Devin Robinson

[upstater]

Totally agree, injuries are a big part of the game. I said robinson would be a nice commit upstater. but he doesn't usurp any of those guys other than Leon. IMO having that much depth is a luxury. I wouldn't lose my if we don't get this highly touted kid as a back up, we could just get a guy with one year of eligibility left.

Without Robinson or Swift, UConn will be forced into a big lineup with a single injury to Calhoun, Purvis or Hamilton.
This is why I'd like to see a 3/4 who can score.

And I know aceboon pointed out that a lot of this depends on whether Cassell/Samuel lock down the PG position without any help at all from Purvis. If that happens, the depth concerns are minimized.

Now, say Calhoun gets hurt at some point. UConn will be forced into something like this:

Cassell
Purvis
Hamilton
Lubin
Facey/Nolan

They are one injury away.

 

[selles]

Totally agree, injuries are a big part of the game. I said robinson would be a nice commit upstater. but he doesn't usurp any of those guys other than Leon. IMO having that much depth is a luxury. I wouldn't lose my if we don't get this highly touted kid as a back up, we could just get a guy with one year of eligibility left.

The issue is that we don't know whether any of the guys listed by upstater for the 4 and the 5 (and I agree with his list - I don't think either Hamilton or Calhoun profiles as being able to handle the 4 on D) is capable of providing any consistent offense. So we run the risk of brimming with offensive talent at the 1-3 and having minimal O at the 4 and 5. You can survive having one position that doesn't provide much offense but not two positions.

That's why I think it's important to bring in a 3/4 with some offensive potential. Maybe the guys upstater lists will surprise with their offensive games, but we need to hedge that bet.

 

[James]

You're comparing Robinson to Daniels as if that's a bad thing. Sure, Daniels struggled as a freshman but he followed that up with 12 ppg as a sophomore and I'm betting 15+ as a junior. What's so bad about that?

Nothing. It just means he wouldn't play a lot as a freshman. There are posts in this thread saying hell command pt because of how good he is right away. Delusional thinking. I would like him to be a daniels like player too, but he isnt making or breaking the '14 season. Cassell would have though.

 

[Stinger92860]

Just a guess on my part, but I'm not sure that deandre responded well to jc's style his freshmen year. The quick hook can cause lingering confidence issues. I love Jim but not everyone we brought in responded positively to his approach.

 

[HuskyHawk]

IMHO Deandre is about 80% gone after this year. Expecting big things from him. Only way he comes back is if he has an inconsistent year and is worried about falling to the second round because of the expected deep draft class next year. If he does leave that means DHam is the only competition at the 3 unless I'm forgetting someone. Plenty of opportunity available. If we stopped recruiting him its because we already lost him to some other program.

So another 5 star guy from the same class is the "only" competition? You don't think that's a potential issue? I also see Calhoun playing at the 3 next year, he's 6'5" and strong enough. Purvis is going to eat a lot of minutes at the 2, unless we make him a point, and Calhoun will be junior. He won't just warm the bench. That's three very good players at the wing, whether 2 or 3. I can imagine a 3-4 star guy coming in under those circumstances, and waiting for PT to open up, but Robinson? He's going to want to start or get significant minutes from day one.

 

[upstater]

Nothing. It just means he wouldn't play a lot as a freshman. There are posts in this thread saying hell command pt because of how good he is right away. Delusional thinking. I would like him to be a daniels like player too, but he isnt making or breaking the '14 season. Cassell would have though.

Not delusional at all. If Daniels and Boatright leave, there is PT available.

Do the math.

PG: Cassell/Samuel 30m, Purvis 10m
SG: Purvis 15-20m/Calhoun 20-25m/
SF: Hamilton 25m/Calhoun 5-10m/Robinson 5-10m
PF: Facey 20m/Robinson 15m/Lubin or Tolksdorf 5m
C: Nolan 25m/Facey 5-10m/Brimah 5-10m

That's 25 minutes available for Robinson or Swift

 

[upstater]

So another 5 star guy from the same class is the "only" competition? You don't think that's a potential issue? I also see Calhoun playing at the 3 next year, he's 6'5" and strong enough. Purvis is going to eat a lot of minutes at the 2, unless we make him a point, and Calhoun will be junior. He won't just warm the bench. That's three very good players at the wing, whether 2 or 3. I can imagine a 3-4 star guy coming in under those circumstances, and waiting for PT to open up, but Robinson? He's going to want to start or get significant minutes from day one.

They aren't going to play 40 minutes. If they play 30 minutes, they will still have a lot of playing time available for one more player. I did the math above.

 

[HuskyHawk]

They aren't going to play 40 minutes. If they play 30 minutes, they will still have a lot of playing time available for one more player. I did the math above.

You underestimated Lubin's time at PF and left out the possibility of Leon playing SF in a big lineup (which he could if needed). Plus you gave Robinson 15 at the 4, which he both doesn't want to play and is too small to play. If he wants to come, we'll find some minutes, but I understand his concern. He has NBA aspirations and he won't get there as anything but a 3.

 

[James]

Not delusional at all. If Daniels and Boatright leave, there is PT available.

Do the math.

PG: Cassell/Samuel 30m, Purvis 10m
SG: Purvis 15-20m/Calhoun 20-25m/
SF: Hamilton 25m/Calhoun 5-10m/Robinson 5-10m
PF: Facey 20m/Robinson 15m/Lubin or Tolksdorf 5m
C: Nolan 25m/Facey 5-10m/Brimah 5-10m

That's 25 minutes available for Robinson or Swift

Facey isn't playing any minutes at the 5. Nolan and Brimah will be playing more mpg than that, you hear how high the staff is on him, right ? More minutes for Hamilton as well, there's literally no minutes for somebody else at the 3 between purvis/calhoun/Hamilton. So that's a squeeze.

 

[upstater]

You underestimated Lubin's time at PF and left out the possibility of Leon playing SF in a big lineup (which he could if needed). Plus you gave Robinson 15 at the 4, which he both doesn't want to play and is too small to play. If he wants to come, we'll find some minutes, but I understand his concern. He has NBA aspirations and he won't get there as anything but a 3.

I'll be shocked if Lubin is playing more than 5 minutes as a freshman. Shocked.

Robinson has said in tweets he expects to be a power forward. He is being recruited as such by all the coaches. He has said this. And how is he too small to play that position at 6'8?

 

[bear]

Amore just posted a blog that states that the Robinson visit is cancelled and that he's focusing elsewhere.

 

[upstater]

Facey isn't playing any minutes at the 5. Nolan and Brimah will be playing more mpg than that, you hear how high the staff is on him, right ? More minutes for Hamilton as well, there's literally no minutes for somebody else at the 3 between purvis/calhoun/Hamilton. So that's a squeeze.

So, you are stating categorically that Facey will never play any minutes at the 5?

And why are you squeezing 3 players into 1 position? What possesses you to do that?

 

[upstater]

Amore just posted a blog that states that the Robinson visit is cancelled and that he's focusing elsewhere.

Well, there's that.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I'll be shocked if Lubin is playing more than 5 minutes as a freshman. Shocked.

Robinson has said in tweets he expects to be a power forward. He is being recruited as such by all the coaches. He has said this. And how is he too small to play that position at 6'8?

Well, I could see Lubin getting more time that that if he can play smart and disciplined for a freshman with that size of his. He could also log time at the 5. Our front court players are nearly stick figures when up against some of the hefty interior guys. Last year our interior guys were getting knocked under the basket and even out of bounds sometimes when battles for position were occurring. It seemed to me that Wolf was the only guy who was not moved out of position fairly easily by some of the opponents with some weight to them. We shall see. Kentan may have some trouble holding his spot on the floor.

 

[James]

So, you are stating categorically that Facey will never play any minutes at the 5?

And why are you squeezing 3 players into 1 position? What possesses you to do that?

What are you talking about ? If we play small for whatever reason purvis could be the 3rd guard , that's all I'm saying. Both of us are speculating at this point so I'll just consider it a difference of opinion.

 

[upstater]

What are you talking about ? If we play small for whatever reason purvis could be the 3rd guard , that's all I'm saying. Both of us are speculating at this point so I'll just consider it a difference of opinion.

I saw a bunch of wings who could play 2-4.
But without a kid like Robinson or Swift, that's not going to happen.

We'll play 2 bigs instead, Nolan/Brimah and Facey, with Lubin backing up.

 

[Gurleyman]

We've always played two bigs - until the last couple years when Roscoe and DD/Niels saw time at 4 out of necessity based on personnel. Rudy never played the 4 here and Sticks was almost exclusively a 3, except very rare spot minutes at the 4.

Right now for 2014-15 (assuming no Boat or DD), we have five guys to rotate at the 1-3 (Cassell, Samuel, Calhoun, Purvis, Hamilton), and five at the 4-5 (including Leon). Perhaps someone doesn't get in the rotation, but even then, we're still a solid 8 or 9 deep, where one injury doesn't kill us. I don't think Hamilton or Calhoun could realistically be a stretch 4 even if we wanted to (they don't have size and/or strength of Roscoe or DD), so if one of the 5 guys at 1-3 get hurt - we're fine, we split those 120 minutes four ways. If two guys get hurt, the remaining three have to play heavy minutes and Leon becomes our emergency back up 3. Not ideal, but not many teams can handle two major injuries without some issues.

We don't have the same quality depth up front on paper, so an injury to a big would probably force a player or two into more playing time than they are ready for. That's been an issue for us since Adrien/Thabeet left, though.

Now, if DD leaves, we won't have a hybrid 3-4 (other than perhaps an improved Leon, but that's asking a lot), so Robinson would clearly make us more flexible and improve our team, where we wouldn't have to force a raw big man into the lineup if he wasn't ready. So there is a need for him and I hope he comes, but if not, there's no one injury that would put us in severe trouble.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'll be shocked if Lubin is playing more than 5 minutes as a freshman. Shocked.

Robinson has said in tweets he expects to be a power forward. He is being recruited as such by all the coaches. He has said this. And how is he too small to play that position at 6'8?

I'd be shocked if he only gets 5 minutes. I think our bigs are underwhelming. This team needs muscle in the worst way. DRob is a skinny, under 200 pounds 6'8" (per reports). With more pounds he can play the 4. Deandre only played the 4 for us out of necessity, and he was overmatched at times, even agaisnt the likes of PC.

 

[rip7774]

Is that a guess or is there evidence to suggest that?

Yep. Heard this from a good source early yesterday.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Yep. Heard this from a good source early yesterday.

yes, would appear to be a good source in light of developments.

 

[Gurleyman]

Not delusional at all. If Daniels and Boatright leave, there is PT available.

Do the math.

PG: Cassell/Samuel 30m, Purvis 10m
SG: Purvis 15-20m/Calhoun 20-25m/
SF: Hamilton 25m/Calhoun 5-10m/Robinson 5-10m
PF: Facey 20m/Robinson 15m/Lubin or Tolksdorf 5m
C: Nolan 25m/Facey 5-10m/Brimah 5-10m

That's 25 minutes available for Robinson or Swift

I think Purvis is going to be a 35 mpg guy who we don't want off the floor except for brief rests. But no way to know - just a guess.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

Do the math.

PG: Cassell/Samuel 30m, Purvis 10m
SG: Purvis 15-20m/Calhoun 20-25m/
SF: Hamilton 25m/Calhoun 5-10m/Robinson 5-10m
PF: Facey 20m/Robinson 15m/Lubin or Tolksdorf 5m
C: Nolan 25m/Facey 5-10m/Brimah 5-10m

That's 25 minutes available for Robinson or Swift

WHAT? Calhoun would be a bench player after starting for two straight years!?!?!? The kid's a stud. I actually worry about him being so good this year that he could go NBA. It's an outside chance...but it's possible. My point is that the kid won't be coming off the bench as a Junior.

 

[upstater]

WHAT? Calhoun would be a bench player after starting for two straight years!?!?!? The kid's a stud. I actually worry about him being so good this year that he could go NBA. It's an outside chance...but it's possible. My point is that the kid won't be coming off the bench as a Junior.

I wasn't choosing starters. I gave Calhoun more minutes than anyone else on the floor.

 

[tcf15]

Hate to bump this thread as it is pretty much off topic at this point, but for anyone who still may be interested in this recruitment, it seems that Florida leads at the moment. Here's an update from the Florida TOS boards:

Spoke to a source tonight that feels Florida leads for the No. 20 ranked player in the 2014 class followed closely by Notre Dame and Indiana. A source also told me that the mother may not be feeling Indiana. Not sure how much say she'll have in her son's decision ... D-Rob, as he's known, is listed at 6-foot-8, 180 but when I met him in July he looked more like 170 to me…he definitely wants to play the SF position at the college level…he wants no part of being a "stretch 4." The Gators went in-home on 9/17 and I wouldn't be surprised if Billy takes a trip to Virginia to visit with D-Rob and his family at his school one day this week.​

@upstater called this pretty early and said people could be underestimating Florida...he could be right. Also, more buzz about him wanting to avoid being a stretch 4 and remain at the 3.