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Add One Former Player to This Roster

Some Possible Choices

  • Total voters
    172
All we need to win a chip is a dependable backup C, it’s The only potential hole in the roster. Hopefully it’s Reibe but I’d take Singare or Brimah or Nolan or Okwandu just in case
 
This isn’t solely due to my natural contrarianism and the fact that one of our greatest has yet to receive a single vote, but I vote for Rip Hamilton.

I honestly think he would thrive in a Dan Hurley, complex, constant-motion offense. In his prime, he possessed the basketball IQ, court vision, and stellar off-ball movement abilities, especially to slice through defenses, around multiple picks, to get himself open.
 
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Mike Honcho said:
I love Clingan but it's a little misleading to quote his per 40 minute stats when he averaged 13 and 22mpg at UConn, respectively. And the biggest thing holding him back in the NBA last season was that he wasn't in NBA game shape (20mpg in Portland and he gets gassed).

Clingan was so effective because we had two change of pace centers... Adama and Samson. Had he played more minutes his per40 stats would have suffered severely.
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The minutes his sophomore year are a little skewed because he got hurt vs. Hall and then didn't play a full load for a bit after he came back. Plus, the team was so dominant that there was rarely any need to play him more than 25 minutes. At his size he was never going to be able to give you 35+ minutes, but I think he could've given you 28-30 without too much trouble if he needed to.

Emeka was the better player here, at his peak, but I think you could make a case for Clingan in this exercise given how Hurley likes to build and coach his teams. He was a cheat code at this level, not just because of his rim protecting but because of his screening. My recollection is that from an efficiency standpoint, UConn was around the 10th best team in the country that year when he sat but the best of the KenPom era, possibly by a lot, when he played. This scenario would reunite him with Karaban in the front court that was so effective that season and allow Hurley to get the most possible out of Reed in his minutes.
 
I chose Butler because I like our our roster positions as follows: 4, 2, 1, 5, 3.

Karaban is a fantastic four, Ball proved himself and there is a ton of depth here, I like what I have seen from Demary and he did play well at Georgia and we have solid backups here IMO. I think Reed is solid and could be great and Reibe is a solid backup. The three though is dependent on either a two guard taking the position, or Stewart proving himself.

That's why I'd take Butler who could also bring some solid leadership and do everything ability to the team. Basically he shores up the weakest spot based on play last year.

Clingan would also be solid but I don't think the weakness at the five (again based on last year) is the same as the weakness at the three). I did debate Castle but I think Butler had more take over to his game of any of UConn's past threes.
 
Matrim55 said:
Have we forgotten how great Emeka was? He averaged 4.3 blocks per game for his career, and was able to stay on the court for 30+ mpg because he didn't foul. He was also a go-to scorer in the way that Clingan never was.

Love Clingan, but he's second at best.
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I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened. I voted Kemba because of guard play and his ability to take over a game but Emeka was 1b
Emeka was our first NBA rookie of the year and was defensive player of the year, final 4 MOP etc….. As far rim protection he led the NCAA in blocks and was a better offensive player in my opinion than Clingan
 
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I voted for Tristen Newton because he was a great player. He knew how to be a guard and how to make the team better.

I would have liked to see Ryan Boatright on that list. He is my favorite Husky because he was only 5ft 10 inches but played like he was alot taller.
 
Kemba. Leadership on and off the floor. Unstoppable opponent and he did it all with a smile on his face. His confidence inspired confidence in others. "Everything is going to be ok; we got Kemba". I think Shabazz was very inspirational as well and he would be my second. Instead of smiles he threw up 35 foot bombs when the going got tough. Drive through a brick wall. When Boat was on the floor with him they brought new meaning to down and dirty defense. Their combined toughness was other worldly. Quicker than hell.
 
These answers provide a good case study in understanding how much value a former Husky brings to this team as compared to the value current Huskies bring to this team. I'll leave out the variable of how a certain former Husky played in their era. For example, Omeka never had to play a high hedge and go in to drop coverage. But I have high confidence with his athleticism and IQ he would excel at it.

SG and PF are the most known positions on this team in terms of what level we can expect Ball and Karaban to perform at this season. No one should be suggesting a prior SG or PF is what this team needs because no matter how great the former Husky is, the current Huskies in those positions are going to produce.

PG and SF are the biggest unknowns in terms of how the new players will play at that position (PG) or how newcomers and returning players will perform (SG and SF).

Reed Jr. can have a solid year but there are a few legendary Huskies wearing rings who we can correctly say would do better than Reed. And I think Reed will average a double double this year.

Overall, I'd rank my top 3 as:

DC sophomore season
Emeka junior season
Kemba junior season
 
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The question posed was which former player would you ADD to this team. If we added probably any one of the listed choices someone on the already existing team would be sitting on the bench. So for me add Kemba and Silas Demary Jr. goes to the bench. We are rated in the top five with Silas. With a Kemba in his prime I think we are probably rated #1. Silas would still get plenty of minutes and the shooting guard or possibly the small forward would be giving up time to Silas.
 
Without knowing the immediate impact Reibe will have, I'm taking DC.
 
Matrim55 said:
Have we forgotten how great Emeka was? He averaged 4.3 blocks per game for his career, and was able to stay on the court for 30+ mpg because he didn't foul. He was also a go-to scorer in the way that Clingan never was.

Love Clingan, but he's second at best.
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I was wondering if I had lost my mind. Thank you, sir.
 
superjohn said:
No.

He said add one former player to this roster.

I'm adding Clingan over Okafor and over everyone else. We would be looking at a four-peat if he was still here. He doesn't get penalized because he was too good to stay in college after two seasons.
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No one penalized him we just disagree with your over the top declarations.
 
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Hey this is an opinion piece so no need to argue - as long as we keep this civil no one should be hurt by DC, Allen, Kemba, Okafor, etc as your pick to add.

I voted for Ray out of need for a shot creator deluxe we have not had in a minute. I understand it may not be the popular add but that is the spice of life.

We have a roster of 14, so it's not add by subtraction, just who would you add to be the 15th and final player from the past list of players. No one is wrong.
 
I think the two biggest weaknesses of the potential roster are defense and point guard play. I think Demary is a good player, but we'll see if he's a point guard. And obviously our defense was a disaster last season and a lot of the players are the same.

So I think there are really only 6 options:
  • Clingan, Okafor for defensive rim protection, replacing Reibe (and some of Tarris') minutes.
  • Kemba, Shabazz, Newton, Castle for PG play (fitting in the guard rotation, replacing Smith and some of the other guard minutes). Of those, Castle in college was the worst at the "PG" skills, but was by far the best defender. Newton may have been the best blend of both. Kemba the best overall player, but Shabazz may be the best fit for the offense with his blend of self creation and ability to shoot off the catch or off the dribble.
I think I might take Shabazz. He can push Demary into the Jackson/Castle role, he's better than Newton, and I like his perimeter shooting in Hurley's offense more than Kemba. I could definitely see an argument for Castle (or Jackson in a similar concept). I think Reed is going to be a monster and is going to get 20+ minutes no matter who you put next to him, so I'll take the 32 min of Shabazz over the 20 minutes of Clingan/Okafor.
 
Clingan is just too easy of a choice, I will be different and say McNeeley. An angry McNeeley sign me up. He came back within a month off a high ankle sprain, he would've played through the injury and there's no doubt it still effected him. He was in tears after the Florida loss, ripping his inconsistency is fair but I really did piss me off seeing UConn fans calling him selfish those fans are idiots.
 
Scoe said:
Clingan is just too easy of a choice, I will be different and say McNeeley. An angry McNeeley sign me up. He came back within a month off a high ankle sprain, he would've played through the injury and there's no doubt it still effected him. He was in tears after the Florida loss, ripping his inconsistency is fair but I really did piss me off seeing UConn fans calling him selfish those fans are idiots.
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Think you’re going above and beyond to be different here. Ray is/was pretty much everything Liam was, just wayyyyy better.
 
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it's Clingan The answer is always Clingan. If you could add someone to the 23-24 team, it would be getting another Clingan.

He was the most dominant force on the best team in college basketball in the last 30 years
 
Emeka’s offensive bag was much better and he was obviously a great shot blocker also but I don’t think I’ve ever seen opposing players get into the lane and immediately look to kick it out as quickly as when they saw Cling standing there.

Can’t go wrong with either answer though. Emeka was awesome.
 
I said Allen because he’s arguably the best shooter of all time, but Clingan would’ve been my next choice for obvious reasons on the other end of the spectrum.
 
bfs3 said:
I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened. I voted Kemba because of guard play and his ability to take over a game but Emeka was 1b
Emeka was our first NBA rookie of the year and was defensive player of the year, final 4 MOP etc….. As far rim protection he led the NCAA in blocks and was a better offensive player in my opinion than Clingan
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Great points regarding Emeka over Clingan. I chose Ray but mentioned Clingan as my second choice and am swayed in favor of Emeka maybe overall as the best offensive and defensive impact.
 
CardiacAndre7 said:
Think you’re going above and beyond to be different here. Ray is/was pretty much everything Liam was, just wayyyyy better.
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Well Ray is 50 so I'm gonna say Liam is better currently. Ray might be a bit old to still be saving LeBron's legacy.

It's interesting how you accuse others of using nostalgia when it comes to NBA talk, yet you're using nostalgia yourself here. All fine and good it's just interesting to see.
 
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