Hurley ponders his options to go double big

[HooperScooper]

Many of you aren't going to like this article. I can't see Hurley doing this much anyway.

“Coach talked about me and Donovan playing at the same time. I think it can be good,” Sanogo said. “I am definitely shooting this year. If my defender doesn’t come out, I’m shooting it because my shot is getting better.

“Donovan has stuff he still has to work on. He is a good player. He is going to be fine. He has potential. He has to work on defense. In the Big East, there are teams you have to be able to switch everything. Villanova and St. John’s don’t play with a big man, so you have to switch. I think he will be fine.”

“Donovan is such a skilled passer, even in the high post and key area, whether it is versus a zone or man-to-man that we are tinkering, especially with Andre’s injury, at playing more zone and trying to find a way to get them on the court together a little bit,” Hurley said. “Obviously, we really want to play Donovan.”

Hurley ponders his options to go double big

STORRS - The makeup of the UConn men's basketball team is such this season that coach Dan Hurley has some big decisions to make. By big, we're talking about the 6-foot-9 and 7-foot-2 type of big. Hurley has been saying since the middle of the summer that he's unsure what the starting lineup will

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I can't get any of the free article websites to work with the Waterbury Republican-American. But you can register with them for free and get 5 articles a week. I did that and it took 10 seconds.

 

[mauconnfan]

Many of you aren't going to like this article. I can't see Hurley doing this much anyway.

“Coach talked about me and Donovan playing at the same time. I think it can be good,” Sanogo said. “I am definitely shooting this year. If my defender doesn’t come out, I’m shooting it because my shot is getting better.

“Donovan has stuff he still has to work on. He is a good player. He is going to be fine. He has potential. He has to work on defense. In the Big East, there are teams you have to be able to switch everything. Villanova and St. John’s don’t play with a big man, so you have to switch. I think he will be fine.”

“Donovan is such a skilled passer, even in the high post and key area, whether it is versus a zone or man-to-man that we are tinkering, especially with Andre’s injury, at playing more zone and trying to find a way to get them on the court together a little bit,” Hurley said. “Obviously, we really want to play Donovan.”

Hurley ponders his options to go double big

STORRS - The makeup of the UConn men's basketball team is such this season that coach Dan Hurley has some big decisions to make. By big, we're talking about the 6-foot-9 and 7-foot-2 type of big. Hurley has been saying since the middle of the summer that he's unsure what the starting lineup will

www.rep-am.com

I can't get any of the free article websites to work with the Waterbury Republican-American. But you can register with them for free and get 5 articles a week. I did that and it took 10 seconds.

Adama a bit lower with his thoughts than DH huh? Lol

 

[navery12]

 

[pj]

Adama is honest and open, Hurley is aspirational. Nice to have Adama tell us exactly where Donovan is at.

 

[BGesus4]

That lineup has wall potential

 

[Chief00]

Sometimes we under appreciate how difficult it is to play against Double Bigs. At 7-2 Donovan is a big tree to shoot over. It basically shuts down driving and the paint. Then cover their 2-3 best 3 point shooters out at the line and it’s pretty effective.
With Andre out early, it will help in the rebounding too.

 

[husky429]

Double-big ain't gonna happen except in very specific matchups.

Haven't heard anything about Clingan shooting the rock... thinking that may not really be in his skillset yet.

 

[Palatine]

Clingan at PG.

I like the idea of making teams adjust to us rather than the opposite.

 

[jdb50]

It is worth working on as it is another tool in the kit to use. Why not be able to do this? If Adama really can hit from outside the lobs to Donovan will be there too.

 

[CL82]

“We also like to post our bigger guards like Andre Jackson, and it is hard to post them if Adama is also down in the low post. When you move them away from the basket and he is effective out there, it opens up driving lanes for our perimeter people. I just think, in general, we are going to have a lot more skill and shooting on the court. If you get some of that from the five, you become really versatile.”

 

[Chief00]

Double-big ain't gonna happen except in very specific matchups.

Haven't heard anything about Clingan shooting the rock... thinking that may not really be in his skillset yet.

Chief suggested double bigs last summer and now the coach is saying it. Why not have a zone package in away/neautral court games when Calhoun isn’t in attendance. LOL
He has pretty good skills but sure in HS, why not have your Big do dunks, layups and baby hooks.

 

[mauconnfan]

Double-big ain't gonna happen except in very specific matchups.

Haven't heard anything about Clingan shooting the rock... thinking that may not really be in his skillset yet.

I’m guessing DC shoots it as well or better than Adama. Remember he’s improved which wasn’t hard at all while the rumor was DC has shown some ability to make the 12-15 footers.

 

[CL82]

Chief suggested double bigs last summer and now the coach is saying it. Why not have a zone package in away/neautral court games when Calhoun isn’t in attendance. LOL
He has pretty good skills but sure in HS, why not have your Big do dunks, layups and baby hooks.

Depends on the plus/minus of the combo versus what Sanogo does alone. I’m a little skeptical about pulling Adama away from the basket consistently. He’s been too big a force there. Plus, either of our centers are going to struggle to guard at the perimeter. Having both of them out there at the same time would seem to be risky.

 

[REB1094]

Can Sanogo play on the perimeter and let DC be the big man in the paint? Maybe!

But that doesn't mean he should. Sanogo was BE 1st team and BE preseason POY by bullying his way through all of America from 10ft and within. Really not sure why you would pull him out to the perimeter so that a freshman can have the paint.

I can see it in some early season schemes for fun, but I really don't think we'll see this in the PKI or conference play (unless we're rocking Depaul by 20+)

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Clingan showed that he can shoot the 3 in HS. Obviously, he has to do it here too. He is a great passer from the post, or at the top of the key.

IF Sanogo can shoot the 3 even 33%, at 2-3 attempts per game, then this lineup would be fine. I don't think it should be the main lineup, but it could definitely work for a change of pace during games.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Yup because the Whaley Sanogo lineup worked so well last year. Let’s quadruple down with an even more immobile freshman and Sanogo this year.

 

[runner11]

I like that we are workshopping the zone so early. A lot of teams can not shoot for ship. We have bigger guards so a Newton/Hawk/Dre/SJ/Clingan look could be elite.

 

[runner11]

Double-big ain't gonna happen except in very specific matchups.

Haven't heard anything about Clingan shooting the rock... thinking that may not really be in his skillset yet.

I imagine it’s something in his practice skill set but we won’t see for a few years. He has had workouts posted where he looked very smooth shooting 3s, I think one was posted by Finkelstein.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Chief suggested double bigs last summer and now the coach is saying it. Why not have a zone package in away/neautral court games when Calhoun isn’t in attendance. LOL
He has pretty good skills but sure in HS, why not have your Big do dunks, layups and baby hooks.

. Believe me any coach who has a 7-2 guy with some skills and an existing all conference big is trying to figure a way to play both at the same time, that’s just the way coaches roll. I believe It will be in specific match up situations and only time will tell if it works.
I posted that in a Clingan thread
earlier in the year. Hiding him in a zone may be a way to keep him on the on the floor. Chasing mobile 6’8” guys all over the floor negates his size advantage.
Basketball has a unique way of being complicated and simple at the same time.

 

[ToolzieFan]

I don’t know if double bigs will happen. My main takeaway is that if Hurley is even considering the idea, then that must mean Clingan is playing well enough to deserve more than the 5–10 minutes a game a backup might play. It would obviously be a great sign if he is developing that quickly.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I don’t know if double bigs will happen. My main takeaway is that if Hurley is even considering the idea, then that must mean Clingan is playing well enough to deserve more than the 5–10 minutes a game a backup might play. It would obviously be a great sign if he is developing that quickly.

Agreed and I think playing some zone/junk/non-hedge defenses would also keep Sanogo's legs fresher and/or protect him if he got into early first half or second half foul trouble. I think the more pieces and the more versatile and complimentary pieces a coaching staff has, the more creative the staff should and can get with things on both ends of the floor. I think Hurley's recent comments show that he is open to this and will deploy different tactics than we've seen in his tenure here. I hope so and it would seem much of the fanbase is ready for this, too.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Clingan showed that he can shoot the 3 in HS. Obviously, he has to do it here too. He is a great passer from the post, or at the top of the key.

IF Sanogo can shoot the 3 even 33%, at 2-3 attempts per game, then this lineup would be fine. I don't think it should be the main lineup, but it could definitely work for a change of pace during games.

I get that you were just throwing ballpark figures out there, but it made me want to investigate. I searched to see how many players met the following criteria:

• At least 60 3-point attempts
• At least a 33% 3-point shooting percentage
• At least 6'8"
• High major conference

How many players did that last year? 23. If you remove the high major requirement, there were 56. If Sanogo and/or Clingan can capably shoot from the outside, we will be awesome. I'm just going to set my expectations a bit lower. I'd rather see Sanogo get his 2-point shooting percentage up from 51%, although I understand that his pro prospects depend on developing a jump shot.

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T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.

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[Rocktheworld]

I can see Sanogo working out of the elbow and Donovan staying low. Sanogo had already shown some footwork and touch with a floater from about 10 feet. If he’s really improved his shot from the elbow, look out. Donovan is reportedly a good and willing passer so if he has it low and draws a double team, Sanogo can cut in and get within 5 feet on the weak side.

 

[gtcam]

Nearly every successful D1 team has a big who is a good distributor. A good distributer keeps his head up, on a swivel, and knows that there are times he needs to fool the opponent guards as to where the ball is going. UConn has not had that type of player in a while.
I think it talks big when Sanogo praises DC's passing and not talk about how he has worked on improvement in this area
If UConn has improved its outside shooting it will need an effective post passer.
AS will only play at the next level at a 4 position so an improvement at the midrange game is a must and if he has improved this area that is awesome and he needs to use it.
Playing AS and DC together is not as crazy as it sounds

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I can see Sanogo working out of the elbow and Donovan staying low. Sanogo had already shown some footwork and touch with a floater from about 10 feet. If he’s really improved his shot from the elbow, look out. Donovan is reportedly a good and willing passer so if he has it low and draws a double team, Sanogo can cut in and get within 5 feet on the weak side.

Sanogo has one of the softest touches for a UConn big I can recall . If he can duplicate that from 15-18 feet the NBA will be coveting his potential. The preseason is always full of ifs.
As the best color commentator of all time ( Don Meredith ) use to say
If ifs, and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas.