6-11

[OkaForPrez]

Uconn's "2nd five" + 1 this year will include:

A 5 star freshman point guard who would have been a McD's AA if he was eligible
A top 50, 4 star, Senior 2 guard who has been injury plagued but has played meaningful minutes and proven onions (gtown)
A 1st team JUCO all american and son of an NBA great
A former NY Mr Basketball who put up 14 & 9 against Duke last year
A 4 year starter ring holding center and A top 60 freshman center getting buzz by any media who has watched him so far.

Run, KO, Run.

 

[Kitaman]

I clicked this thinking we recruited a new big.

Anyway Omar was POY in NYC.

 

[Yankees32123]

Our bench could beat 90% of D1 schools.

 

[jleves]

Our bench could beat 90% of D1 schools.

I hope you realize that your numbers mean our bench would be ranked 33rd in the country. That's a lock for the Tourny and a pretty big stretch. They're good, but beating 90% of D1 schools is not realistic. (sorry - I'm a numbers guy and take them literally)

 

[OkaForPrez]

I hope you realize that your numbers mean our bench would be ranked 33rd in the country. That's a lock for the Tourny and a pretty big stretch. They're good, but beating 90% of D1 schools is not realistic. (sorry - I'm a numbers guy and take them literally)

60% of the time that stat works every time.

 

[Huskyforlife]

.

 

[Jaker]

F4

 

[jleves]

60% of the time that stat works every time.

Boy - that escalated quickly.

 

[Yankees32123]

I hope you realize that your numbers mean our bench would be ranked 33rd in the country. That's a lock for the Tourny and a pretty big stretch. They're good, but beating 90% of D1 schools is not realistic. (sorry - I'm a numbers guy and take them literally)

I didnt say they would be better than 90% of teams, I said they could beat 90% of teams. No doubt in my mind that this year's bench could stay in a game with every team outside the top 35 or so.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Jalen, Omar, SCJr, Facey, and Nolan could be a second teir P5 team a la Miami, K State, ASU, Minnesota, or South Carolina

 

[Brad Palmer]

Not nearly enough scoring in that group to compete at a top 50 level.

 

[Yankees32123]

Not nearly enough scoring in that group to compete at a top 50 level.

At top form, Cassell and Omar are formidable scorers, and Jalen would score a lot. Enoch, Phil, and Facey are a respectable front court trio, the latter two having significant starting experience. Could easily stay with or beat last year's Ole Miss, Davidson, Miami, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Oregon, etc. (all top 50 teams according to KenPom ratings).

 

[TasteofUConn]

Our bench could beat 90% of D1 schools.

If we're going to be delusional, so could our women's team.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Jalen, Omar, SCJr, Facey, and Nolan could be a second teir P5 team a la Miami, K State, ASU, Minnesota, or South Carolina

What the hell. It's like an otherwise reasonable, articulate poster was possessed by a demon, who posted under his handle.

Are you insane or on drugs or both?

A freshman who hasn't played a game. A Junior who saw single digit minutes a game last year. A gunner who shot incredibly poorly when he wasn't hurt, and appeared slow and overmatched, and Nolan. No comment on him. Just Nolan.

Dude. What? Really. Not even a top 200 team.

What the hell has the Board been drinking while I've been away today?

 

[Yankees32123]

What the hell. It's like an otherwise reasonable, articulate poster was possessed by a demon, who posted under his handle.

Are you insane or on drugs or both?

A freshman who hasn't played a game. A Junior who saw single digit minutes a game last year. A gunner who shot incredibly poorly when he wasn't hurt, and appeared slow and overmatched, and Nolan. No comment on him. Just Nolan.

Dude. What? Really. Not even a top 200 team.

What the hell has the Board been drinking while I've been away today?

I think you are delusional. You know there are over 350 D1 teams, right? The overwhelming majority of coaches would do anything to have a JUCO All-American, 4 top 100 recruits, 2 of which were top 40, and the starting center for a national championship team on their roster. Our bench has experience, depth, size and talent that most D1 teams have never dreamed of. You don't think our bench could beat last year's 17-16 South Carolina Gamecocks? Get real dude.

 

[breezy]

Omar proved onions @providence his freshman year too. That one also resulted in a w.

 

[Huskybass]

The truth lies somewhere between the extremes expressed above. Let's just say we have decent depth this year and leave it at that.

Personally, I see Adams, Facey , and Enoch contributing this year. Phil looked much more agile at first night so maybe he will be a decent role player. Not sold on Sam and Omar though. I hope they both prove me wrong.

 

[mauconnfan]

I thought we finally had someone on the team 6'11"? LOL

 

[RipCity]

Omar isn't the same player he was as a freshman. Love him, but I'm not expecting much from him.

 

[TasteofUConn]

a JUCO All-American, 4 top 100 recruits, 2 of which were top 40, and the starting center for a national championship team on their roster.

The JUCO all-american didn't pan out last year. Maybe it was a year-long aberration. Seems unlikely.
"4 top 100" recruits sounds good on paper. But weren't AADeng and Kelly and a bunch of others in that category? Ranking coming out of HS is nice, but all that matters is what happens on the Court.
Starting Center for a NC team? Come on man, really? Why not through Olander in that group.

Expectations are high this year, but things are getting out of hand when we're talking about 6-10 being a tournament team.

 

[OkaForPrez]

The truth lies somewhere between the extremes expressed above. Let's just say we have decent depth this year and leave it at that.

Personally, I see Adams, Facey , and Enoch contributing this year. Phil looked much more agile at first night so maybe he will be a decent role player. Not sold on Sam and Omar though. I hope they both prove me wrong.

Exactly. I gave the upside and @TasteofUConn gave the downside. Somewhere in the middle.

 

[Kitaman]

Exactly. I gave the upside and @TasteofUConn gave the downside. Somewhere in the middle.

Great post! But since you didn't get the endorsement of Scrappy, posters take such unbridled enthusiasm seriously. Think of it as a compliment of sorts.

Its the closest we've been to a . . . . . . . . cough. . . . . . . . . . .cough . . . platoon system.

 

[KembaStepback]

Look - the only person who's high school stats matter in this excersize is Jalen and Enoch, since that's all we know about them.

What we HAVE seen is:
Cassell struggle (granted he was hurt)
Calhoun regress from his freshman yr. (Also hurt, hopefully he can get back to speed)
Nolan is Nolan (which is fine)
Facey has shown flashes, but hasn't played consistently

I agree with OkaForPrez in that it's probably somewhere in the middle.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Expectations are high this year, but things are getting out of hand when we're talking about 6-10 being a tournament team.

I never did nor would say that. All I said wad that such a lineup could be on par with mid teir teams such as the ones I listed, none of whom made the tournament last year.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Great post! But since you didn't get the endorsement of Scrappy, posters take such unbridled enthusiasm seriously. Think of it as a compliment of sorts.

Its the closest we've been to a . . . . . . . . cough. . . . . . . . . . .cough . . . platoon system.

Enthusiasm is an interesting way to say it. I really just highlighted the most positive factual attributes about each guy and it immediately polarized some people. I didn't say Omar would drop 20 a game or Facey would be a 8 and 8 guy night in and night out, just a few nuggets that show that any one of those guys has the pedigree to step up into a major, yes major, bench contributor.

I'd handicap the order of likelihood as follows:
Jalen - Obviously
Facey - Without Miller in the fold his stepwise improvement would be more hyped up IMO.
Omar - The energy he started to play with last year showed maturity, if he can combine that with some health...
Enoch- Benefiting from the unknown more than anything, his size and athleticism have received attention but I think I'm more bearish on him than most because I doubt freshman hype.
SamIIAm- More likely that his game doesn't translate to the speed required vs. the injury impacting him, but that spin move though...
Nolan - Is what he is, which I love, but this is a measure of becoming a major contributor off the bench. Phil is an excellent role player.