Hidden News -- Dan Guest

[noeynox]

If his hands are as big as Kahwi Leonard's we have ourselves a player with really big hands.

 

[Gurleyman]

If his hands are as big as Kahwi Leonard's we have ourselves a player with really big hands.

He hasn't had big hands at altitude though - not the same thing.

 

[CAHUSKY]

"he is not that good". You should hold that thought you haven't seen him play in a very long time. I'll go on record he is a better basketball player than rj evans. he much more athletic, and while rj was a better hs player ; his shooting left him when he was in storrs. Guest also has huge hands and is a superior ball handler.

Come on. RJ averaged over 13pts and 5 boards at Holy Cross before getting significant minutes at UConn.

 

[Fishy]

Guest was actually on the roster last season, so we're really not welcoming him - I'm pretty sure he was eligible to play, too. He was #24. He's not in the preseason media guide, but if you look through some of the releases in the second semester, you'll see him....but I think he's been a practice player for at least a year and a half.

I did get a kick out of ESPN installing him as our new center, though.

 

[Pudge]

Better than R.J. Evans?

How could this be true?

Evans was a starter and key contributor for Holy Cross. A proven ballplayer. I guess Guest was recruited to GW (a higher level); but, he really never made his presence in the lineup. Evans was a good college player ... and a decent contributor at our level. Guest CAN play at UConn; in an emergency & practice situation. Beyond Lenehan? Beyond Amilo? sure. And EJ Harrison? maybe.

See ... all without seeing him: I have all your answers.

 

[Kembacity]

I wish he was a big to give our thin front line some more practice, but its good that we have a walk on with some experience and skills. Having a solid defender will definitely help prepare our guys in practice even a little more

 

[gwhuskyfan]

I saw him play at GW when I was a student there. The coaching switch really hurt him. Think he's between walk-on level and RJ Evans level. Don't expect him to be much of a contributor on this team. Would really surprise me if he ever saw the court.

 

[CTBasketball]

Doing a favor...

 

[warbler1055]

I have to believe that if Dan Guest is on the team then Kevin Ollie will make him play out of the capability he thought he had!!!! Anyway, 10 scholarship players is thin for a defending champion who wants to repeat.

 

[8893]

So you're saying he's the Yugo in our garage?

 

[Husky25]

Where's our resident G-Dub expert to give fans a true 1st hand opinion?

A team typically doesn't go more than eight deep, when all is said and done. So having only ten true (read: recruited) scholarship players is not necessarily a bad thing. By the end of last year, UConn played Bazz, Boat, Giffey, Daniels, Brimah, Samuel, Nolan, and Kromah.

On the other hand, UConn lost 4 key contributors and 5 additional fouls in the front court. So it'd be nice for Ollie to have more pieces in order to see which combinations work the best.

Though Guest is something more than just a walk-on and is probably a great asset in practice, he will probably only lead the offense in junk time and won't get as many minutes as RJ Evans got in 2012-13.

Without any direct knowledge, I'd guess we'll see, Boatright, Purvis, Calhoun, Nolan, and Brimah to start the preseason, with Samuel, Hamilton, and Facey (who hopefully can provide more than the 5 fouls that Olander did) the first three off the bench. Cassell Jr. and Lubin will get some time as well in the early going, but by the time late February rolls around, we'll see a combination of eight players out those ten get the vast majority of minutes.

 

[businesslawyer]

I saw him play at GW when I was a student there. The coaching switch really hurt him. Think he's between walk-on level and RJ Evans level. Don't expect him to be much of a contributor on this team. Would really surprise me if he ever saw the court.

Yes, between RJ Evans level and walk on level is correct. But with ten schollie players, I find it hard to believe that at some point in the season a "next man up" who can give you eight to ten minutes without killing you won't be useful.

 

[Husky25]

Yes, between RJ Evans level and walk on level is correct. But with ten schollie players, I find it hard to believe that at some point in the season a "next man up" who can give you eight to ten minutes without killing you won't be useful.

Given his experience, he's probably more useful than Lenehan, but 2-4 game minutes (which is about 8-10 minutes of real time) is probably more like it.

 

[aceboon]

Yes, between RJ Evans level and walk on level is correct. But with ten schollie players, I find it hard to believe that at some point in the season a "next man up" who can give you eight to ten minutes without killing you won't be useful.

I get the whole "10 scholarship" thing, but he's behind 6 players for 3 spots, if it even gets to the point where he has to get minutes in a next man up situation then I'm going to guess the ebola virus has invaded the campus. I would love to have the full allotment of schollies filled, but imo its about the number of guys you have that can actually play and be a part of a rotation, and personally I feel that we should have at least 9 guys who can play, and it could expand to the full 10 depending on if Rock is up to par(I'm giving the advantage to Facey based on KO's words.) If you get to the point where the RJ Evans or Dan Guests types are having to log heavy minutes due to injuries/defections, then the season is kind of lost anyway.