Borges: Summer 2 Session

[HuskyHawk]

We were one of the biggest teams in the country last year. PG is one position. There are 5 players on the court. The rest of those players were 6'7 or better.

Sure. Because Whaley started at the 4, and Martin was a very big college 2 at 6'5", Jackson about normal for a 3 at 6'6". But we also brought a 6'9" perimeter player off the bench for a lot of minutes, who didn't play like a "big". That skews the data a bit.

We now have big guards all around as is needed in this system (hopefully we switch more and hedge less). Great. I don't think that has any impact on who plays the 4. Average height doesn't much matter to individual matchups. Johnson has great upside, and a dynamic shot blocking 6'9" guy who can hit threes (like say Donyell Marshall) changes the game.

I don't know who starts. We all penciled in Hawkins. But it's possible that Alleyne is ahead of him and that Johnson still earns a start at the 4. Or Alleyne is the 6th man that can come in and play 2-3. As I said for months, if Alleyne starts there are zero 2-3 players on the bench (and one 3-4, Karaban). That's not now true because of Calcaterra, but I don't know how much he will play. So in my mind, there is a good argument that one of Hawkins or Alleyne should be on the bench. The alternative is that you've got three guys who are 4's and all are on the bench. It will work itself out.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Sure. Because Whaley started at the 4, and Martin was a very big college 2 at 6'5", Jackson about normal for a 3 at 6'6". But we also brought a 6'9" perimeter player off the bench for a lot of minutes, who didn't play like a "big". That skews the data a bit.

We now have big guards all around as is needed in this system (hopefully we switch more and hedge less). Great. I don't think that has any impact on who plays the 4. Average height doesn't much matter to individual matchups. Johnson has great upside, and a dynamic shot blocking 6'9" guy who can hit threes (like say Donyell Marshall) changes the game.

I don't know who starts. We all penciled in Hawkins. But it's possible that Alleyne is ahead of him and that Johnson still earns a start at the 4. Or Alleyne is the 6th man that can come in and play 2-3. As I said for months, if Alleyne starts there are zero 2-3 players on the bench (and one 3-4, Karaban). That's not now true because of Calcaterra, but I don't know how much he will play. So in my mind, there is a good argument that one of Hawkins or Alleyne should be on the bench. The alternative is that you've got three guys who are 4's and all are on the bench. It will work itself out.

I think the greatest thing we have right now is a lot of positional versatility, so even if we don’t have a “true 2-3” on the bench outside Calcaterra, we have other ways to cover this with out versatility. (Ex: if 1-2 wings has to sit and goes out, you could see a lineup of either 1) Hassan, Newton, Alleyne, AJ, Adama 2) Newton Alleyne AJ AK Adama 3) (if going big) Hassan/Newton, Alleyne/AJ/Hawk, AK, Samson, Adama)

I think we’ll see plenty of lineup combinations this year. We dont substitute full 5 like hockey lineups, so we should be fine imo

 

[AntG168]

Sure. Because Whaley started at the 4, and Martin was a very big college 2 at 6'5", Jackson about normal for a 3 at 6'6". But we also brought a 6'9" perimeter player off the bench for a lot of minutes, who didn't play like a "big". That skews the data a bit.

We now have big guards all around as is needed in this system (hopefully we switch more and hedge less). Great. I don't think that has any impact on who plays the 4. Average height doesn't much matter to individual matchups. Johnson has great upside, and a dynamic shot blocking 6'9" guy who can hit threes (like say Donyell Marshall) changes the game.

I don't know who starts. We all penciled in Hawkins. But it's possible that Alleyne is ahead of him and that Johnson still earns a start at the 4. Or Alleyne is the 6th man that can come in and play 2-3. As I said for months, if Alleyne starts there are zero 2-3 players on the bench (and one 3-4, Karaban). That's not now true because of Calcaterra, but I don't know how much he will play. So in my mind, there is a good argument that one of Hawkins or Alleyne should be on the bench. The alternative is that you've got three guys who are 4's and all are on the bench. It will work itself out.

No way Alleyne is ahead of Hawkins.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

No way Alleyne is ahead of Hawkins.

if that guy starts over hawk, call the police becuz a major crime has been committed. coaching idiocy its called in the Cal penal code. i can almost hear joe friday: 'this is the city...when that happens, then i go to work to do my job. it was a tuesday, unusually warm for a late november day. we were working the daywatch out of robbery/homicide...'

 

[HuskyHawk]

No way Alleyne is ahead of Hawkins.

How would anyone know? I certainly don't expect it, but people saying "he started at an ACC school VT"...well Hawkins didn't start for UConn.

 

[AntG168]

How would anyone know? I certainly don't expect it, but people saying "he started at an ACC school VT"...well Hawkins didn't start for UConn.

That’s not how these things work. Hawkins, Sanogo, Jackson, and Newton are all but penciled in as starters

 

[McLovin]

How would anyone know? I certainly don't expect it, but people saying "he started at an ACC school VT"...well Hawkins didn't start for UConn.

Hurley literally said Hawkins is a starter this upcoming season.

 

[MDHuskFan]

How would anyone know? I certainly don't expect it, but people saying "he started at an ACC school VT"...well Hawkins didn't start for UConn.

If a sophomore who’s showing up on NBA draft boards & has been in the program now for over a year, gets beat out by a kid who missed the first summer session… then I think we have even bigger questions about our 2-3 depth. Cause quite frankly, that would mean Hawk isn’t that good. (I think he’ll be excellent, just what that would indicate though)

 

[SubbaBub]

First one.
So I guess standing at the top of the key and looking to pass qualifies as a "point guard"
And not being able to shoot well outside or taking it all of the way to the hole.
Sure.

You forgot coughing up the ball when pressured man to man.

Luckily we'll have a few tune up games in the noncon for him to prove us wrong.

If it continues during conference play, that's on Hurley.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That’s not how these things work. Hawkins, Sanogo, Jackson, and Newton are all but penciled in as starters

Hurley literally said Hawkins is a starter this upcoming season.

If a sophomore who’s showing up on NBA draft boards & has been in the program now for over a year, gets beat out by a kid who missed the first summer session… then I think we have even bigger questions about our 2-3 depth. Cause quite frankly, that would mean Hawk isn’t that good. (I think he’ll be excellent, just what that would indicate though)

It is how things work. Hurley isn't giving anybody a spot. I fully expect Hawkins to earn it. I expect Hurley to give him the edge if it's close, because having your recruits succeed and go pro helps the program. But if Alleyne is just better and Johnson is awesome at the 4? It's not impossible. They are both going to play quite a bit. Hurley has a history of going with experience. Only on the Yard do you get pilloried for stating the obvious.

 

[MDHuskFan]

It is how things work. Hurley isn't giving anybody a spot. I fully expect Hawkins to earn it. I expect Hurley to give him the edge if it's close, because having your recruits succeed and go pro helps the program. But if Alleyne is just better and Johnson is awesome at the 4? It's not impossible. They are both going to play quite a bit. Hurley has a history of going with experience. Only on the Yard do you get pilloried for stating the obvious.

I wasn’t attacking you. You said if they start together, we have a depth issue. I was just more mentioning that if Alleyne and Johnson force a guy who is expected to be one of our better players to our bench, then I still think we still have a depth issue, cause that likely indicates Hawk likely isn’t as good of a player as we’re expecting.

 

[navery12]

It is how things work. Hurley isn't giving anybody a spot. I fully expect Hawkins to earn it. I expect Hurley to give him the edge if it's close, because having your recruits succeed and go pro helps the program. But if Alleyne is just better and Johnson is awesome at the 4? It's not impossible. They are both going to play quite a bit. Hurley has a history of going with experience. Only on the Yard do you get pilloried for stating the obvious.

Hurley has said Hawkins is starting. There's no use wasting your time envisioning scenarios where he's on the bench, it's not happening. It's as ridiculous as the people suggesting Jackson come off the bench

 

[AntG168]

It is how things work. Hurley isn't giving anybody a spot. I fully expect Hawkins to earn it. I expect Hurley to give him the edge if it's close, because having your recruits succeed and go pro helps the program. But if Alleyne is just better and Johnson is awesome at the 4? It's not impossible. They are both going to play quite a bit. Hurley has a history of going with experience. Only on the Yard do you get pilloried for stating the obvious.

Dude no one attacked you. By every report and indication the starting 5 is all but decided outside of the last spot. If Alleyne is starting over Hawkins something catastrophically wrong has happened in Hawkins development. Alleyne may start, but it’d be at the expense of your boy Johnson before it is Hawkins. Hurley has a history of going with guys he’s experienced with. And Hawkins knows exactly was Hurley expects

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

This could be an ideal potential 8 man rotation

Newton, Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson, Sanogo

Diarra, Alleyne, Karaban

Clingan getting spot minutes at the 5 when needed/foul trouble.

This lineup can call for a lot of versatility, whether we want to go big or get extra ball handlers on the floor/shooters. There’s a lot Hurley can do here.

Imagine this shooting lineup,

Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, Karaban, Johnson.

 

[ucp990411]

No way Alleyne is ahead of Hawkins.

You think Alleyene came to Storrs to come off the bench? Hawkins has alot to prove in my opinion.

 

[MDHuskFan]

You think Alleyene came to Storrs to come off the bench? Hawkins has alot to prove in my opinion.

Alleyne came here knowing:

we returned 2 of 5 starters
we had an NBA prospect wing on the roster who came off the bench last year.
We brought in a top transfer PG
Lastly he knew we had a short bench with the transfers out, no freshman guards, and at the time he transferred here, no bench guards

His commitment announcement and subsequent interviews said he came here for 1)development 2) relationship with coaches 3) environment.

From his comments and state of the program at the time he committed, I personally think he came in expecting to have a chance to compete for a starting spot, but understanding too that he may come off the bench as well.

 

[Umami Zen]

Alleyne has the talent and maturity to know.. If the ball goes into the hole. He'll be on the court .

 

[BGesus4]

You think Alleyene came to Storrs to come off the bench? Hawkins has alot to prove in my opinion.

While he’s busy proving that to you, he will be starting. Read the quotes on Hawkins from the people actually involved in the program from this summer.

 

[ucp990411]

While he’s busy proving that to you, he will be starting. Read the quotes on Hawkins from the people actually involved in the program from this summer.

And Justin Brown was outplaying Emeka. Just saying I was not as impressed by Hawkins as other posters were and I don’t buy the off season chatter as much as others.

 

[dennismenace]

This could be an ideal potential 8 man rotation

Newton, Hawkins, Jackson, Johnson, Sanogo

Diarra, Alleyne, Karaban

Clingan getting spot minutes at the 5 when needed/foul trouble.

This lineup can call for a lot of versatility, whether we want to go big or get extra ball handlers on the floor/shooters. There’s a lot Hurley can do here.

Imagine this shooting lineup,

Newton, Alleyne, Hawkins, Karaban, Johnson.

Yes, I can imagine that lineup and finally start seeing 3 ball bombs raining down and running up the score. That would electrify the crowds.

 

[Son of Robert]

How many good shooters on this team? This team is LOADED with offensive options. Our mostly 4 out offense, with height, versatility, shooting ,and playmaking, along with Adama in the post, will give opposing defenses fits. Keep the ball moving, rebound, defend at the highest levels, and we will be playing in the Elite 8. We're gonna put points up.

This team gives me Gonzaga-like vibes.

 

[ucp990411]

From Borges’ write up Alleyne has a reputation for playing his best when the lights are the brightest. Believe me I hope that Hawkins is another Ray Allen and I am sure he looks great at The Werth Center but based on last year I am not so sure he will do it when the lights are the brightest.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

From Borges’ write up Alleyne has a reputation for playing his best when the lights are the brightest. Believe me I hope that Hawkins is another Ray Allen and I am sure he looks great at The Werth Center but based on last year I am not so sure he will do it when the lights are the brightest.

16 points in 15 minutes on 5-7 shooting and 3-3 from 3 against the #1 team in the country would say otherwise.

Hawkins is going to do fine this year.

 

[ucp990411]

16 points in 15 minutes on 5-7 shooting and 3-3 from 3 against the #1 team in the country would say otherwise.

Hawkins is going to do fine this year.

That was the 2nd game of the season then he coughed the ball up vs Mich St and seemed to me he never recovered. Believe me I hope you are right.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

That was the 2nd game of the season then he coughed the ball up vs Mich St and seemed to me he never recovered. Believe me I hope you are right.

I think my feelings are well known on the handling of him last year on the board. Which is why I’m excited to see him as a focal point this year that we rely on. He put up those numbers up in 15 minutes in a game that went to double OT.