Is Sanogo the player we miss the most? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Is Sanogo the player we miss the most?

It goes without saying that the combination of Sanogo and Clingan was something none of the schools we played in the tournament could handle. Starter minutes from Clingan and whatever Johnson/Singare can provide off the bench should still be better than nearly every other school in the country but I is not very likely that it will compare to this past year's combination at the five.
 
Really tough question.

One on hand, we have Clingan! On the other, man was Adama amazing.

As terrific as Hawkins was, I think Spencer and our freshmen can probably fill his shoes. And Jackson's unique but I think we're bringing in enough wing talent.

The proof will be in the pudding. But gun to my head, I'll say Adama. Because as good as Clingan may be, we're not going to have 40 minutes of dominance at the C position like we did this season.
 
jackanddanny8 said:
I personally think the answer is yes, but interested in what the Boneyard thinks. My thoughts kinda lead me to believe Adama was the key to success offensively last season. His presence in the four out scheme opened up so much for our perimeter shooting. Defenses were stuck with basically two options: 1) double Adama and leave someone on the perimeter free, often for a good look at a three or a cut to the basket as a defender loses his man focused on doubling 2) play Sanogo straight up and deal with a 60% shooter down low scoring at will or getting key players in foul trouble. I think it opened up the offense considerably, though what do I know. And in no way to disparage Clingan, who I presume will be incredable next year, but will he offensively require defenses to account for his offense to the same degree? I’m not convinced. While Donovan has good feet and great footwork for a guy his size, he doesn’t have Adama footwork. Also his touch around the rim can be pretty heavy at times. Will he get better? I assume so. And I believe he’ll be a force on assisted lobs in a big way. But will he be that guy who you dump it down into and have defenses focus enough to create the same kinds of problems keeping others from getting in the same great scoring positions? That’s what I’m unsure of. Donovan’s offensive growth will probably be a key component of success for the Huskies. it’s gonna be really hard and probably impossible to replace Sanogo, but if Clingan can merit the same level of defensive attention, others will once again have just that little extra space or get a step on their man creating better offense. We’ll see I guess. Either way, looks like we’ll have a very good squad and I already can’t wait. What say you?
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I agree, I think this year thou we will have more guys who can break down defenses and score. It will be fun to watch the development.
 
Sanogo's just complete consistency and reliability was the engine around all of the explosiveness offensively(hawk, shooters, karaban) and defensively (clingan, jackson) filled in around.

This year depending on how Clingan develops and the ability of other players to score in around the rim, we may lack consistency and be more reliant on explosive runs, which are harder to predict and generate.
 
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I say "once in a generation player" for Hawkins because we did have Rip and Ray some 25-30 years ago, but we've never previously had a Jackson or a Sanogo.

I think Emeka, Bazz and Kemba were all as, if not more, valuable as Sanogo and/or Jackson. All 3 were not only great talents in the college game but vocal and effective leaders. If you combined AS with AJax then you have one of these players.

Sanogo is a special player in some ways. Jackson was a special "leader" as was KEA. UConn has had so many special players that it's becoming the norm. I see AK as the next.

Hawk is a very special due to his quick release and ability to get the shot off but his true talent will show in the NBA when he works with specialists and allows his body to strengthen and mature. He is so young but the ski is the limit.
 
Adama Sanogo MVP of FF 2023. JH and AJ NBA draft first round ( I hope) !!!
 
I can’t say how many years since 89-90 I’ve said how in hell are we going to bounce back after losing good and great players. No way we duplicate or come close to that season after the loss of key players. Lol

Thing is we’re UConn again we will be fine!
 
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I think it will be Andre. Clingan will be a great replacement for Sanogo, he may even end up being better. Spencer will at least be a competent replacement for Hawkins. There is no one on the team right now that can replace the leadership, defense, passing, work ethic, etc. of Jackson on the wing.
 
The wild cards are the freshman. At around the 12 minute mark our second unit would come in and there would be no letup and often we pushed our leads with them in. Do they come in mixed with Karaban and Diarra and do the same thing? Clingan was the difference in that unit so we need Johnson to be what he has been hyped to be finally when he comes in.
 
housekeys said:
Is Sanogo the player we miss the most? Yes and arguably no. Not trying to be coy, but I think it is the wrong question to ask. The question should be "which position will be the most critical to replace?" For me that is the 5.

UConn was the best team because of their depth. There were other teams that had depth. No team in the country had UConn's depth at the 5. It was the difference. Given that, Sanogo will be heavily missed.

IMHO, UConn's ability to replicate that depth will dictate how good we will be, especially at the 5. On paper, every team in the country can boast depth. We shall see on the court.
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nomar said:
Really tough question.

One on hand, we have Clingan! On the other, man was Adama amazing.

As terrific as Hawkins was, I think Spencer and our freshmen can probably fill his shoes. And Jackson's unique but I think we're bringing in enough wing talent.

The proof will be in the pudding. But gun to my head, I'll say Adama. Because as good as Clingan may be, we're not going to have 40 minutes of dominance at the C position like we did this season.
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This is where I am. Even if Clingan can match Adama's productivity, will this team's back up center be as productive for Clingan as Clingan was for Sanogo?

Almost assuredly no.

So, even if Clingan is as good or slighlty better than Sanogo, overall productivity from the 5 spot will go down.

In other words, back up center productivity is what UConn will find hardest to replace.
 
superjohn said:
I love Jackson and he's also one of my favorites but it feels like the board has overrated him some after the championship. He is a leader, a great connector and a do all the little things player. His energy and athletic plays were remarkable at times but the talk has become a bit over the top. People are posting like he's one of the best players we've ever had.

He was able to be a roamer, we were able to highlight his great qualities and his offensive deficiencies were able to be masked because of how good some of our other guys were.
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The thing with Jackson I keep going back to was everytime there was a new play by play and color commentator watching UConn for the first time, it only took a minute or two for Jackson to do something that wowed them. Announcers can kinda get jaded in the day to day of calling games so when a player grabs their attention, that gets my attention.

Clingan, had some similar instances where announcers were real quick to notice a freshman big of his size doing the things he did.
 
Chin Diesel said:
The thing with Jackson I keep going back to was everytime there was a new play by play and color commentator watching UConn for the first time, it only took a minute or two for Jackson to do something that wowed them. Announcers can kinda get jaded in the day to day of calling games so when a player grabs their attention, that gets my attention.

Clingan, had some similar instances where announcers were real quick to notice a freshman big of his size doing the things he did.
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Agree with you on announcer's view of Andre.. There were multiple times last year where they were speechless.. Dead air.. Couldn't believe what they just saw..They're paid to talk and make comments on plays/strategies.. And AJ was doing stuff they hadn't seen before.. Pretty crazy compliment for a UConn player..
 
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I’m looking forward to the next chapter! Our team is loaded again 9 players deep at least but thin on the front line. Let’s go !
 
Sanogo let UConn run an inside outside game. Without him, UConn would still be too dependent on a perimeter game throwing up threes. Danny's biggest coaching change was having Sanogo be a bigger part of the half court offense and this happened more and more in the latter part of the season. The biggest question mark going into next year will be can we still have that balance with our half court offense.
 
AS could bang and wear down opponents. He will be missed. Whether DC has the stamina to do that for big chunks is the question. I worry most about our ability to control the boards if DC is not on the floor.
 
Hawkins by far not even close. I am not insulting the beauty of sanagos game. Sanogo is a monster stud who became so smooth around the rim and made his free throws. Hawkins is nonsense good. Could be best player in NBA. I think Hawkins will be d and three at first, but gets weirdly good. I think Hawkins is better than Tatum as a Celtics fan. Hawkins skill set required entire defense to watch him.
 
It depends on how Clingan inside game develops. If he can develop a solid back to the basket game it will help replace Sanogo. But as some have said, Sanogo was a rock during the tournament. He showed up and showed out for every game. Also, if Clingan can continue to play the D he played without fouling, than he won't need to score like Sanogo. Johnson and Singare are going to have to give a solid 12-15 minutes a game, or Sanogo will be sorely missed. I'm not so worried about DC, but the 2nd unit was a weapon that few teams, if any, had like UConn last year. This year the 2nd teams can't be a liability. The 2nd team bigs are the unknown this year.
Jackson will be missed. Hopefully, one of the new faces can bring energy to the floor like AJ did. This team can make up some of AJ's contributions by shooting better (which will help keep the floor spread) and do the little things like team rebounding and paying attention to the details.
 
I mean you are asking who was better, Kareem or magic. Birds answer would be both.
 
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And people saying Jackson will be missed are 100% correct because he became good. He was awful and became a complete different player. I disliked Jacksons game until it changed. He was best pg, made threes, totally different player. I was super anti Jackson and was completely wrong.
 
Dan Hurley sat down with the Big Three at the end of last year's season.. Said they had to step up.. They did.. And now they're gone. I would say Dan Hurley/staff and those three guys hit it out of the park..

Gotta turn the page and move on.. The sign of a successful Program..
 
wingsfan055 said:
Sanogo let UConn run an inside outside game. Without him, UConn would still be too dependent on a perimeter game throwing up threes. Danny's biggest coaching change was having Sanogo be a bigger part of the half court offense and this happened more and more in the latter part of the season. The biggest question mark going into next year will be can we still have that balance with our half court offense.
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Agree with the first part and disagree with the second. We were force-feeding Sanogo in the post early on in the season. Teams picked up on this and they started to double him, exploiting his inability to find open teammates. Dan switched up the strategy and stopped the force-feeding and allowed basketball players to make plays. It helped that Adama's court vision improved dramatically, in part due to the coaching staff moving AJax to the dunker's spot.

Credit to the coaches for adapting our scheme and figuring out how the inside-outside game could work for us without having Adama go 1 v. 2 in the post.
 
I'll miss Jackson the most. I'll specifically miss the play when he drives full speed up the court stops on a dime and drops a pass to a trailing Hawkins managing to simultaneously set a screen and get the assist.
 
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