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- Dec 29, 2011
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I've been reading on this board and TOS all about how about we still have 8 players, and that is a normal rotation for a team. While that may be true lets look at the way the roster was set up before the season, and what has essentially become since the Oklahoma State game:
Starting lineup:
Adams
Gilbert/Purvis
Larrier
Facey
Brim
I say Gilbert/Purvis in the starting lineup because I think Ollie wasn't sure what direction to go in to start the season. If Gilbert had played well, I really think he would have brought Purvis off the bench to be the 6th man.
Coming off the bench we had Diarra and Enoch coming in to the play the 4/5. Durham was behind them, and was a candidate to redshirt based on how his knees felt.
After Gilbert/Purvis came off the bench, we had Vital has our 4th guard, and Jackson backing up Larrier, and maybe playing the 4 against smaller teams.
Now flash forward to what we are seeing now:
Adams is clearly our best player, and has to play every minute of every game for us to be successful. The poor guy played 45 minutes yesterday coming off a concussion.
Purvis is a guy who I think KO has realized has to be a 20-25 minute a game player who comes in to play D and hopefully hit some shots. Now he has to start and again play almost every minute of every game, further exposing his major weaknesses.
Vital, our 4th guard (and a freshman to boot) is being asked to play 30+ minutes a game (40 with Adams hurt). This was a guy expected to play 5-10 minutes at best.
Jackson, another guy who was expected to play 10 minutes a game, is starting most games and playing 25-30 minutes (more with Adams out). Yes his shooting hasn't been what we wanted to see, but he is getting used to the speed of the game.
Durham is clearly knocking the rust off after not playing competitive bball for 2 years. I also think he is on a "pitch count" so to speak as I am sure the staff wasn't expecting to play him this much so soon, and they are really trying to limit his minutes.
Enoch is a raw player. He is only 18 as a sophomore. His defense needs to improve, but his offense will be huge for us the next 2 years.
Facey and Brimah are what they are at this point. If you want to blame part of their development on KO, then so be it. Facey is the same guy who had 14 and 9 against Duke 2 years ago, but then disappears in other games. They are just inconsistent players.
The bottom line is this: its not just the UCONN has an 8 man roster, its who exactly the players are that are playing, and the roles they are being put into. I pray that Vital, Jackson, Durham and Enoch are better players in the future for it. Our 3 seniors are just not good/consistent enough to carry this team, and Adams can't possibly do it all on his own. And guys that we though would be the 10th and 11th man on the roster are starters and playing starter minutes.
If we have a backcourt of Adams, Gilbert, MAL, Vital (and God willing Diallo) next year along with a healthy Larrier, we have upgraded the roster 100X. Throw in the experience for guys like Durham and Jackson (and Vital) and you really have something.
Starting lineup:
Adams
Gilbert/Purvis
Larrier
Facey
Brim
I say Gilbert/Purvis in the starting lineup because I think Ollie wasn't sure what direction to go in to start the season. If Gilbert had played well, I really think he would have brought Purvis off the bench to be the 6th man.
Coming off the bench we had Diarra and Enoch coming in to the play the 4/5. Durham was behind them, and was a candidate to redshirt based on how his knees felt.
After Gilbert/Purvis came off the bench, we had Vital has our 4th guard, and Jackson backing up Larrier, and maybe playing the 4 against smaller teams.
Now flash forward to what we are seeing now:
Adams is clearly our best player, and has to play every minute of every game for us to be successful. The poor guy played 45 minutes yesterday coming off a concussion.
Purvis is a guy who I think KO has realized has to be a 20-25 minute a game player who comes in to play D and hopefully hit some shots. Now he has to start and again play almost every minute of every game, further exposing his major weaknesses.
Vital, our 4th guard (and a freshman to boot) is being asked to play 30+ minutes a game (40 with Adams hurt). This was a guy expected to play 5-10 minutes at best.
Jackson, another guy who was expected to play 10 minutes a game, is starting most games and playing 25-30 minutes (more with Adams out). Yes his shooting hasn't been what we wanted to see, but he is getting used to the speed of the game.
Durham is clearly knocking the rust off after not playing competitive bball for 2 years. I also think he is on a "pitch count" so to speak as I am sure the staff wasn't expecting to play him this much so soon, and they are really trying to limit his minutes.
Enoch is a raw player. He is only 18 as a sophomore. His defense needs to improve, but his offense will be huge for us the next 2 years.
Facey and Brimah are what they are at this point. If you want to blame part of their development on KO, then so be it. Facey is the same guy who had 14 and 9 against Duke 2 years ago, but then disappears in other games. They are just inconsistent players.
The bottom line is this: its not just the UCONN has an 8 man roster, its who exactly the players are that are playing, and the roles they are being put into. I pray that Vital, Jackson, Durham and Enoch are better players in the future for it. Our 3 seniors are just not good/consistent enough to carry this team, and Adams can't possibly do it all on his own. And guys that we though would be the 10th and 11th man on the roster are starters and playing starter minutes.
If we have a backcourt of Adams, Gilbert, MAL, Vital (and God willing Diallo) next year along with a healthy Larrier, we have upgraded the roster 100X. Throw in the experience for guys like Durham and Jackson (and Vital) and you really have something.
