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Hot seat

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Colin G

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Oftentimes when we talk about the “hot seat” we talk about coaches who are close to getting fired. When I say it here I’m asking the question: which substantial contributors from last years team do you see as most likely to lose playing time and have a smaller role than they did last year? I personally think is Tyrese.
 
Colin G said:
Oftentimes when we talk about the “hot seat” we talk about coaches who are close to getting fired. When I say it here I’m asking the question: which substantial contributors from last years team do you see as most likely to lose playing time and have a smaller role than they did last year? I personally think is Tyrese.
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It's either Rese or Gaffney.

Tyrese will see a drop in minutes if Jackson makes the jump we want, or if he can't shoot the 3. 2/17 from deep in our last 8 games was a disaster. If he is shooting in the 20s, he needs to sit.

Gaffney will sit if he can't figure out pacing and BBIQ. He was a problem leading our offense much of the time. But this will only be true if 1 or oth of Hawkins/Diggins earns minutes.

I'd say Polley too but he didn't get kany minutes to begin with. I would like to see him healthy and aggressive on defense because his shooting changes the whole geometry of our offense
 
Anyone who can't shoot the 3 consistently will be on the hot seat. So much of next season is dependent on finding people who can stretch the floor
 
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it's a make or break year for aj and akok.
 
Kitaman said:
If I started cooking brisket in college, I'd be a multi-millionaire and you guys would be posting while sitting at one of my tables.
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I'm trying to imagine what a brisket cooked on a hot plate would taste like.
 
I don’t think anyone is on the hot seat.

Last year wasn’t even a complete season with the covid-stalls and everything. This is a year for everyone to get in normal rhythm.

Polley might see reduced minutes so new comers can get playing time but outside of that it should be all business.
 
nomar said:
@superjohn has some serious questions regarding Gaff's BBQ.
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Chief still holds out hope that Gaffney can consistently duplicate in the games what he does in practice. For all his detractors the last two years, UConn has played its best ball when Gaffney is getting minutes and is on his game,
Usually, when someone is athletic but sometimes has quiet games, at least you see the athletic potential. But, with Gaffney not until late last season was his athleticism visible in games that he has presented at practice.
I don’t get the low BBQ perception, since Gaffney has had a pretty good assist to turnover ratio for this team. It was at 1.30 behind Cole’s 2.48 but ahead of a guy some are advocating as a Top 10 pick (Bouknight 0.64). Granted still needs to get in the 2.0 range this season. Martin (0.77) and Sanogo (0.44) have work to do in that area too. I think the biggest thing holding him back has been deferring to others and projecting confidence in games. I am going to wager he has conquer those drawbacks and is due for a good season.
 
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Colin G said:
Oftentimes when we talk about the “hot seat” we talk about coaches who are close to getting fired. When I say it here I’m asking the question: which substantial contributors from last years team do you see as most likely to lose playing time and have a smaller role than they did last year? I personally think is Tyrese.
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1. Polley. 2. Whaley. Polley because he's just not that good and we have better options. Martin may not start, so that would be a reduced role, but he's almost certain to be the 6th man if so. Whaley because Akok, if he's all the way back, will cut into his role. He's still a key player. I expect Gaff to have a different role as a SG. Let's see what he does with it.
 
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Colin G said:
Oftentimes when we talk about the “hot seat” we talk about coaches who are close to getting fired. When I say it here I’m asking the question: which substantial contributors from last years team do you see as most likely to lose playing time and have a smaller role than they did last year? I personally think is Tyrese.
Expand ...

I'm interested to see how many minutes Akok steals from Whaley and/or Sanogo.
 
Chief00 said:
Chief still holds out hope that Gaffney can consistently duplicate in the games what he does in practice. For all his detractors the last two years, UConn has played its best ball when Gaffney is getting minutes and is on his game,
Usually, when someone is athletic but sometimes has quiet games, at least you see the athletic potential. But, with Gaffney not until late last season was his athleticism visible in games that he has presented at practice.
I don’t get the low BBQ perception, since Gaffney has had a pretty good assist to turnover ratio for this team. It was at 1.30 behind Cole’s 2.48 but ahead of a guy some are advocating as a Top 10 pick (Bouknight 0.64). Granted still needs to get in the 2.0 range this season. Martin (0.77) and Sanogo (0.44) have work to do in that area too. I think the biggest thing holding him back has been deferring to others and projecting confidence in games. I am going to wager he has conquer those drawbacks and is due for a good season.
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Last I watched him, he successfully cooked and distributed 3 hot dogs, but 2 fell between the grates. Not a good A/TO ratio.
 
Jackson is basically the high major version of the mid major Martin. I think at minimum we see their minutes flip, if Akok is good to go for 25 mpg Rese is full Cartlon.
 
IMO it has to be Gaffney, mainly cause he seems like a guy without a role or 1 plus skill that causes a coach to have to get him on the floor.
Is he a better natural 1 than Diggins? Prob not
Is he a better off ball/wing than Martin, Jackson, Hawkins? Prob not
Does he shoot better than TP or rebound/defend better than Martin, no.
 
bendm said:
he was BE 6th man of the year, just because you keep repeating this doesnt make it true
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It's pretty funny at this point. Every thread has a reply from him about Polley sucking and Whaley losing his starting spot
 
bendm said:
he was BE 6th man of the year, just because you keep repeating this doesnt make it true
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navery12 said:
It's pretty funny at this point. Every thread has a reply from him about Polley sucking and Whaley losing his starting spot
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That's because I believe it. I'll either be wrong or not. I don't know enough about the other 6th men in the BE to know whether it was deserved last year. He certainly was big in a couple of games, terrible in others. My views on Whaley aren't negative on him as much as positive on Akok, who would naturally get time at the 4. If Akok's minutes go up from almost none, Whaley's minutes would inevitably go down unless Sanogo gets hurt. How is that controversial?

I want the team to be great. If the thinking here is that our best players will be the same guys as last year, minus Bouknight, the team isn't going to be great. Polley and Whaley have already been here 4 years, they are the least likely to make a major jump. Cole would be next in that category and then probably Martin. Which is why I think Martin might not start either. Most likely to have a bigger impact than last year: Akok, AJax, Gaffney. If Gaff, AJax or Hawkins pushes Martin to the bench, then it means the team is better. If Akok pushes Whaley to the bench it means the team is better.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
That's because I believe it. I'll either be wrong or not. I don't know enough about the other 6th men in the BE to know whether it was deserved last year. He certainly was big in a couple of games, terrible in others. My views on Whaley aren't negative on him as much as positive on Akok, who would naturally get time at the 4. If Akok's minutes go up from almost none, Whaley's minutes would inevitably go down unless Sanogo gets hurt. How is that controversial?

I want the team to be great. If the thinking here is that our best players will be the same guys as last year, minus Bouknight, the team isn't going to be great. Polley and Whaley have already been here 4 years, they are the least likely to make a major jump. Cole would be next in that category and then probably Martin. Which is why I think Martin might not start either. Most likely to have a bigger impact than last year: Akok, AJax, Gaffney. If Gaff, AJax or Hawkins pushes Martin to the bench, then it means the team is better. If Akok pushes Whaley to the bench it means the team is better.
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I would love to start Akok at the 4 and never give Whaley any minutes there, but I just don't think it's realistic to expect Whaley to come back and come off the bench. It's a great problem to have, I just expect Akok to be brought along slowly and come off the bench for short bursts of energy. It's not that people here think Polley and Whaley are going to make a huge jump in year 5, it's that the 2 skills they bring (shooting and the hard hedge on defense) are the least replaceable from other players and going to earn them minutes

I just don't think you have to cut Whaley's minutes to fit Akok in, Whaley can get his 25 minutes again, Sanogo can get his 25 and that's still 30 minutes available at the 4 for Akok to take some of
 
navery12 said:
I would love to start Akok at the 4 and never give Whaley any minutes there, but I just don't think it's realistic to expect Whaley to come back and come off the bench. It's a great problem to have, I just expect Akok to be brought along slowly and come off the bench for short bursts of energy. It's not that people here think Polley and Whaley are going to make a huge jump in year 5, it's that the 2 skills they bring (shooting and the hard hedge on defense) are the least replaceable from other players and going to earn them minutes

I just don't think you have to cut Whaley's minutes to fit Akok in, Whaley can get his 25 minutes again, Sanogo can get his 25 and that's still 30 minutes available at the 4 for Akok to take some of
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Well even if Akok starts, I think Whaley plays minutes at the 4 and at the 5. He'd be the clear backup at both spots. So maybe he gets as many. Springs and Johnson may earn minutes too though.

As to the "if he comes back he starts"....nah. Carlton didn't. Barely played most of the time. Beat out by a freshman. The guys who earn it should play.
 
HuskyHawk said:
As to the "if he comes back he starts"....nah. Carlton didn't. Barely played most of the time. Beat out by a freshman. The guys who earn it should play.
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Carlton coming back for his senior year is not the same as Whaley choosing to come back for a 5th year, which Carlton didn't choose to do. Of course the guy who earns it is going to start, and I think it's obvious after watching him for 4 years that's going to be Whaley. Nowhere did I say Whaley should start simply because he chose to come back.

If he comes back he starts =/= he's coming back because he'll start
 
navery12 said:
Carlton coming back for his senior year is not the same as Whaley choosing to come back for a 5th year, which Carlton didn't choose to do. Of course the guy who earns it is going to start, and I think it's obvious after watching him for 4 years that's going to be Whaley. Nowhere did I say Whaley should start simply because he chose to come back.

If he comes back he starts =/= he's coming back because he'll start
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You said "I just don't think it's realistic to expect Whaley to come back and come off the bench". Why not? We've all watched him for 4 years. Mostly he didn't play, we liked his energy and hops when he did. Akok started over him as a freshman. Carlton was clearly better than him in both their freshman and sophomore years. It wasn't until the end of his junior year, that he made a real impact as a high energy small 5 and 4 after Akok and Polley went down. He got beat out as our 5 by a freshman last year, but due to Akok not being healthy, he moved over to the 4.

He's a critical player next season, no doubt. I'm just not sold that our team is best served with him starting, vs being the first big off the bench at both the 4 and 5. Especially given the likely desire to start Andre at the 3. Akok's ability to hit outside shots and convert dunks around the rim on passes from AJ make them a natural pairing. I like Whaley better at the 4 when we've got at least Martin level shooting at the 3.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
You said "I just don't think it's realistic to expect Whaley to come back and come off the bench". Why not? We've all watched him for 4 years. Mostly he didn't play, we liked his energy and hops when he did. Akok started over him as a freshman. Carlton was clearly better than him in both their freshman and sophomore years. It wasn't until the end of his junior year, that he made a real impact as a high energy small 5 and 4 after Akok and Polley went down. He got beat out as our 5 by a freshman last year, but due to Akok not being healthy, he moved over to the 4.

He's a critical player next season, no doubt. I'm just not sold that our team is best served with him starting, vs being the first big off the bench at both the 4 and 5. Especially given the likely desire to start Andre at the 3. Akok's ability to hit outside shots and convert dunks around the rim on passes from AJ make them a natural pairing. I like Whaley better at the 4 when we've got at least Martin level shooting at the 3.
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I have no idea and maybe you're right, but in short when Dan and Isaiah sat down at the end of the season to discuss him coming back I just don't see that conversation being about him coming off the bench. If I was in his shoes and coming off 2 great seasons and a Big East DPOY of the year season I'd be offended if that was the conversation.

I just think we have wildly different views on shooting. I wouldn't consider Martin at the 3 a positive shooting lineup, and as much as I like Akok and his shooting he's ultimately a 26% 3 point shooter and that's just not gonna cut it with the rest of the team makeup next year
 
I'm just not the biggest martin guy. His defense and rebounding doesn't make up for abysmal finishing and shooting ability for a SF. Hawkins, Gaffney, Polley, and Jackson should make it hard for him to find minutes on the wing. Akok and Whaley are basically locked in at 4 too.
 
Chief00 said:
Chief still holds out hope that Gaffney can consistently duplicate in the games what he does in practice. For all his detractors the last two years, UConn has played its best ball when Gaffney is getting minutes and is on his game,
Usually, when someone is athletic but sometimes has quiet games, at least you see the athletic potential. But, with Gaffney not until late last season was his athleticism visible in games that he has presented at practice.
I don’t get the low BBQ perception, since Gaffney has had a pretty good assist to turnover ratio for this team. It was at 1.30 behind Cole’s 2.48 but ahead of a guy some are advocating as a Top 10 pick (Bouknight 0.64). Granted still needs to get in the 2.0 range this season. Martin (0.77) and Sanogo (0.44) have work to do in that area too. I think the biggest thing holding him back has been deferring to others and projecting confidence in games. I am going to wager he has conquer those drawbacks and is due for a good season.
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I’m still a fan of Gaffney but sooner or later the light switch needs to flip. I do think your stats are cherry picked though and don’t like the swipe at Bouk. I checked two guys...Beverly had a career 1.6:1 A:T and in his sophomore year Gay was .84:1.

I’m not sure what the issue for Gaff has been but I’m guessing it’s either a confidence thing or him struggling with the speed of the game. I tend to think it’s more of the former because there are games where he’s aggressive and that usually leads to pretty good outcomes.
 
lavuuk153 said:
I’m still a fan of Gaffney but sooner or later the light switch needs to flip. I do think your stats are cherry picked though and don’t like the swipe at Bouk. I checked two guys...Beverly had a career 1.6:1 A:T and in his sophomore year Gay was .84:1.

I’m not sure what the issue for Gaff has been but I’m guessing it’s either a confidence thing or him struggling with the speed of the game. I tend to think it’s more of the former because there are games where he’s aggressive and that usually leads to pretty good outcomes.
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Ignoring a 0.64 assist/turnover ratio for a guard is what is truly cherry picking statistics. A team can’t function when guards are that inefficient/careless with the ball. I like James and more importantly his teammates like him, but that's a really bad number. Gaffney at 1.30 is twice as efficient. Even 6 foot /9 Inch Rudy was about 30% more efficient handling the ball at 0.84 vs 0.64. That apparently was the best comparison you could find to suppprt your case. In fact, in the George Mason game my friend Rudy actually shot well, but because we lacked ball handlers/distributors with Marcus pressured and AJ on sabbatical- we couldn’t get the ball to various NBA level guys.
 
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Chief00 said:
Ignoring a 0.64 assist/turnover ratio for a guard is what is truly cherry picking statistics. A team can’t function when guards are that inefficient/careless with the ball. I like James and more importantly his teammates like him, but that's a really bad number. Gaffney at 1.30 is twice as efficient. Even 6 foot /9 Inch Rudy was about 30% more efficient handling the ball at 0.84 vs 0.64. That apparently was the best comparison you could find to suppprt your case. In fact, in the George Mason game my friend Rudy actually shot well, but because we lacked ball handlers/distributors with Marcus pressured and AJ on sabbatical- we couldn’t get the ball to various NBA level guys.
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I literally said I looked up two players. I thought of Gay cause he was a scorer like Bouk, left after 2 seasons, and I remember hearing he should come back. Bouk is not a facilitator. I can live with his lack of assists based on his scoring.

But please tell me you’d rather have Gaffney next year vs Bouk. Or was that comment just because you are afraid an NBA team will take him top 10? Also what about how well Beverly took care of the ball? Is he better than Gaffney? There was no reason to include Bouk in your first comment while including people advocating him to be a top 10 pick. Should Gay have come back for another year to boost his stock?
 
Btw I really was just triggered by the Bouknight statement. If your statement was more along the lines of “look at his ratio compared to Bouknight who is definitely going round 1 and might be a lottery pick” then I really wouldn’t have cared and would have just agreed with your overall point.
 
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