Donovan Clingan, Welcome to the Portland Trail Blazers: The best rim protector in the draft class

Donovan Clingan, Welcome to the Portland Trail Blazers: The best rim protector in the draft class

hello and welcome to Game Theory I’m your host Sam Vini today we’ve got another film room session this time with potential number one overall pick Donovan kingan listening to Donovan talk about drop coverage defense and passing and playmaking for a big is one of the really really fun things I’ve gotten to do this cycle so I’m really excited to share that with you guys uh truly just a 7 foot two uh monster who is capable of playing at an exceptionally high level on that end of the Court while also just being like this really awesome human being off the court but first let’s hit the [Music] music they do have a timeout decide not to use it down than than what’s this going to [Applause] be are you kidding me hello and welcome to the game theory podcast I’m your step but if you watch the tape what you will see completely orchestrated this game all right here now with Donovan kingan Donovan kingan is the seven foot2 center for the national championship winning Connecticut Huskies does that still feel good when I talked to cam Spencer he was still pretty pretty pumped about it how does that feel for you n yeah it feels great for sure especially two in a row um you know it’s something that you know I remember forever so Donovan is a potential number one overall draft pick this year so I’m really excited to get a chance to talk to him and break down tape but before we do that I think where I want to start is just your journey in basketball because you have this really interesting complex kind of start in the game where you know you weren’t a guy that was on like significant a circuits for like the big biggest ones right like and you were a kid that I know that when you were younger you were definitely a little bit heavier right and then you get to Connecticut and kind of slim down so can you kind of explain your journey uh within the game of basketball for people that may not be as familiar with you yeah um my during my high school career I stayed local played for public school Bristol Central had a great coach um you know great people around me supportting me and you know just decided to be loyal stay you know stay home and you know I was getting offers from colleges I was getting looks I was playing on a you know an independent circuit aou team out of Boston team Spartans and Coach Earley came to the gym one day in Bristol saw me work out for a couple minutes offer me a scholarship uh from there on out you know we built a great relationship and you know he really just you know persuade me to you know come be a Husky and can you explain real quick like a big reason why stayed local if I remember correctly I believe it has something to do with your mother and like you know just explain because I think it’s like a really amazing reason why you decided not to go to like a bigger school like that and kind of get more exposure yeah uh my mom went to the same high school that I went to and you know she held a lot of Records there you know scoring rebounding blocks wins you know all that all those types of records and you it was I felt like I wanted to put my name next to hers and above hers and so that was something that was really special to me me and that was you know something I you wanted to accomplish yeah no it’s a it’s a really really fun you know amazing you know decision that you made I think you to honor your mother and be able to do that and you know have your names together like forever in that school’s history um let’s just kind of jump in and talk about basketball now let’s just do it and kind of dive in and discuss I think what makes you such a special player because you you are truly an incredible basketball player and you have been now for two years you sat you know behind aogo last year and you know played you know 13 minutes a night and you know basically the first time I felt like I saw you on the court I was like oh no that’s a dude right and a big reason why was just your ability in drop coverage and what I thought was so impressive about your time at Connecticut was that you guys played two distinct ly different styles your freshman year between you and Adama like you guys would really show and recover when Adama was out there and then with you it was like Drop coverage did you kind of have to learn at first when you got there like how to show and recover is that the plan that was going on initially or was it just like all no we have this dudo seven foot two we’re just gonna drop yeah I mean coach you know I feel like just was trying to see the best coverage for me and was trying to you know see the best way that I’d be impactful on defensive end and you know after he figured that out you know I feel like I just learned the best way to you know use that high flat type of you know maybe kind of like in that drop coverage that I was in and you know really just finding ways to improve that and you know keep getting more active and having hands in the passing Lane and you know was something that we worked on in practice every day so you know coach really helped me develop at you know in the in the ball screen game for sure so let’s just like kind of jump in here and talk about you know what makes you special so this one here when you see someone coming off of a ball screen right and this one you know you’re playing like above the free throw line right like you’re not even in like the full scale like deep drop here when you see somebody coming off of a ball screen what is kind of your plan of action and what are you seeing on the court um I feel like you know I’m trying to read two things you know it’s what kind of player the point guard is you we see a guy who’s going to come off the screen look to shoot you know a step back three you know shoot the midi or is he a guy that’s you know looking to attack um in this situation you know Jaden Pierre was a guy who you know shot the ball at a high level someone that you know could get to the rim but also you know he liked that mid-range game so I had to be a little bit higher with a you know High hand and you know for me guarding Josh aduro he was you know he he popped for the three um you know he didn’t consistently shoot it but you know so I had to kind of be up a little bit so I could return back with you know a high hand if he had a shot um but you know really reading just you know how Tristan’s guarding you know if he’s too far off on you know Jaden’s hip do I have to stay for a step longer you know something that we always talk about is you know making sure that the roller doesn’t get behind you um and you know you can’t let the can’t let the point guard get all the way to the rim you know we’re trying to force like one foot floaters you know from that like big East logo area or you know from further out um you know really just try to keep active hands without the roller game behind you for a lob and being able to get back to the shooter yeah and one thing you do here I’m really glad you bring up the hands right like your hand workk here like this isn’t even like one of the like truly amazing possessions for you but like look at your hands they’re wide then you got hand like over the top of the ball here right like you’re trying to disrupt Pierre you’re still backpedaling right your back pedal is awesome uh that’s definitely one thing I want to talk about here in a second but you know the hand there it’s just right over the top of the ball you’re not letting adoro get behind and you’re just forcing this play like this to me is as much your steel as it is is steps because just look at all of the activity here that you’re giving and you’re making it so that Jaden Pierre has nowhere to go and you’re giving Tristan so much time to be able to recover and get back I I’ve talked to you know your coaching staff about the work that you’ve done in terms of your hand placement more than anything right how how important is it to have those active hands for you whenever you’re in drop coverage trying to you know disrupt what a ball handler is looking at yeah me I feel like my freshman year I kind of had more hands down on my side not not really nearly as active and you know my sophomore year having these active hands makes it difficult for the you know guard to make certain reads you know take away passing Lanes take away you know certain areas where you think he can you know go to with the dribble um and it it makes it easier to you know have a quicker reaction time you know going to block a shot you know it’s easier to just put my hand right up if it’s already up and rather than you know P coming all the way down from the side of my hips you know not have my hands up so you really just having active hands really to be any ready for anything be ready to catch the ball be be ready to have a block and you know it really kind of throws off the ball handler yeah and you know we can kind of move forward with a few of these clips right so again this one like super active hands right and this one’s even a little bit more complicated because you know obviously they’re setting like this little like Vier screen here they’re going to set you know uh the first screen here I think that might be with barnheiser and then barnheiser is going to go over in set a screen for booooy who you have to be connected to all the time so how are you kind of looking at this play as it happens where you are almost like dealing with an off ball like empty kind of action off of the Veer um right here you know it’s really try to you know boooo is a great player he was you know knockdown shooter he was you know number one on our Scouting Report so you’re trying to be a little bit more aggressive in the you know in the off off ball screening game and the ball screen game with him just because you know he was looking to really score and attack um so you know coming off of that wide pin for me was you know don’t let don’t let him just come off for an easy steping shot um and don’t help too much so that the roller Gets behind you for an easy dunk so right here you know just coming off having active hands um try to give Steph some time to you know get back but I feel like you know he got too far away and Steph Steph and I both realized we had to switch that Steph got back and you know I forced forced him to take a a tough mid-range so this is from Illinois game which honestly I think for my money it might have been the best game I saw from a prospect this year uh just point blank like what you did to just completely shut down Illinois were were you surprised that they just continued to drive into you in the way that they did yeah I mean they just they just kept coming in the lane and I was like I don’t even know how many blocks I was trying to go for the triple double but couldn’t get it done yeah like it wasn’t even the blocks like it was just even the contests right like every single time just I feel like that’s the biggest thing I feel like in the beginning of the year I was getting a lot of foul trouble you know just swinging my arms and coming down and when they’re going for layups and getting these cheap fils putting myself on the bench and I feel like you know the coaches staff Coach Murray coach Hurley you know just reminding me constantly that you know a tough two that they make is is better than you know a foul for you that puts you on the bench you know we need you on the floor so for me it was you know just having my arm straight up jumping straight up without you know making cont folling and making them try to you know finish these tough twos without putting them at the free throw line and you know if they if they make the tough twos you know tip my cap because you know it’s it’s more valuable with me on the floor yeah definitely and you know this one here you’ve got Terence Shannon coming downhill at you right and Terence is an athlete like he’s gonna really be able to try and turn that corner on you how do you look at this when you’re you know this is a high drop right like you’re basically at the level here at least at the three-point line it’s at least like a catch drop right right how are you working on trying to stop this player here teren Shannon from turning the corner on you knowing that he’s just faster than you at the end of the day um you know for Terence Shannon really I feel like the game plan we all knew that when he comes off of a ball screen he’s looking to attack you know he has he’s very strong very he’s got a lot of length he’s athletic he’s very quick so you know coming off those ball screens I feel like we knew that you know he was always going to attack so you know I was just trying to force him to you know towards that Baseline that sideline without let him get middle um and really just trying to wall up and contest and make him you know shoot a tough shot over my length and you know really just I knew that he wasn’t going to look to pass that especially with hos being so far behind I saw that he was just attacking me so I really wasn’t worried about getting back to the pop and you know I knew I just had to protect the rim at a high level there the other thing you do here that I think is interesting is you youti this crossover step right uh that’s something that you know some bigs are comfortable with some people aren’t super comfortable with in drop just because you know a lot of dudes are bigger right but you’re mobile and athletic enough to be able to do it how you know how did you go about improving this backpedal because like it was funny I was talking to you know your coach yesterday was talking to Luke and he was like yeah he still gets like a little bit high in his backpedal because Luke’s always going to be a perfectionist when it comes to but like how did you work on improving your backpedal within this drop because I think that it is really really important to note that you’ve gotten so much better at it and I think that that athleticism Mobility is just such a critical part of your game in terms of being able to cut off those drives and stop people from turning the corner on you um I feel like in practice just really trying to work on getting as high as I possibly can in the ball screens and you know really working on trying to stay in front of the guard and move my feet um you know someone that in the NBA like Rudy goar who you know is very good at switching on to you know those guards the way he you know change his direction and you know get stays in front of the ball and could just quickly move his feet is something you know I pay attention to and you know really just for me it’s just trying to stay in front of the ball without fing you know really just protect the rim at a high level don’t foul and make you know make the guard make the big you know take a tough shot um and right here you know I just try to stay on my feet and be the second guy off the floor and you know don’t come down and swipe and follow him yeah and like you know I’m glad you brought up Rudy because he’s another guy that does that crossover step right like he’s willing to do that in recovery especially to be able to get back into the play you know this one here against SE and hall right and we’ll kind of start to zoom through these I love how you navigate the Spain action right like you kind of see it coming from behind here that you know you’ve got this man coming and this isn’t easy for a big guy right like so many dudes get clipped and you’re able to just stay in recovery absolutely erase the shot this one here against a pretty good player in Aaron Estrada you know you’re there and help and it’s to me the shots that you completely dissuade from happening it’s not even the blocks or the contests like yeah like right here yeah go ahead like right here you know coach Earley Luke all the coaches really like they really emphasize you know if you see someone like that getting all the way down hill like right here strata gets to the rim he you see that he’s all the way like all the way underneath the basket and he hasn’t gone for a layup yet you know I just try to retreat back to my man with with hands you know he’s underneath the hoop it’s hard for him to take a shot so you know all the coaches are like you know if you see him that far under the hoop he doesn’t need help if he shoots that and makes it it’s a tough shot he’s underneath the hoop so you know once I see him get that low it’s just trying to retreat with active hands and get back to my man and make that a tough pass yeah like your your impact around the basket is just so serious in that way like I I love how you just know how to stay big at the end of the day like you’re not afraid to use your length and use your size like you you understand how big you are like is was that ever a like difficulty for you like high school in high school a little bit just understanding you know how strong you know I could play and how how big I really was so you know as we kind of let this play run out you’re going to end up getting into another ball screen situation perfect in drop end up block in this shot the other thing you do super well is you take away the pocket pass right like you’re constantly trying to dissuade multiple pieces of it you’re dissuading shots at The Rim you’re in this pocket which is like this you know not necessarily this angle but the one that we just got here right like this could very easily be like a pocket pass if your hand isn’t like right there right but because your hand is available and active there you’re kind of cutting this off and adoro as you mentioned earlier like guy that can shoot that mid-range shock and shoot out from three your ability to just do multiple things at once I think is what’s really really impressive how like from a processing perspective on the court like how much how much is going through your mind I guess is you’re trying to like stop all of these things from happening at once like it’s a lot of you’re doing like four separate things and that feels complicated right yeah um really starts from you know is is our point guard whipping the ball screener is he going over realizing you know how high up I have to play like right here he’s going over so I have to be a little bit higher if he’s whipping it I could play a little bit lower um then you know coming off the ball screen is is my guy a pick and popper or is he a guy that’s looking to roll um uh and then after that it’s all right it’s how long is it gonna take for Tristan to get back in front of the ball and then I also at the same time cannot let the roller get behind me and so I play this like coach Hurley always says Luke always says like this cat and mouse game game where you know you try to force you know Pierre here to take a you know a tough floater off one foot or you know that tough midi um don’t allow him to get that that pocket pass to adoro also don’t let him get to the rim so right here you know I’m I cut it off I get to the rim I see Steph helps um and then you know he’s just able to get in the passing Lane but you know me being in the way doesn’t allow him to see you know a Duro coming down the middle lane and then also doesn’t allow him to get you know a basket at The Rim so this next one here I mean this is where we kind of start getting oh no I thought this was going to be a help defense one but this one again you’re just like completely dissuading a shot at The Rim right to me this is just as good of as a block at the end of the day right like is that how you guys think of it yeah I mean you know I saw him get all the way down thehill I stay attached to the ball because I had him you know pretty handled uh as he was getting down towards the rim Tristan you know veered off and helped my man um and then as you know he attacked passed it out Tristan saw that I saw it he went back with his I went back with mine and you know just kept playing so next one here this one this one’s like almost more at the level and then you’re recovering how comfortable are you kind of out at the level and having to be able to guard out in front of the three-point line like both of your feet here are above the three-point line right so how comfortable do you feel kind of out out front like that I feel I feel very comfortable you know being able to move my feet active hands without fouling and you know here like I said earlier know booooy was a guy that we knew was looking to score he was looking to be aggressive and you know that big wasn’t he was looking more just set screens get booy open so you know I played a little more aggressive coming off to help Steph and I was able to retreat and have active hands and be able to protect the rim there yeah and then this one here I think this one is I’m trying to remember as we kind of go through it this is going to be a a help possession right okay so when you see when you’re in help situations like this what is going through your mind just point blank um I’m reading to see if Cam and I think that’s Tristan yeah Tristan switch if they switch or not um you know if Cam’s on that low hip or Tristan’s on that low hip if the guy’s popping or is he rolling um I’m also thinking who am I guarding is the guy you know popping back for a three or is he rolling is he a guy who’s looking to really be aggressive and score you know I in this game you know Pringle really wasn’t too aggressive to score um and I knew you know Nelson was one of their top scorers one of the guys who was looking to be most aggressive so you know I was I saw that Tristan was a little behind on the switch and you know I had to come over and help him protect the Rim Yeah that’s something you guys did Super well obviously you guys utilized you as more of a like helps side Defender you you utilized you as like a okay we’re gonna put Donovan on the opposing teams like worst offensive player on the court potentially and just let him roam around right uh how like how how did that role develop for you over the course of the season um you know realizing that you know I’m just trying to protect the paint protect the rim um you know I’m really just following whatever game plan that coaches wanted me to do you know I was will the guard whoever you know the Illinois game I started on Ty Rogers because he wasn’t really a big shooter it was a guy who’s looking to you know get to the rim finish in the paint guy who was looking to rebound the ball so you know I feel like that was the best matchup and you know really just trying to help on the weak side and just protect the rim you know just trying to be elite you know shot blocker rim protector and coach coaches had a great plan and I was just following it yeah I mean it’s like NBA style right like at the end of the day that’s something NBA teams are going to utilize you within as well uh you know this is again just like a beautiful helps side block on boooy you’re there active again rebounding the ball this one you’re available second jump ability right like you’re just showcasing kind of everything that you could want to see from an elite level rim protector at the end of the day and that that’s truly what you’re going to be like even in the NBA I think like you are somebody that’s going to be just like an extremely high level rim protector let’s go to the offensive side of the court now though because this is where I think you have like significant significant upside I often kind of got this feeling and I’d just be interested to hear from you on it it felt like the court was like almost too small for you at times where like you were just so condensed and packed in the lane like even you guys had like Immaculate spacing but it’s just like so much more of a tightened offensive zone than what you’ll see in the in the NBA game did you like kind of feel that at times like cramp that way yeah for sure I feel like you know just all the help all the you know activity and the college game on defense you know everyone’s you know active everyone’s all over the place and the help and the you know those holds so you know for me I feel like sometimes it was a little bit compact but really just trying to be active and move around more being more ball screens roll to the rim and you know just try to be active and move people around which you know opened up some spacing for me the the other thing you do here is we kind of run through Clips as we talk about this right like I think you catch exceedingly well out of your area like this one from cam here like he has to throw this a little bit behind you and you’re able to just go up and like snatch it right and you make these awesome like below waist catches as well that I think are really really impressive like you’re going to get a dho here and this is like a bounce pass below the waist and you just go up and dunk it how did you go about developing your hands in terms of being able to just like be available for your uh for your ball handlers to be able to throw you passes from multiple angles yeah I mean I feel in practice we did a lot of skill work um you know Luke worked with us bigs and you know just throwing different passes you know different speeds different angles different you know just throw High throw at your feet throw you know you know what I mean just working on our hands you know we work on in the weight room we work on you know just all different types of things just try to you know for me just trying to work on being better at catching the ball rebounding the ball you know it helps with so many different things you know blocking shots you know not fing you know so really just trying to work on my hand speed work on you know my strength and you know it all paid off and then this one here that we’re watching the other thing that I thought you really improved with this year was finishing with the left uh around the basket like you looked very very comfortable being able to you know catch here you know you keep it relatively high like you bring it down at the end but then you gather and then you make that step and you finish with the left the these aren’t easy finishes for dudes your size like these you know a lot of guys they go up with the right and I think like sometimes you’ll tend to go up with the right if you can but this is like a little tight ball screen here into a rescreen this is a sweet little floater hook shot like your touch with both hands is really impressive you can go out to that like eight foot range certainly I guess my question here is like kind of weird and silly as we kind of go through it but how did you go about developing that touch with both hands because like for some guys like your size it’s not super natural is it just something that’s always been natural for you or did you really have to work on that um I feel like I really to work on it sometimes I feel like my left hand’s better than my right at times but yeah um you know really just every day in practice we really work on it you know we’re working on the left hand all the way around the paint working on the floaters with the left floaters with the right you know really just trying to be ready for whatever whatever you know whatever you need to do you know left hand right hand just because you know there’s there’s really good shot blockers out there people that you know can protect at a high level so you have to be able to finish with both hands be able to you know consistently finish with both hands at a high level and you know it’s something we work on practice every day you know something I always worked on getting extra shots up is you know I always start off workouts and working on that touch working on you know the right and the left just because you got to be able to do it all the other thing I want to talk to you about is screening because I’ll probably get yelled at if I don’t uh I you improve drastically as a screener this year like I I thought that by the end of the year you were one of the best screeners in college basketball just point blank like look at this one here you’re going to drill this dude is that cam Jones maybe coming off the screen following cam Spencer yeah and You’re Gonna Roll the rim you’re GNA finish there this one here you’re gonna go do like this little tight screen here for Tristan Tristan yeah Steph there uh and then you’re gonna go and like rescreen into like almost a step up here it looks like by the end of it with how you’re getting into it right how did you go about improving your footwork because I was told it was you know it it’s not that it wasn’t natural for you at all like you were really good with it but it was just you know it’s a process for guys to really learn I think all of the different crafts and how to develop that Synergy with your ball handler right right yeah I mean you know coach coach Luke and Coach H really emphasized you know coach Kanani all the coaches really just emphasizing you know sizing the guy up you know just try to line up his shoulder with the middle of your chest and you know brace and hold the contact for you know because guys are strong you know they’re going to run through screens so really just bracing holding you know having a strong heavy chest and without moving your feet you know shoulders width apart um and really just trying to have a type of an angle where the guy can’t go under that’s something I feel like Luke and all the coaches really told me was you know screen him on an up angle so he really can’t go under you know he has to go over which gives the the guard time and space to make multiple decisions we keep bringing up Luke because he’s the guy that works with the bigs at the end of the day and how funny is it that Luke is like my height he’s like 5 foot 10 and he’s the guy working with the bigs hey it’s it’s he knows what he’s talking about man I’ll tell you that he does he does so this one here like this is a great example like I kind of want to talk about just like the Synergy that you had here with like Tristan and with some of your other ball handlers right like how do you go about developing that and having that like almost non-verbal communication where you figure out what exactly Tristan wants and what he’s trying to accomplish within a drive trying to get an angle kind of things like that yeah um you know he we know Tristan really wanted to come off to his right hand get downhill I feel like you know Tristan Tristan was the best if you know not one of the best um you know just Playmakers passers someone that played in the ball screen able to make multiple reads and you know I know Tristan loved throwing those lobs off that right hand and you know this this was a play that know was designed for kind of set like that flat screen which wasn’t the best right here but right here set this flat screen try to get that guard to a misdirection and then you know set that side ball screen have that guard lift up which you know really emptied out the side for the lob um but you know really just just just uh practice you know Tristan and I building great connections in the ball screen game throughout practice you know we go really hard we we work on all different types of situations so you know me and TR trist and I had you know great relationship on the floor yeah like just that you know this one here you know you the timing on your slips as well I think is figuring out like when to slip when to make the contact you know how I feel like that can sometimes be a complicated thing right especially when you’re a bigger dude like this next one we’re going to see I think after this one you know you go and you almost try and set this corner screen and then what are you seeing here that you kind of anticipate that it looks like Trey and cul brener are going to end up kind of doubling the ball yeah right here it looked like you know Cog burner was cutting off baseline from I believe that’s said Steph solo Steph Steph yeah yeah so saw him like cutting off the Baseline when I over set the screen and Trey went over to help and I saw a culb was there so I just slipped to the basket and you know realized that Steph was a high level passer he made those great reads and you that was one of my first first you know great plays from being back from injury yeah that’s right uh you know maybe at the end we might talk about that but then like another out of area catch here right this one awesome screen into a lob not a lob but just like a quick little pass for a nice little out of area catch again right like you have to angle your body here it’s a high ball that you’re able to find I kind of want to get into your passing as well so let’s kind of go there now because the passing I think is what really sets you apart is a bit you are just ridiculous in being able to find your Shooters and Cutters particularly the guys the things that like really stand out are the cutting is we still like kind of run through like all these clips if you you know spinning and finishing everything like that this one’s a beautiful like little Up and Under it’s your ability to find Cutters out high that just like absolutely rules to me I’ll talk about the shooting at the end because that’s a another skill set that I know there’s some excitement about I’ve heard you’ve shot it well in workouts for sure mhm this one here what are you seeing when you’re out high in circumstances like this you know you guys ran a ton of sets I think to take advantage of your passing ability yeah what are you seeing out High just reading the defense so right here reading reading you know RJ Davis on how he going Tristan you know Tristan really didn’t wait no on oh I did pass this Tristan yes so I saw that Tristan had a step on him and you passed this one to car yeah I pass this one to C my fault yeah so Tristan went back door I saw that you know AR Davis really you know had good position he had active hands he was moving and you know I saw Alex right here he had one step one step on I think it was Harrison Ingram that you know right here he just has one single step then I could just you know I see his hand is three Ines in front of it and I just do as hard as I can just try to lead him right to the basket and put it in the spot where you know I saw Ingram’s head was turned too he really couldn’t see the ball so I just you know just tried to put it right where Alex could get it and just go up and score right away the other thing you do really really well on the perimeter that isn’t super easy for Bigs your size a lot of the time is the way that you move the ball and like you manipulate the ball like with your hands like a lot of guys like need to keep it like pretty steady like in one spot right like you’re going to DHL and then you’re just going to move like here you have the ball high then you dribble twice you pump fake this ball you keep control of the ball and then you’re still able to throw this cutter how did you guys kind of work on you know keeping control of the ball and being able to like maneuver it around in order to you know keep away from guards that are coming out front and trying to like rip the ball from your hands yeah you know just trying to be strong with the ball of course you know but just trying to have the guy guarding you having them be active and move their hands because they really don’t know what’s going on behind them so really just keeping their hands moving and you know if you have the ball still it’s easy to make a read on where the next pass is going um you know and like right there it’s just also knowing the play and knowing what’s going on on the floor so for me here you know I see hos you know I feel like the play is we’re prunning split games so hos was I was never GNA give the ball back to hos there you know he’s going to play on the opposite side so you know I see him running over I see I think that’s farello you know going under the going under you know hos when he came over he went under me and you know just seeing Alex out of the corner of my eye you know I think that was green you know just seeing his head turn not seeing Tristan scen coming um Shan really didn’t help so you know just making that read being able to see Alex open there yeah and you know we we’re g to keep going through these I mean this one’s just like totally ridiculous on some level to me because like you’re not even in a good position here to throw this ball right like you’re gonna you’re trying to get almost into a DHA and you see it’s a reject is this a set play for a reject or is this yeah I mean it was kind of play playing split games making the read you know Alex was going down a set of piton for Cam and cam was going for the DHL and saw the guy was over helping I saw it at the exact time cam saw it and you know it was just something about this team was the connections man we knew what everyone was doing at the next moment so I knew cam was gonna go in there and finish that and you know he makes wild shots like that all the time yeah he’s got that little like one-legged like Dirk floater to find it this one here I thought was pretty sick as well I love love what you do here to manipulate the defense with your eyes particularly so you’re going to see eventually caraban is going to go and like set this little like you know fake screen for Steph and then just slip it and go to the rim and here it’s just very obvious like for instance your eyes like they’re going here yeah right and that forces this Defender here exactly this Defender goes here and you’re are you planning on going there the whole way or what is your um really just re that last second I mean two hands on the ball at all time don’t throw the ball one hand just so I can make that read you know coaches always say that and that’s why I was a little lofted it’s because I you know I was looking to go at Alex I saw the the defender help at the last second and you know I just kind of lofted it over there the cam yeah it’s a sick ball it’s an absolutely sick ball uh this one here you’re gonna get this lob and then you’re gonna throw it absolutely disgusting bounce pass uh how many of those have you thrown before cuz I feel like practice I mean I I’m always looking for the Cutters you know passing is something that I always love to do and you know always Tred doing as much as I can in practice and you know I saw that Gap open and just tried to split it through you have a like wide like number of passes in your toolbox too you know what I mean like you’ve got the bounce passes you’ve got the like cross Corner kickout you’ve got the whip like down to the rim how do you go about kind of developing those those specific like passes um you know in practice we’re working on all different types of things all the actions we’re running in you know on offense I feel like puts us in different situations to make different kinds of passes and different types of reads so you know I feel like I’ve really you know grown as a passer because our offense has different types of styles that allows us to make you know different types of reads and then eventually here I think on this one we’re going to get into the short roll game right and like this is where NBA centers like really have to Feast right and I think you got awesome at this throughout the course of the season so take me through this as you kind of short roll here into this is this because you just see two on the ball first yeah I mean this is something we work on every single day in practice you know is the is the big helping you know really when we do most short rolls is when that big is hedging and overextending on the guard in the ball screen game you know we call it the fist um so when when I was short rolling you know just making the read on that bottom defend or seeing that the guy cut I feel like you know on this I had not the best catch so I wasn’t able to give it right to Steph but you know just making that read seeing Ben gold step up and help with no helps side as cam ran through there you know he really opened up that backside cut for Stu yep and then yeah this a stuff we work on every day we were short work on short woles making different reads and all that different type of stuff yeah and then this one here like this is like just straight like I don’t know if I’d like fullon call this like a live dribble pass but you you’re going to catch here you’re going to try and set this little like ass out screen there for caraban coming out quickly and then you’re dribbling you’re dribbling and you’re just throwing this thing actually is just like a full scale live triple pass looking at that like that’s uh like how how Comfort like if you’re very comfortable passing on the move it looks like just straight up for a big man and do do you understand like how not normal that is on some level no I mean I feel like passing is something I’ve always loveed to do yeah like this is throwing passes like this is like accurately on time like this stuff’s hard for Bigs and that’s what makes you such a weapon on some level uh you know this one here again you’re finding the cutter dead on like know perfect timing slip it because you see two on the ball now we’re going to caraban finishing like again this one short roll looking for the cutter again like it’s just it’s like textbook and it’s automatic on some level for you right yeah I mean it’s some we work on all every day you know working on the the the back cuts the different reads you we work on that every single day in practice three onos four on o five on o is something that you know cult really emphasizes every day that you know really helps us develop those different types of reads that you know makes us you know very vers versatile players all right so the last thing we’re going to talk about in terms of your game is the jumper so I’ve been told that you’ve gone into workouts like from teams and like shot well like shot quite well at this point how comfortable are you as a shooter very um you know I got a lot of confidence and very comfortable behind the line um you know Yukon it was something that the team didn’t need me to do to you know go win basketball games we were winning basketball games without me shooting the three ball so you know I’m I’m a team player I’m out there doing whatever the team needs to win so that’s something that I didn’t need to do at that you know at that level but the next level that’s what it’s all about is you know RI twos and threes and know being able to be 72 and step behind the line and knock down the three ball and be able to play in the L game I feel like you know expands you know you like myself as a player in so many different ways you know I shoot the ball a lot of confidence I really worked on my form you know throughout the season um you know but really this offseason working on my form working on a consistent shot making sure that you know I shoot the same shot every time and you know I’ve gotten a lot of confidence in my jumper and I feel like I’ve shown teams that you know I could shoot the ball at a high level I’m just like stunned that I’m so I’m just like looking over at your bench right I I assumed there’d be some reaction to you taking a three with 23 seconds left on the shot clock and they’re just like good with it I get you’re up 23 maybe being up 23 is what I think this made coach happy because you know not always the biggest fans of playing at Providence this is something I feel like make coach happy for once oh man that’s funny no look like I think you have a chance to shoot it at the very Le least like I mean the ball comes out of your hand clean you know what I mean like that’s the biggest thing and you you only made 58% of your free throws I mean this is g to be like stupid and I swear to God I don’t mean this like in a patronizing manner at all but you only made 58% of your free throws when the ball comes out of your hand this cleanly like what what can you kind of attribute that to yeah I mean during the season I shot like you said I think it was like 52 54% from the line um you know in the postseason I think I end up shooting like 73 to 76% from the free throw line um you know really just putting the extra work in on the free throw line and practice before practice after practice you know just getting up the extra shots and really you Luke helped me with my you know my my routine keeping the ball on the right side of my body you know not leaning back as I shoot the free throws and really just being confident out there um you know sometimes I feel like I lost confidence at the foul line but you really gaining back that confidence finding my form finding the right technique and the routine that was going to help me you know shoot consistent at the line I love it so I’ve got two questions for you before you leave what who was the best player you played against this season I’d say Zack Zack Ed for sure yeah that’s it’s been a popular answer unsurprisingly uh cam Spencer said nobody uh Yukon for life because of course he did is that the least surprising answer you’ve heard yet no I mean that’s I I I expect nothing else from Cam he’s the biggest competitor he loves to win and that dude I got a lot of respect for cam yeah just uh one of my true favorites like truly like one of my favorite college basketball players of the last decade a legend he is uh what made Zach such a difficult guard um just his size and how you know tall strong physical he is and you know he’s he was in college basketball for what four years he understood the game you understood you know everything that was going on out there um and you know he’s just so consistent with that hook but you know really we locked into the game plan and we got it done so the thing that’s interesting about that game is he scores like 16 like right off the bat right from like the five minute Mark of maybe the eight minute Mark of the first half until the eight minute Mark of the second half I think you guys held him to like four points or something like that how did you adjust because a lot of that was you how did you adjust over the course of that game to playing against him after you’d kind of felt it a little bit I’m wearing him out on both ends of the floor you know really making him work on the offensive end I mean on the defensive end for him you know putting him in more ball screens making them run around um and really just try to push him off the block a little bit make the make the hook shots a little further and you know as he’s backing me down the post just being more aggressive making it tougher for him and you know I was just wasn’t following him I wasn’t putting him at the free throw line you know he’s a guy who who knocked down a lot of free throws I think he shot like 400 free throws this year so you know I just didn’t want to put him at the line I was just going to wall up make him shoot this tough you know the tough hook shot from you know the the Big East logo is what I always say even though in the final four wasn’t the Big East logo but you just from that little that logo area just making it as tough as a shot as I can without following them you guys are always just like incredibly well scouted that’s the biggest thing that always stood out to me about Connecticut basketball uh over the course of your two years that you guys just always had like the game plan like perfectly strategized obviously you know that comes down to coaching but how do you guys go about like implementing that game plan like is it just a you know we just like kind of run out and do it because obviously you have another team out there that’s trying to stop you from what you’re trying to plan you know what I mean uh so how do you guys go about like just being this is a ridiculous thing again but like being better at implementing The Game Plan than everybody else I mean we have the best staff in the country uh you know coach Charley Luke kanman you know those are the three that really do a lot of The Scouting um you know their guys Luke’s Luke’s in the the meal room at 5:30 in the morning you know the next day during the tournament watching film on the next game because you know he’s always we were always worried about the next game you know what I mean just after we won it was always flipping the switch but you know we’re putting you know before practice putting 20 to 30 minutes of film of scouting and you know really breaking down player Personnel breaking down plays bringing down you know the strategies um you know and then go on to the court and you’re throughout practice you’re you’re working on you know we call it you know like quick like quick defensive breakdown where um you know we just did like four four on four of and we had the our Scout guys going through like what they did on offense type of strategies and then you know at the end of practice we’re going through 20 to 30 minutes of scout of you know play byplay of what they run and you know we really just lock in on the tech technique and how we’re going to do to you know what type of ball screen coverage we’re in what kind of you know help we’re in um and really just trying to catch on to the strategies that they’re doing and take away their M main players from doing what they love to do yeah no I think you guys like consistently have been the best scouted team like in college basketball or the best prep team uh in college basketball the last you know at least little while yeah last question I have for you what is your favorite sports movie of all time sports movie of all time probably 42 42 okay that’s a new answer why do you love 42 I don’t know it’s just it’s a movie you know I’m not a big movie guy but it’s just one of those few sport movies that I’ve watched a few times that I’ve enjoyed I love it that’s great Donovan kinging folks it was great to have him on the show anything else you just feel like you need to impart before you get out of here no thank you for having me you know I’m going to I’m gonna miss Yukon I’m gonna miss the college days you know but on to bigger and better things and always be a husky for life I am excited to see where you land on Thursday night uh it’s gonna be fantastic thanks for coming on thank you thank you for having me man

Portland Trailblazer and former UConn big man Donovan Clingan fresh off back to back National Championship seasons is ready to show what he can do in the NBA. He joins Sam Vecenie in the #FilmRoom on Game Theory Podcast ahead of the NBA Draft.

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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.