Will Alex and Cam Wear Down? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Will Alex and Cam Wear Down?

For 38 minutes of work in a fast paced, physical game Karaban looked darn fresh throughout. But, yes, getting some rest during the season and averaging at or below the 29 he averaged last year would be best for the end of the season tournaments.

Spencer has more help, with Castle, Ball, Diarra and Newton available to spell him.
 
caw said:
Cam has also averaged 30+ the past two years. Obviously his feet are an issue but I actually think he has much more backup with Castle, Ball and Diarra all being able to play in his spot. UConn does not have a real four to backup Karaban unless they play a four guard lineup, or play two bigs. We really need Stewart to grow a bit into his game. He flashes some really solid stuff but...
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Stewart just has to play decent defense. There are plenty of other guys that can be on the floor to score.
 
dennismenace said:
I think Dan Hurley will get more guys involved as the season progresses:

He said at the beginning of the year that the bench is what will make or break us this year.

Ross and Stewart are going to get minutes unless Hurley wants them to go portal. I don't think that is going to happen. They are part of the future. We are going to lose Cam, Newton and probably Clingan and Castle. I think at some point we will also see Singare getting minutes so as not to lose him in portal as well.

Dan Hurley has repeatedly referred to this program as different, old fashioned and known by how hard they play. He can demand that now that he has an abundance of talent. So far they are more than living up to the hard play aspect. The whole team has bought into it instead of hero ball.

We have the Big East schedule which will be very taxing this year followed by the Big East Tourney and then the NCAA's.

I think we saw what a deep bench meant last year and I think Dan Hurley's open mindedness to that is something he sees as the way to attract higher end talent and raise the level of tenacity. These guys are not selfish about anything and rack up very high assist levels. Jay Bilas marveled at how smooth our offense was along with the assists and finishing plays. That was not our hallmark even in the recent past. Bilas repeatedly mentioned that they were outhustling and "out finishing" UNC.

For these reasons I don't think he is going to be "like everyone else" and limit the rotation to 7-8 but for a handful of games if that. There are plenty of games to work these guys in the way we are scoring now. This was one of the big adjustments Dan Hurley made and along with laying off with the refs
helped turn around the season last year.

Anyway, in time we shall see.
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You don't play guys just to avoid the risk of them transferring.

I expect that Hurley has had frank conversations with the freshmen about having to earn it, how they measure up to the current roster, and the fact that there will be ample playing time available that they'll have the opportunity to seize next year.

As I already said, the "deep bench" we had last year was still only 8 deep and occasionally 9 when Diarra played (which he didn't always do, e.g. in the championship game). What we had last year was a quality bench, i.e. the performance did not significantly drop off when we brought in Clingan, Alleyne, and Calcaterra. We're seeing some pleasant surprises so far this year with Diarra, Johnson, and Ball. But having a good bench does not mean that we need to go 9-10 deep, and I'd be surprised if Hurley does this year.
 
Icehawk said:
I dunno, based on last year I doubt we see much more of the bench players - but then again Dan Hurley tossed Singare in for one FT possession due to fouls. But extended time seems highly unlikely.
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Singare was impressive in Blue/White. Has done everything asked of him like denying ball to Bycott last night.
He got a big chance last night and produced. My experienced eyes tell me when Dan Hurley gives him a chance he will get prime minutes when needed.
Like his attitude and work ethic per Blue/White observations.
 
coachn said:
Singare was impressive in Blue/White. Has done everything asked of him like denying ball to Bycott last night.
He got a big chance last night and produced. My experienced eyes tell me when Dan Hurley gives him a chance he will get prime minutes when needed.
Like his attitude and work ethic per Blue/White observations.
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Singare played last night?
 
HooperScooper said:
I wasn't looking when he came in and when I was watching and saw him I seriously did a double take and shook my head back and forth in disbelief. And by the time I finished that he was out.
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He was in just before the end of the first half. Presumably protecting a number of our bigs with two or three fouls each. The only thing keeping him from playing more right now is the opportunity. When those opportunities arise (and they will be it injuries or foul trouble) he will demonstrate what he brings to the table. If he produces and I believe he can and will he will get more minutes. Big East hasn't even begun yet. Necessity is the mother of invention. While I'm out on a limb somewhat I would go so far as to say that if Clingan leaves after this year Singare will be the other half of the two headed monster center (5) for next season along with Samson Johnson. We shall see.
 
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How is it possible for a 20+ year college athlete (in the best shape of their life) to wear down in a season?
 
coachn said:
Singare was impressive in Blue/White. Has done everything asked of him like denying ball to Bycott last night.
He got a big chance last night and produced. My experienced eyes tell me when Dan Hurley gives him a chance he will get prime minutes when needed.
Like his attitude and work ethic per Blue/White observations.
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They may need him down the road. Calhoun would play his third center when the other two would get two fouls..
 
I’m hoping Hurley sits Karaban, Spencer and Clingan the next game. That would give the freshman a chance to show what they got and those guys to heal a little bit. I doubt it’ll happen though.
 
They're young, unlike most of us fans

The max number of games is < 40

Eight is enough, although I'd love to see couple of other freshman earn more time.
 
What made us grind teams out last year was our depth and no one playing much more than 30 minutes. As Castle gets healthy the minutes can go down for the starters. It was real important for Solo to get good minutes early on as now we can play an 8 man rotation.
 
OceanDoggie said:
Singare played last night?
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UNC took a time out with the shot clock off at the end of the first half. With DC already on the bench with 2 could and Johnson playing with 3, Hurley made a fairly obvious but the right move to put Singare in for one defensive position, and then protected him from having to stop Bacot man to man by throwing out a 1-3-1. Didn’t work, and Carolina hit a 3 to end the half, but Singare played that one defensive possession.
 
Sphinx said:
Against UNC, Alex logged 38 minutes, Cam 36 as part of an 8-man rotation. Against Kansas, Alex logged 35 and Cam 36 as we tried to beat the Jayhawks with a 7-man rotation.

Even if we get lucky with injuries and fouls, and these two stalwarts can continue to put in these minutes, what will they have left for legs come tournament time? No question in my mind that our 8-man rotation can be a "juggernaut" healthy and fresh, but will it be healthy and fresh come March?

What we've missed these past two games is a Ross or Stewart sighting. And it's late enough in the year to wonder if the window of opportunity is closing on them.

With Castle's return and Ball's breakout, we may be able to give Cam (and Tristan) an occasional rest, but what do we do if Karaban ever has to sit down? Who plays the 4 in our 4-guard lineup?
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I look forward to seeing Apostolos in real time. I think he will help the team
 
I do not expect Karaban to wear down. He was the only player who did not have a true back up last season and led the team in total minutes as a RS-Freshman. He seemed to get stronger as the year went on.
 
I’m more worried about his fingers, it’s clearly bothering his shot, hope they heal by Gonzaga.
 
HooperScooper said:
I'm assuming "high" means 35 or more minutes? Karaban averaged 29 mpg last season so I was thinking that what you said couldn't be true. So I looked it up.

He played 35 or more minutes 6 times. Iowa St. (38 min.), Oklahoma St. (37), St. John's (37), Xavier (35), Marquette (35), and Marquette again (35).

uconnhuskies.com

Men's Basketball Cumulative Statistics

@description
uconnhuskies.com uconnhuskies.com
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LOL, I'm not sure what the "high" typo was supposed to be, probably "over" or "at least"? I was pretty close, I'm surprised the average was just under 29 tbh.

Regardless, I don't expect him to get tired since he didn't last year and he's got about the same amount of backup again.
 
cohenzone said:
His 3 ball has been a bit off the last few games. We might have discovered why.
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Dislocated finger on shooting hand, for starters.
 

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