Strategy Thoughts

[Ricker]

Posing question #1 because I think this scenario will occur at least 5x this year and I'd love to hear thoughts now vs when we have seen more on the court.

2 fouls on both Clingan & Johnson at the 10 min mark of the first half against a quality opponent.
1. Risk a third foul on Johnson or Clingan
2. Throw Singare to the wolves and see if he can hold the fort
3. Go to small ball with Karaban-Ross-Stewart front line, or some other combination
If small ball, do you risk Karaban picking up fouls at the 5 or sacrifice Stewart?
I did see 1 comment that Castle is physically the strongest and same size as Stewart and could defend a 5 in a pinch

I don't expect close games, but #2 Scenario down by 2 with 5sec left and we have possession at our offensive end.
Do you put Donovan on the court as a 'go to' scorer and 'put back' machine, or, does that risk the other team purposely fouling a 50% foul shooter that is likely to miss one and seal the game for the opponent?

Love to hear your preseason thoughts

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Posing question #1 because I think this scenario will occur at least 5x this year and I'd love to hear thoughts now vs when we have seen more on the court.

2 fouls on both Clingan & Johnson at the 10 min mark of the first half against a quality opponent.
1. Risk a third foul on Johnson or Clingan
2. Throw Singare to the wolves and see if he can hold the fort
3. Go to small ball with Karaban-Ross-Stewart front line, or some other combination
If small ball, do you risk Karaban picking up fouls at the 5 or sacrifice Stewart?
I did see 1 comment that Castle is physically the strongest and same size as Stewart and could defend a 5 in a pinch

Start with 2, then go to 3 if it's a mess. Maybe YS surprises us. All we need is energy on defense, and rebounding from the 5 in that case.

I don't expect close games, but #2 Scenario down by 2 with 5sec left and we have possession at our offensive end.
Do you put Donovan on the court as a 'go to' scorer and 'put back' machine, or, does that risk the other team purposely fouling a 50% foul shooter that is likely to miss one and seal the game for the opponent?

I see no reason that DC will still be a poor FT shooter this season, so i think it's moot.

 

[Improviser]

2 fouls on both Clingan & Johnson at the 10 min mark of the first half against a quality opponent.

Try #2 for a few series. If it works with Singare, stay with it. If not, move down to the other options and see what works the best.

This is more of an art than a science. Hurley will know how to shuffle the deck. He did so last year.

 

[Sibeerian]

Maybe a factor here: the way recruiting went down, Hurley has more incentive to develop Singare this year with next year in mind. I'm hoping he can provide valuable minutes.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

2. At that point Sangare has 10 minutes and 5 fouls to give us. If Clingan and Samson already have 2, the opponent in the bonus already. Sangare just has to take up time and change shots.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'd be quite surprised if both Donovan and Samson had two fouls in just 10 minutes. That's extreme and unlikely. As for what you'd do, depends on the opponent.

The scenario that may be common is DC with two fouls. That impacts playing time behind Karaban mostly. It frees up more minutes at the 4 that Johnson cannot fill. Likewise, it's interesting to see what happens if Castle gets a quick 2 fouls. We can move Solo there in some cases, but may need more size in others. In short, foul trouble is probably one of the main ways Stewart & Ross get minutes.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I’ve said this before but if we could win a title with Brimah and Phil Nolan at center I don’t see any reason we can’t rely on Singare for spurts at a time.

 

[Sphinx]

I’ve said this before but if we could win a title with Brimah and Phil Nolan at center I don’t see any reason we can’t rely on Singare for spurts at a time.

Exactly. Offensively, Brimah and Nolan's job was to stay out of the way of Bazz, Boat, Daniels and Giffey as they operated from the corners. Singare's job would be the same with Castle, Newton, Spenser and Karaban operating from the corners. It's ironic that UConn has a potential All-America center in a year when center-by-committee would do just fine and, in fact, against certain opponents, be the preferred option.

 

[Sphinx]

Not to belabor the point, but ask yourself this: how many times this year will we take a 2-point dunk from Clingan where we might have had an outside trey from Spenser, Karaban or Newton -- or a 3-point "and one" from Castle or Newton driving to the hoop. Just as in 2014, we have exceptional 3-point potential from the wings. Unlike in 2014, we also have offensive potential at the 5. The challenge will be to meld the two effectively.

 

[bmayuc]

Def 2. This was my major concern this year with Johnson's inexperience & health problems... and now Clingan's foot issue. If Singare was too much of a project on Defense/strength, then we were sneakily thin at the 5. One injury/foul trouble and we don't really have a Bench Big.

Mayyybe I'm more bullish on Singare than most, but from recent comments Hurley has made I am much sunnier on Singare being a serviceable body who can play D and board this year. He does that? We are golden at 5

 

[yungdowork]

Singare has a lot to work on skills-wise, but I think he's a good enough defender and rebounder that he can provide some cover. I actually think in this instance, the biggest concern is that he's an instinctive shot blocker who can get drawn into fouls pretty easily.

I don't love saying it, but he reminds me a bit of Kalkbrenner when he was a freshman. Don't ask him to do too much, let him do some rim running, and he should be able to give you something.

 

[JT-55]

The scenario that may be common is DC with two fouls. That impacts playing time behind Karaban mostly. It frees up more minutes at the 4 that Johnson cannot fill.

This is a great point.

 

[cap10dingus]

Sit Clingan for the rest of the first half and mix one through three with Johnson only. If he picks up a 3rd fouls in the first half because Sing couldn't be on the floor then Clingan will have to be really careful in the second half. Johnson's biggest use to us this year is going to be his production when DC needs rest regardless of reason. If we get more than that from him I can't even begin to imagine what this team is capable of. Finally even in a "small ball" lineup for us our guards are so big what does that really mean? We outsize everyone still at the 1-3 almost every night so we will be giving a few inches of height up at the 4 and the 5 in that case? 6-8 Karaban rebounds above his size. I think in these rare moments we are very unlikely to be in that lineup against a center bigger than 6-10 so I'm fine with it. The real issue is when and if SJ or DC are injured. Sing is going to play some meaningful minutes this year, just hopefully very sporadically.

 

[JT-55]

Scenario 1 - depends on the opponent. Early season I would let Singare play and see what he can do. Late in the Big East season I would play Samson and hope to get to halftime without an extra foul.

Scenario 2 - I would play DC and take my chances with him at the line. Think he has good form on his shot.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I'd be quite surprised if both Donovan and Samson had two fouls in just 10 minutes. That's extreme and unlikely. As for what you'd do, depends on the opponent.

The scenario that may be common is DC with two fouls. That impacts playing time behind Karaban mostly. It frees up more minutes at the 4 that Johnson cannot fill. Likewise, it's interesting to see what happens if Castle gets a quick 2 fouls. We can move Solo there in some cases, but may need more size in others. In short, foul trouble is probably one of the main ways Stewart & Ross get minutes.

Is it though? Clingan averaged 2 fouls a game last season in 13 mins.

I don't think you'll want Karaban at the 5 and guarding the likes of Kalkbrenner or Soriano.

Biggest keys to success this season are Clingan's health, conditioning and ability to stay out of foul trouble. Subsequently, the next biggest keys are Johnson's ability to do the same.

 

[navery12]

I appear to be in the minority, but you keep playing Clingan and Johnson. There's no reason to guarantee that you lose Clingan minutes unless you have to, so play him until one or both pick up their 3rd foul. If we're up by 15 or 20 maybe you try and sneak a few minutes of Singare by, but in a close game there's no reason to

 

[aburks41]

I know Hurley doesn't do this, but I think you could easily let Samson play with 2 fouls. As soon as he picks up a 3rd, you sit him for Singare. But if you're going into the 2nd half with 5 fouls to give between Clingan and Johnson, we're fine.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Is it though? Clingan averaged 2 fouls a game last season in 13 mins.

I don't think you'll want Karaban at the 5 and guarding the likes of Kalkbrenner or Soriano.

Biggest keys to success this season are Clingan's health, conditioning and ability to stay out of foul trouble. Subsequently, the next biggest keys are Johnson's ability to do the same.

The odds of them both getting 2 is remote. If they do, it probably comes with a minute left and you play Singare. It's the least of our depth worries really. We are three deep at that spot.

 

[yungdowork]

I appear to be in the minority, but you keep playing Clingan and Johnson. There's no reason to guarantee that you lose Clingan minutes unless you have to, so play him until one or both pick up their 3rd foul. If we're up by 15 or 20 maybe you try and sneak a few minutes of Singare by, but in a close game there's no reason to

I think the main caveat to this is how big the gulf is between Johnson and Singare. I'd assume based on all the discussion from Hurley and others that there's a substantial difference right now, but nobody has ever seen Johnson do that in a game situation. In the scrimmages we've seen where they played against each other, both were non-factors.

I did find it interesting that Hurley called Singare the "emotional epicenter" of the team, and wonder if that has anything to do with on-court stuff as well or just his personality.

 

[husky429]

Posing question #1 because I think this scenario will occur at least 5x this year and I'd love to hear thoughts now vs when we have seen more on the court.

2 fouls on both Clingan & Johnson at the 10 min mark of the first half against a quality opponent.
1. Risk a third foul on Johnson or Clingan
2. Throw Singare to the wolves and see if he can hold the fort
3. Go to small ball with Karaban-Ross-Stewart front line, or some other combination
If small ball, do you risk Karaban picking up fouls at the 5 or sacrifice Stewart?
I did see 1 comment that Castle is physically the strongest and same size as Stewart and could defend a 5 in a pinch

I don't expect close games, but #2 Scenario down by 2 with 5sec left and we have possession at our offensive end.
Do you put Donovan on the court as a 'go to' scorer and 'put back' machine, or, does that risk the other team purposely fouling a 50% foul shooter that is likely to miss one and seal the game for the opponent?

Love to hear your preseason thoughts

Gonna answer and see what others said after.

Kinda depends on personnel. If you can throw Karaban at the 5, you do it... but that's not feasible versus most teams. If we throw Karaban in against Soriano, we're going to get destroyed. If he's up against some 6'8 230lb stretch-big, then we play him there.

Now assuming we can't play Karaban at the 5, I'm either risking the foul on Johnson or playing Singare if we think he's good enough to compete. i don't have enough of a read on him to make that call.

Clingan is way too foul-prone (and way too important to the team) to risk the third foul at this stage of his development. Maybe by February he's earned that trust, but I ain't seen it yet.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The odds of them both getting 2 is remote. If they do, it probably comes with a minute left and you play Singare. It's the least of our depth worries really. We are three deep at that spot.

The least of our worries? Our big man has a foot injury, Johnson has barely played for two seasons and the other big is a freshman.

What other depth issue do you envision?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Exactly. Offensively, Brimah and Nolan's job was to stay out of the way of Bazz, Boat, Daniels and Giffey as they operated from the corners. Singare's job would be the same with Castle, Newton, Spenser and Karaban operating from the corners. It's ironic that UConn has a potential All-America center in a year when center-by-committee would do just fine and, in fact, against certain opponents, be the preferred option.

Yeah Center is a pretty simple position to play.

Run rim to rim, rebound, block shots, and dunk. Do that well enough and you can make $200 mil like Rudy Gobert with not even a single post move lol.

Singare is probably going to be behind on knowing what’s going on rotation wise on defense and understanding how to communicate back there, but we should be able to afford that in shorts if he can do a good job of everything else.

 

[businesslawyer]

This is a great point.

Except that Karaban barely came out last year, and presumably with his work ethic will have improved his conditioning from that.

 

[bendm]

so clingan has 2 fouls after 5 mins, samson checks in, and also proceeds to pick up 2 fouls in the next 5 mins. woof. staying out of foul trouble is clingan's #1 key to success so i hope it doesnt happen frequently but yeah i'd shift back and forth between singare at C and a smallball lineup with AK at C and beef stew at PF.

 

[bendm]

The least of our worries? Our big man has a foot injury, Johnson has barely played for two seasons and the other big is a freshman.

What other depth issue do you envision?

we dont have any depth worries this year. we have 5 guys that can handle the ball, 4 bigs, and more wings than i can count.