Alex is back! | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Alex is back!

This will be the deepest UConn team ever and the battle for minutes will keep everyone sharp and hungry, great players practicing against each other every day makes everyone better. I see the starting 5 ending up as Mahaney, Ball, McNeeley, Karaban, Reed. Our bench would probably sneak into the top 25.
 
I'm not sure why people are freaking out:

F Karaban 30
F Stewart 25
F McNeeley 25
G Mahaney 25
G Ball 25
G Diarra 15
G Nowell 15

The odd ones here are Ross and Abraham who deserve more play, but they may only see minutes for foul trouble and late game.
 
2006 team was pretty deep, the only one that was this deep

Jeff Adrien
Hilton Armstrong
Rudy Gay
Marcus Williams
Marcus Johnson
Josh Boone
Craig Austrie
Rashad Anderson
Ed Nelson
Denham Brown

10 deep. 5 future NBA players. 4 first round draft picks. 1 superstar.
 
husky429 said:
I have a hard time imagining Nowell playing 10mpg.
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Maybe, but who in that breakdown is he taking minutes from? Unless you're thinking he supplants Diarra as a starter or takes a few more of his minutes, not sure I see him as more deserving of minutes next year right now.
 
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superjohn said:
This will be the deepest UConn team ever and the battle for minutes will keep everyone sharp and hungry, great players practicing against each other every day makes everyone better. I see the starting 5 ending up as Mahaney, Ball, McNeeley, Karaban, Reed. Our bench would probably sneak into the top 25.
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I'm starting to think Mahaney is the point guard too. Alex referred to him as a point, he's the size of a traditional point, and we have so many talented wings to get minutes.
 
Diarra 20 / Nowell 20
Mahaney 25 / Diarra 5 / Ball 10
McNeeley 20 / Stewart 10 / Ball 10
Karaban 30 / Stewart 10
Reed 20 / Johnson 20

30: Karaban
25: Mahaney, Diarra
20: Nowell, Ball, McNeeley, Stewart, Reed, Johnson

It’s perfectly possible to play 9 guys a material role.
 
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I’d also like to see more small ball line up 2-3 minutes a half. Steals 5-6 min a game from the centers to the guards/wings.

Diarra/Mahaney, Ball, McNeeley, Stew, AK.

Talk about a kill line up for short stretches.
 
bendm said:
Tourney Rotation:

Diarra 25 / Nowell 10 / Mahaney 5
Mahaney 25 / Ball 15
McNeeley 25 / Stew 10 / Ball 5
Karaban 30 / Stew 10
Reed 20 / Johnson 20

30: Mahaney / Karaban
25: Diarra / McNeeley
20: Ball / Stew / Reed / Johnson
10: Nowell

Bench: Ross / Abraham / Singare
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Too bad it would be illegal to have McNeeley, Stewart, and Karaban on the floor at the same time.
 
Late to the party, but I have been hoping with no hope, for this decision! Really thought he was gone.
 
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I just did a little jig. Watch out here we come!

New York Sport GIF by UConn Huskies
 
Would he....technically....:) still have until today May 29, 1159pm ET,...to...change...his....mind...????????
 
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Palatine said:
Alex is Hurley's coach on the floor. He will be critical teaching the youngsters the system. We just accelerated their learning curve.
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This is a legitimately underrated benefit of him coming back, especially when you consider that besides Karaban, Diarra, and Johnson, most of our top 9 should be returning for the following year.
 
Brochacho said:
It’s perfectly possible to play 9 guys a material role.
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Yeah, slice it up however you want.160 minutes divided 7 ways in the 1-4 spots. ~23 minutes each. A couple will inevitably only get 10-15, rest will get 25-30 on any given night depending on match ups/fouls/performance. And of course things are likely to tighten up and slant towards the best guys down the stretch.

Main limitation, if you could even call it that, is we are unlikely to see anyone besides probably AK average 32 minutes like they possibly could on a thinner team. But ask Mahaney if he'd rather play 33 minutes a game for a team that lost in the first round or 28 minutes on a title winner and it's easy to understand that it isn't difficult to get guys to buy into a 9 man rotation when you keep winning.

Only guy I feel for in this situation a little bit is Ross because I doubt he cracks the rotation in a meaningful way with AK back. I hope he can carve out a Stewart type role down the stretch and be primed to play real minutes as a junior though. Singare I think had to expect to not play much this year either, and Abraham as a freshman probably understands he's going to have to wait his turn. Would love if any of them were willing to redshirt, but that doesn't seem like it ever happens in college hoops.
 
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