Do we go after Cole Cloer or Focus on Transfers?

[RuffRuff]

Hurley had higher hopes for Smith. At the beginning of the season he talked about him getting starters minutes off the bench and spending significant time with him and Demary sharing court time. That has not materialized except with Demary limited lately. But I will say Smith has stepped up the past two games when we needed him.

There are some out there that thought he would compete with Silas for the starter role.

 

[Umami Zen]

Hurley had higher hopes for Smith. At the beginning of the season he talked about him getting starters minutes off the bench and spending significant time with him and Demary sharing court time. That has not materialized except with Demary limited lately. But I will say Smith has stepped up the past two games when we needed him.

We wouldn't be playing Michigan St tonite if not for Malachi. That's enough for me. He's done his job.

 

[HW611]

We wouldn't be playing Michigan St tonite if not for Malachi. That's enough for me. He's done his job.

Don't want my post to get confused to say Smith hasn't been vital to us.

Just talking long term about what the expectation for that role is moving forward and who can be capable of filling those expectations.

 

[Excalibur]

There are some out there that thought he would compete with Silas for the starter role.

I'd love to meet those people. Nice to prove that unicorns do exist . . .

 

[HW611]

100% wrong.

Relying on Reibe as starting center next year is a massive risk based on his current performance.

If his projected summer improvement doesn’t go as planned then our season is over before it even started.

We need a starting Center (or at minimum an equal timeshare to compete for starting job).

There were conversations on this board about him being better than Clingan (that I disagreed with) during his stretch starting this year.

Go back and look at what he did from Arizona to Kansas. I'm not worried at all about Reibe making a jump as a starter.

 

[mauconnfan]

Assuming Cloer follows Wade but I’d take him for sure. Skilled guy with size that can flex between SG/SF. But he’d have to know that he won’t get big minutes day 1. We’re currently loaded with mostly senior Gs and Fs next year. He’ll have to earn it. The way he talked about UConn during recruiting makes me think he has the right mindset

Wing depth isn’t a portal priority but if he wants a spot I wouldn’t say no

If Braylon leaves a scorer and shooter is an absolute priority. Someone who can get his when needed, if Cloer is that guy please come our way.

 

[bendm]

There are some out there that thought he would compete with Silas for the starter role.

I was as pro smith as anyone and the most optimistic projection was him splitting time at PG with Demary allowing him to play off ball some, and being BE sixth man of the year. Only off by 5mpg in terms of PT. But didn’t have the impact he’s having now consistently throughout the regular season.

 

[HW611]

In his 5 games as a starter against UNH, Arizona, Bryant, and Kansas. Rebie averaged:

12 points, 5 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
On 60% from the field and 40% from 3.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/eric-reibe-1/splits/2026?&per_game=1

 

[RuffRuff]

If Braylon leaves a scorer and shooter is an absolute priority. Someone who can get his when needed, if Cloer is that guy please come our way.

Will be interesting to see what Cloer does - does he follow Wade (doubtful), does he stay at NCSt given his familial connections? Does he open it back up to old suitors? Seemed instate was a big driver for him. UNC vacant, NCST vacant, worth watching.

 

[bendm]

If Braylon leaves a scorer and shooter is an absolute priority. Someone who can get his when needed, if Cloer is that guy please come our way.

We need a scorer and shooter that can also be the secondary ball handler and create offense for himself and others, not a backup stretch 4, that should be Stew

 

[WhereistheDove?]

100% wrong.

Relying on Reibe as starting center next year is a massive risk based on his current performance.

If his projected summer improvement doesn’t go as planned then our season is over before it even started.

We need a starting Center (or at minimum an equal timeshare to compete for starting job).

Based on Hurley’s past history, this is kind of a semantic discussion IMO. I fully expect Reibe to come back (after an offseason in the strength program and practicing as the starter) as a very strong starting 5. But the “backup” we bring in is pretty much guaranteed to be a starting caliber big that has a near even timeshare with Reibe. That in and of itself hedges significantly.

 

[RuffRuff]

Based on Hurley’s past history, this is kind of a semantic discussion IMO. I fully expect Reibe to come back (after an offseason in the strength program and practicing as the starter) as a very strong starting 5. But the “backup” we bring in is pretty much guaranteed to be a starting caliber big that has a near even timeshare with Reibe. That in and of itself hedges significantly.

Gonna be a fascinating off season for so many reasons.

 

[husky429]

100% wrong.

Relying on Reibe as starting center next year is a massive risk based on his current performance.

If his projected summer improvement doesn’t go as planned then our season is over before it even started.

We need a starting Center (or at minimum an equal timeshare to compete for starting job).

I cannot believe how many people are penciling in Reibe as the starting center. His physicality on defnese and rebounding are not yet where they need to be. That can change over a summer but you can't bank on it.

The goal is to have a 2-headed monster on the front line. Whether the minutes split is 20/20 like a Reed/Johnson year or more of a 25/15 like this year doesn't matter much to me. Just need a big, physical talented big.

 

[Excalibur]

In his 5 games as a starter against UNH, Arizona, Bryant, and Kansas. Rebie averaged:

12 points, 5 rebounds, 1.6 blocks
On 60% from the field and 40% from 3.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/eric-reibe-1/splits/2026?&per_game=1

I'll say it again -- the people that think there's no way Riebe can start next year would have passed on guys like Mara.

 

[superjohn]

There were conversations on this board about him being better than Clingan (that I disagreed with) during his stretch starting this year.

Go back and look at what he did from Arizona to Kansas. I'm not worried at all about Reibe making a jump as a starter.

Reibe has great hands, footwork and he's really skilled. He needs to get better on the boards and better defensively. He's not a great athlete and despite being listed at 7'1 and Clingan being listed at 7'2 he's way smaller than Clingan. We need to bring in an athletic 5 to pair with him and an athletic 4 to start alongside him.

 

[RuffRuff]

I'll say it again -- the people that think there's no way Riebe can start next year would have passed on guys like Mara.

More important is we get a 4 that can really compliment him. Need that to be a power kid. Get us a 6'9" monster that can hit the boards and play in the blocks, like a Koa Peat, UM's Johnson.

 

[Inyatkin]

Looking forward to next year when we get the giant lineup everyone says they want and then get picked apart by some four-guard team like old-time Villanova.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

If Braylon leaves a scorer and shooter is an absolute priority. Someone who can get his when needed, if Cloer is that guy please come our way.

 

[Captbluefin]

Riebe should be recruited the moment this season ends !

He’s our Jake

 

[Jbirdp5]

The way Hurley will recruit at center is for a kid who will come in and COMPETE will Reibe for minutes. Both kids will know that is the plan.
Twitter has been saying that Cloer Left a bad impression on his official visit here. Not sure how credible that is but a bunch of different UConn fans on Twitter were parroting that point.

 

[RuffRuff]

The way Hurley will recruit at center is for a kid who will come in and COMPETE will Reibe for minutes. Both kids will know that is the plan.
Twitter has been saying that Cloer Left a bad impression on his official visit here. Not sure how credible that is but a bunch of different UConn fans on Twitter were parroting that point.

Any kid that signs up with Will Wade has to be a little off.

 

[Hoophound]

Reibe will be good. We still need an experienced big to start in front of him for a year or back him up with high quality minutes.

 

[mauconnfan]

Are we sure he’s staying? Sounded like his handlers weren’t happy. I hope he’s coming back because I think he’s got a big jump coming. Absolutely need a big high-flier to back him up. Shotblocker and rebounder a must.

Heard some of this as well. Hope it’s not true at all, but if there was any unhappiness he will be a highly sought after big man🤑

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I guess this has become the next transfer portal thread, lol.

But yeah, lots to love about Avdalas. He played the 3 in Virginia Tech’s system which allowed him to showcase the spot where he has the most NBA potential. Would like to see his shooting ratios improve (41.2 2P%, 28.1 3P% in ACC play), but the team ranked 12th in eFG% and turnover rate in the ACC during conference play while their 11th ranked A/FGM rate hints that they needed to rely more on iso play to win games.

With that being said, there's a ton of potential and I like that he finished as Virginia Tech's 2nd most efficient defender, per EvanMiya.com. I like him, but not in a hurry and still under wait and see..

 

[HW611]

Reibe has great hands, footwork and he's really skilled. He needs to get better on the boards and better defensively. He's not a great athlete and despite being listed at 7'1 and Clingan being listed at 7'2 he's way smaller than Clingan. We need to bring in an athletic 5 to pair with him and an athletic 4 to start alongside him.

I agree and it felt like he had great growth in those areas when he had starter minutes.

His position is of course a zero sum game so there's nothing to do about that this year. Just moreso goes to the point that when he's the starter, his progression and improvement will come under this staff in those areas.

 

[REB1094]

If Braylon leaves a scorer and shooter is an absolute priority. Someone who can get his when needed, if Cloer is that guy please come our way.

I was assuming Braylon stays. Not trying to spark that debate right now so everyone reading this: let’s just wait until after the season lol

If we need to fill that spot then I’d look to the portal and have Solo/Ross/Cloer/transfer compete for those minutes. Wouldn’t want to just swap Braylon with a less good freshman at SF, especially since not having size or defense at SG/SF has been an issue this year

 

[RuffRuff]

I was assuming Braylon stays. Not trying to spark that debate right now so everyone reading this: let’s just wait until after the season lol

If we need to fill that spot then I’d look to the portal and have Solo/Ross/Cloer/transfer compete for those minutes. Wouldn’t want to just swap Braylon with a less good freshman at SF, especially since not having size or defense at SG/SF has been an issue this year

There is so much that needs to be decided on before we can start speculating on anything, almost not worth it.

 

[navery12]

There are some out there that thought he would compete with Silas for the starter role.

When you say some people I'm assuming you mean yourself?

 

[RuffRuff]

When you say some people I'm assuming you mean yourself?

View attachment 118727

Well I did mean Greg who thought Malachi would earn the starting job - I never thought he'd start over Demary, I did expect to see them playing together more often than they have.

 

[QDOG5]

I don't know what Reibes "handlers" expected but I think his PT (14.6 per game) has been about what was predicted on the Yard. I like his talent and hope he stays. I could see him playing 22-25 + next year.