Fall practice highlights

[navery12]

Anyone else getting the sense from these clips that Hurley is planning on emphasizing the mid-range game with this team? It makes sense given the concern about our shooting from deep and given our athleticism and ability to get a quick first step, and the challenges we had finishing at the rim last season.

This might be the only thing that would make me wish for Hurley to keep playing a slow tempo

 

[CL82]

This might be the only thing that would make me wish for Hurley to keep playing a slow tempo

Geesh, tough room!

This team is made to run. (Born to run?) I think the games are going to be incredibly fun to watch. I'm already pretty excited about it.

 

[UconnU]

Whaley could be instant spark off bench, candidate for both 6th man and DPOY ??
I agree that he should not be paired with Ajax unless he’s automatic from 3

We have the reining 6th man of the year on our roster. He’ll hold that spot.

 

[UconnU]

The depth and balance of this team is unreal when was the last time we had a team legitimately this deep and balanced? Remember 2017-2019? We were screwed if we lost 1 kid now we can afford an injury or two. This does create some difficulty for Hurley keeping everyone happy. There’s going to be multiple kids who should be getting more minutes I suspect we may have some transfers post-season.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Anyone else getting the sense from these clips that Hurley is planning on emphasizing the mid-range game with this team? It makes sense given the concern about our shooting from deep and given our athleticism and ability to get a quick first step, and the challenges we had finishing at the rim last season.

No and I hope not.

No coach should emphasize scoring in the mid range.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We have the reining 6th man of the year on our roster. He’ll hold that spot.

Not necessarily. I'm thinking either Martin and/or Whaley come off the bench this year.

 

[Viet Vet]

Geesh, tough room!

This team is made to run. (Born to run?) I think the games are going to be incredibly fun to watch. I'm already pretty excited about it.

Query:

Would you rather win 53-52, or lose 89-88 in a run 'n gun dunk-athon?

 

[Umami Zen]

Query:

Would you rather win 53-52, or lose 89-88 in a run 'n gun dunk-athon?

Want the W

 

[CL82]

Query:

Would you rather win 53-52, or lose 89-88 in a run 'n gun dunk-athon?

Are those my only choices? Because it seems like might other ones, say for example winning 91-89 or losing 54-53.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Query:

Would you rather win 53-52, or lose 89-88 in a run 'n gun dunk-athon?

W and than you for your service

 

[Huskybass]

I think Cole and Sanogo are starters and that the other 3 positions are wide open. The competition at the 2, 3, and 4 should be great. I think Polley comes off the bench, but if he shoots like Bouk did at his pro day...

Seriously though Gaffney Hawkins Jackson Martin Whaley and Akok are all good enough to start. This team has legit depth, the kind of depth we haven't had in a long time. Our "2nd unit" will be better than lots of D1 starting 5's.

 

[87Xfer]

I think Cole and Sanogo are starters and that the other 3 positions are wide open. The competition at the 2, 3, and 4 should be great. I think Polley comes off the bench, but if he shoots like Bouk did at his pro day...

Seriously though Gaffney Hawkins Jackson Martin Whaley and Akok are all good enough to start. This team has legit depth, the kind of depth we haven't had in a long time. Our "2nd unit" will be better than lots of D1 starting 5's.

Agreed, I'd punt money on Cole and Sanogo to start. But I'm not sure what the rest of the starting 5 looks like. Whaley is probably in there, but I'm not even super confident about that. Anyway, good problem to have!

 

[husky429]

Query:

Would you rather win 53-52, or lose 89-88 in a run 'n gun dunk-athon?

Teams that score 53 rarely win. Teams that score 88 rarely lose. I take that one loss because it probably means we're winning way more games that season overall.

 

[mauconnfan]

Whaley could be instant spark off bench, candidate for both 6th man and DPOY ??
I agree that he should not be paired with Ajax unless he’s automatic from 3

Ok so then AJax shouldn’t start right? I mean it’s obvious who was the better player for us last year and isn’t it best to play your better players more? So yeah Isaiah should be in the court to start not sure why anyone would think anything else

 

[Umami Zen]

I will wait until we're through with fall workouts/practices until I speculate on lineups/rotations.

I know. .I'm not showing onions on predictions.

 

[Viet Vet]

Teams that score 53 rarely win. Teams that score 88 rarely lose. I take that one loss because it probably means we're winning way more games that season overall.

UConn 53, Butler 41. Calhoun's third national championship. You'd toss that for an 89-88 loss?

FYI: Back in the day (a LONG time ago) when I played for Penn in the 60's, the Philadelphia public and Catholic high school championships were held at the "Cathedral", aka The Palestra. The public champions invariably scored in the 70-80's, the Catholic winner was in the 50's. Which was more entertaining/exciting? No question - the public game. Which was more instructive? For me - the Catholic game.

The respective champions then played for the overall city title. During my three years at Penn (only three - Uncle Sam came calling) the public schools won twice, the Catholic school once. The scores? 50-45, 57-50, 57-54.

Conclusions? As you see fit. For me, the Catholic schools' discipline and tempo was successful in mitigating the public schools' athleticism and speed..............to a point......... but not quite enough to overcome their firepower. The contrast resulted in some great basketball.

 

[HooperScooper]

UConn 53, Butler 41. Calhoun's third national championship. You'd toss that for an 89-88 loss?

FYI: Back in the day (a LONG time ago) when I played for Penn in the 60's, the Philadelphia public and Catholic high school championships were held at the "Cathedral", aka The Palestra. The public champions invariably scored in the 70-80's, the Catholic winner was in the 50's. Which was more entertaining/exciting? No question - the public game. Which was more instructive? For me - the Catholic game.

The respective champions then played for the overall city title. During my three years at Penn (only three - Uncle Sam came calling) the public schools won twice, the Catholic school once. The scores? 50-45, 57-50, 57-54.

Conclusions? As you see fit. For me, the Catholic schools' discipline and tempo was successful in mitigating the public schools' athleticism and speed..............to a point......... but not quite enough to overcome their firepower. The contrast resulted in some great basketball.

I think you have to admit that it's hard to compare today's basketball to that played 60 years ago. It's a much different game today. The athleticism. The three point shot. Etc, etc.

 

[ToolzieFan]

After watching the video you can see that Sanogo makes quick decisions after catching the ball in the post, Gaffney is aggressive in the half court, Akok is playing like a man possessed, Whaley is now a legit 2nd round pick, Cole will lead the league in assists, Polley dribbles like Curl Neal, Hawkins can shoot like Ray, Diggins is the next AJ Price and Jackson will lead the league in 3 point percentage and dunks. I can’t wait for November.

The progression from reasonable to absurd was done really well here. Nice work.

 

[pj]

Geesh, tough room!

This team is made to run. (Born to run?) I think the games are going to be incredibly fun to watch. I'm already pretty excited about it.

I like your contrarian thinking.

All the moneyball, analytics types will oppose quick shots from mid-range. But all the defenses are giving those shots. And you would be the only team they face designed to take them, so unfamiliarity would help, much as Syracuse gets more success than they deserve out of a 2-3 zone.

That said, Hurley needs to prepare his guys for the NBA and playing an NBA style is more conducive to that.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Whaley is only comparable shooting to Akok when you look at %s. But if you look strictly at the number of 3s made it’s Akok by a mile. Akok made more 3s in a shortened freshman year than Whaley did all of last year (maybe career?).

As far as offense goes I hope we simply just take the best shot and shots our guys to make. Don’t hunt for 3s or midrange shots. Just simply get the best one. More than anything else, attack the rim and everything should open up from there. Hunt and settle for 3s and it’ll be a long year.

Sanogo looks like he’s been working on having a jumpshot which would just add to his advanced arsenal on offense. That was a legitimate fadeaway rather than a jump hook.

 

[husky429]

UConn 53, Butler 41. Calhoun's third national championship. You'd toss that for an 89-88 loss?

FYI: Back in the day (a LONG time ago) when I played for Penn in the 60's, the Philadelphia public and Catholic high school championships were held at the "Cathedral", aka The Palestra. The public champions invariably scored in the 70-80's, the Catholic winner was in the 50's. Which was more entertaining/exciting? No question - the public game. Which was more instructive? For me - the Catholic game.

The respective champions then played for the overall city title. During my three years at Penn (only three - Uncle Sam came calling) the public schools won twice, the Catholic school once. The scores? 50-45, 57-50, 57-54.

Conclusions? As you see fit. For me, the Catholic schools' discipline and tempo was successful in mitigating the public schools' athleticism and speed..............to a point......... but not quite enough to overcome their firepower. The contrast resulted in some great basketball.

Basketball in the 60s and today are completely different.

The fact is that if you think we should be a team that scores in the 50s we aren't going to win very many games.

 

[Fatroony5]

Basketball in the 60s and today are completely different.

The fact is that if you think we should be a team that scores in the 50s we aren't going to win very many games.

The margin of error is so much smaller when you play that style. You can absolutely win games that way, but you’ll lose some as well, it’s hard to be “on” with your defense at that level every game, very few programs outside of Virginia can play like that. Teams like Baylor, Gonzaga, Bama etc have shown you can score a lot, play with pace, but also be a very good defensive team. I’d like to see this team get into the 70s regularly.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Are those my only choices? Because it seems like might other ones, say for example winning 91-89 or losing 54-53.

That is far more likely. This team is going to lose more slow paced half court games because of our 3 point shooting than high scoring high tempo games. Almost nobody can stay with us on the boards while also being fast and athletic. Slow games are for teams with great half court offenses. We haven't had one of those in recent memory.

 

[Umami Zen]

UConn 53, Butler 41. Calhoun's third national championship. You'd toss that for an 89-88 loss?

FYI: Back in the day (a LONG time ago) when I played for Penn in the 60's, the Philadelphia public and Catholic high school championships were held at the "Cathedral", aka The Palestra. The public champions invariably scored in the 70-80's, the Catholic winner was in the 50's. Which was more entertaining/exciting? No question - the public game. Which was more instructive? For me - the Catholic game.

The respective champions then played for the overall city title. During my three years at Penn (only three - Uncle Sam came calling) the public schools won twice, the Catholic school once. The scores? 50-45, 57-50, 57-54.

Conclusions? As you see fit. For me, the Catholic schools' discipline and tempo was successful in mitigating the public schools' athleticism and speed..............to a point......... but not quite enough to overcome their firepower. The contrast resulted in some great basketball.

Al McGuire's teams at Marquette could get up and down the court pretty good during that stretch.. Not a ton of back door cuts going on there!

 

[gtcam]

I think RJ and Gaff start.

Gaff may start but Hawk is way more athletic and a more capable scorer to sit down