Breakout second-year coaches

[Jerry1714]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-col...ead-teams-breakout-seasons-college-basketball

Kevin Ollie, Connecticut Huskies
I'm already on the record as thinking the Huskies could make a surprise run to the 2014 Final Four, and if that's not a breakout sophomore season for head coach Ollie, I don't know what is. Basically UConn's bringing back everyone from a 10-8 Big East team that likely would have made the NCAA tournament if not for an APR-triggered postseason ban.
Granted, this is not -- and likely will not be -- your garden-variety Jim Calhoun-era Connecticut defense. But it's adequate, and by that I mean it's plainly as good as a team like, say, Marquette's, and the Golden Eagles secured a No. 3 seed in the field of 68 and made it as far as the Elite Eight.
I can envision a similar trajectory for this UConn team, because in Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright, and Omar Calhoun, Ollie is going to have one of the top backcourts in the nation. Last season the Huskies shot far more 3s than we're used to seeing launched in Hartford and in Storrs, and with good reason -- those shots went in. Napier in particular had an outstanding junior season, hitting 40 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, and functioning has one half of an excellent two-headed point guard alongside Boatright.
You heard it here first: Connecticut will be sneaky-good in 2013-14, excelling in areas (like minimizing the number of turnovers and fouls committed) that may not be terribly impressive to the naked eye but that are terribly important for the bottom line. Indeed, the Huskies' first season in the newly constituted American Athletic Conference promises to be highly entertaining. Louisville is in the league for one season only, and don't be surprised if UConn, along with Memphis, push the Cardinals for the first-ever AAC title. And with the talent that's already lined up for 2014-15, the Huskies are poised to rebound quite nicely from a one-season tournament absence -- starting with their coach's breakout sophomore season.

 

[Waquoit]

Sounds like one of my posts.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Basically UConn's bringing back everyone from a 10-8 Big East team that likely would have made the NCAA tournament if not for an APR-triggered postseason ban.

Even proponents of UConn who are citing their record last year are missing the boat on just how good we were. 10-8 was the final big east record that reflects 3 losses you could argue were a direct result of injury. Georgetown (Do we win that if Bazz isn't hurt in the 2nd half?, South Florida and Cincinnati the 2nd time. You flip those in the other direction and we are 13-5. 23-7. I will concede that last year was the easiest big east schedule we've had in a long time and if you are playing the what if game you could easily flip a few of our OT wins in the other direction, but its shocking how few talking heads are onto this story line.

We bring back 96% of our scoring.
We will have 4 seniors and 2 juniors playing 70%+? of our minutes if wolf suits up
One of those seniors, bazz, is statistically the third best player in college basketball last year to return behind Marcus Smart and Doug McDermott
One of those juniors, Dre, went from 10 ppg to 17 ppg over his last 7 games.
One of those seniors, Giff, is as versitle a role player as we've had here in two decades.

We've added a defensive specialist to the backcourt, a rising senior top 100 who addresses our primary need in rebounding.

We've got upside opportunities in our athletic freak pg taking the Junior Leap, Nolan continuing his growth track defensively and on the glass at the 5, and a 6 11 shot blocker who could be defensively serviceable from go.

I dropped my $100 on UConn at 60:1.

 

[uconngb]

Even proponents of UConn who are citing their record last year are missing the boat on just how good we were. 10-8 was the final big east record that reflects 3 losses you could argue were a direct result of injury. Georgetown (Do we win that if Bazz isn't hurt in the 2nd half?, South Florida and Cincinnati the 2nd time. You flip those in the other direction and we are 13-5. 23-7. I will concede that last year was the easiest big east schedule we've had in a long time and if you are playing the what if game you could easily flip a few of our OT wins in the other direction, but its shocking how few talking heads are onto this story line.

We bring back 96% of our scoring.
We will have 4 seniors and 2 juniors playing 70%+? of our minutes if wolf suits up
One of those seniors, bazz, is statistically the third best player in college basketball last year to return behind Marcus Smart and Doug McDermott
One of those juniors, Dre, went from 10 ppg to 17 ppg over his last 7 games.
One of those seniors, Giff, is as versitle a role player as we've had here in two decades.

We've added a defensive specialist to the backcourt, a rising senior top 100 who addresses our primary need in rebounding.

We've got upside opportunities in our athletic freak pg taking the Junior Leap, Nolan continuing his growth track defensively and on the glass at the 5, and a 6 11 shot blocker who could be defensively serviceable from go.

I dropped my $100 on UConn at 60:1.

sounds like you got your $ down quicker than me. I was in Vegas last week and put $100 on the boys at 40:1

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Even proponents of UConn who are citing their record last year are missing the boat on just how good we were. 10-8 was the final big east record that reflects 3 losses you could argue were a direct result of injury. Georgetown (Do we win that if Bazz isn't hurt in the 2nd half?, South Florida and Cincinnati the 2nd time. You flip those in the other direction and we are 13-5. 23-7. I will concede that last year was the easiest big east schedule we've had in a long time and if you are playing the what if game you could easily flip a few of our OT wins in the other direction, but its shocking how few talking heads are onto this story line.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, and I think they could definitely make a deep run, but if you're going to write off losses for injuries, you also have to consider the fact that they eked out a bunch of wins that could have gone either way against some really crappy teams. Unless I'm missing a game, they didn't really blow anyone out last season. It's a great trait to win close games, but it's also nice to be able to score consistently enough to put inferior teams away, and they didn't do that all that much last year.

[I missed your reference to the OT wins the first time through.]

 

[champs99and04]

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket, and I think they could definitely make a deep run, but if you're going to write off losses for injuries, you also have to consider the fact that they eked out a bunch of wins that could have gone either way against some really crappy teams. Unless I'm missing a game, they didn't really blow anyone out last season. It's a great trait to win close games, but it's also nice to be able to score consistently enough to put inferior teams away, and they didn't do that all that much last year.

[I missed your reference to the OT wins the first time through.]

And that will be exactly what defines next years team. UConn has eleven or twelve games against what should be stiff competition scheduled for next year: they'll play Louisville, Cincy, and Memphis two times, along with Washington (possibly twice), Stanford, Harvard, Florida, and maybe Indiana or Boston College. It remains to be seen how good Temple or the rest of the teams in our new conference will be, but the point is I have very little doubt UConn is capable of winning 5 to 7 of those 11 games.

UConn's handling of the other 20 games or so against lesser competition could likely be the differene between a two or three seed and a seven or eight seed. Will we be able to impose our will against the Eastern Carolina's of the world, or will their be an immediate pull back and yearning into a dogfight like we saw in games last season against Quinnipiac, South Florida, and to some extent in the first game before they had things figured out, Providence? The newly found depth that will accompany the presence of Samuel, Kromah, Facey, and Brimah should allow periods of rest for our big dogs - most notably Shabazz and Boatright, who were often forced to take rests on the floor last season and ramp it up later when we were already behind - so that we can extend leads rather than sit on them. The ineffective will also be regulated to the bench - if Tyler Olander shows up to a game and decides he doesn't feel like rebounding, well, Ollie will have no problem complying instead of tossing the fatigued and overmatched to the wolves like he was fored to do with such frequency last season.

The fact of the matter is basketball is half proving you can compete with players equal or better to you and half proving you're better than those who aren't as talented. UConn took care of the former last season when they sent teams like Syracuse and Michigan State home with a bad taste of UConn in their mouths. The latter, though, will need some addressing - we can't have Joe Smith from UMass showing up to Gampel next season thinking he can play with the big dogs. The vulnerable must be exploited and their flaws must be exposed, otherwise, we're going to have kids from Quinnipiac hitting off-balance shots at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime and a 1-8 South Florida team thinking they can come into Storrs and turn their season around. And the only way to ensure that doesn't happen is for each of our frontcourt players to make measureable improvements this summer. UConn has been a powerhouse for so long primiarily because of talent, but also partially because of intimidation. Guys like Boone, Thabeet, Okafor, Villanueva, Thabeet, Adrien, Hilton, and on occasion, Oriakhi, would roam the paint, send the floaters of their smaller counterparts into the stands, and swing their elbows around in the paint so the opposition understood if they wanted the ball it would come at the price of a couple teeth. We didn't have that last season, and that's why teams like Providence beat the hell out of us on the glass, kids from Quinnipiac refused to shake Shabazz's hand, and the greeting we received was far too rude for the standards of the three time champs. The key to next season is to put these boistrous schools that took the departure of a few of our big men as an opportunity to flex their muscle back in their place. We don't need to win every game by 30 or lead the country in block shots, we just need to restore order by drawing even on the glass, protecting the rim, and attacking the rim relentlessly from the wing. If we do that, an out-of-body experience like the one we had last year won't happen again, and more importantly, Shabazz and Boatright won't be falling over in exhaustion at the end of games from having to drag their frontcourt mates up and down the court.

 

[RichZ]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-col...ead-teams-breakout-seasons-college-basketball

Kevin Ollie, Connecticut Huskies
I'm already on the record as thinking the Huskies could make a surprise run to the 2014 Final Four, and if that's not a breakout sophomore season for head coach Ollie, I don't know what is ... the Huskies are poised to rebound quite nicely from a one-season tournament absence -- starting with their coach's breakout sophomore season.

This guy obviously didn't clear his column with freescooter before publishing it.

 

[intlzncster]

Thanks for posting the UConn info dude.

 

[intlzncster]

We've got upside opportunities in our athletic freak pg taking the Junior Leap, Nolan continuing his growth track defensively and on the glass at the 5, and a 6 11 shot blocker who could be defensively serviceable from go.

I dropped my $100 on UConn at 60:1.

Where'd you wager? I want in on those odds. Same bet.

EDIT: , I see they are going down? 40:1 is still fine though.

I LOVE betting on UConn, it's made me more money over the years than just about any other team not name the Patriots.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Where'd you wager? I want in on those odds. Same bet.

Through a friend. I'll check with him. I'm not typically a regular gambler but know my share of them. Although I will say that I assumed the odds based on what I saw on vegas insider and told him to pull the trigger so if GB is seeing 40:1 its likely come down to that. That's a good sign though.

 

[intlzncster]

Through a friend. I'll check with him. I'm not typically a regular gambler but know my share of them. Although I will say that I assumed the odds based on what I saw on vegas insider and told him to pull the trigger so if GB is seeing 40:1 its likely come down to that. That's a good sign though.

Says the guy who already got 60:1!!!

I'd appreciate any info you could dig up though. Thanks.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Recently(last two weeks) updated futures odds sites:

Gaming Today 60:1
OddsShark 33:1


Like I said I'm not sure which of these my friend locked in at but I was comfortable at any of them.

Docsports interestingly said this:

Field (+10000) – Do not walk, RUN, over to Sportsbook.ag and put down $50 on The Field to win it all. Why the urgency? Sportsbook doesn’t have Connecticut among the teams with odds. They forgot about the Huskies because the Huskies were banned from the postseason last year, so they weren’t posted on any of last year’s futures odds. Basically, this is a glitch in the system and we should take advantage. I am high on the Huskies anyway. They have the best backcourt in the country, two potential breakout guys in Omar Calhoun and DeAndre Daniels, some senior size, and a major chip on their shoulder. They will be a major player in the march to Arlington.

 

[Jerry1714]

Where'd you wager? I want in on those odds. Same bet.

EDIT: , I see they are going down? 40:1 is still fine though.

I LOVE betting on UConn, it's made me more money over the years than just about any other team not name the Patriots.

The better question is where can you not bet on it. Any book in Vegas has it open so does any offshore book, like 5 Dimes or Sportsbook.

It is currently still at 60/1 on Sportsbook. I would put up a screenshot if I knew how.

 

[intlzncster]

The better question is where can you not bet on it. Any book in Vegas has it open so does any offshore book, like 5 Dimes or Sportsbook.

It is currently still at 60/1 on Sportsbook. I would put up a screenshot if I knew how.

Ha! I have only bet in Australia. That's what I know. I thought it was mostly illegal here? Shows what I know. So, sportsbook?

 

[Jerry1714]

Ha! I have only bet in Australia. That's what I know. I thought it was mostly illegal here? Shows what I know. So, sportsbook?

Yea Sportsbook still has it at 60/1

http://www.sportsbook.ag/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=basketball

 

[uconngb]

Yea Sportsbook still has it at 60/1

http://www.sportsbook.ag/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=basketball

I bet on it at the Palazzo in Vegas. Didn't bother looking around, I guess I should have!