Conclusion: Start Phil Nolan

[Perspective]

Frankly, I don't care that there are only 3 games left in the season. I don't care whether Tyler has paid his dues.

Here are the stats from last night, Phil playing 14 minutes and Tyler playing 11:

Phil: 4 pts, 2 boards, 1 block, 1 TO, 1 basket on 1 attempt, 2 free throws, only 1 foul.
Tyler: 4 pts, 1 board, 1 steal, 4 personal fouls.

In addition, by my eye, Phil did a much better job on straight up D and on help D - as another poster mentioned, he has quick feet and did a nice job getting in position. Tyler fouled a lot.

My thought is, give Phil the starting job and tell him that it's his to earn and keep through next year - give him extra motivation to work hard this summer.

One way or another, Tyler needs to be in his appropriate role next year, which is backup.

 

[willie99]

Tyler didn't play the last 20 minutes of the game

either KO was sending a message or he's thinking about doing something different

he may be the most unproductive starter we've ever had

I hope Tyler reads this post, hates me, and goes out to prove me wrong in every game he plays in for the rest of his life. and I hope he's successful

 

[defense]

I agree with Perspective. Nolan is part of the future and could use the experience. At worst, he would be equal to TO. TO has had 3 years to prove himself and is not cutting it.

 

[aceboon]

the team was playing much better offensively and defensively with Niels in. It's amazing to me that at 6'6" and not even a wide body Niels is better defensively in the post and on the glass than Tyler is. He even rotates and contests shot at the rim better than Tyler.

Tyler didn't play the last 20 minutes of the game

either KO was sending a message or he's thinking about doing something different

he may be the most unproductive starter we've ever had

I hope Tyler reads this post, hates me, and goes out to prove me wrong in every game he plays in for the rest of his life. and I hope he's successful

 

[James]

Giffeys defense is legit. didn't he bottle up the ND big as well? Coupled with the possessions he gave porter difficulty, his versatility is off the charts. needs to work on taking his man off the dribble and overall offensive repitiore, but he looks like a lock down defender at times with his head on a swivel.

 

[Kitaman]

Nolan right now is the flavor of the week. Wolf and TO were flavor award winners as well. Don't get your hopes up, as this has been a weekly award.

 

[CL82]

Giffeys defense is legit. didn't he bottle up the ND big as well? Coupled with the possessions he gave porter difficulty, his versatility is off the charts. needs to work on taking his man off the dribble and overall offensive repitiore, but he looks like a lock down defender at times with his head on a swivel.

Agree. Giffey was impressive. (Next week's flavor?)

 

[James]

Giffey has actual been consistent all year, his minutes have been sporadic due to the log jam at 3/4. (you know, since boat has set up shop at the 2. Giffey should give him pointers on playing team defense actually)

 

[UConn Esq]

I generally feel the 5-guard lineup with Giffey in the paint is just more comfortable together. Everyone always seems to stay in their positions and move their feet really well to keep players in front of them. Giffey just seems more in tune with everyone else and seems he has more trust by his teammates.

Nolan you can see has tons of potential. He is getting significantly better and is starting to have more of a natural instinct of where to stand on defense and how to move into (and stay in position). Nolan fits a little better into our system than TO just because he is faster and more athletic. He can step out a little further since he can cover more ground. You can also see that he is a natural shot blocker - who always wants to make that block. Start Nolan, since if TO isnt making those 12-15 footers he is borderline useless.

 

[zls44]

Far be it for me to defend Tyler Olander, but he had four fouls for most of the last twenty minutes of the game.

If you want to push a guy, don't tell him he's won the job and has to work to keep it- tell him the job is his IF he works hard enough and earns it.

 

[superjohn]

Giffey is great on D, I was really impressed with Nolan's D as well. I think Nolan has a lot of upside.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Phil was really active out there and multiple he stopped Georgetown in the post by putting his chest into the offensive player and put his hands straight up to stop the play.

 

[ShockedTheWorld]

Nolan has excellent instincts on D in terms of shot blocking. I think he has all the tools to be a great big man here if he continues to work. Kevin has shown that he likes to really stick with whatever is working down the stretch with minimal substitutions. Last week against Cincy he went with Olander down the stretch and last night it was Giffey.

Even though we are under sized with Giffey and Daniels down low, the offense just seems to have better flow with Giffey in there. He moves well without the ball and for his size he rebounds decently. It's taken me a while to get used to the makeup of this team, but we should all know by now that they make up for their lack of height in other areas.

 

[mcs333]

Forget about who starts. It's about minutes played and who is playing at crunch time. Starting is overrated.

 

[Jimdish255]

For whatever reason Tyler gets killed with fouls, sometimes just for breathing. It doesn't matter because it's just a fact that has kept him and the team from generating anything consistent when he's on the floor. I love Phil and think he's deserving of time but the 5 smalls have been great.

 

[huskiesnyc]

My biggest problem with Tyler is how winded he gets after playing hard for a few consecutive possessions. After about two minutes he is gasping for air and holding his side. Either he has some physical ailment I'm not familiar with or his conditioning is flat out deplorable.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I made a thread about Phil awhile back saying the exact same thing. I got attacked but it looks like everyone is on the bandwagon now. yes he should start more potential and he's better right now anyway.

 

[ctchamps]

My biggest problem with Tyler is how winded he gets after playing hard for a few consecutive possessions. After about two minutes he is gasping for air and holding his side. Either he has some physical ailment I'm not familiar with or his conditioning is flat out deplorable.

TO started out really well. The offense flowed through him and looked great. And then he got winded as you mentioned. Doubt it's conditioning. Nolan was brought in and the offense stagnated. TO was brought back in, picked up his second foul and Nolan played most of the remaining first half.

GT was a perfect game for Nolan because they have long skinny guys and are a poor rebounding team. I think games are situational and KO has done a great job making adjustments with the limited options available. I still want TO starting. He'll be needed next year and KO may actually have the luxury of moving him to the four next season for certain games that require a stronger forward.

What excites me most about Nolan is his development from the beginning of the season. He couldn't hit layups or foul shots and yet yesterday looked perfectly comfortable in both situations. He was always aggressive on the offensive end but was never really in position. Yesterday he set himself well on many plays.

At the beginning of the season I thought he had the potential to be valuable sometime by the middle of next season. By the middle of this season I had doubts that he would be nothing more than a role player throughout his UConn career - a great athlete with no bb IQ. But this game proved that he has the bb IQ and now I'm projecting he will be an important cog in next years team.

These are projections not hard in stone feelings. It was only one game and I'm not ready to jump him over TO for now.