What About Abraham?

[jibsey]

He is McNeeley’s size and floor position? Aside from Stew I wonder if he has shown enough in practice to contribute now? Can he defend? Can he shoot and rebound?

 

[Kembacity]

He is McNeeley’s size and floor position? Aside from Stew I wonder if he has shown enough in practice to contribute now? Can he defend? Can he shoot and rebound?

I’m expecting we’ll see a lot of Stewart, but if he doesn’t have it today or gets foul trouble I bet we see Isaiah. I think he’s got something but obviously the freshman aside from Liam haven’t gotten much burn since the buy games.

Hoping Providence looks like the city it’s named for and Abraham can get some minutes to get loose

 

[Umami Zen]

Hard for two-way alpha guys like IA/AN to be satisfied on the bench. Hope the opportunity presents itself for them to get some run in January as rotations are changed post-Liam injury. Abraham can bring some high-level energy to board and play D

 

[AllHusky]

Hard for two-way alpha guys like IA/AN to be satisfied on the bench. Hope the opportunity presents itself for them to get some run in January as rotations are changed post-Liam injury. Abraham can bring some high-level energy to board and play D

Yeah, I basically have a line in my nightly prayers that we get to see each of these kids for 60-80 minutes this season. At least gives a barometer for where they are developmentally. At best, a star is born.

 

[navery12]

I'm sure Abraham is ready, but I'd expect all of McNeeley's minutes to be going to Nowell, Stewart, Ross before him

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I'm sure Abraham is ready, but I'd expect all of McNeeley's minutes to be going to Nowell, Stewart, Ross before him

I’ll be surprised if Nowell plays today unless we are up by 20+ points. Mahaney will get increased minutes too.

 

[Scottzer]

This team could use some junkyard dog. I would imagine he is capable now defensively, and he came in being touted as a good rebounder. I have no idea how he looks offensively - apart from the initial staff comments of him being ahead of schedule coming in.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I asked Santa for more minutes for Nowell and IA.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I’ll be surprised if Nowell plays today unless we are up by 20+ points. Mahaney will get increased minutes too.

I nailed it per usual. Mahaney needs to play 20+ minutes per game.

 

[Devland]

I nailed it per usual. Mahaney needs to play 20+ minutes per game.

His shoulder is still bothering him

 

[RuffRuff]

Can he be any worse offensively than Ross?

Doubtful - I do wonder if there is a part of Hurley that stays true to pecking order, and waiting your turn. There is something to be said about keeping peace in the locker room culture and giving kids who have waited their turn and stuck, time. As such a deep culture guy, guessing he knows the overall unrest that comes with benching a sophomore who was probably promised time, for a freshman. That can get rotten and contagious fast, and important to keep harmony to ensure your team is bought in.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Doubtful - I do wonder if there is a part of Hurley that stays true to pecking order, and waiting your turn. There is something to be said about keeping peace in the locker room culture and giving kids who have waited their turn and stuck, time. As such a deep culture guy, guessing he knows the overall unrest that comes with benching a sophomore who was probably promised time, for a freshman. That can get rotten and contagious fast, and important to keep harmony to ensure your team is bought in.

Doubt that is factoring in here. Seems totally antithetical to the culture that Hurley has created here that nothing is promised and everything earned. I have no doubt there is a vision here that Hurley feels gives the team the best chance to win base on what he’s seeing in practices.

I can’t get too worked up over Abraham’s minutes because in reality, we’ve only seen him against (let’s be honest) total scrub teams. He’s looked really good but Ross also looked really good against those squads. It’s just hard to read too much into those type of games.

 

[RuffRuff]

Doubt that is factoring in here. Seems totally antithetical to the culture that Hurley has created here that nothing is promised and everything earned. I have no doubt there is a vision here that Hurley feels gives the team the best chance to win base on what he’s seeing in practices.

I can’t get too worked up over Abraham’s minutes because in reality, we’ve only seen him against (let’s be honest) total scrub teams. He’s looked really good but Ross also looked really good against those squads. It’s just hard to read too much into those type of games.

Agree in many respects, and I do think Hurley generally runs a meritocracy, but part of me thinks if it’s close, he sticks with seniority as not to upset the apple cart. Obviously he has Liam in there over sophs, but it’s easy to validate that move especially if transparent about it early and set expectations.

From what I saw live, Isiah is a more talented player than Jayden, traits wise. Jayden looked awkward last year to me, and he remains awkward this year. Meanwhile Isiah has a great looking 3, is every bit the athlete, same size but looks stronger, and a more natural looking basketball player. It is hard to say because we’ve seen so little.

 

[3rdbass]

Agree in many respects, and I do think Hurley generally runs a meritocracy, but part of me thinks if it’s close, he sticks with seniority as not to upset the apple cart. Obviously he has Liam in there over sophs, but it’s easy to validate that move especially if transparent about it early and set expectations.

From what I saw live, Isiah is a more talented player than Jayden, traits wise. Jayden looked awkward last year to me, and he remains awkward this year. Meanwhile Isiah has a great looking 3, is every bit the athlete, same size but looks stronger, and a more natural looking basketball player. It is hard to say because we’ve seen so little.

Totally agree on your assessments on Isiah and Jayden.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Totally agree on your assessments on Isiah and Jayden.

Hurley wants to win. That’s it. Ross has a motor and can cut and defend, that’s why Hurley likes him over Stewart, who seems to be more of a pro style player and should be able to score and rebound. But the defense gotta be better.

 

[uconn_jack]

From what I saw live, Isiah is a more talented player than Jayden, traits wise. Jayden looked awkward last year to me, and he remains awkward this year. Meanwhile Isiah has a great looking 3, is every bit the athlete, same size but looks stronger, and a more natural looking basketball player. It is hard to say because we’ve seen so little.

I thought this in the open practice in November. I really think he's going to be a major contributer in the next couple years and a fan favorite. He seems to have a confident intensity about him.

 

[Scottobot]

I think Hurley really believes in Ross and Stewart and is going to be patient and give them a chance.

 

[Scrutineer]

Agree in many respects, and I do think Hurley generally runs a meritocracy, but part of me thinks if it’s close, he sticks with seniority as not to upset the apple cart. Obviously he has Liam in there over sophs, but it’s easy to validate that move especially if transparent about it early and set expectations.

From what I saw live, Isiah is a more talented player than Jayden, traits wise. Jayden looked awkward last year to me, and he remains awkward this year. Meanwhile Isiah has a great looking 3, is every bit the athlete, same size but looks stronger, and a more natural looking basketball player. It is hard to say because we’ve seen so little.

I agree. I've been a strong Ross proponent but he doesn't seem to have "game". He's athletic, is supposed to be a great shooter, was given great praise by DH for what he did last summer in workouts, but it hasn't yet translated during real games.

My guess is he wants to give him all the chances he can to get more comfortable and start making the plays they believe he can make.

 

[dennismenace]

Doubtful - I do wonder if there is a part of Hurley that stays true to pecking order, and waiting your turn. There is something to be said about keeping peace in the locker room culture and giving kids who have waited their turn and stuck, time. As such a deep culture guy, guessing he knows the overall unrest that comes with benching a sophomore who was probably promised time, for a freshman. That can get rotten and contagious fast, and important to keep harmony to ensure your team is bought in.

Glad you said that because it has been in the back of my mind for a long time. Along with the immediacy of winning each game there can be trade-offs such as you have mentioned which is the overall strategies and how tactical decisions are influenced by that as well as what the staff has committed to recruits. It seems like he actually gives players themselves the decision by how they perform in practice as well as games. He has to be trustworthy to them and himself.
He has certainly been around the block with a lifetime of experience and access to great minds which he humbles himself to seek knowledge from.

I can't understand why IA isn't seeing more minutes but I just have to trust that this will all work out for the best in the end and he (DH) would not jeopardize losing someone without giving them a very fair chance.

 

[willie99]

Evidently Danny thinks he's not the best option just yet

Things can and do change, and freshman become sophomores

 

[uconngb]

Doubtful - I do wonder if there is a part of Hurley that stays true to pecking order, and waiting your turn. There is something to be said about keeping peace in the locker room culture and giving kids who have waited their turn and stuck, time. As such a deep culture guy, guessing he knows the overall unrest that comes with benching a sophomore who was probably promised time, for a freshman. That can get rotten and contagious fast, and important to keep harmony to ensure your team is bought in.

There is something to be said about it until said player proves he shouldn't deserve those minutes. I think we have reached that point with Ross. He has somehow managed to get worse the more minutes he has gotten. I see no reason why Abraham shouldn't at least get a shot.

 

[RuffRuff]

There is something to be said about it until said player proves he shouldn't deserve those minutes. I think we have reached that point with Ross. He has somehow managed to get worse the more minutes he has gotten. I see no reason why Abraham shouldn't at least get a shot.

Based on the void of minutes Ahmad is seeing in a situation where we could really use him, I’m not confident IA is going to see the floor much this year.

I’m not sure DH is as cut and dry as just winning game to game, as the big picture of keeping culture trumps that. My guess is that there would have to be a pronounced and consistent edge in practice between freshman A and player B for DH to go freshman, because as soon as you do that you’re showing doubt in Player Bs place in the program, in the portal era. These are things they want to manage in the offseason. Liam is a one and done, anyone behind him knows they’ll have their chance again the following year.

As to the assessment that IA is a more pro style player, um yeah, he has far more pro looking traits. That’s the point. No one plays a kid for their cutting, they play them for production. Ross is -37 net in non bad team games. This stat is not totally linear as can be situational but does become more meaningful over the aggregate. As a reference, Mahaney is +7 in those same games. So not only does Ross not pass the eyeball test, he has bad personal numbers and the team is far worse with him on the floor. The sample size isn’t huge but becoming material. Not sure what you have to lose at looking at other options other than keeping a healthy locker room, or if you think that player is going to magically pop. I just don’t see it.

 

[gtcam]

Hopefully Nowell returns next season.
He is a talent that I know. I am as high on him as I was with Hawk when he was a Jr in HS.

 

[Umami Zen]

Legit question. Do we know if AN is now 100% percent? Or does he have lingering issues with his shoulder? I may have missed an update if posted. I am aware of Danny's recent comments about his imminent return. Thx