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http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...le-for-uconn-huskies-20140903,0,4498773.story
Not sure if this was posted
Not sure if this was posted
http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...le-for-uconn-huskies-20140903,0,4498773.story
Not sure if this was posted
Anyone else starting to get the feeling that we might be sitting on a lot more than we think with this kid? If he hits his ceiling that might make me change my mind about how deep this team can go.
Seeing is believing, and other than one KO quote (from when, last December?), we have absolutely no real reason to believe we have anything more than we've seen. There has to be some reason he barely played last year, even when we went small.Anyone else starting to get the feeling that we might be sitting on a lot more than we think with this kid? If he hits his ceiling that might make me change my mind about how deep this team can go.
Seeing is believing, and other than one KO quote (from when, last December?), we have absolutely no real reason to believe we have anything more than we've seen. There has to be some reason he barely played last year, even when we went small.
There has to be some reason he barely played last year
Two reasons in particular - DeAndre Daniels and Niels Giffey.
Yeah, exactly, 6'7 204 (according to ESPN) Neils Giffey was apparently more suited for the 4 than Facey.Two reasons in particular - DeAndre Daniels and Niels Giffey.
Olander was also a Senior who knew defensive rotations and how the offense was ran. Deandre didn't play much his freshman year with the black hole at 4 and he came his sophomore year and broke out. I fully believe Facey will do the same. Phil didn't play much his freshman year with Olander and Wolf as our centers and he definitely had a big impact this year. I'm not worried about Facey.This revisionist history isn't going to make Facey a better player. Facey was the best rate rebounder on the team, and couldn't get minutes when were getting killed on the boards in large part because his foul rate made him a huge liability. If Facey had been good enough to get minutes last year, he would have. He played 123 minutes last year while Olander played 270 and was a complete stiff.
This revisionist history isn't going to make Facey a better player. Facey was the best rate rebounder on the team, and couldn't get minutes when were getting killed on the boards in large part because his foul rate made him a huge liability. If Facey had been good enough to get minutes last year, he would have. He played 123 minutes last year while Olander played 270 and was a complete stiff.
Olander was also a Senior who knew defensive rotations and how the offense was ran. Deandre didn't play much his freshman year with the black hole at 4 and he came his sophomore year and broke out. I fully believe Facey will do the same. Phil didn't play much his freshman year with Olander and Wolf as our centers and he definitely had a big impact this year. I'm not worried about Facey.
Yeah, exactly, 6'7 204 (according to ESPN) Neils Giffey was apparently more suited for the 4 than Facey.
Our inside game last year was a huge weakness, and Facey's inability to get any significant burn in that group is a pretty big concern to me.
Here's the thing, not being ready as freshman does not equal not being ready ever. Comparison to Giffey is silly. Neils brought much more to the table than the standard four play. He stretched defenses because he was a consistent 3 threat and could put on the floor and take it in to the paint. It's an apples and oranges comparison.I'll buy that the center position was a huge weakness. So if you're arguing that it's a bad sign that Facey couldn't crack the lineup at center, I won't really argue with you other than to point out the obvious - that the other 3 centers on the roster were simply taller and stronger than Facey was.
Power forward is a different story. I don't care that we played non-traditional guys at that spot - we had a net advantage at the 4 in almost every game we played because Daniels and Giffey were very, very good players. No shame in not being able to crack the lineup at that position last year.
I personally do think it's ridiculous that people are acting like the Giffey/Daniels juggernaut was the reason he didn't play. He was lost all the time on defense, and just wasn't good enough to play. If he had played at a Josh Boone freshman level he would have gotten minutes, even with Giffey and Daniels on the team.KO played a good deal of the FF and NC game with a small lineup of Daniels and Giffey, and they were clearly our 2 best options at PF/4, yet people are still questioning why Facey didn't play ahead of them. A 2nd round draft pick and a starter on the German senior national team that just competed in the last Eurobasket, and there are questions why an inexperienced freshman didn't play ahead of them. What world are ya'll living in?
I personally do think it's ridiculous that people are acting like the Giffey/Daniels juggernaut was the reason he didn't play. He was lost all the time on defense, and just wasn't good enough to play. If he had played at a Josh Boone freshman level he would have gotten minutes, even with Giffey and Daniels on the team.
But that's the point, he wasn't as good as either of them, so why would you give him their minutes? Yes Facey had issues defensively and with fouling(although part of that is dude wasn't going to play a ton of minutes, so why not play with less restraint ya know), but if you're not better than the players ahead of you, you're not playing ahead of them. Nolan and Brimah had foul issues, and sometimes were late on rotations, yet KO still turned to them ahead of Olander. Why, because they were better. Nobody is trying to say that Giffey and DD were All Americans(although DD had the ability to play like one when he was on), but they were integral pieces to UConn winning, so they get the minutes.
If Facey had been a decent player last year, he'd have gotten more than 3 minutes/game.
I guess my impression is that a lot of people are saying this. That Giffey and DD were so great the entire year that there was just no way to get him on the court, and I don't agree with that. If he came in playing at a Josh Boone level he would have played, and Giffey and DD just would have played less. We didn't have that option because he wasn't good enough out of the gate.Nobody is trying to say that Giffey and DD were All Americans(although DD had the ability to play like one when he was on), but they were integral pieces to UConn winning, so they get the minutes.