(EXHIBITION) Towson, Sat., Oct. 18, 2p, ESPN+

I wasn’t happy when we only landed Darling, but I think the negativity is bordering on lunacy.

Darling created space and good passing angles when he had the ball in his hands. He should have stuck a couple of jumpers, but he probably realizes the current deficiency the rest of the backcourt has creating for others.

Him being in the game allows our shooters to spot up and it opens up the spacing considerably. We’ll reverse the ball a few times, screen for him, and let him get going downhill to drive and kick.

I’m more concerned right now on what we do when he’s on the bench.
 
Jack Williams said:
He’s like the 9th or 10th best player on the team
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That might be true, but who creates then? Sanon offers nothing at this point for others. Jackson and Sellers can give you some of that, but those are two of our best shooters. Who sets them up?

We will probably get + skill contribution from the 4 and 5 positions, but we really have deficit at guard. Darling’s game is geared to doing all those things we need.

I’m not sold on him, but I don’t see any reason at all to be down on him yet.
 
Marillac2 said:
That might be true, but who creates then? Sanon offers nothing at this point for others. Jackson and Sellers can give you some of that, but those are two of our best shooters. Who sets them up?

We will probably get + skill contribution from the 4 and 5 positions, but we really have deficit at guard. Darling’s game is geared to doing all those things we need.

I’m not sold on him, but I don’t see any reason at all to be down on him yet.
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I think one of the more discouraging things about Darling yesterday is that was supposed to be the type of opponent's style where he'd be most useful for us. Darling is going to be needed most against teams that will take away transition and force us into executing in the halfcourt and that's exactly what Towson does and did yesterday (Probably why Rick has specifically scheduled them for exhibitions two years in a row now). A methodical creator type won't be needed as much in transition heavy games - Sellers/Sanon/Jackson lineups should thrive in those.

That said, willing to chalk Darling's performance yesterday up to a little bit of overthinking and hesitation.

Oddly enough, our halfcourt offense was at it's best yesterday playing inside out with even Prey making nice passes with his back to the basket. That may not be super sustainable throughout the season but wouldn't be surprised to see a decent chunk of halfcourt possessions run through the post with Zuby, Hopkins, and maybe even Mitchell and Prey catching the ball on the post and spraying to shooters or finding cutters.
 
MugCostanza said:
I think one of the more discouraging things about Darling yesterday is that was supposed to be the type of opponent's style where he'd be most useful for us. Darling is going to be needed most against teams that will take away transition and force us into executing in the halfcourt and that's exactly what Towson does and did yesterday (Probably why Rick has specifically scheduled them for exhibitions two years in a row now). A methodical creator type won't be needed as much in transition heavy games - Sellers/Sanon/Jackson lineups should thrive in those.

That said, willing to chalk Darling's performance yesterday up to a little bit of overthinking and hesitation.

Oddly enough, our halfcourt offense was at it's best yesterday playing inside out with even Prey making nice passes with his back to the basket. That may not be super sustainable throughout the season but wouldn't be surprised to see a decent chunk of halfcourt possessions run through the post with Zuby, Hopkins, and maybe even Mitchell and Prey catching the ball on the post and spraying to shooters or finding cutters.
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100%. Mitchell is an outstanding passer, if we can get the ball upcourt then he may be a good choice as a focal distribution point, although Hopkins, Prey and Zuby should all be good too. Prey's pass in the scrimmage was beautiful.
 
MugCostanza said:
I think one of the more discouraging things about Darling yesterday is that was supposed to be the type of opponent's style where he'd be most useful for us. Darling is going to be needed most against teams that will take away transition and force us into executing in the halfcourt and that's exactly what Towson does and did yesterday (Probably why Rick has specifically scheduled them for exhibitions two years in a row now). A methodical creator type won't be needed as much in transition heavy games - Sellers/Sanon/Jackson lineups should thrive in those.

That said, willing to chalk Darling's performance yesterday up to a little bit of overthinking and hesitation.

Oddly enough, our halfcourt offense was at its best yesterday playing inside out with even Prey making nice passes with his back to the basket. That may not be super sustainable throughout the season but wouldn't be surprised to see a decent chunk of halfcourt possessions run through the post with Zuby, Hopkins, and maybe even Mitchell and Prey catching the ball on the post and spraying to shooters or finding cutters.
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Mug, did you rewatch the second half by chance? His play then was almost exactly that. We go from 44-43 to 61-44 when he checked in. I think his first time on the court in an entirely different situation can be forgiven.
 
Amaseinyourface said:
Mug, did you rewatch the second half by chance? His play then was almost exactly that. We go from 44-43 to 61-44 when he checked in. I think his first time on the court in an entirely different situation can be forgiven.
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Facts, baby, facts.
For those fans of WBB, particularly UConn WBB, the program brought in a PG from Croatia, Nika Muhl, same year as Bueckers. Muhl wound up starting at PG their freshman year, the year Bueckers won the NP of the year award. Many UConn fans were up in arms because although Muhl went on to set the UConn career assist record and was two time BE DPOY, her freshman year her stats were nothing at all to write home about. When Auriemma was inundated in press conferences as to why she was starting at “Bueckers position”, he stated several times that “the team plays better when she is on the court and we win.”
The team played better with Darling on the court in the 2nd half which is not only a PG’s primary job but also why Pitino kept him in. And no, Darling does not get sole or even primary credit for the 2nd half performance but he was certainly an important part of it as Mase’s numbers above attest to.
 
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Amaseinyourface said:
Mug, did you rewatch the second half by chance? His play then was almost exactly that. We go from 44-43 to 61-44 when he checked in. I think his first time on the court in an entirely different situation can be forgiven.
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Haven't rewatched but yeah the one sentence paragraph in my post basically says the same thing about chalking it up to overthinking in trying to adjust to his new role in his first game.
 
MugCostanza said:
Haven't rewatched but yeah the one sentence paragraph in my post basically says the same thing about chalking it up to overthinking in trying to adjust to his new role in his first game.
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I was disagreeing with the point about him not being useful in the game.
 
Amaseinyourface said:
I was disagreeing with the point about him not being useful in the game.
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Got it. Yeah, maybe I'll give the 2nd half a rewatch at some point specifically watching him during that run. I don't think he played poorly overall by any stretch, but I guess many including myself were hoping to see him immediately prove he's a high level player to fully assuage our PG concerns. But again, just the first game and definitely not writing him off
 
logen said:
Facts, baby, facts.
For those fans of WBB, particularly UConn WBB, the program brought in a PG from Croatia, Nika Muhl, same year as Bueckers. Muhl wound up starting at PG their freshman year, the year Bueckers won the NP of the year award. Many UConn fans were up in arms because although Muhl went on to set the UConn career assist record and was two time BE DPOY, her freshman year her stats were nothing at all to write home about. When Auriemma was inundated in press conferences as to why she was starting at “Bueckers position”, he stated several times that “the team plays better when she is on the court and we win.”
The team played better with Darling on the court in the 2nd half which is not only a PG’s primary job but also why Pitino kept him in. And no, Darling does not get sole or even primary credit for the 2nd half performance but he was certainly an important part of it as Mase’s numbers above attest to.
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Muhl is an absolute lockdown defender, though. Hard to envision Darling meeting that definition
 
MugCostanza said:
Got it. Yeah, maybe I'll give the 2nd half a rewatch at some point specifically watching him during that run. I don't think he played poorly overall by any stretch, but I guess many including myself were hoping to see him immediately prove he's a high level player to fully assuage our PG concerns. But again, just the first game and definitely not writing him off
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About 9:10 he checks in for Sellers and plays rest of game. Sellers joins him about 4 minute mark.
 
lawmanfan said:
100%. Mitchell is an outstanding passer, if we can get the ball upcourt then he may be a good choice as a focal distribution point, although Hopkins, Prey and Zuby should all be good too. Prey's pass in the scrimmage was beautiful.
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That's not really feasible because it will kill the spacing. Nobody will be within 10 feet of him. The way he can contribute best is on the block....run offense through him or one of the other bigs like Mug posted. He would have to have some offense down there to keep defenses honest.
 
I didn’t see the game but , have gleaned a lot of info , good and bad , from those who have posted already
1. it was a Exhibition game
2. Other than Zuby , we had no Starters returning . Prey , Lefty and the kid from Iona who has followed Pitino everywhere but , the Corner Deli are subs . And , I don’t mean the sandwich .
3. Jackson and Sanon might be great 1 on 1 players but , the BE is about Team BB . They are works in progress in the Pitino method .
4. For those who hated / liked Wilcher he would have been a experienced player in the Pitino style and we might miss him , more than the haters think or , the Coaching staff think
Just saying .
5. More than a fair amount of heat thrown here at Darling . Much too early me thinks .

It’s hard to get 4 new pieces plus Zuby to Develop a on Court Chemistry quickly .

Let’s see how the Michigan game goes .
 
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