Hard questions

[James]

This is a completely different team with DeAndre Daniels on it. When he declared for the draft, our one legitimate pick and pop threat evaporated into the air. I don't think it's possible to overstate just how much the complexion of the offense changes with him on the court - rather than Facey or Lubin clogging up the lane, another defender has to be committed to the three point line which opens up room for Purvis and Hamilton, making their ball-handling deficiencies less hurtful.

Not to mention, Daniels was a better defensive player than Facey is now. Facey doesn't really protect the rim at all and he sometimes gets lost in pick and roll defense. Daniels was way more valuable on that end than people remember.

Even if Daniels was virtually the same player he was last year (which I find unlikely after he destroyed everybody in the tournament), you'd have to pencil him in for around 15 and 7 a night. That's the difference between this team being where they are now and a 16-4 type squad.

the talent drop from facey daniels is often overstated, and i would declare it the main reason why we are struggling, no DOUBT. people are clamoring for more talent on the roster, asking for KO's head because they seem to think he has lackadaisical recruiting prowess. Insert the versatile DD into this squad and he is our best player 100%. Getting your 'best player' back changes EVERYTHING.

And please , with the whole "dd was inconsistent throughout the year blah blah blah he wouldn't have offered anything". look at his season numbers they were fantastic, he got his niche LATE in the season and was scintillating. I can't believe this mofo 'cheeky' ( he isn't cheeky in the uk sense,just an asinine poster) denigrated DD to guy who only thrived because of napier or boat passes... watch the tape. Its not about how many of his threes were assisted, he killed it for us when it mattered vs some of the best/ well coached teams in the country.AND to boot senior DD would be different than junior DD, and thats not even a leap in thinking.


This brings to me to a topic germane to the convo, of whether DD should have declared early, i really have turned and started to believe he should have stayed, but kind of in a selfish way. just so he can help UCONN, not necessarily his pro prospects. therefore i can't be mad at all at his move.

 

[James]

You must of forgot his very inconsistent play during the season. I can't deny he was a big part of are championship run, but the kid was absent many games. We absolutely need another ball handler above all.

i disagree ... above a ball handler, we need a guy over 6'6 who can get buckets. in the mid range, on the block,off pick n pop, in transition and semi transition. we need scoring from wing positions.

People are misinterperting a flaw, we dont need 'ball handling'... as a team we need to increase our overall PASSING TALENT. we need to become a better PASSING team its that simple. prospects on our current roster haven't developed that. especially calhoun facey purvis. our offense looks like guys come to games and meet for the first time, its like they are playing pick up at the park. but the physical talent lets us be above average defensively. And KO isnt a guy who can jumpstart an offensive philosophy IMO, thats not his territory. last year he had a prodigious offensive college talent in napier. KO needs the personnel or his current guys need to really work on their overall feel on offense (KO is however an genius defensive mind as a coach),the bs live ball Turnovers we have are straight up abhorrent

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We lost two recruiting classes in the handoff from Calhoun to Ollie, and I put that 100% on Manuel.

 

[Fishy]

1993, 1997, 2001, 2007, 2010...

it's called prime-time inexperience and youth.

Now, your first #6 (which should have been #1) could very well accelerate this cycle, as recruiting is certainly suffering due to it.

This team isn't remotely as talented as the ones you're citing - not even in the same orbit.

Cassell, Samuel, Brimah, Nolan, Lubin...projecting our current three-star players to the teams above, maybe Brimah carves out a role on some of the rosters and perhaps benefits from the additional talent around him, but the other four aren't on the team.

1992-93...Ollie, Fair, Donny Marshall, Donnyell Marshall, Torraino Walker (for 30 seconds), Burrell, Hayward.

1996-97...Rip, Ricky, Rash, Freeman, Kirk King, Jake, Hardnett, Klaiber

2000-01...Taliek, Caron, Mouring, Robertson, Saunders, Cox, Deng, Wane

2006-2007...Adrien, Austrie, Dyson, Edwards, Johnson, Kelly, Price, Robinson, Thabeet, Wiggins

2009-2010...Dyson, Edwards, Majok, Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Beverly, Kemba, Okwandu, Darius Smith.

 

[joober jones]

This team isn't remotely as talented as the ones you're citing - not even in the same orbit.

Cassell, Samuel, Brimah, Nolan, Lubin...projecting our current three-star players to the teams above, maybe Brimah carves out a role as a reserve, but the other four aren't on the team.

I think Samuel probably could've made the '07 roster if Ben Eaves could do it. I'm pretty much in agreement about everything else though.

 

[RMoore1999]

This team isn't remotely as talented as the ones you're citing - not even in the same orbit.

Cassell, Samuel, Brimah, Nolan, Lubin...projecting our current three-star players to the teams above, maybe Brimah carves out a role on some of the rosters and perhaps benefits from the additional talent around him, but the other four aren't on the team.

1992-93...Ollie, Fair, Donny Marshall, Donnyell Marshall, Torraino Walker (for 30 seconds), Burrell, Hayward.

1996-97...Rip, Ricky, Rash, Freeman, Kirk King, Jake, Hardnett, Klaiber

2000-01...Taliek, Caron, Mouring, Robertson, Saunders, Cox, Deng, Wane

2006-2007...Adrien, Austrie, Dyson, Edwards, Johnson, Kelly, Price, Robinson, Thabeet, Wiggins

2009-2010...Dyson, Edwards, Majok, Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Beverly, Kemba, Okwandu, Darius Smith.

The overall talent on this team without a doubt is below UConn standard. But it's also inexperienced. Bazz, Boat, DD and Niels collectivity had loads of real game experience going into last year.

But more to the point, what really amazes me is how JC was able to recruit in the immediate aftermath of a post-season ban with a league schedule comprised of ECU, UCF, Tulsa, USF etc.

If only he could have played Cuse, LSVL, Pitt, GTown, Vill etc in prime time on ESPN, or could dangle MSG every postseason, imagine how much better recruiting would have been for him.

Ollie hasn't distinguished himself this year, but far and away, our talent acquisition inadequacies stem from our home in the AAC dumpster fire, not KO.

 

[pnow15]

This team isn't remotely as talented as the ones you're citing - not even in the same orbit.

Cassell, Samuel, Brimah, Nolan, Lubin...projecting our current three-star players to the teams above, maybe Brimah carves out a role on some of the rosters and perhaps benefits from the additional talent around him, but the other four aren't on the team.

1992-93...Ollie, Fair, Donny Marshall, Donnyell Marshall, Torraino Walker (for 30 seconds), Burrell, Hayward.

1996-97...Rip, Ricky, Rash, Freeman, Kirk King, Jake, Hardnett, Klaiber

2000-01...Taliek, Caron, Mouring, Robertson, Saunders, Cox, Deng, Wane

2006-2007...Adrien, Austrie, Dyson, Edwards, Johnson, Kelly, Price, Robinson, Thabeet, Wiggins

2009-2010...Dyson, Edwards, Majok, Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Beverly, Kemba, Okwandu, Darius Smith.

The overall talent on this team without a doubt is below UConn standard. But it's also inexperienced. Bazz, Boat, DD and Niels collectivity had loads of real game experience going into last year.

But more to the point, what really amazes me is how JC was able to recruit in the immediate aftermath of a post-season ban with a league schedule comprised of ECU, UCF, Tulsa, USF etc.

If only he could have played Cuse, LSVL, Pitt, GTown, Vill etc in prime time on ESPN, or could dangle MSG every postseason, imagine how much better recruiting would have been for him.

Ollie hasn't distinguished himself this year, but far and away, our talent acquisition inadequacies stem from our home in the AAC dumpster fire, not KO.

Lets see how the so called "Dumpster" teams finish out this year. Tulsa and SMU and Cincy could make runs in the NCAA.

 

[Cheeky]

Were debating whether a player who dominated the NCAA tourney, was a 2nd rd. NBA draft pick and plays a position we are solely lacking would make this team better? Really?

No. He'd clearly make us better. The question is - how much better?

I maintain that his game was dependent on having the best PG, the best 2nd point guard, and the best 3 point shooter in the nation on the perimeter.

If DD was on this team and he touched the ball, then the defense would double or trap and force him to pass it. So he wouldn't be nearly as effective as last year.

But that should be obvious. A guy like Napier makes everybody better. Much better.

 

[CallMeBruce]

No. He'd clearly make us better. The question is - how much better?

I maintain that his game was dependent on having the best PG, the best 2nd point guard, and the best 3 point shooter in the nation on the perimeter.

If DD was on this team and he touched the ball, then the defense would double or trap and force him to pass it. So he wouldn't be nearly as effective as last year.

But that should be obvious. A guy like Napier makes everybody better. Much better.

If the defense is set up to double team Daniels, they can't also double team Boatright. Having another weapon like Daniels would have had a huge impact on this team.

 

[pnow15]

No. He'd clearly make us better. The question is - how much better?

I maintain that his game was dependent on having the best PG, the best 2nd point guard, and the best 3 point shooter in the nation on the perimeter.

If DD was on this team and he touched the ball, then the defense would double or trap and force him to pass it. So he wouldn't be nearly as effective as last year.

But that should be obvious. A guy like Napier makes everybody better. Much better.

It probably cost Toronto at least a million dollars for DD services. DD was not paid a million dollars because Bazz hit a few jumpers.

 

[selles]

This team isn't remotely as talented as the ones you're citing - not even in the same orbit.

Cassell, Samuel, Brimah, Nolan, Lubin...projecting our current three-star players to the teams above, maybe Brimah carves out a role on some of the rosters and perhaps benefits from the additional talent around him, but the other four aren't on the team.

1992-93...Ollie, Fair, Donny Marshall, Donnyell Marshall, Torraino Walker (for 30 seconds), Burrell, Hayward.

1996-97...Rip, Ricky, Rash, Freeman, Kirk King, Jake, Hardnett, Klaiber

2000-01...Taliek, Caron, Mouring, Robertson, Saunders, Cox, Deng, Wane

2006-2007...Adrien, Austrie, Dyson, Edwards, Johnson, Kelly, Price, Robinson, Thabeet, Wiggins

2009-2010...Dyson, Edwards, Majok, Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Beverly, Kemba, Okwandu, Darius Smith.

This is a tremendous overstatement. First, three of those three-star guys played meaningful minutes on a national championship team, so I don't see how you can say that on our worst teams Brimah 'maybe' carves out a role and 'the other four aren't on the team'.

Second, do you have really sparkling memories of Cox, Klaiber Darius Smith, Trice, Deng, Dion Carson, Curtis Kelly, Cupp Cormier, Wiggins, et als when they were wearing Husky blue and white? As rough as it's been at times this year, is Terrence Samuel really a downgrade from Cormier? You don't think Lubin can reach the epic heights of Antric Klaiber? Nolan makes you yearn for Mandeldove? You wouldn't take Cassell over Darius Smith?

Third, we know a lot of the guys you listed were talented because of what they did in future years, not what they did for these teams. If you took a snapshot after any of those seasons, our opinions would be entirely different. In 1992-1993, Ollie was a below average point with no jumper and a frail frame, Donyell Marshall was a guy who had clear potential but lacked the ability to put it all together and put the team on his back, Donny Marshall was an undersized energy guy with no special talent. "Rickety Moore" had an absolutely horiffic year in 1996-97, Taliek had a lot of the same limitations as Samuel in 2000-2001, sophomore Kemba gave no indication at all of the degree to which he'd explode as a junior. You could say similar things about a number of the other guys.

Everything's become so cataclysmic around here. It's exhausting.

 

[BUConn10]

Unrelated, and Im making zero inferences here, just that I saw this on ESPN and thought you guys might like to read it. Its an ESPN article about how common negative recruiting has become in college football with testimonies from anonymous Head Coaches. I wonder if this applies to college basketball and what other rival coaches have said to a recruit about Calhoun/Ollie over the last 5 years.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/r...d/12249013/coaches-go-art-negative-recruiting

 

[Fishy]

I would wager a guess that UConn hockey helped to limit the available Saturday dates at the HCC.

Nope.

 

[Fishy]

This is a tremendous overstatement. First, three of those three-star guys played meaningful minutes on a national championship team, so I don't see how you can say that on our worst teams Brimah 'maybe' carves out a role and 'the other four aren't on the team'.

Second, do you have really sparkling memories of Cox, Klaiber Darius Smith, Trice, Deng, Dion Carson, Curtis Kelly, Cupp Cormier, Wiggins, et als when they were wearing Husky blue and white? As rough as it's been at times this year, is Terrence Samuel really a downgrade from Cormier? You don't think Lubin can reach the epic heights of Antric Klaiber? Nolan makes you yearn for Mandeldove? You wouldn't take Cassell over Darius Smith?

Third, we know a lot of the guys you listed were talented because of what they did in future years, not what they did for these teams. If you took a snapshot after any of those seasons, our opinions would be entirely different. In 1992-1993, Ollie was a below average point with no jumper and a frail frame, Donyell Marshall was a guy who had clear potential but lacked the ability to put it all together and put the team on his back, Donny Marshall was an undersized energy guy with no special talent. "Rickety Moore" had an absolutely horiffic year in 1996-97, Taliek had a lot of the same limitations as Samuel in 2000-2001, sophomore Kemba gave no indication at all of the degree to which he'd explode as a junior. You could say similar things about a number of the other guys.

Everything's become so cataclysmic around here. It's exhausting.

Just stop.

There was no question even at the time that those rosters were reloading.

This one isn't.

 

[BlueDogs]

I think Fishy pretty much nailed it on the head. Something just isn't right. What I watched yesterday was not UConn basketball. It was embarrassing and brought me back to KOs introductory pressor, when he said that "we play for the name on the front of the jersey". Outside of Boatright(and maybe Dham), no one else came even close to that yesterday.
I knew that long term getting shut out of the P5 would cripple the UConn athletic department. I felt then that UConn had a 5-10 year window for that to happen. I now feel that window is much smaller. As Fishy stated, "this is a very dangerous time for UConn athletics."

Yup. AAC will destroy UConn athletics. Year over year it will get progressively harder to recruit top level talent. The UConn leadership needs to do anything possible to get the hell out of this death spiral and into a P5, even if it has to be heavily subsidized. Otherwise, expect a lot more seasons like this all around. Even women hoops will be taking a hit over time. Mark my words. I hope the state recognizes that UConn sports is a major industry here, and they are letting it go to seed.

 

[whaler11]

Nope.

It's all TV? Ouch.

 

[UCweCONN]

I have a terrible fear that soon UCONN Hoops = UCONN Football. Men's hoops anyway.

 

[Crossbones]

If, as you claim, that the AAC will destroy UConn athletics, that doesn't speak well for your program.

 

[mauconnfan]

If, as you claim, that the AAC will destroy UConn athletics, that doesn't speak well for your program.

Thank you for your interest in UConn basketball, program of champions!

Next

 

[Crossbones]

Thank you for your interest in UConn basketball, program of champions!

Next

I suppose that now that UCONN is in the AAC that slogan needs to be changed to "UConn basketball, program of has beens"

 

[mauconnfan]

I suppose that now that UCONN is in the AAC that slogan needs to be changed to "UConn basketball, program of has beens"

Intelligent response, but obviously if you knew anything about college hoops most said the same after the APR ban. How'd you like that NCAA tourney last year after we were said to be done moron boy? GFY

 

[Cheeky]

DD was not paid a million dollars because Bazz hit a few jumpers.

It must have been hard to watch the NCAA's with your head so far up your @ss that you'd describe what happened as "Bazz hit a few jumpers."

Bazz hit balls-in-your-neck jumpers virtually every game down the stretch. He was the 2014 Huskies. Without him, we don't finish 500. He made everybody substantially better, and any person who doesn't get that is a moron. If Bazz wasn't on the team, you can cut Daniel's numbers in half.

 

[pnow15]

. There is some serious money behind SMU. US Treasury funds Navy.

It must have been hard to watch the NCAA's with your head so far up your @ss that you'd describe what happened as "Bazz hit a few jumpers."

Bazz hit balls-in-your-neck jumpers virtually every game down the stretch. He was the 2014 Huskies. Without him, we don't finish 500. He made everybody substantially better, and any person who doesn't get that is a moron. If Bazz wasn't on the team, you can cut Daniel's numbers in half.

DD went to individual workouts with teams. His draft position and contract has nothing to do with Bazz. He was drafted on his own talent.
How dumb to you think NBA execs are? It doesn't matter who feeds him the ball. Can he hit the open three, can he put the ball down and get to the rim, can he defend his own position? This has nothing to do with Bazz.

 

[nomar]

maybe Brimah carves out a role on some of the rosters

I know I'm cherry-picking here, but that is nuts. Brimah would be the best backup center on any team in UConn history.

 

[Crossbones]

Intelligent response, but obviously if you knew anything about college hoops most said the same after the APR ban. How'd you like that NCAA tourney last year after we were said to be done moron boy? GFY

Moron Boy!? You're the one who failed to pick up my subtle sarcasm mocking the folks on this board who think that UCONN's success is dependent on what conference it is in. UCONN has the pedigree, history and fan passion that can keep the success coming. They just need to make sure they have a good coach in place and schedule top OOC competition to maximize competition and exposure.