Jalen Adams

[RichZ]

I'm still having some problems with his demeanor. He spent way too much time chastising CV last night, and then when CV was headed to the line late, he came over and tried to hug him and encourage him, CV just pushed him away with a look of disgust.
Maybe it's a Yankees/Red Sox, Knicks/Celts, Giants/Patriots thing, I don't know. But there's a dynamic developing there that I find worrisome.

Upon further review, while there's no question there was some tension between them during the 2nd half, they were both smiling with each other at the end. So I guess all is well.

 

[lavuuk153]

Kemba had the ball in his hands a majority of the time. Seriously, he was the offense.

You just don't take your Jr. point guard..a real floor general..and move him off ball for a freshman, just because the freshman also likes to have the ball in his hands. It's stupid.

He played off the ball a lot because Bazz could run the offense and it allowed Kemba to rest which let him play more minutes. I'm not sure what you are getting at. Of course in big spots Kemba had the ball, but the first half of the shot clock Bazz would take the harder portion.

 

[upstater]

Kemba had the ball in his hands a majority of the time. Seriously, he was the offense.

You just don't take your Jr. point guard..a real floor general..and move him off ball for a freshman, just because the freshman also likes to have the ball in his hands. It's stupid.

Sigh. No one has disagreed with this.

We are all talking about when Shabazz came in and Kemba played off the ball.

 

[Excalibur]

Not sure I understand.

I was just countering the statement about "not taking an All American PG off the ball". It's exactly what they did with Kemba and Bazz...and we won a NC with that.

Those two were moved off the ball for brief stretches, mainly for rest purposes. When it mattered, they both dominated the ball.

 

[intlzncster]

Those two were moved off the ball for brief stretches, mainly for rest purposes. When it mattered, they both dominated the ball.

Whenever Shabazz was in the game, Kemba was off the ball. That doesn't mean he didn't get the ball every play and asked to create.

 

[PAHusky]

This conversation is assuming that Gilbert or MAL prove that they can handle the responsibilities of running a team if Adams moves off the ball. We're comparing a kid who played a few college games before going down with a recurring injury and a recruit who has never played a minute of college basketball with Boatright and his ability to play pg and let Bazz move off the ball. Let's slow down with that silly talk. I fully expect Adams to be running the show and initiating the offense next year, and if one of those two can show they can do it more effectively then him then I'm sure KO will reevaluate. You don't just take the ball out of a proven pg to hand it to two kids without any experience

 

[upstater]

For the life of me, I can't understand why this keeps happening in this thread. We have people saying that Shabazz came in to give Kemba a blow at running things, and this allowed Kemba to play off the ball, and play well. For stretches during a game. Then others counter that we are saying that this is the way things should run all game. We are not saying that. But despite maybe 10 posts to the contrary, the replies persist.

 

[upstater]

This conversation is assuming that Gilbert or MAL prove that they can handle the responsibilities of running a team if Adams moves off the ball. We're comparing a kid who played a few college games before going down with a recurring injury and a recruit who has never played a minute of college basketball with Boatright and his ability to play pg and let Bazz move off the ball. Let's slow down with that silly talk. I fully expect Adams to be running the show and initiating the offense next year, and if one of those two can show they can do it more effectively then him then I'm sure KO will reevaluate. You don't just take the ball out of a proven pg to hand it to two kids without any experience

They better have an answer at backup point guard next year, unless you envision Adams going 40 minutes at PG every game.

 

[Rico444]

As far as improvement I think Adam's conditioning needs to get better. A lot is expected of him and he seems to wear out over the course of the game. Give the kid credit he never quits and continues to man up but he looks beat down at the end of games in a way I don't remember other Husky greats showing. The other area for improvement for Adams is the inexplicable mental errors. Adams seems to have a least 2 unforced turnovers a game. It usually comes in the form of a lazy pass or sloppy dribble and often directly leads to an easy transition basket for the other team. I'm not sure Adams is yet capable of 40 minutes of mental focus in a game but that comes with experience.

I liked most of your post, but this paragraph is completely unfair IMO. Adams is averaging 36 minutes per game, and he's literally the only point guard on the team. In the back-to-back Tulsa and Memphis games, he played every minute of those games, one of which went to overtime. The only other sophomore (that I can remember, anyway) that we relied on this heavily to lead the team and play a vast majority of minutes was Caron in 2002, and even he played off the ball. People can bring up Kemba, but what he did in 2011 was otherworldly, and while it would be great if Adams can pick up a team on his back next season like that, I'm sure as hell not expecting it, and he can still be an All-American without doing so.

 

[RipCity]

Gilbert was making plays and shooting 60% inside the arc at a time where the whole team besides Larrier could not buy a bucket to save their lives, and that includes Jalen. I'm not sure he's not a floor general just because he wasn't racking up assists. The kid looked special to me, and he's going to need the ball in his hands a lot.

I love Vital, but if his shot isn't on, I can see Gilbert getting more burn than him. Regardless, all 3 of the guards I've mentioned will get a lot of playing time, and I don't think either Vital or Gilbert are the type to cry over who's on the court for the tip. They love seeing each other succeed.

 

[PAHusky]

They better have an answer at backup point guard next year, unless you envision Adams going 40 minutes at PG every game.

Huge difference between having a freshman/inexperienced player as your backup point guard and having one that allows you to move your best player off ball. Not sure how these two thoughts are really comparable

 

[TRUCONN76]

Right, no one takes their likely All American point guard, and moves them off the ball. It would be silly. Adams proved he's at his best with when he's facilitating.

Alterique will be a great point guard and will without question play much more then 15 minutes a game in that role. Jalen is playing great but is more of a combo guard in my opinion. Time will tell but my gut tells me by the end of next year Alterique will be the primary point guard as I believe he is born for that role. Jalen get freed up to become a scorer first.

 

[dwalks93]

I liked most of your post, but this paragraph is completely unfair IMO. Adams is averaging 36 minutes per game, and he's literally the only point guard on the team. In the back-to-back Tulsa and Memphis games, he played every minute of those games, one of which went to overtime. The only other sophomore (that I can remember, anyway) that we relied on this heavily to lead the team and play a vast majority of minutes was Caron in 2002, and even he played off the ball. People can bring up Kemba, but what he did in 2011 was otherworldly, and while it would be great if Adams can pick up a team on his back next season like that, I'm sure as hell not expecting it, and he can still be an All-American without doing so.

I completely agree with your post.

Due to injuries and the currently available personnel Adams needs to be on the court almost the entire game. Moreover, Adams has to run the offense and be in "attack mode" the whole time. That requires a ton of energy and very little opportunity to take a rest series.

To expect that kind of conditioning may be unrealistic but it is the reality for what UConn is asking Adams to do this year. It wasn't meant to be a criticism of Adams but simple an area that if he improves he can vastly help UConn and his game. I'm not sure I'd put Adam's conditioning on the same level as Kemba, Napier and Boatright at this point in his career (yes I recognize that is not an apple to apple comparison as Adams is being asked to do more).

Having something to work on is not a insult. The best players in the world have something they can improve. Improving conditioning is always a good place to start for an athlete.

 

[Mr. French]

Whenever Shabazz was in the game, Kemba was off the ball. That doesn't mean he didn't get the ball every play and asked to create.

What is it about this that is so complex and unable to be grasped ?

 

[pj]

Remember KO seeks "positionless basketball" in which players are capable of many roles and thus the offense is unpredictable. I think you'll see the first half of 2017-18 being devoted to developing players and then in Feb-Mar they will settle into roles.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if early next season Jalen is working on his shooting/scoring while they try to develop point guard skills in Alterique and MAL. Then, toward the end of the season when the games count, Jalen is the primary ballhandler / floor general / creator and Alterique, MAL, and Vital are "combo guards" who can take the point in transition, but in halfcourt follow Jalen's lead and take his passes. Three guard sets when not playing Larrier or Jackson at the 3.

 

[upstater]

Huge difference between having a freshman/inexperienced player as your backup point guard and having one that allows you to move your best player off ball. Not sure how these two thoughts are really comparable

As I've said a dozen times, no one ever talked about moving Adams away from PG on this thread.

It is about doing what they did with Kemba in 2011.

EDIT: One person after your post said Alterique will eventually be the primary PG.

 

[upstater]

What is it about this that is so complex and unable to be grasped ?

A great deal. Apparently.

 

[PAHusky]

As I've said a dozen times, no one ever talked about moving Adams away from PG on this thread.

It is about doing what they did with Kemba in 2011.

EDIT: One person after your post said Alterique will eventually be the primary PG.

You're kidding, there are multiple posts on every page of this thread discussing moving him off the ball. Since UConn tends to (ideally) play a lineup with two ball handling guards, the discussion is about whether or not he should initiate the offense, not moving him full time to shooting guard. My last post was simply saying that worrying about whether we'll have the talent to spell Adams as primary facilitator next year for small stretches each game is a completely different conversation than whether or not our lineup ideally features him in a roll where he's not initiating the offense every time down the court

 

[blackbird]

As I've said a dozen times, no one ever talked about moving Adams away from PG on this thread.

It is about doing what they did with Kemba in 2011.

EDIT: One person after your post said Alterique will eventually be the primary PG.

What? How is, "Adams should play off ball" not moving Adams away from PG?

Giving Adams a break for 10/15 minutes a game and letting him play off ball for limited time/so he can rest..verses having him play off ball permanently are two different things. He should clearly be the point guard on this team, and he should clearly be the one with the ball in his hands most of the time.

My concern in moving him off ball any more than that is that he would become passive, as he was in the beginning of this year. Adams needs to come into next season knowing he's the alpha dog and leader, and the rest of the team needs to adjust to him.

 

[upstater]

What? How is, "Adams should play off ball" not moving Adams away from PG?

Giving Adams a break for 10/15 minutes a game and letting him play off ball for limited time/so he can rest..verses having him play off ball permanently are two different things. He should clearly be the point guard on this team, and he should clearly be the one with the ball in his hands most of the time.

My concern in moving him off ball any more than that is that he would become passive, as he was in the beginning of this year. Adams needs to come into next season knowing he's the alpha dog and leader, and the rest of the team needs to adjust to him.

Who are you quoting here? "Adams should play off the ball?"

 

[upstater]

You're kidding, there are multiple posts on every page of this thread discussing moving him off the ball. Since UConn tends to (ideally) play a lineup with two ball handling guards, the discussion is about whether or not he should initiate the offense, not moving him full time to shooting guard. My last post was simply saying that worrying about whether we'll have the talent to spell Adams as primary facilitator next year for small stretches each game is a completely different conversation than whether or not our lineup ideally features him in a roll where he's not initiating the offense every time down the court

I've been looking for those posts--don't see them.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I can see JA and AG being a Bazz and Boat kind of pair with shared PG duties. Next years team could shapeup very similar to the 2014 squad.

 

[PAHusky]

I've been looking for those posts--don't see them.

This was a waste of time, but I actually went back to look. YOU started the entire conversation on the first page with "Alterique is going to run things when he's in next year, so it's fine by me if Jalen plays off the ball half the time. In fact, I can imagine how good Jalen will be with his 3 point shooting and midrange game while playing off the ball.". Ucon990411 replied, on the same page, "It would be foolish to make Gilbert the primary point guard considering how well Jalen has looked in that role. Alterique will certainly get his share of minutes at the point, but he should be the secondary ballhandler like Boatright was." On page 2, Intlzncster and Matrim55 added cogent points to the argument, with Tykurez and blackbird chiming in with compelling thoughts throughout the thread. It's one thing to defend a position, but come on.

 

[mauconnfan]

This was a waste of time, but I actually went back to look. YOU started the entire conversation on the first page with "Alterique is going to run things when he's in next year, so it's fine by me if Jalen plays off the ball half the time. In fact, I can imagine how good Jalen will be with his 3 point shooting and midrange game while playing off the ball.". Ucon990411 replied, on the same page, "It would be foolish to make Gilbert the primary point guard considering how well Jalen has looked in that role. Alterique will certainly get his share of minutes at the point, but he should be the secondary ballhandler like Boatright was." On page 2, Intlzncster and Matrim55 added cogent points to the argument, with Tykurez and blackbird chiming in with compelling thoughts throughout the thread. It's one thing to defend a position, but come on.

Jalen will be the alpha no matter who has the ball. The defenses thrown at us will enable KO to make a game-to-game decision on where to put his best offensive backcourt weapon and how to utilize him the best, whether it's with the ball or coming off of screens. We are arguing over nothing but good here, if Alterique is healthy we have 2 PG's and a couple on the bench who can play there also, this is all a really good thing. Jalen won't always be the guy with the ball because he can score it in so many ways. So KO can use him with the ball because they are doubling him, to assure he gets the ball to the open people OR he can play him off the ball so he can use picks to get open because we need him to score the ball more from the wing. It will be Jalens mostly, but there will be times it won't be because its best for the offense.

Everyone's right here!

 

[HuskyHawk]

They better have an answer at backup point guard next year, unless you envision Adams going 40 minutes at PG every game.

Gilbert is clearly the backup PG next year. You are absolutely right about that. The question, really, is who is the primary/starting SG? I look at the roster and see 4 guards, 3 of whom are PGs (Adams, Gilbert, MAL). So is Vital starting at the SG spot? I doubt it. That means some PG needs to play off the ball, and I think most people are suggesting that it should not be Adams. I agree with them.

We have enough depth next year that I don't think Adams needs to play off the ball to get a rest. Instead, I'd rather he gets an actual rest and we let two other guys play. Maybe we go 3 guards, but given that we have two pretty capable small forwards in Larrier and Vance who need minutes, I don't think that should be the case very often. Larrier will see some time at the 4 when we go small, but really we should have a pretty big lineup most of the time.