CV Returning

[Son of Robert]

At least we know the kid can jump.
View attachment 31544
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This is like a magic trick or something. AG is 5:11 and change with sneakers on. Impressive.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

We weren't making the tournament last year with Alterique.

Our schedule was actual brutal last year. I concluded that winning 19 -20 ( regular season that was after road losses to Tulsa and Memphis )
would have made us a bubble team . The real problem is even with Gilbert only 2-4more wins was very likely . When you look at last years team before the NCAA probe they really didn’t have any WTF losses. Embarrassing wins and blowout losses are still Ws and Ls .
With our schedule it would not be easy to substantially improve our record.
Maybe the NIT with a decent AAC tourney was a better possibility.
However with a healthy Gilbert no one except maybe Nova was blowing us out.
Possible additional wins with Gilbert
1@Tulsa ( stretch)
2@Temple (stretch)
3 @Memphis( stretch)
4@UCF
5Memphis
6 Tulsa
The problem with winning all of the above there’s zero quality wins
If you split those games and added wins
Against 3 of the quality teams we were on the bubble
We played
Oregon only win)
MSU
Arkansas
WSU
.@Arizona
.@Auburn
Cuse
Nova
@Cinn
Cinn
.@WSU
.@ Houston
Plus
AAC difficult road games
Tulsa
Memphis
Temple
UCF
Closest thing to a crazy loss
Is Memphis and Tulsa st home but the season ended for this team after the SMU win

 

[ASweet3781]

I think some people overestimate just how good some of the teams are that make the NCAA tournament. There are several mediocre and even bad teams that make the tournament. Our roster is better than last year simply by graduating Larrier, Antoine, and O. I also think some underestimate just how many wins are available to a competently run and coached program in the AAC.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm not taking JMick's side, but:

• Larrier, a highly touted recruit out of HS who was a Junior, is being replaced with Wilson, a 4 star freshman. That is not a "clear upgrade". We merely hope it is.
• Anderson and Smith are pretty comparable
• Yawke is an upgrade on David O
• Gilbert is an upgrade on no Gilbert
• Jalen, Carlton, Diarra, CV, Polley, and maybe Cobb should all be better. I don't expect much from Whaley or Williams, but who knows.

If the roster is better, it's primarily because Gilbert is healthy and the returning players improve. Not because of Wilson, Yawke or Smith. I really think people are putting way too high expectations on Wilson as a RS Freshman who was a good, but not immediate impact level recruit.

Whaley with a coach can be a better option than Diarra purely on length and defensive ability. We will see of course, but all should be better just from a maturity factor but add in the new staff who seem pretty capable of coaching up this team should be much better than last year. They get a lot better with Jalens full buy in on both ends alone too. We've seen nothing from Sid but like I've said before despite Larrier making a few shots he was really horrid on the other end and most certainly gave up more points than he scored, it's an upgrade simply on team defense.

 

[ctchamps]

On the contrary. I think they'll win. I think Hurley could have won with last year's team. I don't think the cupboard is bare, I think there's enough talent.

I know your position.

And being kicked in the gloonies so many times has a lot of people tentative.

This is deja vu all over again. Flashback to six years ago. Loss of legendary coach, apr sanctions, CR rejection, players bolting.

And two years later NC #4.

If people want to be cautious so be it. I sincerely believe Hurley and the players will surprise the cautious among us.

 

[August_West]

I know your position.

And being kicked in the gloonies so many times has a lot of people tentative.

This is deja vu all over again. Flashback to six years ago. Loss of legendary coach, apr sanctions, CR rejection, players bolting.

And two years later NC #4.

If people want to be cautious so be it. I sincerely believe Hurley and the players will surprise the cautious among us.

Not jmick. He’s got Hurley on the 8 year baby steps plan. I don’t know why he’s so quick to embrace mediocrity. We UConn dammit.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Vital coming back is good news for UCONN, bad news for him. He doesn’t have the skill to be a PG, so his prospects at 6’1” will always be bleak. However, catch and shoot opportunities will get him to 40% this year.
Alterique has two year of college level IQ stored in his brain. Confidence in his shoulder will make the difference. Two year of watching JA, a pick and roll savant, is bound to bring positive returns for Rique. UCONN still doesn’t have a transcendent player or enough team chemistry to get to the NCAA’s, but getting to the NIT is a positive step! Tourney in 2019!

 

[ctchamps]

Not jmick. He’s got Hurley on the 8 year baby steps plan. I don’t know why he’s so quick to embrace mediocrity. We UConn dammit.

@superjohn ridiculed my 24-29 wins next season but he’s dipping his ten toes into the water and beginning to think NCAA’s are possible next season. You, @8893 and I are all in. Only logical since we’re more positive in nature than @JMick and company.

That’s why I warn people to limit the amount of whining. It’s habit forming.

 

[ctchamps]

He grew because he’s holding his head high. UConn pride is back folks.

 

[8893]

@superjohn ridiculed my 24-29 wins next season but he’s dipping his ten toes into the water and beginning to think NCAA’s are possible next season. You, @8893 and I are all in. Only logical since we’re more positive in nature than @JMick and company.

That’s why I warn people to limit the amount of whining. It’s habit forming.

To be clear, I'm not throwing down the gauntlet at 24-29 wins. I've only said that, if everyone is healthy--especially Alterique--I think we have enough to make the tournament and that that's a reasonable expectation. If we don't but we still show marked improvement, I am good with that.

I don't think we are starting from scratch. That's Pitt.

 

[superjohn]

@superjohn ridiculed my 24-29 wins next season but he’s dipping his ten toes into the water and beginning to think NCAA’s are possible next season. You, @8893 and I are all in. Only logical since we’re more positive in nature than @JMick and company.

That’s why I warn people to limit the amount of whining. It’s habit forming.

I said I think we'll be a bubble team who sneaks into the tourny all along. If Alterique is healthy and back to being Alterique and everyone listens to Hurley's coaching we'll be dancing.

 

[ctchamps]

To be clear, I'm not throwing down the gauntlet at 24-29 wins. I've only said that, if everyone is healthy--especially Alterique--I think we have enough to make the tournament and that that's a reasonable expectation. If we don't but we still show marked improvement, I am good with that.

I don't think we are starting from scratch. That's Pitt.

I said I think we'll be a bubble team who sneaks into the tourny all along. If Alterique is healthy and back to being Alterique and everyone listens to Hurley's coaching we'll be dancing.

If, if, if.

If I was a woose I’d temper my statements as well.

 

[8893]

If, if, if.

If I was a woose I’d temper my statements as well.

They taste better when you have to eat them.

 

[auror]

I think some people overestimate just how good some of the teams are that make the NCAA tournament. There are several mediocre and even bad teams that make the tournament. Our roster is better than last year simply by graduating Larrier, Antoine, and O. I also think some underestimate just how many wins are available to a competently run and coached program in the AAC.

I think people underestimate how bad we were last year.

We would have been the absolute worst team in the 16 team Big East 6 of the 12 years of the conference. In the 10 years we were in the Big East with them, Depaul only had 2 teams worse than we were last season. The same number for Rutgers in 12 years.

We weren't just bad by UConn standards last year, we were bad for Rutgers or Depaul standards last year.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Whaley with a coach can be a better option than Diarra purely on length and defensive ability. We will see of course, but all should be better just from a maturity factor but add in the new staff who seem pretty capable of coaching up this team should be much better than last year. They get a lot better with Jalens full buy in on both ends alone too. We've seen nothing from Sid but like I've said before despite Larrier making a few shots he was really horrid on the other end and most certainly gave up more points than he scored, it's an upgrade simply on team defense.

 

[Son of Robert]

If, if, if.

If I was a woose I’d temper my statements as well.

I think you mean wuss. It's even in the dictionary, I looked.

 

[ASweet3781]

I think people underestimate how bad we were last year.

We would have been the absolute worst team in the 16 team Big East 6 of the 12 years of the conference. In the 10 years we were in the Big East with them, Depaul only had 2 teams worse than we were last season. The same number for Rutgers in 12 years.

We weren't just bad by UConn standards last year, we were bad for Rutgers or Depaul standards last year.

Well yeah. If Gilbert is going to be unavailable, Jalen is still inconsistent, we run no offense, throw away wins against Tulsa, none of the current players improve in a year, and we have a coach sit there dumbfounded most of the year, of course it's going to be a bad year. I really don't think that will happen. I choose to remember the 4 and a half games last year with Gilbert where we looked pretty decent. It really does come down to him being available. It changes a lot. Who knows if it ever holds up but until that shoulder falls off totally I won't rule out we get a full year of him with Jalen, Tarin, and Vital which is more than enough for a good coach to work with.

 

[August_West]

They taste better when you have to eat them.

It’s ok to be wrong.

If you’re a man.

 

[champs99and04]

It's rich how you just make Larrier a net negative when many had him as our second best player going into last season and some even had him as our best.

I said he was a net negative player last season. Do you disagree? I'm not saying I wouldn't take him back.

 

[auror]

Well yeah. If Gilbert is going to be unavailable, Jalen is still inconsistent, we run no offense, throw away wins against Tulsa, none of the current players improve in a year, and we have a coach sit there dumbfounded most of the year, of course it's going to be a bad year. I really don't think that will happen. I choose to remember the 4 and a half games last year with Gilbert where we looked pretty decent. It really does come down to him being available. It changes a lot. Who knows if it ever holds up but until that shoulder falls off totally I won't rule out we get a full year of him with Jalen, Tarin, and Vital which is more than enough for a good coach to work with.

When your starting point is so low, incremental improvements are only getting you so far, even with better coaching. Then you're looking at the additions of 2 talented redshirting players, one of whom has RS'd for 2 years, and 2 grad transfer role players from bad teams. None of whom have a track record that suggest they could fix the most glaring weakness on the team (shooting).

And people suggest we're going to jump 140+ teams in quality to even get on the bubble?

I mean sure, if absolutely everything breaks right there's a chance we could make the tournament, but this should be under no circumstance remotely close to what some in this thread have called a "reasonable expectation".

 

[champs99and04]

Adding Alterique and himself would not have gotten last year’s team into the NCAA tournament.

That's why Ollie was fired. If we're expecting to have better players and better coaching, why shouldn't we expect that to result in a tournament appearance? Keep in mind that bad teams routinely make the NCAA Tournament.

 

[Wordbomar]

So Vital reads the boneyard?

 

[superjohn]

I said he was a net negative player last season. Do you disagree? I'm not saying I wouldn't take him back.

Your post really doesn't make much sense. You called out people on their expectations and point to us having Alterique coming off of injury as a reason why expectations should not at all be lowered while also saying Larrier was a net negative. Larrier was also coming off of injury.

 

[BigEastLuva]

Still shorter than Jalen who’s 6’2”. Hair and sneakers don’t count.

 

[MadDogRevival]

@Mods - Please edit title of thread to read, "CV returning . . . multi page Boneyard pissing match ensues."