Hamilton at the four

[champs99and04]

Nothing against Facey, but you have to think that our best lineup consists of Boat, Purvis, Samuel/Omar, Hamilton, and Brimah, assuming we can stay even on the boards (which is a big if, granted). We're just much, much harder to guard with that look, and the Boat/Brimah pick-and-roll becomes potentially devastating when wing defenders can't cheat over and clog the lane.

If you have a constant rim-running threat rolling through the lane, surrounded by at least three guys (Purvis, Boat, Hamilton) who can drive, shoot, and in the case of the latter two, pass, this team becomes very hard to guard. If Omar is making shots, even better.

It's just one game, and Facey is still going to (deservedly) play plenty of minutes, but there's no denying how effective it was tonight. I'll be interested to see how much it's utilized going forward.

 

[noeynox]

Hamilton will get abused playing that position for extended minutes.. I know people want to see that look, and I do too, but Hamilton often doesn't block out, him at the four would put a lot of pressure for the guards and Brimah to rebound. Definately a looke I would use for about 5 minutes each half, but you tonight's game aside, Facey has been doing a lot of the dirty work, and against WVU he even showed some moves in the post.

 

[Chief00]

Hamilton will get abused playing that position for extended minutes.. I know people want to see that look, and I do too, but Hamilton often doesn't block out, him at the four would put a lot of pressure for the guards and Brimah to rebound. Definately a looke I would use for about 5 minutes each half, but you tonight's game aside, Facey has been doing a lot of the dirty work, and against WVU he even showed some moves in the post.

Quite frankly, KO has an NBA background and will play against the match-ups and defensive schemes presented in a game. After a game lets not extrapolate too much because it all depends. Having said that we needed to shoot much better as a team and we showed progress tonight. The game becomes easier when that happens.

 

[CallMeBruce]

We're a game out of Facey being our second-best player against the best team we're going to see all season, and already we want him back on the bench?

 

[caw]

Matchups.

You wouldn't want him at the four against Harrell, as an example.

 

[SaeHusky]

I do like Ham at the 4 against teams that play zone against us. Its all about the matchups. Im still a big Facey Fan

 

[champs99and04]

Matchups.

You wouldn't want him at the four against Harrell, as an example.

Match-ups will definitely dictate the lineups to a large degree. But I have to imagine that against most teams in the AAC, we can get by with Hamilton at the four. That's not to say he'll start at the four or even play his lions share of the minutes there, but I have to think he's going to play a lot of crunch-time minutes at the four this season.

 

[Chief00]

Hamilton will give KO flexibility. I still say I see a lot of Don Nelson influence with KO but he gives Brown and Daily much of the credit at the pro level.

 

[caw]

Match-ups will definitely dictate the lineups to a large degree. But I have to imagine that against most teams in the AAC, we can get by with Hamilton at the four. That's not to say he'll start at the four or even play his lions share of the minutes there, but I have to think he's going to play a lot of crunch-time minutes at the four this season.

A lot will also depend on if UConn has the lead or not. Fortunately, Ollie seems to be pretty good with rotations and matchups.

 

[mauconnfan]

We're a game out of Facey being our second-best player against the best team we're going to see all season, and already we want him back on the bench?

But now we're a game after him being our 6th best player. So while I like Kentan and agree he needs to play, he also needs to get more consistent and tougher in order for us not to look at other options. Dam at 4 against the right team provides us with some nice mismatches and more offense. And DHam is also a good rebounder, smart rebounder.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Wasn't there a poster saying back in the spring that we would be seeing some of Hamilton at the 4?

 

[HuskyBballFan]

Wasn't there a poster saying back in the spring that we would be seeing some of Hamilton at the 4?

There were dozens of them.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There were dozens of them.

LOL. No there were not. I will go dig up the thread later this morning when I have more time.

 

[husky91]

Probably, but in the tourney we have to play legit front courts, not most AAC ones.

Facey is the best option now unless Nolan or Lubin show something. Facey just needs to play D, rebound and hang around the basket and get some weak side shots and put backs.

Match-ups will definitely dictate the lineups to a large degree. But I have to imagine that against most teams in the AAC, we can get by with Hamilton at the four. That's not to say he'll start at the four or even play his lions share of the minutes there, but I have to think he's going to play a lot of crunch-time minutes at the four this season.

 

[Rico444]

Wasn't there a poster saying back in the spring that we would be seeing some of Hamilton at the 4?

I don't think there were too many people arguing against Hamilton playing SOME at the 4. It's all about the matchup.

 

[mauconnfan]

44 minutes, 4 rebounds and 2 points. Yale and Columbia.

He has along way to go. We loved what we saw against Duke but we need to see more. Why does that happen? He should be dominant vs the smaller Ivy foes should he not? I mean he is our best option most of the time but these numbers are somewhat scary. What happens? I know he didn't box out against Colby last night on a weak side rebound which was all his and instead turned into an easy put back. Again, I like the kid and believe he has the potential to be a nice player for UConn and at times is. But when yo can't get 8 and 7 against these teams with your size and athleticism you need to dig deep. He has to gain weight and get more physical. Let the athleticism do some of the work but not all of it, box out, work harder than the guy next to you in a different uniform. Because if you do you won't be a ghost against the Ivies!

 

[husky91]

Once we get to get tourney (positive thinking) we should have a defined 4 man rotation with RB, Purvis, DHam and Brimah. How they play and rotate will depend on matchups and how others are playing.

44 minutes, 4 rebounds and 2 points. Yale and Columbia.

He has along way to go. We loved what we saw against Duke but we need to see more. Why does that happen? He should be dominant vs the smaller Ivy foes should he not? I mean he is our best option most of the time but these numbers are somewhat scary. What happens? I know he didn't box out against Colby last night on a weak side rebound which was all his and instead turned into an easy put back. Again, I like the kid and believe he has the potential to be a nice player for UConn and at times is. But when yo can't get 8 and 7 against these teams with your size and athleticism you need to dig deep. He has to gain weight and get more physical. Let the athleticism do some of the work but not all of it, box out, work harder than the guy next to you in a different uniform. Because if you do you won't be a ghost against the Ivies!

 

[mauconnfan]

No doubt, not saying we start DHam at the 4 but if we can't begin to get some consistency in KF's game we will need to play DHam down there. The key is we NEED Kentan to play more like Duke more often because we're a better team then.

 

[husky91]

Part of his Duke stats were due to Brimah being off the floor, he didn't score outside of 3 feet. He doesn't have a "game" per se, he is just active around the basket. There is no consistency to that in a sense, some games he'll get more opportunities than others based on shots, misses and other factors.

No doubt, not saying we start DHam at the 4 but if we can't begin to get some consistency in KF's game we will need to play DHam down there. The key is we NEED Kentan to play more like Duke more often because we're a better team then.

 

[Gurleyman]

The biggest trade off is obviously on the boards, but with a bit of a domino effect. Hamilton is an outstanding rebounder from the 3, when our 4 and 5 can stalemate the other bigs and DHam can fly in aggressively and be first to the ball. When Hamilton has to lock in physically with another big, he's not strong enough and gets neutralized. And then we don't have a good rebounding 3 to fly in, which leaves us with sub par rebounders at the 3-4-5 (we already don't have a good rebounding 5, and that's not fixable). We can overcome that against certain teams, but against physical front lines, we're running the risk of looking up fromm under the backboard as the other team plays volleyball until they score or we foul.

But we played against Iowa State, Kentucky and Florida in key minutes down the stretch with DD and Giffey at the 4-5 - by making shots and doing just enough on the boards. So if the DHam at the 4 unit can shoot like they did yesterday, they can force other teams to adjust.

 

[mauconnfan]

Part of his Duke stats were due to Brimah being off the floor, he didn't score outside of 3 feet. He doesn't have a "game" per se, he is just active around the basket. There is no consistency to that in a sense, some games he'll get more opportunities than others based on shots, misses and other factors.

What I think we saw is he's more of an impact in transition, following shots etc, but not as much when set on the half court. He'll figure it out.

 

[husky91]

Yes, I think for this year he'll play this style. Next year hit weights and come back 6-9 230lbs with a post game and range to 12 feet

What I think we saw is he's more of an impact in transition, following shots etc, but not as much when set on the half court. He'll figure it out.

 

[James]

at the end of the day facey is going to need to be an effective jump shooter or driver for this team to succeed. I also want brimah to fade more on screens, mix it up with his rolls. he is a legit jumpshooter and we could use that extra O.

 

[champs99and04]

at the end of the day facey is going to need to be an effective jump shooter or driver for this team to succeed. I also want brimah to fade more on screens, mix it up with his rolls. he is a legit jumpshooter and we could use that extra O.

It seems like none of the talk over the offseason about him draining threes in practice ever really materialized. I wasn't expecting him to be DeAndre Daniels or anything, but he rarely even looks to shoot and when he does it's reluctantly.

 

[husky91]

This won't happen this season. Next year maybe and by his Sr. year he should be a good player. He's in a tough spot though, he's 6-9 200lbs. That's really a 3's body, yet he has no skills whatsoever.

Does he reasonably think or what to play the 3 or the 4? Will be interesting to watch.

at the end of the day facey is going to need to be an effective jump shooter or driver for this team to succeed. I also want brimah to fade more on screens, mix it up with his rolls. he is a legit jumpshooter and we could use that extra O.