Difference for this team with KO and not JC........

[mauconnfan]

Bazz
Boat
Omar
Phil
Deandre
Niels
Leon
Tyler
Kromah
Samuel
Brimah
Facey (maybe).......I may be missing someone but my point is:

While this is certainly not a knock on Coach Calhoun because of the obvious, this team may need to use the whole bench from Game 1 to game 40 and KO has shown against given opponents he will. Let's be honest JC would have had this team at 8, maybe 9 by BE season for the most part while I think everyone will continue to get chances to contribute with KO's philosophy. And I'm also not saying one is better than the other but this team seems to be structured to use all the bodies and keep the Big 4 fresh and healthy. The young frosh will likely see some time during foul trouble for instance and if they prove themselves will get more. Leon comes in and either makes shots or rebounds then he'll continue to get more minutes, anyone that rebounds will!!! The first 6 or 7 are locks to see extended minutes, Tyler needing to improve in some areas to make it 7. Leon can jump in there with confidence and improvement. The real sleeper is Kromah as I heard real good things about him. He's a player and may move some minutes around and fill in in the 2 and 3 a lot. This addition may end up surprising us all in the long run.

They're deep, real deep if the frosh can contribute!! But we know KO will extend the bench and this team will need to keep guys ready to play!!

 

[Chief00]

In basketball, beyond 8 deep I have seldom been impressed with depth. Rather have 3 guys who can make plays under pressure than 10 ok guys who don't know if they are better than the guy in front of them.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Bazz
Boat
Omar
Phil
Deandre
Niels
Leon
Tyler
Kromah
Samuel
Brimah
Facey (maybe).......I may be missing someone but my point is:

While this is certainly not a knock on Coach Calhoun because of the obvious, this team may need to use the whole bench from Game 1 to game 40 and KO has shown against given opponents he will. Let's be honest JC would have had this team at 8, maybe 9 by BE season for the most part while I think everyone will continue to get chances to contribute with KO's philosophy. And I'm also not saying one is better than the other but this team seems to be structured to use all the bodies and keep the Big 4 fresh and healthy. The young frosh will likely see some time during foul trouble for instance and if they prove themselves will get more. Leon comes in and either makes shots or rebounds then he'll continue to get more minutes, anyone that rebounds will!!! The first 6 or 7 are locks to see extended minutes, Tyler needing to improve in some areas to make it 7. Leon can jump in there with confidence and improvement. The real sleeper is Kromah as I heard real good things about him. He's a player and may move some minutes around and fill in in the 2 and 3 a lot. This addition may end up surprising us all in the long run.

They're deep, real deep if the frosh can contribute!! But we know KO will extend the bench and this team will need to keep guys ready to play!!

This will be interesting to watch. I have no idea of how he will choose to substitute, but I do hope that he gives some of the new guys some playing time in the early part of the season to help them get to a point to be ready to contribute (e.g. Brimah, Kromah). I expect that Kromah will get minutes from the start and I hope that Giffey does not lose minutes more than others for the newer players. I wonder how he will handle the senior Olander...many here write him off like he won't play much at all, but I am doubtful that that happens. I would hope that KO can make a determination fairly early of who he is going with as the primary starter at the 5 (and I too hope it is Nolan). It looks like there will be 7 who will definitely get significant minutes, with Tyler playing depending upon the situation. Then, Brimah maybe gets in some against weaker opponents if he is remotely ready to play. I doubt that Leon is going to see much game time, but maybe he will surprise. I did not see Leon do much rebounding in the limited time he got l last year. I expect that he will need to come in shooting and hitting shots to get minutes right from the get go. It will help if his trimmer self is a quicker self who can defend.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Tolksdorf and Brimah will combine for less than 100 minutes after January 1. Kromah will get Evans's 5 minutes a game. One of Olander, Facey, and Nolan won't see much time either.

In big games, Boat, Bazz, OC, and DD will likely combine for 130 minutes per game, with Samuel getting the 10 minutes where Boat or Bazz is out and Giff getting the 20 minutes at the 3/4 when OC or DD sits. Nolan will start, with Olander and/or Facey backing him up. There will effectively be 7 guys, maybe 8 who see the floor for more than a token minute.

 

[ctchamps]

Louisville has utilized a deep bench. Same with MSU the year they beat UConn in the final four. I agree with mau, this season a deep bench will be utilized. Need to keep Bazz fresher than the end of last season to go into the postseason and the front court is still weak.

 

[UConn3432]

Not all of these new guys will be ready (mentally or physically) to play year one. Luckily 5 guys are proven (bazz, boat, Omar, dd, giff) and another is a senior transfer that defends. There aren't too many minutes to go around for the unproven guys. If Nolan or olander steps up the team is in good shape. I wouldn't expect to be that deep this year. Bodies don't always equal depth.

 

[EricLA]

Mau makes some good points. I think one thing I've noticed in Ollie's first year vs. Calhoun is as mentioned, Ollie is more willing to play a wider variety of kids and is less "stubborn" in his philosophy. He does not have a quick a hook, and won't bury a kid on the bench if the kid screws up in a game. JC was old school and his philosophy took UCONN from nowhere to a national power. Ollie is new school, and I love everything he brings to the table.

BTW, i'm not sure that JC would have even gone to 8 or 9 by BE time. IIRC, he always talked about imposing our will on other teams, and at times it seemed that meant he'd go with lesser players no matter the matchups or how the game was flowing. I know it was only KO's first season, but he seems to have a different philosophy in that regard. It's been a ton of fun watching Ollie so far and really look forward to how he manages this season...

 

[James]

The problem with olander is his inability to string together meaningful minutes game to game. Hell often set a screen , fade out and hit a nice jumper, then on the other end completely miss a defensive rotation. I like how Ollie plays who's giving the most energy and has the best match up

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I hate to devolve the analysis of playing time into trying to fit players into the traditional five positions. Rather, a breakdown based on roles seems more accurate.

Every team needs a lead guard/primary ballhandler. Shabazz Napier will be this player at least 25 minutes per game, maybe more, maybe less depending on matchups. Ryan Boatright will absorb the rest of the minutes in this role, with Samuel getting the few minutes leftover due to foul trouble/blowouts.

Playing the role of wing scorer will be Calhoun. He will get as many minutes as his efficiency at putting the ball in the basket warrants. He also must defend well; he will have to at least match the output of his counterpart on the other team. Napier and Boatright will also play minutes in this role when they are on the floor together, how much will also depend on matchups.

A similar role, only more defensive oriented, will earn Niels Giffey and Lasan Kromah minutes on the wing.

DeAndre Daniels will get as many minutes on the baseline as fatigue and foul trouble will allow. His role will likely be threefold: score around the basket and in transition, rebound, and block shots. Who will back him up is a bit of a mystery, but it will likely come from Giffey, Tolksdorf, or Facey if he's eligible.

Lastly, the role of primary post defender and rebounder will have to be played by a combo of Phil Nolan, Tyler Olander, and Amida Brimah. Distribution of minutes will come from a combo of effectiveness in the role and foul trouble, and may vary wildly from game to game.

Getting specific with numbers of minutes requires someone who can see the future better than I.

 

[CTBasketball]

Play who we need to play in order to keep Bazz healthy come March...

 

[maineuconnfan]

I just think having a majority of their key players upper classman with a lot of really good role players, if their chemistry remains from last year and strengthens, they are going to be a very, very good team. Boatright and Napier are not superstar NBA players, but having two solid borderline NBA players with experience is going to be of high value this year. Add in Daniels and Calhoun who are going to be NBA players I believe and some tremendous experienced role playing. Then again...if the size down low pans out and can rebound and play d, this will be the team to beat in the conference and will be a 1 or 2 seed come tourney time

 

[mauconnfan]

Tolksdorf and Brimah will combine for less than 100 minutes after January 1. Kromah will get Evans's 5 minutes a game. One of Olander, Facey, and Nolan won't see much time either.

In big games, Boat, Bazz, OC, and DD will likely combine for 130 minutes per game, with Samuel getting the 10 minutes where Boat or Bazz is out and Giff getting the 20 minutes at the 3/4 when OC or DD sits. Nolan will start, with Olander and/or Facey backing him up. There will effectively be 7 guys, maybe 8 who see the floor for more than a token minute.

While I was a fan of Evans Kromah is a much better player and will find more minutes than that more often than not.............game situations, match ups, foul trouble, injuries will find your predictions a bit off. Also if a player like Tolksdorf proves he can rebound and adds to it a couple 3's early in an appearance then his minutes go up for a given game. Again, I make no predictions on everyone playing multiple minutes in each game, but different situations will have some outside the Top 7-8 seeing impact minutes at times I believe.

 

[James]

Kromah get 5 minutes a game? The speculation on this board is out of control. so I might as well add to it. Talk out of storrs is Kromah is very impressive, one of the better players on the team. I could see him getting major minutes if he's more consistent than our other wings.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Kromah get 5 minutes a game? The speculation on this board is out of control. so I might as well add to it. Talk out of storrs is Kromah is very impressive, one of the better players on the team. I could see him getting major minutes if he's more consistent than our other wings.

He is a very important player for us if he can do the same things Evans did. Have a handle and defend. I was surprised this board didn't recognize the depth problem we had in the back court.
Asking a freshman to fill that role is never a good idea.
Cahoun never showed he was more than a two.
After this year were have no true point except Samuel.
But Calhoun and the Purvis might be able to suceed with an additional year under Ollie. Even if we recruit Sneider freshman points scare me to death.

 

[aceboon]

Kromah's other 2 options were Indiana and Xavier, I'm not sure how many minutes he'll pick up but I would bet he will earn more than 5.

 

[mauconnfan]

He is a very important player for us if he can do the same things Evans did. Have a handle and defend. I was surprised this board didn't recognize the depth problem we had in the back court.
Asking a freshman to fill that role is never a good idea.
Cahoun never showed he was more than a two.
After this year were have no true point except Samuel.
But Calhoun and the Purvis might be able to suceed with an additional year under Ollie. Even if we recruit Sneider freshman points scare me to death.

You aren't asking Omar to play the point are you?