Without Gilbert and Larrier

[raf46]

I think a lot of us are down on the season. Down on Ollie. Down on the future of Uconn. I was just thinking if we had these two, we probably would have been starting to hit a gro0ve around this point in the season. People could point to the first couple of games, saying it does not matter, we still would have had a terrible season. But you know how many teams in history, with lots of new talent struggle at the beginning of a season. In fact teams that have great experience still struggle at the beginning of the season. I remember Arkansas in 1995, coming off a loss in the title game, getting blasted early season, and thinking to myself how does that happen. But now we are here. 11 games in, with a heavily injured team. Good chance we win against Auburn yesterday if , Jalen does not go out. It is frustrating, because we have had some disappointments in recent years, but this year really is going to be an abboration on the future of Huskies basketball. We just have to be great fans, support them regardless and go out to as many games as we can possible.

Bad news is that Gilbert will still be playing like a Freshman, and Larrier will not have played for two years. And is coming off Major knee surgery. Don't expect much from them next season.

 

[upstater]

What players has KO brought in that have accomplished anything other than last year AAC Tournament Championship? Brimah, Purvis, D. Hamilton, J Adams, S. Miller, and others are/were no where near as good Donyell, Ray Allen, Omeka, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Charley V., Rip Hamilton, Khalid and others I am currently forgetting.

Omeka? Stick to touchdowns.

 

[temery]

What players has KO brought in that have accomplished anything other than last year AAC Tournament Championship? Brimah, Purvis, D. Hamilton, J Adams, S. Miller, and others are/were no where near as good Donyell, Ray Allen, Omeka, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Charley V., Rip Hamilton, Khalid and others I am currently forgetting.

Comparing the first three or four years of a career, to an entire career, is a bit silly.

 

[huskymagic]

We need to recruit a shooter for next year preferably some Euro wing from Serbia or Lithuania or wherever. Forget recruiting rankings look for a guy in America or wherever that has height and has a good stroke from the 3 point line. It shouldn't be impossible to find 1. We have enough so called athletes, we need to diversify our team like we would our portfolios. Enoch is the only guaranteed reliable player we have next year along with Adams if he stays. After that, there is a bunch of question marks. Makai looks like a player, but is a freshman so dont know what to expect there. I like Tyler Polley's game and more importantly his shooting form than I like Vance Jackson.

P.S. We need Hamidou to say that Ollie is getting elite recruits as he will give us a first round pick and another guy we can point to as UCONN legacy of producing NBA talent. Saying that Ollie is recruiting better than Calhoun did in the Big East is not true and wishful at best. Calhoun got Drummond, Lamb, Napier, Kemba, Rudy, Charlie V, Emeka, Ben Gordon, Rip, Donyell, Cliff, Thabeet, etc. We need to start putting some players in the first round again.

P.S. HAMI COMMIT BRING HAMMER TIME BACK TO STORRS!

 

[7774]

What players has KO brought in that have accomplished anything other than last year AAC Tournament Championship? Brimah, Purvis, D. Hamilton, J Adams, S. Miller, and others are/were no where near as good Donyell, Ray Allen, Omeka, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Charley V., Rip Hamilton, Khalid and others I am currently forgetting.

Comparing KO's recruits to a list of guys that are the cream of the crop for our program over a 25 year period, almost all of which are on the Huskies Wall of Honor.

What an incredibly unbiased portrayal.

 

[temery]

So how come it doesn't take Calipari as long to develop his very young players? We, as UConn fans, are always making excuses for freshmen, and sometimes sophomores (same thing in football) while other teams do quite well with their young players.

Calipari doesn't develop players. He currently has three juniors/seniors on a team dominated by one and done hopefuls. That's been his MO for years.

 

[intlzncster]

Comparing KO's recruits to a list of guys that are the cream of the crop for our program over a 25 year period, almost all of which are on the Huskies Wall of Honor.

What an incredibly unbiased portrayal.

Besides, a few of those guys won a National Championship. And some guys on the Wall of Honor didn't. So they technically accomplished more? hehe

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Calipari doesn't develop players. He currently has three juniors/seniors on a team dominated by one and done hopefuls. That's been his MO for years.

And that's the point. JC and Kentucky fans aren't always whining about being a young team. They just send out and expect the cream to rise to the top.

 

[Stainmaster]

And that's the point. JC and Kentucky fans aren't always whining about being a young team. They just send out and expect the cream to rise to the top.

We should be more like Kentucky. Brilliant.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

We should be more like Kentucky. Brilliant.

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

 

[7774]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

lol

 

[temery]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

You seem to think getting five star and/or one and done recruits is a choice. It is not. Neither is reloading vs rebuilding.

 

[prankster]

I think the next couple years are gonna be a lot of fun.

The demise of UConn Basketball is being greatly exaggerated.

This season stinks so far though.

(FIFY)

 

[King Husky]

I think the next couple years are gonna be a lot of fun.

The demise of UConn Basketball is being greatly exaggerated.

This season stinks though.

Can't say the season stinks yet! If and when Hami comes, this could be one of the most unique and exciting seasons in UConn history! Even if he doesn't, I think we can all agree that this team has made serious improvements each game of the season. There's no reason to think it won't continue.

 

[pj]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

You're listing 7 great players from a 40 year Hall of Fame coaching career. That's fewer than one such player every 5 years.

Kevin Ollie has completed 3 full seasons, one partial (2012-13), and part of a fifth (2016-17). If he were on Calhoun's pace, he'd have one great player in that time. And who is to say that Jalen Adams or Terry Larrier or (please) Hamidou Diallo may not be that player?

In any case, coaches generally have to prove themselves before they get the 5* players. It took Calhoun 25 years before he started being competitive for them. Calipari has been a head coach for 29 years, and Krzyzewski for 41 years. Those are the two pulling in 5* players right now. Why not give Ollie a few years before judging him? He may well surpass Jim Calhoun.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level.

Nailed it. I've always maintained that the program started slipping when Ollie made a conscious decision to stop recruiting really good players. At the time it was a novel approach but it's clearly run its course and I think we should start recruiting good players again. Experiment's over.

 

[King Husky]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

Jalen Adams will likely be better than all those guys except for one or two.

 

[Giddyup5]

Jalen Adams will likely be better than all those guys except for one or two.

Highly doubt it...but sure hope you are right. If he is, we should get ready to hang another banner in Stores.

 

[David 76]

What players has KO brought in that have accomplished anything other than last year AAC Tournament Championship? Brimah, Purvis, D. Hamilton, J Adams, S. Miller, and others are/were no where near as good Donyell, Ray Allen, Omeka, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Charley V., Rip Hamilton, Khalid and others I am currently forgetting.

You are comparing four years with twenty-five years. The four years included a tournament ban and reduced scholarships

 

[PAHusky]

Jalen Adams will likely be better than all those guys except for one or two.

I love JA as much as the next guy but this is delusional even for the BY. Amongst Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker you're talking about All Americans, national championship winners, a future NBA hall of famer - the best that have ever put the uconn uniform on. Let's get realistic here.

 

[David 76]

Don't I remember something about a national championship?​

 

[King Husky]

I love JA as much as the next guy but this is delusional even for the BY. Amongst Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker you're talking about All Americans, national championship winners, a future NBA hall of famer - the best that have ever put the uconn uniform on. Let's get realistic here.

IMO Adams is highly underrated. Averaging 17/5/6 as a sophomore PG, good 3-point shot (43% this year), and most importantly he can score by creating his own shot whenever he wants to. Can't remember the last time I've seen a UConn player score in traffic as well as he does. Ollie has him playing somewhat conservatively so that he can get the other guys involved, so he could actually be putting up much bigger numbers than he is (like in the Maui Tournament).

None of those guys had significantly better stats than Jalen in their sophomore years; he exceeds Kemba's sophomore numbers across the board. And what separates him from some other past UConn guards is that he has a big body, which is why I think he will likely have a better NBA career than all of those guys EXCEPT ONE OR TWO (Ray Allen, and probably Kemba).

 

[pj]

IMO Adams is highly underrated. Averaging 17/5/6 as a sophomore PG, good 3-point shot (43% this year), and most importantly he can score by creating his own shot whenever he wants to. Can't remember the last time I've seen a UConn player score in traffic as well as he does. Ollie has him playing somewhat conservatively so that he can get the other guys involved, so he could actually be putting up much bigger numbers than he is (like in the Maui Tournament).

None of those guys had significantly better stats than Jalen in their sophomore years; he exceeds Kemba's sophomore numbers across the board. And what separates him from some other past UConn guards is that he has a big body, which is why I think he will likely have a better NBA career than all of those guys EXCEPT ONE OR TWO (Ray Allen, and probably Kemba).

Adams has great potential. Not all of past stars were ready to star right away. Though his shooting was ready right away, Ray Allen came off the bench as a freshman, as did Ben Gordon. Adams has not performed quite as well as they did to this point in his career, but he's not far behind either. If he develops his point guard skills further, he may have a better NBA career than Gordon.

 

[Mr. French]

And that's the point. JC and Kentucky fans aren't always whining about being a young team. They just send out and expect the cream to rise to the top.

Really, that's not at all true.

Calipari, that creep, usually waits until they start underachieving to blame youth. When they play well, he takes credit, when they don't, he says "guys, we're playing all freshmen...what do you expect, they have upperclassmen."

It's one of the most prominent reasons I hate his guts, amongst millions.

 

[sdhusky]

No, we should be more like Jim Calhoun and recruit players the caliber of Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Rip Hamilton, Khalid El Aim, Caron Butler, Ben Gordon and Kemba Walker. I don't think any of the current players are even close to this level. And, I hate Kentucky as much as the next fan. I love that UConn has beaten them in Final Four and NC, but there is something about being really good consistently (reloading, not rebuilding).

cause everyone can be calhoun