2021-2022 Starting 5 Predicition

[bendm]

That’s a line up that scores 50 game with no outside threat. Going to be a tough year unless we find a 2 and/or 3 that can shoot lights out from 3.

frankly i dont see hurley bringing in a starting quality SG with hawkins on the way. that's an incredibly hard sell to make. i'm sure hawkins was sold on the idea of stepping into bouk's starting spot so what's the sales pitch for a transfer that would have to compete with a top 10 SG? i've never understood how UK can get two 5 stars that play the same position to commit together but we arent UK.

 

[CTBasketball]

That’s a line up that scores 50 game with no outside threat. Going to be a tough year unless we find a 2 and/or 3 that can shoot lights out from 3.

We’re going to grind teams down until Hawkins is ready to start and score.

 

[RayRay]

frankly i dont see hurley bringing in a starting quality SG with hawkins on the way. that's an incredibly hard sell to make. i'm sure hawkins was sold on the idea of stepping into bouk's starting spot so what's the sales pitch for a transfer that would have to compete with a top 10 SG? i've never understood how UK can get two 5 stars that play the same position to commit together but we arent UK.

I can assure you that Hurley never tells his recruits that they will slide into someone’s starting spot their freshman year. Each of his freshman has to earn a starting spot, that’s the Hurley way. Very unlikely we ever see a freshman start from day 1 with Hurley at the helm.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Akok needs to show something before he’s penciled in at the 4. I understand his rehab was scheduled to be like it has, but from what we’ve seen he’s another non scorer on a team full of them.

 

[BlueDogs]

We’re going to grind teams down until Hawkins is ready to start and score.

I assume that is the case, but I don’t think that’s going to win a lot of games for us. It might work early in the season against lower level competition but it’s not going to produce enough points against sizable teams that just pack the key and dare us to shoot from outside.

 

[bendm]

I can assure you that Hurley never tells his recruits that they will slide into someone’s starting spot their freshman year. Each of his freshman has to earn a starting spot, that’s the Hurley way. Very unlikely we ever see a freshman start from day 1 with Hurley at the helm.

i didnt say anything about day 1 but everyone expects hawkins to start at some point his freshman season, just like bouk did. that can be true without being explicitly promised. but youre ignoring the bigger point. when hawkins committed there wasnt another starting worthy SG on the roster so that's quite a rug puller if hurley can somehow add one this summer. that's a different circumstance than diggins and samson realizing cole and sanogo would be ahead of them on the depth chart.

 

[gtcam]

What if IW returns?
What IF Bouk decides he has to come back?
What if Akok just can't physically compete?
Martin is starting - no question - he is in DH's corner and will never be in the doghouse. I like the motor on the kid and it sets a tone that DH likes
Hawkins is going to be hard to sit - he fills in so many holes
DH needs to recruit a PURE shooting outside threat - I don't care if the kid cant walk and chew gum at the same time. If he can hit a 3 with his eyes closed - sign him up. There has to be a 100 farm boys in the Midwest that fill the bill.
PG - need someone who knows how to play the position not one of Daddy's former players that you try to fit into that position. A REAL PG
Too many questions to even think about a starting 5 next season

 

[Griggs]

I think that we need our own Sister Jean!

 

[Jimdish255]

We need a transfer who can shoot and Akok better be practicing his 3's all summer. Who can defend that? The other part of the offense goes through Jackson and Sanogo. Cole gets his shots. Can Diggins or Hawkins contribute? Martin works on his putbacks and midrange. But who is the shooter/transfer? Hoping he exists.

 

[Willbball]

I'm not saying this because I'm a PC fan but I don't think Bouk is ready for the NBA, Yet! One more season to gain some strength and show he's not going to get hurt so much...The Men in the NBA will hurt him now, he is too thin, fragile...He is a hell of a player but needs to fill out a bit to avoid injuries...

 

[ucp990411]

Akok needs to show something before he’s penciled in at the 4. I understand his rehab was scheduled to be like it has, but from what we’ve seen he’s another non scorer on a team full of them.

I know it may not be popular to say but even in his freshman year I did not see what others saw in Akok. He is very limited on offense and was pushed around on defense. I really want him to succeed because by all accounts is a great person and is liked and respected by his teammates.

 

[pierogiscri]

In my honest opinion, I think Tyrese's offensive game completely got derailed when bouknight came back, to the point were he's had multiple games only scoring 0-2 points. Assuming bouknight leaves, tyrese should be back to scoring 10 or so points a game while starting.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

In my honest opinion, I think Tyrese's offensive game completely got derailed when bouknight came back, to the point were he's had multiple games only scoring 0-2 points. Assuming bouknight leaves, tyrese should be back to scoring 10 or so points a game while starting.

for those not blind and paying close attention to all the times those two were on the floor together, there definitely was a weird dynamic going on between them, especially the nasty glance and barking things. odd, but not unprecedented.

 

[Brochacho]

Cole
Hawkins
Jackson
Martin
Sanogo

6th man: Gaffney

 

[Dooooooomed]

Hawkins can't get here soon enough.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Cole
Hawkins
Jackson
Martin
Sanogo

6th man: Gaffney

go back to ur big 10 nonsense. jmoney not starting? go back to ur big 10 nonsense. on the udder hand, a penguin that can talk and type?
now, that's impressive! big props.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I see a poor offensive team unless

-Gaffney+Jackson take MONSTER leaps
-Bouknight miraculously comes back for a junior season
-We get instant impact transfers who can score and are eligible immediately

A PG making a leap from sophomore to junior year is not unheard of. An athletic but fairly raw wing who missed a chunk of the season making a leap from freshman to sophomore year is not unheard of. Akok will also be back full time.

And we have 3 freshmen coming in, two of which look poised to contribute.

Bouknight is gone, so forget that one.

But instant impact transfers happen all the time these days.

A more accurate would statement would be:

"We're going to be a good team unless nobody improves, the freshmen are busts, and we don't get a key transfer".

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

A PG making a leap from sophomore to junior year is not unheard of. An athletic but fairly raw wing who missed a chunk of the season making a leap from freshman to sophomore year is not unheard of. Akok will also be back full time.

And we have 3 freshmen coming in, two of which look poised to contribute.

Bouknight is gone, so forget that one.

But instant impact transfers happen all the time these days.

A more accurate would statement would be:

"We're going to be a good team unless nobody improves, the freshmen are busts, and we don't get a key transfer".

I think we are saying the same thing?
The team, as currently constructed, will suck on half court offense assuming Bouknight leaves. My point is we have a lot of work to do in the off-season to become a good offensive team. Gaffney will need to become a lethal shooter and continue to be more assertive. I think he has all the tools to take a leap, but we’ll see. Jackson probably needs to develop a respectable jumpshot. He’s far away from that at the moment. But he seems like a gym rat, and has so many other abilities that he’ll be great. Just not sure he’ll solve our shooting woes without Bouk.
I think Cole is what he is at this point, which is a solid floor general and scorer when he has a good matchup. Martin is a good offensive player in spurts. He’s not going to be a reliable scorer for us. Still love his role on this team and excited to have him for another season (presumably)

I don’t think our freshmen will be ready yet to make an instant impact and singehandedly make us a good offensive team in year 1. They can be solid players with bright futures, not be able to contribute enough in year one to make us a good offensive team, but also not be a bust. It’s not as black and white as you made it sound.

We desperately need atleast 1, probably 2 knockdown shooters/guys who can create their own points. I just see these teams making Sweet 16 runs in the NCAA tournament with multiple knockdown 3pt marksmen. We don’t really have that.

I love our front court for next season, mostly just because I think Sanogo will be a monster next season based on his current trajectory. But we probably also need one more big man to compete with Sanogo. Not sure what we can expect from Akok, Johnson and Springs next season.

I stand by the fact I’m worried about our offense next season. Will reassess after the flurry of offseason moves shake out. Would love to have Whaley and Polley back, but I doubt either do come back.

I have faith Hurley and the squad will have us ready to be a good team next season who can make a run. There’s just a lot of work to do, maybe more than we realized during our little run towards the end of the Big East regular season.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think we are saying the same thing?
The team, as currently constructed, will suck on half court offense assuming Bouknight leaves. My point is we have a lot of work to do in the off-season to become a good offensive team. Gaffney will need to become a lethal shooter and continue to be more assertive. I think he has all the tools to take a leap, but we’ll see. Jackson probably needs to develop a respectable jumpshot. He’s far away from that at the moment. But he seems like a gym rat, and has so many other abilities that he’ll be great. Just not sure he’ll solve our shooting woes without Bouk.
I think Cole is what he is at this point, which is a solid floor general and scorer when he has a good matchup. Martin is a good offensive player in spurts. He’s not going to be a reliable scorer for us. Still love his role on this team and excited to have him for another season (presumably)

I don’t think our freshmen will be ready yet to make an instant impact and singehandedly make us a good offensive team in year 1. They can be solid players with bright futures, not be able to contribute enough in year one to make us a good offensive team, but also not be a bust. It’s not as black and white as you made it sound.

We desperately need atleast 1, probably 2 knockdown shooters/guys who can create their own points. I just see these teams making Sweet 16 runs in the NCAA tournament with multiple knockdown 3pt marksmen. We don’t really have that.

I love our front court for next season, mostly just because I think Sanogo will be a monster next season based on his current trajectory. But we probably also need one more big man to compete with Sanogo. Not sure what we can expect from Akok, Johnson and Springs next season.

I stand by the fact I’m worried about our offense next season. Will reassess after the flurry of offseason moves shake out. Would love to have Whaley and Polley back, but I doubt either do come back.

I have faith Hurley and the squad will have us ready to be a good team next season who can make a run. There’s just a lot of work to do, maybe more than we realized during our little run towards the end of the Big East regular season.

You're saying that a lot has to go right for us to be good.

I'm saying that a lot has to go wrong for us to be bad.

 

[AntG168]

You're saying that a lot has to go right for us to be good.

I'm saying that a lot has to go wrong for us to be bad.

That's a great distinction to make. The Maryland loss left a sour taste any many of our mouths. So, I won't knock some for being pessimistic, that loss sucked, and probably shouldn't have happened. But once you step away and realize the options we'll have this summer, and the amount of impact stability has when it comes to development you can be excited. Guys like Gaffney, Jackson, and even Bouk i believe were severely hindered in their development last summer. Gaff, Jackson, Cole, Martin, Springs, all the incoming freshman get a full summer of development with the coaching staff. That's gonna be huge for a staff that has shown they can develop talent. Next season will be really fun, and I think many will realize this as the summer progresses

 

[auror]

RJ Cole
Kellan Grady
Andre Jackson
Akok Akok
Adama Sanogo

 

[AntG168]

RJ Cole
Kellan Grady
Andre Jackson
Akok Akok
Adama Sanogo

Bench:
Fatts/Diggins
Gaff/Hawkins
Martin
Polley
[Insert Transfer Big]

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Sool Diggins - frosh or not, he's an excellent defender, can get anywhere on the floor he wants with the ball, can score a bit, and is the type of guard that is in charge from day 1. He will start.

Cole - I think he will be dialed in next season. He will get many more open looks sharing the floor with Sool.

Jackson - His offense will come, but his defensive prowess, passing, and athleticism will make him a secret weapon.

Martin - Rebounding is great. Needs to do the Mikan drill at least an hour a day, every day, until the start of practice next season.

Sanogo - How beautiful it is to have a legit low post scoring threat again.

Gaffney, Hawkins, Akok, Springs, and Johnson round out the rotation.

 

[NCNutmeg]

No one asked me but here is my two cents...

Cole
Hawkins
Jackson
Martin
Adama

Hoping we get Tre Mitchell to make this team unstoppable in the post.

Lots of people are underestimating Diggins and Samson Johnson. Samson is basically IW with a better shooting stroke. I was a huge fan of IW but he reached his ceiling. Samson Johnson's ceiling is incredibly high and he will contribute right away.

Worried about Jackson's shooting ability because he doesn't even look close on his shot attempts and his form is pretty damn bad. A lot of that is just a confidence issue but it's also because that just didn't need to be a big part of his game in HS. He reminds me of one of my favorite huskies ever, Stanley Robinson. I actually think he has a higher ceiling than Stanley as AJ is already a better passer, dribbler and defender. Both can't/couldn't shoot but hopefully AJ can improve on this.

The Maryland game was an abysmal shooting game for UConn but the future is bright for some talented shooters coming in next year.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

You're saying that a lot has to go right for us to be good.

I'm saying that a lot has to go wrong for us to be bad.

Nope, that’s actually not at all what I said.

I believe our defense will continue to be great, and we will be elite in transition. We will also be an elite offense rebounding team again. We’ll probably continue to wear down the bottom half of big East teams through league play. I think we will be a good team again and probably make the NCAA tournament.

But if we want to keep up with the big boys, we need scoring and reliable shooting. The Maryland game wasn’t the revelation for this, but representative of what we lacked. Without Bouknight in the middle of the season, we struggled with half court offense. We didn’t have other guys who could create their own shot very well or consistently, until Cole towards the end of the season. Polley was our only reliable and consistent 3 pt marksmen.

It’s very clear the difference between us and a lot of the teams still going, including Syracuse, who we all thought sucked during the regular season.
Shooting, good half court sets on offense and reliable scoring options.
It’s okay to admit our offense is far away from where it needs to be to compete for Elite Eights and Final Fours. But that certainly can change in one offseason, especially with a proper offseason and practice time with no covid issues.