amore mailbag on freshman impact next year

[ConnEd]

I'm guessing the minute distribution will read as follows, assuming everybody's back:

PG - Napier 25 min, Boat 15 min

SG - Boat 20 min, Napier 10 min, Calhoun 10 min

SF - Calhoun 20 min, Giffey 10 min, Daniels 10 min

PF - Daniels 25 min, Giffey 15 min

C - Facey 25 min, Wolf 10 min, Olander 5 min

It remains unclear whether Brimah and Samuel will be ready to contribute next season - my feeling is Brimah's a bit of a project who would be well-served redshirting and Samuel's somebody who would play minutes on the vast majority of BCS conference teams but will be squeezed here due to the depth in the backcourt.

We have no idea at this point what the frosh will earn for time. But given the roster and team need, my guess is that Samuel gets the bench minutes at the 1 with Boat or Bazz moving to the 2 while he's in. It was clear last year when Bazz went out, and, to a lesser extent, when Boat went out, that we were a ball handler short. We struggled to start and run the offense. Samuel won't get a ton of time unless he surprises, but he should get Bazz & Boat 5-7 mins of rest a game.

I also think we're writing off TO a little quickly here. He is definitely limited. And he looked overmatched most of this year. But he also had a foot injury. He seemed to loose a lot of the minimal athleticism he had early on. Knowing he had the injury, I give him a lot of credit for playing through it. Let's wait and see how he does when healthy next year. He has some skills and a lot of experience. I think he and Wolf will get most of the minutes with the younger guys getting the scraps of 5/4 mins left. Young bigs need time to develop. Look, we beat a very good Mich St with a good front court with TO and Wolf. And, no, I'm not Tyler's mom writing this.

 

[gtcam]

This is crazy. Boatright was our second best player last year. Did everyone saying he should come off the bench forget the Syracuse game last year? Boat was inconsistent, but he also had a 5 or 6 game stretch where he was our best player last year. He was a soph. Sophomores are inconsistent. Was Deandre any less inconsistent last year? No.

Boat will be starting next year and it wont be up for debate. Not only is he our 2nd or 3rd best player, but KO's system needs two ball handlers and Boat just happens to be our best one.

Everything is open for debate except SN and DD

 

[champs99and04]

25 minutes for Facey and only 5 for Olander might be a stretch Champs. We have yet to see Facey in a Husky uniform...

Let's call a spade a spade - our frontcourt was horrendous last season, and that was WITH everybody active (Olander, Nolan, Wolf, etc.). They were physically and athletically overwhelmed for a large portion of the season, and in the case of a kid like Olander, there's little reason to expect more than a marginal improvement over the summer. Objectively, what does Tyler add to this team? He's a horrific rebounder, he can't protect the rim, he adds little to nothing offensively, he's not quick enough to guard fours, and he's not strong enough to guard fives. If there is any appealing reason to view him as more than a practice body, I'm all ears - I'm going to need a little more than "he's a senior". I don't mean to pile on, because he seems like a decent kid (at least when sober) and hard worker from all indications, but any playing time he receives next season, he will have earned, because after the season he put together last year, nobody owes him anthing.

Wolf showed flashes of potential, but he was still wildly inconsistent with no shortage of flaws in his game. And obviously, we don't even know whether he'll be on the team next year. Count me as one who is more or less indifferent to whether or not he returns. Sure, it would be nice to have an extra body, but let's face it, he averaged 3 and 3 last year. I think we can make due without him if we need to.

The fact of the matter is you need to count on freshman to win in this day and age of college basketball. The days of not expecting much from freshman are over, whether that's good for the game or not. I'm not expecting him to be an All-American, but I don't think I'm going out on too much of a limb in drawing parallels to Montrezl Harrell of Louisville, who was ranked right around the same spot as Facey in most recruitng services.

 

[champs99and04]

champs, didn't Phil Nolan show you enough improvement the last few games to ensure he will be a player for the minutes which are open?

No doubt Phil will have a chance to compete for minutes - he has just as much claim to those minutes as anybody else as far as I'm concerned. But Boatright, Calhoun, Giffey, Daniels, and Napier figure to play about 160 of the 200 available minutes, give or take. That means you have seven scholarship players - Facey, Tolksdorf, Brimah, Wolf, Olander, Samuel, Nolan - competing for 40 minutes of time. You don't need to be a math major to understand minutes are likely to be at a premium for those players, especially if somebody steps up and grabs 20-25 of them, which is likely. I happen to think it will be Facey, given I view him as a more polished version of Nolan at the time being - he's a bit more versitle and his offensive game is slightly more refined. That's not a knock on Nolan, it's just the reality of the situation. Either way, it's a good problem to have, this team is going to have depth.

 

[champs99and04]

If anyone is expecting Kentan Facey to step up and play the starting 5 you're crazy. He'll be a role player coming off the bench at the 4. With more depth out there, Wolf will be the starting center, and he rightfully should be.

Five years ago, I would have agreed with you, but I think the game is evolving into a sport where athleticism is prioritized over size, as evidenced by the current landscape of the NBA game where you have stringbeans like Chris Bosh starting at center. I don't doubt Wolf starts, but I think it's either Facey or Giffey out there alongside Boatright, Daniels, Calhoun, and Napier when the game is on the line - they are simply more versitile players who can guard multiple positions while holding their own on the glass. It's easy to pencil Wolf in as the starting center now, but what happens when Russ Smith has the ball in his hand with ten seconds left and Louisville's center comes out to mid-court to set a high ball screen? Do you trust Giffey to switch onto him, or would you rather have Wolf trying to check him? I'll take my chances with the former.

 

[CTBasketball]

Five years ago, I would have agreed with you, but I think the game is evolving into a sport where athleticism is prioritized over size, as evidenced by the current landscape of the NBA game where you have stringbeans like Chris Bosh starting at center. I don't doubt Wolf starts, but I think it's either Facey or Giffey out there alongside Boatright, Daniels, Calhoun, and Napier when the game is on the line - they are simply more versitile players who can guard multiple positions while holding their own on the glass. It's easy to pencil Wolf in as the starting center now, but what happens when Russ Smith has the ball in his hand with ten seconds left and Louisville's center comes out to mid-court to set a high ball screen? Do you trust Giffey to switch onto him, or would you rather have Wolf trying to check him? I'll take my chances with the former.

I understand your opinion and I agree the game is changing. But I'd rather have an experienced big-man out there starting. I mean Wolf proved to be our best rebounder last year; he really goes up and grabs the ball and doesn't let go of it (when he has it of course). And Wolf is an intimidator on the defensive end, he is 7'1" and can block shots. I know Facey is supposed to be a monster shot blocker, but I'd rather have a 7 footer out there changing shots. Not many will change their shots/alter shots going up against a 6'7" freshman who is thinner than DeAndre Daniels.

 

[James]

it all depends on the development of wolfe and Nolan. The more I think about it the more I could see facey playing major minutes at the 5. However if the aforementioned two get exponentially better they slide in. I don't really see a reason to play two bigs along with Daniels, ever.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I suspect Napier and Boatright will both average over 35 mpg, but that is not the best thing for the team or for them. Neither has shown the durability to play those kind of minutes, with both wearing down at year end the last two years. I would like to see both average around 30-32 mpg, dialing that up a bit as we get towards year end. Calhoun's handle should be improved enough by next year that he can play with either Boat or SN at guard, and Giffey and Daniels up front, and UConn would not have a problem with ball handling.

the difference between 36 and 31 mpg is enormous in terms of season long player fatigue and injury risk. Tired players are more likely to get injured, and tired players are more likely to be "taking breaks" on the court. El-Amin was a master of this, and Bazz is getting better, but I don't think we should do it if we don't have to. Keeping Bazz and Boat's minutes to around 30-32 will result in a better team over the course of the season. Every NBA coach knows this, and I hope Ollie's NBA experience influences his substitutions.

I generally agree with Champ's assessment except for Facey. If Wolf still struggles with pick and rolls, why will Facey be any better. Drummond practically lived in no-man's land on the pick and roll, and he is in the NBA now. Is Facey going to be a better defender as a frosh than Drummond was? It took Thabeet two years to learn how to play the pick and roll, and with his enormous arms it shouldn't have mattered. Some things just take time.

 

[champs99and04]

I understand your opinion and I agree the game is changing. But I'd rather have an experienced big-man out there starting. I mean Wolf proved to be our best rebounder last year; he really goes up and grabs the ball and doesn't let go of it (when he has it of course). And Wolf is an intimidator on the defensive end, he is 7'1" and can block shots. I know Facey is supposed to be a monster shot blocker, but I'd rather have a 7 footer out there changing shots. Not many will change their shots/alter shots going up against a 6'7" freshman who is thinner than DeAndre Daniels.

I understand these recruiting services are far from gospel, but ESPN lists him at 6'9. If he's closer to 6'7, maybe that changes things a bit, though my overall point still stands - if Facey can protect the rim and rebound in spite of his height and small frame, then I think his quickness advantage will prove to be the tiebreaker. It seems like Facey could be a Roscoe Smith-type player next year - if there is a Devonte Gardner type player on the other team, then Wolf will be forced into duty for 20+ minutes in all liklihood, but there aren't many of those players out there nowadays.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I like Wolf starting at Center, although I will be curious to see Nolan's improvement. Most players make a big jump between freshman and sophomore year.

 

[bmayuc]

I like Wolf starting at Center, although I will be curious to see Nolan's improvement. Most players make a big jump between freshman and sophomore year.

Nolan played great the final couple games of the year to the point of me being excited to watch his progression. that syracuse game he really intimidated down low and provided some finishing around the basket that I'm not sure we saw the rest of the year from our Bigs.

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[upstater]

I'm as highly critical of Wolf as most are of Olander (that doesn't mean I'm an Olander fan). He falls asleep too often. Nolan has more of a motor.

In short, I will not be surprised at all if Nolan and/or Facey lock down 20-25 minutes at the center position.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Nolan played great the final couple games of the year to the point of me being excited to watch his progression. that syracuse game he really intimidated down low and provided some finishing around the basket that I'm not sure we saw the rest of the year from our Bigs.

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Nolan runs really well and seems to have good lateral quickness. He shown some aggressiveness late in the year going up for rebounds strong (but he does not seem to be a "natural rebounder"). I'm hoping that Facey will be a guy who has a nose for the ball off the boards--tenacity, toughness, and quick leaping ability. Our bigs are either rail thin or on the slow side. I was surprised by how well Wolf did this year playing defense. There were times that he was not able to get back to his man on the pick and roll, but he did affect shots with his size and pretty good hands. He can contribute on offense and looks to make plays. That's more than we would probably get from the others unless Facey can pass and score the ball against much better competition. I don't know if Nolan really can pass or score outside of putbacks. The C spot will be interesting.

 

[mauconnfan]

Nolan was a different player down the stretch........more confident on the defensive end and a better banger. I agree with Db2u on the natural rebounding but I think the boards come with the progression of toughness and rebounding will be better.....he has a real nice stroke and I think will eventually be a guy we can put on the top against a zone and if they sluff off he can make the foul line jumper.........all in confidence and I think we'll see another 10-15 lbs of muscle and a different guy in the fall......seems like a good kid and hard worker, it was evident already he knew he had to hit the gym!!