Uconn .......back to Maui in 2024

[the Blades]

I had a blast out in Hawaii, when Kemba and Co. visited and took down Wich St., Mich St..... Then blew out Kentucky/Calipari for the Tourney Championship, then beat UK again for good measure in the spring for the National crown.

 

[the Blades]

2024 Maui Bracket

(Click to enlarge)

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The 8th team is Auburn.

 

[the Blades]

TV and Times :

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I will not be in Hawaii, but I will not be at work either. I will be home, watching these games.

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The line is UConn -8.5. Which is the biggest spread of any of the 4 1st round games- tied with Michigan State also -8.5 over Colorado in the 2nd game.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

 

[the Blades]

2 things, besides the garbage refs...Samson & Mahaney are physical liabilities. One can't grab a rebound to save his life or not foul against any decent frontline big. And the other was a major miss in the portal, IMHO, by going for a scorer, who's just to small and weak, to be able to mirror anything that Spencer and Newton brought to the team. PS.... Dan......Don't know what's in your mind..but free Jaylin Stewart ! ( DH gives a very awkward answer as to why he didn't play JS more in the 2nd half, SMH!....

Dan don't confuse it, JS brought way more to the game and toughness than Mahaney or even Ross and was ready to compete ! Time to go to that bigger line-up you've been talking about with more Solo/ Diarra along with some McNeely/Ross or even Stewart @ the 2 than the portal guy.

Full presser-

 

[the Blades]

Memphis Tigers vs. UConn Huskies: live game updates, stats, play-by-play

Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games

sports.yahoo.com

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Time to go to that bigger line-up you've been talking about with more Solo/ Diarra along with some McNeely/Ross or even Stewart @ the 2 than the portal guy.

Although Johnson and Mahaney were both huge liabilities for reasons you mentioned (and really have been in all of the games so far), I think another possible solution is to play Nowell more minutes and use Mahaney in the Joey California bench role he seems better suited to. Nowell is a dog on defense and moves his feet better than Mahaney while potentially providing the same scoring.

I think Hurley is intrigued by Mahaney's potential PG skills offensively and felt like he could coach up the D. But his defensive weaknesses so far overshadow his offensive potential. Some guys who have gone from mid majors to UConn or that level have difficulty with the adjustment, and Mahaney certainly has. Let's play Nowell more Minutes starting today. I want to see Dogs on Defense!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Was listening to the Locked On Podcast and heard that Nowell had a bandage on his hand which is why he probably didn't play at all yesterday. Not sure whether he has a hand injury or not. Despite that I will be curious if either Mahaney or Johnson start today. Starting Diarra and Reed in their places seems like the way to go.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I am not fully understanding how Johnson, an experienced player, is having these foul issues. I understand that he has always had trouble defending bigger bodied centers, and that he is arguably miscast playing the 5 on defense. It seems like he is putting himself in bad defensive positions almost continually and you would think this would have been coached out of him..

The other part of this is he really passes the ball well on offense and could be a lob threat if the guards found him. I wonder if he is getting frustrated by the guard play.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I think we are all seeing minutes being stolen by Nowell from Mahaney. Nowell had 4 assists playing the last 9 minutes. It looks like changes are being made.

14 foul first half after 31 fouls yesterday. UConn averaging 15 fouls per half in Maui. The kids are playing hard but some of those fouls were just not smart plays. Reed's 3rd foul very borderline IMHO but I think he had to let that rebound go with 2 fouls already.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Samson Johnson averaging 9.3 fouls per 40 minutes, and him and Reed fouling out in back to back games, brings back memories of the Amida Brimah/Kentan Facey days of foul prone centers. I haven't seen rapid foul acquisition like this since Brimah/Facey.