Dan Hurley says bench depth will make or break season | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Dan Hurley says bench depth will make or break season

superjohn said:
Or how consistent and good they'll be.

Clingan and Karaban were certainly really good and consistent.
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Dan Hurley commentary is exactly what I was hoping to hear. Using as many performing players as possible (9-10) is what propelled them down the stretch and through the tourney last year. Give 100 % all the time; when you need a rest we have more talent to run and wear them down. Come back in refreshed and pick up where you left off. Like a relay race. The race to run the opponent out of the building. Love to see Dan Hurley light a fire with hope for the bench. Those kids will be chomping at the bit. I was watching some men and women USA track team relay races this summer and it was really exciting. May the opponent's season of dread begin!
 
Jackson/Sanogo/Hawkins . . . . . We lost 3 NBA players from last season including 2 Captains (both 3 year players). Jackson of the 3 is irreplaceable to me, mainly for the intangibles and of course his unselfishness. I hope some of the returnees continue his legacy.

Thanks to Dan Hurley's bench usage last season, those returning are Champions. This season there's a lots of new pieces and roles to work into. So many freshman who we know are 'D1' unpredictable. Dan Hurley will be challenged but he is capable of meeting it.

Just saying, with our schedule, I expect a bumpy ride until mid-January or mid BE conference. I won't fret if we have early losses.
 
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Kitaman said:
Jackson/Sanogo/Hawkins . . . . . We lost 3 NBA players from last season including 2 Captains (both 3 year players). Jackson of the 3 is irreplaceable to me, mainly for the intangibles and of course his unselfishness. I hope some of the returnees continue his legacy.

Thanks to Dan Hurley's bench usage last season, those returning are Champions. This season there's a lots of new pieces and roles to work into. So many freshman who we know are 'D1' unpredictable. Dan Hurley will be challenged but he is capable of meeting it.

Just saying, with our schedule, I expect a bumpy ride until mid-January or mid BE conference. I won't fret if we have early losses.
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I love Andre as a player, competitor and person. However, Adama is always undervalued. All he does is beat his opponent. In his tenure at UConn, in how many games did his matchup opponent beat him? He had a lot of skills and very quick feet for a guy his size. But, another thing we knew every game was that we had the strongest guy on the court if it got into a physical game. Too often that’s underestimated.
 
RichCTBB said:
as long as our bench can play great team defense, we will be in a great position for a deep run. Our 2nd team defense was so disruptive they couldn’t help but to get so many great shots . The body blows came from so many angles. We have so much scoring potential in our starting five this year that the bench won’t have to be relied on to score as much as last year. Just play lock down, disruptive defense and get points off turnovers.
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Great comment, if the bench turns UP the defensive pressure when they come in, serious business!!
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
If you think Newton, Spencer, and Karaban are more athletic than Ball, Ross, and Samson then go for it.
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I'm not saying that at all. What you said basically stated we are running out a starting group with no athleticism and no motor...I don't think that's what you meant when you typed it, but that's how it would be interpreted...
 
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Chief00 said:
I still have some questions:
1) Who is going to be the muscle guy to fill that role which Adama thrived in?
2). Who is going to be the defensive stopper, to do what Andre did?
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AJ had a totally unique skill set. You’re not even looking for someone with that skill set on that level. You replace him with the best basketball player you can and find another way to win.

Having said that, Diarra will be counted on to shut down an opponents point who is giving us trouble, and Clingan will be counted on to protect the rim against everyone. And it may be that we don’t try to be quite as good defensively, but try to be better offensively (and eliminate the month where we played 4 on 5 because no one guarded AJ and we hadn’t figured out how to make teams pay for that).
 
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Pure speculation on my part but it's possible that what Hurley was alluding to in regards to Ross (vs Castle, Ball & Stewart) was that (at least what I had seen from film on all four) was that he wasn't as physically developed as the other three (Ross did have a HS kid's physique, the other three looked like grown ass men).

I know we have considerable, immediate expectations for Castle. While we may not see it early in their careers, I have a feeling each of the other three over their careers here will exceed our expectations.
 
Lower probability that our bench will be ready to contribute as well as last years did. Calcaterra, Alleyne we’re proven college experienced upperclassmen. Clingan was sensational. Ross, Stewart, and Ball may have more talent than last years bench, but they are freshmen……and I doubt Johnson can match Clingans impact last year.
 
caw said:
Ross might, he probably has more wing upside of the two because he is a better shooter and might have more bounce. If Castle can show he can play PG in the pros that changes things drastically.
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I love Ross (said in his first commitment thread that the staff found a steal/diamond in the rough with NBA potential), but Clingan and Castle have all star potential.

Maybe even Solo too.

I don’t see a reason Castle won’t be able to play PG. The skills and IQ is there to be one.

I also love how great this freshman class is where we can have these kind of conversations because our diamond in the rough can turn out to be that good where we compare him to a top 10 guy.
 
Nice comments but Dan Hurley is often positive early and less positive post season. But these comments seem super positive. Looking forward to seeing the team.
 
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I'll hold any temptation to put Samson in any role until he has played at least 10 games.
He's an injury waiting to happen
 
businesslawyer said:
AJ had a totally unique skill set. You’re not even looking for someone with that skill set on that level. You replace him with the best basketball player you can and find another way to win.

Having said that, Diarra will be counted on to shut down an opponents point who is giving us trouble, and Clingan will be counted on to protect the rim against everyone. And it may be that we don’t try to be quite as good defensively, but try to be better offensively (and eliminate the month where we played 4 on 5 because no one guarded AJ and we hadn’t figured out how to make teams pay for that).
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Hassan needs to improve his foul shooting to stay on the court late in close games, especially since the PG so often had the ball.
Having said that he has a great personality within the team to lead and Jim Calhoun likes him, which gets my attention. He instantly speeds up both the defensive pace and fast break mentality of the team.
 
drayenob said:
He sees returners Alex Karaban, Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton, along with Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer, as players who could average about 14-16 points per game.
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drayenob said:
Castle is likely competing for the fifth starting spot.
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first quote doesnt mention castle among potential leading scorers.
second quote makes it seem like a different frosh might even beat him out for the last starting spot...my money would be on ball.
 
bendm said:
first quote doesnt mention castle among potential leading scorers.
second quote makes it seem like a different frosh might even beat him out for the last starting spot...my money would be on ball.
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Either one would make a great first off the bench shot in the arm. In the end though it's about minutes. They either play their way into minutes or out of minutes. Effort to Dan Hurley standards and performance dictate. It's great to have talented depth even if many are young. They're going to have to be hungry if they want to play.
 
bendm said:
first quote doesnt mention castle among potential leading scorers.
second quote makes it seem like a different frosh might even beat him out for the last starting spot...my money would be on ball.
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Castle will start. This is a preseason coaching tactic used by the best of them. Now, at a minimum of 2 players are more motivated, at least that's the plan.
 
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Any hesitancy about Ross was due to his size. Compared to Ball and Stewart (and Castle), his body wasn’t as physically ready for the college game. But there is absolutely a role for an energy shot maker with the second unit. Kick out target, corner 3 guy, run the slots on fast breaks, ect and he seems to be filling that role. Just don’t expect him to be driving into guys chests looking for contact.
 
EROCK CONN said:
Lower probability that our bench will be ready to contribute as well as last years did. Calcaterra, Alleyne we’re proven college experienced upperclassmen. Clingan was sensational. Ross, Stewart, and Ball may have more talent than last years bench, but they are freshmen……and I doubt Johnson can match Clingans impact last year.
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Seems kinda silly to think that everyone will outperform expectations. I'd bank on 1 or 2.
 
drayenob said:
Dan Hurley says bench depth will make or break season as UConn men’s basketball practices begin for 2023-24

Backdoor

Hurley feels his group is ahead of where it was last year, before it opened the season with 14 straight wins and went onto its dominant NCAA Tournament run.


He sees returners Alex Karaban, Donovan Clingan and Tristen Newton, along with Rutgers transfer Cam Spencer, as players who could average about 14-16 points per game. “It’s gonna have to be sacrifice with that group and a willingness to let it be someone else’s night,” he said.

“This whole season for us is going to come down to the bench. My best teams always have that depth, you saw how fresh we were in March last year because of the depth. I just think that our starting five is going to be as good as anyone’s, it’s ‘can we get the bench?'”

“The way Solo (Ball played) today, Hass (Diarra) was great and has been really good. Samson looks great, Jayden Ross has just been an incredible surprise, he’s so far ahead of where we thought he’d be. J Stu (Jaylin Stewart) is catching up,” he said. “We’ve got the pieces there to potentially put a bench together if those are the guys coming off the bench, but there’s competition for, you know, I think we played nine guys easily last year and even got 10 in at some points, so there’s roles and opportunity there to be won.”

The Huskies, of course, also have McDonald’s All-American Stephon Castle to work into the fold. Castle is likely competing for the fifth starting spot.

“All our freshmen, they’re gonna play for the most part,” Hurley said. “If they’re not a starter they’re gonna have an opportunity to play impact minutes. The freshmen that are playing impact minutes for us, if they’re not starting this year we’re gonna expect them to start as sophomores. … We have a couple freshmen I imagine are going to be in a similar situation like Jordan (Hawkins) and Andre Jackson (when) they were key players as freshmen and then things opened up.”
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I said before Diarra presence with the younger second unit will be huge . Having a unit without that experience at PG is a potential nightmare situation. I don’t care how talented freshman are under game pressure having a cool hand to get things grounded avoids panic .
Our starting 5 actually has less questions than last year .
But we had a pretty experienced second unit thanks to the portal and Clingan exceeded expectations.
 
rotation predictions anyone?

Newton (25)- Diarra (15)
Spencer (25)- Ball (15)
Castle (25)- Ross (10)- Stewart (5)
Karaban (30)- Stewart (5)- Samson (5)
Clingan (25)- Samson (15)

30: Karaban
25: Newton, Spencer, Castle, Clingan
20: Samson
15: Diarra, Ball
10: Ross, Stewart
 
bendm said:
rotation predictions anyone?

Newton (25)- Diarra (15)
Spencer (25)- Ball (15)
Castle (25)- Ross (10)- Stewart (5)
Karaban (30)- Stewart (5)- Samson (5)
Clingan (25)- Samson (15)

30: Karaban
25: Newton, Spencer, Castle, Clingan
20: Samson
15: Diarra, Ball
10: Ross, Stewart
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Seems about right. Will vary by game and any of the guys in the 10-15 minute category could either play less or ball out and play more. Also could play more based on matchups, injuries, etc.
 
When Hurley says that the bench is going to make or break this season I think what he means by that is that the bench will make or break the season.
 
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REB1094 said:
Our starting 5 is probably one of the best in the country. We have two returning national champions, a 5 star one-and-done level talent, a 5th year who led a B10 team in scoring, and a C who is expected to break out into a star

If Samson can provide quality minutes and we get solid contributions from 2-3 of the freshmen off the bench, we'll run back a very dangerous team.
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Agreed.
 
bendm said:
rotation predictions anyone?

Newton (25)- Diarra (15)
Spencer (25)- Ball (15)
Castle (25)- Ross (10)- Stewart (5)
Karaban (30)- Stewart (5)- Samson (5)
Clingan (25)- Samson (15)

30: Karaban
25: Newton, Spencer, Castle, Clingan
20: Samson
15: Diarra, Ball
10: Ross, Stewart
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PG - Newton 25, Castle 5, Diarra 10
SG - Castle 15, Spencer 15, Newton 5, Ball 5
SF - Spencer 15, Castle 5, Ross 10, Ball 10
PF - Karaban 25, Stewart 15
C - Clingan 28, Johnson 12

Probably shorted someone minutes but there's my rough guess. When it gets to conference play and it gets cut to 9 then Diarra is the odd man out
 
superjohn said:
Nope, a great team. They went undefeated in the nonconference winning every game by double digits.

A great team that had a great tournament run with the largest margin of victory in the 64 team era.
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I think of great all time teams as UNLV , Duke, 99/04 UConn but to each his own. This year will be much more difficult as I won’t count on seeing the same final four low seeds making it again. A lot of great college players this year.
 
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