Comparing Incoming/Outgoing Transfers and Departures

[Tenspro2002]

Now that we're pretty much settled on the roster (except for maybe another guard or forward), let's take stock of who we lost and who we gained. There are two ways we can do that:

1) Comparing this year's roster to last year's, i.e. should the team be better or worse than last year?

For these purposes, let's only consider guys who got meaningful minutes in big games. Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo return.

Cole --> Newton
- Slight downgrade on offense, probably slight improvement on defense/size.

Whaley --> Johnson
- Big downgrade on defense, but may be better on offense and probably a more functional lineup fit

Gaffney --> Diarra
- Big upgrade

Polley --> Karaban
- Should be a slight upgrade, mostly because Polley was a liability in every other aspect of the game besides his strength (shooting)

Martin --> Alleyne
- Sort of apples and oranges, obviously a downgrade in rebounding and toughness, but maybe a slight upgrade in shooting and positional fit (though Martin's shooting doesn't get enough credit)

Akok --> Clingan/Springs
- fairly inconsequential, hard to say

On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.


2) Comparing the incoming transfers to the outgoing transfers, i.e. should we expect the guys we got to contribute more than what we would have expected from the guys who left?

Gaffney --> Diarra
- higher floor and higher ceiling for Diarra for the backup guard role, clear upgrade

Diggins --> Newton
- unproven sophomore who looked bad in games and probably not much better in practice vs. an All-AAC guy, clear upgrade

Floyd --> Alleyne
- who knows what we would have gotten from Floyd, generously you could call this a wash

Akok is the only one we haven't replaced.


It's clear that the portal has been a big net upgrade for our roster, big wins for Hurley. The only question is whether we need more, given the guys we lost to graduation, and whether the overall sum will end up being better than last year.

 

[superjohn]

Now that we're pretty much settled on the roster (except for maybe another guard or forward), let's take stock of who we lost and who we gained. There are two ways we can do that:

1) Comparing this year's roster to last year's, i.e. should the team be better or worse than last year?

For these purposes, let's only consider guys who got meaningful minutes in big games. Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo return.

Cole --> Newton
- Slight downgrade on offense, probably slight improvement on defense/size.

Whaley --> Johnson
- Big downgrade on defense, but may be better on offense and probably a more functional lineup fit

Gaffney --> Diarra
- Big upgrade

Polley --> Karaban
- Should be a slight upgrade, mostly because Polley was a liability in every other aspect of the game besides his strength (shooting)

Martin --> Alleyne
- Sort of apples and oranges, obviously a downgrade in rebounding and toughness, but maybe a slight upgrade in shooting and positional fit (though Martin's shooting doesn't get enough credit)

Akok --> Clingan/Springs
- fairly inconsequential, hard to say

On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.


2) Comparing the incoming transfers to the outgoing transfers, i.e. should we expect the guys we got to contribute more than what we would have expected from the guys who left?

Gaffney --> Diarra
- higher floor and higher ceiling for Diarra for the backup guard role, clear upgrade

Diggins --> Newton
- unproven sophomore who looked bad in games and probably not much better in practice vs. an All-AAC guy, clear upgrade

Floyd --> Alleyne
- who knows what we would have gotten from Floyd, generously you could call this a wash

Akok is the only one we haven't replaced.


It's clear that the portal has been a big net upgrade for our roster, big wins for Hurley. The only question is whether we need more, given the guys we lost to graduation, and whether the overall sum will end up being better than last year.

Team should be better than last year because of the jumps expected from Hawkins, Jackson, Sanogo and the additions should give us more versatility on offense. We were extremely one dimensional on offense and Sanogo Whaley together on the offensive end just didn't work. Whaley brought an extra defender down to Adama and it clogged up his room to work in the paint. It was dump it down low to Sanogo or watch Cole create a shot for himself.

If the defense is similar to last year we should be better because the offense should be more functional.

 

[shizzle787]

The final piece in the puzzle is another stud guard. Whether that is a Castle re-class or somebody else is TBD.

 

[navery12]

The final piece in the puzzle is another stud guard. Whether that is a Castle re-class or somebody else is TBD.

If it's not Castle then it's gonna be nobody. We're not adding another stud from the transfer portal

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Team should be better than last year because of the jumps expected from Hawkins, Jackson, Sanogo and the additions should give us more versatility on offense. We were extremely one dimensional on offense and Sanogo Whaley together on the offensive end just didn't work. Whaley brought an extra defender down to Adama and it clogged up his room to work in the paint. It was dump it down low to Sanogo or watch Cole create a shot for himself.

If the defense is similar to last year we should be better because the offense should be more functional.

Have to imagine the defense won't be as good. Whaley was a tremendous defender, Cole was a pretty good defender, as was Tyrese.

 

[bendm]

The final piece in the puzzle is another stud guard. Whether that is a Castle re-class or somebody else is TBD.

get.over.it.

 

[bendm]

On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.

the bolded part is the key. the x-factors are how improved AJ and Hawkins are from last year. the two of them will determine whether we're in the same top 20-25 tier or if we're a top 10-15 team.

we already know sanogo is a top 5 C in the country along with Oscar, Dickinson, Bacot, and Edey.

 

[SubbaBub]

Tl ;dr. Nothing good can come of this thread. We reshuffled over half the rotation.

This team will be different with everyone's role slightly different even for the guys playing similar roles to last year.

I feel like we upgraded the back half of the rotation. Not sure if the front half will be as dominant. Maybe they don't need to be.

I think we'll be in the mix at the top of the BE, and hope to challenge for the league in 2023.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I don't think we can make positional comparisons because the composition of the team is so different. Given that, I too feel like we should automatically be competing at the top of the Big East. If Jackson, Hawkins, or anyone else turns into a legitimate star then our potential is second weekend but someone really needs to break or I see us in a very similar Top 25 position as last year and a likely 4-6 seed.

 

[Vancat]

Dan Hurley Has Boosted UConn’s Backcourt in Last Month

UConn head coach Dan Hurley has come out as one of the winners of the transfer portal in the Big East, picking up three guards to boost the depth of the Huskies’ backcourt. UCONN TRANSFER ADDITIONS: TRISTEN NEWTON, EAST CAROLINA 17.7 PTS / 4.8 REB / 5.0 AST / 1.4 STL NAHIEM ALLEYNE, VIRGINIA...

theportalreport.com

 

[Umami Zen]

Looking forward to what our full roster will look like between now and Aug/Sept.. Still early for predictions on minutes and PT

 

[HooperScooper]

Now that we're pretty much settled on the roster (except for maybe another guard or forward), let's take stock of who we lost and who we gained. There are two ways we can do that:

1) Comparing this year's roster to last year's, i.e. should the team be better or worse than last year?

For these purposes, let's only consider guys who got meaningful minutes in big games. Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo return.

Cole --> Newton
- Slight downgrade on offense, probably slight improvement on defense/size.

Whaley --> Johnson
- Big downgrade on defense, but may be better on offense and probably a more functional lineup fit

Gaffney --> Diarra
- Big upgrade

Polley --> Karaban
- Should be a slight upgrade, mostly because Polley was a liability in every other aspect of the game besides his strength (shooting)

Martin --> Alleyne
- Sort of apples and oranges, obviously a downgrade in rebounding and toughness, but maybe a slight upgrade in shooting and positional fit (though Martin's shooting doesn't get enough credit)

Akok --> Clingan/Springs
- fairly inconsequential, hard to say

On a position by position basis, it's probably a slight downgrade overall, but the pieces should mesh better and may also be offset by improvement from the returning 3. It's not unreasonable to project this team as in the 20-25 range with both higher upside and downside than last year.


2) Comparing the incoming transfers to the outgoing transfers, i.e. should we expect the guys we got to contribute more than what we would have expected from the guys who left?

Gaffney --> Diarra
- higher floor and higher ceiling for Diarra for the backup guard role, clear upgrade

Diggins --> Newton
- unproven sophomore who looked bad in games and probably not much better in practice vs. an All-AAC guy, clear upgrade

Floyd --> Alleyne
- who knows what we would have gotten from Floyd, generously you could call this a wash

Akok is the only one we haven't replaced.


It's clear that the portal has been a big net upgrade for our roster, big wins for Hurley. The only question is whether we need more, given the guys we lost to graduation, and whether the overall sum will end up being better than last year.

As others have said it's impossible to compare and contrast like this because basketball is such a team game. Just too many new pieces and roles to tell where the team might be better or worse.

FWIW, I'd be shocked if Alleyne is anywhere near as productive as Martin was this past season.

 

[bendm]

Still early for predictions on minutes and PT

never!

 

[Waquoit]

I'm not sure I see the value in comparing the new players to a group that ultimately didn't get it done. I think we're closing the book on the late-KO, early-Hurley era. I want this group to start something new.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This thread appears to be designed solely to criticize a situation. Comparing three transfers in to not only the three transfers out but also the players who have move on from their collegiate careers (and logged a considerable amount of critical minutes) is setting them up for failure and grossly unfair.

There should be two distinct questions:

1 - does adding Newton, Alleyne and Diarra while losing Gaffney, Diggins and Floyd appear to be a win or a loss?

2 - if we didn't lose the three who transferred out, would we have used the transfers portal to help replace the losses of Cole, Martin, Whaley and Polley?

 

[August_West]

Dan Hurley Has Boosted UConn’s Backcourt in Last Month

UConn head coach Dan Hurley has come out as one of the winners of the transfer portal in the Big East, picking up three guards to boost the depth of the Huskies’ backcourt. UCONN TRANSFER ADDITIONS: TRISTEN NEWTON, EAST CAROLINA 17.7 PTS / 4.8 REB / 5.0 AST / 1.4 STL NAHIEM ALLEYNE, VIRGINIA...

theportalreport.com

Sure. When you lose 4 guards (or 5 guards according to portal report) and end up with zero guards and then get 3 out of portal, I think that qualifies as boosting a backcourt because 3>0. I don't see anything in your portal report link that says anything but that.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I liken Alleyne to a better offensive version of Polley. I’m not sure we’re replacing Martin with anyone 1 for 1. But Alleyne will probably start at the beginning.

 

[shizzle787]

get.over.it.

If we don’t get that piece we are going home before the Sweet 16.

 

[UconnAlum04]

If we don’t get that piece we are going home before the Sweet 16.

Gee I wonder how that feels

 

[Tenspro2002]

This thread appears to be designed solely to criticize a situation. Comparing three transfers in to not only the three transfers out but also the players who have move on from their collegiate careers (and logged a considerable amount of critical minutes) is setting them up for failure and grossly unfair.

There should be two distinct questions:

1 - does adding Newton, Alleyne and Diarra while losing Gaffney, Diggins and Floyd appear to be a win or a loss?

2 - if we didn't lose the three who transferred out, would we have used the transfers portal to help replace the losses of Cole, Martin, Whaley and Polley?

Actually quite the opposite. I have an optimistic take that:

1) the players we brought in are slam dunk better than the players who left
2) the roster we have this year may already be equally as good as last year's, with a higher ceiling

 

[hasheemthedream]

Would feel much better about next year if Akok stayed, I think we need to add a big man and another guard. We can’t take any chances after the injuries we’ve had the past few years!

 

[McLovin]

It’s definitely possible that the 2 guys we have replacing Cole and Martin are a slight net downgrade. Newton could be a wash with Cole. But don’t see Alleyne hitting Martin’s numbers.

In terms of roster construction we are better off for next year than we were last season. More competent depth, more shot creators and more ball handlers.

And certainly better off compared to what next years probables we’re looking like after the NMST loss.

 

[UC4L]

Another day another dumb a** post. Cole was a very good player? How do you figure Newton won’t be better than cole? He put up very similar numbers to coles at Howard in a better conference and he is 6’5 and better at finishing around the rim? Pointless to mention Floyd and diggins who never played any meaningful minutes.

 

[Umami Zen]

Why do people keep comparing Alleyne to Martin?? Different positions /different profiles..CG vs SF.. DH didn't bring him in to replace Martin.. He's a great fit for the 4 out/1 in offensive scheme that DH is talking about.

 

[Chief00]

Newton is the best addition from the portal, Gaffney the biggest loss for next season. Floyd could develop into a good player at PC over his career. Time will tell.
Diarra is basically our lock down defender guy.