Courant article about 24/25 roster

[navery12]

So the whole small (Diarra) vs big (TBD) guard thing. Would you rather risk him leaving for a starting spot somewhere (that he'd absolutely get, and at a good program) by recruiting a big transfer guard over him (whom isn't guaranteed to work in our system/offense like Hass is?)

I know my answer.

That's not how I read that quote from Hurley. I think it's about him being comfortable knowing that we have a top PG coming in with Ahmad Nowell and knowing that at some point he may lose the starting job (if he wins it to begin with). I doubt we're recruiting over Hassan

 

[bigknight3]

I think Hurley recognizes that we're not going to be in as stark of a "win now" mode as we were this past year, knowing that Newton, Spencer, Castle, and Clingan were going to be here only one more year.

Maybe he envisions part of Diarra's role as being a mentor and a bridge to the next generation and wants to make sure that he's comfortable with that.

Can't three-peat or take the stairway to heaven, if you don't be win now!

 

[Luna]

Diarra, Nowell and Ball are not real tall.. but tall enough.. what they are is real strong and athletic…they will hold their own against anyone… we were so lucky to have a player like Castle…your not going to see such a great defensive player like him often.. that’s one of the reasons we were one of the greatest all time teams in college basketball

 

[UC0NN]

Hass could have left last year when he was at the end of the bench. He improved dramatically and will play significantly next year. No reason to leave, he's a legend here. His baskets against Purdue in the first half were tremendous.

 

[ConnEd]

But big guards can shut down smaller guards. See UConn 2024

When they can funnel drives that beat them into the Great Wall of Bristol.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

One thing we're going to need to accept is that the physical/athletic makeup of next year's team will differ from this year's team. It may lead to a different approach in in a few areas, but the basic framework of how DH & staff run the team and manage games will remain.

We may need to gameplan for things that we had the luxury not to concern ourselves with this past season but I believe DH, Kimani & Luke can do this. Even of we lose every starter (not necessarily the case) we are still bringing back a good amount of talent and we are bringing in some very talented players. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Diarra will be our most important piece if he returns. I don't understand how posters suggest an unproven/untested D1 freshman will be instantly better than a 5 year, 2 time Champion, BE 6th man of the year winner who has years of D1 experience, including some BE.

He knows Hurley's system, he's a proven leader and is the perfect player to help train Nowell and get him up to speed. Diarra doesn't need to be an NBA prospect, he just has to continue being a very good collegiate guard.

I remember Boatright recruit where people felt he was going to start over Bazz. There are other highly prized recruits that didn't start as a freshman, including our most recent 7'2" NBA prospect.

I'm not saying that Diarra will end the season as the starting guard, but I would bet a lot of money on him starting in November and running Hurley's offense which he knows very well. I also don't think he's returning to be on the bench in November.

Just saying freshman are freshman, at least until February and I won't make the mistake of overestimating incoming freshmen contributions.

Of all the things I'd be willing to wager on next year's team, I'm most confident Hass will destroy whichever other PG's are on the roster during the first few practices. Diarra is strong, long, and carries a nasty streak in a good way.
If Diarra stays and isn't getting more than 20mpg consistently, we can prep the rafters for banner #7.

 

[ctchamps]

I have a feeling Diarra will start for those reasons. Experience on tje biggest stage pbviously matters. But you're discounting how talented Nowell is.

Sooner or later, he's going to be a better player than Hass. At the same stage of development his scoring bag is deeper, he's a better shooter, better passer, better ballhandler and is stronger. He's better than Hass was as a senior in HS by a huge margin. And he definitely has better handles, passing, and a bigger scoring bag than Hass does today.

If Nowell adjusts as quickly as Castle did the pace of the college game, Diarra isn't going to have the skill to beat him for the starting spot. Is that LIKELY? No. Castle was an anomaly.

Agree. Hass isn’t a huge drop off however.

What they both have are the never quit tenacity and drive that JC calls “absolute dogs.” Shooting over them might be easier than shooting over Tristen and Stephon but when they are playing together they are going to be Bazz and Boat nightmares to opposing guards.

 

[CL82]

While I am optimistic that DH will be able to continue to build teams capable of consistently making deep tournament runs, I think it will be difficult to assemble this great of a group of kids again.

Agreed, but, then again, I was thinking exactly the same thing at this time last year.

 

[CL82]

I don't understand how posters suggest an unproven/untested D1 freshman will be instantly better than a 5 year, 2 time Champion, BE 6th man of the year winner who has years of D1 experience, including some BE

It's like you don't know us at all. The Boneyard loves untested incoming players. They are going score on every possession and play lockdown defense.

 

[ConnEd]

I’m not so worried about putting out a lineup of smaller guards. TNew and Spencer could both be beaten off the dribble. But when that happened, DC was usually there to negate the advantage, and the guards were smart enough to rotate to the uncovered player or to recover as the penetrator hesitated looking at the mountain in front of them.

We’ve seen great success with smaller guards before when they are excellent on-ball defenders. That’s Hass. Solo has the potential to be one, and Nowell looks like he has those skills. And, with it being unlikely that we will have a giant eraser behind them to negate them being beaten, it will be more important to have very good on/ball defenders who aren’t easily beaten on penetration. The good news is that the guards we have fit that mold.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

“What (Diarra) envisions for himself next year in terms of role has got to be aligned with what ours is,” Hurley said. “I think what’s been effective for us the last two years is that the level of honesty has created great rosters. Because the players that didn’t align with what we viewed for them, they left, we brought in appropriate players in both years and then we won back-to-back championships.

I took this as DH trying to measure Hass's own expectations for next yr. I saw some posters state in the past that he would be the next in line of great uconn guards. I just don't see it. He's an excellent spark, does little things that often go unnoticed, great defender, looks to get it to bigs (roomie Samson). HOWEVER, i dont think he is the starting lead guard to hang hat on.

While he made a Tremendous jump last yr, he still makes some bad choices, especially against presses. I think same role, with potentially another 5mpg is likely. Maybe he starts alongside Nowell over Ball, or even starts season as starting PG (who starts won't matter as much next yr i think)

I think DH knows what he has in Nowell, & he's not going to have to wait on the bench like Solo did. The battles between Hass and Nowell in the offseason will improve them both substantially.

 

[Luna]

The core of next year’s team…Diarra, Nowell and Ball at the guard spots..Steward at the 3…Karaban at the 4 and Samson at the center spot… then build around those players

 

[inWV]

Diarra will still get equal too or more minutes

Next year minutes will be split between two bigs, Stew and Ross, Karaban, Solo, Hassand two other guards.

So the whole small (Diarra) vs big (TBD) guard thing. Would you rather risk him leaving for a starting spot somewhere (that he'd absolutely get, and at a good program) by recruiting a big transfer guard over him (whom isn't guaranteed to work in our system/offense like Hass is?)

I know my answer.

Diarra plays bigger than he is and on offense, he has been much more decisive compared to his first season.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

One thing we're going to need to accept is that the physical/athletic makeup of next year's team will differ from this year's team. It may lead to a different approach in in a few areas, but the basic framework of how DH & staff run the team and manage games will remain.

We may need to gameplan for things that we had the luxury not to concern ourselves with this past season but I believe DH, Kimani & Luke can do this. Even of we lose every starter (not necessarily the case) we are still bringing back a good amount of talent and we are bringing in some very talented players. I'm looking forward to it.

DC helped with a lot of that luxury. Not having to concern yourself with teams scoring in the paint is huge defensively. The spacing he provided as a lob threat and paint presence on the other end is hard to measure as well.

Next year is for sure going to be much different and more of a grind to get 7.

 

[uconn_jack]

As good as Nowell is supposed to and probably will be, people are assuming a lot to be plugging him into the starting PG spot. At the PG position, give me experience with good skill over no experience and great skill every time, especially with our complicated offense. Even a high level transfer will need to prove he can run the offense.

Everyone keeps saying look at Tristan and Cam, they had great height, but they were also 5th year seniors with experience in spades. Castle was a phenom in a lot of ways, can't expect a freshman to come in and play as maturely as he did. If Norwell comes in and owns it, then that's great, but I think the PG starting spot should be Diarra's to lose. He has proven to be skilled, stong, and fast enough, has the experience including 2 NCs, and is a vocal leader that we will need on the floor as a starter. Yes he can sometimes make a dumb decision, but as great as Newton was, so could he.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Diarra, Nowell and Ball are not real tall.. but tall enough.. what they are is real strong and athletic…they will hold their own against anyone… we were so lucky to have a player like Castle…your not going to see such a great defensive player like him often.. that’s one of the reasons we were one of the greatest all time teams in college basketball

With Diarra's strength, speed and length I am 100% confident he can lock up almost every guard who is 6'5" or under. There may be a few here or there at that size who will give Diarra trouble, but not many.

 

[Smp7598]

But big guards can shut down smaller guards. See UConn 2024

small guards can beat big guards.See UConn 2014

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think Hurley recognizes that we're not going to be in as stark of a "win now" mode as we were this past year, knowing that Newton, Spencer, Castle, and Clingan were going to be here only one more year.

Maybe he envisions part of Diarra's role as being a mentor and a bridge to the next generation and wants to make sure that he's comfortable with that.

The mentor role has been very important in the past think Kemba and Baz

 

[Captbluefin]

I love Hass in his current role.

He’s don’t see him as a starter especially offensively. He is a jack of all trades.

Making Hass a starter is like taking a great closer and making him a starter because he pitches so well in that spot. It just doesn’t work that way.

 

[RichCTBB]

I love Hass in his current role.

He’s don’t see him as a starter especially offensively. He is a jack of all trades.

Making Hass a starter is like taking a great closer and making him a starter because he pitches so well in that spot. It just doesn’t work that way.

I'd love to see Solo take over for Hass as the spark off the bench. I feel like Hass's knowledge of the system in year 3 will be critical in establishing our offense with an almost new team and so it will be critical to have him on the court as a starter.

 

[NickDanger]

To make these declarations seeing what the entire program including Diarra has been able to accomplish over the last two years is irresponsible & disingenuous. I thought Hurley, the coaching staff, & all the players over the last two years has taught us differently.

Irresponsible?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Not sure if it’s my favorite but I look back really fondly on Clingan’s absolutely demoralizing block of Guerrier 10 points in to he 30-0 run. To have a big get a running start and get absolutely shut down like that, I thought just broke Illinois’ will.



Also the end of the shot clock Cam Spencer give and go against Alabama (I think?) where the D thought they had him contained and he just broke their back was great.

 

[ctbro1999]

With Diarra's strength, speed and length I am 100% confident he can lock up almost every guard who is 6'5" or under. There may be a few here or there at that size who will give Diarra trouble, but not many.

I wonder how often Castle and Diarra went at it vs each other at practice. Probably a lot?

 

[Fan1978]

Hass isn’t a classic PG. he makes too many head scratching mistakes. Can’t win championships with that as your primary ball handler.

He’s a good bench player and spark plug

He made massive improvements this year. He has earned the benefit of the doubt that he can improve more and be the lead guard.