We need Samson back ASAP

[ClifSpliffy]

This makes no sense. Tells me you know nothing about him. He can shoot from outside and finish around the rim. It's not an issue. Senior year in HS he shot 67% and 37% from 3.

man, u got it bad for this guy. lately, i fully expect the words 'SJ' to appear in the first sentence of any post u make.
let's see if it plays out like my affinities for jmoney, whose squad currently has more votes in the Coach's poll than Kentucky or North Carolina, or donno, who currently is awesomesauce, and some here are slowly getting it.
we'll know in the fullness of time, but as of now, i have no idea how it plays out. it looks like he should board a bit. i think i'll hold off on the ankle breaking handle, and the perimeter shooting wonderfulness. kinda sounds like the bitcoin kooks at this point. i well remember ur essays on that.
that's all i've got, so far. here's to hoping.

 

[Incursio007]

wait, wait, wait. hoad up... am i to understand that there is a mechanism here where a posters' thoughts can be blocked by another when that poster is signed on? seriously? so, what aboot when they're not signed on? do the deployers think that their drivel will not be seen? hokey smokes, that's whacked. the 'tool' is not the issue, that's management's bitness. using it is the matter. lame squared
speaking of tools and lamo squared,
'Johnson is an entirely different player than either of them. Freak athlete who can guard just about anyone if his BBIQ is improved.'
umm, no. this 'freak' label often used here is never correct ('sid's a freak! ajax is a freak! and now we have 'samson's a freak!' oh, brother...)
hey! formula 409! this is a freak


and now, the NBA is going full on freak mode to closely watch for teams tanking hard in an attempt to land him.
'Around 200 NBA team representatives and more than 70 media outlets were on hand for the teenager’s first ever match on US soil'

'The four-time NBA champion repaid the compliment, calling him a “generational talent”.
“No-one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor,” James said on Wednesday.
“I mean at 7 foot-4 or 7 foot-5 or 7 foot-3, whatever the case may be, his ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot step-back jumpers out of the post, step-back threes, catch-and-shoot threes, block shots.”

7'4 or 7'5, eight foot wingspan, shoots 3's as well as anyone... 18 years young.
now, that's a freak.

Different levels of freak I guess. At 6"0 with a [generous] 15" vert, all the above qualify for me.

 

[dennismenace]

I think I saw him at Walmart, might have been with Elvis.

 

[husky429]

Hard to believe he couldn't help us against some of the more physical teams (nearly everyone compared to us)?

If the coaches aren't playing springs AT ALL for the past 4 years, I think it's fair to assume he's simply just not good enough to play for us. They aren't idiots TRYING to lose games or something.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Hurley has said nothing lately on his return. Couple weeks ago it was very soon.

I am pretty sure in the providence pre game availability with the media he said Samson was going to be starting activities this week before ramping up. Something along those lines anyway

 

[August_West]

If the coaches aren't playing springs AT ALL for the past 4 years, I think it's fair to assume he's simply just not good enough to play for us. They aren't idiots TRYING to lose games or something.

Who was our 4 last year?

 

[HuskyHawk]

man, u got it bad for this guy. lately, i fully expect the words 'SJ' to appear in the first sentence of any post u make.
let's see if it plays out like my affinities for jmoney, whose squad currently has more votes in the Coach's poll than Kentucky or North Carolina, or donno, who currently is awesomesauce, and some here are slowly getting it.
we'll know in the fullness of time, but as of now, i have no idea how it plays out. it looks like he should board a bit. i think i'll hold off on the ankle breaking handle, and the perimeter shooting wonderfulness. kinda sounds like the bitcoin kooks at this point. i well remember ur essays on that.
that's all i've got, so far. here's to hoping.

Nah. Anybody who thinks he's an offensive liability compared to what we've had at the position for several years (not including Karaban) is just talking nonsense. There is no issue playing him with Jackson, which is what was suggested.

 

[superjohn]

This makes no sense. Tells me you know nothing about him. He can shoot from outside and finish around the rim. It's not an issue. Senior year in HS he shot 67% and 37% from 3.

We have no idea if he can do those things in Big East college games. We all hope so but we have no idea.

 

[USNavyDog]

Samson. And it’s unlikely that scenario ever happens.

Samson,

 

[Huskyforlife]

You are correct. I, for one, am not convinced that Johnson will be a contributor at this level. I know some people on this board don't want to here it (and I really hope I'm wrong)... but I worry he's going to end up on the Springs plan.

That’s a wild statement tbh. He literally started the first game, and was going to be in the rotation regardless if Alex is better. Richie never got this close to playing real minutes in 4 years.

 

[USNavyDog]

Correction on my response, sorry about that.

Yep, I stand corrected on the spelling. Samson, got it.

Also, I hope the scenarion happens...even if its unlikely...because it would help a lot if Clingan and Sanogo benched early at the wrong time in a game.

Well, we'll see soon enough.....

 

[imno1]

I really want Samson back and he did some nice stuff in game one but 4 fouls in 17 minutes against a first year division 1 team doesn’t give me a lot of confidence he can guard any of the good 4s in the BE. I think he‘d definitely help our recent rebounding woes.

 

[k-walk]

man, u got it bad for this guy. lately, i fully expect the words 'SJ' to appear in the first sentence of any post u make.
let's see if it plays out like my affinities for jmoney, whose squad currently has more votes in the Coach's poll than Kentucky or North Carolina, or donno, who currently is awesomesauce, and some here are slowly getting it.
we'll know in the fullness of time, but as of now, i have no idea how it plays out. it looks like he should board a bit. i think i'll hold off on the ankle breaking handle, and the perimeter shooting wonderfulness. kinda sounds like the bitcoin kooks at this point. i well remember ur essays on that.
that's all i've got, so far. here's to hoping.

Is there a reason he types like this?

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Is there a reason he types like this?

He’s from Iceland. Thought that was obvious.

 

[Huskygrad88]

This makes no sense. Tells me you know nothing about him. He can shoot from outside and finish around the rim. It's not an issue. Senior year in HS he shot 67% and 37% from 3.

This post really made reviews of Samson hit home. NO ONE knows anything about him in college. He has played 80 minutes TOTAL. Clearly any positive, negative, or middle ground comments are pure conjecture

 

[David 76]

Except, coming out of practices as
and training, he was one of three players his Coach listed as a starter. That means something.
You are right, we can't know for sure. We also can't rule it out for sure. But he will be another option

 

[Palatine]

Why does anyone think Samson will come back at all?

 

[ToolzieFan]

Is there a reason he types like this?

not for everyone, but the only time i wear a helmet is in and around the tree cutting process. no bike, no board or ski lid, nuthin, no where. i guess i was lucky when i was aboot four as my first formal training in sport was
how to fall by a very wise military man in a kids class. since then, i've fallen a lot, with the vast majority of outcomes amounting to nothing, tho some were humdingers, whatever that means. prolly means 'ouch and now ur out of action for a bit.' i wonder if hawks butt is sore, as that's where the force vector was greatest. the head bounce seemed a bit nonlinear as usually your upper body/shoulders/neck instantly freeze to prevent/diminish that.

My best guess is that this explains it.

I kid, I kid, Clif.

 

[Billy Jack]

AK is struggling defensively. Badly. Its causing a domino effect thats hurting the teams defense which has not been good recently. That being said its not all on him because our guards also cant stop the dribble drive. Its either a score or a foul. It seems the only guy that doesnt get burned is Diarra. Everyone else its a blow by and teams know this because X, Prov and now Crayton has done it. luckily they stink this year because we`d be looking up at 3 Ls in a row. This team is not in a good place right now.

Did you not see Saturday’s game? That’s about as “right now” as it gets.

 

[Billy Jack]

AK is struggling defensively. Badly. Its causing a domino effect thats hurting the teams defense which has not been good recently.

So, the team’s defense has not been good lately??? Let’s see . . .

They just held Creighton to 16 points below their average by shutting down their perimeter game (12% on 3’s) and getting them to shoot 40% on 2’s when they normally hit 54% on 2’s.

Defense wasn’t the main problem against Providence either. They’re a high scoring team that normally goes for 80 ppg but only got 73 against us on 36% shooting. The problem against Providence was that we couldn’t get our offense going - especially from 3 (22%). We were held to 19 points below our season scoring average and shot only 36%.

You can make a legitimate case that our defense failed us against Xavier. But let’s be clear about something. Xavier is the 3rd best shooting team in the country and they were playing at home. Their 83 points and 53% shooting are an average game for them. It’s not like we got torched by Xavier.

We won every game before Xavier, so the defense was good enough. Even conceding that the D wasn’t good enough against Xavier, that’s one game. On the road. And one game is not a trend.

 

[alphasigko]

But he’s a better shooter and ball handler than Clingan or Sanogo.

Where is your evidence of this in a real game scenario?

 

[HuskyHawk]

This post really made reviews of Samson hit home. NO ONE knows anything about him in college. He has played 80 minutes TOTAL. Clearly any positive, negative, or middle ground comments are pure conjecture

Ok. Do we know anything about Castle? Or do we just assume that nothing he did in high school translates? Last year was an aberration. Two guys who shouldn’t have been in college took his minutes (Whaley, Polley). So take what he did in HS, add what improvement you’d expect from a year practicing at UConn, add a multiplier because he’s an African kid new to the game and will improve faster = projection.

 

[Huskybass]

Ok. Do we know anything about Castle? Or do we just assume that nothing he did in high school translates? Last year was an aberration. Two guys who shouldn’t have been in college took his minutes (Whaley, Polley). So take what he did in HS, add what improvement you’d expect from a year practicing at UConn, add a multiplier because he’s an African kid new to the game and will improve faster = projection.

Ok. That's all well and good. However, every other player is in mid season form and Samson is just coming back from an injury after missing 16 straight games. Expecting much from him this season seems like a stretch.

 

[RichCTBB]

Ok. That's all well and good. However, every other player is in mid season form and Samson is just coming back from an injury after missing 16 straight games. Expecting much from him this season seems like a stretch.

THIS. You can’t get better at playing basketball games without playing basketball games. SJ hasn’t played many basketball games in a Husky uniform.

 

[NJHusky]

Why does anyone think Samson will come back at all?

Not sure it matters but The Athletic article said expected back in about 2 weeks…is that Hurley’s equivalent of 20 minutes?

 

[HuskyHawk]

THIS. You can’t get better at playing basketball games without playing basketball games. SJ hasn’t played many basketball games in a Husky uniform.

Nonsense. This is about Hawkins, from the new Athletic article. You think this doesn't matter? You don't see how he's coming around screens and elevating too fast for the defense to respond? He never did that last year. He learned that in the offseason.

Today, Jordan Hawkins is immersed in the UConn ecosystem. After a strong freshman season, he spent much of last summer working out in Los Angeles. He logged hours with Richard Hamilton, learning methods for coming off pin-downs and staggers. How to get open. How to shake a chaser on defense. Making reads off screens.

Hawkins is UConn’s second-leading scorer, averaging about 15 points on 39 percent 3-point shooting.

 

[Sphinx]

Back on Jan 6, Hurley was quoted as saying that Samson was "running around" and "should be back at full practice next week." We are now two days into "next week." Isn't it possible to know whether Samson is back at "full practice?"

 

[scotty0330]

I know the conventional wisdom is that Johnson is exactly what we need to provide a more physical presence at the 4, but is there any evidence that he actually has what it takes -- in a 5-on-5 setting, not based on measurables, athleticism, or potential -- to reliably do this?

no there is not. Not even a small bit of evidence. But if you have been coming to this board long enough the missing piece to us breaking through is the one guy on the bench or hurt. That person will turn the tide of our season and help us make a deep run. It won't be long before there will be a thread on Richie Springs needs to beef up our post defense...

 

[UCSouth]

Is there a reason he types like this?

Because he can.

 

[ctchamps]

This post really made reviews of Samson hit home. NO ONE knows anything about him in college. He has played 80 minutes TOTAL. Clearly any positive, negative, or middle ground comments are pure conjecture

This post should be used as an endorsement for getting a degree at UConn.