Bleacher Report on Jalen Adams

[Fishy]

I have no idea how good we are - there are so many new parts and so many question marks. I think the high water mark is an NCAA bubble team and the floor is disaster. If there isn't a live body or three in the front court, it doesn't matter what the backcourt does.

Best thing for Jalen is that Alterique can come in and run the point and let him move of the ball at times.

 

[KingAG]

So if Adams and Larrier both leave that means they had good years and most likely UConn had a good year which will help recruiting. Ollie, Chill and Kill all have proven track records on the recruiting trail. Stop worrying so much and let these guys do their jobs. The focus should be on this upcoming season anyway which looks very promising in my opinion.

I'm not "worrying", I'm just stating the obvious. I'm optimistic about this season as well. But what we do on the recruiting trail right now will determine how the 2018 class shakes out. We dont have the luxury of waiting until march to get commits. Kids are starting to commit to schools now

 

[Hurleyman216]

I have no idea how good we are - there are so many new parts and so many question marks. I think the high water mark is an NCAA bubble team and the floor is disaster. If there isn't a live body or three in the front court, it doesn't matter what the backcourt does.

Best thing for Jalen is that Alterique can come in and run the point and let him move of the ball at times.

I think the high water mark might be slightly better than just a bubble team, but I am an optimist. Realistically I still think we have 4 players that should be a very productive core if healthy. We then have 6-7 unknowns, and we really need 2-3 of them to contribute in some meaningful way. I think some of the others claiming Ollie had the "worst prepared" team in D1 last year is a little harsh. You can slam Ollie for transfers and poor recruiting this summer, but we actually played with some Fire last year with the limited roster we had. We lost 2 of our starters in the first 3 games, not many teams can recover from that.

 

[KingAG]

I think the high water mark might be slightly better than just a bubble team, but I am an optimist. Realistically I still think we have 4 players that should be a very productive core if healthy. We then have 6-7 unknowns, and we really need 2-3 of them to contribute in some meaningful way. I think some of the others claiming Ollie had the "worst prepared" team in D1 last year is a little harsh. You can slam Ollie for transfers and poor recruiting this summer, but we actually played with some Fire last year with the limited roster we had. We lost 2 of our starters in the first 3 games, not many teams can recover from that.

I think they meant worst prepared to start the season(wagner, northeastern)

 

[Fishy]

UConn being unprepared was a constant last season. It didn't start with the injuries - Wagner dominated UConn and even Northeastern opened the game 15-4 and controlled it most of the way. They didn't start games or halves well and they didn't finish games or halves well. The runs they gave up....up 14 against Gtown, lose. Up ten against ECU, lose. Up 12 against Houston, lose. Up eight against Tulsa, lose.

Coaching and preparedness is very much a question mark - they gotta do better.

If, if, if, if....they're a better-coached team than they were last year and if two of these front court guys are better or more ready than we think, maybe we're better than a bubble team.

My dream scenario is that Cobb is the interior mauler we've all hoped for and that Diarra is Jeff Adrien 2.0.

 

[MSGSeven]

UConn being unprepared was a constant last season. It didn't start with the injuries - Wagner dominated UConn and even Northeastern opened the game 15-4 and controlled it most of the way. They didn't start games or halves well and they didn't finish games or halves well. The runs they gave up....up 14 against Gtown, lose. Up ten against ECU, lose. Up 12 against Houston, lose. Up eight against Tulsa, lose.

Coaching and preparedness is very much a question mark - they gotta do better.

If, if, if, if....they're a better-coached team than they were last year and if two of these front court guys are better or more ready than we think, maybe we're better than a bubble team.

My dream scenario is that Cobb is the interior mauler we've all hoped for and that Diarra is Jeff Adrien 2.0.

I remember some high school basketball "analyst" compared Diarra his senior year to Trevor Mbakwe. If that's accurate we'll gladly take it.

 

[champs99and04]

I have no idea how good we are - there are so many new parts and so many question marks. I think the high water mark is an NCAA bubble team and the floor is disaster. If there isn't a live body or three in the front court, it doesn't matter what the backcourt does.

Best thing for Jalen is that Alterique can come in and run the point and let him move of the ball at times.

I don't think you're under-estimating us so much as you're over-estimating everybody else.

Jalen Adams has the potential to be a great player. Not just an all-conference guy, but an all-American level player. That alone can take you a hell of a long way in college basketball even if you're playing Olander or Nolan at the five.

The only thing we really know about anybody else - besides Vital, who is somewhat proven I suppose - is that they were talented enough to demand considerable interest out of high school. Certainly, some of the names do not correspond to what a dominant program would expect, but there's still enough variance in college basketball at large that I'm comfortable putting our ceiling a lot higher than you.

The floor? Well, you're right. Anything is in play after last year.

 

[champs99and04]

You guys usually seem more upset about how people think of UConn and our teams instead of sitting and asking yourselves why so many reports and analyses seem to always "disrespect us". Connect the dots guys, look at the pattern.

I must be reading a different thread than you, then, because I'm not sure one person in this thread has explicitly disagreed with anything that was written. If anything there is a resigned understanding to this being the consensus.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Former 5-Star CBB Recruits Who Will Have the Biggest Impact in 2017-18

10. Jalen Adams, Connecticut
A key part of making a significant impact is playing for a team that is nationally relevant. In that regard, Jalen Adams is at a huge disadvantage compared to every other player on the list.

While most of these guys are on teams that should open the season in the AP Top 25, Connecticut isn't even projected to reach the NCAA tournament, based on Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology.

Don't blame Adams, though. He put up great numbers last season, leading the Huskies in both points and assists. Expect more of the same this year, particularly now that Rodney Purvis is out of the picture.

He just doesn't have much of a supporting cast to work with. Amida Brimah and Kentan Facey both graduated, and Vance Jackson, Juwan Durham and Steven Enoch all transferred. This leaves Terry Larrier—who has appeared in just four games in a Connecticut uniform—as the only returning player taller than 6'3" with any experience.

Connecticut did add a handful of transfers and is expecting big things from redshirt freshman Mamadou Diarra, but even in an AAC that has next to nothing worth mentioning beyond Wichita State and Cincinnati, it's going to be an uphill battle for Adams and Co.

Pretty harsh. Definitely not the kind of press you want future recruits looking at. It's not any surprise to us or anyone else, but I hate seeing it written in such a unforgiving way. Obviously we've got a win this year or think this program will be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up.

 

[Wolferowski]

fcking DOOOOOMED

 

[UconnFanNVa]

To these writers you arent good until you have a good season. And if you repeat that for 2 or 3 season in a row, then you arent bad until you prove you are bad. They've talked us up a few times and we havent produced (obviously injuries hurt us last season), so they arent going to go out on a limb for Uconn until we prove ourselves again. Hopefully this is the year, although we can all understand their hesitation we have alot of unknowns. However, i think we all like that there is alot of room for change and alot of talent that can blossom and gell and we can be a really really good team this year. We'll have to sit back and see what happens. Either way, this team has fuel and inspiration to work hard and prove the doubters wrong.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

To these writers you arent good until you have a good season. And if you repeat that for 2 or 3 season in a row, then you arent bad until you prove you are bad. They've talked us up a few times and we havent produced (obviously injuries hurt us last season), so they arent going to go out on a limb for UConn until we prove ourselves again. Hopefully this is the year, although we can all understand their hesitation we have alot of unknowns. However, i think we all like that there is alot of room for change and alot of talent that can blossom and gell and we can be a really really good team this year. We'll have to sit back and see what happens. Either way, this team has fuel and inspiration to work hard and prove the doubters wrong.

wut?

 

[UconnFanNVa]

wut?

In other words they arent going out on a limb and assessing a whole roster, they didnt even name AG on our squad. They are simply going with trends. Oh yea Uconn wasnt good last year, so they'll probably not be good this year either. The year after we won it all, we were high up in the top 25... Because we had just won it all. UK gets a top spot based on what? Expectations based on past seasons. There is nothing else to go on with a roster overhaul every single year.

 

[ctchamps]

wut?

To these writers you arent good until you have a good season. And if you repeat that for 2 or 3 season in a row, then you arent bad until you prove you are bad. They've talked us up a few times and we havent produced (obviously injuries hurt us last season), so they arent going to go out on a limb for UConn until we prove ourselves again. Hopefully this is the year, although we can all understand their hesitation we have alot of unknowns. However, i think we all like that there is alot of room for change and alot of talent that can blossom and gell and we can be a really really good team this year. We'll have to sit back and see what happens. Either way, this team has fuel and inspiration to work hard and prove the doubters wrong.

Hope this helps.

 

[Guapo]

UConn being unprepared was a constant last season. It didn't start with the injuries - Wagner dominated UConn and even Northeastern opened the game 15-4 and controlled it most of the way. They didn't start games or halves well and they didn't finish games or halves well. The runs they gave up....up 14 against Gtown, lose. Up ten against ECU, lose. Up 12 against Houston, lose. Up eight against Tulsa, lose.

Coaching and preparedness is very much a question mark - they gotta do better.

If, if, if, if....they're a better-coached team than they were last year and if two of these front court guys are better or more ready than we think, maybe we're better than a bubble team.

My dream scenario is that Cobb is the interior mauler we've all hoped for and that Diarra is Jeff Adrien 2.0.

This is exactly right. The blown leads and slow starts all point to a profound lack of preparedness on the part of the team and, thus, the coaches.

Imagine how differently the last couple years would be viewed if we didn't blow big leads or stumble out of the gate only to have our roaring comeback fall short?

I still maintain that the 2015 team had at least Sweet 16 level talent and should have never been in position to face Kansas in the second round.

 

[GetTheFacts]

Regardless of whether you agree with his analysis on Jalen and company, it's tough to see UConn garnish such little credibility on a national scale. Conference realignment is a bitch.

 

[BUConn10]

Regardless of whether you agree with his analysis on Jalen and company, it's tough to see UConn garnish such little credibility on a national scale. Conference realignment is a bitch.

Conference realignment?

More like an ill-prepared staff. That's the reality many can't fathom. The conference is a curse no doubt, but our staff hadn't even been able to maintain its relationships with the kids who have committed to them. There's more to this problem than just the AAC. I predict UConn basketball will look very, very different in one calendar year.

 

[Guapo]

Conference realignment?

More like an ill-prepared staff. That's the reality many can't fathom. The conference is a curse no doubt, but our staff hadn't even been able to maintain its relationships with the kids who have committed to them. There's more to this problem than just the AAC. I predict UConn basketball will look very, very different in one calendar year.

Different how?

 

[BUConn10]

Different how?

As in a whole new coaching staff. Simply put I don't see how Ollie and co. can produce results that keep them around this year with this current roster. I don't anticipate the AD will let another season with no tournament appearance pass us by without a change, but that's just my take on things at the moment, people won't like it.

 

[Guapo]

As in a whole new coaching staff. Simply put I don't see how Ollie and co. can produce results that keep them around this year with this current roster. I don't anticipate the AD will let another season with no tournament appearance pass us by without a change, but that's just my take on things at the moment, people won't like it.

Ok, yeah I personally think Ollie probably has a two year leash but I would not be surprised to see him fired after a bad year

 

[cohenzone]

I don't join these discussions very often so I defer to those who think about it a lot more than I, but one observation. I am totally on the fence about KO. The common trait of all of his teams every year including his NC year is wildly inconsistent play on both ends of the floor regardless of the talent level of his players and of the opposition. Inconsistent within games and from game to game. They can go through stretches of good O and good D and then long lulls. Big leads and deficits often disappear. Kind of like the NBA.

Three years stand out and all of them have given Kevin room to maneuver. The banishment year, last year with all the injuries, and mostly the improbable NC for an inconsistent team that caught a lightening bolt in NCAA tournament game one with Brimahs saving play and to Ollie's credit, played the best 5 game stretch of D in his tenure and with terrific guard play.

I think he's out of passes. I hope he makes the grade.

 

[RJScootin]

As in a whole new coaching staff. Simply put I don't see how Ollie and co. can produce results that keep them around this year with this current roster. I don't anticipate the AD will let another season with no tournament appearance pass us by without a change, but that's just my take on things at the moment, people won't like it.

His awful contract will get him another year unfortunately. I don't see UConn eating the 3.2 M hes owed for the 2018-2019 season.

 

[Tenspro2002]

His awful contract will get him another year unfortunately. I don't see UConn eating the 3.2 M hes owed for the 2018-2019 season.

If we stumble through another mediore-to-awful regular season and have another class of nobodies and misfits lined up for 2018, AD Dave will pull the plug regardless of money. He just can't let a situation like this fester without any evidence that things are improving.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Conference realignment?

More like an ill-prepared staff. That's the reality many can't fathom. The conference is a curse no doubt, but our staff hadn't even been able to maintain its relationships with the kids who have committed to them. There's more to this problem than just the AAC. I predict UConn basketball will look very, very different in one calendar year.

Agreed completely. The conference doesn't help, but it only doesn't help because the program is making itself irrelevant all on its own.

If you're an elite program, nationally relevant, it doesn't matter how crappy your conference is. You'll get big-time recruits and positive press. See Gonzaga.

The only way conference affiliation can help you is if you're a bad program trying to sell recruits on competing against the best (e.g. the very early Calhoun years). What keeps UK, Kansas, Duke, UNC at the top isn't that they play in P5 conferences, it's that they're consistently good-to-dominant all year, each and every year.

The conference is just an excuse. If we're performing to the expectations of this program, what conference we're in matters zero.

 

[UConnStats]

If we stumble through another mediore-to-awful regular season and have another class of nobodies and misfits lined up for 2018, AD Dave will pull the plug regardless of money. He just can't let a situation like this fester without any evidence that things are improving.

I agree with this. A lot of people thought we'd have to stick it out another year with Diaco, too. If Benedict wants KO out after this year, he will find the money.

This is the first year where Ollie will go into the season thinking "If I don't show up, I'm done". I'd like to think that this is going to push him to prepare and work more than he ever has before. Chillious and Daniel are going to want to impress right away, so I think a higher effort level from the staff is to be expected in general.

 

[jibsey]

2018-19 is the last of KO's contract? We have a very good backcourt with the potential for greatness at least there. The front court is ??? and frankly none of us know what we are going to get. They have to be something, we can't have injuries and then KO can't have another offseason like he just had. You just can't do this kind of thing with big talent deficits on critical parts of the floor. Last couple of years we were predicted to be top 20, this year we are wishin' and hopin'.

 

[RJScootin]

2018-19 is the last of KO's contract? We have a very good backcourt with the potential for greatness at least there. The front court is ??? and frankly none of us know what we are going to get. They have to be something, we can't have injuries and then KO can't have another offseason like he just had. You just can't do this kind of thing with big talent deficits on critical parts of the floor. Last couple of years we were predicted to be top 20, this year we are wishin' and hopin'.

KO sign extension through 2021, 3.3M a year. I cant imagine they can eat all of that money regardless of this years results.

http://dailycampus.com/stories/2017...-geno-auriemmas-new-contracts-uconn-basketbal

 

[upstater]

Agreed completely. The conference doesn't help, but it only doesn't help because the program is making itself irrelevant all on its own.

If you're an elite program, nationally relevant, it doesn't matter how crappy your conference is. You'll get big-time recruits and positive press. See Gonzaga.

The only way conference affiliation can help you is if you're a bad program trying to sell recruits on competing against the best (e.g. the very early Calhoun years). What keeps UK, Kansas, Duke, UNC at the top isn't that they play in P5 conferences, it's that they're consistently good-to-dominant all year, each and every year.

The conference is just an excuse. If we're performing to the expectations of this program, what conference we're in matters zero.

Big time recruits? Gonzaga?

UConn outrecruits Gonzaga.

 

[upstater]

More important than this year's record is next year's recruiting class.

That is where Ollie will be judged.

 

[Huskymagic]

UCONN is a major business in a sense that if they want someone gone, they will get rid of them no matter how big or long their contract is. They would come to a mutual understanding as no one wants to be around somewhere where they are not wanted.

Ollie just needs to get it done this year. We have enough with Adams, Vital, Terry, Alterique, Kwin and Mamadou. Plenty of talent there to make the NCAA tournament. I've been one of the biggest and loudest proponents of going to the Big East, but with the addition of Wichita State, this conference is good enough to get at worst 3 NCAA tournament teams every year and as high 5 or 6. No excuses we need to see results on the court and on the recruiting trail.

PS: USC out of nowhere is now becoming a major destination for basketball talent again with minimal success at best nationally. UNLV keeps getting 5 star recruits yearly it seems including Brandon McCoy this year. West Coast Huskies same thing. LSU keeps getting good players despite having zero basketball success. Alabama and Auburn both moving up in this direction as well. No rational person seeing this can be happy with our recruiting.