Honest question- Do we have enough rebounding to be bulletproof

[Deleted at users request]

Good question. Another important one: who guards the opponents best perimeter player? Having castle was a cheat code.

Castle and Clingan helped us hold every team except one to 60 and under in the tournament.

The only team that scored above had to shoot 50% from 3 just to score 72 (and it was still under the Vegas spread )

We were a generationally great defensive team.

For reference:

09’ held one team to under 60
04’ had 3 teams score 70
99’ had 4 teams score above 60

 

[Deleted at users request]

Also, where is all this Diarra talk coming from?

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Love what Hurley is doing this off-season. Our team is based now on high iq selfless offense, tight lockdown man defense and pushing in transition after misses. We had Clingan, and 3 big guards who were eager to rebound, plus AK who always was dependable with boxing out and getting some big boards. Our transition game was deadly, but thats predicated on stops and rebounding

As the roster is being constructed, do we have enough team rebounding? We've got our Johnson/Reed tandem, but if Alex doesn't come back, our 3rd biggest guy to get minutes is Jaylin or Abraham/Ross (assuming they get into rotation). Hass is a dog and Solo's got ups, but our guards are undersized. Both top portal targets are slight of build as well. Makes me think maybe Shulga would be nice alternative to Mahaney

Could this be our biggest potential weakness from being bulletproof? I know Hurley will coach them up to run through walls & show the effort on D and the boards, but I wonder how we would fair on the boards against an old school Huggins Cincy team for instance

Simple answer no, but a lack of rebounding didn’t stop Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer, and Marvin Delph from reaching a Final Four.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Love what Hurley is doing this off-season. Our team is based now on high iq selfless offense, tight lockdown man defense and pushing in transition after misses. We had Clingan, and 3 big guards who were eager to rebound, plus AK who always was dependable with boxing out and getting some big boards. Our transition game was deadly, but thats predicated on stops and rebounding

As the roster is being constructed, do we have enough team rebounding? We've got our Johnson/Reed tandem, but if Alex doesn't come back, our 3rd biggest guy to get minutes is Jaylin or Abraham/Ross (assuming they get into rotation). Hass is a dog and Solo's got ups, but our guards are undersized. Both top portal targets are slight of build as well. Makes me think maybe Shulga would be nice alternative to Mahaney

Could this be our biggest potential weakness from being bulletproof? I know Hurley will coach them up to run through walls & show the effort on D and the boards, but I wonder how we would fair on the boards against an old school Huggins Cincy team for instance

No idea until we know the team we have. Also Reeds rebounding is really being underestimated. Samson needs to get a little stronger and look to box out better. One thing i notice although very raw and not all that strong Singare looks like he could be a really good rebounder. I noticed whenever he`d come into a game he`d grab a board or two. I started paying closer attention to him and hes pretty good boxing out. Depending on how much stronger he gets he could contribute some rebounding.

 

[RichCTBB]

Seems like our whole system is predicated in rebounding. If these guys have the fortitude to be a part of the program, Hurley and co will have them cleaning glass like they’ve never done before.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Castle and Clingan helped us hold every team except one to 60 and under in the tournament.

The only team that scored above had to shoot 50% from 3 just to score 72 (and it was still under the Vegas spread )

We were a generationally great defensive team.

For reference:

09’ held one team to under 60
04’ had 3 teams score 70
99’ had 4 teams score above 60

I think in the 12 games in our back to back national title runs we`ve only given up more than 60 points twice?

 

[Deleted at users request]

I think in the 12 games in our back to back national title runs we`ve only given up more than 60 points twice?

3 times altogether.

Twice in 23’ (Iona 63 and Arkansas 65)

Once in 24’ (Alabama 72)

So in two years combined we’ve had a better defensive run than any of our past great teams.

 

[HooperScooper]

OK, Homer

This one?

Or this one?

 

[storrsroars]

I think Stewart will step up in this department.

Agree. Based on even his limited minutes, I think he has the mindset to stay in the play, go to where he thinks the ball will be, and has the motor to do it. I'm going to predict he'll be the #2 rebounder next year.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Agree. Based on even his limited minutes, I think he has the mindset to stay in the play, go to where he thinks the ball will be, and has the motor to do it. I'm going to predict he'll be the #2 rebounder next year.

Stewart will be a key player this fall, and not just for rebounding. He has a very good 3 pt shot.

 

[Scot-e]

Ok this makes sense now. You didn’t realize this was a board comprised of UConn fans. I always wondered what the ufck you were doing here because all you do is post dickish nonsense from time to time.

“Homer” is about the stupidest insult I can imagine throwing at a fan on his own team’s message board.

Don’t feed the trolls.

 

[willie99]

We're not bulletproof, we'll never be bulletproof, and we'll always be able to rebound. It's really more about technique and effort than it is about size.

Bazz and Boat were great rebounders, can't get smaller than that

 

[AllHusky]

Assuming Brea, hoping Mahaney(I am still dreaming of Traore)

Forget all the BS speculation about not rebounding, bullets penetrating and so on. This is going to be an extremely exciting and entertaining episode of the Hurley UConn project. It's like one of those Chef challenges where each one is provided a bunch of random ingredients and tries to come up with a meal/dish that makes sense and tastes good. The only difference between Chef Hurley and the rest of the wannabes is that his ingredients already make sense, not like some of the random portal grabbers. His dish might take a little longer to stir and simmer, but at the end it is going to taste SOOOOO GOOD!!

When does practice start? First game? Lets GO!!

 

[Mandoo]

Rebounding is position plus desire and toughness. Who wants to bet against Hurley instilling that?

Ex-NBA great Wesley Unseld was a monster rebounder at 6'7". Throughout high school and college he was absolutely one of the best. He weighed around 270 but moved like a puma.

 

[martyn]

Love what Hurley is doing this off-season. Our team is based now on high iq selfless offense, tight lockdown man defense and pushing in transition after misses. We had Clingan, and 3 big guards who were eager to rebound, plus AK who always was dependable with boxing out and getting some big boards. Our transition game was deadly, but thats predicated on stops and rebounding

As the roster is being constructed, do we have enough team rebounding? We've got our Johnson/Reed tandem, but if Alex doesn't come back, our 3rd biggest guy to get minutes is Jaylin or Abraham/Ross (assuming they get into rotation). Hass is a dog and Solo's got ups, but our guards are undersized. Both top portal targets are slight of build as well. Makes me think maybe Shulga would be nice alternative to Mahaney

Could this be our biggest potential weakness from being bulletproof? I know Hurley will coach them up to run through walls & show the effort on D and the boards, but I wonder how we would fair on the boards against an old school Huggins Cincy team for instance

You're never bullet proof in sports,

 

[auror]

You're never bullet proof in sports,

Tell that to Dan Hurley.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

For the record 'bullet proof' was coined by Hurley, an expression that he would throw out in practice as he continually pushed the players to improve.

I think the goal isn't necessarily to become unbeatable but rather to keep working towards that goal, even though we will not ever fully reach it.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

By Bulletproof, I mean do we have an Achilles heel (keeping the Homer reference alive)

When we play Providence, and they throw Christ and a recovered Hopkins at us, and Samson or Reed gets in foul trouble, IF WE DONT HAVE AK, we don't have the muscle I would like to see on the boards (unless its Abraham?) Without AK, our "power forward" for defensive purposes is probably Jaylin. On offense the positions dont matter, as we are positionless in 4 man out, but if we can't get the defensive board our transition game suffers.

You can talk, Tom Moore, or rebounding is desire, but if we were looking at Huggins era Cinci team with 6-9 Adonises like Fortson et al, we could have an issue. We clearly are an offensive juggernaut, so probably wont matter, but still.

 

[willie99]

We're not bulletproof, we'll never be bulletproof, and we'll always be able to rebound. It's really more about technique and effort than it is about size.

Bazz and Boat were great rebounders, can't get smaller than that

Having said that, being able to switch everybody on defense becomes more challenging

 

[martyn]

Tell that to Dan Hurley.

He would agree. Bulletproof means you don't have to play like there's no tomorrow and Hurley made them play like tomorrow would come at them like a ton of bricks if they didn't play their assess off.

 

[JesusAllen11]

Yea good observation. Looking at the roster now , UConn’s fate for next is season is already sealed imo , just like the last two seasons , UConn’s ceiling will go only as high as our center rotation. If Samson comes back significantly improved and Reed turns out to be a portal home run , the sky’s is the limit. Because looking at our guards and wings we have or potentially have , Dan and the staff will make magic with whatever guys we end up with , I’m confident in their ability.

I think reed and Samson are both starter quality and we will love their production this season. I can see a breakout year for Samson tbh.

 

[auror]

He would agree. Bulletproof means you don't have to play like there's no tomorrow and Hurley made them play like tomorrow would come at them like a ton of bricks if they didn't play their assess off.

No he literally said "We are bulletproof" like 10 times this run.

 

[JungleLobo]

Ok this makes sense now. You didn’t realize this was a board comprised of UConn fans. I always wondered what the ufck you were doing here because all you do is post dickish nonsense from time to time.

“Homer” is about the stupidest insult I can imagine throwing at a fan on his own team’s message board.

Reads as “I’m here for the like mindedness, but the confirmation bias is really where it’s at”.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

As far as rebounding is concerned, part of this that we don't talk about is scheme. It's not an accident that we are a great rebounding team when we physically GO FOR more rebounds than the average team.
Most teams either get back immediately after the first shot, or only go for offensive boards with a couple of players at a time. We send all 5 players to the glass and sacrifice transition defense, which hasn't been a problem so far.

This nugget was a bit lost in all the information in this interview, but i thought it was interesting
Hurley talking about rebounding philosophy at 38:00