23-24’ Huskies roster breakdown by Borges

[HailUConn]

A pretty good write up. I want the repeat!

 

[Jbirdp5]

A pretty good write up. I want the repeat!

Definitely enjoyed the write up.
One thing I had forgotten was Diarra shot 18.9% from 3 last year….yikes
Glad borges is still on the beat…

 

[KeyWestUC]

I like Borges write ups.

 

[Horatio]

So from what I read, we’re actually 10 deep, with another possibly emerging and one scholarship empty. Not worried and the staff knows best.

 

[EZPass]

If you need a pfp or wallpaper nabbed this from the article…

 

[husky429]

So from what I read, we’re actually 10 deep, with another possibly emerging and one scholarship empty. Not worried and the staff knows best.

Every pre-season people say we're 10-11 deep, and in crunch time, we never are. Last year we were deeper than normal, and really only played 8 in games that it mattered. We should all expect to go 8-9 deep just like usual.

 

[huskyharry]

Definitely enjoyed the write up.
One thing I had forgotten was Diarra shot 18.9% from 3 last year….yikes
Glad borges is still on the beat…

HD will be much better this year, maybe not above 35% but much better...he is working hard

 

[Connecticut13]

HD will be much better this year, maybe not above 35% but much better...he is working hard

He had some difficult moments last year - but I was won over by his work ethic and his willingness to do what was needed for the team. Never hung his head, continued playing strong defense and always seemed like a leader (even if he wasn't playing). Hoping he finds more success this season. I was very happy to see that he decided to stay, knowing that his role would be that of a back-up. He could've certainly chased being a starter at a lower-level program.

 

[Psolo12]

Samson is this year's x-factor.

 

[auror]

Every pre-season people say we're 10-11 deep, and in crunch time, we never are. Last year we were deeper than normal, and really only played 8 in games that it mattered. We should all expect to go 8-9 deep just like usual.

I mean you're right that we pared down the rotation in the home stretch of the season (Diarra got cut out, Samson never made it back in after injury, etc.), but also the first 30 games still matter and if Samson didn't get hurt I think we would have played 10 deep for much of the season. The Iowa St, Ok St, etc. games we really wore teams down with our depth. Hurley is going to go with what works, and that worked extremely well last season. We have 10+ really talented guys again this season.

 

[Chosen]

Can someone put the article on a print friendly page?

 

[husky429]

I mean you're right that we pared down the rotation in the home stretch of the season (Diarra got cut out, Samson never made it back in after injury, etc.), but also the first 30 games still matter and if Samson didn't get hurt I think we would have played 10 deep for much of the season. The Iowa St, Ok St, etc. games we really wore teams down with our depth. Hurley is going to go with what works, and that worked extremely well last season. We have 10+ really talented guys again this season.

Iowa State we only played 8 guys because Jordan was hurt. Vs. OK State we went 9 deep. And this was in a year we were deeper than normal.

I can practically guarantee you we won't be going 10 deep consistently. It's just rare that it happens in college basketball between injuries or a freshman or two not adjusting fast enough. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.

 

[Umami Zen]

Our second unit is going to have to earn their PT in practice/scrimmages/European trip.. DH says players dictate minutes-- not him.. Long way to go before the season starts.. It all starts now.. Once Stewart gets to Storrs we'll see what we have. Two way players that like to play D/board/show energy-intensity will earn those minutes..

 

[BrysonDeMan]

Every pre-season people say we're 10-11 deep, and in crunch time, we never are. Last year we were deeper than normal, and really only played 8 in games that it mattered. We should all expect to go 8-9 deep just like usual.

try going 10-11 deep as much as possible during regular season and shortening it to 7-8 during March/April works just fine for me

 

[HuskyHawk]

Very solid write up. Don't disagree with any of it. We need Castle to be a stud and one or two of the other freshmen to step up and provide quality reserve minutes. Hard to project that, but they are flexible players. Johnson needs to stay healthy and live up to his promise. If so the change of pace at the 5 will again give teams fits, and our shot-blocking should be impressive. Spencer seems an ideal fit to provide a shooting outlet, and I expect a lot of inside out passing to shooters, whether from DC or from the FT line or on kick out drives.

 

[gsmooth]

Very solid write up. Don't disagree with any of it. We need Castle to be a stud and one or two of the other freshmen to step up and provide quality reserve minutes. Hard to project that, but they are flexible players. Johnson needs to stay healthy and live up to his promise. If so the change of pace at the 5 will again give teams fits, and our shot-blocking should be impressive. Spencer seems an ideal fit to provide a shooting outlet, and I expect a lot of inside out passing to shooters, whether from DC or from the FT line or on kick out drives.

There were many things the Huskies did that gave their opponents fits of course because they are the national champions. But I think the change of pace and style between Sanogo and Clingan was a big part of it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

There were many things the Huskies did that gave their opponents fits of course because they are the national champions. But I think the change of pace and style between Sanogo and Clingan was a big part of it.

Yes, once we figured it out. It worked great at first. Then teams solved it and killed us in part because our defensive adjustment wasn't working, then we fixed that. But now we know how to switch gears from hedging to drop. Need the new guys to pick that up though. It's not easy.

 

[auror]

I can practically guarantee you we won't be going 10 deep consistently. It's just rare that it happens in college basketball between injuries or a freshman or two not adjusting fast enough. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.

This is the deepest talent level we've had in quite some time. It's rare to see a 10 deep team, but it's also rare to see a team with 5 former consensus top 100 recruits on the bench, too (Singare doesn't qualify, but Diarra and Johnson do plus the other 3 likely bench freshmen). I think it's pretty likely that when fully healthy we'll go 10 deep for most of the non-con. And then maybe whittle down to 9 by the middle of conference play and to 8 by the stretch run.

Some of the freshmen may adjust slowly, but we're already not counting the rawest one in Singare. Hurley doesn't start freshmen unless they're great out the gate, but 7/9 of the top 100 freshman under Hurley have been in the rotation as freshmen. The 2 that weren't (Diggins and Samson), were infamously part of the under-scouted and couldn't-practice-as-much 2022 COVID class. And that year we had a lot of veterans on the bench clogging up the minutes. Gaffney was ahead of Diggins on the bench at the same position and Polley and Akok were ahead of Johnson. We don't have any of those returning vet types playing the same positions as any of the incoming top 100 freshmen. It's a really clean 10 from a role perspective.

That being said, your practicality point is well taken. It's possible (though I hope unlikely) that an additional freshman on top of Singare is not ready. But like I said, the standard for starting ready and rotation ready are pretty different. And yeah, injuries. Who knows about that one. We may lose a guy here or there, but my guess is that the intention is 10.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Samson is this year's x-factor.

Last season's, too.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Every pre-season people say we're 10-11 deep, and in crunch time, we never are. Last year we were deeper than normal, and really only played 8 in games that it mattered. We should all expect to go 8-9 deep just like usual.

I always anticipate that some players on the low-minutes totem pole might be more helpful, in the rare circuimstance of unexpectedly severe foul trouble or off-nights from the regulars, if they got some time with the regulars in games that are going to be "won". It doesn't seem that type of usage ever occurs. Those players really only see garbage time minutes, rather than 2-3 minutes with 4 regulars when the team is up 18-22 points much earlier in the game.

Obviously Hurley has a handle on how he wants to rotate the team. But I'm not sure how it hurts to do this occasionally. I suspect that early in the season there'll be opportunities..

 

[Chin Diesel]

Definitely enjoyed the write up.
One thing I had forgotten was Diarra shot 18.9% from 3 last year….yikes
Glad borges is still on the beat…

His poor FT will be more a detriment to PT than his 3 point shooting.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I mean you're right that we pared down the rotation in the home stretch of the season (Diarra got cut out, Samson never made it back in after injury, etc.), but also the first 30 games still matter and if Samson didn't get hurt I think we would have played 10 deep for much of the season. The Iowa St, Ok St, etc. games we really wore teams down with our depth. Hurley is going to go with what works, and that worked extremely well last season. We have 10+ really talented guys again this season.

We not only had depth last year we had depth with experience, Alleyne , Joey C , Diarra .weren’t kids .
We still have Diarra and The Great unknown SJ ) but after that it will be true . freshman. How well they develop is a key to success . I think last years early season injuries to Jackson , Hawkins , gave those new bench guys a chance to develop a chemistry which showed out in Oregon . Nothing like a baptism under fire to leap forward .

 

[Sibeerian]

The beauty of being ten deep is not that ten guys will be in the rotation every game, but that if we have injuries we don't have too much of a drop-off, and we can play the right eight guys depending on matchups.

 

[HuskyHawk]

His poor FT will be more a detriment to PT than his 3 point shooting.

That and fouling guards/wings. I’m sure the staff is working on him playing hands up D against them not swinging at everything. He can still fingertip block stuff and alter shots without swatting at them. Once that arm is in motion, easy for a player to move into the path. We didn’t care if he picked up fouls last year. Different now.

 

[TheChamps990411]

A pretty good write up. I want the repeat!

Couple things that stuck out for me:
"Difficult as that may be, this is a talented, versatile team that may lose a bit of its scoring punch but could be even more dominant defensively, keyed by Clingan, whose mere presence in the middle is a game-changer."

This team played some of the best defense ive ever seen from a Uconn team and if they can be better then that this team is going to be a major problem.

"Ross, meanwhile, is a 6-7 bundle of energy and athleticism who has grown over a foot taller the past three years. His shooting has improved, as well, and he could easily wind up being a UConn fan favorite."

Karaban, Clingan, Carlton and Sanogo are some guys i recently said would be far better than people thought and im calling the same right now for Ross. Hes going to be very good early on.