Borges: Sanogo could see "limited minutes"; AJax calf issue; Diggins unlikely to see the floor

[SouleMan]

His freshmen position is pretty clear,

He plays the ones that are more ready (Hawkins, Bouknight, Sanogo, Akok) and ones that are especially needed (Gaffney after Gilbert struggles, Jackson after Bouk injury and Adams struggles).

If Polley and Gilbert continue to struggle, he will make moves. But he's going to stick with who he thinks are his best and most experienced players until they demonstrate conclusively to him that they're worse than a raw freshman. He's not as reactive as the Boneyard (which makes sense, he sees a bigger sample of their play), but he does make changes.

This is well said. What I wish is that Hurley could find a couple minutes, even just during the first half of games, to get Diggins' feet wet. Feel like those early spot minutes are helpful to being ready later in the season without being too costly to any particular game.

 

[dtrumpet]

My guess is the mistakes Hurley's talking about freshmen making are more on the defensive end. Plus he sees these guys everyday, have to trust his judgement. As others have said, its not like he's never played freshmen.

 

[navery12]

Bouknight came off the bench until mid January, and only started once Polley was out for the year.

Yes, notice how all I said is Hurley plays freshman and nothing about starting. He was in the rotation from the day he was ready to play, even if he took 2 weeks longer to start Bouknight than the Boneyard coaches thought he should have

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I get his position on the Freshman, I don’t necessarily agree with it though. My whole issue is if Gaff continuously struggles and is a net negative, why not just give Diggins a little run to see what he can do, if not just for like a 3 minute stretch in the middle of halves? Then if he is worse than Gaff so be it. But why not just try? Maybe he becomes a sparkplug and develops from there, maybe the moment is too much. But not changing anything or trying anything new just seems like complacency.

 

[WestHartHusk]

His freshmen position is pretty clear,

He plays the ones that are more ready (Hawkins, Bouknight, Sanogo, Akok) and ones that are especially needed (Gaffney after Gilbert struggles, Jackson after Bouk injury and Adams struggles).

If Polley and Gilbert continue to struggle, he will make moves. But he's going to stick with who he thinks are his best and most experienced players until they demonstrate conclusively to him that they're worse than a raw freshman. He's not as reactive as the Boneyard (which makes sense, he sees a bigger sample of their play), but he does make changes.

@Hungryhusky99 addressed what forced DH's hand regarding Bouknight, and if I recall Sanogo only after he expressed serious discontent with his role (plus the wailing from fans).

 

[Puertorock43]

Re: his comments on frreshmen, that's a whole lot of negative recruiting ammunition for opposing coaches.

I was thinking the same thing. Why come to uconn as a freshman, coach said your not gonna play

 

[pj]

No because he's played the freshmen who are ready every year. Bouknight played a ton of minutes 2 years ago, Sanogo and Jackson did last year, Hawkins is playing this year

Jackson, Sanogo, Hawkins have all been in the 16-17 mpg range, you could argue he should have played them more. Sanogo you could see immediately would be a star, Jackson had the potential and has blossomed this year, Hawkins you can see the potential and the need for his shooting.

What's more bothersome than the relatively slow development of future stars, is the consistent DNPs for guys who may not be stars, but who could still add great value in a key role (e.g. Diggins as ballhandler and free throw shooter to protect a lead down the stretch).

Whereas Polley and Gaffney seem to have plateaued, they just don't seem to be progressing. To me that devalues their skills a little. I like the Jim Calhoun approach of optimizing for March, not December.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Yes, notice how all I said is Hurley plays freshman and nothing about starting. He was in the rotation from the day he was ready to play, even if he took 2 weeks longer to start Bouknight than the Boneyard coaches thought he should have

He is not the best example because of the off court stuff, but pure talent wise he should've been playing 30+ minutes from day 1.

 

[ucp990411]

I am shocked at Gaffneys lack of development as a point guard. He is a shooting guard and has had some decent games playing off the ball more. But now his defense has regressed.

 

[navery12]

Jackson, Sanogo, Hawkins have all been in the 16-17 mpg range, you could argue he should have played them more. Sanogo you could see immediately would be a star, Jackson had the potential and has blossomed this year, Hawkins you can see the potential and the need for his shooting.

What's more bothersome than the relatively slow development of future stars, is the consistent DNPs for guys who may not be stars, but who could still add great value in a key role (e.g. Diggins as ballhandler and free throw shooter to protect a lead down the stretch).

Whereas Polley and Gaffney seem to have plateaued, they just don't seem to be progressing. To me that devalues their skills a little. I like the Jim Calhoun approach of optimizing for March, not December.

I just don't think it's realistic to expect an 11 man rotation, someone has to be the odd man out. My only point has been that we're not in practice every day, and based on what we've seen from Dan Hurley, every freshman who's earned minutes has gotten them. Maybe they get 18 instead of 25 like the Boneyard wants, but nobody has been getting 0 minutes when they've deserved big minutes

And saying ignore December to play the freshman through their mistakes sounds good in theory. But is everyone here gonna have the patience to deal with losses as we work through freshman mistakes? That seems unlikely. We're in year 4 and need to win games, I trust the staff to develop guys like Diggins and Johnson in practice so when an injury pops up they're ready to step in

 

[uconngb]

I get his position on the Freshman, I don’t necessarily agree with it though. My whole issue is if Gaff continuously struggles and is a net negative, why not just give Diggins a little run to see what he can do, if not just for like a 3 minute stretch in the middle of halves? Then if he is worse than Gaff so be it. But why not just try? Maybe he becomes a sparkplug and develops from there, maybe the moment is too much. But not changing anything or trying anything new just seems

I think this is clearly what is most frustrating to everyone watching. It's really not possible that Diggins can be worse. If he comes in and sucks for a couple minutes, take him out. What have we lost in the process?? We already know that Gaffney can't cut it. Give the kid a chance.

 

[Storrs South]

I was thinking the same thing. Why come to uconn as a freshman, coach said your not gonna play

Except as others have noted that isn't what happens. If you're ready, particularly at the defensive end, you play.

This is the first season under Hurley multiple freshmen haven't gotten minutes.

His first year Sid Wilson and Brendan Adams both played (and played more than Whaley!). This was more because team had zero depth, but he still played them over older players.

Year 2: A freshman Akok was in the starting lineup at game 1 until his injury. Bouknight averaged 26 minutes a game. Gaffney averaged 20 minutes a game.

Year 3: Adama averaged 17 minutes a game, Andre averaged 16 minutes a game while dealing with a wrist injury that limited his development and court time

Year 4: Hawkins is averaging 17 minutes a game despite extremely uneven play.

The trend is less freshmen get significant minutes each season since the overall talent level of the program has been elevated from where it was 4 years ago, that the 7th best player on the team isn't Sid Wilson or Brendan Adams now it's Akok or Polley. That's a massive step forward. Yet he still plays those freshmen that he feels are ready and capable to be contributors.

Hurley says every year his priority is defense. If you can play defense you see the court. That should tell you everything you need to know.

I do have some quibbles with rotations and minute allocation mostly for Akok but from the limited run we have seen, nothing has really shown me Diggins and Johnson are ready. There were opportunities in November to get them some more run than what they got but there has not been an opportunity for that in 3 weeks as they have been in nail biters basically every game.

The next spot where they could get a chance is New Year's Day v. Butler. We will see, but the claim freshmen do not play under Hurley flies in the face of reality.

EDIT: And I will also add that Hurley consistently tells recruits that minutes will be earned, not given. Multiple players have said that to the press. Recruits seem to like that, so no it won't be effective as a technique for opposition to recruit against him.

 

[uconngb]

Except as others have noted that isn't what happens. If you're ready, particularly at the defensive end, you play.

This is the first season under Hurley multiple freshmen haven't gotten minutes.

His first year Sid Wilson and Brendan Adams both played (and played more than Whaley!). This was more because team had zero depth, but he still played them over older players.

Year 2: A freshman Akok was in the starting lineup at game 1 until his injury. Bouknight averaged 26 minutes a game. Gaffney averaged 20 minutes a game.

Year 3: Adama averaged 17 minutes a game, Andre averaged 16 minutes a game while dealing with a wrist injury that limited his development and court time

Year 4: Hawkins is averaging 17 minutes a game despite extremely uneven play.

The trend is less freshmen get significant minutes each season since the overall talent level of the program has been elevated from where it was 4 years ago, that the 7th best player on the team isn't Sid Wilson or Brendan Adams now it's Akok or Polley. That's a massive step forward. Yet he still plays those freshmen that he feels are ready and capable to be contributors.

Hurley says every year his priority is defense. If you can play defense you see the court. That should tell you everything you need to know.

I do have some quibbles with rotations and minute allocation mostly for Akok but from the limited run we have seen, nothing has really shown me Diggins and Johnson are ready. There were opportunities in November to get them some more run than what they got but there has not been an opportunity for that in 3 weeks as they have been in nail biters basically every game.

The next spot where they could get a chance is New Year's Day v. Butler. We will see, but the claim freshmen do not play under Hurley flies in the face of reality.

How about from the EXTENDED time that Polley and Gaffney have shown you.......that they are definitely not ready?? So let's just keep on playing them, why? Because they are older? That makes a lot of sense.

 

[superjohn]

With the 2011 roster do you think Hurley would've been giving Bazz, Roscoe, Lamb, Giffey major minutes early in the season or would he go with Olander, Beverly, and Okwandu?

 

[bendm]

I find it frustrating that bouk and adama are the only 2 of Hurley’s recruits that have outperformed their high school rankings. Hawk has the next best chance but No one else has even come close.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

sum of youse are wackadoodles.
three losses, by total points less than eggs in a carton.
all due to starter injuries. das it.
stuff happens. deal with it.

 

[uconngb]

I find it frustrating that bouk and adama are the only 2 of Hurley’s recruits that have outperformed their high school rankings. Hawk has the next best chance but No one else has even come close.

Exactly. So what does that tell you?? It's still early and I'm not giving up on the guy. But he has to start showing something. Recruiting ain't everything. Just ask Kentucky fans.

 

[imno1]

I find it frustrating that bouk and adama are the only 2 of Hurley’s recruits that have outperformed their high school rankings. Hawk has the next best chance but No one else has even come close.

Hot take alert

 

[Horatio]

Is there anything in that article regarding the difficulty of adjusting to Shaka Smart with hair?!?!?

 

[UConnSwag11]

Playing at a faster pace, changes coming to the rotation if players continue to underperform, more minutes for Samson Johnson

It should happen regardless of what us degenerates think.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I find it frustrating that bouk and adama are the only 2 of Hurley’s recruits that have outperformed their high school rankings. Hawk has the next best chance but No one else has even come close.

Bouk only got his time when Polley got hurt.

 

[Rocktheworld]

First off, it’s been three close losses to decent teams. We aren’t a final four team that’ll have less than 5 losses going into the post season; get used to losing, people. It’s on you for setting silly expectations.

Secondly, I don’t know who you people think you are or what you think you’re privy to regarding the roster and how the freshmen perform in practice. Some of you coming up with this idea that Hurley refuses to play freshman based solely on their being freshmen is ridiculous. Is the idea that he’s watching everyone play in practice, sees the freshmen stand out, yet refuse to play them anyway? That’s coaching malpractice and forgive me for being skeptical; especially given how much run Hawkins has had

 

[Sonova]

I just don't think it's realistic to expect an 11 man rotation, someone has to be the odd man out. My only point has been that we're not in practice every day, and based on what we've seen from Dan Hurley, every freshman who's earned minutes has gotten them. Maybe they get 18 instead of 25 like the Boneyard wants, but nobody has been getting 0 minutes when they've deserved big minutes

And saying ignore December to play the freshman through their mistakes sounds good in theory. But is everyone here gonna have the patience to deal with losses as we work through freshman mistakes? That seems unlikely. We're in year 4 and need to win games, I trust the staff to develop guys like Diggins and Johnson in practice so when an injury pops up they're ready to step in

One might think that playing an early season slate of ridiculous cupcakes is actually the perfect strategy to give our freshman meaningful (time wise) minutes.

However, I’m not sure that the BY issue is freshmen vs upperclassmen…it’s DH’s resistance to change things up when they’re not working. If those aren’t options now b/c he didn’t give the Freshman less risky opportunities earlier, well, that’s on him.

 

[Storrs South]

How about from the EXTENDED time that Polley and Gaffney have shown you.......that they are definitely not ready?? So let's just keep on playing them, why? Because they are older? That makes a lot of sense.

We have seen the worst versions of them offensively in a Husky uniform. However, both defensively have been OK to pretty good (Polley OK, Gaffney pretty good by Defensive rating). Hurley has stated defense determines how much play you get.

I am optimistic the shots will start falling for Polley and that Gaffney will regain some form offensively once Adama returns.

We aren't there in practice so I'm just going off of what Hurley tells the press.

 

[BigFanCT]

Hurley sounding very Boeheim-esque Re: Comments about freshman.