Hurley high on Tyler Polley

[kansashusky]

Was hoping to hear good things about Sid, but not much there. Also saw Sid is last on the team in wins this summer.

 

[husky429]

Was hoping to hear good things about Sid, but not much there. Also saw Sid is last on the team in wins this summer.

Where'd you see that? Too bad to hear. I don't have a great feeling about his ability to improve and make an impact.

 

[kansashusky]

Where'd you see that? Too bad to hear. I don't have a great feeling about his ability to improve and make an impact.

 

[kansashusky]

Where'd you see that? Too bad to hear. I don't have a great feeling about his ability to improve and make an impact.

Agree. To really get minutes he will have to be a lock down defender.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Against abysmal front lines, possibly. Akok is long, but he's barely cracking 200lbs. If the other team has an interior scoring threat AT ALL, I can't imagine that happening.

But Polley should be better. 6'8-9 shooters aren't cheap in basketball. If he can knock down 3s and be passable on defense, he will earn minutes. Anything else is gravy

Well he knocked down 3s and was much better than passable on D last year. So I’d say we are into the gravy now and can expect a lot of gravy. From all accounts he’s been bulking up. If that gives him the confidence to bang with guys down low, we may have a heck of a basketball player. Give him some confidence and he could take off.

 

[UconnU]

If he makes a leap in rebounding he’s going to grade very effectively next year. He was already neutral defensively (in DBPM) despite some ridiculously low rebounding levels for a 4.

His usage was ridiculously low for the minutes he played. All year I was saying we should be using him more. Run plays for him, use him in the pick n roll. He shot 38% from 3 was over 40% much of the year. His shot passes the eye test when the ball leaves his hand it looks like it’s always going in. Perfect form.

Def gonna get more minutes this year. Also look for him (and Sid) to get more time at the 2.

This has to be a troll.

 

[gtcam]

Can't train heart and toughness
I just haven't seen either in the kid since he stepped on the court
His shooting is so streaky and never saw a rebound he liked
IF he comes around and improves his shooting and defense it would be a great start
But the kid has to be willing to mix it up and get down and dirty
Would absolutely love to see him do it but it's gotta come from within
Can't wait until October

 

[HuskyHawk]

His usage was ridiculously low for the minutes he played. All year I was saying we should be using him more. Run plays for him, use him in the pick n roll. He shot 38% from 3 was over 40% much of the year. His shot passes the eye test when the ball leaves his hand it looks like it’s always going in. Perfect form.

This has to be a troll.

That’s where he needs confidence. I can’t begin to count the number of good shot opportunities he passed up and instead moved the ball. Sometimes he never even thought about trying to score. His confidence needs a boost.

 

[the Q]

His usage was ridiculously low for the minutes he played. All year I was saying we should be using him more. Run plays for him, use him in the pick n roll. He shot 38% from 3 was over 40% much of the year. His shot passes the eye test when the ball leaves his hand it looks like it’s always going in. Perfect form.

This has to be a troll.

I’d like him to pick and pop. But he needs to also be an effective roller/rim runner as well.

 

[uconnever]

I'll stick my neck out, and y'all can make fun of me. I think the BY will be surprised by the substantial improvement in Polley and Whaley this year. Both will be major contributors, and Polley may start at the 3 because his length will give him huge mismatches against a lot of opponents. Plus, for rebounds he won't be banging with much stronger 4's but will be reaching above leaner 3's. Whaley will be seeing minutes spelling Akok and Carlton at both 4 and 5.

Don’t post to much on here, but I ve always liked Whaley’contributions and after last year felt that Polley could end up being really good player

 

[husky429]

Well he knocked down 3s and was much better than passable on D last year. So I’d say we are into the gravy now and can expect a lot of gravy. From all accounts he’s been bulking up. If that gives him the confidence to bang with guys down low, we may have a heck of a basketball player. Give him some confidence and he could take off.

He was a terrible defender last year. Don't gove credit where it's nogt close to due. If you don't include rebounding (at which he was the worst in the country at the 4), he was still debatably passable.

Hurley said he could make a jump because he was bad. If he wasn't bad there isn't much of a jump to make.

 

[Danzz]

So a starting line-up of Al, CV, Polley, Akok, Carlton?

That would be my guess for a starting lineup to begin the season. Others could start or at least get starters minutes with possibly CV as 6th man.

 

[mauconnfan]

He was a terrible defender last year. Don't gove credit where it's nogt close to due. If you don't include rebounding (at which he was the worst in the country at the 4), he was still debatably passable.

Hurley said he could make a jump because he was bad. If he wasn't bad there isn't much of a jump to make.

Well he was not terrible but have your way. Rebounding aside he improved defensively and you only need to look at the Shocker games to know that you're wrong. He needs to rebound the basketball and anything less than 4.5-5.5 a game is unacceptable if he is to get close to the same minutes. And of course he was one of the worst in the country at the "4" he's not a 4 and certainly shouldn't have been one as a 6'9" 190 lb soph.. He wasn't "bad" last year except at rebounding the ball so yeah there's a nice jump to be had there. If he can get to the basket off the dribble with more authority as well as maybe jump to 40% plus from 3 he will be a nice junior player for us. The reason there's a potential jump, at least from my point of view, is not because he is bad but instead because he was just scraping his potential. Kids a pretty nice athlete for a 6'9" kid who can shoot. Mix the rest of the game which needs to come with maturity as a JR and you have may have something.

 

[husky429]

Well he was not terrible but have your way. Rebounding aside he improved defensively and you only need to look at the Shocker games to know that you're wrong. He needs to rebound the basketball and anything less than 4.5-5.5 a game is unacceptable if he is to get close to the same minutes. And of course he was one of the worst in the country at the "4" he's not a 4 and certainly shouldn't have been one as a 6'9" 190 lb soph.. He wasn't "bad" last year except at rebounding the ball so yeah there's a nice jump to be had there. If he can get to the basket off the dribble with more authority as well as maybe jump to 40% plus from 3 he will be a nice junior player for us. The reason there's a potential jump, at least from my point of view, is not because he is bad but instead because he was just scraping his potential. Kids a pretty nice athlete for a 6'9" kid who can shoot. Mix the rest of the game which needs to come with maturity as a JR and you have may have something.

Two games vs Wichita are the determining factor in someone's defensive ability, got it. Thank you for clarifying--I had no idea.

 

[mauconnfan]

Two games vs Wichita are the determining factor in someone's defensive ability, got it. Thank you for clarifying--I had no idea.

Obvious not what I meant but have fun with your hammering of Polley you are really solid with that! lol

Hey let's be sure we listen to a guy who "coaches" out there because it must be gospel coming from you. How dare we throw our 2 cents in and doubt you

 

[husky429]

Obvious not what I meant but have fun with your hammering of Polley you are really solid with that! lol

Hey let's be sure we listen to a guy who "coaches" out there because it must be gospel coming from you. How dare we throw our 2 cents in and doubt you

Wrote a response and deleted it.

Let's just hope you're wrong because Hurley said our defense was soft last year. He is certainly right. If 2018-2019 was adequate we're in trouble.

Polley has super high potential with his length but isn't tough enough yet. That's a big yet.

 

[mauconnfan]

Wrote a response and deleted it.

Let's just hope you're wrong because Hurley said our defense was soft last year. He is certainly right. If 2018-2019 was adequate we're in trouble.

Polley has super high potential with his length but isn't tough enough yet. That's a big yet.

Don't be afraid no reason to delete. I get it you know it all some day I hope I can be half of that!

 

[husky429]

Don't be afraid no reason to delete. I get it you know it all some day I hope I can be half of that!

Haha definitely don't know it all. Never said I could teach the kid to rebound. Just that he sucks at it

 

[Rico444]

Well he was not terrible but have your way. Rebounding aside he improved defensively and you only need to look at the Shocker games to know that you're wrong.

Rebounding is a big part of defense though...you can play great defense for 30 seconds, but if you're terrible at rebounding your opponent is going to get the offensive rebound and then you have to defend all over again.

If you're a decent defender but a terrible rebounder, then you're ultimately a net negative on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[browndog319]

I think the keys to next year are CV developing into what we’ve seen glimpses of - explosive scoring, ability to hit clutch 3s, quickness. His problem has been keeping it together for a whole game. He’s got plenty of years behind him now and a year with Hurley... if he can pull it together he should be amazing.
And Akok with that half a year head start practicing with the team should take advantage of his raw talent and adjust some of the deficits he has. If he can help on defense and CV scores consistently, j think we’ve got ourselves a .500 team (that shouldn’t be too much to ask).

 

[Chin Diesel]

Full disclosure. I did not watch every second of every game last year, so there is the possibility someone can find a video clip which contradicts what I observed regarding Polley's rebounding.

Quite often when the opposing team shot the ball Polley was going towards halfcourt vice crashing the boards. This was definitely done by design to try and get players out on the break. Remember Donny Marshall used to do this 20 years ago and got plenty of breakaway dunks and layups while playing the four. In order to make this work though, you need someone else to rebound. Maybe Polley was just really bad so Hurley said, screw it, run out on the break, I'll have my guards rebound. But you definitely saw a game planned decision to have guards crashing boards and Polley running away from the boards.
Personally, the raw numbers show Polley was a horrible rebounder last season. I'm assuming Hurley and his staff are competent and if they wanted Polley to rebound better they would have made changes. You can counter with staff had no other options. I'd counter the counter with if Hurley was that upset he'd find a way to park Polley's arse on the bench or get on his butt during the game for failing to rebound.

 

[Rico444]

Full disclosure. I did not watch every second of every game last year, so there is the possibility someone can find a video clip which contradicts what I observed regarding Polley's rebounding.

Quite often when the opposing team shot the ball Polley was going towards halfcourt vice crashing the boards. This was definitely done by design to try and get players out on the break.

I get this mindset, but Christian Vital averaged about two and a half times as many rebounds as Polley last year, and he's a guard. Why would Hurley be encouraging his stretch 4 that doesn't have great handle to be getting out on the break but not his 6'2" shooting guard?

 

[uchusky32]

Full disclosure. I did not watch every second of every game last year, so there is the possibility someone can find a video clip which contradicts what I observed regarding Polley's rebounding.

Quite often when the opposing team shot the ball Polley was going towards halfcourt vice crashing the boards. This was definitely done by design to try and get players out on the break. Remember Donny Marshall used to do this 20 years ago and got plenty of breakaway dunks and layups while playing the four. In order to make this work though, you need someone else to rebound. Maybe Polley was just really bad so Hurley said, screw it, run out on the break, I'll have my guards rebound. But you definitely saw a game planned decision to have guards crashing boards and Polley running away from the boards.
Personally, the raw numbers show Polley was a horrible rebounder last season. I'm assuming Hurley and his staff are competent and if they wanted Polley to rebound better they would have made changes. You can counter with staff had no other options. I'd counter the counter with if Hurley was that upset he'd find a way to park Polley's arse on the bench or get on his butt during the game for failing to rebound.

Thart's possible Chin. Hadn't thought that it was by design. However we were a terrible rebounding team as a whole. Cost us many games. If by design it was a mistake because we needed everyone on the boards. Can't run without the ball.

 

[husky429]

Full disclosure. I did not watch every second of every game last year, so there is the possibility someone can find a video clip which contradicts what I observed regarding Polley's rebounding.

Quite often when the opposing team shot the ball Polley was going towards halfcourt vice crashing the boards. This was definitely done by design to try and get players out on the break. Remember Donny Marshall used to do this 20 years ago and got plenty of breakaway dunks and layups while playing the four. In order to make this work though, you need someone else to rebound. Maybe Polley was just really bad so Hurley said, screw it, run out on the break, I'll have my guards rebound. But you definitely saw a game planned decision to have guards crashing boards and Polley running away from the boards.
Personally, the raw numbers show Polley was a horrible rebounder last season. I'm assuming Hurley and his staff are competent and if they wanted Polley to rebound better they would have made changes. You can counter with staff had no other options. I'd counter the counter with if Hurley was that upset he'd find a way to park Polley's arse on the bench or get on his butt during the game for failing to rebound.

We played 4 out with vital and polley on the wings a lot. With movement and screens of course... usually you'd have your "4" Polley crash and the guards (rique, jalen, vital) be ready for outlets or running to the rim for layups. Keeps the other team from sending 3+ to offensive rebound.

I think Polley was so bad at both rebounding and outlet passing he just had him play the role of the early rim runner instead of a more natural candidate positionally. That left vital playing the "4" role a lot of the time when it came to the defensive boards. Lucky for us, Vital is an absolute warrior and managed pretty well in there.

If Polley is able to defend the 3 at an even average level and play WITH Akok and Carlton we are going to be scary good.

 

[husky429]

I get this mindset, but Christian Vital averaged about two and a half times as many rebounds as Polley last year, and he's a guard. Why would Hurley be encouraging his stretch 4 that doesn't have great handle to be getting out on the break but not his 6'2" shooting guard?

Bc he couldn't rebound or hit the outlet well. Our best bet was a Polley 1 dribble pull up 3. Worked pretty well at times. there's only so much Vital could do, but somebody had to try to rebound and it wasnt going to be polley.

 

[pj]

I think the keys to next year are CV developing into what we’ve seen glimpses of - explosive scoring, ability to hit clutch 3s, quickness. His problem has been keeping it together for a whole game. He’s got plenty of years behind him now and a year with Hurley... if he can pull it together he should be amazing.
And Akok with that half a year head start practicing with the team should take advantage of his raw talent and adjust some of the deficits he has. If he can help on defense and CV scores consistently, j think we’ve got ourselves a .500 team (that shouldn’t be too much to ask).

I think the keys are to get Valdir Manuel, and to stay injury-free.

If those things happen we'll be 2-deep at every position, and I trust Hurley to get the most out of his players.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I get this mindset, but Christian Vital averaged about two and a half times as many rebounds as Polley last year, and he's a guard. Why would Hurley be encouraging his stretch 4 that doesn't have great handle to be getting out on the break but not his 6'2" shooting guard?

I'd go with these two responses. Polley wasn't very good at rebounding and Vital was willing to mix it up.

I think Polley was so bad at both rebounding and outlet passing he just had him play the role of the early rim runner instead of a more natural candidate positionally. That left vital playing the "4" role a lot of the time when it came to the defensive boards. Lucky for us, Vital is an absolute warrior and managed pretty well in there.

Bc he couldn't rebound or hit the outlet well. Our best bet was a Polley 1 dribble pull up 3. Worked pretty well at times. there's only so much Vital could do, but somebody had to try to rebound and it wasnt going to be polley.

I'll also add, while I certainly don't want Polley leading the break and dribbling 3/4 of the court, he did have a few nifty moves while out in front of the break to get layups or dunks. I was pleasantly surprised (could be based on low expectations) how well he could adjust near the rim on fastbreaks.

 

[businesslawyer]

Hopefully, Polley will earn minutes, but he won't have to earn them to get them. We're three months away from the start of practice and still projecting a 10-man roster. Two of our frontcourt candidates, Wilson and Whaley, are question marks at best. An injury or two and Polley will be our starting center.

I would put money on this being our starting line up on opening day. Reminiscent of '11, when Roscoe started as a 3 put then we'd go smaller with 3 guards and give him the majority of his minutes as a stretch 4.

 

[HooperScooper]

I think the keys to next year are CV developing into what we’ve seen glimpses of - explosive scoring, ability to hit clutch 3s, quickness. His problem has been keeping it together for a whole game. He’s got plenty of years behind him now and a year with Hurley... if he can pull it together he should be amazing.
And Akok with that half a year head start practicing with the team should take advantage of his raw talent and adjust some of the deficits he has. If he can help on defense and CV scores consistently, j think we’ve got ourselves a .500 team (that shouldn’t be too much to ask).

Considering how much went wrong last year and the team was just below .500 I won't be happy if they go .500 this season. If they don't win 19-20 games I will say they under achieved. Am I asking too much?

 

[Danzz]

Full disclosure. I did not watch every second of every game last year, so there is the possibility someone can find a video clip which contradicts what I observed regarding Polley's rebounding.

Quite often when the opposing team shot the ball Polley was going towards halfcourt vice crashing the boards. This was definitely done by design to try and get players out on the break. Remember Donny Marshall used to do this 20 years ago and got plenty of breakaway dunks and layups while playing the four. In order to make this work though, you need someone else to rebound. Maybe Polley was just really bad so Hurley said, screw it, run out on the break, I'll have my guards rebound. But you definitely saw a game planned decision to have guards crashing boards and Polley running away from the boards.
Personally, the raw numbers show Polley was a horrible rebounder last season. I'm assuming Hurley and his staff are competent and if they wanted Polley to rebound better they would have made changes. You can counter with staff had no other options. I'd counter the counter with if Hurley was that upset he'd find a way to park Polley's arse on the bench or get on his butt during the game for failing to rebound.

POlley was forced to play out of position. The kid is a 3 not a 4. He got a lot better and driving to the basket last season but to all of sudden expecting him to become a rebounder is a stretch. If he becomes a little better rebounder I'd be satisfied.