7 Man Rotation - Is It Enough?

[6Nattys4Us]

Given the scholly increase from 13 to 15, it would seem logical that NEXT year, we would have a bigger rotation. THIS year we are about 10 deep (+ Reed, Jr., Stewart, Ross, Mahaney, Nowell) rotation.

It's a shame Abraham isn't getting much play, because on a per minute basis he excels and should start. That said, his is skewed by very low minutes. He is a plus defender and a tween Stewart and Ross for athleticism.

 

[inWV]

Stretch run of the season and tourneys
22-23 - 8 deep, Allyeyne last off the bench
23-24 - 8 deep, Stewart last off the bench (with some very productive minutes)
24-25 - 7 deep core rotation, Ross and Mahaney with spot minutes depending on opponent and game situation. I don't think Hurley should give up on what they might be able to provide.

 

[inWV]

Who's going to guard RJ Lewis when Stewie needs a rest? If you told me we're gonna put Ross on him for a few, I'd understand. If you try to let AM guard him, I cringe.

Yes I am only looking at the next game, but this applies to Marquette and Providence...and SH too. Then we have the tourney.

I think you preach to Ross that his defense will get him minutes and to Mahaney that getting his head in the game offensively will get him minutes. Ross needs focus, Mahaney needs confidence.

 

[businesslawyer]

Is a 7 man rotation enough? Yes and no. Yes, it's enough as long as each of your starters can catch enough minutes of rest (which should be 6 to 8). Last year, we had a 7 1/2 man rotation (Stewart played the 4 minutes Karaban would sit) and it was more than enough. But the issue is can the two men of the bench play enough and the right positions so that everyone could get a rest. And unless either Nowell or Mahaney plays when Hass comes out, we're trying to play without a point and you can bet when we get to the postseason we will be mercilessly pressed any minutes that Hass is out.

 

[Stinger92860]

7 is enough IF we don‘t run into foul trouble. Going deeper will introduce areas of weakness.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Paige could give us 5 good minutes.

OK, hate me now.

 

[dannyHAM]

Stew has got to play way more minutes IMO.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Can we settle on the 70s comedy called "8 is Enough"?

 

[RuffRuff]

Yup, although this was the offseason when Stew was going to go lottery, Aidan was Cam 2.0, and Alex was a bonafide first team AA. Oh well. I legit thought Aidan was Cam 2.0...

Also love it when people do their scoring predictions and we come out averaging 118 points a game. Mathing is hard.

I didn't see any of that. What I thought would happen was:

Tarris was talented enough where he'd be impossible not to start by this point, and he'd become an intentional part of the offense

Isiah was good enough to be getting real minutes by this point

Those two guys are built different physically.

Is AK even making third team BE at this point? No one could envision this rut. I'm not sure we have even a second team player right now. Solo has cooled off and Liam hasn't played enough games. Let's see what happens over the next 5.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I’d feel better about it if we didn’t foul so much at the 5 spot.

You almost had the correct answer:
"I'd feel better about it if we didn't foul so much."
We foul too much to have a 7 person rotation.

 

[superjohn]

That's the Boneyard for you, over rating the depth of the roster at the beginning of the season. Bottom line, it's difficult to draw conclusions against the sub 300 ranked cupcakes on the schedule.

You just described Hurley. He's the one saying it was his deepest team ever.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

That's the Boneyard for you, over rating the depth of the roster at the beginning of the season. Bottom line, it's difficult to draw conclusions against the sub 300 ranked cupcakes on the schedule.

Oh I don't know dude. I am not a betting man, but I would have never guessed that Alex would take such a deep plunge. Freaking NBA scouts were wrong about him too. Stewart, Mahaney and Ross? yes I agree we over estimated their talent. But the tape on Tarris was nice. Great moves. Big body. Sometimes that happens.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Stew has got to play way more minutes IMO.

He definitely should be playing more minutes. He can rebound and mix it up under the basket, can play slamma jama and he is a pretty good shooter. Reminds me of Andre in some ways.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

I will say this: what a magnificent story this would be if Stewart, Ross and Mahaney have magical March runs!!! Hollywood could not script that.

 

[gsmooth]

You just described Hurley. He's the one saying it was his deepest team ever.

Well he got that one wrong then. I never bought into the hype with Ross and Stewart or Alex being an All American, although I never could have predicted him going into this tailspin shooting wise .

The player I missed the most on was Aidan. I was excited when he chose UConn as I thought our coaching staff would bring out the best in him. However, that kid is tentative, hesitant, and seems like he lost confidence .

 

[superjohn]

Well he got that one wrong then. I never bought into the hype with Ross and Stewart or Alex being an All American, although I never could have predicted him going into this tailspin shooting wise .

The player I missed the most on was Aidan. I was excited when he chose UConn as I thought our coaching staff would bring out the best in him. However, that kid is tentative, hesitant, and seems like he lost confidence .

I missed on Mahaney too.

Agree with you on Ross, Jaylin, and AK. I still think there's a lot of untapped potential in Jaylin and I want to see it come out in a UConn jersey for the rest of this season and next. There's some other players I just don't see it with.

 

[jibsey]

I missed on Mahaney too.

Agree with you on Ross, Jaylin, and AK. I still think there's a lot of untapped potential in Jaylin and I want to see it come out in a UConn jersey for the rest of this season and next. There's some other players I just don't see it with.

I don’t see that much in Ross. If he was a “wrench” then maybe.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Well he got that one wrong then. I never bought into the hype with Ross and Stewart or Alex being an All American, although I never could have predicted him going into this tailspin shooting wise .

The player I missed the most on was Aidan. I was excited when he chose UConn as I thought our coaching staff would bring out the best in him. However, that kid is tentative, hesitant, and seems like he lost confidence .

Alex seems to go on this tailspin every year around this time tbh. I don’t know what it is.

 

[Hoophound]

Alex seems to go on this tailspin every year around this time tbh. I don’t know what it is.

It may be that he plays too many minutes. Fatigue is real. The body breaks down and needs rest to build back up. He’s always on the court and he’s a gym rat too.

 

[Deleted at users request]

It may be that he plays too many minutes. Fatigue is real. The body breaks down and needs rest to build back up. He’s always on the court and he’s a gym rat too.

You’ll definitely feel dead legs on your 3 point shot too.

 

[UCfor3]

Mahaney is important to the team. He’s one of the best shooters on the team, but he needs to play more, and Hurley and Luke need to ride the officials, I mean it’s college basketball not rugby.

If Hurley rode the officials any more he could put a saddle on them and enter the Kentucky Derby. Love coach and he's right about our guys being held, but riding the officials has clearly not helped remedy the situation.

 

[jibsey]

Hurley has looked VERY calm on the sidelines since his criticism and no worse than most of his coaching opponents. This was an attack line that has perpetuated after Maui and the press is riding it on and on. He’s animated as many coaches are.
How many T’s has he gotten this year?

I personally don’t want him sitting on the bench like a statue while our players are held, fouled and hacked as we run our offense. He must at least be in their ear about it. But his after game comments are blown up as he tries to deflect criticism from his players onto himself, like the recent one about not coaching them the same way.
This is a story line that won’t go away this season because the press has latched onto it like a dog with a bone.
My advice is to ignore it and watch what the other coaches are doing, it will be the same.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

If Hurley rode the officials any more he could put a saddle on them and enter the Kentucky Derby. Love coach and he's right about our guys being held, but riding the officials has clearly not helped remedy the situation.

If the refs can call touch or non existent fouls on UConn they can also call them on UConn’s opponents when McNeeley is being held or Mahaney is getting bumped and repeatedly hit coming up the floor, or Reed or Karaban are getting fouled around the basket.

 

[UCfor3]

If the refs can call touch or non existent fouls on UConn they can also call them on UConn’s opponents when McNeeley is being held or Mahaney is getting bumped and repeatedly hit coming up the floor, or Reed or Karaban are getting fouled around the basket.

No argument there. I am just not sure riding the officials even more than we already have is going to change the way we are being officiated. It hasn't worked so far in limiting the grabbing against us.

 

[willie99]

I'm just here for the ride. I leave the coaching up to all the experts. Lord knows we have a lot of them around here

Pollyanna in the house

Bring it home boys

 

[GampelGladiator]

7 deep for #7 has a nice ring to it.

 

[jibsey]

It will be interesting to see how this game is called today. I’m not expecting anything good.

 

[Scoe]

I would much rather see Ross play than Mahaney, Just want Ross to make his fouls count, same thing with Nowell.

 

[patrick]

We foul too much and we don’t have the ball handling we need with the current 7. We need Nowell to play 5 minutes plus. Mahaney should get a heat check every night.

Yup this guy gets it!

 

[Giddyup5]

Problem is that it’s not even 7 men. AK and Liam are not Jordan. They both can sit 3-5 minutes a half to give Stew a consistent 6-10 minutes a half.

IMO he would produce more if he had a more defined role when he’s not looking over his shoulder.

He played his best when Liam was out.