Frontcourt Problems – An Issue Going Forward
UConn fans had something to rejoice about this past week: the start of practice. That’s right; a new season is almost upon us. The team looks promising: led by All-Americans at guard and forwards who can score in a multitude of ways. But one thing is uncertain. The status of the frontcourt – Of course, we all know that the bigs up front are thin and not exactly the country’s best. But we UConn fans have been putting off the idea of injuries and fatigue.
Injuries are going to happen when you play at this high of a level. You need to prepare for this. When you look back into the illustrious history of Connecticut basketball, UConn’s national championship teams had depth up front. In 1999, Jake Voskhul and Kevin Freeman led the group. Edmund Saunders, Souleymane Wane, and Justin Brown were all there for support. Sometimes they came up huge (see Saunder’s electrifying dunks and Wane’s huge half vs. Duke). In 2004, the Huskies were led by All-American Emeka Okafor, Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, Hilton Armstrong, and Marcus White. All of these players, with the exception of White, clocked in during an NBA game. 2011 was a slightly different story: Kemba Walker put the team on his back and essentially did everything. Regardless, Alex Oriakhi, Roscoe Smith, Tyler Olander, and Charles Okwandu led a pretty solid frontline. This year’s team is very, very different.
2004 almost never was if Emeka’s back didn’t hold up. 2011 could have been different if Roscoe Smith’s eye was most severe, or Oriakhi went down. Injuries took their toll last season, forcing the Huskies to limp to a 4-4 finish. Last season, the team had 5 regular bigs: Daniels, Olander, Phil Nolan, Enosch Wolf, and Leon Tolksdorf. The number was diminished to 4 after Wolf was suspended, then to 3 after Olander went down. This season, the Huskies have a total of 6 players lined up. If everyone is healthy and active, that is a solid number. But, Daniels isn’t really a 4 (he’s more of a stretch 3), Olander’s future is unknown, Kentan Facey is still inactive (hopefully this week he is cleared), and Amida Brimah was just injured today in practice. This leaves Daniels, Nolan, and Tolksdorf as the only options; but Olander and Brimah will most likely suit up for the first game. Still, the problem exists: the frontcourt is thin, unexperienced, and injury prone.
We’ve gone from caring about how stable our frontcourt is to not knowing who can fill the backup slots. The answer to bulking our backcourt up again lies on the recruiting trail. With no frontocourt players signed for the 2014 Class, the future is cloudy for the frontcourt. Of course, one recruit can change a class and a team’s expectations (see Andre Drummond), but that recruit isn’t likely to come in 2014. 2015 seems like UConn’s best shot to land another big body that can produce immediately. But that’s another 2 years from now, so we’ll have to make things work with what we’ve got. I’ve got confidence in this group of guys, but we’re one injury away from a derailed 2013-2014 season.
-CTBasketball
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