Abraham is in the portal

[Vancat]

Yes, it can be challenging to understand, which might be why the emphasis is primarily on offense during the summer. I'd expect them (freshmen) to be up to speed by the time the season starts, though they may not be as sharp as the veterans on the team.

Thanks, that's the kind of answer I was looking for.

 

[HooperScooper]

If the father is quoted that he was trying to get feedback and didn’t get it the whole family thing doesn’t quite mesh. Why would he say that?

I don't believe that is what he was saying. It's kind of an awkwardly worded response but sometimes that happens when you're talking to a reporter and just one part of the response is quoted.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Ready, fire, aim!

I do not blame the kid. I think it is incredible that he did not get a real shot to play considering the year that we had defensively. Plus, I think that if this kid was not good enough (Notice I said "IF"), then I place the blame on the coaching staff. I mean, one guy faltering is bad luck. But the fact that we got next to nothing all year long from Nowell, Aidan and Abraham is an indictment on the coaching staff, not the players.

 

[HooperScooper]

The only people who know how good he was saw him in practice over the entire season, our coaches. If he reached out to the staff and they didn’t assure him that next season would not look like the last with just insignificant garbage time then who could blame him for wanting PT and a chance to show his game somewhere else?

I don't believe Hurley specifically tells a kid who he recruited and has only spent 1 developmental year at UConn that he won't get playing time next year. Hurley preaches development so he may say here is what you need to work on, here is who is at your position next year that you'll be competing with for playing time, so here's what you need to do, etc. Then let the kid make his decision from that.

 

[SoFla Steve]

I don't know what to think about this. When he arrived in Storrs, the staff was impressed with him saying he was already better than they thought he was. Then he rarely got on the floor.

 

[Makryspost]

I searched the thread, so apologies if this was asked/answered: Did he receive NIL to come to the school, not play much, and then jump? I would take it if thats how it works, but it is crazy if we are paying kids to develop here, not play and then leave. It is the way of the world now, but man, maybe we need a way to keep commitments.

 

[Scrutineer]

Very disappointed to hear this but how can you blame him? Maybe Dan Hurley was referring to him when he recently said, "I should have played some guys more", but we'll never know.

What impressed me was his per 40 stats: 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, with good shooting percentages AND he played within himself when he was on the floor. Not running around pumping up bad shots like JR.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Very disappointed to hear this but how can you blame him? I think Dan Hurley may have been referring to him when he recently said, "I should have played some guys more."

What impressed me was his per 40 stats: 17.3 points and 6.5 rebounds, with good shooting percentages AND he played within himself when he was on the floor. Not running around pumping up bad shots like JR.

I hope he doesn't turn out to be like the guy JC got beat up about over and over........no names mentioned here.

I wouldn’t look too much into his stats. Outside of one rebound against Seton Hall, all of his stats and most of his PT came against the non-conference cupcakes and there is really nothing meaningful to take away from that level of competition.

 

[Scrutineer]

I wouldn’t look too much into his stats. Outside of one rebound against Seton Hall, all of his stats and most of his PT came against the non-conference cupcakes and there is really nothing meaningful to take away from that level of competition.

I understand, but what stood out to me was how he seemed to play within himself and didn't force bad shots and run around hunting for offense.

Has to be tough to sit out, especially if they have ability and want to play. It's human nature to look at how your team is playing and imagine what you could be doing better.

 

[husky429]

Honest question from a Casual Fan. So Hurley is known for his intricate game plans with an encyclopedia of multiple plays and complicated defensive schemes. Could it ever be the case that some of these guys just can't catch on mentally and remember all the details they need to? Or is it a given, at this level, that they can fully absorb it all? I know he cut it down to be simpler this year.

Yes, absolutely. It's not even our offense though. Hurley's defense is VERY high IQ compared to most college teams. I have no idea about individual players, but I'm sure plenty of the talented guys we see on the bench just aren't picking up the schemes.

 

[UCan3]

Most players switching schools every year are chasing $$$$ and not worried about development for a pro career.

And why not… really… the stats on those who go pro and make real $$$ are not great… I too, unless I am in first couple of rounds draft discussion would look around to see where I could make some $$$ especially if I was not seeing much PT.

Makes no sense to me to say anything but good luck!

 

[J187Money]

Yes, absolutely. It's not even our offense though. Hurley's defense is VERY high IQ compared to most college teams. I have no idea about individual players, but I'm sure plenty of the talented guys we see on the bench just aren't picking up the schemes.

And I'm not a hoops X&Os guy - but it seems when we make mistakes it is almost always an automatic bucket for the other team. Maybe the defense is too complicated for its own good - but this group this year seemed to struggle with it - although it was better at the end. Not sure if the light switch was being flipped or the effort was better. I'm not smart enough to know.

 

[husky429]

And I'm not a hoops X&Os guy - but it seems when we make mistakes it is almost always an automatic bucket for the other team. Maybe the defense is too complicated for its own good - but this group this year seemed to struggle with it - although it was better at the end. Not sure if the light switch was being flipped or the effort was better. I'm not smart enough to know.

The defensive scheme was fine. It is tough, yes, but we've seen when high IQ defenders are in, they can thrive. Cam was not terribly quick or athletic, but he got the scheme and had his best defensive season ever.

Our individual defenders were not up to snuff this year. IMO. If your feet are slow and you process defense at Windows 99 speed, no scheme is going to work for you.

 

[Umami Zen]

IIRC -IA had a 4.0 GPA coming out of HS. BBIQ vs IQ are sometimes different. Grasping schemes/concepts. My point is he's a pretty smart kid. In his case this year-It didn't translate to PT. Karaban/Liam/Stewart/Ross? in front of him for PT

 

[Deleted at users request]

IIRC -IA had a 4.0 GPA coming out of HS. BBIQ vs IQ are sometimes different. Grasping schemes/concepts. My point is he's a pretty smart kid. In his case this year-It didn't translate to PT. Karaban/Liam/Stewart/Ross? in front of him for PT

His team was one of the best in a very deep region of course too. They give out accolades for every game on their socials and he consistently got the hard hat one for doing the dirty work.

Thought he’d eventually be that perfectly ideal 3 and D dirty work connector guy.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The defensive scheme was fine. It is tough, yes, but we've seen when high IQ defenders are in, they can thrive. Cam was not terribly quick or athletic, but he got the scheme and had his best defensive season ever.

Our individual defenders were not up to snuff this year. IMO. If your feet are slow and you process defense at Windows 99 speed, no scheme is going to work for you.

And we didn’t have an all-world rim protector to cover up a lot of those deficiencies (all due respect to our bigs).

 

[husky429]

And we didn’t have an all-world rim protector to cover up a lot of those deficiencies (all due respect to our bigs).

I would say our bigs were "good not great" on defense. And a couplefew of our guards and wings were putrid.

Our bigs were good enough to have a top-25 defense, our guards were not. Held us back all year.

I doubt our staff makes that mistake twice.

 

[aceboon]

From what I'm hearing it has nothing to do with playing time. The kid is homesick and misses his family. He's looking for an opportunity closer to home so I think you will be seeing him at a school in the Mid-Atlantic area next year.
Heard he's a great teammate and loves the guys and staff, but it's about missing family more and wanting to be close to home.

there was a family member in the comments of an IG post that clipped Hurley's recent 60 Minutes interview that was claiming otherwise

 

[UCan3]

Feet slow is best description is what held us back on Defense. How many time did an opposing player take any one of our guards/wings to the hole and leave them In the dust?

It was hard to watch at times. And yes McNeeley was one of them - I still think he needs another year of college.

All that being said we recovered almost in time to win it all!

But our seeding suffered and we saw Florida way too early in this tournament.

 

[J187Money]

IIRC -IA had a 4.0 GPA coming out of HS. BBIQ vs IQ are sometimes different. Grasping schemes/concepts. My point is he's a pretty smart kid. In his case this year-It didn't translate to PT. Karaban/Liam/Stewart/Ross? in front of him for PT

There is raw intelligence and quick reaction time. Those aren't always the same thing. BBIQ needs to be matched with some level of hair-trigger instinct playing at this level.

 

[Huskybass]

If the kid believes he can ball, I hope he does. Sincere best wishes.

 

[boog204]

Are you saying someone in his camp or the coaching staff pushed him out? If it's the latter then what's the point of recruiting any kids rated outside of the top 15 or 20 who would start from day one? I'm sure he got better in the last season and not worse. If Hurley isn't willing to stick with a kid he recruited past 1 season then just don't recruit kids like Abraham (rated composite #76 on 247Sports).

At this juncture, there’s not. Unless you really see some super sleeper potential (Furphy?) it will always be better to bring in a veteran portal guy.

I think this will be our strategy moving forward. Target top 20 talent, get who you can, then supplement in the portal.

As mentioned elsewhere here, I wonder how much of Abraham’s cousins recruitment factored in.

 

[SoCalCanine]

I always hoped Abraham would become our defensive stopper in the mode of Lyman DePriest or Stephon Castle. It is a role that this team just really needs, someone who can shut down the competition's best scorer. I am surprised Danny didn't groom him for that role.

 

[Chief00]

Is it now time to crap on the player or wonder why we recruited someone who either could not play or we recruited someone who could play but we didn’t play him?

In Abraham’s case, I think it’s more likely to be the later. I think he is very talented, but of course the true test will be what he does on the court.

 

[jibsey]

Hurley saw him plenty in scrimmages against our starters so…if the kid sought out info on his role and Hurley didn’t tell him he would be a significant part of at least our bench then what is he supposed to do? A 4 star HS player wants more than 1 minute a game. And yes it’s always about playing time, he doesn’t want to waste a year.
Last year they assured Stew that he was part of the rotation not a starter and he stayed.