Expectations for Ryan Boaright's Junior Year | The Boneyard

Expectations for Ryan Boaright's Junior Year

Will Boat take the "Junior leap"?


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OkaForPrez

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As far as I'm concerned Kemba Walker marks the beginning of the Kevin Ollie era at UConn. This means one of two things. Ollie coincidentally joined the staff just as Kemba Walker and Bazz Napier were beginning the greatest back to back guard evolutions in a Uconn Jersey, or he is the direct architect of their success.

Its certainly possible that the former is true. Its a really small sample set. But there is a compelling reason to believe the latter. Ollie's been widely endorsed as a leader and motivator. Anyone who has followed him closely this past season has seen it directly. Instilling his leadership into the "floor general" and pushing them to greatness seems plausible. Throw in the experience of 13 years of NBA level drills and Ollie has the tools to mold greatness in the backcourt. So which is it?

Enter Ryan Boatright. Walker and Napier both exploded in their Junior seasons. As we approach Boatright's junior year, which side of the argument will he become evidence for? Can we see what's to come from his first two seasons? It's a long offseason, staring at bar charts beats the realignment board and CT's best laundry mat.

So have it. Below are some key metrics and the evolution of Kemba, Bazz and Boat. At first glance there is a lot to be excited about. Boat shows similar trends in scoring, eFG% and To%. In fact he's out pacing his predecessors in all three of these categories. What most will know without looking, and what remains the overwhelming question about just how good Ryan Boatright and subsequently UConn will be next year, is can he become a better distributor? Boat's Offensive Rating and A/TO Ratio both declined from his Freshman to Sophmore year. And that is directly a result of his ability to set others up to score. Also of concern is a decline in RPG on a woefully poor rebounding team. A lot to suggest he is ready to become the next in line, and enough to doubt it.
Vote on what you expect him to be above.

GuardCompare.JPG
 
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Walker gives a lot of credit to Blaney who worked with him before his junior year to reconstruct his jump shot. I believe Coach Ollie help him with PG decision making and leadership.
 
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Boat just needs to manage his speed (off/on), once done decision making will benefit. He will be special this season I feel it.
 
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I admit that I was somewhat disappointed by Boatright down the stretch last season. It seemed like he was pressing and was really negatively impacted by his size. As a result, I'm not necessarily expecting a Kemba/Bazz-esque jump for him this year, but I would gladly take it. If he can improve similarly to his predecessors, we really might have a special team next year.
 

SubbaBub

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Boat suffers from a bad case of NBA-itis. His ability to suppress that will do wonders for his future draft prospects as well as the team's chances. Same for OC, SN, and DD.

The starry eyes are as detrimental as a lack of rebounding. Ollie has a tough job this year.

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Boat suffers from a bad case of NBA-itis. His ability to suppress that will do wonders for his future draft prospects as well as the team's chances. Same for OC, SN, and DD.

The starry eyes are as detrimental as a lack of rebounding. Ollie has a tough job this year.

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Huh?
 

OkaForPrez

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Boat suffers from a bad case of NBA-itis. His ability to suppress that will do wonders for his future draft prospects as well as the team's chances. Same for OC, SN, and DD.

The starry eyes are as detrimental as a lack of rebounding. Ollie has a tough job this year.

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Well, we know who voted show boat :)
 

huskyharry

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He was instrumental in our last win over PC and over Syrabuse. He has the moxie and quickness to be a real game-changer...just needs to learn to pick his spots and make better decisions with the ball.
Don't dribble in one place and stop the team's ball movement. Do continue to take pull ups and floaters in the lane, not contested or off-balance threes.
On defense, don't gamble in attempts for steals, use your quickness to contain opponents without having to give up so much space that you can't contest their jumper and box out every time...you can't let the opponent's 6'4" athletic guard rush in unabated for tip ins and dunks, even though you are 5'10".
Most importantly, keep your head up when things are not going your way...stay positive through adversity.
 
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Boat will get a little better, but I get the sense he doesn't have the basketball intellect and leadership qualities necessary to really take that next step. If he's thinking about the League and worrying about getting his, we'll be in trouble. If he defers to Bazz and falls in line, working within the flow of the offense, we have the capacity to be great.

He needs to be 2009 Dyson to Bazz's AJ Price.
 
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It's an interesting question you pose, OK4. It was evident when Boatright's suspension was lifted a couple years ago that he had a lot of Kemba in his game. 99% of the time he's going to be the quickest guy on the floor, and when he's not playing with Andre Drummond, the best athlete on the floor. I think his periodic carlessness with the ball last season (3 TOV/g, we want to bring that number down to around 1.5 or 2) is more a product of decision making than it is his handle. His ball-handling is, in my estimation, one of his better qualities. Many of his struggles last season were fairly predictable for an under-sized, sophomore PG - he encountered difficulties when presented with longer, more athletic guards, his handling of double teams was below average, and his mid-range game was similarly mediocre to Kemba's in 2010.

It's perplexing to me, though, that any UConn fan would be disappointed with the development curve Boatright appears to be on. I mean, Kemba and Shabazz, as you stated in your original post, have basically laid the blueprint of what we can expect from a top 100 PG: in season one they're key contributors off the bench, in season two they're slightly more polished, but still anemic, and by season three they're nearly finished products who are considered among the best guards in the country.

I don't think Boatright will progress quite as rapidly as Kemba or Bazz, though, and here's why: Ryan is virtually a poor man's Kemba Walker, some would say a homeless man's Kemba Walker. He's a couple inches shorter (which makes a big difference), he doesn't have the deceptive strength Kemba had, and he's not quite as quick or fast as Kemba (though that could be argued).

Setting Kemba and Shabazz as the bar is somewhat of an unfair expectation, though (not saying you are, just in general). Kemba is obviously a player who comes around every decade or so, and Napier is simply a vastly differently constructed player than Boatright - they share certain attributes, but what makes Napier so deadly IMO is his ability to stroke it from anywhere on the court. Boatright doesn't have the range, nor the precision Napier possesses, and although you may be able to point to some stats from their respective sophomore seasons that would suggest otherwise, I just can't envision Boatright becoming quite as vaunting from three as Shabazz.

Ultimately, I voted for "modest improvement", though I suppose the word "modest" may not carry as much of a negative connotation for me in this situation given I already view him as a very good player. I expect him to raise his field goal percentage a point or two, improve to around 35 or 36% from three, decrease his turnovers, and improve defensively. I'm not sure his statline will tread upwards at the rate many boneyarders expect, but I think that will be primarily due to the substancial improvements I expect from Calhoun and Daniels. In other words, I'm merely expecting him to be a more efficient, less mistake-prone (offensively and defensively) version of his sophomore self. I suppose it's a matter of semantics whether you consider that "modestly improving" or "getting much better", but that's my two cents on the topic.
 

EricLA

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I admit that I was somewhat disappointed by Boatright down the stretch last season. It seemed like he was pressing and was really negatively impacted by his size. As a result, I'm not necessarily expecting a Kemba/Bazz-esque jump for him this year, but I would gladly take it. If he can improve similarly to his predecessors, we really might have a special team next year.
He certainly had up and down games, which is to be expected, but I agree - if he can work towards a Kemba/Bazz jump, fans will love it.
Boat suffers from a bad case of NBA-itis. His ability to suppress that will do wonders for his future draft prospects as well as the team's chances. Same for OC, SN, and DD.

The starry eyes are as detrimental as a lack of rebounding. Ollie has a tough job this year.

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I think some fans might take exception to the somewhat blunt and perhaps harsh tone, but I actually think you have a point. One of the reasons Kemba is so successful is that he is a terrific scoring PG. Boat still makes poor decisions and thinks he's a player who actually CAN take over a game. While the confidence is great, the results usually are not. I get that some will disagree, but I think we will be a much better team if Ryan really embraces the team concept and works within the framework of the offense. IF we get too much of the "boat-show" this year (off balance 3's, contested wild shots, the one-on-one game, etc), I think it will be detrimental to what this team can accomplish.

Having said that, this is Ollie's team. While not a grumpy curmudgeon with a quick hook like JC, he DOES seem to me to be a coach who sets the bar high, has big but realistic expectations, and will not tolerate any player trying to put on his own show.
 

Rico444

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Boatright was getting eaten up late in the season when teams would switch on screens for him, he would have nowhere to go. He's too quick to worry about getting a screen; he should just focus on beating his man off the dribble. Once he wins that first step, he has a ton of options: take it to the rack, pull up, or dish to the open man if help rotates over. He'll be a good one for us next year.
 
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Another important detail is the role Kemba and Bazz had as they entered their junior campaigns.

Kemba was the unquestioned leader and PG of the team.

Bazz was the unquestioned leader of the team.

Boat as a junior still has Bazz on the team (thankfully). Therefore, I think he will not (and should not) have the free reigns both Kemba and Bazz have had.

I agree with Champs that overall production may not tell the entire story of Boat's improvement considering the hopeful improvement of all the returning players. If Boat improves his FG%, 3 PT%, and A/T ratio while playing more consistent defense imo he will have made a significant jump while staying within the concept of a final 4 team.
 
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Boats a nice player who has a positive impact but can get better. His defense is careless although he may make a great steal there is an occasional lapse in judgement and maybe even the urge to play it.......I would like to see him keep his guy in front of him a lot more in the half court defensive set because we know he can. Less trying to make the great play which more often than not leaves his guy a direct avenue to the basket and gets our bigs in trouble......the other thing is his pull up/mid range game is pretty damn good and I would like to see more of that.

Overall the kid had 15 plus pts a game and he can pass it and make plays so he will be an impact player. How much of an impact is on him because there's more there for Ryan if he improves where needed without forcing it!!!
 
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Boat really needs to pick up his defense. He gambles a little too much. He loses his man too often. Improving these aspects of his game will make the biggest difference in his play.

He needs to improve his shooting and I think he will. He can be a little sloppy. That's just his mind working faster than his body. Those improvements should come naturally.

His defense is a bigger issue. At times he was a liability on the court because of his D. He needs to work on thses parts of his game, make a real commitment, nothing will help the team or his pro prospects more than becoming a good defender.
 

pj

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Boat will get a little better, but I get the sense he doesn't have the basketball intellect and leadership qualities necessary to really take that next step. If he's thinking about the League and worrying about getting his, we'll be in trouble. If he defers to Bazz and falls in line, working within the flow of the offense, we have the capacity to be great.

He needs to be 2009 Dyson to Bazz's AJ Price.

This is dumb. Boatright wants to be the best, he works extremely hard, and he has a great teacher in Ollie. He is surrounded by great players (Bazz, DeAndre, and Omar is emerging) and that's what a point guard needs to help him improve his decision-making -- lots of options to choose among in every play in practice and in games, and then great coaches to give him feedback and instruction in the postmortems and film reviews. All the ingredients for improvement are there and he is going to improve tremendously.
 
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Improve the assist numbers and get some more steals, and he will be great, IMO.
 
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