AJ at the 4

[HuskyHawk]

That’s true but if you have a weak shooter your 4 out goes down the tubes regardless of were he plays except the 5.
We’re making an assumption Jackson’s shot is good enough to prevent his man from sagging.
He doesn’t need to be Ray Allen but he has to be better than Terrance Samuel

The hope with AJ (I think) is that he improves both his jump shot and his finishing at the rim. They are going to sag off of him, so he will get open looks. But if he becomes more dangerous as a penetration threat, and on kick outs, they will need to guard him. He's not like Whaley who could really only hurt you with his midrange game and passes to Sanogo. Don't forget too, Polley wasn't a threat to attack off the bounce from outside or pass. So they could play right in his face. They don't dare try that with Jackson, he will blow by guys.

He's an enigma, and yes the team has to adapt to him and use what he can do. If he isn't better then yes, there will be some offensive challenges again. But nothing near as bad as him + Whaley or even Polley. His defense, rebounding and passing will make him valuable anyway.

 

[Deleted at users request]

That’s true but if you have a weak shooter your 4 out goes down the tubes regardless of were he plays except the 5.
We’re making an assumption Jackson’s shot is good enough to prevent his man from sagging.
He doesn’t need to be Ray Allen but he has to be better than Terrance Samuel

Regardless of his shot, defenders will have to respect him somewhat and the offense they can use with him at the 4 will create much more space. That’s the main thing here.

I imagine they can run a lot of motion offense (at least that’s the hope) where playing 4 out in certain spots on the floor can create MUCH better spacing and movement on offense. For everyone not just Sanogo.

Again, it will be crucial that Sanogo work on his passing skills because the biggest thing here is finding cutters which is where AJ may be able to thrive if guys can find him.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Regardless of his shot, defenders will have to respect him somewhat and the offense they can use with him at the 4 will create much more space. That’s the main thing here.

I imagine they can run a lot of motion offense (at least that’s the hope) where playing 4 out in certain spots on the floor can create MUCH better spacing and movement on offense. For everyone not just Sanogo.

Again, it will be crucial that Sanogo work on his passing skills because the biggest thing here is finding cutters which is where AJ may be able to thrive if guys can find him.

Yeah, it would be great if AJ was a terrific shooter, but as a marginal shooter with his other skills, he will still work in the 4 out.

I'm not too worried about his passing. He struggled when the double team came and he couldn't find an outlet. He got better as seeing the double come. But he should be doubled less often in this offense. Our guys all need to do a better job of becoming available if they see that double coming. Too often they just stood around.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Yeah, it would be great if AJ was a terrific shooter, but as a marginal shooter with his other skills, he will still work in the 4 out.

I'm not too worried about his passing. He struggled when the double team came and he couldn't find an outlet. He got better as seeing the double come. But he should be doubled less often in this offense. Our guys all need to do a better job of becoming available if they see that double coming. Too often they just stood around.

I agree for the most part. He did make progress as the year went on. A lot of times he just rushed too much. Patience would go a long way with Sanogo. Like you said too, more movement and cutting. Less standing around.

If I was Danny there’d be a lot of practices where Sanogo is just asked to find open guys.

 

[Jay-Bone]

Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, Sanogo = me making money betting UConn

AJ at the 4 in a 4 out system = me needing to hedge my bets against the above reason. Please be really good Karaban or Sampson, please!

 

[Umami Zen]

Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, Sanogo = me making money betting UConn

AJ at the 4 in a 4 out system = me needing to hedge my bets against the above reason. Please be really good Karaban or Sampson, please!

Don't worry.. Be happy

 

[Jay-Bone]

Don't worry.. Be happy

Haha, I love it. There's so many "mushroom cap" responses on here, nice to see a reprieve. Carry on my friend, I've got to go to bed, I've got a toddler.

 

[Huskybass]

"Just because you say he isn't a primary ball handler, doesn't mean he isn't being developed into a primary ball handler"

The idea that we recruit a forward who developes into a primary ball handler is unlikely. I'm not saying it cannot happen. But it's never happened in my tenure as a UCONN fan. Maybe Jackson will be the first.

I would argue that Daniel Hamilton was the primary ball handler on the 2015-16 team. In fact, he averaged 4.7 assists the game, more than double that of Sterling Gibbs who was brought in to allegedly play point guard.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I would argue that Daniel Hamilton was the primary ball handler on the 2015-16 team. In fact, he averaged 4.7 assists the game, more than double that of Sterling Gibbs who was brought in to allegedly play point guard.

Yeah. That's a solid example.

The Dham example also makes me further question the 'Jackson is a PG' discussion. DHam was a better ball handler and passer than Jackson. And yet, I don't remember claims that Dham should be PG. Or claims that he will be a PG at the next level. Dham was just a swing player with above average handle and passing. So why the claims that Jackson is a PG.

 

[ucp990411]

Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, Sanogo = me making money betting UConn

AJ at the 4 in a 4 out system = me needing to hedge my bets against the above reason. Please be really good Karaban or Sampson, please!

Not sure about Sampson but I think Samson is going to be terrific

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Yeah. That's a solid example.

The Dham example also makes me further question the 'Jackson is a PG' discussion. DHam was a better ball handler and passer than Jackson. And yet, I don't remember claims that Dham should be PG. Or claims that he will be a PG at the next level. Dham was just a swing player with above average handle and passing. So why the claims that Jackson is a PG.

Repeat after me. No one here thinks that Andre Jackson should or will be the main point guard next year.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Repeat after me. No one here thinks that Andre Jackson should or will be the main point guard next year.

But it’s absurd to say that Hamilton is a better ball handler. Not even close. Jackson is a much, much better ball handler. Hamilton was a point forward with more limited athleticism but better shooting skills. Jackson really is a big guard that just doesn’t have a jump shot.

 

[mauconnfan]

But it’s absurd to say that Hamilton is a better ball handler. Not even close. Jackson is a much, much better ball handler. Hamilton was a point forward with more limited athleticism but better shooting skills. Jackson really is a big guard that just doesn’t have a jump shot.

Better shooter yeah but that was a weakness for him as well. Remember his final season as a Husky he had a stretch where he shot an awful 30% or so from everywhere on the court had a lid on the basket. But yeah overall he was a better more capable shooter and a far better scorer. Not quite as good a ball handler as AJ but certainly as good or better ball handler in traffic. I mean he got to the hole and scored a lot more than AJ this far and you need a handle to do that as he began on the perimeter most of the time.

Good comparison and we’d hope AJ can find some of his getting to the rim game starting this coming year.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Better shooter yeah but that was a weakness for him as well. Remember his final season as a Husky he had a stretch where he shot an awful 30% or so from everywhere on the court had a lid on the basket. But yeah overall he was a better more capable shooter and a far better scorer. Not quite as good a ball handler as AJ but certainly as good or better ball handler in traffic. I mean he got to the hole and scored a lot more than AJ this far and you need a handle to do that as he began on the perimeter most of the time.

Good comparison and we’d hope AJ can find some of his getting to the rim game starting this coming year.

Yeah, he could get to the rim. Better finisher for sure, despite not having the same hops. But he couldn’t quite play fast or dribble fast like AJ. He was an odd player, sort of calm and in slow motion at times, just read the floor so well. Really wish he stayed but he did get drafted.

As for the “small ball” stuff, looked at the Bucks lineup today. 6’9, 6’11, 7’0” (and all well built) with 6’3” and 6’4” guards. They are as big as the 80’s Celtics teams.

 

[bendm]

As for the “small ball” stuff, looked at the Bucks lineup today. 6’9, 6’11, 7’0” (and all well built) with 6’3” and 6’4” guards. They are as big as the 80’s Celtics teams.

good grief. as if this has any applicability to our roster next season.

the only traditional big among the 3 you listed is portis. lopez is a stretch 5 and giannis is the best basketball player in the world.

i'd love if samson or karaban are good enough to start but right now it looks like 4 of our 5 best players are Gs so they should all start until proven otherwise.

 

[HuskyHawk]

good grief. as if this has any applicability to our roster next season.

the only traditional big among the 3 you listed is portis. lopez is a stretch 5 and giannis is the best basketball player in the world.

i'd love if samson or karaban are good enough to start but right now it looks like 4 of our 5 best players are Gs so they should all start until proven otherwise.

No, it doesn't look like that at all. We have no idea how good these guys are or how good Johnson and Karaban will be. We certainly don't know who else is coming or how good they are, but I doubt they will be better than anybody on the roster now other than Springs. I can't even confidently say that Hawkins is better than Johnson or Karaban, just that he got minutes because we had nobody else and has nice potential.

Even if we add guys, there is good chance they are Gaffney level at best. In which case, I'd want a quality CG/wing like Alleyne coming off the bench so we don't have the problems we had last year.

 

[NotADime89]

No, it doesn't look like that at all. We have no idea how good these guys are or how good Johnson and Karaban will be. We certainly don't know who else is coming or how good they are, but I doubt they will be better than anybody on the roster now other than Springs. I can't even confidently say that Hawkins is better than Johnson or Karaban, just that he got minutes because we had nobody else and has nice potential.

Even if we add guys, there is good chance they are Gaffney level at best. In which case, I'd want a quality CG/wing like Alleyne coming off the bench so we don't have the problems we had last year.

You can't confidently say Hawk is better than Samson based on what we saw this season when Samson was on the court? Stop it

 

[HuskyHawk]

You can't confidently say Hawk is better than Samson based on what we saw this season when Samson was on the court? Stop it

No, because Samson barely played. Hawk was, in his early minutes, horrifically bad on defense and he missed most of his shots. Do we not remember how disappointing he was early on? He was given time to play through that and got much better. I expect the same would have happened for Johnson.

 

[NotADime89]

No, because Samson barely played. Hawk was, in his early minutes, horrifically bad on defense and he missed most of his shots. Do we not remember how disappointing he was early on? He was given time to play through that and got much better. I expect the same would have happened for Johnson.

So you are admitting Hawk is better than Samson. All of your Samson comments are "what if's". We saw what Hawk is capable of and how much he improved by the end of the season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So you are admitting Hawk is better than Samson. All of your Samson comments are "what if's". We saw what Hawk is capable of and how much he improved by the end of the season.

Better? No. He played more, so I have greater information. Until a guy plays significant minutes I don't know if he's good or not. Johnson could be the best player on the team. Karaban might be. Who the hell knows? And no, I don't buy "if he was that good he'd play", because Hurley has pretty consistently misjudged players so far.

 

[KingAG]

Better? No. He played more, so I have greater information. Until a guy plays significant minutes I don't know if he's good or not. Johnson could be the best player on the team. Karaban might be. Who the hell knows? And no, I don't buy "if he was that good he'd play", because Hurley has pretty consistently misjudged players so far.

Man your putting a lot of pressure on Samson Johnson. After this campaign of yours you’d better hope he’s what you think he is next season

 

[navery12]

Better? No. He played more, so I have greater information. Until a guy plays significant minutes I don't know if he's good or not. Johnson could be the best player on the team. Karaban might be. Who the hell knows? And no, I don't buy "if he was that good he'd play", because Hurley has pretty consistently misjudged players so far.

Piece of advice, when you're in a huge hole stop digging

 

[NotADime89]

And no, I don't buy "if he was that good he'd play", because Hurley has pretty consistently misjudged players so far.

Pretty consistently misjudged players? Are you referring to Diggins who took a huge step down to UMass and Floyd who you haven't seen play a minute of college basketball yet?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Man your putting a lot of pressure on Samson Johnson. After this campaign of yours you’d better hope he’s what you think he is next season

Yep. If he (or Karaban) doesn't do the job (if given legitimate minutes) then I'll own the fail. I don't have a problem with that. My concern with AJ at the 4 is that it's Dan once again trying to force a lineup and over-correcting his own past mistakes. The team would be too small, and wouldn't have a chance to compete for anything meaningful. So if, as others say, our best lineup has Jackson at the 4, then our best lineup isn't going to be very good.

He mentioned his URI teams and how he lacked a center. Sorry, no. Those URI teams lacked more than a center. That can't be the vision for UConn basketball, URI but with better centers. That team isn't winning a 5th championship.

 

[superjohn]

You can't confidently say Hawk is better than Samson based on what we saw this season when Samson was on the court? Stop it

You're talking to HuskyHawk, Akok is Garnett and Samson is Dirk.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You're talking to HuskyHawk, Akok is Garnett and Samson is Dirk.

I gave you a like, but come on, Samson is obviously Garnett. Akok is Dominique Wilkins.