This way we can compile in one place …
Heard this from the UCONN side:
Just got some info from my buddy. Castle led the way in scoring with 19, with Samson not far behind with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer’s shot was crisp, going 3/4 from 3 and finished with 10 points. Newton was a bit quiet with only 4 points but had 11 assists.
Other mini observations:
-Don’t sleep on Solo Ball. Had some explosive dunks and lockdown defense. Ajax 2.0?
-Hassan Diarra went 2/3 3PT in the game…
-Karaban was a bit quiet as well but did make some impact plays on defense and looks more free.
-Youssouf Singare is not as raw as you think. YS got two putback dunks and 4 rebounds in the span of a couple minutes. If we need him, he could hold his own against BE bigs.
-Apostolos Roumoglou scored 7 points. Could he actually log minutes this year?
I thinkk I mentioned this in the VIP thread but it was most likely Reece on Tristan and Dunn on Karaban at the 4 so it’s no coincidence those two had the quietest games for UConn. (could be wrong and it was Groves on Karaban but just assuming quicker feet to close out stretch 4s was what they wanted)
If you go Groves/Dunn front court, with Reece as the only strong guard defender and Dunn as the only helpside defender, you have a lot of potential defensive shortcomings.
Reece McKneely Bond Dunn Buchanan or alternatively Reece McKneely Bond Groves Dunn and Rohde 6th man in either scenario/backup pg since he’s apparently way better with the ball in his hands rather than playing off the ball (and you can pair him with Gertrude offense defense).
Also 11 rebounds by their back up big just screams “Don’t redshirt Robinson” but it’s w/e regardless.
Ummmm - their backup big was a higher rated recruit than any big at UVA (maybe Diakite) and would be considered maybe the best big recruit under CTB. And he’s a 3rd year.
Consensus #47 in 2021.
Doesnt matter how ranked the big is though, 11 rebounds is a lot even compared to the 5 star centers we have played in the past (outside that one Armando Bacot game).
Find it sorta funny that everyone is like “whoa, Hurley and Bennett are both like Ft Knox” but now we can more or less piece together a UConn box score from a variety of posts and we are left over-interpreting how UVa did by looking at the UConn box.
Need to get X up to speed if we have perimeter defensive issues. Only guy with plus athleticism for defense that also has potential to be a high end scorer
Team ceiling depends on at least 3 of Reece, Dunn, Bond, and Elijah being “better than we expect”** offensively, and on Bond and Elijah being “as good as we expect”** defensively.
** obligatory “but what do we expect, Haney?” question here. I don’t know, self. That’s an important question.
*** bonus misplaced thought – Christian Reeves looks legit from their intrasquad scrimmage. That sux.
Continuing on my extrapolations from recollections that could be completely wrong (but are 100% true until staff prove it wrong by releasing the footage ).
If we are to believe a lot of our shortcomings were in the starting line up (which was a result of the “rough start”), then that means lineup changes and adjustments were made to pull us back in.
Buchanan playing well is one. Gertrude’s defense/Bond’s on the perimeter another?
Or maybe lineups and play callings that got McKneely/Groves more open looks?
).