College Sports Madness: UCONN #94 (7th in American)

[BFieldHusky]

This is a site that ranks in their mind the Top 144 teams for next year. They have UConn at 94, being the 7th team in the American.

Feel like the write up is fair. Totally agree on Gilbert being the wild card. If he is healthy and productive, I maintain that we will be a Top 3-4 team in the American, and an NCAA tournament team.

Projection:
Dan Hurley will retain UConn’s star from last season, Jalen Adams, who is back for his senior year. Adams earned second team All-AAC honors behind 18.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game. Adams’ backcourt partner Christian Vital is also back after scoring 14.9 points per game as a sophomore. Adams and Vital give Hurley an experienced backcourt to work with this season. The wildcard for Connecticut’s success this year could be the health of Alterique Gilbert. Gilbert is a former McDonald’s All-American but has only played in nine games in two seasons at UConn. The Huskies would also benefit from a big step forward from Josh Carlton in his sophomore season. Carlton started 17 games as a freshman, but he averaged just 4.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Roleplayers such as Mamadou Diarra, Tyler Polley and Isaiah Whaley also should improve as sophomores this season. The Huskies only have one freshman in this year’s class, but they add a redshirt freshman along with two grad transfers, including Tarin Smith. Smith averaged 12.4 points last year, has played at Nebraska and Duquesne and gives UConn some additional backcourt experience. Dan Hurley won’t get the Huskies back to national relevance in his first season, but this team has the potential to compete in the AAC and possibly get on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT

#94 Connecticut Men's Basketball 2018-2019 Preview

 

[WrenchFan69]

Write up is solid. AAC is going to be a blood bath at the top. But I think at worst we're an NIT team

 

[Huskyforlife]

Adams, Gilbert, Vital, and Wilson are a tournament core with good coaching. We just need one big(Carlton/Cobb/Williams) to step up, and we should easily be top 3 in the conference.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Yeah, I see us as a top 50 team entering the year as of right now. Our ceiling is probably Sweet 16/Elite 8 if we gel and stay healthy, but as we all know from 2011 and 2014, once the calendar hits March anything can happen. We will be more experienced, more talented and deeper than last year. The other wild card to me other than Gilbert’s health is how quickly Hurley can change the culture. We all know it’s going to take more than 1 year to do that. The great teams have a culture where freshmen come in and see how dedicated and hard working the upper classmen are and it trickles down and ingrains itself over the years as it did for Calhoun’s teams. I believe Hurley will build the culture, just not sure if he can do it in 1 year with guys who haven’t been coached as well as they should have been for the past few years.

 

[Mokum]

I really think we will surprise everyone. Maybe it's just biased wishful thinking from a fan, but we have some good players and now a real quality coach. The disaster of the past two seasons is all on KO as far as I am concerned. But the prediction is fair, our guys have to go out and prove it. This kind of press should serve as motivation to them to prove they are way better than what is projected by writers.

 

[Scrutineer]

I'm the eternal optimist (my wife says delusionist if there were such a word), so I'm predicting we win the AAC and in the post-season it's 1990, or at least 1988.

Although the mix of guards and forwards precludes exact matches by position, here's how it will play out with player skill negating a position match at times:
-Gilbert fills the Henefeld role, the intangible glue that holds it all together
-J. Adams fills the Chris Smith role as the team leader and the player the defense has to key on
-T. Smith is Tate George, providing leadership and stability
-Vital is John Gwynn, bringing energy and instant scoring
-Carlton/Yakwe are Sellers, with solid defense and rebounding plus some scoring
-Sid Wilson is Burrell, the exciting, athletic, freshman
-Cobb is Dan Cyrulik, with solid backup minutes down low
-Whaley is Lyman, bringing toughness, rebounding and defense
-Polley is Murray Willams, but bringing even better offense
-B. Adams is Steve Pikiell, but without the injury, so he'll provide more even though only a freshman
That leaves Kwintin and Mamadou. Diarra's out till at least November so it's questionable where he fits in and Williams is the mystery man.

There you have it. Hard to believe the "experts" could rank us so low when you look at the team this objectively.

 

[Mokum]

I'm the eternal optimist (my wife says delusionist if there were such a word), so I'm predicting we win the AAC and in the post-season it's 1990, or at least 1988.

Although the mix of guards and forwards precludes exact matches by position, here's how it will play out with player skill negating a position match at times:
-Gilbert fills the Henefeld role, the intangible glue that holds it all together
-J. Adams fills the Chris Smith role as the team leader and the player the defense has to key on
-T. Smith is Tate George, providing leadership and stability
-Vital is John Gwynn, bringing energy and instant scoring
-Carlton/Yakwe are Sellers, with solid defense and rebounding plus some scoring
-Sid Wilson is Burrell, the exciting, athletic, freshman
-Cobb is Dan Cyrulik, with solid backup minutes down low
-Whaley is Lyman, bringing toughness, rebounding and defense
-Polley is Murray Willams, but bringing even better offense
-B. Adams is Steve Pikiell, but without the injury, so he'll provide more even though only a freshman
That leaves Kwintin and Mamadou. Diarra's out till at least November so it's questionable where he fits in and Williams is the mystery man.

There you have it. Hard to believe the "experts" could rank us so low when you look at the team this objectively.

I think they want us to show something after the last two embarrassing seasons. Look at it this way, no respect serves as motivation.

 

[sledog]

At least they cracked the 100 in this one.

 

[Austin316]

I think they want us to show something after the last two embarrassing seasons. Look at it this way, no respect serves as motivation.

Agreed. I’m not expecting us to be outstanding but I do expect Hurley and co to make noise and bring back some buzz, 20+ wins, and a shot at the tourney is doable.

 

[superjohn]

It's a fair writeup and then you see they rank us at #94th. Shows the damage that was done to the program under the last regime and what the perception of the Huskies is nationally. Hopefully that all starts to change once they take the court this season.

 

[auror]

Yeah, I see us as a top 50 team entering the year as of right now. Our ceiling is probably Sweet 16/Elite 8 if we gel and stay healthy, but as we all know from 2011 and 2014, once the calendar hits March anything can happen.

Is this a bit?

 

[uconndoit]

Is this a bit optimistic?

fify

 

[Purple Stein]

I sort by new posts and assumed this was a football preview. 94th sounds good for RE 2.0 but too low for MBB!

 

[willie99]

I really think we will surprise everyone. Maybe it's just biased wishful thinking from a fan, but we have some good players and now a real quality coach. The disaster of the past two seasons is all on KO as far as I am concerned. But the prediction is fair, our guys have to go out and prove it. This kind of press should serve as motivation to them to prove they are way better than what is projected by writers.

I agree, I THINK we'll be better than most expectations. The last two seasons sucked and nobody is going to assume an amazing turn around, but the pieces are there for that to happen. Throwing Gilbert and Wilson in the mix and the talent and depth increases exponentially. Hurley's coaching and a little more flexibility on both sides of the court is also going to help. Somebody in the front court mix will emerge. The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.

The only thing I disagree with is that the last two seasons is all Ollie's fault. It started with Hamilton not coming back to campus, then injuries to Gilbert and Larrier and Diarra, and then topped off with Wilson not gaining eligibility and more injuries. I've never seen so many concussions in all my life.

Having said that, the team still should have played better and they played incredibly ugly on too many nights. I'm happy we made the coaching change.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Agreed. I’m not expecting us to be outstanding but I do expect Hurley and co to make noise and bring back some buzz, 20+ wins, and a shot at the tourney is doable.

That's about what I expect as well.

• I think Gilbert is going to be 100%, and may be better than he was before he really got the shoulder fixed.
• Adams is a rare thing in college basketball, a senior guard with talent. Can Hurley get him to be what he can be?
• Offensive and defensive systems will be markedly improved, as will the player effort level on both ends.
• I expect to see more team basketball, and a deeper bench.
• Front court is mix of guys with a skill or two, but not a complete game. Who will step up? Carlton and Cobb could be it with Diarra out.

It's entirely possible that Adams and Gilbert could be the best back-court in the country. Based on talent and experience, it's not a stretch. Smith and Vital add two proven scorers. The real deciding factor will be whether somebody else steps up. Carlton, Cobb, Wilson, Diarra (when he returns), Polley?

 

[BFieldHusky]

I am hearing the medical staff is very encouraged by what they are seeing from Gilbert. They feel the shoulder is really fixed, and while there may be some mobility issues, the shoulder is far more stable than at this time last year. If we can get him on the court and keep him there, my expectations really change for this team.

 

[Towney007]

I think we’ll be better than expected. I do however - really like this team being so lowly rated to begin the season.

The talent is there - especially in the backcourt but we’ve been saying that forever. Up to Hurley to get it out of them and for the kids to show up and do it. Especially in the backcourt though - our potential is absolutely enormous. Like could be a top-10 backcourt in the country if it all shakes out.

Ultimately I just think the rest of the way there are too many question marks up front. I think we’ll be better than expected there and I expect to see improvement under Hurley especially as the season wears on, but the list is just too long for me to think we figure things out enough or in time to be really effective.

Ultimately I think it’s a team that goes as far as the guards take it. I think we’re an NIT team for sure with a shot at the tournament. I do think we could be dangerous in March if the team gels.

 

[huskyblooz]

I sort by new posts and assumed this was a football preview. 94th sounds good for RE 2.0 but too low for MBB!

Football is a year away from 94. Then top 60. Hoops is a quicker turnaround.