A midsummer’s look at how the AAC stacks up in men’s basketball | The Boneyard

A midsummer’s look at how the AAC stacks up in men’s basketball

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From David Borges of the New Haven Register.

A midsummer’s look at how the AAC stacks up in men’s basketball, New Haven Register

• UCONN: The Huskies have veterans Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah and Kentan Facey back, along with talented sophomore guard Jalen Adams and an incoming freshman class so good they’ve dubbed themselves the “Top 5.”McDonald’s All-American Alterique Gilbert, a point guard, leads that group.

Terry Larrier, the spindly VCU transfer who sat out last season, should help ease the surprise departure of Daniel Hamilton to the NBA. And 6-10 Steve Enoch should be improved this season after playing for the Armenian U18 national team this summer.

Head coach Kevin Ollie has liked what he’s seen so far this summer from his team.

“It’s a young team,” he noted, shortly before heading out to help coach the USA U18 national team. “We lost six players and four starters. Guys are gonna really have to step up and be ready to perform. This summer is very, very crucial. We’re demanding our players get in the gym, and I think they’re demanding it themselves. I think they’re really policing themselves, because there’s a lot of opportunity out there.”
 

intlzncster

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“We lost six players and four starters. Guys are gonna really have to step up and be ready to perform. This summer is very, very crucial.

God, I forget that fact. Hope posters have more patience to start the season than I know they will. Problem is our damn front loaded schedule.
 
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Let's see, replacing the starters:

Sterling Gibbs - the sum of Jalen, Alterique, Rodney and Christian will eventually be better than our backcourt last year. Just how soon - can one or 2 of them step up and make some 3's when called upon. I think in general our PG will be more of a playmaker when on the court vs what Sterling brought to the table, this was his weakness as he couldn't penetrate the defense like a lead guard should.

DHam - Rodney, Larrier, Vance will be in and out of that spot on the court. Plus he played some 2G in games, mind you the lead guard at times. His rebounding will be missed the most in that spot but hopefully we pick up that slack in other areas, even the guards. He was a good all around player which other team keyed on slightly until he had his slump. If we can make up for the rebounding I don't think we miss him all that much. But 9 rebounds a game isn't easy.

Shonn - 13/7 is a nice solid player, smart guy who could guard people. If Juwan is healthy we have options otherwise we will depend on either playing smallish with Larrier, jackson etc or a nice improvement from Kentan could make this transition easier. Maybe Diarra works really hard and is ready? Can Steve move his feet? He may be the toughest to replace as there are question marks on the block in that spot.

Nolan/Omar - While both had their moments, I believe with the pieces above and the fact they will play smaller a lot with the multiple guard options this will not play in to the success of this years team. But experience does go a long way.

All in all this is a team with a ton of question marks, but also a ton of talent. Who fits where? We will know more beginning in 3 months or so that's for sure.
 

David 76

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My guesses:
We will be better (eventually) at the 1
Rodney will improve at the 2
At the 3, tough to replace DHam and no one player will. Hope some improved ball movement/chemistry offsets the loss.
I think we drop off most at power forward. I hope I'm wrong. If Durham redshirts, I don't think I am.
Slight improvement at the 5 with AB and SE
Bench will see the biggest improvement.

I see, at worst, incremental improvement over last year. But it could go much better if one or 2 guys take off. And we have four players that I think can do that.
 
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