Floyd, Karaban, Clingan

[businesslawyer]

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.

Of course it’s a mental thing. This isn’t based on analyzing a guy’s recruiting ranking, it’s based on what he did here. He became a starter as a freshman, pushing Gilbert out of the line up, AND THE TEAM PLAYED MUCH BETTER WITH HIM RUNNING THE SHOW. HE WAS A COMPETENT — NOT OUTSTANDING — POINT.

He started this year fine against the cupcakes, had an awful trip to the Bahamas and seemed to lose confidence. But the ability to play competently is there — he showed it. Mentality has to get back to where it was.

 

[businesslawyer]

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

Any lineup with AJ at the point will end up with us being even less effective at attacking the rim off the bounce than we were this year. Yuck.

Hawkins, Aj and Floyd are our three man rotation at the wings. Maybe Karaban gets a few minutes there as well. Akok, Johnson and Karaban fight for time at the 4. DC backs up Sanogo.

The biggest question is the point. Either RJ comes back, Diggins or Gaffney step up or we go into the portal and get someone. But at the moment the portal isn’t full of kids who you can count on running the point for a ranked team either. At the moment the only one I’d take is the Llewelyn kid from Princeton, and he’s not a guarantee to beat Gaffney and Diggins out for the role either.

If Post Alexander or the kid from Creighton who got hurt wants a move, that’s a different story.

 

[businesslawyer]

I will be stunned if Clingan and Sanogo see anything more than nominal minutes on the court together. Clingan will spell Sanogo next season as he grows into playing at this level. Hurley prefers having four face the basket players on the court at all times. Both DC and AS are close to the basket players who would get into each other's way and clog the lane for any of our wings trying to slash to the basket. This would work as well as when the Knicks tried playing Ewing and Cartwright together. I do believe however that we will be set at the five for a number of years.

I recently (BET at MSG) ran into a friend who's opinion carries immense weight with me (he's a good amount older than I am, was a quality HS player in the early 1960's; was a legendary small school college player, had good level coaching roles in the state for many years).

His first comment on DC was that he was more skilled than you would expect from someone who had always had such a significant size advantage. But he also warned that DC's conditioning is not at the level necessary to play D-1 basketball but this is common with bigs.

Clingan should develop into a high quality big but I'm not sure that it makes sense to expect too much from him as a freshman.

DC is not getting more than 12 minutes a game next year at the absolute max. We have a year to develop his conditioning and strength. The question for next year is only whether he’s coming here good enough to help us in 8 to 12 minutes a game. I think there is a good chance he is.

 

[rip7774]

Sanogo and Hawkins should be studs. Jackson could make another leap. This is going to be a fun squad.

Agree with this. But it won’t be fun if Gaffney is dribbling with his back to the action like he ALWAYS does vs pressure and picking up the ball just past half court, bogging down the O.

Have to get a vet stud guard. Let’s get back to UConn having great playmaking guards again. If we had taken Fatts or a similar playmaking guard (I don’t watch enough to know who was in portal last year) we’d still be playing. We had a nice group just missed that playmaking.

 

[QDOG5]

There will be some minutes at the backup 5 next year. It's not like Sanogo is going to start playing 37 minutes a game. Of the top 350 D1 players in minutes per game only two were Centers. Dickinson from Michigan and some 6'8" guy from VMI. Among the Jabbar nominees Dickinson was tops with 32.2 mpg and Edey was the low at 19.1 Here is the list
Dickinson 32.2
Tshiebwe 31.3
Bacot 31.3
Cockburn 30.7
Sanogo 29.2
Watson 28.2
Timme 27.2
Kessler 25.6
Williams 23.2
Edey 19.1
Holmgren didn't make the Jabbar list but averaged 22.2
If Sanogo's minutes go up to 32 a game that's still 8 minutes for someone. DC is my bet.

 

[Huskyhoops25]

little white guy from St Peters
broke the press well
good shooter
90% from the foul line
42% from 3
coach will be leaving
has never averaged more than 25 minutes per game so won't lose much time
NJ kid
if he wants to transfer of course ....

Doug Edert Career Stats - NCAAM - ESPN

Complete career NCAAM stats for the Bryant Bulldogs Guard Doug Edert on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.

www.espn.com

Not a point guard. 27 assists in 31 games.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Jackson playing PG would a disaster. Think most here are starry eyed by a handful of fancy passes and not the general carelessness with the ball and/or the issue of him not having an offensive game aside from open 3s, and the occasional hook/floater shot he worked with at the end of the season.

 

[husky429]

Jackson playing PG would a disaster. Think most here are starry eyed by a handful of fancy passes and not the general carelessness with the ball and/or the issue of him not having an offensive game aside from open 3s, and the occasional hook/floater shot he worked with at the end of the season.

Jackson already played extended minutes at point. He is a point forward.

He averaged 4.2 assists and 1.3 TOs the last half of our season. The myth that he's a turnover machine is tired at this point. He's might be the best passer in the Big East next year. He was for an extended chunk of this season already.

He needs another guard on the court to be there to break down a defense in late shot clock situations because of his limited offensive skillset, but there's very few players better at feeding the post, hitting ahead to shooters, and putting English on the ball to hit his teammates in their scoring spots.

 

[Umami Zen]

IMO. Gaffney's natural position is as a CG.. Diggins is a pure PG.. Cole back?? Probably not. Roster construction with any portal additions will have a strong influence on what our rotations will look like.. We seem to have enough secondary ballhandlers on the roster as its currently projected to help/take pressure off of our primary ballhandler(s).

Need some more shooters/bucket getters to open up the paint for our Bigs. Is Dan Hurley in or out on the portal?

 

[NotADime89]

IMO. Gaffney's natural position is as a CG.. Diggins is a pure PG.. Cole back?? Probably not. Roster construction with any portal additions will have a strong influence on what our rotations will look like.. We seem to have enough secondary ballhandlers on the roster as its currently projected to help/take pressure off of our primary ballhandler(s).

Need some more shooters/bucket getters to open up the paint for our Bigs. Is Dan Hurley in or out on the portal?

Dan Hurley is aware of our needs and is open to the portal. I've heard from multiple sources that he is aggressively looking at the portal to bring on at least 1 guy going into next season

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Jackson already played extended minutes at point. He is a point forward.

He averaged 4.2 assists and 1.3 TOs the last half of our season. The myth that he's a turnover machine is tired at this point. He's might be the best passer in the Big East next year. He was for an extended chunk of this season already.

He needs another guard on the court to be there to break down a defense in late shot clock situations because of his limited offensive skillset, but there's very few players better at feeding the post, hitting ahead to shooters, and putting English on the ball to hit his teammates in their scoring spots.

He's perfect in the role he's in. A forward that has a knack for passing. I never said he was a TO machine but rather is careless with the ball.

Define extended minutes? I'd be curious to see how many minutes he played with out Cole or Gaffney on the floor, I'm not sure if that is available I could only see starting lineups.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

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

astoundingly obvious.
alex will prolly have more boards, steals, dimes, and 'oh, my!' plays in his first game than tyler had in his entire career, and corey will add backbone.
top 20 team.
and it is a possibility that adama will play some 4, cuz, you know, donovan is officially on our team. he can make 3's, too. adama is great, and has demonstrated a superior ability to learn and grow. no one is hungrier than he, and how the 4 works out before game one is anyone's guess, tho i like the choices. sweeet.

 

[navery12]

He's perfect in the role he's in. A forward that has a knack for passing. I never said he was a TO machine but rather is careless with the ball.

Define extended minutes? I'd be curious to see how many minutes he played with out Cole or Gaffney on the floor, I'm not sure if that is available I could only see starting lineups.

You can see those numbers here

https://hoop-explorer.com/OnOffAnalyzer?autoOffQuery=false&baseQuery=&gender=Men&maxRank=400&minRank=0&offQuery=NOT%20%22Cole%2C%20RJ%22%20&onQuery=%22Jackson%2C%20Andre%22%20&showRoster=true&team=UConn&year=2021%2F22&

 

[ConnHuskBask]

You can see those numbers here

https://hoop-explorer.com/OnOffAnalyzer?autoOffQuery=false&baseQuery=&gender=Men&maxRank=400&minRank=0&offQuery=NOT%20%22Cole%2C%20RJ%22%20&onQuery=%22Jackson%2C%20Andre%22%20&showRoster=true&team=UConn&year=2021%2F22&

Oh this is sweet. Thanks. I'll dig through this a bit.

 

[dennismenace]

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

Agreed. If he truly was not ready for prime time as evidenced in practice I hope he doubles down this summer and gets all the help he needs. I'm sure the staff will give him his homework list and connect him to those who can help him if he only is willing to work his ___ off. He showed a degree of confidence and communication skills in helping to recruit for us once he was in the fold. We are all pulling for you "Sool".

 

[auror]

Jackson already played extended minutes at point. He is a point forward.

He averaged 4.2 assists and 1.3 TOs the last half of our season. The myth that he's a turnover machine is tired at this point. He's might be the best passer in the Big East next year. He was for an extended chunk of this season already.

He needs another guard on the court to be there to break down a defense in late shot clock situations because of his limited offensive skillset, but there's very few players better at feeding the post, hitting ahead to shooters, and putting English on the ball to hit his teammates in their scoring spots.

I really like the potential fit with Jaelin Llewellyn from Princeton. Llewellyn seems to do most of his work either shooting or in ball screen getting downhill. Big enough to guard at high major level and with recruiting pedigree.

Jackson can handle the other initiating, feeding the post, making vision plays on cuts, etc.

Probably a pipe dream, but we're in dream part of the season, aren't we?

 

[bigknight3]

IMO you can't really blame Jackson's defense. He was obviously putting in a ridiculous amount of effort. And funneling him to our shotblockers makes sense. The lack of adjustment other than "Get go him Andre" was pretty frustrating though. If someone is that hot, you need to start throwing traps and doubles at him at all 3 levels.

He didn't funnel. He opened the door and Allen just went by him.

 

[PNolanFan]

I really like the potential fit with Jaelin Llewellyn from Princeton. Llewellyn seems to do most of his work either shooting or in ball screen getting downhill. Big enough to guard at high major level and with recruiting pedigree.

Jackson can handle the other initiating, feeding the post, making vision plays on cuts, etc.

Probably a pipe dream, but we're in dream part of the season, aren't we?

To me Jackson is not a point guard but he has the playmaking to allow us to play a combo guard at point

 

[Dean Wormer]

About DC…

“You can’t teach height”.

Signed, Some Wise Man.

 

[HuskyHawk]

About DC…

“You can’t teach height”.

Signed, Some Wise Man.

About that, I'd amend to "you can't teach height to be fast". As in fast enough to hedge outside the 3 point line and recovery. He isn't and he won't be at any point.

 

[uconnfan68]

About that, I'd amend to "you can't teach height to be fast". As in fast enough to hedge outside the 3 point line and recovery. He isn't and he won't be at any point.

So why recruit him?

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Jackson playing PG would a disaster. Think most here are starry eyed by a handful of fancy passes and not the general carelessness with the ball and/or the issue of him not having an offensive game aside from open 3s, and the occasional hook/floater shot he worked with at the end of the season.

Your points on his offensive limitations are fair, but if you think his "fancy passes" were all he had running the point, you totally missed the last stretch of the season. He was easily our best pure point in terms of facilitating and running offense. Was there some carelessness and trying to do too much? Absolutely, but he also has a great eye for finding the open man and putting them in a position to score.

This is an aside, but numerous times throughout the year, he would see the open man at the 3-point line but not immediately make the pass and instead drove the ball just enough to screen the closest defender and then make the pass in order to stop the defender from even closing out and contesting at all. That's not "fancy passes", that's someone that saw the big picture and made things happen. I love Tyrese and his improvement from 3 and I don't think we should discount how many times Andre found him in rhythm and put him in great positions to have open looks.

 

[CL82]

About that, I'd amend to "you can't teach height to be fast". As in fast enough to hedge outside the 3 point line and recovery. He isn't and he won't be at any point.

Would it be the end of the world if we didn’t always hard hedge?

 

[Watchdog]

No one here knows what these kids will be able to do next year, but here's a summary of their Junior Year Stats (used these because Floyd and Karaban opted to join UConn early) and some comments about them from coaches:

Karaban averaged 25.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 blocks, shooting 60.3 percent, to help New Hampton win the 2021 NEPSAC Class AAA tournament. He was MVP in the championship game.

He then averaged 18.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks for his AAU Team, Expressions Elite at the Peach Jam. Karaban was the Gatorade player of the year in New Hampshire.

Karaban is a smart and skilled modern big man who is not afraid to push the pace on his own if needed. He boasts exceptional footwork and is widely regarded as an above-average 3-point shooter. While he is not an elite athlete, his high basketball IQ allows him to rebound well on both ends and take what the defense gives him offensively.

For those thinking he'll be similar to TP, the video link below shows someone who also aggressively attacks the basket:

alex karaban video - Search Videos

Watch videos instantly on Bing—enjoy direct playback, discover related clips, and dive into trending content all in one place.

www.bing.com

Clingan averaged 27.3 points, 17.2 rebounds, 5.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists.
“Donovan’s work ethic and team-first attitude fits in perfectly with the championship culture we are establishing,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “With his size, his ability to pass, and his shooting touch around the basket and on the perimeter, he should have an immediate impact on our frontcourt at both ends.”

Floyd (6'4", 210 pounds) per 247 Sports. 2020-21 stats through 13 games (sat out two games). 16.5 points, 4.08 rebounds, and 2.77 assists per game.

Well built and physical guard. Has functional athleticism in traffic. Ideal playing off the ball as a shooter and slasher. Has a reliable shooting stroke. Can attack the basket and finish with either hand. Solid overall ball handler and passer. Rebounds his position well.

His AAU coach, James Johns, who also coached current Husky Tyrese Martin, had this to say about Floyd earlier last year: "Tough, smart, great kid, great family. Corey reminds me a lot of Tyrese because they have this quiet demeanor about them but they're competitive and it all comes out on the court. Awesome kid. Love him to death. I thought Dan (Hurley) would be great for him."

As an aside, there was an all-star game I've previously referenced in which CF dominated players like Zion Cruz and Roddy Gayle, as a rising Junior. What that means may or may not amount to much but I'm thinking it will.............

 

[UConnSwag11]

Floyd/Diggins, Hawkins, Jackson Point Forward, Akok/Karaban, Sanogo

That’s if we don’t bring in any quality transfers.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Your points on his offensive limitations are fair, but if you think his "fancy passes" were all he had running the point, you totally missed the last stretch of the season. He was easily our best pure point in terms of facilitating and running offense. Was there some carelessness and trying to do too much? Absolutely, but he also has a great eye for finding the open man and putting them in a position to score.

This is an aside, but numerous times throughout the year, he would see the open man at the 3-point line but not immediately make the pass and instead drove the ball just enough to screen the closest defender and then make the pass in order to stop the defender from even closing out and contesting at all. That's not "fancy passes", that's someone that saw the big picture and made things happen. I love Tyrese and his improvement from 3 and I don't think we should discount how many times Andre found him in rhythm and put him in great positions to have open looks.

I looked around on @navery12 link and if I did my query correctly, Jackson was on the floor without either Cole or Gaffney for ~50 total possessions in the entire season.

Now that's not to say he didn't bring the ball up the court at times with either Cole or Gaffney on the game, but my main point here is that he can be used as a change of pace on occasion but just because he may have the best individual passing skill on the team it doesn't necessarily warranted extended minutes as the primary ball handler to facilitate the offense.

 

[Watchdog]

It will be interesting to watch. His reported passing ability makes me think he can catch above the foul line and hit cutters or corner shooters for passes, and hopefully drain the midrange if open. Sort of how we sometimes used Whaley and Akok (2 years ago). But on D, if he has to do what Sanogo does, I don’t see how he ever plays meaningful minutes.

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.

That may well be the case about the type athletes Dan Hurley ideally wants to put on the floor but DC has unusual skills and imagine what Dan Hurley would face in press conferences if DC went on to become the next Ryan Gomes.

 

[husky429]

So why recruit him?

Because he's a friggin giant that lives 30 minutes from campus.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

No one here knows what these kids will be able to do next year, but here's a summary of their Junior Year Stats (used these because Floyd and Karaban opted to join UConn early) and some comments about them from coaches:

Karaban averaged 25.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.9 blocks, shooting 60.3 percent, to help New Hampton win the 2021 NEPSAC Class AAA tournament. He was MVP in the championship game.

He then averaged 18.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.6 blocks for his AAU Team, Expressions Elite at the Peach Jam. Karaban was the Gatorade player of the year in New Hampshire.

Karaban is a smart and skilled modern big man who is not afraid to push the pace on his own if needed. He boasts exceptional footwork and is widely regarded as an above-average 3-point shooter. While he is not an elite athlete, his high basketball IQ allows him to rebound well on both ends and take what the defense gives him offensively.

For those thinking he'll be similar to Tyler Phommachanh, the video link below shows someone who also aggressively attacks the basket:

alex karaban video - Search Videos

Watch videos instantly on Bing—enjoy direct playback, discover related clips, and dive into trending content all in one place.

www.bing.com

Clingan averaged 27.3 points, 17.2 rebounds, 5.8 blocks, and 3.1 assists.
“Donovan’s work ethic and team-first attitude fits in perfectly with the championship culture we are establishing,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “With his size, his ability to pass, and his shooting touch around the basket and on the perimeter, he should have an immediate impact on our frontcourt at both ends.”

Floyd (6'4", 210 pounds) per 247 Sports. 2020-21 stats through 13 games (sat out two games). 16.5 points, 4.08 rebounds, and 2.77 assists per game.

Well built and physical guard. Has functional athleticism in traffic. Ideal playing off the ball as a shooter and slasher. Has a reliable shooting stroke. Can attack the basket and finish with either hand. Solid overall ball handler and passer. Rebounds his position well.

His AAU coach, James Johns, who also coached current Husky Tyrese Martin, had this to say about Floyd earlier last year: "Tough, smart, great kid, great family. Corey reminds me a lot of Tyrese because they have this quiet demeanor about them but they're competitive and it all comes out on the court. Awesome kid. Love him to death. I thought Dan (Hurley) would be great for him."

As an aside, there was an all-star game I've previously referenced in which CF dominated players like Zion Cruz and Roddy Gayle, as a rising Junior. What that means may or may not amount to much but I'm thinking it will.............

'his high basketball IQ '
also, astoundingly obvious. gonna be infectious.

 

[August_West]

About that, I'd amend to "you can't teach height to be fast". As in fast enough to hedge outside the 3 point line and recovery. He isn't and he won't be at any point.

You cant teach height to be natural passers either. There is more than one way to skin a cat here.