Thoughts re 5 Game Warmup

[Ricker]

We handled our business, never were threatened, won big, got court time deep into the bench, and, as fans, finally got to see our players.
Sanogo 19-22 from the line (86.3%!!), 4-7 from 3 !!
Joey C 9-17 from 3
Newton triple double but the team doesn't even need anything in other games
Donovan able to stay on the court with minimal foul problems and excellent numbers rebounding, scoring, %, and blocks
Team 36.4% from 3 even with 2 clunkers at XL
Many more assists than other years
Need Diarra to stop the Gilbert impression driving into the trees with no way to finish
Love Alleyene man to man defense

On a personal note: I'm gratified that everybody loves Alex and frequently draw the exact same comparisons I did when I saw him the first time while I was at a game to watch Kadary Richmond, and noticed Karaban. On 12/12/2019 I posted "a 2022 soph named Alex Karaban. He has Tyler Lydon size, skills, and versatility with Giffey BB IQ", " he scored, rebounded, ball handled, defended, and had intangibles last night that made me notice and inquire" " Karaban with Donovan Clingan is my current 2022 wish list" I want to thank whoever had the power to make my wishes come true. After a slow start Alex is now 8-22 from 3 (36.3%), and 13-18 FT (72%). As I have said in other threads, his rebound and assist totals are slightly understated based on boxscore errors. The assists would be higher still, if Hawk finished his dunk, and guys hit open 3's. I guess 2019 was a good year for me after all

 

[Ricker]

Forgot this part of that 2019 post re Karaban.
"New Hampton is also the 'Huskies', so Karaban is used to being a Husky. Seems like it could be destiny?"

Per Hannibal/George Peppard, "I Love it when a plan comes together"

 

[jibsey]

We handled our business, never were threatened, won big, got court time deep into the bench, and, as fans, finally got to see our players.
Sanogo 19-22 from the line (86.3%!!), 4-7 from 3 !!
Joey C 9-17 from 3
Newton triple double but the team doesn't even need anything in other games
Donovan able to stay on the court with minimal foul problems and excellent numbers rebounding, scoring, %, and blocks
Team 36.4% from 3 even with 2 clunkers at XL
Many more assists than other years
Need Diarra to stop the Gilbert impression driving into the trees with no way to finish
Love Alleyene man to man defense

On a personal note: I'm gratified that everybody loves Alex and frequently draw the exact same comparisons I did when I saw him the first time while I was at a game to watch Kadary Richmond, and noticed Karaban. On 12/12/2019 I posted "a 2022 soph named Alex Karaban. He has Tyler Lydon size, skills, and versatility with Giffey BB IQ", " he scored, rebounded, ball handled, defended, and had intangibles last night that made me notice and inquire" " Karaban with Donovan Clingan is my current 2022 wish list" I want to thank whoever had the power to make my wishes come true. After a slow start Alex is now 8-22 from 3 (36.3%), and 13-18 FT (72%). As I have said in other threads, his rebound and assist totals are slightly understated based on boxscore errors. The assists would be higher still, if Hawk finished his dunk, and guys hit open 3's. I guess 2019 was a good year for me after all

You had him right, nice call.

 

[SubbaBub]

Three point shooting needs to come around but the diversity of offensive options is exciting. No more hand the ball to RJ and hope.

Would like Sanogo to realize there are things he doesn't do well enough to try in live games and that passing the ball is an option.

Won't know about defense until we match up with better teams.

 

[imno1]

Really impressed how sound Alex is on defense.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Three point shooting needs to come around but the diversity of offensive options is exciting. No more hand the ball to RJ and hope.

Would like Sanogo to realize there are things he doesn't do well enough to try in live games and that passing the ball is an option.

Won't know about defense until we match up with better teams.

They have 43 3's in 5 games. 8.6/game. Shooting at 36% as a team.

Would us fans like it to be better? Sure, but it's not a weakness either.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Three point shooting needs to come around but the diversity of offensive options is exciting. No more hand the ball to RJ and hope.

Would like Sanogo to realize there are things he doesn't do well enough to try in live games and that passing the ball is an option.

Won't know about defense until we match up with better teams.

I agree that Sanogo still needs to do a better job of finding guys. He’s improved some but still room for growth. It’s kind of like Tyrese last year where he starting to pass now which is a start but can still do a better job of finding the open man more often.

Other things I would like to see:

Andre Jackson

Calming down to avoid foul trouble. Needs to be more disciplined. Also would like to see him attack more to make teams respect his offense.

Hawkins

Mix up his shots. Don’t take all 3s and get to the rim sometimes. Love his 3 point shot but there’s other shots to get. He’ll need to show off his skills from all over the court if he wants to go high.

We’ll learn a lot more about the team after Oregon. Hopefully the ball movement stays the way it is and we don’t get sucked into the force it to Sanogo offense.

 

[BGesus4]

We handled our business, never were threatened, won big, got court time deep into the bench, and, as fans, finally got to see our players.
Sanogo 19-22 from the line (86.3%!!), 4-7 from 3 !!
Joey C 9-17 from 3
Newton triple double but the team doesn't even need anything in other games
Donovan able to stay on the court with minimal foul problems and excellent numbers rebounding, scoring, %, and blocks
Team 36.4% from 3 even with 2 clunkers at XL
Many more assists than other years
Need Diarra to stop the Gilbert impression driving into the trees with no way to finish
Love Alleyene man to man defense

On a personal note: I'm gratified that everybody loves Alex and frequently draw the exact same comparisons I did when I saw him the first time while I was at a game to watch Kadary Richmond, and noticed Karaban. On 12/12/2019 I posted "a 2022 soph named Alex Karaban. He has Tyler Lydon size, skills, and versatility with Giffey BB IQ", " he scored, rebounded, ball handled, defended, and had intangibles last night that made me notice and inquire" " Karaban with Donovan Clingan is my current 2022 wish list" I want to thank whoever had the power to make my wishes come true. After a slow start Alex is now 8-22 from 3 (36.3%), and 13-18 FT (72%). As I have said in other threads, his rebound and assist totals are slightly understated based on boxscore errors. The assists would be higher still, if Hawk finished his dunk, and guys hit open 3's. I guess 2019 was a good year for me after all

Normally a post like this would get an eye roll from me, but your call on Karaban (and Filipowski who was not considered a five star by anyone at the time) was the best I can remember on this board, by far.

I remember watching his clips thinking how is this slow dude with a weird looking shot going to be an important piece for us.

Kudos and a well deserved gloat.

 

[Get a Job]

Normally a post like this would get an eye roll from me, but your call on Karaban (and Filipowski who was not considered a five star by anyone at the time) was the best I can remember on this board, by far.

I remember watching his clips thinking how is this slow dude with a weird looking shot going to be an important piece for us.

Kudos and a well deserved gloat.

The thing is that @Ricker seems to be celebrating the fact that Karaban is as awesome as he thought, as opposed to celebrating the fact that he was right. Sure, he's patting himself on the back a bit, but it doesn't seem to be the main thrust of his comments.

 

[SubbaBub]

They have 43 3's in 5 games. 8.6/game. Shooting at 36% as a team.

Would us fans like it to be better? Sure, but it's not a weakness either.

It's against phantom defenses. Ie. It will be the ceiling if we don't improve.

 

[navery12]

It's against phantom defenses. Ie. It will be the ceiling if we don't improve.

Opposing defenses are able to affect 3PA significantly more than 3P%. So there's a much better chance we end up hitting on 6-7 3's a game instead of 8-9 like we are now, but shooting this well from deep should be sustainable

 

[Ricker]

I'm a little embarrassed and apologize for the tone of my first post if it came across as self indulging. I've been wrong on players like Ajou Deng that I watched a bunch and thought were special. In this case I think @HooperScooper and I had given up that we were even recruiting Karaban with complete silence related to UConn until near his commitment. For me, it has never been about the idea of being right. Its more like Gayle Sayers saying "I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too". I just developed a rooting interest in the guy after I watched him play and talked to his teachers and @HooperScooper who had such glowing things to say. At first it was the UConn staff I hoped would want him. Now, what gratifies me is that he seems universally embraced. You guys also see the intangibles and with post after post seem to like what you see so far. I'm just a fan of his, not a guru.

 

[BGesus4]

I'm a little embarrassed and apologize for the tone of my first post if it came across as self indulging. I've been wrong on players like Ajou Deng that I watched a bunch and thought were special. In this case I think @HooperScooper and I had given up that we were even recruiting Karaban with complete silence related to UConn until near his commitment. For me, it has never been about the idea of being right. Its more like Gayle Sayers saying "I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too". I just developed a rooting interest in the guy after I watched him play and talked to his teachers and @HooperScooper who had such glowing things to say. At first it was the UConn staff I hoped would want him. Now, what gratifies me is that he seems universally embraced. You guys also see the intangibles and with post after post seem to like what you see so far. I'm just a fan of his, not a guru.

Barely self indulging given how good the call was

 

[ctchamps]

I'm a little embarrassed and apologize for the tone of my first post if it came across as self indulging. I've been wrong on players like Ajou Deng that I watched a bunch and thought were special. In this case I think @HooperScooper and I had given up that we were even recruiting Karaban with complete silence related to UConn until near his commitment. For me, it has never been about the idea of being right. Its more like Gayle Sayers saying "I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him too". I just developed a rooting interest in the guy after I watched him play and talked to his teachers and @HooperScooper who had such glowing things to say. At first it was the UConn staff I hoped would want him. Now, what gratifies me is that he seems universally embraced. You guys also see the intangibles and with post after post seem to like what you see so far. I'm just a fan of his, not a guru.

Your tone implied you were happy for Karaban and that your early assessment was correct. The Boneyard posters comments for you just confirm your impressions. No problem with producing evidence of your early call. This forum is filled with ego and hot takes and I applaud you getting this one right.

I joined your bandwagon early along with @husky429. I’m doing a KFree Rip bow with you right now.

Really wanted Filipowski as well. My correct calls were Khalid and Bouknight. My flops were LeBlanc and Gaffney.

Go ahead and take a serious lap. Mine will be casual.

 

[elmcityboy]

i personally think the ricker's early assessment of karaban, into the surprise recruitment/commitment, and finally the emergence of alex as a featured contributor on the team is one of the better boneyard stories of the past few years. really fun to follow -- even more fun now that we have a potential star player on our hands.

cheers, @Ricker !

 

[pepband99]

The thing is that @Ricker seems to be celebrating the fact that Karaban is as awesome as he thought, as opposed to celebrating the fact that he was right. Sure, he's patting himself on the back a bit, but it doesn't seem to be the main thrust of his comments.

Some posters could learn from this.

 

[tcf15]

Pretty cool stat for Karaban - he’s one of three freshmen at UConn since 1988 to hit double figures in each of their first five games. The other two were Ray Allen (hit double figures in first six games of 93/94 season) and Caron Butler (hit double figures in hist first thirteen straight games of the 00/01 season).

 

[tennmike]

Postgame comments from the Delaware State coach.

“We settled down and played a little bit better in the second half, but that was a pretty impressive performance by UConn. I think that is one of the best teams in the country. They have the pieces, they have size, they have shooters, they have depth, they play well together and they defend. That is a reason why we wanted to put a team like that on the schedule.”

The UNC Wilmington coach had similar things to say. Granted, they both got crushed, but they also have played a few high-profile teams (Nova, NC).