Floyd, Karaban, Clingan

[Hi-Low]

I don't think anyone with a brain is giving up on Diggins. Freshmen who are ready to run a Big East team from day one are rare.

Not so much giving up on Diggins as he didn't look close. Maybe on Dan Hurley for not playing him (& Samson) more in non-conf cupcake games to get used to college game. Basically a wasted year for Diggins & Samson except for practice, which i realize is something but not the same as games.

Kemba, Bazz, Boat, Bouk, Price, Gordon, Khalid had big roles as freshman so not rare at UConn....clearly had a need at backup PG this year but we'll see.

 

[Dove]

The time is here for Hurley do go all in on his young'uns. He was great in keeping the band together when he arrived. I have faith no one will jump ship. He simply has to commit to his young recruits and tell them the time is here and their future as Husky stars is now. We know he can recruit. Now we'll see him be able to sell.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Not so much giving up on Diggins as he didn't look close. Maybe on Dan Hurley for not playing him (& Samson) more in non-conf cupcake games to get used to college game. Basically a wasted year for Diggins & Samson except for practice, which i realize is something but not the same as games.

Kemba, Bazz, Boat, Bouk, Price, Gordon, Khalid had big roles as freshman so not rare at UConn....clearly had a need at backup PG this year but we'll see.

The reason those guys had roles as freshman is because they were that much better and deserved it. If Diggins was in that same realm, I don't think there would be a debate. But he's not.

 

[Lefty2one]

Can someone give a scouting report on Karaban?

For a highly-touted recruit, there aren't a ton of videos on him out there. The few that exist are of him slashing from the perimeter and overpowering smaller players. I cannot find a clip of his jumper.

On some sites he's listed as a PF, others as a SF. Is he a stretch 4?

 

[Doctor Hoop]

This brings up the question ... what exactly was the rationale for redshirting him this year when he is a) said to have a physically-ready body, b) our bench lacked punch, c) reliable shooting was a major issue in this year's team, and d) at the end of the season we were down to 6.5 players trusted by the head coach to be on the court?

 

[tennmike]

This brings up the question ... what exactly was the rationale for redshirting him this year when he is a) said to have a physically-ready body, b) our bench lacked punch, c) reliable shooting was a major issue in this year's team, and d) at the end of the season we were down to 6.5 players trusted by the head coach to be on the court?

Not to upset Gaffney. Dan Hurley'd father said his son is very loyal to people when they're down.

 

[8893]

Not to upset Gaffney. Dan Hurley'd father said his son is very loyal to people when they're down.

From what I heard—again, second hand—Hurley genuinely believed that Gaffney had made a big improvement over the summer based on what he was seeing.

Which is why I noted that the skepticism about whom he is high on is warranted. Practice is different than games.

But he’s far from the only one to suffer from that. Rodney “Ferrari in the garage” Purvis and Ajou Deng are but two prior era examples.

 

[UconnU]

Can someone give a scouting report on Karaban?

For a highly-touted recruit, there aren't a ton of videos on him out there. The few that exist are of him slashing from the perimeter and overpowering smaller players. I cannot find a clip of his jumper.

On some sites he's listed as a PF, others as a SF. Is he a stretch 4?

There’s not much available on him. I know he’s more of a stretch 4, perimeter shooting piece. Should fill Polley’s role nicely.

 

[auror]

From what I heard—again, second hand—Hurley genuinely believed that Gaffney had made a big improvement over the summer based on what he was seeing.

Which is why I noted that the skepticism about whom he is high on is warranted. Practice is different than games.

But he’s far from the only one to suffer from that. Rodney “Ferrari in the garage” Purvis and Ajou Deng are but two prior era examples.

Gaffney averaged over 10 points and shot 10/16 from 3 in the 6 games against cupcakes, including the first 4 games of the season. He was 3/26 on 3 against every other team. It's gotta be at least partly a mental thing.

 

[Deleted at users request]

This lineup sounds pretty exciting and versatile.

Gaffney/Diggins
Hawkins/Floyd
Jackson/Karaban
Akok/
Sanogo/Johnson

With the chance for this lineup to get cut down depending on guard play. Really excited to see how Floyd can be as a ball handler/driver and to see how Diggins can do as well. Karaban should be a much more versatile Polley.

DC is going to need some seasoning which he’ll have time to do with the bigs we have.

 

[gtcam]

AJ is not a PG
Sool should get burn (if he stays) with Floyd filing both at the 1 and 2
Dan Hurley has to allow all the freshmen and Sophomores a lot of PT no matter who comes back
He had better realize the huge mistake he made this season
I stick Clingan in at the 5 and Sanogo at the 4 and play that all year - 7"2" is not an advantage you waste

 

[Fairfield_1st]

To play the way Hurley ideally wants he shouldn’t recruit anybody who isn’t athletic and between 6’4” and 6’9”. Watching Nova right now and that’s what they have on the floor.

I completely agree. He needs to find players that fit what he's doing on O and D as you described. My hope is that he sees what we see and modifies his recruiting going forward. Early on, in recruiting, you take the best you can get. Now that we're somewhat established again, I'd like to see a more targeted approach.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Based on above posts:

I don't see Akok being anything more than a bottom of the rotation guy. Johnson will likely get the chance rather than Akok... A transfer 1G/2G will need to be added and if not, the 22-23 season will be a step backwards. The way things look now, it's not until the 23-24 season that we take another step towards being a top-15 team.

 

[HooperScooper]

Can someone give a scouting report on Karaban?

For a highly-touted recruit, there aren't a ton of videos on him out there. The few that exist are of him slashing from the perimeter and overpowering smaller players. I cannot find a clip of his jumper.

On some sites he's listed as a PF, others as a SF. Is he a stretch 4?

If you search for threads on "Karaban" in the subject line there are a bunch of videos on him. This one has a bunch:

Karaban to UConn!!!

Bam, there we go! Just got home. My son called me in the car on the way home to tell me. Karaban is a good kid and a hard worker. I hope it works out well. So who's checking on @Ricker? Lol

www.the-boneyard.com

 

[Glastonhusky]

This lineup sounds pretty exciting and versatile.

Gaffney/Diggins
Hawkins/Floyd
Jackson/Karaban
Akok/
Sanogo/Johnson

With the chance for this lineup to get cut down depending on guard play. Really excited to see how Floyd can be as a ball handler/driver and to see how Diggins can do as well. Karaban should be a much more versatile Polley.

DC is going to need some seasoning which he’ll have time to do with the bigs we have.

No way Clingan doesn't get significant minutes backing up Sanogo. Assuming Cole and Martin don't return, I'd go with.

Gaffney/Diggins/transfer
Hawkins/Floyd
Jackson/Karaban
Akok/Johnson
Sanogo/Clingan

 

[freescooter]

If Andre doesnt develop a shot over the summer, i feel like the chances of this increase a lot. He's got great court vision, ok handles, athletic as all hell. If he could really tighten the handles up, he'd be a nightmare for another PG but we'll see.

People overate his defense though. He often starts on the other teams best offensive player but seldom covers him for long. Thursday the NMS kid went by him at least 3-4 times then they put Cole on him. Didn’t help, but it was clear Jackson couldn’t handle him. And he desperately needs a shot. Teams make only a token effort to cover him at 5he 3 point line and that allows them to cheat toward Sanogo. Actually he and Whaley. Everybody is willing to let Jackson beat them. Because they know he can’t.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I really don't see why we are giving up on Diggins. I understand that he looked bad but its hard to just come in when you are not playing at all for mop up duty. He was a 4 star recruit rated around 60 overall. By all accounts he has an excellent shot and handle. I am not "counting" on him but I also do not think we should write him off and I really wouldn't be surprised if he is an above average starting point guard next year

Same people giving up on a freshman who didn’t play this year are the same ones who want Gaff to stay and start as a senior.

 

[UConnSwag11]

A heady PG, someone who can get buckets, and a knockdown three point shooter are the teams only concerns

 

[rip7774]

A heady PG, someone who can get buckets, and a knockdown three point shooter are the teams only concerns

Agreed. shouldnt be that hard. We have a pretty big name/rep again that should help a ton as well. And Hurley can give the keys essentially to a stud if one would come. Feels like St peters has four guards better than any second guard we played. (diggins didn’t play I like that he looks like a natural point but wtf knows since he didn’t play at all).

 

[Stinger92860]

No way Clingan doesn't get significant minutes backing up Sanogo. Assuming Cole and Martin don't return, I'd go with.

Gaffney/Diggins/transfer
Hawkins/Floyd
Jackson/Karaban
Akok/Johnson
Sanogo/Clingan

I look at this and think we may need 2 PG portal transfers and a 4.

 

[8893]

A heady PG, someone who can get buckets, and a knockdown three point shooter are the teams only concerns

Agreed. shouldnt be that hard.

If you’re talking about one player, you’ve basically described Colin Gillespie. I would disagree that it “shouldn’t be that hard” to find one.

Even if you’re talking about two different players, I still don’t think these guys are growing on trees. A heady point guard alone may be the single toughest and most essential ingredient to find.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I stick Clingan in at the 5 and Sanogo at the 4 and play that all year

I’m sorry, what?

1) Sanogo at the four would be a disaster. He struggled defensively with his foot speed against undersized 5’s. He’d be in foul trouble constantly and the floor spacing would be awful with him at the four.

2) Clingan has the size but he’s also a true freshman that did not play high level prep ball and is going to have an adjustment period. He’s also going to be competing for minutes against a Junior and Sophomore that we’re both highly ranked recruits. I think we need to temper expectations for Clingan. He should get PT but he will get fewer minutes than Sanogo and my guess is he’ll be behind Johnson in that regard too.

 

[jibsey]

There’s not much available on him. I know he’s more of a stretch 4, perimeter shooting piece. Should fill Polley’s role nicely.

Yikes! I don’t believe we have a player on our current roster other than Hawkins or Cole who has Karaban’s touch and I’m not even sure about Hawkins now.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Yikes! I don’t believe we have a player on our current roster other than Hawkins or Cole who has Karaban’s touch and I’m not even sure about Hawkins now.

The collective derailment of this place has been breathtaking.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We have 3 starters in ink for next year: Hawkins, Jackson, and Sanogo.

If you put Jackson at PG, then you're forced to go with something like

Jackson
Hawkins
Floyd/Karaban
Akok/Johnson
Sanogo

You could upgrade the 3/4 through the portal, but even then there's just not enough ballhandling or shooting threat.

If you put Jackson at the 3 (with a decent amount of ball-handling responsibility), then you're committing to getting a PG in the portal, but the rest of the lineup is much more balanced:

Transfer PG
Hawkins
Jackson
Karaban/Akok/Johnson
Sanogo