Ideal 2018-19 Roster

[intlzncster]

I love Christian, but I'll take Jalen over him at the 2 every day and twice on Sundays...

I don't think you're going to drum up much of an argument with that statement.

I'm hoping CV's % goes up once he cuts down on all the bad shots under Hurley.

 

[intlzncster]

Get the other three to publicly commit and then lets see how it goes next fall. If the others commit, the momentum might be compelling.

We'll be fortunate to get two of them imo. And with another couple guys, it would still be a nice class.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I don't think you're going to drum up much of an argument with that statement.

I'm hoping CV's % goes up once he cuts down on all the bad shots under Hurley.

Vitals form makes him a better catch and shoot player. Adams is a standstill shooter, almost Purvis like shot. I don't look at the % because Vital had to jack so much because we didn't have an offense

 

[KembaStepback]

I don't think this is a good argument to have until we see AG on the court. Minus the shoulder, AG is talented aggressive player. The shoulder set him back 2 yrs. Hopefully he can start fresh now and start his growth now. Hopefully he has grown in the mental aspect of the game. When to go fast, when to pull back, etc. This took Kemba a few years to figure out, but when he did he became a master. If Gilbert plays, he will make a HUGE difference.

 

[husky429]

I get it he is state POY but the few tapes I saw weren't impressive compared to say Lecque. I am sold on him in the sense that I'll take him over other folks but compared to Lecque, I'd rather spend the time pursuing Lecque.

They are completely different positions.

And one is a 5*, most likely one and done... the other is a 4* four-year player...

Recruiting one does not mitigate the other AT ALL. AT ALL.

 

[KingAG]

I’m not really worried about another big. I want a proven knock down shooter(grad transfer)

 

[JimHurley]

I’m not really worried about another big. I want a proven knock down shooter(grad transfer)

I agree. I like Mamadou and Carlton to start with Whaley, Cobb, and Kwintin off the bench in the front court. Give me a 2/3 who can shoot the 3 and I’m happy.

 

[JMick]

I agree. I like Mamadou and Carlton to start with Whaley, Cobb, and Kwintin off the bench in the front court. Give me a 2/3 who can shoot the 3 and I’m happy.

I keep forgetting about Diarra. I think he has a chance to thrive under Hurley.

 

[YoungFree]

I agree. I like Mamadou and Carlton to start with Whaley, Cobb, and Kwintin off the bench in the front court. Give me a 2/3 who can shoot the 3 and I’m happy.

I miss 3-pointers. Remember when they went in a lot? Vital got better as the year went on and Adams had his stretches too but I miss the constant threat.

 

[JimHurley]

I keep forgetting about Diarra. I think he has a chance to thrive under Hurley.

I think Diarra could thrive under any good coach. The guy has a great motor, can rebound, goes up strong. Obviously is at a disadvantage being a 6’6 PF but he will have a good career with us.

 

[JimHurley]

I miss 3-pointers. Remember when they went in a lot? Vital got better as the year went on and Adams had his stretches too but I miss the constant threat.

I think Vital threw up a lot more 3s than he had to this year because there was no offense. In a functioning offense, I can see him hitting 40%.

 

[intlzncster]

I think Vital threw up a lot more 3s than he had to this year because there was no offense. In a functioning offense, I can see him hitting 40%.

To a degree perhaps, but Vital's a gunner at heart. He looks for his shot whenever he touches the ball, and has tunnel vision on the break.

What'll help him most is having accountability. Hurley will provide more of that than previous years, both due to coaching style and having more available options on the bench.

 

[GHSWolverines]

I think Diarra could thrive under any good coach. The guy has a great motor, can rebound, goes up strong. Obviously is at a disadvantage being a 6’6 PF but he will have a good career with us.

Charles Barkley was 6'6 and was a bruiser under the boards and had a pretty good NBA career. A terrible commentator though.

 

[3rdbass]

I think Diarra could thrive under any good coach. The guy has a great motor, can rebound, goes up strong. Obviously is at a disadvantage being a 6’6 PF but he will have a good career with us.

Don't you mean 6'6" center? That is where he played most of last season. Though with his long arms and jumping ability he wasn't as much of a liability there as your normal 6'6" center. Though to put him at PF in the college ranks is fine as he has enough height to play it there. I mean Draymond Green with less athletic ups plays PF and sometimes Center in the NBA and he is roughly the same height. I do agree though if Diarra can make that 10 footer he would be an ideal PF for us. He did make a few times while he was on the court and has a nice stroke. The problem is he needs to learn to play better positional defense and not try to block everything as he was a fouling machine. Hopefully Dan Hurley will instill better habits into him as he can be a key contributor upfront for us next year.

 

[Huskybass]

My prediction of the starting lineup to begin the season:

Jalen Adams PG
Christian Vital SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra PF
Josh Carlton C

AG first guard off the bench, TP first wing off the bench. Log jam at the 4 with KW, IW and EC all fighting for minutes. Transfer big KY backs up Carlton or adds to the log jam at the 4.

Assuming AG is healthy, it looks like there is good depth at all positions except Center, but I guess backup Center will be by committee.

 

[pj]

My prediction of the starting lineup to begin the season:

Jalen Adams PG
Christian Vital SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra PF
Josh Carlton C

AG first guard off the bench, TP first wing off the bench. Log jam at the 4 with KW, IW and EC all fighting for minutes. Transfer big KY backs up Carlton or adds to the log jam at the 4.

Assuming AG is healthy, it looks like there is good depth at all positions except Center, but I guess backup Center will be by committee.

As long as we're reviving the thread:
Alterique Gilbert / Tarin Smith PG tag team while Alterique shakes the rust off
Jalen Adams SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra / Kassoum Yakwe / Josh Carlton PF/C tag team on the inside

Bench: Brendan Adams, Christian Vital, Tyler Polley, Isaiah Whaley, Kwintin Williams, Eric Cobb. Hard to handicap these. Hope Tyler Polley steps up. Think Vital might be squeezed for minutes by Polley and Adams. Big men, it's going to be a dogfight for limited minutes. We're overloaded at forward.

 

[Balker]

My prediction of the starting lineup to begin the season:

Jalen Adams PG
Christian Vital SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra PF
Josh Carlton C

AG first guard off the bench, TP first wing off the bench. Log jam at the 4 with KW, IW and EC all fighting for minutes. Transfer big KY backs up Carlton or adds to the log jam at the 4.

Assuming AG is healthy, it looks like there is good depth at all positions except Center, but I guess backup Center will be by committee.

I think this is realistic. I'd assume AG is the second guard you put in for big games/crunch time with JA, but Hurley limits minutes to try to prevent injury. JA and AG still has "best in the country" backcourt potential. But it has to be structured properly. Ideally, with the guards we have, no one has to play more than 30 minutes, and JA doesn't look flat for half of every game.

Should be interesting to see how Dan Hurley balances minutes. There is a lot of talent on this roster despite the narratives floating around that the team "didn't have enough talent". Let's just say I'm relieved to have a coach that will understand how to create rotations and prioritize minutes over the course of a season.

 

[Huskybass]

As long as we're reviving the thread:
Alterique Gilbert / Tarin Smith PG tag team while Alterique shakes the rust off
Jalen Adams SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra / Kassoum Yakwe / Josh Carlton PF/C tag team on the inside

Bench: Brendan Adams, Christian Vital, Tyler Polley, Isaiah Whaley, Kwintin Williams, Eric Cobb. Hard to handicap these. Hope Tyler Polley steps up. Think Vital might be squeezed for minutes by Polley and Adams. Big men, it's going to be a dogfight for limited minutes. We're overloaded at forward.

My thinking is that Vital starts. He averaged 15 points last season (yes, I realize shot selection was bad) and had games of 30 and nearly 30 points. I think he will improve substantially in a better offense. Also, I think Jalen HAS to play point to get ready for his pro career. Just my opinion, but seems to make sense.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Charles Barkley was 6'6 and was a bruiser under the boards and had a pretty good NBA career. A terrible commentator though.

I think you meant turrible announcer not terrible. I’m just going to assume you wrote turrible and it autocorrected...

 

[UconnU]

I think you meant turrible announcer not terrible. I’m just going to assume you wrote turrible and it autocorrected...

Remember when he picked against us every single game in the 2014 tournament?

 

[Scrutineer]

Remember when he picked against us every single game in the 2014 tournament?

At least Kenny Smith loves UConn and he more than balances Barkley.

 

[intlzncster]

Remember when he picked against us every single game in the 2014 tournament?

Always fade Charles when it comes to college basketball.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My thinking is that Vital starts. He averaged 15 points last season (yes, I realize shot selection was bad) and had games of 30 and nearly 30 points. I think he will improve substantially in a better offense. Also, I think Jalen HAS to play point to get ready for his pro career. Just my opinion, but seems to make sense.

Smith averaged 12.4 last year. So I don't think it really matters what Vital did. He's going to be in "prove it" territory with everybody else not named Jalen Adams.

My prediction: none of these guys are going to play huge minutes. Jalen Adams will log the most, but should be down at least 5 minutes from last year and hopefully more than that.

This team is short on star power and long on depth, so I expect Hurley to require 100% effort on defense at all times. If that means that guys are gassed, fine, rotate them out. I doubt that Dan knows who will start, so we certainly don't. These guys are going to need to earn their minutes for a change. It's nice for us to predict Sid will start, but he's a true freshman and how is his defense effort? If he's not doing it, Polley will come in, or Smith or Vital. Diarra plays with a lot of energy and I expect his minutes to go up. But we're essentially playing "everything by committee". That may change by January, but I expect it will be the case early on.

 

[UconnU]

Smith
J. Adams
Wilson
Carlton/Polley
Yakwe/Carlton

Bench: CV, AG, B. Adams, Polley, Yakwe

With a boatload of 3 guard lineups in the mix.

 

[UconnU]

My prediction of the starting lineup to begin the season:

Jalen Adams PG
Christian Vital SG
Sid Wilson SF
Mamadou Diarra PF
Josh Carlton C

AG first guard off the bench, TP first wing off the bench. Log jam at the 4 with KW, IW and EC all fighting for minutes. Transfer big KY backs up Carlton or adds to the log jam at the 4.

Assuming AG is healthy, it looks like there is good depth at all positions except Center, but I guess backup Center will be by committee.

You're really sleeping on Smith. He much better than the other recent grad transfers we've had who haven't panned out. He's also a true PG/floor general something that we have sorely missed.