For those distraught over the possibility of losing Wolf...

[61cygni]

Let's take a look at who we're facing, returning players 6'10" who played at least 10 minutes per game:

OOC
BU - No one
Washington - Jarreau (6'10", 3pts/3reb/13min)
Florida -No one
Stanford -Powell (6'10", 15pts/8reb/30min), Gage (6'10", 6pts/2reb/13min)
Maryland -No one
BC - Clifford (7'0", 3 pts/3reb/15min)
Harvard -No one
Detroit -No one
Eastern Washington -Seiferth (6'10", 8pts/6reb/23 min)
Yale - Kreisberg (6'10", 6pts/3 reb/16min)
UMass-Lowell - McDonnel (6'10", 2pts/3reb/13min)


AAC
Cincinnati - No one
Houston - No one
Louisville - No one
Memphis - No one
Rutgers - No one
SMU - Cunningham (6'10", 9pts/6reb/32 min)
Temple - No one
UCF - No one
USF - No one

Who are we worried about? Stanford maybe? Some guys who make a big leap over the summer? If he comes back great, but most teams rely on 6'8"-6'9" big men. We can do the same. We're not lost without him. And I'll take our back court over any that we will be facing.

We'll have mobile bigs who buy into team defense and grab rebounds. If anyone exceeds offensive expectations, that's just gravy.

 

[mauconnfan]

Numbers are only a part of it........he was the best we put out there per minute and there was no doubt about it.

Was he enough of an impact to feel we are in trouble? Probably not but if everyone (Nolan and TO) improved over the summer he would still be our best option wouldn't he. At 7' tall not 6'8 and 6'9 like the other 2 returning options, he already was a better option just clogging the middle.

The numbers are an easy argument, but losing the largest body, best defender and the smartest player in the middle (and 5 more fouls in a group that tended to get in foul trouble) will impact them somehow!! How much we won't know, but they can fill the void I am sure.

 

[Scot-e]

I think now that he is most likely gone he has become a great ball player and irreplaceable. We did see improvement from Nolan and there ususally is a good jump with big men from Freshman year. Facey looks like a good one and will be the most skilled big we have even as a freshman - AB is a big body with a wing span that suggests we will not lose much if we need to put a tree in the game.

We would be better with Wolf- but it will not make or break us under any circumstances.

 

[Uconn93]

I'm not worried. HCKO had to know that Wolf would not be back when they made decision to yank the scholarship. Ollie has had time to plan for this. We will be fine.........unless of course, we are Dooooooomed!

 

[mauconnfan]

I think now that he is most likely gone he has become a great ball player and irreplaceable. We did see improvement from Nolan and there ususally is a good jump with big men from Freshman year. Facey looks like a good one and will be the most skilled big we have even as a freshman - AB is a big body with a wing span that suggests we will not lose much if we need to put a tree in the game.

We would be better with Wolf- but it will not make or break us under any circumstances.

Scot-e maybe for some but I sang his praises, as few as there were, during the whole season. The kid can play, has a good sense on the court and is very big. The people we will need to fill will find a way to get it done, but we will lose something in this for sure.......not dooooooomed by any sense but if anyone believes we are actually better with Tyler or the unknown in a much smaller Facey they're crazy......Having said that ultimately Ko will mix and match the depth of this team to get the job done......even Kromah will be part of the eventual void!

 

[Scot-e]

Agree with all of the above- in particular that we are

DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

[Palatine]

Others players are worse is a poor argument at best.

 

[Deleted member 3149]

Let's not forget, we beat a final four team last year without Enosch. I think their mascot was something stupid like a fruit.

 

[mauconnfan]

Let's not forget, we beat a final four team last year without Enosch. I think their mascot was something stupid like a fruit.

Just thinking we had a few good wins with him too!!

 

[mauconnfan]

DOOOOMMMMEEED I tell ya!

 

[Deleted member 3149]

Just thinking we had a few good wins with him too!!

very true. The NC State game would've been a blowout if it weren't for him keeping us in it.

 

[Waquoit]

Just thinking we had a few good wins with him too!!

But those don't count, you see.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

But those don't count, you see.

The point is, we had three season defining wins last year (I'm throwing @ Notre Dame in with Michigan State and Syracuse) and Wolf's combined stats in those games were 4 points and 3 rebounds in 20 minutes.

He was great against a lousy Wake Forest team. He was great in a losing effort against NC State. He put up decent numbers against Marquette and DePaul. And then there were a whole lot of games where we asked ourselves "where was the guy we saw against NC State?"

 

[pj]

Who are we worried about?

Kentucky in the Final Four.

 

[ctchamps]

I have no idea if Wolf will return or not. I'm still holding out hope.

I'm in the camp that believes he was more a contributor than a detriment as far as on the court was concerned.

Most of the players demonstrated significant improvement over the season including Nolan. I think this kid arguably made the greatest improvement of any player over the course of the season, although an argument could be made for DD.

Would I prefer Wolf back. Absolutely. Unless he would hurt team chemistry it would be better to have him as an option than not. Furthermore, we would get the opportunity to experience his importance as opposed to conjecture.

One concern outside of chemistry. Last season Wolf was, imo, given more wrongful fouls than any other UConn player. It was a throwback to Thabeet. Refs have some innate need to reduce a players physical advantage. My concern is that given Wolf's off the court problems, the refs would be even more unfair to him.
Still, I hope he choses to return.

 

[mauconnfan]

The point is, we had three season defining wins last year (I'm throwing @ Notre Dame in with Michigan State and Syracuse) and Wolf's combined stats in those games were 4 points and 3 rebounds in 20 minutes.

He was great against a lousy Wake Forest team. He was great in a losing effort against NC State. He put up decent numbers against Marquette and DePaul. And then there were a whole lot of games where we asked ourselves "where was the guy we saw against NC State?"

ND proved to be an overrated team too.........NC State was characterized as a tough inside match up, as tough as Mich State and certainly tougher than the Cuse inside..........the thing I'm saying is let's not try to prove any of our points in particular games it won't work.

 

[mauconnfan]

I have no idea if Wolf will return or not. I'm still holding out hope.

I'm in the camp that believes he was more a contributor than a detriment as far as on the court was concerned.

Most of the players demonstrated significant improvement over the season including Nolan. I think this kid arguably made the greatest improvement of any player over the course of the season, although an argument could be made for DD.

Would I prefer Wolf back. Absolutely. Unless he would hurt team chemistry it would be better to have him as an option than not. Furthermore, we would get the opportunity to experience his importance as opposed to conjecture.

One concern outside of chemistry. Last season Wolf was, imo, given more wrongful fouls than any other UConn player. It was a throwback to Thabeet. Refs have some innate need to reduce a players physical advantage. My concern is that given Wolf's off the court problems, the refs would be even more unfair to him.
Still, I hope he choses to return.

It really was obvious how many BS and phantom calls the guy got because he was the "big white guy" out there for the Huskies vs the athletic player/star for the opponent.......you are spot on fleudy as usual! And in a few of those games he came out, made shots, blocks and rebounded only to spend the rest of halves on the bench ruining any momentum out of the gates. I can't express any more as to why his numbers are both under and over rated!!

 

[selles]

Was he enough of an impact to feel we are in trouble? Probably not but if everyone (Nolan and TO) improved over the summer he would still be our best option wouldn't he. At 7' tall not 6'8 and 6'9 like the other 2 returning options, he already was a better option just clogging the middle.

I like Wolf's game more than most. But I can't agree that regardless of any improvement from Nolan and TO, Wolf would be our best option simply because of his height. You'd take 6'9" Rod Sellers over Wolf, wouldn't you? If in your hypothetical Nolan were to improve into Rod Sellers 2.0, he'd easily be a better option than Enosch.

Size doesn't guaranty paint-clogging ability. For his size, Wolf has always struck me as both surprisingly coordinated/athletic and surprisingly ineffective at controlling the paint.

 

[EricLA]

IIRC Wolf started the season slowly, then had a big game where everyone took notice, and suddenly his minutes went up quite a bit. After that he was solid with some great moments, but mostly really "just" solid. Then he was gone. And Nolan filled in. And he started slowly, never really had a big game, but certainly was serviceable in there.

My point is Nolan has had the whole summer to bulk up and work on his game. Would he have been as good as Wolf coming back? Most likely not, but it also gives the newbies a chance to really work their way into the rotation and earn some PT. I think Olander has hit his ceiling, so I wouldn't be surprised to see his minutes drop a bit in favor of the new guys coming in, especially if they are active and athletic.

Wolf was our best option last year - no doubt about it. But there is still a whole summer for them to work on their individual games and skills, and we really have till late October or early November before any decisions really need to be made.

Are we going to be a NC contender this year? No. Should we be ranked in the top 20 and end the season as a 4 seed in the NCAA's? I think that's realistic even given the "lack" of post strength. I'm really looking forward to this season!!

 

[mauconnfan]

I like Wolf's game more than most. But I can't agree that regardless of any improvement from Nolan and TO, Wolf would be our best option simply because of his height. You'd take 6'9" Rod Sellers over Wolf, wouldn't you? If in your hypothetical Nolan were to improve into Rod Sellers 2.0, he'd easily be a better option than Enosch.

Size doesn't guaranty paint-clogging ability. For his size, Wolf has always struck me as both surprisingly coordinated/athletic and surprisingly ineffective at controlling the paint.

Totally agree but at 7' he WAS our best option in absolutely every area. Defensively, offensively and taking up space.......I'll take Rod Sellers over him for sure by his jr/sr year but I didn't see him on the roster or a reasonable comparison. I did see a comparison though as a freshman in Nolan........Rod was very similar in raw athletic ability at that point!

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don't think anyone is saying we're better off with him as he was certainly a contributor, it's just a matter of quantifying how big of an impact he had.

I tend to think people underrated him and simply stating his avg pts and rebs doesn't do him justice.

I think he would have a similar impact this year to Charles Okwandu did in his senior season. Which was a good big body, that gave you good effort, solid D and the ability to alert shots.

It certainly isn't a deal breaker, but anytime you lose a contributor it's going to make things more difficult.

 

[CTBasketball]

It's all fun and games until we meet a team in the NCAA's that has 3 guys over 6'9" and over 225lbs. When we get out-rebounded by 40 and lose because Shabazz/Boat/everyone else aren't perfect, the Boneyard will still be hear bitching about how Shabazz and Boat take bad shots.

 

[mauconnfan]

ConnHuskBask did such a nice job summarizing this whole thread with this post above I think we can call this thread closed..........

 

[ConnHuskBask]

It's all fun and games until we meet a team in the NCAA's that has 3 guys over 6'9" and over 225lbs. When we get out-rebounded by 40 and lose because Shabazz/Boat/everyone else aren't perfect, the Boneyard will still be hear bitching about how Shabazz and Boat take bad shots.

First off, how many teams are going to be able to throw a front court like that against us?

Secondly, i don't recall people complaining about Bazz on here much at all. Everyone knows and recognizes he was our best player.

Third, people complain about boat taking bad shots, well, because he takes a lot of awful shots.

I gave Wolf props but Cuse was a big team that made the final 4 and we beat them without wolf. not sure what more evidence you would need to convince you otherwise. We still can win this thing!

 

[aceboon]

It's all fun and games until we meet a team in the NCAA's that has 3 guys over 6'9" and over 225lbs. When we get out-rebounded by 40 and lose because Shabazz/Boat/everyone else aren't perfect, the Boneyard will still be hear bitching about how Shabazz and Boat take bad shots.

We got outrebounded 49-21 against Prov with Wolf in the lineup, and then only outrebounded by 3 in the season finale when he was out, and that was without Omar and Giffey who are good rebounders for their positions. The rebounding issue wasn't as big as the season wore on, and Facey will be a better natural rebounder regardless of size. This legend building of Wolf that has gone on since it became apparent he wasn't coming back is one of the more bizarre episodes in Boneyard history.