Gilbert MUST Start on Monday

[JimHurley]

He's clearly our PG. I'd start Gilbert, Vital, Adams, Larrier, and I'm not sure on the fifth. Facey could grab a few boards but doesn't score. Brimah can block a few shots but can't score or rebound. Enoch just looks lost still. Hell, I might start Mamadou at the 5. Someone to play with a chip on his shoulder.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Come on....you don't actually believe this do you?

 

[uconngb]

Come on....you don't actually believe this do you?

Why not? Brimah, Facey and Rodney were complete no shows. Send them a message that kind of "effort" does not get rewarded. Realize this all sounds extreme after just one game, but it was our FIRST game and we just lost to Wagner. An early message has to be sent.

 

[mauconnfan]

AG, JA, RP, TL and AB....JA off the ball

 

[UConnTrumbull]

JA, AG, TL, Brimah and Facey. Rodney shouldn't be playing at all.

 

[mauconnfan]

JA, AG, TL, Brimah and Facey. Rodney shouldn't be playing at all.

Brimah and Facey in the game though together is 3 on 5 basketball on offense, just a crowd in the middle for the defense to stop the penetration. Maybe for 2 minutes for whatever reason but we can't play long with those 2 in the game. One only offensive rebounds the other hardly any. Need some changes, no problem with what you're thinking on Rodney he was a huge disappointment last night, maybe Vance gets a shot I don't know.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Part of why I'd consider starting Diarra is to get the point across to Brimah and Facey that their performance last night gets them put on the pine.

JC used the quick hook just for this point. One possession in to a game and you don't do your job? Welcome to the bench.

Part of the problem is no one has pushed Brimah and Facey to the bench. The next man up, earn your PT in practice, blah, blah, blah. Any player making a statement with their rebounding will get 20+ mpg every night.

 

[jdb50]

Facey and Brimah together does not work and yet Ollie started them. Since neither has an offensive game as a senior it just gives an advantage to our opponents. Our identity is not going to be successful with the slow lineup, we need to commit to a smaller lineup. If Purvis does not want to rebound then you may have to sit him as well.

 

[Athlete94]

I honestly forgot that they were playing last night. Look, this team has great talent. Ok, maybe great is an overstatement. One thing that is true, is this team is young and will need some real games to come together. We should not have lost last night yes, but it didn't surprise me. If they are still playing like this after Maui, then we will be in for a long season. I think we can tell a lot after that tournament with the talent we will face. At that point, hopefully KO has all the rotations figured out. I honestly believe he already had some rotation in mind but they are just not coming together yet. In the end, I think we will finish in the top 20 and with this young team, I think that would be an acceptable finish. Now, it could also go either way depending on the energy they bring game in and game out. That is to be determined. Let's not jump ship just yet and fire KO, etc.. However, if this season ends like last year, our AD needs to really take a hard look at the coaching future of most of our sports. Either way let's just sit back and see what the season brings. Go Huskies!

 

[LITfield]

From what I saw last night it seems like we need to give the keys to AG. Did he make some freshman mistakes? Yeah, but what I saw from him was a pg who can spark a team. Whenever AG was leading the point we seemed like a legit threat on offense. Once he gets a little more comfortable, that mid range pullup is going to drive opponents nuts. Combine that with his court vision and willingness to pass to his teammates and you have a star. Also on D, he seemed to have a better understanding of the rotations than I expected and you saw that boatright fight in him when he is gaurding his man. He stills needs to develop but by the end of the year I think he'll be the guy we are leaning on the most.

Orginally I was thinking this was guy was going to be JA, but it seems like he is back to his early freshman form. Whenever JA attacks on offense it almost seems like hes doing too much. He's forcing things that arent there and is always trying for the "pretty shot". To me it seems like he cares more about being on the sportscenter top 10 then if his team is winning. I think JA needs to defer to AG and work on getting simple, efficient, and GOOD looks. If he moves well off the ball there is bo doubt in my mind that AG will get it to him.

 

[mauconnfan]

From what I saw last night it seems like we need to give the keys to AG. Did he make some freshman mistakes? Yeah, but what I saw from him was a pg who can spark a team. Whenever AG was leading the point we seemed like a legit threat on offense. Once he gets a little more comfortable, that mid range pullup is going to drive opponents nuts. Combine that with his court vision and willingness to pass to his teammates and you have a star. Also on D, he seemed to have a better understanding of the rotations than I expected and you saw that boatright fight in him when he is gaurding his man. He stills needs to develop but by the end of the year I think he'll be the guy we are leaning on the most.

Orginally I was thinking this was guy was going to be JA, but it seems like he is back to his early freshman form. Whenever JA attacks on offense it almost seems like hes doing too much. He's forcing things that arent there and is always trying for the "pretty shot". To me it seems like he cares more about being on the sportscenter top 10 then if his team is winning. I think JA needs to defer to AG and work on getting simple, efficient, and GOOD looks. If he moves well off the ball there is bo doubt in my mind that AG will get it to him.

I think JA is a lot like Kemba at this point. Always played fast and was able to get away with it on prior levels. Now he needs to know when and where to use his God given speed as well as when to slow down. It took until half way through Kemba's soph year and the light went off in a big way and stayed on for good. Hoping this will be a similar process.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'm as down on them as anyone after yesterday but this "give the keys to Alterique" after one game against an NEC team is peak Boneyard.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Part of why I'd consider starting Diarra is to get the point across to Brimah and Facey that their performance last night gets them put on the pine.

JC used the quick hook just for this point. One possession in to a game and you don't do your job? Welcome to the bench.

Part of the problem is no one has pushed Brimah and Facey to the bench. The next man up, earn your PT in practice, blah, blah, blah. Any player making a statement with their rebounding will get 20+ mpg every night.

It's a vicious cycle, actually.

The bigs suck, so the new guys who are brought in don't get better by practicing against great bigs, and it just goes on and on. Armstrong and Boone got better by practicing against Okafor. Edwards got better by practicing against Adrien and Thabeet.

Brimah and Facey practiced against Olander and Nolan. Now Enoch has practiced against Brimah and Facey, and he doesn't look like the answer.

Hopefully Durham is talented enough on his own to break the cycle. And we absolutely need a stud big in the 2017 class.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm as down on them as anyone after yesterday but this "give the keys to Alterique" after one game against an NEC team is peak Boneyard.

Not sure why Crackman? I mean this isn't taking away the keys that Jalen has but instead sharing the set with 2 PG's one of who is more "true PG" than the other. And with his insertion we add a more skilled player to the 5 and get one out who is basically worthless. he had 3 rebounds by the way in his minimal minutes and would've out rebounded either of our bigs with more minutes so there is not loss, more of a gain.

This has little to do with JA's 4 for 15 as we know he will be fine but more to do with our history with the 2 PG system. Not sure we need to see much more of Kentan after 3 plus years, make the move he's fine coming off the bench as required.

Just trying to make this team as competitive as possible to line you up for your MSG stage in December and the boot again!

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Nothing wrong with diminishing Rodney's role when better players show up.

 

[AntG168]

I'm as down on them as anyone after yesterday but this "give the keys to Alterique" after one game against an NEC team is peak Boneyard.

No he's the only natural pg on the roster. It makes a lot of sense to start him and Jalen, with AG at point

 

[chiller99.5]

I think yanking Purvis when he gets out of control would provide him with more incentive when he is back on the court, not starting him will ruin his confidence and cause a divide in the team imho

 

[CTBasketball]

Rodney was our best player in March last year. Let's bench him because of one game, yes fantastic idea. Without Rodney we weren't even in the tournament last year.

Give the kid a break. What we do know is that he is very emotional out there, and that can work against you as well. He is Mr. Hot and Cold. But when you see he's not the hot hand, have to limit him. A hot-shooting Rodney is a great college basketball player.

You guys are all overreacting. He played A LOT worse last year in a handful of games, games which we won. The fact we lost makes him an easy scapegoat, and rightfully so. But if he had went 9-16 for 25 points, people would be here calling him a All-Conference 1st Team...

 

[Huskybass]

Maybe Rodney would do well in a 6th man role. If I were in KO's position, I would consider AG, JA, TL, KF and AB as the starting 5. Rodney might be a nice spark off the bench.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I would like to see a few minutes shaved off Adams's and Purvis's respective minutes in favor of Vital. Want to get a better idea of what we can expect from him; he was solid last night

 

[Tenspro2002]

Maybe Rodney would do well in a 6th man role. If I were in KO's position, I would consider AG, JA, TL, KF and AB as the starting 5. Rodney might be a nice spark off the bench.

The problem isn't getting Gilbert into the lineup and Purvis out of it. Anyone who wants to trot out a frontcourt of Larrier-Facey-Brimah is a slave to the concept of traditional positions and has no concept of modern basketball.

That lineup isn't going to score. If you want to say you're not giving up on Facey or Brimah, that's fine. But they can't play alongside each other, they just can't.

 

[mauconnfan]

I would like to see a few minutes shaved off Adams's and Purvis's respective minutes in favor of Vital. Want to get a better idea of what we can expect from him; he was solid last night

I think the kid may eventually earn this anyway Rick, I also like his potential a ton.

 

[intlzncster]

Not sure why Crackman? I mean this isn't taking away the keys that Jalen has but instead sharing the set with 2 PG's one of who is more "true PG" than the other. And with his insertion we add a more skilled player to the 5 and get one out who is basically worthless. he had 3 rebounds by the way in his minimal minutes and would've out rebounded either of our bigs with more minutes so there is not loss, more of a gain.

This has little to do with JA's 4 for 15 as we know he will be fine but more to do with our history with the 2 PG system. Not sure we need to see much more of Kentan after 3 plus years, make the move he's fine coming off the bench as required.

Purvis and Jalen played like crap. Do we expect them to play that way every game? I sure don't.

 

[Walker11]

Considering that AG played 35 minutes and initiated the offense, not sure that inserting him as the starting PG would be a cure all. He essentially already is. And Vital looked like he fits but I doubt we see clamoring to start him if his one bucket rims out and he goes 0-4.

 

[champs99and04]

Considering that AG played 35 minutes and initiated the offense, not sure that inserting him as the starting PG would be a cure all. He essentially already is. And Vital looked like he fits but I doubt we see clamoring to start him if his one bucket rims out and he goes 0-4.

The idea that we should bench Purvis for Vital after one game is truly "peak boneyard."