Bubble Watch

[mauconnfan]

A good team replaces 14 points pretty easily.

We're not talking Kemba points here. Nor, as much as I do like CV, are we talking about the sort of leadership that, say, Shabazz offered, or the defense that Moore offered, or the rebounding Okafor offered, or the all around game Gay offered.

We replaced Tony Robertson fine; we'll replace CV fine. He'll be missed, but a good program goes on.

And its 14 PPG at a 36% clip so it can be replaced. Let's not pretend finding a guy with his heart and hard work ethics will be easy but I think we have the horses. Again nothing against CV but between Bouks improvement and the others who will share his time this won't be tough. I think Bouk will also be a 6 RPG guy and add Jackson, Springs we will rebound better as a team overall despite how good he is as a guard for us now.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Need another HUGE effort like the game against Tulsa. UConn is coming off a big win and SMU is coming off a tough loss but playing at home. Hoping they show up to play!!

they WILL!

 

[Candyman]

He LEADS the team in scoring. No matter what way you try to say it, you have to fill in his scoring. You're seriously an idiot if you think Vital's loss will be easy to fill.

It’s going to be very easy to replace 14 ppg. We replace that easily every year. Not sure why you think 14ppg, even if it leads the team, is a huge number. Bouk has the potential to drop 18 plus a game. And everyone else will up their averages. We will be top 25 next year.

 

[intlzncster]

Hello! RJ Cole, my friend. I think Cole will more than offset Vital's scoring and Bouknight will up his points too. And that's just our starting back court!

idk, we don't even really want Cole to be a score first guard; his height is a detriment, something he didn't have to deal with in the MEAC. I think Gaffney's points will be more important in the end. I hope Gaff steps up and is able to start.

And I think we are underselling Vital's contributions rebounding that lead to much more offensive possessions than we would have otherwise. That's part of his impact impact

 

[intlzncster]

We lost Jalen Adams's 17 points per game last year and Gilbert is averaging 3 less a game despite us hoping he'd be the one to take the points..

We're 40 spots better in KenPom.

We'll be fine replacing 14ppg among 8+ returning rotation players, a redshirt junior transfer (making 6 junior+ upperclassmen), a redshirt freshman, and 2 normal freshmen.

I ain't worried about raw scoring per se. I am worried about replacing 3pt shooting, given that Poly isn't gonna be really ready until mid year.

I'm also worried about replacing Vital's rebounding from the guard position. That impacts our offense as well

 

[intlzncster]

A good team replaces 14 points pretty easily.

We're not talking Kemba points here. Nor, as much as I do like CV, are we talking about the sort of leadership that, say, Shabazz offered, or the defense that Moore offered, or the rebounding Okafor offered, or the all around game Gay offered.

We replaced Tony Robertson fine; we'll replace CV fine. He'll be missed, but a good program goes on.

As I said above, I am worried about replacing that 3pt shooting tho. Polley won't be ready out of the shoot. It's not just raw points, it's how you get them.

Also, that kind of rebounding from the guard spot is impossible to replicate. That said, we will probably mitigate that with rebounding from other positions (Jackson and Springs).

 

[UConnSwag11]

He LEADS the team in scoring. No matter what way you try to say it, you have to fill in his scoring. You're seriously an idiot if you think Vital's loss will be easy to fill.

Your obsession with defending his play is getting pathetic. He’s a great kid, who hustles his assorted, and is a great ambassador for the program but Bouk will be able to fill the void. We’ll miss his defense and rebounding more than his offense

 

[UConnSwag11]

There’s already a Vital thread for those who want to argue. Keep this for bubble talk

 

[UConnSwag11]

I ain't worried about raw scoring per se. I am worried about replacing 3pt shooting, given that Poly isn't gonna be really ready until mid year.

I'm also worried about replacing Vital's rebounding from the guard position. That impacts our offense as well

Replacing what 3 point shooting? We’re terrible this year. We can only get better

 

[UConnSwag11]

If we can get through SMU with a win then the rest of the season is fair game. we can move up in the standings and place ourselves in good position for the aac Tourney

 

[intlzncster]

Replacing what 3 point shooting? We’re terrible this year. We can only get better

Vital's? I mean, he's not crushing it percentage wise this season, but a lot of that is taking bad shots because we have no one else who can hit. jmo tho

3pt shooting is one of the main reasons we rarely get over the hump. Vital's have been a big part of keeping us in games this year.

Yeah, his dumb takes us out too, but still

 

[SubbaBub]

Your obsession with defending his play is getting pathetic. He’s a great kid, who hustles his assorted, and is a great ambassador for the program but Bouk will be able to fill the void. We’ll miss his defense and rebounding more than his offense

Lol, Bouk is already scoring 22 in "good" games for the team. You expect him to up that to 36? We have to be happy with Bouk averaging 22 ppg. So the 14 have to come from one of the other positions on the court.

That means a combo of Akok, Gaffney, Polley and Carlton or whomever shares their minutes. I don't think you getting more than 2 from Carlton or 5 from Akok. That leaves 7 for Gaffney and whomever is at the 3.

Then there is the matter of not actually being a good team, so we need to replace/add more than the 14/game as well as the defense and rebounding.

Which is a long way of saying two wins against bubble teams isn't a sign we should he expecting a return to Sweet 16 results next season. There is still work to be done.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Lol, Bouk is already scoring 22 in "good" games for the team. You expect him to up that to 36? We have to be happy with Bouk averaging 22 ppg. So the 14 have to come from one of the other positions on the court.

That means a combo of Akok, Gaffney, Polley and Carlton or whomever shares their minutes. I don't think you getting more than 2 from Carlton or 5 from Akok. That leaves 7 for Gaffney and whomever is at the 3.

Then there is the matter of not actually being a good team, so we need to replace/add more than the 14/game as well as the defense and rebounding.

Which is a long way of saying two wins against bubble teams isn't a sign we should he expecting a return to Sweet 16 results next season. There is still work to be done.

5 from Akok? Next year I expect 10-12. If Carlton is back, I think he's good for 8-10. There is also Andre Jackson who will score some. Adams will up his average and the we add Cole who is a scorer.
I don't think it's difficult to predict that this team will be better on offense and score more points per game next year. Where we take a hit is on defense at guard, with Cole being a downgrade on Gilbert.

 

[CTBasketball]

We shouldn’t even focus about the bubble. Primary focus should be taking one game at a time, and getting a Top 4 seed in the AAC Tournament.

 

[UConnSwag11]

We shouldn’t even focus about the bubble. Primary focus should be taking one game at a time, and getting a Top 4 seed in the AAC Tournament.

 

[auror]

We shouldn’t even focus about the bubble. Primary focus should be taking one game at a time, and getting a Top 4 seed in the AAC Tournament.

We're not the team. Our focus doesn't matter to anything.

 

[tzznandrew]

As I said above, I am worried about replacing that 3pt shooting tho. Polley won't be ready out of the shoot. It's not just raw points, it's how you get them.

Also, that kind of rebounding from the guard spot is impossible to replicate. That said, we will probably mitigate that with rebounding from other positions (Jackson and Springs).

His 31%? I think we'll be fine there too.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It took us OT to beat a mediocre Cincinnati team. Let's focus on SMU and stop worrying about 8 game winning streaks.

 

[SoFla Steve]

We're still 4.5 pt underdogs. It would be great to get a Q2 road win.

 

[Husky68]

We shouldn’t even focus about the bubble. Primary focus should be taking one game at a time, and getting a Top 4 seed in the AAC Tournament.

Don't think my lack of focus will be too detrimental to the team.

 

[intlzncster]

His 31%? I think we'll be fine there too.

If you take out the dumb jacks (largely because of not having a competent PG imo), it would look much better than that.

If there's an open 3pt shot to be had, as it stands right now, he's the guy I want taking it.

It's really hard to be a good 3pt shooter when you are 1 of 2 guys able to do it. And up until a few games ago w Bouk, Vital's has been the only guy you have to respect out there. (obv not incl Polley)

 

[auror]

If you take out the dumb jacks (largely because of not having a competent PG imo), it would look much better than that.

If there's an open 3pt shot to be had, as it stands right now, he's the guy I want taking it.

It's really hard to be a good 3pt shooter when you are 1 of 2 guys able to do it. And up until a few games ago w Bouk, Vital's has been the only guy you have to respect out there. (obv not incl Polley)

Yeah but that's kinda the point. If he's not doing that well in the role he's given, if we put someone else in that role next year, they don't need to be great either for it to be filled successfully.

 

[bmayuc]

I see bouk picking up about half of CV' scoring output (~7pts), but not seeing where the other half are coming from or the 5 or so more that would turn the close L's into W's.

I don't see our defense being 12 pts/gm better. You want to pencil in 4-5 to Akok, Ok but that's a bit of a leap of faith at the moment.

This is an insane person's view of basketball. The points could come from anywhere. How about if RJ comes in and is a 18-20 point scorer? How about if Bouk averages 18. How about Richie Springs gives us 6 & 6 per game. How about Akok gets more consistent and puts up 13-8 next year. Maybe Andre starts from day one and puts up 12-5. Maybe Pork Chop has another step forward and goes 10-8 all year. Maybe 6 additional points are just from RJ throwing oops to Bouk & Dre? Maybe Polley gets more open 3's next year cuz we have more dynamic playmakers and puts up 15/game. Who know?

Basketball is a complicated dynamic mess of factors, not just a bunch of scoring averages thrown together.

And count me in the group that thinks its possible next year our defense takes another massive step forward into the true elite, possibly top 10ish defense with another slew of recruits who are more athletic and more aligned with Hurley's style as well as another year of development for current roster.

Go huskies beat SMU