OT: - Fatts Russell in the transfer portal | Page 3 | The Boneyard

OT: Fatts Russell in the transfer portal

superjohn said:
If it's the Fatts Russell from his junior year I would take him in a heartbeat. The guy makes stuff happen all over the place and can put the ball in the hoop, I don't care how small he is.
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In a vacuum, sure. This has very little to do with what Fatts could potentially do, but when you see the talent in the transfer portal and what this roster needs to improve, there are simply better ways to fill our scholarships.
I suppose people can bring up the size of our back court in 2014 which would be a fair comparison(Atleast in height). The difference there is how they played defense. Kenny Smith said it perfectly after either the Mich State game or Florida. Most players play defense on the player. Case in point is Cole. How many times did we see the other teams pg dribble by him with Cole backpedaling completely vertical? Most high major point guards can separate when defense is played like that. In 2014, Napier and boat played almost down to the floor and ‘in to’ the the guys they were guarding. That made it extremely difficult for the other team to separate and get into their offense. That’s a massive difference. One scenario wins titles, the other does not. A Fatts and Cole backcourt would be disastrous together. While individually both could play, I can’t see how this would work.
 
Not like he would be coming here to be the key piece, as long as he is okay with being a role player it makes sense.
 
CTBasketball said:
You know what I hate? Inefficient volume scorers who shoot 30% from the field.
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Same. As a fan and as a coach, I can't stand inefficient volume shooters.

If my school would have had a season this year, the one kid on my team who plays AAU is that exact type of player...literally can't do anything else besides shoot. He has a nice stroke, but can't play a lick of D, has no conditioning and can't see the floor (a black hole). One of those "I got fouled" kids who drive me nuts. At my level, give me a bunch of Colby Joneses and I'll be happy as a clam.

Anyways, back to Fatts. He's not getting 12 shots/game if he moves onto UConn.

Part of me is like: "I really like the player, seems like a great guy, I don't see it making sense, but I will be very cool with it if he plays here and I'd be curious how Hurley would make it work".

However, if he plays elsewhere, the larger part of me would be like "phew, I really like the player, seems like a great guy, I didn't see it making sense and I wish him well wherever he signs".

Where I see him fitting? San Diego State. Would fit great replacing Terrell Gomez as the pesky defending sparkplug scorer off the bench who ends up getting low-20s minutes/game. Terrell Gomez replaced KJ Feagin in a similar role.
 
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You can put me down in the absolutely do not want him column. Tiny guard who is a volume shooter… what could go wrong.
 
ucawn said:
First, I don’t know why people want to bring Fatts onto a team for 1 year in which we have THREE point guards on the roster

Sure the bond between Hurley and Fatts is something special... but Hurley knows what’s in the best interest of the team and knows with the situation it just won’t work out.

Third, this fits none of the desired needs from the transfer portal. What’s we think we need/want is a
  • Big Guard
  • Shooter
  • Big man as a grad transfer

As good of a player Fatts is he doesn’t fit into any of the categories.
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While I don't love the fit, I think the biggest disconnect between you and the people who want him is the 3 PG point. I'm not sure where I fall yet, I'd have to give it more thought once there's actual reported interest. But in theory adding Fatts as the actual 3rd PG (or 2nd ahead of Diggins) would allow you to shift Gaffney into his more natural position and fill the bigger guard hole.
 
navery12 said:
While I don't love the fit, I think the biggest disconnect between you and the people who want him is the 3 PG point. I'm not sure where I fall yet, I'd have to give it more thought once there's actual reported interest. But in theory adding Fatts as the actual 3rd PG (or 2nd ahead of Diggins) would allow you to shift Gaffney into his more natural position and fill the bigger guard hole.
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Great point. As it stands I see next team as something like:

4: Martin, Akok, Johnson
3: Jackson, Adams
5: Sanogo, Springs
2: Gaffney, Hawkins
1: Cole, Diggins

I know it's not the sexy opinion, but a sturdy 5 bench big is our biggest need and a smart, usage of a grad-transfer. Think Kelvin Jones when he signed with Creighton or Arnaldo Toro with St. John's or Bryan Griffin with Xavier.

Or, Josh Carlton would be the perfect fit for that need if he chooses to return.

For example, would Kevin Marfo sign w/ UConn? A 6'8 247 Jersey kid who played 12.8 mpg at Texas A&M after having a monster year at Quinnipiac (10.2p, 13.3r, 1.2b). He's eligible for another year and is officially on the portal.
 
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I will Trust the Carpenter on this one. May have some splainin' to do to Sool if it happens since I think he's been sold on PT for next year.

Assuming Fatts has one year of eligibility left.
 
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Hey Adrien! said:
Great point. As it stands I see next team as something like:

4: Martin, Akok, Johnson
3: Jackson, Adams
5: Sanogo, Springs
2: Gaffney, Hawkins
1: Cole, Diggins

I know it's not the sexy opinion, but a sturdy 5 bench big is our biggest need and a smart, usage of a grad-transfer. Think Kelvin Jones when he signed with Creighton or Arnaldo Toro with St. John's or Bryan Griffin with Xavier.

Or, Josh Carlton would be the perfect fit for that need if he chooses to return.

For example, would Kevin Marfo sign w/ UConn? A 6'8 247 Jersey kid who played 12.8 mpg at Texas A&M after having a monster year at Quinnipiac (10.2p, 13.3r, 1.2b). He's eligible for another year and is officially on the portal.
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I hate it when people don't go 1-5 in their posts of positions--makes it too hard to read because I'm lazy. You get a pass though--you're a good poster.

I would expect Johnson is ahead of springs playing the backup 5. He'll split time next year depending on the matchup. He really doesn't have any 4 skills on offense but he can defend it well. I'd think he'll get a bunch of minutes when we play perimeter 5s that Sanogo can't cover on defense. (All assuming we don't pick up a transfer big... which I think it a priority for us, so we'll see)
 
AntG168 said:
Martin was erratic and out of control in URI’s system too. This is identical to the reaction y’all gave in the Tyrese Martin transfer thread lol
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100% agree. Individual stats/play can be a reflection of your team game as well. I didn’t watch much this year, but if Fatts was forced to be a primary scorer he was probably taking a lot of rushed/forced shots that were skewing his numbers. It’s a team game.

If he went from putting up great numbers junior year to bad numbers senior year I am 100% positive that the system he was in had something to do with it. I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about Tyrese’s game after seeing his URI highlights and now he’s pretty essential to the team
 
CTBasketball said:
You know what I hate? Inefficient volume scorers who shoot 30% from the field.
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Hey Adrien! said:
Same. As a fan and as a coach, I can't stand inefficient volume shooters.

If my school would have had a season this year, the one kid on my team who plays AAU is that exact type of player...literally can't do anything else besides shoot. He has a nice stroke, but can't play a lick of D, has no conditioning and can't see the floor (a black hole). One of those "I got fouled" kids who drive me nuts. At my level, give me a bunch of Colby Joneses and I'll be happy as a clam.

Anyways, back to Fatts. He's not getting 12 shots/game if he moves onto UConn.

Part of me is like: "I really like the player, seems like a great guy, I don't see it making sense, but I will be very cool with it if he plays here and I'd be curious how Hurley would make it work".

However, if he plays elsewhere, the larger part of me would be like "phew, I really like the player, seems like a great guy, I didn't see it making sense and I wish him well wherever he signs".

Where I see him fitting? San Diego State. Would fit great replacing Terrell Gomez as the pesky defending sparkplug scorer off the bench who ends up getting low-20s minutes/game. Terrell Gomez replaced KJ Feagin in a similar role.
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Honestly, I’m with both of you. I shouldn’t have been a jerk and fanned the flames for fun lol. It’s starting to look like his big year is the fluke.

I played with a guy who’s everyone thought was a good shooter because he had good form...but the ball never went in. And yet he always lead in attempts. Can’t tell you how many games he shot us out of.

Obviously UConn has made the 2 pg system work before, and if that’s Hurley’s move, so be it, no frosh left on the board will be better year 1. But I can also concede he isn’t the best overall fit for the current roster.
 
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We need to get some sizeable guards. We are at 6'1, 6'1, and 6'2 with Sool Cole and Gaffney.

Should be focusing on some shooters or bigger guards around the 6'4-6'6 mold. Russell I doubt would settle as a microwave scorer off of our bench.

If we can figure out a way to get AJ as a 2 next year with Tyrese, Sanogo, Whaley/Akok to fill out the rest while Cole is obviously the starting PG that would really be a good sign I think for our starting 5.
 
HuskyBoi said:
We need to get some sizeable guards. We are at 6'1, 6'1, and 6'2 with Sool Cole and Gaffney.

Should be focusing on some shooters or bigger guards around the 6'4-6'6 mold. Russell I doubt would settle as a microwave scorer off of our bench.
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aburks41 said:
He's got alterique gilbert numbers...we need 6'4"-6'7" shooters and another big. Not a 5'10" pg who can't score without volume shots. He wouldn't even get minutes over Gaff, Cole, Diggins, and Jackson (who Hurley said will be drafted as a PG)
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I agree in theory. That’s why I like the vmi kid and Landry for this team.

But do they or (any other transfer we have a shot at) have the upside of fatts in his jr year is the question.
 
Probably watched 1/2 of URI games as we knew one of their star players.

Couple Points:
1) URI was a dumpster fire, a zillion transfers in but had injuries and looked like a team without a strong culture. Very talented group on paper, lot of 4-stars, with no thought of roster composition I’d say. Many times, Cox reminded me of Ollie in his reactions And program spiral.

2) Fatts had a pretty significant ankle injury where he missed games and had to leave other games due to pain this year. For a small, quick player that’s really a Death knell for effectiveness. I don’t think he ever got to 100%.

3) As a junior, he couldn’t have reminded me much more of Ryan Boatright-lite. Respectable 36% from deep, and could get by anyone, anywhere. Unlike Al, he can finish at the rim. Gets to line a lot. He was different, bc healthy.

I often wonder how we’ll create offense without Bouk or quick guards, to me Fatts is part of the solution or a player like him, but players like junior year Fatts (healthy) are rare. I think Gaffney and Cole are both more effective off ball (no question on Gaffney).

Give me Fatts to help create, a pure shooter at 2/3 and a beefy 4/5 with some scoring ability.
 
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auror said:
Shot 36% from 3 last year. 80% FT shooter 2 years in a row. Should be able to shoot in a supporting role with better shot selection.
Great passer, doesn't turn the ball over despite heavy defensive attention. Draws a load of fouls. Grabs a bunch of steals. All good things.

Hard to imagine why we wouldn't reach out to Myreon Jones but did reach out to Seth Lundy unless we knew a similar player would be interested...
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Jones could simply want to go south (he’s from AL) so I don’t want to read too much into that. Hurley is also all about character fit and only Freeman knows about those PSU guys.

Fatts is a great defender despite his size and was great his junior year. But if he’s weighing going pro, will he come back to college for an off-the-bench role? Kind of hard for me to picture it, but if he’s willing to basically cut his role in half, then the story changes.
 
UConnStats said:
Jones could simply want to go south (he’s from AL) so I don’t want to read too much into that.

Fatts is a great defender despite his size and was great his junior year. But if he’s weighing going pro, will he come back to college for an off-the-bench role? Kind of hard for me to picture it, but if he’s willing to basically cut his role in half, then the story changes.
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Fatts would play a major part to next years team. Having shooters is irrelevant when you dont have anyone who can break down a defense and get in to the paint
 
Huskyforlife said:
There's really no downside, if he's the Fatts from last year, he'll quickly see the bench. If he's the Fatts from the year before, he solves a big play making problem we have. We shouldn't be asking him to shoot 12 shots a game. Play great D on PGs, drive and dish, only shoot when open. If he's expecting a star role, I agree the fit isn't right.
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I can think of a couple possible downsides (nothing major but things to consider):

1. You’re spending 4 of your 13 scholarships on point guards, while also having a guy in Andre that can handle the ball. This is less of an issue if some of the seniors come back (wouldn’t count against the scholarship limit) but assuming they leave I think you have greater needs than PG.

2. I personally think Diggins is going to be the starting PG at UConn from sophomore year on. Thinking to the future I want to make sure he gets the reps he needs next year to take over that role. I think he can have an Andre Curbelo like impact next season. If you hand all of the on ball playing time over to Fatts and RJ next year we could have an issue when they both leave simultaneously.
 
AntG168 said:
Fatts would play a major part to next years team. Having shooters is irrelevant when you dont have anyone who can break down a defense and get in to the paint
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When you have no threats to shoot, it’s much harder to drive into the paint. And having him and Cole both on the court wouldn’t always work defensively. In terms of his role, I’m all for him becoming a pass first guy, but he’s not good enough at shooting to shoot as often as he has throughout his career.

Cole and Andre can pass well. Gaffney isn’t a great passer, but he’s fine too. Shooting is a bigger need than passing IMO. We have a few scholarships so it’s not like we can’t have it both ways, but it’s just something to consider.
 
AntG168 said:
We'll have at least 3 open scholarships. Adding Fatts won't hinder our ability to fill our other needs. Also are we really comfortable relying on Gaffney and Sool for ball handling next season?
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Especially if we fill some of those other needs with players who won't take up scholarships
 
Hoophound said:
I’d take him yesterday. Get him healthy, have him shoot 500 shots per day and put a little more muscle on him. He’s a better talent than we saw this year.

Diggins needs to develop, Cole is good in both guard spots, he can play with Fatts. Gaff is there to play 1/2/3 as needed. I like it.

I still want a taller shooter, but our roster may have some other changes coming that will fill that role. You can’t pass up a healthy Fatts.
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Diggins needs playing time and that's how he will develop.
 
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I whole-heartedly agree with the Boat comparison when healthy.

I keep looking for any way to rationalize it, but barring any changes on our end, I don’t think it makes sense. Even if Gaff moved to an off-ball role, which I think he may excel in, it’s just too crowded to see how everyone fits together.

If it happens, I’ll be thrilled because a healthy Fatts causing hell getting to the hoop and chaos on the defensive end would be so much fun but I’m struggling to see a path.
 
The social media stuff is a little harder to sift through given all the URI connections we have. But Bouknight and Tyrese Martin both liked the post, Martin commented that it's a great move, and Martin also reposted the Fatt's post to his story with the fingers crossed emoji
 
djct1999 said:
In a vacuum, sure. This has very little to do with what Fatts could potentially do, but when you see the talent in the transfer portal and what this roster needs to improve, there are simply better ways to fill our scholarships.
I suppose people can bring up the size of our back court in 2014 which would be a fair comparison(Atleast in height). The difference there is how they played defense. Kenny Smith said it perfectly after either the Mich State game or Florida. Most players play defense on the player. Case in point is Cole. How many times did we see the other teams pg dribble by him with Cole backpedaling completely vertical? Most high major point guards can separate when defense is played like that. In 2014, Napier and boat played almost down to the floor and ‘in to’ the the guys they were guarding. That made it extremely difficult for the other team to separate and get into their offense. That’s a massive difference. One scenario wins titles, the other does not. A Fatts and Cole backcourt would be disastrous together. While individually both could play, I can’t see how this would work.
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What? Both Cole and Russell are very good defensively.
 
navery12 said:
The social media stuff is a little harder to sift through given all the URI connections we have. But Bouknight and Tyrese Martin both liked the post, Martin commented that it's a great move, and Martin also reposted the Fatt's post to his story with the fingers crossed emoji
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It’s not hard to see what’s happening here. Martin 2.0
 
WhereistheDove? said:
If Fatts comes, it likely impacts Gaffney’s playing time more than Sool.
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If Fatts and RJ are on the floor at the same time for most of the guard minutes. .Can easily see your point.

Who would be your PG or would simply have co-PGs ala Bazz/Boat?
 
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