Current Talent and Incoming Talent

[Huskymagic]

Brendan Adams is not good enough for UCONN. However, he isn't the real problem on the team. Our talent isn't anywhere close to the Jim Calhoun era, but that doesn't excuse the loss to South Florida.

Hurley needs to do better as well. Kevin Ollie creating a losing mentality and atmosphere is true, but South Florida has been pure garbage for most years. They are better this year, but the quotes from coaches from Kelvin Sampson to Brian Gregory is concerning.

We can't be out toughed and outhustled, and outsmarted by mediocre teams like this.

PS: Dan Hurley needs to get his players in here, which is true, but he also needs to discipline players that aren't playing up to par.

 

[TitleTown]

I mentioned this after the Villanova lost and was met with several disagreements.

Next years team, while they might be more athletic and exciting, will have its fair share of growing pains and I would be surprised if they won more than 20-21 games.

Depending on who we end up signing, we could win a lot less than that. If we fail to land another significant player, I can see them as a 15 win team next year. Sure the additions of Gaffney, Bouknight, and Akok will help, we also we be losing quite a bit as well.

 

[BFieldHusky]

Depending on who we end up signing, we could win a lot less than that. If we fail to land another significant player, I can see them as a 15 win team next year. Sure the additions of Gaffney, Bouknight, and Akok will help, we also we be losing quite a bit as well.

Besides Jalen we are losing Tarin, Cobb, Yakwe and Kwitin. 1 starter, 3 role players and a guy who doesn't play. We bring in a lot more than we lose.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Didn't really happen at those schools either. Only school where an immediate impact was made was Ohio State and that's because Keita Bates-Diop made the jump that we were all hoping Jalen would.

Washington was mediocre - 21-13 with an NIT berth.

Auburn went 15-20, 11-20, 18-14 in Pearl's first three years and has been 37-10 over last two years.

Tennessee went 15-19, 16-16 in Barnes's first two years and has also been 37-10 over the last two years.

Yeah well that's just like, your opinion, man.

 

[UofCT]

Wrong squared?

How is it that you are so good at trolling?

 

[mauconnfan]

How is it that you are so good at trolling?

You asked a question I answered? Don’t ask then.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

People are really writing off B Adams already? Really? It's almost as if you guys forgot about Deandre Daniels, Niels Giffey, Kentan Facey, etc. all of which played minimal minutes freshman year but went on to great careers.

People? Nope, one person, as of the time you wrote.
Not a criticism of you, but if you look more closely, you'll see that the OP basically posted the same thought about B Adams 3 different times.
Don't be fooled if he tries it again, even though he's already gotten several good enough answers.

 

[UofCT]

You asked a question I answered? Don’t ask then.

The boneyard deserves to know why you're so much better at boneyarding than everyone else.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

The boneyard deserves to know why you're so much better at boneyarding than everyone else.

You're in a hole; stop digging.

 

[joober jones]

People made similar comments about Donnell Beverly but that worked out pretty well for us. Never a star, but a big part of our championship run nonetheless.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Besides Jalen we are losing Tarin, Cobb, Yakwe and Kwitin. 1 starter, 3 role players and a guy who doesn't play. We bring in a lot more than we lose.

And that starter is a massive negative in the intangibles. Big-time Ewing Theory potential.

 

[AdamaNation]

Maybe a bit of both - we had a run of single digit team recruiting years but normally landed in the 15-35 range. In addition to those above, Louisville, Arizona, Texas, Mich St, Syracuse, etc were consistently ahead of us. Okafor was high 90's - as was Kemba and Shabazz. Yet, we're the one with 4 championships - because they stayed and developed for 3+ years.

Bazz also reclassified

 

[Horatio]

If we avoid bringing in anymore “ project” level
Bigs, we’ll be fine. Too many “ project” 4’s and 5’s on the roster. It’s ok to have some but not all.

 

[methodology]

What's the story with Dimon Carrigan? Is he a fall back option still or has staff moved on?

 

[Stainmaster]

What's the story with Dimon Carrigan? Is he a fall back option still or has staff moved on?

I'm not sure if that interest ever existed under the current staff.

 

[superjohn]

What's the story with Dimon Carrigan? Is he a fall back option still or has staff moved on?

Zero interest from us. If Syracuse misses on everyone which they likely will, they may take him.

 

[yukonfan4]

if it adds some objectivity to the conversation about current versus incoming talent, here's the roster for this year and next (projected) with their 247 sports composite star ranks in parentheses. like it or not these things are what the class ranks are based on:

2018- (four 4 stars & six 3 stars)
gilbert (4)---smith (3)
j. adams (4)-b. adams (3)
vital (3)-----wilson (4)
polley (3)---yakwe (4*)
carlton (3)--cobb (3)

2019- (five 4 stars & five 3 stars)
gilbert (4)-----gaffney (3*)
bouknight (4)-adams (3)
vital (3)-------wilson (4)
akok (4)------polley (3)
cockburn (4)-carlton (3)

Even assuming we get Kofi that's only a net gain of one 4 star player for next year, but most everyone here agrees gaffney is underrated and yakwe turned out to be very overrated. So it would be more like a net gain of three 4 star players (from 3 to 6).

i'm not one to gripe about a roster with six 4 star and four 3 star recruits on it and am confident the turnaround will be much more noticeable starting next year

 

[UofCT]

You're in a hole; stop digging.

You’re in a deeper hole, just quit

 

[Towney007]

Yeah I kind of discussed this in another thread, but the reality is this year was to kind of hope we could keep the players we had here, and replace the exits with real, bonafide talent.

Right now we have 2-3 guys who have the talent levels to either start or make a real impact over four years. The rest are kind of one tool guys we need more than one tool from and reality is we're just not gonna get that from them. and entire half of the roster are kind of lucky to have scholarships. It's hard to really even see growth with that.

Next year the freshman/inexperienced guys we have this year will probably be real contributers and be more starter-ish. And we'll have another wave of guys as talented, maybe a little more talented who instead of being leaned on all the time - will come off the bench and rotate through more like they should. And we'll be able to better leverage some one-tool guys. Bad players who see the court this year, won't next year. But in that mix, you'll see major bumps and likely the end result is a record similar to this year's squad, but with actual growth from your key guys.

It's that next year where you've got bonafide talented starters and then ANOTHER good wave of talent to fill out your bench with some one tool guys who really should be pretty good. Then - well you'll see a tournament caliber team.

I'm going to be really interested in this year's roster turnover. It'll be interested to see if Cobb cooks off. I don't think Whaley has a home here. Those are two spots that open up and who knows - maybe a late commit but more likely a transfer that can be used to fill a hole. But they could be really important slots to fit that you MIGHT be able to upgrade a bit. I think that's where you have a chance to add depth.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

You’re in a deeper hole, just quit

Thanks for the heads up. I'll rethink trying to be helpful to you next time.

 

[TheChamps990411]

To be clear, I'm neither pro Hurley or Ollie, I just think this fan base deserves a respectable product that doesn't tarnish it's reputation, of what's left that is. Occasional NCAA tournament misses can be dealt with, but it would appear we're further away from MAKING an NCAA tournament again than we care to admit as a fan base.

Obviously Hurley deserves a couple years beyond this year to prove he can assemble a respectable UConn team, but I don't think it's next year like a lot of you think.

For starters, what was the purpose of wasting a 4 yr scholarship on B Adams? I get that he's a freshman, but if the consensus is that we need to infuse the roster with "UConn level talent" I don't think B Adams was a good way to kick off the Hurley regime. What does he do well?

Bouknight, Gaffney, and Akok are obviously a great start to rebuilding this program, but not one of these guys is physically ready to play in a high-level D1 game. All 3 essentially have the build of Sid, which will continue the trend of rolling out boys vs. men. The nice thing is all 3 can shoot, which will add a missing dimension next year, but I'm anticipating similar rebounding struggles that will carry into next year, until we gain commitmentS for big men in next year's class.

Strength and shooting need to be the priority in our talent evaluations moving forward. Both of which should be pretty easy to identify.

I agree to an extent. I don't think this team has much talent and I'm including JA in that assessment. Im not sure JA will even be on an NBA roster in 3 years. This team has guys starting who wouldn't get off the bench if they were here before 2011. Im watching this season to watch Hurley and get a feel for him as a coach and I like what I see from him. There will be bumps in the road but I think when he gets all his guys in here you'll really start to see this thing turn around but you have to start somewhere and so far next years class is off to a good start but the following couple seasons will really tell the story of where this program will be a decade from now.

 

[Danzz]

Give me Kofi and everything will be fine. That's a man to play against men.

We are a very different team with Kofi. We have a lot of points to replace when Jalen leaves and front court scoring/rebounding will be key.

 

[Scrutineer]

B Adams will be a very good player at UCONN contrary to what U says-he deserves to have significant time right now from what I have observed. Love his game and attitude. Guards playing ahead of him he's better than all of them.

Not yet he isn't. He won't be better than Adams, Gilbert, Smith and Vital until they leave.

 

[Scrutineer]

People made similar comments about Donnell Beverly but that worked out pretty well for us. Never a star, but a big part of our championship run nonetheless.

It was great to see him play meaningful minutes against Syracuse in game 4 of the 2011 Big East Tournament. Forgot he played that much, same for Coombes-McDaniel.

 

[Ewekon]

Yeah I kind of discussed this in another thread, but the reality is this year was to kind of hope we could keep the players we had here, and replace the exits with real, bonafide talent.

Right now we have 2-3 guys who have the talent levels to either start or make a real impact over four years. The rest are kind of one tool guys we need more than one tool from and reality is we're just not gonna get that from them. and entire half of the roster are kind of lucky to have scholarships. It's hard to really even see growth with that.

Next year the freshman/inexperienced guys we have this year will probably be real contributers and be more starter-ish. And we'll have another wave of guys as talented, maybe a little more talented who instead of being leaned on all the time - will come off the bench and rotate through more like they should. And we'll be able to better leverage some one-tool guys. Bad players who see the court this year, won't next year. But in that mix, you'll see major bumps and likely the end result is a record similar to this year's squad, but with actual growth from your key guys.

It's that next year where you've got bonafide talented starters and then ANOTHER good wave of talent to fill out your bench with some one tool guys who really should be pretty good. Then - well you'll see a tournament caliber team.

I'm going to be really interested in this year's roster turnover. It'll be interested to see if Cobb cooks off. I don't think Whaley has a home here. Those are two spots that open up and who knows - maybe a late commit but more likely a transfer that can be used to fill a hole. But they could be really important slots to fit that you MIGHT be able to upgrade a bit. I think that's where you have a chance to add depth.

I pray CV stays. His ranking no longer matters. He is playing over that now. I do get your point. We have to recruit better. Turnover for 19 - 20 is fine by me in the right places.