A Whole lot of not Players Reaction

[jibsey]

I don't profess to know if Akinjo's talent merits this but Hurley's first thing should be a call and if interest is then a flight out to see him right away. Hurley's intensity as a point guard is the equal of KO's, there should be a connection.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

We've done better than that. Miller was tremendous as well.

 

[CL82]

I don't profess to know if Akinjo's talent merits this but Hurley's first thing should be a call and if interest is then a flight out to see him right away. Hurley's intensity as a point guard is the equal of KO's, there should be a connection.

Nope. First thing is talking to the kids who are here. Then reach out to Akinjo.

 

[UofCT]

Any other players react?

 

[Dogdeacon]

Love the title and what cane after

6 pages of reactions from guys who couldn’t sniff an NCAA court. Thanks playas

Whoa don't sugar cane it for us, we have to be D1 players to have opinions.

In the past we 'only' needed to pass the diehard not bandwagon fan d-measuring contest, under Hurley this is getting real.

 

[tzznandrew]

We've done better than that. Miller was tremendous as well.

Kromah, Miller, Gibbs were all good additions.

Anderson, were he allowed to be a 4th guard, would have been just fine.

 

[businesslawyer]

Carlton....the more I think about it....reminds me of Rod Sellers during his 1st year.

Sellers as a frosh was light years ahead of Carlton as a frosh in terms of basketball skills. Plus Sellers was an athletic big, and Carlton, to succeed, needs to be about strength.

 

[NowInStorrs]

Only here does a thread about players reactions to the DH news devolve into a comparison of Vital/TR/RA and how Kisunas compares to a kid playing for Gonzaga.

You can’t make it up.

Tweet by player's relative goes in. Discussions about Christian Vital and grad transfers come out. You can't explain that.

 

[Storrs South]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

KO actually had pretty good luck with grad transfers when used properly (e.g. not pushing a young core out of the program):

RJ Evans - Holy Cross (not great, but ban year so not KO's fault)
Lasan Kromah - George Washington (good, provided great minutes in title run)
Sterling Gibbs - Seton Hall (good, but incorrectly used by KO as PG resulting in decreases in stats across the board)
Shonn Miller - Cornell (great, was so good at UConn and underutilized by KO)
Antwoine Anderson - Fordham (had his moments but overall struggled at UConn)
David Onuorah - Cornell (very bad and over-utilized by KO)

So excluding Evans since it was the ban year, that's 3 of 5 players that were very talented and had relatively effective seasons at UConn.

That being said, KO went to this well way too much to compensate for lack of player development. Ideally Kentan Facey would be what Shonn Miller ended up becoming in 2015-16 (not the year after), Sam Cassell Jr. becomes what Gibbs was instead of going to Iona and effectively putting up Gibbs numbers there, Makai Ashton Langford would be here instead of Antwoine Anderson, and Enoch/Durham here instead of Onuorah.

Not to rehash KO's failures but that's a pretty bad track record on player development/retention.

 

[Stainmaster]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

I’d like to see this claim substantiated somehow.

 

[Penfield]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

Pitt's roster next year will be 10 Antwoine Andersons if they are lucky.

 

[HawkHusky]

I was talking grad transfers in general, not just those who come to UCONN. How many grad transfers have played a integral role in a team's post-season success? Not many. Most aren't Kromah. Most are Andersons.

 

[CL82]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

I’d like to see this claim substantiated somehow.

"I got all these Antwoine Andersons for just 1 Lasan Kromah!"

 

[the Q]

I was talking grad transfers in general, not just those who come to UCONN. How many grad transfers have played a integral role in a team's post-season success? Not many. Most aren't Kromah. Most are Andersons.

Canyon Barry last year helped Florida get to the E8.

Cam Johnson helped UNC get a 2 seed.

Sure most of them are more role players, because stars usually aren't 5th year seniors.

 

[ctchamps]

Mods please fix my thread title haha. But the Wilson family approves

Fixed.

 

[gtcam]

KO actually had pretty good luck with grad transfers when used properly (e.g. not pushing a young core out of the program):

RJ Evans - Holy Cross (not great, but ban year so not KO's fault)
Lasan Kromah - George Washington (good, provided great minutes in title run)
Sterling Gibbs - Seton Hall (good, but incorrectly used by KO as PG resulting in decreases in stats across the board)
Shonn Miller - Cornell (great, was so good at UConn and underutilized by KO)
Antwoine Anderson - Fordham (had his moments but overall struggled at UConn)
David Onuorah - Cornell (very bad and over-utilized by KO)

So excluding Evans since it was the ban year, that's 3 of 5 players that were very talented and had relatively effective seasons at UConn.

That being said, KO went to this well way too much to compensate for lack of player development. Ideally Kentan Facey would be what Shonn Miller ended up becoming in 2015-16 (not the year after), Sam Cassell Jr. becomes what Gibbs was instead of going to Iona and effectively putting up Gibbs numbers there, Makai Ashton Langford would be here instead of Antwoine Anderson, and Enoch/Durham here instead of Onuorah.

Not to rehash KO's failures but that's a pretty bad track record on player development/retention.

Gibbs wanted to be the PG and KO obligated - Gibbs quoted numerous time how he wanted the ball to be in his hands and didn't want to play off the ball.
Miller was under utilized ?? in what way - minutes? NO position? NO Do you think he should have touched the ball more? If that's it you only have to look at Miller on the offensive end, away from the play, to understand why he didn't get the ball more - the kid didn't move enough to get to a space to receive the ball. Glen Miller and others were constantly yelling at him to move, and when he did, he became effective. They wanted him to move to the top of the key and be an outlet or take his man one on one to the hoop. Too often he was a statue on offense. Was he a talent? hell yeah- had an upside and did have some really big games but could have been much more with more of an effort on his part offensively. He was a great pick-up.
The Sam Cassell Jr remarks are crazy. If KO did him that badly his father would have been all over it - instead to this day he praises KO up and down. It was KO that suggested SCJ go to where he could get more PT. Iona was a great fit for him as Fordham was for AA Don't forget - SCJ was injured a great deal - but then that's KO's doing?
DO - I agree with you as very bad
Facey - it was in his heart as it was in AB's - neither worked on their game on their own - Facey finally did during the summer after his junior year (on the court and in the weight room). Before that he received the playing time based on his practice and training results.
Enoch/Durham - all well documented - Enoch was a problem child in practice and on the bench - Durham - KO went way overboard for this kid. Case closed.

You comment on how KO screwed up on every one of these grad kids but follow-up with: So excluding Evans since it was the ban year, that's 3 of 5 players that were very talented and had relatively effective seasons at UConn.

KO had his issues with recruitment - he completely screwed up that area and it hurt him and the program badly - he is paying the price. I also think that he had a vision for what he wanted to see on the floor and how it would work but didn't have those pieces he needed - that's on him. The grad student bucket is not an area that he was poor. His last year was not good because he panicked and landed DO. Many coaches and programs have done worse in that area

Not to rehash KO's failures - yeah good idea - let's move on.

 

[HawkHusky]

Canyon Barry last year helped Florida get to the E8.

Cam Johnson helped UNC get a 2 seed.

Sure most of them are more role players, because stars usually aren't 5th year seniors.

Right. My original point (apparently not all that clear) was that I don't think any coach should rely on 5th years for key minutes (like Ollie often did). This is my last comment on the subject. Time to watch the presser.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Shonn Miller was the best player on a team that featured Amida, Rodney, DHam, and Jalen

IMO

 

[intlzncster]

We shouldn’t have vital penciled in as a starter. Should be looking for talent. Grad transfer Juco Frosh recruits whatever it is.

That's where I'm at with him too.

And hope to god Gilbert is health because if so, pencil him in. Vital's jack of all trades, master of none skill set works great as a 6th man as well.

Vital might be less likely to jack at every opportunity if he's got playing time predicated on him playing within himself.

 

[nomar]

Whoa don't sugar cane it for us, we have to be D1 players to have opinions.

In the past we 'only' needed to pass the diehard not bandwagon fan d-measuring contest, under Hurley this is getting real.

He didn't say D1. You don't have to be a Miami Cane. You could be a D3 guy. Just no JUCOs or NAIA guys.

 

[intlzncster]

Yup. And for every Lasan Kromah, you get 10 Antwoine Andersons.

Not if you recruit them well. Every year there's a few key grad transfers on the market. If you grab one, then great.

It's a good stop gap if you need to plug a hole. Just shouldn't be relied on year in year out as a modus operandi.

 

[auror]

Tweet by player's relative goes in. Discussions about Christian Vital and grad transfers come out. You can't explain that.

Somebody Reddits.

 

[Chief00]

Shonn Miller was the best player on a team that featured Amida, Rodney, DHam, and Jalen

IMO

I don’t agree - I would go with DHam.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Yet is a 4 year player that scored 30 as a SOPHOMORE more than once. Please... he’d get attention from most schools

I like Vital. I think he can be a very good player for us. Ollie proved he simply couldnt develop guys or coach well enough to put his guys in the best position to win. I think DH can and will do both. I think Vital will be one of the guys that benefits most from this.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I don’t agree - I would go with DHam.

That’s fair. I just really admired the way Shonn just literally did not make mistakes. Ever.