving the defensive versatility
  • Paunovic: looked pretty comfortable out there! What a dime to Reibe
  • Rrezon: good for one monster block a game?
 
Always looking for that superlative skill or that genius level talent that will translate into difference maker.
Last night, Silas drove right, foul line to hoop and a showed that extra killer gear nearing the hoop. That's what I'm talking about!
 
Great confidence booster for Ross and JS. They played well. Team move the ball well on offense. However Stew should have put up many more shots. He passes out if being wide open or in the lane. Much better on defense overall last night.
 
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