I think Quse is still the best team in the BE.

[Scot-e]

I think Quse is still the team to beat in the BE. They are loaded and have less youth. PITT and Lville are not far behind Quse. Things have to go well with the sophomores and the new pups for us to be the 2-3rd best team in the BE let along the 2-3 best team in the country.

Now that is not saying we can not be the best team in the BE or with the addition of AD the country at some point this year. However lots of things have to go our way this is not a vet group of players and "magic" like last year- well- no one may ever see anything like that from a team that went 9-9 in their conference ever again.

I am hoping there are no "sophomore slumps" from the young pups. If we get a reasonable level of improvement from NG, RS, TO and SN can be steady -we will have a very good team. But till they hit the court we can only hope they have improved.

If DD and RB can give us 10-15 points a game and play good D - we are very deep as well. With AD on board we have eliminated our one glaring weakness created when big Chuck left- (and upgraded I might add). If he can go 10-10 by the end of the year that would be great right?

Bazz and AO also have to give this team at least some meaningful percentage of the leadership we lost with Kemba. Question- with the lock out can Kemba spend time with the team (like the squid is going to do this year) at practice ect????? That would be very nice.

The long and short of it is- we should enjoy watching this team play and grow- our OOC schedule is very very soft this year so there are no huge games- only ones where a more hungry team could surprise us. Who knew we might need a challenge this year in OOC games- I thought it was smart to have a soft schedule this year as we would be rebuilding- well we are done rebuilding.

Enjoy the NC banner hanging on the wall. Enjoy the fact we have a top 10 class of new pups coming in and AD is on campus. But do not get your panties in a wad at the first sign of weakness. We are going to lose games- it is the BE.

Always remember.

WE ARE DOOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RS9999X]

It's safe to say the other teams have more proven players and UConn has the unproven upside to be in the mix

 

[DMW88]

agreed...i think pre season #4 in BE is just fine...i expect we'll be better in feb/march than nov/dec, again due to youth / inexperience and it will take time to adjust to LAK (Life After Kemba)

 

[Waquoit]

I think Quse is still the team to beat in the BE.

Just say NO. Their best guy would be no better than the 3rd best guy on UConn. Maybe 4th or 5th. Plus they have an old coach.

 

[intlzncster]

Just say NO. Their best guy would be no better than the 3rd best guy on UConn. Maybe 4th or 5th. Plus they have an old coach.

lol. The one thing we'll be able to hang our hat on is defense. There is no doubt we are going to be a very good defensive team. We will be in a lot of games for this reason alone.

Hopefully the offense can gel, from Shabazz running the O sans Kemba, to incorporating a force like Drummond. We haven't had a weapon like him in the middle for a while (this group certainly hasn't), so that will be an adjustment.

 

[iam76]

Question- with the lock out can Kemba spend time with the team (like the squid is going to do this year) at practice ect????? That would be very nice.

although it could be nice. I think we need to take those training wheels off and let them grow.

 

[Lefty2one]

Cuse hasn't had a real point guard since Flynn and until they find one I'm still not buying into them.

 

[bobbygt]

I'm not so sure uconn will win the big east this season, but no team, and especially Cuse, has a frontcourt to match up with AO and AD.

In fact, all of the preseason contenders, Cuse, UL, and Pitt (Pitt might be close if Birch is as good as advertised and Taylor finally steps up) are behind uconn in size and talent.

I think Pitt and UL are both better than Cuse.

 

[UCHuskies08]

Cuse, the team with Scoop Jardine as its starting PG? I didn't think they were the best team in the Big East BEFORE we got AD.

I just don't see it. Who's a difference maker on their team? Kris Joseph, kinda? Not blown away by anyone on that team. They lost their best big man, and are relying on Fab Sucko? I got 'em 4th or 5th.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Lol Drummond will destroy Melo, Cuse wont be able to handle Oriahki and Drummond, this team is going to be a monster rebounding team. Syracuse is starting to enter the Pitt realm of having good teams and not going anywhere with them

 

[Burnsbros23]

Quse has a lot of talent but Jardine and Waiters are not good team players. I see them having chemisty issues but they do have a ton of talent.

 

[ArizonaHusky]

In order to beat a zone, you need an experienced guard tandem, We're good not great and good interior passing which we have in droves. AO AD should have some awesome high low action in this one and foul out the their whole team. The Inteior kickout to DD, JL, SN should result in some very open threes. Louisville in my opinion is the class of the league.

 

[Burnsbros23]

No, we are the team to beat in the big east. Will we have moments where we don't play up to our potential no doubt. But Louisville's roster isnt close to ours. Good chance Louisville starts two freshmen.

 

[Scot-e]

I would not argue with Lville being the best nor PITT having the best front court after us either. But Quse does have a 5 star big coming in as well- they will be big in the paint - even if Melo improves 20% he will be a solid 7 foot center with a year under his belt. Pitt should be very good once again and Lville is going to be solid across the board and very deep.

We should be ranked somewhere between 2-4 in the BE to start the year. We have lots of questions that can only be answered on the court. If things come together it would not surprise me at all to see us in the top three in the BE.

All these post about losing 3-4 games may not be far from the truth- but that is because our OOC games are weak. We may be able to improve over last years team even with Kemba gone by a 4-5 games in the BE. I will take that right now. Our fans are acting like J lamb is Ben Gordon and Bazz is a junior and DD is Rudy Gay- they are not- at least not yet.

 

[intlzncster]

In order to beat a zone, you need an experienced guard tandem, We're good not great and good interior passing which we have in droves. AO AD should have some awesome high low action in this one and foul out the their whole team. The Inteior kickout to DD, JL, SN should result in some very open threes. Louisville in my opinion is the class of the league.

There are plenty of ways to beat a zone though. When we moved Jamal Coombs-McDaniel to the top of the key and allowed him to pass, shoot, or cut inside, we had some success. This took away some outside shooting (ability to stretch the zone); also, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was an average shooter on our team. Our big weakness here was that our interior guys couldn't handle the ball, nor jump out to the top of the key.

We have a double advantage this year with this formation. We can move Drummond to the top of the key, he'll be able to see over the defense, pass well, shoot the jumper, or take it off the bounce. In other words, they'll have to account for him completely. This will open up the backdoor (or the corners). Also, we can shift Daniels to the top of the key and he can do the same things, while keeping our two bigs underneath. This versatility and subsequent mobility will be to UConn's advantage.