2018 Recruiting: Isaiah Mucius - update | Page 4 | The Boneyard

2018 Recruiting: Isaiah Mucius - update

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SoCalCanine said:
I'm pretty sure he was speaking about Kentan Facey, not Kevin Freeman!
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I was talking about Ketan Facey. No way would I compare him to Kevin Freeman who played when the stretch 4's maybe were just starting to become popular. Of course Kevin wasn't a stretch 4.
 
Candyman34 said:
Little early to be saying if Diarra starts the 4 then it will be a long season and Ollies last.

You can't see Jalen Adams, AG and Larrier with any other two scoring? I'd imagine those three will be tough to stop scoring.

You mention our conference but what about our tough OOC schedule? Larrier will split time between 3 and 4 but I dont see him playing only the 4 like Daniels did.
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I will just have to agree to disagree on this. I agree in the NBA TL position will be the 3 but I think in college he can definitely play the 4 full time if needed. I don't see it happening right now as we would be super small at the 3 with CV but if we get IM I could see it happening.
 
Our half court sets are going to work a whole lot better when Jalen can't get blitzed on every single screen. He'll average 15 assists a game if they play him the same way this year. Love our options on the perimeter.

The struggle will obviously be inside. We just won't have enough possessions to win if we can't rebound. I don't see Larrier being that guy.
 
Fishy said:
Thank god.

But he's still wrong - Facey is what, four or five inches taller?
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2 inches by listed height. 6'10" for Kelis Fisher and 6'8" for TL.
 
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Fishy said:
Thank god.

But he's still wrong - Facey is what, four or five inches taller?
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Kentan was 6'9 or 10, which would put him 2-3 inches taller than Polley, and 1-3 inches taller than Larrier/Mucius. Mucius is probably the better rebounder of the two, as Polley has struggled to rebound against good competition. Polley is a better 3 point shooter.

Polley fits the idea of a stretch 4 but really needs to strengthen up to improve his rebounding. Mucius' athleticism will allow him to play the 3, and he has a good midrange jumper. He needs to extend his range to the 3 point line, though.

The two could easily coexist on the floor and at that point, the defensive assignment would figure itself out in due time. So like you've alluded to, it's kind of a waste of time theorizing who would play where.

I think most of us agree Larrier will play a lot of 4 this year even if Mucius commits and reclassifies.
 
Brad Stevens recently said, "I don't have the five positions anymore...You're either a ball-handler, a wing or a big."

This is what Ollie has been striving for since he took over. He sorta had this with the National Championship team.
 
Fishy said:
You cram a lot of wrong into very little space here.

Fourteen first round draft picks were either power forwards or centers - 6'10 or bigger. The game hasn't changed that much - you still need big people to get rebound and defend the basket. The vast majority of them are not out tossing up threes, they're playing with their backs to the basket.

Kevin Freeman and Terry Larrier could not be more different - Freeman had 40 pounds on Larrier at the same age. Mucius is supposedly 180 pounds and he and Larrier look to have the same build - these guys aren't bangers.

Larrier played three games for us last year. Forget what their power forwards did to us, all three of those mid-majors brought guards who were heavier and stronger than Larrier. All three went off on us and we were lucky to only lose two of those games.

He's not a power forward by any stretch. If we expect him to play the four against our non-conference slate, he's going to die young.
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I usually agree with you Fishy but this is one of the weakest posts I've seen from you. The prototypical college 4 is not what it used to be. If we can win a national championship with guys like Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey both playing the 4, then Larrier should easily be able to fill that role. How many times have we gotten destroyed by a 4 man who ends up being a nightmare because he can step out and hit 3's and our guys are too big and slow to guard him? I can't even tell you how many times this has happened to us over the years. Now we have the ability to go slightly smaller and have a guy in Larrier who is a nightmare for some teams to match up at the 4 position. Even most major programs are not starting 6' 10" or 6' 11" guys at the PF position...I thought this was pretty common knowledge.
 
Olliewood216 said:
I usually agree with you Fishy but this is one of the weakest posts I've seen from you. The prototypical college 4 is not what it used to be. If we can win a national championship with guys like Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey both playing the 4, then Larrier should easily be able to fill that role. How many times have we gotten destroyed by a 4 man who ends up being a nightmare because he can step out and hit 3's and our guys are too big and slow to guard him? I can't even tell you how many times this has happened to us over the years. Now we have the ability to go slightly smaller and have a guy in Larrier who is a nightmare for some teams to match up at the 4 position. Even most major programs are not starting 6' 10" or 6' 11" guys at the PF position...I thought this was pretty common knowledge.
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throat guard - Google Search
 
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Fishy, who would you rather have at the 4? Have you seen what we have in terms of frontcourt players. We are basically praying that Diarra knows how to play.
 
Olliewood216 said:
I usually agree with you Fishy but this is one of the weakest posts I've seen from you. The prototypical college 4 is not what it used to be. If we can win a national championship with guys like Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey both playing the 4, then Larrier should easily be able to fill that role. How many times have we gotten destroyed by a 4 man who ends up being a nightmare because he can step out and hit 3's and our guys are too big and slow to guard him? I can't even tell you how many times this has happened to us over the years. Now we have the ability to go slightly smaller and have a guy in Larrier who is a nightmare for some teams to match up at the 4 position. Even most major programs are not starting 6' 10" or 6' 11" guys at the PF position...I thought this was pretty common knowledge.
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Couldn't disagree more - most teams that go deep in the tournament have good Bigs with size.
 
Diarra is only a "4" because he can't shoot, and we hope his motor makes up for lack of size on the boards.
 
Chief00 said:
Couldn't disagree more - most teams that go deep in the tournament have good Bigs with size.
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Except for UConn.

Roscoe Smith and Deandre Daniels were our 4s in the last 2 NCs. Both were taller than Larrier however. Roscoe was also tough. Deandre, not so much.
 
upstater said:
Except for UConn.

Roscoe Smith and Deandre Daniels were our 4s in the last 2 NCs. Both were taller than Larrier however. Roscoe was also tough. Deandre, not so much.
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Big difference on both those teams- Kemba and Bazz. You can get away with alot when you have an all world player on your team.

Daniels was a stretch 4 but a poor rebounder. Bazz and Kemba were tremendous rebounders for their size which took pressure off DD and the 2011 bigs.

Besides what other option did we have at the 4 that year? Olander? This year we have plenty of options. You are all making assumptions before seeing any of them actually play a minute.
 
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Daniels wasn't tough? What about that dunk to open the Kentucky game?
 
Candyman34 said:
Big difference on both those teams- Kemba and Bazz. You can get away with alot when you have an all world player on your team.

Daniels was a stretch 4 but a poor rebounder. Bazz and Kemba were tremendous rebounders for their size which took pressure off DD and the 2011 bigs.

Besides what other option did we have at the 4 that year? Olander? This year we have plenty of options. You are all making assumptions before seeing any of them actually play a minute.
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Options. I wouldn't really call IW and JC options for this year. They might be good a few years down the line but right now they have to gain some weight and an outside shot. I think anybody who has watched UCONN the last few years knows that we have issues putting the ball in the hoop. We have to do everything possible to put our best scorers/shooters on the court together.
 
Olliewood216 said:
I think it is possible to disagree with someone's opinion without being a d*ick about it.
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that's the dumbest thing ive ever read and a complete waste of my time... what kind of moron would thing and write something like that???


(that's sarcasm above before anyone 'reports' me to the principle... highlighting usual discourse on this board)
 
3rdbass said:
You are looking at guys who are going to the NBA. I'm looking at the college ball were you aren't going to see those type of bangers who you mention every game especially in our conference. There are a few big guys but there post game is anything but graceful in our conference. TL did play the 4 last year and I don't see why he can't this year as we are in more of mid-major conference. I don't see any of those true post up players in our league.

So you would prefer MD and DO to be in our starting lineup? It is going to be a very long season and definitely KO's last if that is true. I'm sorry we need to be able to score next year and I can't see it unless we go small.

We probably won't play small too much if CV has to be our starting SF though as I can't see that working long term. This is the reason why I feel that KO was so hot on SW and now IM as he needs a decently sized and talented forward or big guard to pair with TL at the 3 and 4 position.
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Ollie is hot on any recruit that comes down the pipe because his roster for 2018-2019 looks like 1945 Dresden. He's not pursuing any grand vision; he's desperate for warm bodies.

In our two losses to mid-majors where Larrier played, a mid-major banger us up. Larrier is never going to prevent that - he's not up to lining up with a 235-pounder.

And there are plenty of 6'8", 235 power forwards out there - almost everyone not named UConn had a few last year - and Larrier doesn't match up with any of them. Of the eighteen players from Wagner and Northeastern who played against UConn in Larrier's first two games, Larrier was heavier than only one of them. Of the other 17, a few guards were about the same weight as Larrier, but the vast majority were just bigger players.

He cannot play the four in this conference or any other - he's never shown that he can and I have no idea why you think that's a good idea.
 
Fishy said:
Ollie is hot on any recruit that comes down the pipe because his roster for 2018-2019 looks like 1945 Dresden. He's not pursuing any grand vision; he's desperate for warm bodies.

In our two losses to mid-majors where Larrier played, a mid-major banger us up. Larrier is never going to prevent that - he's not up to lining up with a 235-pounder.

And there are plenty of 6'8", 235 power forwards out there - almost everyone not named UConn had a few last year - and Larrier doesn't match up with any of them. Of the eighteen players from Wagner and Northeastern who played against UConn in Larrier's first two games, Larrier was heavier than only one of them. Of the other 17, a few guards were about the same weight as Larrier, but the vast majority were just bigger players.

He cannot play the four in this conference or any other - he's never shown that he can and I have no idea why you think that's a good idea.
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He can score though. We have no idea if any of our 4's can actually man the 4 this upcoming year, I think we pretty much know none of them are scorers.
 
Olliewood216 said:
I usually agree with you Fishy but this is one of the weakest posts I've seen from you. The prototypical college 4 is not what it used to be. If we can win a national championship with guys like Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey both playing the 4, then Larrier should easily be able to fill that role. How many times have we gotten destroyed by a 4 man who ends up being a nightmare because he can step out and hit 3's and our guys are too big and slow to guard him? I can't even tell you how many times this has happened to us over the years. Now we have the ability to go slightly smaller and have a guy in Larrier who is a nightmare for some teams to match up at the 4 position. Even most major programs are not starting 6' 10" or 6' 11" guys at the PF position...I thought this was pretty common knowledge.
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First, Larrier isn't a nightmare for anyone. He's a marginal three-point threat and part of the reason why this team will see a packed zone from November through March. If the front court is as bad in reality as it is on paper, Larrier/Adams/Gilbert are going to spend a very long season throwing themselves against brick walls.

Second, holy crap. The day when this program can get back to having players who are "too big" cannot come fast enough. We have had way, way, way more trouble with big guards and linebacker-sized power forwards recently than we have ever had with these mythical three-point shooting bigs.

Almost everyone in this conference is starting a legit power forward - certainly the teams we'll play in the preseason will have a gaggle of them. We're the exception, not the rule.
 
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It will all depend on match ups, fellas.

Sometimes well play small, sometimes well play big. Some games larrier will kill it at the 4. Some games playing 3, we will have the match up, and wont NEED a 4 to rebound well.

If Larrier can't handle the 4, and we struggle to score with someone else at the 4... We lose.

That's the glaring hole on our team. The coaches will need to figure out how to manage that hole as best as is possible by the time our season starts.
 
I'd like to know what sport people are watching. A lot of very good teams have run out very small rosters. A 6'7, athletic guy with skill is perfect for the 4, provided they have some strength. Guys like Josh Hart, Josh Jackson and Dillon Brooks played crunch time minutes at the 4. Larrier may actually be too much of a stick to play big minutes there but KO will certainly try. What do you think he meant when he talked about going small in the Courant article?
 
walker11 said:
I'd like to know what sport people are watching. A lot of very good teams have run out very small rosters. A 6'7, athletic guy with skill is perfect for the 4, provided they have some strength. Guys like Josh Hart, Josh Jackson and Dillon Brooks played crunch time minutes at the 4. Larrier may actually be too much of a stick to play big minutes there but KO will certainly try. What do you think he meant when he talked about going small in the Courant article?
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He might be thin but he is muscular. He is athletic enough to make up for his lack of size. Most really big college players that play the 4 in college normally like to shoot alot of 3's like cincy and smu. He will be fine there but I'm not sure we have a good complement on the roster to play the other forward. Is Polley better than advertised?
 
Candyman34 said:
Big difference on both those teams- Kemba and Bazz. You can get away with alot when you have an all world player on your team.

Daniels was a stretch 4 but a poor rebounder. Bazz and Kemba were tremendous rebounders for their size which took pressure off DD and the 2011 bigs.

Besides what other option did we have at the 4 that year? Olander? This year we have plenty of options. You are all making assumptions before seeing any of them actually play a minute.
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Yeah, but no one is Bazz or Kemba's soph. year was projecting greatness from them. The whole team next year is predicated on Jalen Adams having a great season.

Why are UConn fans so confident in our guards?

Because we've seen a whole string of them transform. AJ Price, Kemba, Shabazz, Boatright.

It happened 4 times, it can happen again.
 
Fishy said:
First, Larrier isn't a nightmare for anyone. He's a marginal three-point threat and part of the reason why this team will see a packed zone from November through March. If the front court is as bad in reality as it is on paper, Larrier/Adams/Gilbert are going to spend a very long season throwing themselves against brick walls.

Second, holy crap. The day when this program can get back to having players who are "too big" cannot come fast enough. We have had way, way, way more trouble with big guards and linebacker-sized power forwards recently than we have ever had with these mythical three-point shooting bigs.

Almost everyone in this conference is starting a legit power forward - certainly the teams we'll play in the preseason will have a gaggle of them. We're the exception, not the rule.
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He was also the most complete player on our team before he got injured...if you look at the games we lost we got torched by the other teams guard play, not by big bodies. The dude on Wagner that scored 15 pts on us was actually their center, so you can blame Brimah if you want, but Larrier was guarding their 6' 8" 210 lb PF (basically a guy the same size as him).
 
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