4 star recruits

[raf46]

So far we are getting next to nothing from what was supposed to be a really good group of incoming players. Hawkins looks over whelmed, and Johnson and Diggins get almost no playing time. If next years 3 four star recruits face the same fate, then why bother to hype them? So much is expected from Donovan that he is almost assured of being considered have been over rated. The worse thing is that as 4 star players, they expect to play, not sit. We could lose them all to the transfer portal, to schools, where they will play. Please let them all live up to the hype. I would really like to go to my 6th, mens final four.

 

[CTBasketball]

People overhype recruits, that’s tradition. Donovan likely won’t be able to stay on the floor next year. Karaban who knows, if he comes early he’ll be more game-ready.

 

[polycom]

Because unless you are a top 25 guy you dont contribute right away. This is how it works. There will be exceptions but history this is how it always is and likely will always be.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I wonder if the Villanova board is freaking out over Njoku’s, Patterson’s, Longino’s and Brizzi’s minutes.

Some help, @Zissou?

/partially sarcastic

 

[Colin G]

So far we are getting next to nothing from what was supposed to be a really good group of incoming players. Hawkins looks over whelmed, and Johnson and Diggins get almost no playing time.

This is literally what the vast majority of freshmen do. Patience.

 

[McLovin]

I wonder if the Villanova board is freaking out over Njoku’s, Patterson’s, Longino’s and Brizzi’s minutes.

Some help, @Zissou?

/partially sarcastic

Villanova is 8-4 and looks pretty pathetic on offense. If they aren't, maybe they should be...

 

[rip7774]

I think the issue isn’t how much PT a freshman gets, it’s that vets who are struggling big time are playing over them, esp since we have no point guards on the roster other than Cole (prob a combo honestly) and it’s such an important position.

 

[BGesus4]

Villanova is 8-4 and looks pretty pathetic on offense. If they aren't, maybe they should be...

Lolololol. Did you watch their game last night?? Longino went in for a few minutes in a close game and started giving away too many points to keep him in… definitely wasn’t adding to their offensive proficiency either.

Where do people get the idea that since they haven’t seen a freshman play they must be the best offensive player on the team??

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I wonder if the Villanova board is freaking out over Njoku’s, Patterson’s, Longino’s and Brizzi’s minutes.

Some help, @Zissou?

/partially sarcastic

Less sarcastic response, where's the PT?

There are 200 total minutes to be handed out:

• 110 minutes to our four players who should always get between 25-30 minutes
  • Cole
  • Martin
  • Sanogo
  • Whaley
• 40-50 minutes to four-star recruits playing their second year of college basketball
  • Akok
  • Jackson
• 50-60 minutes remaining for everyone else
  • Hawkins
  • Gaffney
  • Polley
  • Johnson
  • Diggins
  • Springs

Even if we banished Gaffney and Polley into DNP land (I'm not advocating this), Johnson is still the 4th best big and Diggins is a point guard who won't get PT behind Cole and defensively, it's not prudent to play two 6'0ish guards together, especially in the Big East. I know he's a smart guy and I know he knew what he was getting into sitting behind Cole in his formative years.

Villanova is 8-4 and looks pretty pathetic on offense. If they aren't, maybe they should be...

They're a top-10 offensive team who is averaging three points a game lower than their last year's average even though they played games against three Final Four caliber teams (Baylor, Purdue, UCLA), the #2 defense in the nation (Tennessee) and a team that's always hard to score points on (Cuse). Yeah, they shot like crap against Creighton, but had a great 2nd half against a top-30 defense last night.

 

[imno1]

We really need to win a game soon so there’ll be less griping around here

 

[Fatroony5]

Hawkins played a major role in two of their wins against tournament teams, I’d say that’s pretty good…. Johnson is a bit raw, he’ll get there but it won’t be this year. We’ll see about Diggins, still think we’ll see him get a little run this season, at some point.

 

[McLovin]

Less sarcastic response, where's the PT?

There are 200 total minutes to be handed out:

• 110 minutes to our four players who should always get between 25-30 minutes
  • Cole
  • Martin
  • Sanogo
  • Whaley
• 40-50 minutes to four-star recruits playing their second year of college basketball
  • Akok
  • Jackson
• 50-60 minutes remaining for everyone else
  • Hawkins
  • Gaffney
  • Polley
  • Johnson
  • Diggins
  • Springs

Even if we banished Gaffney and Polley into DNP land (I'm not advocating this), Johnson is still the 4th best big and Diggins is a point guard who won't get PT behind Cole and defensively, it's not prudent to play two 6'0ish guards together, especially in the Big East. I know he's a smart guy and I know he knew what he was getting into sitting behind Cole in his formative years.

Johnson can get all of Polley’s minutes in the lineups Polley plays the 4 (specifically when Whaley / Akok slide to center - just flip them around so Johnson slide to the 5). Plus 4 minutes of Akoks time at the 4 when he’s on with Whaley (again, allowing Whaley to play the 4, a more natural fit). Obviously not going to put Sanogo and Johnson on the floor together. Probably gets Samson 8 MPG.

Give Hawkins most of polleys minutes at the 3 / in for Jackson + Martin on breaks. Gets Hawkins 15 MPG.

Cut Gaffneys minutes in half. Gets Diggins 8 MPG.

I don’t think anyone is asking for starter minutes for any of the young guys, but let’s get them game reps. It might be ugly at first, but come mid-February it can’t be worse than what we are getting from Gaffney or Polley right now (or Akok at the 5).

 

[TheChamps990411]

So far we are getting next to nothing from what was supposed to be a really good group of incoming players. Hawkins looks over whelmed, and Johnson and Diggins get almost no playing time. If next years 3 four star recruits face the same fate, then why bother to hype them? So much is expected from Donovan that he is almost assured of being considered have been over rated. The worse thing is that as 4 star players, they expect to play, not sit. We could lose them all to the transfer portal, to schools, where they will play. Please let them all live up to the hype. I would really like to go to my 6th, mens final four.

Its not even january yet. Give the Frosh some time. These kids arent one and dones and arent a Bouknight who turned out to be far better than his ranking coming in. I have not seen enough of Diggins but Johnson looks extremely talented physically and is going to be heard from before this season is over. Of course Floyd red shirted so we never got to see what hes potentially capable of and Hawkins is a major talent who is clearly not adjusted to the college game yet.

 

[Dove]

So far we are getting next to nothing from what was supposed to be a really good group of incoming players. Hawkins looks over whelmed, and Johnson and Diggins get almost no playing time. If next years 3 four star recruits face the same fate, then why bother to hype them? So much is expected from Donovan that he is almost assured of being considered have been over rated. The worse thing is that as 4 star players, they expect to play, not sit. We could lose them all to the transfer portal, to schools, where they will play. Please let them all live up to the hype. I would really like to go to my 6th, mens final four.

We had three seniors starting last night and another on the bench. Frosh gotta outwork them or bide their time.

 

[HuskyFich]

I'm not expecting real reliable contributions from any big man until their junior year...if you want to claim sanogo, let's talk about his passing abilities...

big man game is tough, and takes a long time to develop

 

[Austin316]

Y’all are funny

“We stink put the freshman in”
…puts freshman in…
“What are they doing?! They’re lost and inexperienced. How is this guy a 4*”
… takes freshman out…
(Repeat)

Boneyard coaching staff is the same as the boneyard politicians which is the same as the boneyard doctors…

 

[cohenzone]

Less sarcastic response, where's the PT?

There are 200 total minutes to be handed out:

• 110 minutes to our four players who should always get between 25-30 minutes
  • Cole
  • Martin
  • Sanogo
  • Whaley
• 40-50 minutes to four-star recruits playing their second year of college basketball
  • Akok
  • Jackson
• 50-60 minutes remaining for everyone else
  • Hawkins
  • Gaffney
  • Polley
  • Johnson
  • Diggins
  • Springs

Even if we banished Gaffney and Polley into DNP land (I'm not advocating this), Johnson is still the 4th best big and Diggins is a point guard who won't get PT behind Cole and defensively, it's not prudent to play two 6'0ish guards together, especially in the Big East. I know he's a smart guy and I know he knew what he was getting into sitting behind Cole in his formative years.



They're a top-10 offensive team who is averaging three points a game lower than their last year's average even though they played games against three Final Four caliber teams (Baylor, Purdue, UCLA), the #2 defense in the nation (Tennessee) and a team that's always hard to score points on (Cuse). Yeah, they shot like crap against Creighton, but had a great 2nd half against a top-30 defense last night

Less sarcastic response, where's the PT?

There are 200 total minutes to be handed out:

• 110 minutes to our four players who should always get between 25-30 minutes
  • Cole
  • Martin
  • Sanogo
  • Whaley
• 40-50 minutes to four-star recruits playing their second year of college basketball
  • Akok
  • Jackson
• 50-60 minutes remaining for everyone else
  • Hawkins
  • Gaffney
  • Polley
  • Johnson
  • Diggins
  • Springs

Even if we banished Gaffney and Polley into DNP land (I'm not advocating this), Johnson is still the 4th best big and Diggins is a point guard who won't get PT behind Cole and defensively, it's not prudent to play two 6'0ish guards together, especially in the Big East. I know he's a smart guy and I know he knew what he was getting into sitting behind Cole in his formative years.



They're a top-10 offensive team who is averaging three points a game lower than their last year's average even though they played games against three Final Four caliber teams (Baylor, Purdue, UCLA), the #2 defense in the nation (Tennessee) and a team that's always hard to score points on (Cuse). Yeah, they shot like crap against Creighton, but had a great 2nd half against a top-30 defense last night.

If you compare Gaffney’s first year to Diggins, it’s not crazy to wonder why Diggins isn’t used at all. Gaffney played significant minutes on a team that had Vital, Gilbert and Bouknight. I’m not one of those way down on Gaffney, and as I said every year is different, but Gaffney’s first year he played a lot. I’m not saying Diggins should be getting big minutes, but something is keeping him with very few appearances at all and that was not Gaffney’s freshman experience.

 

[HooperScooper]

Anyone want to volunteer and go through the average playing time of all recruits ranked between 40 and 60? That's around where Hawkins, Diggins and Johnson were all ranked. Someone must be in Covid quarantine who wants to waste some time! Lol. Would be really interested to see that. I don't think our freshmen are much different than the average 40-60 recruit. We also have a relatively experienced team. Although I'm not getting into the argument of whether some of them should play over those experienced players!

Using the 247Sports.com composite ranking (2021 Top Basketball Recruits) I'll even start it:

40. Jonas Aidoo - Tennessee: 2.6 minutes per game in 5 games, 0.8 points per game.
41. Langston Love - Baylor: Out for the season after an ACL tear suffered in October.
42. Kowacie Reeves - Florida: 11.0 mpg in 7 games, 3.4 ppg.
43. Jalen Warley - Florida St: 18.1 mpg in 10 games, 3.5 ppg.
44. Trey Kaufman - Purdue: Redshirting due to Purdue's frontcourt depth.
45. Josh Minott - Memphis: 9.1 mpg in 10 games, 3.9 ppg.

51. Hawkins: 16.6 mpg in 11 games, 6.5 ppg.
56. Johnson: 7.4 mpg in 7 games, 2.6 ppg.
59: Diggins: 7.6 mpg in 5 games, 1.4 ppg.

 

[TyroneShoo]

I wonder if the Villanova board is freaking out over Njoku’s, Patterson’s, Longino’s and Brizzi’s minutes.

Some help, @Zissou?

/partially sarcastic

yes

 

[Castlevania]

So far we are getting next to nothing from what was supposed to be a really good group of incoming players. Hawkins looks over whelmed, and Johnson and Diggins get almost no playing time. If next years 3 four star recruits face the same fate, then why bother to hype them? So much is expected from Donovan that he is almost assured of being considered have been over rated. The worse thing is that as 4 star players, they expect to play, not sit. We could lose them all to the transfer portal, to schools, where they will play. Please let them all live up to the hype. I would really like to go to my 6th, mens final four.

I said it once, I'll say it again.. Last year was a product of a pandemic and gave 2 graduating seniors an extra year, which wouldn't have happened under normal circumstances. A lot of Polley and Whaley's minutes would probably be distributed equally somehow between the 3 freshman if they weren't here.

Even though Polley is in a shooting slump early, having these 2 veterans is big for the development of the youngsters. By the time March comes around, Hawkins, Johnson, and Diggins will be more polished and in Diggins and Johnson's case, ready to contribute when they see the floor.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Aside from the obvious truths many have stated about hyping freshman and their expectation, did anyone consider that the fact that many guys who would not normally be eligible, are, impacts the time for freshmen? Not just at UConn, everywhere. Until the 2020 extra eligibility is gone, freshmen will get less burn than they otherwise would. With no Whaley or Polley on this team, Johnson and Hawkins would be playing more.

 

[Incursio007]

Bouk was a 4-star & he turned out ok.

 

[auror]

If you compare Gaffney’s first year to Diggins, it’s not crazy to wonder why Diggins isn’t used at all. Gaffney played significant minutes on a team that had Vital, Gilbert and Bouknight. I’m not one of those way down on Gaffney, and as I said every year is different, but Gaffney’s first year he played a lot. I’m not saying Diggins should be getting big minutes, but something is keeping him with very few appearances at all and that was not Gaffney’s freshman experience.

Well that team also lost to #260th Saint Joseph's by 9 at home and at one point lost 5 of 6. Gilbert was brutal all year and Vital/Bouk aren't PGs. Consider this: For how bad people say Gaffney has been so far this year, Gilbert had a worse Ast%, worse TO%, worse FT%, worse 2pt%, worse 3pt%, worse stl%, worse rebounding rates, and worse FT drawn rate than Gaffney this year. And he was the starter (aka Cole not Gaffney) for the first half of the year, with no other backup (no Gaffney essentially).

 

[Zissou]

I wonder if the Villanova board is freaking out over Njoku’s, Patterson’s, Longino’s and Brizzi’s minutes.

Some help, @Zissou?

/partially sarcastic

A bit. Especially when we were smoked by Creighton underclassmen.

It’s rare that a freshman wins minutes from Jay. Arch and Brunson of course, but most need time to learn the D and earn minutes on that side of the court.

 

[Kolumbo]

Anyone want to volunteer and go through the average playing time of all recruits ranked between 40 and 60? That's around where Hawkins, Diggins and Johnson were all ranked. Someone must be in Covid quarantine who wants to waste some time! Lol. Would be really interested to see that. I don't think our freshmen are much different than the average 40-60 recruit. We also have a relatively experienced team. Although I'm not getting into the argument of whether some of them should play over those experienced players!

Using the 247Sports.com composite ranking (2021 Top Basketball Recruits) I'll even start it:

40. Jonas Aidoo - Tennessee: 2.6 minutes per game in 5 games, 0.8 points per game.
41. Langston Love - Baylor: Out for the season after an ACL tear suffered in October.
42. Kowacie Reeves - Florida: 11.0 mpg in 7 games, 3.4 ppg.
43. Jalen Warley - Florida St: 18.1 mpg in 10 games, 3.5 ppg.
44. Trey Kaufman - Purdue: Redshirting due to Purdue's frontcourt depth.
45. Josh Minott - Memphis: 9.1 mpg in 10 games, 3.9 ppg.

51. Hawkins: 16.6 mpg in 11 games, 6.5 ppg.
56. Johnson: 7.4 mpg in 7 games, 2.6 ppg.
59: Diggins: 7.6 mpg in 5 games, 1.4 ppg.

Diggins played 38 minutes in 5 games but that averages to 2.9 mpg over 13 games. Johnson would be 4 mpg over 13 games. I think that is the more important figure. Diggins isn't playing at all right now.