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

[superjohn]

I didn't say anyone was bashing him.

But you can pretend that quotes like "he's our best player, namely because we suck" aren't backhanded compliments, I choose not to.

This thread reminds me of all the Carlton bashing that went on before (and during) last season.

He was getting bashed because he was terrible early in the season.

 

[the Q]

I am so confident that Vital will not be our BEST player, that if I am wrong, I promise to everyone on the BY that I will dedicate a Vital Apology thread for doubting him. But that likely won’t happen.

The “BEST” player to me is the player that we want to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, and the main player that other teams key in on. Like Adams was for us last year. We will see what happens.

That’s a rather subjective take considering how even UConn history doesn’t look kindly on it.

The 2006 season, with it all on the line, went denham brown and rashad, not future lottery picks Rudy gay or Hilton Armstrong.

The 04 big east tourney, we put the ball in the hands of Ben Gordon, nkt national player of the year Emeka Okafor.

And 2014, against Kentucky, instead of going to shabazz, the ball went to cromah. Who didn’t even start the game.

 

[mauconnfan]

Have you seen his advanced stats? He's by far our best offensive player and defensive player.

- Last season he had an offensive rating of 114. The last UConn guard to have an offensive rating like that was Shabazz in 2014.
- He shot 41% from 3 (171st in the country)
- 81% from the line (206 in the country)
- Had a true shooting percentage of 61.2% (134th in the country)
- A 17.8% defensive rebounding rate (444th in the country, and thats as a guard)
- A 3% steal rate (146th in the country).
- He had a defensive rating of 99.6 which was by far the best of any guard on the team last year (And about 500th overall for all of D1 at any position).

He was by far our best player last year. Yes he turns it over a lot, but beyond that he's a very good player.

You can argue it all you want and may even have a valid point in a couple areas, at least for the argument you wage. But using "by far" in any category with him is not a winner. He's a nice solid player who has come a long way in his 3 years. Can't deny his 40% 3pt shooting is critcal, his passion and hustle a big part of the team effort, his defense is pretty good mostly, his rebounding impressive. Heck he may even get the short end of the stick here with many but I saw a nice improvement in 18-19. So in all reality if he improves where he needs to he will be a huge piece but if he's our best player overall we will be a .500 team at best. We need people with higher ceilings to step up even incoming freshmen in order to increase our level of competitiveness.

 

[BlueMAB]

He was getting bashed because he was terrible early in the season.

Missing the point.

 

[superjohn]

That’s a rather subjective take considering how even UConn history doesn’t look kindly on it.

The 2006 season, with it all on the line, went denham brown and rashad, not future lottery picks Rudy gay or Hilton Armstrong.

The 04 big east tourney, we put the ball in the hands of Ben Gordon, nkt national player of the year Emeka Okafor.

And 2014, against Kentucky, instead of going to shabazz, the ball went to cromah. Who didn’t even start the game.

What? 2006 the ball was always in Marcus Wiliiams hands in crunch time. 04 it was either in Gordon's or Okafor's hands in crunch time they were probably the two best players in the country. In '14 the ball was always in Napier's hands in crunch time. His name is Kromah, only reason he got a touch is because Kentucky blitzed Bazz and left Kromah wide open under the hoop.

 

[weyuo]

Now that Jalen Adams is gone I think Vital loses some of that chip on his shoulder and takes on a more leadership/captain role and because of that his game will improve. I always thought there was some kind of friction between those two.

 

[the Q]

What? 2006 the ball was always in Marcus Wiliiams hands in crunch time. 04 it was either in Gordon's or Okafor's hands in crunch time they were probably the two best players in the country. In '14 the ball was always in Napier's hands in crunch time. His name is Kromah, only reason he got a touch is because Kentucky blitzed Bazz and left Kromah wide open under the hoop.

Against Washington and George mason, those guys got the ball.

 

[imno1]

CV might not be the most gifted player on the team but he might have the most rounded game, if that makes sense. I love his work effort and expect him to be improved from last year. Let’s hope the rest of our guys work as hard as Christian.

 

[UofCT]

Role? He's our best player.

Doomed if true

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

That’s a rather subjective take considering how even UConn history doesn’t look kindly on it.

The 2006 season, with it all on the line, went denham brown and rashad, not future lottery picks Rudy gay or Hilton Armstrong.

The 04 big east tourney, we put the ball in the hands of Ben Gordon, nkt national player of the year Emeka Okafor.

And 2014, against Kentucky, instead of going to shabazz, the ball went to cromah. Who didn’t even start the game.

This probably seemed more clever before you typed it.

 

[the Q]

This probably seemed more clever before you typed it.

The point is it’s a ridiculous standard to have before you consider that it ignores defense and rebounding, both of which are incredibly important factors to how good a player is.

Being able to create your own shot is a fantastic skill. Arguably the most rare. And it gives you a higher ceiling. But it’s not everything.

 

[uconnbill]

Best three point shooter and a leader.
He will play a lot and being leader

He will be better than some think

 

[444JR]

 

[HuskyHawk]

The point is it’s a ridiculous standard to have before you consider that it ignores defense and rebounding, both of which are incredibly important factors to how good a player is.

Being able to create your own shot is a fantastic skill. Arguably the most rare. And it gives you a higher ceiling. But it’s not everything.

Your best player is the guy who makes things go, the guy the other team keys on, the guy who makes everyone around him better and elevates the team. If he’s a guard, he can’t do that without being able to create his own offense. Christian simply isn’t that guy, never has been and won’t be next year.

That doesn’t mean he stinks, it means he has a role to play, an important one. Hit open shots, play D, rebound and hopefully continue to improve in ball handling and ball movement/decision making. The defense is going to focus on stopping AG and Carlton. Which means CV and others have to make them pay.

 

[kemba]

A lot of weird points being made here:

-Same people saying Vital is only efficient because he just gets to shoot open shots all day are criticizing him for his shot selection. Makes no sense. Vital his first 2 years was an ineffcient scorer who should have been a backup with a short lease. Junior year Vital was a completely different player.

-Vital is not a pg and the only time he's ever played that role at all is out of sheer necessity. Don't know why he's being knocked for that, its not his role. Or why guys like Shabazz is being brought up. Yes, comparing Shabazz and Vital statistically doesn't make any sense because of their different roles. Doesn't mean that any guard who handles the ball more and attempts to create more is automatically better than Vital regardless of statistics

-Very hopeful that Gilbert, because of his talent, because of shaking off the rust last year, and because of being healthy now and get to work on his game will take a huge leap next year and become our best player. He's not as of now though. He is a highly touted recruit who has shown flashes and ability but he needs to get a lot better in pretty much every area.

-Saying if Vital is our best player next year we will be bad is fair, we need Gilbert to be a star at pg next year. We also need some other things to happen but comparing bigs and guards is hard. But if you're expecting the freshmen guards to pass Vital next year either you need to recalibrate your expectations for them or you are underrating Vital

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He’s our best player until someone takes that title from him. AG? Played about 1 full season in 3 years and although he has flashes, hasn’t CV substantially in any one facet of the game imo. Josh? Again, some flashes, but is 6’9 and has been out rebounded by CV. If you’re saying either of them is our best player next year, then we will have a hell of a better season than I think we will.

 

[Crank]

Junior Year
17.1 Points/4.4 Boards/4.6 Assists/2 steals/2.4 TOs/82% Frees/.398 3%/.488 2%
14.2 Points/5.6 Boards/2.4 Assists/1.6 steals /2.3 TOs/81% Frees/.409 3%/.514 2%

Bazz
CV

CV is numerically much better than many on this board seem to believe.

 

[superjohn]

This probably seemed more clever before you typed it.

He probably thought the ball was in Paxson's hands in crunch time for the Bulls.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He probably thought the ball was in Paxson's hands in crunch time for the Bulls.

Steve Kerr shot much better than Jordan from 3 point range too. Guess he was the better player. Had nothing to do with Jordan and Pippen occupying 3-4 defenders between them.

 

[tennmike]

The best thing for Vital is the addition of RJ. Even though he cannot play this coming season, he is a stud...mature, intelligent, competitive, and skilled. It a way, he will keep Vital on the humility tracks.

 

[bazz&boujee]

Our best player? Geez I hope not. He deff improved last year from his first two seasons but ideally he comes off the bench. He scores a lot because he takes 50 shots a game. He’s like a fantasy qb stat filler. 2tds/300 yards passing /3 ints/and 1 rushing td. Cam newton type

that’d also make him our best quarterback

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Steve Kerr shot much better than Jordan from 3 point range too. Guess he was the better player. Had nothing to do with Jordan and Pippen occupying 3-4 defenders between them.

It doesn't. But he was a better 3 point shooter than Jordan. There's no denying that.

 

[Kenny11]

The best thing for Vital is the addition of RJ. Even though he cannot play this coming season, he is a stud...mature, intelligent, competitive, and skilled. It a way, he will keep Vital on the humility tracks.

Lol I read this fast and thought RJ Evans was coming back

 

[nadav]

Absolutely insulting to Napier that we need to see a comparison between he and CV.

Napier book Ended two national titles and CV is never going to play in a tournament game. Last ‘best player’ you can say that about? Gerry Besselink??

 

[superjohn]

Absolutely insulting to Napier that we need to see a comparison between he and CV.

Napier book Ended two national titles and CV is never going to play in a tournament game. Last ‘best player’ you can say that about? Gerry Besselink??

I hear you but Vital has never been our best player.

 

[Waterbury]

Praying Akok is our best player next season.

 

[mauconnfan]

No matter what side of the argument (or BY discussion) you are on there is probably one thing we can all agree upon. I know at least I was very happy that he was coming back because he's a big piece no matter if he's the best or one of the best. That was a very good day when he announced he's playing his Sr year at UConn.

Glad he's here for sure.

 

[UConnStats]

Vital is an efficient scorer when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands a lot. His catch and shoot 3 is good. You just don’t want the ball in his hand for more than a couple dribbles.

The issue is that we’ve only had one player capable of scoring off the dribble on the court at a time for 90%+ of the past 3 seasons. It’s easy to look at ORtg or WS and say the highest number means the best player, but Adams was forced into hurting his numbers because there was nobody else who could create offense.

Vital is not the most talented player on the team, but he’s going to play a ton unless Gaffney sets the world on fire. The distribution of our FGA depends on how much Gilbert, Wilson, Carlton, and Polley improve, and how ready Bouknight and Akok are. Hopefully our useable depth improves and players across the board aren’t forced to take low percentage shots as often.

 

[SeattleHoop]

Vital is an efficient scorer when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands a lot. His catch and shoot 3 is good. You just don’t want the ball in his hand for more than a couple dribbles.

The issue is that we’ve only had one player capable of scoring off the dribble on the court at a time for 90%+ of the past 3 seasons. It’s easy to look at ORtg or WS and say the highest number means the best player, but Adams was forced into hurting his numbers because there was nobody else who could create offense.

Vital is not the most talented player on the team, but he’s going to play a ton unless Gaffney sets the world on fire. The distribution of our FGA depends on how much Gilbert, Wilson, Carlton, and Polley improve, and how ready Bouknight and Akok are. Hopefully our useable depth improves and players across the board aren’t forced to take low percentage shots as often.

I’m very bullish on Bouk and Gaff. I see levels in their game that our guards didn’t have these past few seasons. I think they will really create movement in our offense. Fingers crossed

 

[the Q]

Vital is an efficient scorer when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands a lot. His catch and shoot 3 is good. You just don’t want the ball in his hand for more than a couple dribbles.

The issue is that we’ve only had one player capable of scoring off the dribble on the court at a time for 90%+ of the past 3 seasons. It’s easy to look at ORtg or WS and say the highest number means the best player, but Adams was forced into hurting his numbers because there was nobody else who could create offense.

Vital is not the most talented player on the team, but he’s going to play a ton unless Gaffney sets the world on fire. The distribution of our FGA depends on how much Gilbert, Wilson, Carlton, and Polley improve, and how ready Bouknight and Akok are. Hopefully our useable depth improves and players across the board aren’t forced to take low percentage shots as often.

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.