Historical Comparisons for Our Current Players

[Tenspro2002]

Since there's a great deal of uncertainty concerning our current roster and how they project going forward, I thought it might be an interesting exercise to try to identify historical UConn players comparable to the guys we have now. The idea is to consider their entire career trajectory as a whole (e.g. I think sophomore Hilton Armstrong was the best comparison to sophomore Brimah and expect their careers to play out similarly). Here are my thoughts, and I'm curious what names others would list instead.

Samuel
Donnell Beverly
Taliek Brown (with worse handle, court vision, and passing ability)

Cassell
Scottie Haralson
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel
Brian Fair

Purvis
Dyson
Tony Robertson

Hamilton
Hamilton (heh)

Lubin
Mike Hayes
Eric Hayward

Facey
Majok
Gavin Edwards

Nolan
Antric Klaiber

Brimah
Hilton Armstrong (this isn't a great comparison, but having a hard time identifying someone; everyone will want to say Thabeet, but no.)

2015 Recruits
Adams
Khalid (I hope)
Shabazz (I hope)

Enoch
Hilton Armstrong (with a better outside game) [little bit of a guess on this]


One thing that jumps out is that if the comparisons are reasonable, this is a pretty good starting backcourt and a decent bench, if those guys are restricted to their given roles. The frontcourt is not good though, except under the most optimistic comparisons.

 

[BrassBonanza]

I think Phil is more like Gavin Edwards than Antric, at least I hope his senior year is more like Gavin's. I want equate Facey to Marcus White - again I hope he is Marcus White on the boards next year.

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm struggling to come up with a 2-guard for Purvis. I think he possesses Dyson's ability to get to the rack, but better shooting than JD ever had. But he's not as good a defender. He strikes me as somewhat unique. He's like a homeless man's Ray Allen. They're not in the same league shooting wise (particularly at the FT line), but college Ray could get into the paint more than late-NBA Ray could.

As for Hamilton, I see him more like Butler, with less of an inside game and more of the play-making ability of Henefeld. Again, his skills strike me as a bit unique.

 

[3rdbass]

I think Phil is more like Gavin Edwards than Antric, at least I hope his senior year is more like Gavin's. I want equate Facey to Marcus White - again I hope he is Marcus White on the boards next year.

LoL no antric Klaiber is his best comparison. They were both clumsy athletes.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think Phil is more like Gavin Edwards than Antric, at least I hope his senior year is more like Gavin's. I want equate Facey to Marcus White - again I hope he is Marcus White on the boards next year.

Gavin Edwards is like a 98th percentile outcome for senior year Nolan.

I'm not sure about Marcus White, since he wasn't around long enough to figure out, but another comparison for Facey I just thought of might be an Edmund Saunders minus the toughness and swagger.

 

[3rdbass]

I'm struggling to come up with a 2-guard for Purvis. I think he possesses Dyson's ability to get to the rack, but better shooting than JD ever had. But he's not as good a defender. He strikes me as somewhat unique. He's like a homeless man's Ray Allen. They're not in the same league shooting wise (particularly at the FT line), but college Ray could get into the paint more than late-NBA Ray could.

As for Hamilton, I see him more like Butler, with less of an inside game and more of the play-making ability of Henefeld. Again, his skills strike me as a bit unique.

I think Dyson comparison is pretty good. RP is a really good on the ball defender. JD was a better athlete as far as jumping ability for sure though but they are both very streaky shooters. JD was actually pretty good assist man which RP doesn't have at all.

 

[tzznandrew]

I think Dyson comparison is pretty good. RP is a really good on the ball defender. JD was a better athlete as far as jumping ability for sure though but they are both very streaky shooters. JD was actually pretty good assist man which RP doesn't have at all.

Eh. Dyson shot 31.8% from 3 on 424 attempts.
Purvis so far has shot 36.9% on 219.

I'd bet Purvis' percentage keeps going up. There's generally a natural progression.

 

[3rdbass]

Eh. Dyson shot 31.8% from 3 on 424 attempts.
Purvis so far has shot 36.9% on 219.

I'd bet Purvis' percentage keeps going up. There's generally a natural progression.

Well there is no perfect comparison out there for many of these guys but I think JD is pretty comparable myself. You don't think RP was streaky? JD definitely had his moments where he would make 3-5 3 pts a game. RP might be a better shooter and JD a better athlete but they are pretty close comparison.

 

[tzznandrew]

Well there is no perfect comparison out there for many of these guys but I think JD is pretty comparable myself. You don't think RP was streaky? JD definitely had his moments where he would make 3-5 3 pts a game. RP might be a better shooter and JD a better athlete but they are pretty close comparison.

I think there's some comparison. Both are strong guards who prefer to get to the rim.

I think Purvis is a substantially better shooter--and as a taller player, I think he has a much higher ceiling (not something you were talking about, to be fair).

I think his junior year blows away anything JD did. I think if Ollie has his way, and we can get some inside scoring, our offense with Adams and Hamilton facilitating is going to be deadly.

 

[Tenspro2002]

As for Hamilton, I see him more like Butler, with less of an inside game and more of the play-making ability of Henefeld. Again, his skills strike me as a bit unique.

That's a good point. D. Hamilton thrives more with the ball in his hands -- as a scorer or a distributor -- while R. Hamilton thrived off the ball. D. Hamilton doesn't have the toughness of a guy like Caron though.

In fact, that seems to be a trend for a lot of the current roster -- the toughness and confidence that defined previous UConn greats and role players just isn't there for a lot of these guys.

 

[CTBasketball]

I think there's some comparison. Both are strong guards who prefer to get to the rim.

I think Purvis is a substantially better shooter--and as a taller player, I think he has a much higher ceiling (not something you were talking about, to be fair).

I think his junior year blows away anything JD did. I think if Ollie has his way, and we can get some inside scoring, our offense with Adams and Hamilton facilitating is going to be deadly.

That Adams - Purvis - Hamilton lineup will be deadly you're right. Especially if Purvis plays with an elevated level of confidence (think both SMU games) and if Adams can come in and just be consistent. Hamilton will be a stud. Put Brimah and Nolan back together with an improved Facey off the bench and we're looking at a borderline top 25 team. Probably won't get ranked tho, we'll have to earn it.

 

[UConnfan8]

I stopped reading this when Terrence Samuel was compared to Taliek Brown.