How big a role do think Vital will play next season?

[Robertelamin]

Some need to tone down their immediate expectations for our incoming freshmen.

Yes I agree but it isn’t going to happen.

 

[superjohn]

All true. It’s a very wide disparity though.

No one here said vital was the most talented player. But he was the most efficient and effective. The only people that were trying to compare him to bazz....were the ones saying we shouldn’t be comparing him to bazz.

I’ve said my piece on vital before. He’s not the best player on a traditional UConn team. But he’s a rashad type with better d and rebounding. Still a quite useful player. But it is an indictment on recruiting the last few years.

He might not be in the rotation on a traditional UConn team and no he's never been the best player on a UConn team.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Sid would need to make an astronomical jump to be in that conversation. He's crazy athletic, but he just looked lost last year. With his athleticism, it's possible but I'm not sure it is all that likely.

It's really about fixing his shot. His defensive rating was one of the best on the team. His team defensive positioning got better, he was a good rebounder, and a superlative shot blocker. But he shot 35% from the floor, and only 40% from 2.

I think Sid is one of the keys to the season. If he fixes his shot, hits 35% from 3 and high 40's from 2, he is absolutely going to be one of the best 3-4 guys on the team. His last season at Brewster he shot 55%, 71% from the line and 33.3% from 3. I think it's easily fixable.

 

[the Q]

He might not be in the rotation on a traditional UConn team and no he's never been the best player on a UConn team.

He’s a better player than Austrie or dyson. Who started on a final four team.

Like I said. He’s a rashad type. With better d and rebounding and an unproven “clutch gene.”

 

[superjohn]

He’s a better player than Austrie or dyson. Who started on a final four team.

Like I said. He’s a rashad type. With better d and rebounding and an unproven “clutch gene.”

He's not as good as Dyson or Rashad. Austrie was inserted into the starting lineup on that team once Dyson was done for the season. He was obviously the weak point on that team but they had the best frontcourt in the country and one of the best point guards in the country, so we just needed him to he steady and not turn it over.

 

[Waquoit]

He's not as good as Dyson or Rashad.

He's not even as good as Austrie.

 

[Robertelamin]

Dyson played a few games in the NBA...

 

[Jbirdp5]

He’s a better player than Austrie or dyson. Who started on a final four team.

Like I said. He’s a rashad type. With better d and rebounding and an unproven “clutch gene.”

Dyson was a much better player than Vital in my opinion.

 

[the Q]

He's not even as good as Austrie.

Austrie wouldn’t have started on last years team.

VDS is real. Damn.

 

[Kenny11]

He's not even as good as Austrie.

Vital is much better than Austrie. Dyson obviously was a lot more talented than Vital.

 

[jibsey]

Vital component, and without him we would be in serious trouble. Jalen’s guard points have to be replaced and yes we have Gilbert and some inexperienced freshman guards. I see him as our leading scorer.

 

[CL82]

Vital component, and without him we would be in serious trouble. Jalen’s guard points have to be replaced and yes we have Gilbert and some inexperienced freshman guards. I see him as our leading scorer.

Maybe but I don't see us running as many sets for him. His points need to come more organically off other guards penetrating and kicking.

 

[Jluc]

He’s a better player than Austrie or dyson. Who started on a final four team.

Like I said. He’s a rashad type. With better d and rebounding and an unproven “clutch gene.”

Dyson was the leading scorer on the number 1 team in the country before he got hurt. He’s better than Vital and it’s not that close.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Vital is much better than Austrie. Dyson obviously was a lot more talented than Vital.

There were games Vital didn't start last year either. Austrie was essentially a backup PG/combo. He was a better ball handler and passer and not the scorer that Vital is. He certainly wasn't as good a rebounder as CV. He did start a lot of games for a very good team as a freshman, lost that to AJ Price. Austrie had a good head for the game, made very few mistakes. Complete 180 from CV as a player.

 

[JB75]

Gotta hope Akok is up there no?

Woe. Completely forgot about him. Adjusted best player rankings:
End of November :
AG
Carlton
Vital
Akok
Polley
Bouknight/gaffney
Sid
Beginning of March :
AG
Carlton
Akok
Polley/bouknight
Vital/gaffney
Sid

 

[JB75]

***of note : akok cud be our best player come March or our 5th best player. Who knows

 

[Waquoit]

Austrie wouldn’t have started on last years team.

One thing's for sure, Vital wouldn't have started on that 2009 team. JC wouldn't have put up with his shot selection.

I think you forget, not just how good that team was, how good the teams they played night in and night out were.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Woe. Completely forgot about him. Adjusted best player rankings:
End of November :
AG
Carlton
Vital
Akok
Polley
Bouknight/gaffney
Sid
Beginning of March :
AG
Carlton
Akok
Polley/bouknight
Vital/gaffney
Sid

Ballpark lines up with my view. Sid has the potential to jump all the freshmen, and be a major factor. In short, Sid, Polley and all 3 freshmen are question marks. Even Brendan Adams is going to play next year. People may be surprised how much.

 

[Kenny11]

There were games Vital didn't start last year either. Austrie was essentially a backup PG/combo. He was a better ball handler and passer and not the scorer that Vital is. He certainly wasn't as good a rebounder as CV. He did start a lot of games for a very good team as a freshman, lost that to AJ Price. Austrie had a good head for the game, made very few mistakes. Complete 180 from CV as a player.

I liked Austrie but he wasn't good. He didn't make anything happen. He was an emergency player that played a lot because of emergencies in those years.

 

[Rico444]

One thing's for sure, Vital wouldn't have started on that 2009 team. JC wouldn't have put up with his shot selection.

I think you forget, not just how good that team was, how good the teams they played night in and night out were.

If Vital was coached by Calhoun, he would've stopped taking horrible shots about 2 games into his career because that's the only way he would've ever seen the court again.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I guess I don't understand the question. Do people think CV is not playing? He seems to have earned PT and will be among the leaders in minutes.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Ballpark lines up with my view. Sid has the potential to jump all the freshmen, and be a major factor. In short, Sid, Polley and all 3 freshmen are question marks. Even Brendan Adams is going to play next year. People may be surprised how much.

Adams is an interesting player to consider. You think he plays more than 10 minutes per game next year?

 

[CL82]

Ballpark lines up with my view. Sid has the potential to jump all the freshmen, and be a major factor. In short, Sid, Polley and all 3 freshmen are question marks. Even Brendan Adams is going to play next year. People may be surprised how much.

Something seemed off about BA last year. I'm not sure if it was conditioning or confidence, but something. Either way I'd expect him make a jump this year. I just don't have a good handle on his ceiling. I feel like he should be a much better player this year.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If Vital was coached by Calhoun, he would've stopped taking horrible shots about 2 games into his career because that's the only way he would've ever seen the court again.

Absolutely. This is critical to my view of Vital. Some of this isn't his fault. People throw out that he may be our all time leading 3 point shooter, yet for 2 of his 3 years he took horrible shots. Calhoun would have parked him on the pine. He was a bad basketball player, despite scoring a lot. Now is that CV's fault? Not really, it was due to injuries that forced him into the lineup and an inept coach, who couldn't sit him down even if he wanted to. So he learned some very bad habits and got an inflated sense of himself. That's not all bad, his confidence has helped him in some cases, but caused him to act like a punk a couple of times too.

He improved last year. But he didn't get all the way there. Just because his shooting percentages were pretty good doesn't mean he made good decisions often enough. He was much better, but he still didn't pass in several key situations where he should have and made a number of bone-headed plays.

So how much better can he be at the mental side of the game? How much can he bring himself to defer to others, make a few more assists and perhaps not be one of our leading scorers on many nights?