What have we learned? | The Boneyard
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What have we learned?

The thing that jumps out at me is the scheduling and player retention.
In the absence of p4 or in conference resume builders, keeping a bunch of returning guys and frontloading the schedule allows us to build high quad wins early without having to worry about st.johns games to save us.
 
we're a chip contender, which we already knew, but not the only one. we need to beat UF and then we can't take our foot off the pedal all season if we want a 1 seed in the tourney. Duke has the inside track to the 1 seed in the East unfortunately and the BE is only going to provide opportunities for bad losses. no home losses. no usual loss at creighton or at a spunky Hall...
 
rashadray11 said:
We have learned the Big East is pathetic and we need to do everything in our power as fans to make as much noise as possible to get us out of it ASAP.
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I'll offer an alternative take.
I'm not saying that a big conference invite wouldnt be great. Id love one.
but I actually think that, if we get big wins early, like we did so far this year, when we play in the big east -whether or not the teams we play are ranked- its a slog. It's foul heavy. Its super physical and stingy. Its like playing in mud. When we hit the tourney with "neutral" refs and courts its like a weight has been lifted. It's not as bad as we think in terms of our ability to win it all, as it happens
 
In no particular order and off the top of my head:

Phog Allan Fieldhouse is a tough place to play

Our freshman are for real and both likely to be major contributors to any postseason run.

Stewart and Ross haven't made a quantum leap in terms of their play. Both are contributors, though. Ross is making more of his minutes and seems to have a bigger upside.

Demary can play, but he's not the second coming of Tristen Newton.

Smith was a more valuable pick up than many of us thought. He absolutely gives us a quality backup point guard, but I'm more comfortable with him in. His decision-making needs to improve a bit, but it will.

Koroma is more than a practice player. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to see him out there 40 minutes, but he can come in and contribute for short stretches. Especially with Reed out, he gives us needed depth at the center spot.

Reibe is the real deal. Watching his progression game to game is a blast. I don't think he bumps a healthy Reed from the starting spot, but his size and skill allows us to have the 2 Headed monster at center that has been so successful for us. Sanogo/Clingan, Clingan/Johnson etc.

Mullins is the real deal. He still looks physically young, but man that kid can play. If he keeps on his same trajectory, he will be a high draft choice. I'd love to have him for a second year, but it doesn't seem likely.

Solo may not be "the guy" on this year's team. Hopefully he finds his three-point shot so that he is as consistent as last year. It appears he's heading in the right direction. Don't get me wrong, he's a great piece for us, I just thought he might be more dominant this year.

Alex seems to have regained some of his confidence. He seems willing to take shots when needed though he seems more comfortable as a third/4th option in the offense.
 
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Jaydumo20 said:
I'll offer an alternative take.
I'm not saying that a big conference invite wouldnt be great. Id love one.
but I actually think that, if we get big wins early, like we did so far this year, when we play in the big east -whether or not the teams we play are ranked- its a slog. It's foul heavy. Its super physical and stingy. Its like playing in mud. When we hit the tourney with "neutral" refs and courts its like a weight has been lifted. It's not as bad as we think in terms of our ability to win it all, as it happens
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If Few can do it, so can we. It's this kind of schedule that gets us there. In some ways, it could work. You go through your benchmarking early, build your resume. Then from what you've learned, you start building out your rotations & development against less risk opponents. It's going to be important to really stack the schedule in the early Non Con. I've heard Hurley say 7-8 of these, and he's likely right. You have almost nothing to lose.
 
CL82 said:
In no particular order and off the top of my head:

Phog Allan Fieldhouse is a tough place to play

Our freshman are for real and both likely to be major contributors to any postseason run.

Stewart and Ross haven't made a quantum leap in terms of their play. Both are contributors, though. Ross is making more of his minutes and seems to have a bigger upside.

Demary can play, but he's not the second coming of Tristen Newton.

Smith was a more valuable pick up than many of us thought. He absolutely gives us a quality backup point guard, but I'm more comfortable with him in. His decision-making needs to improve a bit, but it will.

Koroma is more than a practice player. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to see him out there 40 minutes, but he can come in and contribute for short stretches. Especially with Reed out, he gives us needed depth at the center spot.

Reibe is the real deal. Watching his progression game to game is a blast. I don't think he bumps a healthy Reed from the starting spot, but his size and skill allows us to have the 2 Headed monster at center that has been so successful for us. Sanogo/Clingan, Clingan/Johnson etc.

Mullins is the real deal. He still looks physically young, but man that kid can play. If he keeps on his same trajectory, he will be a high draft choice. I'd love to have him for a second year, but it doesn't seem like likely.

Solo may not be "the guy" on this year's team. Hopefully he finds his three-point shot so that he is as consistent as last year. It appears he's heading in the right direction. Don't get me wrong, he's a great piece for us, I just thought he might be more dominant this year.

Alex seems to have regained some of his confidence. He seems willing to take shots when needed though he seems more comfortable as a third/4th option in the offense.
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Even when Solo isn't shooting great, he assumes the role of being our "alpha" scorer. You need those - it's a defined role that a team learns to play around and it takes stress off the team when a bucket is hard to come by. Solo does generate good looks better than anyone on the team (Mullins may take that nod). There is a comfort in having that type of player on the team.

Biggest learning so far - Reibe steps up when needed, and has been really, really good. He looked a bit slow and methodical early, but that's since turned into a really refined player in the paint that is learning how to be present around the rim. Uconn does develop bigs really well.
 
I think we’ve learned that we can run with anyone, no one will take us for granted even down a starter because we’ve already shown a lot of grit and fight. Our rookies are all pretty smart ball players which is amazing so early on.

Lastly, I think we need Tarris Reed playing in order to be great. We’ve got a lot of top guys to fill a starting lineup, but without Reed we miss something and other smart and well coached teams have been able to overload on D on our other 4 guys and mostly succeed against us.
 
There's as much to work with as I'd hoped there would be, and we have 4 months to cheer for & witness it.

Injuries, development, chemistry, and coaching will tell the final story. As said in a post above, we are not the only team in the hunt, and the others will contend with those same factors.

I sense that we will recognize players playing above and below expectations on a game-by-game basis. We have many options.
 
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CL82 said:
Solo may not be "the guy" on this year's team. Hopefully he finds his three-point shot so that he is as consistent as last year. It appears he's heading in the right direction. Don't get me wrong, he's a great piece for us, I just thought he might be more dominant this year.
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I wonder if Solo is suffering from the same affliction as AK last year. trying to do too much because of expectations?? Maybe Mullins shining makes Solo’s life easier
 
For me I think the most important thing that I have learned is that UCONN has the pieces to win it all. They could also get knocked off in the opening round as well. They have a LOT of talent on this team. Reibe is legit. I hate seeing Reed hurt but getting Reibe in against Arizona, Kansas and probably Florida is encouraging to me. Reibe is just scratching the surface of his abilities and experience is going to help him a TON. He's a legit 7 footer. I'd like to see him go strong around the rim as opposed to him fading away at times. I'd like to see him be a little more active on the offensive glass but I think that will come with time. Overall, I am very happy with Reibe. Mullins is legit. He is so smooth with his shot. He is constantly moving on offense and I love what we have seen from him in his roughly 40 minutes of game time. Once he is fully up to speed his presence should open up the floor for Kariban, Ball and really all of the shooters. I could see Mullins going off for 35 against like DePaul or someone who doesn't have the horses to keep up with him. I wish they had a Cam Spencer like presence that could really get everyone fired up and locked in during tight games.
 
bendm said:
Duke has the inside track to the 1 seed in the East unfortunately and the BE is only going to provide opportunities for bad losses. no home losses. no usual loss at creighton or at a spunky Hall...
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Agreed, UConn can lose a max of 2 games the rest of the way to even have a shot at the 1 in the East with Duke taking at least 4 losses to pass them. I will say Duke still has at MSU, Texas Tech, Michigan and the ACC looks better this year so Duke should not waltz through conference play.
 
Another learned item - our defense has been better than our offense. Hurley has the kind of roster & depth to employ his death by a thousand cuts system, making teams defend & execute to a point of exhaustion. We saw it last night, we even saw this against Arizona. We are able to stay close in these games even when it appears we are being outplayed and feel like we are down by 20. It's really a wild effect.
 
I can’t remember anyone that is such a fit for an offense the Mullin. He sure enjoyed a great decision coming here!
 
RuffRuff said:
Even when Solo isn't shooting great, he assumes the role of being our "alpha" scorer. You need those - it's a defined role that a team learns to play around and it takes stress off the team when a bucket is hard to come by. Solo does generate good looks better than anyone on the team (Mullins may take that nod). There is a comfort in having that type of player on the team.
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Do I dig up the stuff you've said about him so far this season? How all he does is shoot, and if he's not doing that he shouldn't even be on the floor? Is that a good use of anyone's time?

It's not, right?
 
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Inyatkin said:
Do I dig up the stuff you've said about him so far this season? How all he does is shoot, and if he's not doing that he shouldn't even be on the floor? Is that a good use of anyone's time?

It's not, right?
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I was enlightened watching yesterday when a good look was hard come by at times. He's got the Hawkins thing going where he's constantly rolling around screens and moving, making the defense work.

Still really tough to watch on defense - but he has an important role on the offense.
 
Don’t want to come across as a downer, but in 23 and 24, as I watched the teams I told my non-UConn fan buddies that those teams were going to win a Natty. So far, I’m not yet there with this team. Maybe it’s due to the injuries, but the 23/24 teams were just blowing teams away (except that ugly January). Totally believe they can win it this year, but they’ll be growing into March to get there.
 
CL82 said:
Demary can play, but he's not the second coming of Tristen Newton.
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I disagree with you here. The perception here was that Tristen wasn’t Tristen Newton his first year and in the first part of his second year. Just go back and reread the disgruntled posts in the thread started by Fishy on the topic we don’t have a point guard. Demary is struggling right now, but I have seen flashes of what he can become once he becomes comfortable. I would give it time before making that assessment.
 
Palatine said:
We need to work on our transition game. Except for that everything is coming along nicely.
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This is so spot on. When we are running a fast break with numbers, usually the guy with the ball just goes to score instead of making the easy pass to get the easy points. There was a prime example of this when stewart had the ball in a 2v1 fast break against Illinois, instead of making an easy assist to his teammate, he went on to miss his lay up and got fouled, and then proceeded to clank and miss his free throws. This is unacceptable.
 
1) That we absolutely positively need 2 quality point guards and 1 more in reserve. If you can't bring the ball up the court, nothing else matters.
Now...I'd like to see more dribble penetration.

2) We need to be deep. Injuries happen. Thinking you are going through the season with the same 7 ain't gonna happen.

3) That it's good to have a backup 7' 1" stud center
 
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RuffRuff said:
Even when Solo isn't shooting great, he assumes the role of being our "alpha" scorer. You need those - it's a defined role that a team learns to play around and it takes stress off the team when a bucket is hard to come by. Solo does generate good looks better than anyone on the team (Mullins may take that nod). There is a comfort in having that type of player on the team.

Biggest learning so far - Reibe steps up when needed, and has been really, really good. He looked a bit slow and methodical early, but that's since turned into a really refined player in the paint that is learning how to be present around the rim. Uconn does develop bigs really well.
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Have you come around on Solo not being a "plus" player who isn't worthy of big minutes on a title contending team?
 
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