AAC Preview from SI.com

[HooperScooper]

Does Wichita State make the AAC a power conference?

5. UCONN (10–8)
We’ve seen what happens when UConn has a dynamic point guard. Can Jalen Adams join the Kemba Walker/Shabazz Napier stratosphere? If he does, look out. The Huskies will get Alterique Gilbert and Terry Larrier back from major injuries—if healthy, they form a dynamic trio that could make UConn a sleeper.

I kind of understand being picked 5th but when you look at the projected record of 10-8 in the conference you do start to scratch your head. UConn was 9-9 last year when they were decimated by injuries and had their worst season in 30 years. So you'd like to think they could do better than a 1 game improvement. Although UConn didn't have to play Wichita State twice last year.

And I'd be shocked if Vital only plays 12 minutes a game (they have him playing 30% of available minutes) and only averages 4 ppg. That's slightly more than 1 three a game.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Does Wichita State make the AAC a power conference?

5. UCONN (10–8)
We’ve seen what happens when UConn has a dynamic point guard. Can Jalen Adams join the Kemba Walker/Shabazz Napier stratosphere? If he does, look out. The Huskies will get Alterique Gilbert and Terry Larrier back from major injuries—if healthy, they form a dynamic trio that could make UConn a sleeper.

I kind of understand being picked 5th but when you look at the projected record of 10-8 in the conference you do start to scratch your head. UConn was 9-9 last year when they were decimated by injuries and had their worst season in 30 years. So you'd like to think they could do better than a 1 game improvement. Although UConn didn't have to play Wichita State twice last year.

And I'd be shocked if Vital only plays 12 minutes a game (they have him playing 30% of available minutes) and only averages 4 ppg. That's slightly more than 1 three a game.

Vital will probably close to 20 a game. I see him getting 8-12 points a game

 

[CL82]

No love for CV at all.

 

[aceboon]

The Vital projection is laughable

 

[BlueMAB]

I like Vital, I think he'll get more minutes, but how Antwoine Anderson performs will probably decide if he gets 30% or 50% of the available minutes. Their competition for playing time should be intense. Our backcourt is solidly 4 deep, what a great problem to have.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

7 /7 for Cobb? I'd be pleasantly surprised with that.

 

[Guapo]

The Vital projection is laughable.

Otherwise I think this a very fair preview.

Who knows what to expect? If we stay healthy and play to full potential we could be a sleeper.

Who here disagrees with that?

 

[zls44]

3rd-highest ORtg on the team projected to only get 30% of the minutes. If he plays that little, the board will justifiably riot.

 

[auror]

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

They have 4 teams finishing 10-8. Is that even possible?

 

[HawkHusky]

Pretty sure everyone said the same exact thing prior to the 2013-2014 season. Good thing guards win Championships.

 

[Balker]

...but when you look at the projected record of 10-8 in the conference you do start to scratch your head.

I've been scratching my head over our conference season record since 2009...

 

[Wordbomar]

No love for CV at all.

JA, TL, AG, and CV will all score more than that. Anderson’s stats seem a little high as well

 

[auror]

 

[A10 fan]

They have 4 teams finishing 10-8. Is that even possible?

The Big East had 4 teams at 10-8 last year, which is why they got so many bids.

 

[Kitaman]

No love for CV at all.

Yeah they're predicting one field goal in the 1st half and another in the 2nd. Hope the teams use this as a scouting report at the start of the season. As good as AG is, CV made up ground in his absence and has to be one of the best 6th man in the conference.

 

[awfuldan]

So bogus. Vital is the best shooter on the team and he is the only player besides Jalen who has played significant minutes in a UConn uniform. He's also a reasonably good defender.

He is going to play a lot. And he's gonna score too.

 

[HooperScooper]

Pretty sure everyone said the same exact thing prior to the 2013-2014 season. Good thing guards win Championships.

The frontcourt has stats? Generated from what? There's really not much to go from to generate a statistical probability.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Don't exactly have to bring out the advanced metrics to reach that conclusion

 

[Tenspro2002]

No love for CV at all.

lol. There is no way that Anderson gets more minutes and scores more points than Vital. I would bet the farm on that.

 

[auror]

The frontcourt has stats? Generated from what? There's really not much to go from to generate a statistical probability.

His model is quite good, better than Pomeroy for pre-season projections, but yeah we have a lot of uncertainty. High school stats, recruiting rankings, junior college stats, age curves, etc. are not foolproof, but have been proven to have at least some predictive power. JUCO stats probably least reliable.

 

[MSGSeven]

It's a little hard to tell how the offensive production will be spread out because of some of the unknowns with this team. I think people are getting caught up in Vital's numbers last year and not putting it in proper perspective. Assuming we stay healthy, I see Vital as at least the number four scoring option and maybe even the fifth or sixth. Adams, Larrier and Gilbert are our top three scoring options just like the beginning of last year. Everyone else is up for grabs but I think the next three in no particular order is Anderson, Vital and Williams but with some of the early reports that sixth spot could be a Polley, Whaley or even a Cobb. I love Vital and he's a very nice player coming off the bench but if he averages double digits on this team we are going to be really good and a lot better than expected. My sleeper is Anderson. I think this guy is a veteran who has improved every year and he's a better ball handler/distributor than Vital so it's gonna be tough for CV to get a ton of minutes if Anderson plays well.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I kind of understand being picked 5th but when you look at the projected record of 10-8 in the conference you do start to scratch your head. UConn was 9-9 last year when they were decimated by injuries and had their worst season in 30 years. So you'd like to think they could do better than a 1 game improvement.

Losing Brimah, Facey, and Purvis: not only points, rebounds, and rim protection; but leadership as well. Replaced by significant unknowns (including how well Rique and Larry do coming off serious injuries) across skill, physical condition/readiness, and age/experience.

 

[husky429]

Id bet my salary for the next 5 years vital has double that ppg.

Severely underrated player here. He had a better freshman season than jalen did, for christ sake.

 

[auror]

My sleeper is Anderson. I think this guy is a veteran who has improved every year and he's a better ball handler/distributor than Vital so it's gonna be tough for CV to get a ton of minutes if Anderson plays well.

Yes the takeaway is that SI talked to somebody who said that Anderson will get more minutes than Vital. That means we're probably all underrating Anderson. That's a good thing for the program.