It's Miller Time

[huskiesnyc]

 

[Yankees32123]

Miller is going to help so much with spacing. His back to the basket game will let Adams, Purv, and DHam have more space to get shots off when the double team comes on Miller. I don't want us going into this year expecting more learning/rebuilding. This is an all-in year like someone said before. We can contend THIS year. Add one more ball handler/shooter and we can contend this season.

 

[Pudge]

Assuming Miller performs as hoped, obviously the front court improves, probably a lot even if Brimah is the same as this year. But hoops being basically a guards game, the loss of RB and his replacement by an untested freshman, seems to me to be the cause at best of cautious optimism for next year. Very few of our really good guards aside from Khalid performed well enough in year one the way they did later on. Our ball movement was pretty lousy last year with Boatright, and he had the virtue of being able to bail us out at the end of a shot clock because he was such a good ball handler. If the ball movement isn't better, the D will always have a lot of pressure on it and defensive rebounding will be very important.

Aside from needing a very good guard on the floor to begin with and much better defensive rebounding , if the two main problems on the team from this year, and even the magical Shabazz run which tended to overshadow how the team played almost all that year, don't improve, it will continue to be an erratic ride. Ball movement on O is one, and full games, every game ,of defensive intensity is the other. That is on the coaching. Go Huskies.

Do you have the self-awareness to admit the one thing that we all witnessed ... Ryan Boatright was not a classic PG distributor. He seemed to lack that feel. There are many guards at UConn over the last 15 years that handled that role better AND they did so as a Freshman too. 2014-2015 lacked that AND it lacked a certain amount of experience after we lost Napier/Giffey/Daniles/Kromah. Cautious optimism is right; but, we can be sunny about it.

 

[scrappy2.0]

We lose Nolan, Miller and possibly/likely Hamilton.

We're just lucky to have amida. He's long gone after next year and so is purvis with reasonable appreciation in their games. We're fortunate that's it.

 

[3rdbass]

We're just lucky to have amida. He's long gone after next year and so is purvis with reasonable appreciation in their games. We're fortunate that's it.

AB gone after next year? To play in the African Pro League? He has no chance right now of getting drafted in the NBA. RP doesn't have enough all around game or top rate athletic talent(he is strong but not the greatest jumper or super fast) to distinguish himself at the next level. He needs to develop a better outside shot and continue his make his midrange game tighter. RP and AB will be here for their Sr. years so don't be naive. If they leave earlier it will be because of financial reasons. I just can't see either of them making the NBA right now. Now Dham has lottery pick written all over him if he develops the way I think he will.

 

[UConn990411]

Because he had another guard of Boat's caliber playing alongside him and freeing him up?


Because he didn't have another guard of remotely comparable quality/ability playing alongside him.

Not sure why I'm bothering to argue with you, but I acknowledged that Boat didn't have the weapons. That doesn't mean what I said was wrong.

I said he didn't do as good a job running the offense as arguably the best PG in UConn history, but that he was great at a lot of other things. Why are you acting like I'm insulting him?

 

[UConnSwag11]

Do you have the self-awareness to admit the one thing that we all witnessed ... Ryan Boatright was not a classic PG distributor. He seemed to lack that feel. There are many guards at UConn over the last 15 years that handled that role better AND they did so as a Freshman too. 2014-2015 lacked that AND it lacked a certain amount of experience after we lost Napier/Giffey/Daniles/Kromah. Cautious optimism is right; but, we can be sunny about it.

he didn't have the feel bc he couldn't trust anyone with the ball... he wasn't able to play off the ball like kemba and bazz, bazz and boat

 

[UConnSwag11]

Not sure why I'm bothering to argue with you, but I acknowledged that Boat didn't have the weapons. That doesn't mean what I said was wrong.

I said he didn't do as good a job running the offense as arguably the best PG in UConn history, but that he was great at a lot of other things. Why are you acting like I'm insulting him?

all other guards have had competent ball handlers and scorers along side of them that knew the offense and could score... they could be a release valve for them which made them better... who did boat have? he told the players where to go and what to do, it;s not his fault they couldnt help him out

 

[UConn990411]

all other guards have had competent ball handlers and scorers along side of them that knew the offense and could score... they could be a release valve for them which made them better... who did boat have? he told the players where to go and what to do, it;s not his fault they couldnt help him out

So do you think Boatright was as good a player as Bazz?

 

[UConnSwag11]

So do you think Boatright was as good a player as Bazz?

so now you're switching it up... I think boat was as good as bazz as running the offense and the team even with no weapons... now to answer your new question, no i dont think boat was as good as bazz, a rung below, but for running a team, being a leader and a pg, yes.

 

[UConn990411]

so now you're switching it up... I think boat was as good as bazz as running the offense and the team even with no weapons... now to answer your new question, no i dont think boat was as good as bazz, a rung below, but for running a team, being a leader and a pg, yes.

We'll agree to disagree. I thought he was okay at it, but not quite at the same level.

 

[Gurleyman]

all other guards have had competent ball handlers and scorers along side of them that knew the offense and could score... they could be a release valve for them which made them better... who did boat have? he told the players where to go and what to do, it;s not his fault they couldnt help him out

I think this is a debate where both sides are right. Boat wasn't quite as good of a PG as some of our greats, and he also didn't have the weapons (spot up shooters, bigs with good hands on the low block) for easy assists. But he was a scorer coming out of HS, and the PG skills he developed were learned skills - not what came naturally. It makes a difference when you have to act instinctively.

I will add one thing in Boat's defense too - we asked for more, and he gave us more, defensively than we ever asked from our point guards, other than Taliek who had no scoring responsibility. We had Ricky and hid Khalid on D. Don't get me started on MW. Bazz was crafty on D and was very smart as a senior, but never had to set a tone at that end (and he struggled to guard the elite athletes like he sees every day now). Kemba was the closest - we would try to hide him to help him save energy, but he would take tough assignments when we needed it (Knight in the FF, Ashton Gibbs in that Pitt game when he was abusing our freshmen off the ball, etc.).

But in terms of being a natural quarterback running the offense, Boat wasn't at the same level as Bazz, MW and a couple others. No shame in that. It's a tough standard, especially without a good complement of weapons.

 

[superjohn]

AB gone after next year? To play in the African Pro League? He has no chance right now of getting drafted in the NBA. RP doesn't have enough all around game or top rate athletic talent(he is strong but not the greatest jumper or super fast) to distinguish himself at the next level. He needs to develop a better outside shot and continue his make his midrange game tighter. RP and AB will be here for their Sr. years so don't be naive. If they leave earlier it will be because of financial reasons. I just can't see either of them making the NBA right now. Now Dham has lottery pick written all over him if he develops the way I think he will.

I agree that AB and RP will be here for their senior years unless major improvements are made this upcoming season. Speed and jumping ability certainly aren't a problem Purvis has to overcome to make it in the NBA. He has to become a more cerebral player, tighten his handle, get more consistent. He just needs to become a better player but athleticism is not his problem.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Everybody in our backcourt should improve. And, they won't defer/rely on Boatright like they did this past season. Adams will bring what he does bring this coming season. And that's a lot of talent. But, others in the back court (Purvis) need to step up big.
We do need another ball handler next season. Just not sure who is out there.

Not worried about Purvis at all.

Hopefully, JA can be great lead guard from day one, and I'm more worried about the backups, TSAM and SCJR.

 

[3rdbass]

I agree that AB and RP will be here for their senior years unless major improvements are made this upcoming season. Speed and jumping ability certainly aren't a problem Purvis has to overcome to make it in the NBA. He has to become a more cerebral player, tighten his handle, get more consistent. He just needs to become a better player but athleticism is not his problem.

While I agree he is an athlete he isn't Stanley Robinson, Ryan Boatright or Jerome Dyson level. He is a more strength than unbelievable jump out of the gym athlete. I mean he is way better than Omar of course but not at the other 3's level. He is more like KW athlete. Which is good but due to his height for an NBA 2 and lack of dribbling could be an issue on the next level. He is a good shooter also but not great so again nothing to differentiate himself there either. He isn't a Klay Thompson shooter. I see him as a good 4 year player who will end of in Europe when all is said and done. Just my opinion.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Purvis is definitely more athletic than Dyson was.

 

[3rdbass]

Purvis is definitely more athletic than Dyson was.

Huh did you watch Dyson play he got up a lot higher and had some great dunks in his career. They can be some what comparable in strength but definitely JD had that extra level when jumping. RP plays more below the rim. I mean he had one really nice dunk against SMU I think but OC had one of those this year also and I know nobody is comparing him to MJ as far as athletic talent. LOL! Maybe he wasn't fully healthy last year but I never really saw that jump out of the building athletic talent from RP. He definitely wasn't RB or SR level of ups. He is a nice 4 year college player who might struggle to get to the next level unless he improves his dribbling and shot.

 

[Rocktheworld]

RP plays more below the rim. I mean he had one really nice dunk against SMU I think but OC had one of those this year also and I know nobody is comparing him to MJ as far as athletic talent. LOL! Maybe he wasn't fully healthy last year but I never really saw that jump out of the building athletic talent from RP. He definitely wasn't RB or SR level of ups. He is a nice 4 year college player who might struggle to get to the next level unless he improves his dribbling and shot.

 

[tcf15]

And this

 

[cohenzone]

Do you have the self-awareness to admit the one thing that we all witnessed ... Ryan Boatright was not a classic PG distributor. He seemed to lack that feel. There are many guards at UConn over the last 15 years that handled that role better AND they did so as a Freshman too. 2014-2015 lacked that AND it lacked a certain amount of experience after we lost Napier/Giffey/Daniles/Kromah. Cautious optimism is right; but, we can be sunny about it.

WTF? Have a bad week or something. What, pray tell, does self awareness have to do with my observation. Maybe you could use a dose of self-awareness. Tell me what I said was wrong about reliance on a frosh guard filling such a critical role on the team. If you think RB by his lonesome was responsible for bad ball movement and it couldn't be corrected by the coaches for a full season, please.

 

[scrappy2.0]

WTF? Have a bad week or something. What, pray tell, does self awareness have to do with my observation. Maybe you could use a dose of self-awareness. Tell me what I said was wrong about reliance on a frosh guard filling such a critical role on the team. If you think RB by his lonesome was responsible for bad ball movement and it couldn't be corrected by the coaches for a full season, please.

I wouldn't worry about haters 4 freshmen one a pg just won the national championship we have an older team with a savvy athletic talented pg.We are a serious contender next year

 

[3rdbass]

This is pretty nice!
http://www.yougotdunkedon.com/2008/11/uconns-jerome-dyson-dunks-on-western.html

Or this one also!

And this one!

 

[UConnSwag11]

And this

and this

 

[Mano]

and this

You know what I love most about that dunk, and something that I assume a then clearly healthy RP is capable of? His burst of speed in his first step is clearly a great strength for him. He just blew by the supposed AAC POY, and heralded defender, Nic Moore as if he weren't even there.

 

[3rdbass]

You know what I love most about that dunk, and something that I assume a then clearly healthy RP is capable of? His burst of speed in his first step is clearly a great strength for him. He just blew by the supposed AAC POY, and heralded defender, Nic Moore as if he weren't even there.

I still like Dyson's dunks better!I never said RP was a not an athlete. I just think he needs to be a better ball handler and passer which Dyson has him beat by a mile! As a shooter they are both streaky.