Your biggest concern(s) with this year's team?

[jibsey]

Ross has the size and quickness to get his own shot either driving or pulling up. He did that once from midrange on Sat but missed it. He has that Richard Hamilton build.

 

[willie99]

We're not blowing teams out in the first five minutes

 

[JerseyAlum]

We're not blowing teams out in the first five minutes

Did not seem a requirement of the last 2 years.

 

[EBonz30]

I think the point guard spot & the five spot- think it’s pretty obvious- I would imagine most of you feel similar. Probably have the most talented wings & the deepest wing depth in the nation.

Mahaney
Diarra
Johnson
Reed

Those 4- if 2 out of the 4 have good years- we should be scary good.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

We’ve won championships with Oriakhi (more of an 4)/Okwandu and Philip Nolan. I’m not worried about the Centers.

True, but they stayed on the court!!!

 

[Iluvsuebird]

After two games:
1. We have to be impressed with Reed, Jr.'s propensity to get stronger in the second half. He is already an offensive improvement. Can he provide rim protection?
2. We have to love Alex 3.0. Darn he looks good leading the young team.
3. J. Ross looks legit. And the exciting thing with him is that his ceiling is super high. Who knows what he will become.
4. Our best PG is Nowell. He is HD defensively, but with much better handle and shooting shot. I will be super shocked if he is not part of the rotation come January.
5. Who is the alpha dog? It cannot be Alex. He cannot create his own shot at will. HD's handle is too lose. Aidan is too slow and slight. Maybe Ross? Nowell? Reed, Jr. on the low post? If we develop multiple options then we will have a repeat of the last two years, which is why we have been impossible to stop.

 

[dennismenace]

Lack of veterans at the guard positions (losing Cam and Tristan). Interior defense against bigger and stronger opponents (losing Castle and Clingan). Just how much they can make up these losses of veterans and lottery picks remains to be seen. On the plus side we have without a doubt the best coaching staff bar none. We also have more overall depth. It will depend on getting a lot of the kids, sophs and portal players to jell quickly which is a tall order. I'm not anticipating they will three repeat (at least not having expectations). I want to enjoy the season and watch how the staff grows this mass of talent and depth which combined with next years incoming class is setting up for some interesting and exciting years.

 

[Griggs]

Love J. Stewart but do not see him getting many minutes.

 

[navery12]

I'm very confused by all the concern over the supposed inability of a player who can create their own shot. It's like some of you haven't watched the UConn offense the last 2 years

 

[inWV]

So DH tells Jared Kotler he's not worried about the 5; he's repeatedly expressed confidence in Reed and Samson--hard to accept, but...
With Alex and a plethora of wings, hard to worry there.
So it's PG that seems to perplex him; perhaps Mahaney is still getting the hang of the offense, and he's not sure about Hass' shooting.
I guess my concern is how you keep everybody happy, motivated, and out of the portal.
I love the depth, but even sitting Nowell and Abraham, it's a nine-man rotation. Huh?

Diarra and Mahaney combined for 37 minutes, 13 pts, 6 assists, 1 turnover, 2 rebounds and 1 foul. Not bad productivity given the insane number of scoring combinations on the rest of the roster.

 

[JerseyAlum]

No real change worth talking about on stats from first 2 games 2023-2024 to 2024-2025

Most stats are very similar for FG, Rebounds, Assists..slightly up on Steals and Blocks this year, but pretty consistently ~32 FG made for all 4 games.

If there is worry about the PG situation it's because Diarra has not had a great shooting 2 games and Mahaney has had 1 game with any points. But 6-1 assist to TO ratio is pretty good so let's let them work it out - more games, more consistency

Shot creators? Would say top 4 on the team are: Alex, Solo, Liam, and Reed, Jr. thus far and would love if Maheney could develop but more likely Ross, Stewart rise faster in this department with their athleticism.

Fouls on Samson? Honestly, so what? Reed, Jr. has been great as a 3rd/4th option on the Huskies vs 1st or 2nd on the Wolverines. Samson is best suited for dunks and passes while Reed, Jr. is better on backing down opponents, rebounding, kind of like poor man's Joel Embiid.

But I would rather delve into critical analysis under adversity and not after blowing out the likes of SH and UNH. 2 More games against sub-opponents then we play Memphis, which is at least a honorable, quality opponent compared to the first 4 games. By Maui all tune-ups should be tuned.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Lack of veterans at the guard positions (losing Cam and Tristan). Interior defense against bigger and stronger opponents (losing Castle and Clingan). Just how much they can make up these losses of veterans and lottery picks remains to be seen. On the plus side we have without a doubt the best coaching staff bar none. We also have more overall depth. It will depend on getting a lot of the kids, sophs and portal players to jell quickly which is a tall order. I'm not anticipating they will three repeat (at least not having expectations). I want to enjoy the season and watch how the staff grows this mass of talent and depth which combined with next years incoming class is setting up for some interesting and exciting years.

this is a great take. Scary take, very valid.

 

[dennismenace]

After two games:
1. We have to be impressed with Reed, Jr.'s propensity to get stronger in the second half. He is already an offensive improvement. Can he provide rim protection?
2. We have to love Alex 3.0. Darn he looks good leading the young team.
3. J. Ross looks legit. And the exciting thing with him is that his ceiling is super high. Who knows what he will become.
4. Our best PG is Nowell. He is HD defensively, but with much better handle and shooting shot. I will be super shocked if he is not part of the rotation come January.
5. Who is the alpha dog? It cannot be Alex. He cannot create his own shot at will. HD's handle is too lose. Aidan is too slow and slight. Maybe Ross? Nowell? Reed, Jr. on the low post? If we develop multiple options then we will have a repeat of the last two years, which is why we have been impossible to stop.

Spanarkel pointed out in last night's game that he had not seen one bad (selfish) shot well into the second half. Good shots from very good passing. This happened a lot last year when shots weren't falling. He was very impressed with this and remarked that it was the hallmark of the last two years. That is perhaps the best template of this team along with the depth. They are going to wear down and wear out shorter rotation teams.
LOL watching DH drape himself over the scoring table and his early animate looks was vintage. So far so good for a lot of new players and combinations. We'll know a lot more after these upcoming tournaments and other games against stronger competition and going on the road.