Dogbreath2U
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Not asking for much there....sounds like a plan!
It's Miller Time
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Not asking for much there....sounds like a plan!
cohenzone
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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.
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.
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Obviously you never know how a freshman's game will transfer from high school, but every time I've watched Adams, he does an excellent job balancing when to run the offense and when to look for his own. As good as Boatright was, he was never able to master this ability...and it really showed this past season without Bazz.
Does nobody realize that his ability to play with his back to the basket frees up shooters? Teams will have to consider double teaming him. Purvis, Hamilton, and Calhoun became better shooters as the year progressed. Hamilton and Purvis will both help keep defenses honest, and if Calhoun can stay healthy he can be a third catch/shoot option. Add Adams' ability to shoot the three and this pick up makes our offense much better. We just added a guy who can average 15 and 10, and does anyone really think Purvis and D-Ham can't improve on their numbers from last year?
And for defensive rebounding, Miller will pick up where others can't. He's more athletic than Nolan, stronger than Facey, and has better hands/higher BB IQ, than Brimah. With Brimah chasing blocks, Miller should be grabbing the rebounds for those altered shots.
We're not deep, but we've got a stud PG coming in, two legit scoring threats at the rim and from three in Purvis/DHam, one of the best shot blockers in the country at the 5, and a guy who can play with his back to the basket and collect a double-double every night with this lineup. Next year should be very exciting. With that starting five I expect us to be in the running for the conference championship, and if the bench players can develop into solid role players, we can make some noise in March.
And for defensive rebounding, Miller will pick up where others can't. He's more athletic than Nolan, stronger than Facey, and has better hands/higher BB IQ, than Brimah. With Brimah chasing blocks, Miller should be grabbing the rebounds for those altered shots.
We're not deep, but we've got a stud PG coming in, two legit scoring threats at the rim and from three in Purvis/DHam, one of the best shot blockers in the country at the 5, and a guy who can play with his back to the basket and collect a double-double every night with this lineup. Next year should be very exciting. With that starting five I expect us to be in the running for the conference championship, and if the bench players can develop into solid role players, we can make some noise in March.
In fairness to Boatright Bazz had Boatright Daniels and Giffey to help score. Those three (in their roles) in 2014 were better than Hamilton, Purvis, and anyone else we had in 2015 (in a supporting role to Boatright).
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David 76
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I wouldn't be too quick to pencil in a freshman Adams as an improvement (or even an equal) to Boat. Love Adams, but that's not fair to him. I think he still need help with a press buster and would prefer to not just hope that the Sams improve at that. And while DHam was showing growth initiating the offense, his dribble remained too loose and too high for this purpose.
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I get that, and I'm not blaming the offensive struggles on Boatright. But there's a reason the 2013-14 team's offense executed so much better when Bazz was on the court and running the show.
I'm really not trying to knock Boat - he was a great Husky and did a lot of things really well. He just wasn't as good at running an offense as some other PGs at UConn.
8893
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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.
UConnSwag11
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i'm gonna disagree here, i feel like boat thrived in a shooting guard role where setting up the offense was not his main duty. He never had much passing tools in his bag, not a great entry passer, lob passer, not really good at threading the needle. when boat played with napier (a very creative all around point) he was at his best, attacking and not thinking. A fantastic player, our roster construction last season just didn't allow him to be 'him'.
Just my opinion, but I feel like the backcourt next season will mesh much better. Adams doesn't really need the ball in his hands the whole possession to impact a game, he is super explosive and creative.
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.
We do need another ball handler next season. Just not sure who is out there.
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1) This is revisionist history. The offense didn't execute so much better. A lot of times the offense didn't do anything until Bazz made an unbelievably clutch shot. That's how he (and Kemba) helped build their legend. When Daniels started playing aggressive it took pressure off Bazz and the team started rolling.
2) The team was better, helping Shabazz look better, because (2014) Giffey/Daniels/Bazz > (2015) Purvis, Calhoun, D-Ham.
3) I don't disagree that Shabazz is a better player/PG than Boatright, but it's not by much, and comparing the teams they ran is apples/oranges. Shabazz was a better shooter (barely), and better passer, he didn't drive to the hoop and get himself into trouble as often, and he made better decisions. He was also able to show that because he had better players around him.
UConnSwag11
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Bazz played off the ball like kemba did with bazz, when boat was in with him
He doesn't need to be. If he's as good as freshman year Bazz we'll be pretty good. I think he'll be better than that.
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If he averages close to 5 assist and 10 points we have a good one. That is not outrageous for a 5 star talent with all the pieces he will have around him. Even 7-9 points and we will be good.
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Boatright's numbers might be close to napiers, but he wasn't really close at all to being the consummate pg napier was as a senior. Also Napier basically created daniels in a lab, daniels looking good late in the season was a product of napier building his confidence up the whole year... same goes for giffey. it wasn't just some lucky shot, everything was calculated. it was apparent boatright was a much better second banana than clear cut alpha dog that Kemba and bazz were.
David 76
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I think both are true.
Boat did not have the help Bazz had (Boat, DD, Giffey, Kromah)
Boat, though amazing, is not the PG Bazz was. Boat was a better PG than I thought he would be, but still not at the Bazz, Kemba level.
Boat did not have the help Bazz had (Boat, DD, Giffey, Kromah)
Boat, though amazing, is not the PG Bazz was. Boat was a better PG than I thought he would be, but still not at the Bazz, Kemba level.
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David 76
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That is a good expectation/goal. We need to score more than last year and now we have another 6 to make up at the PG slot. I don't think that will be unrealistic with everyone's development & Miller.
I remain concerned for when Adams is in foul trouble, sick or having a bad day, what do we do? TSam? Sam II? I'm hoping for some help there.
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I think everyone has some fair points in this thread. As a pure PG, Boat was a cut below Bazz and probably close to equal with Kemba (who was clearly a cut above as a scorer). If Boat had a good quality as a passing PG it was his ability to find shooters from the teeth of the defense - but unlike Bazz, his primary shooters missed a lot (Cassell) or up faked a lot (Ham) or both (Purvis). A decent number of DHam's lobs to Brimah were off Boat's hockey assists - getting DHam the ball in good spots where he opted to pass. But he wasn't a thread the needle guy, or a creative no-look guy the way Bazz or Marcus were. He didn't have a pure PG's full bag of tricks.
I'm not sure I would reduce our 2014 title to just a magical Bazz run, although obviously he deserves top billing. When Bazz faltered (St. Joe's) was in foul trouble (Nova) or was game planned out of the game (Florida) others answered the call. Boat and DD had their fingerprints on that run too as excellent supplemental players. Giff to a lesser extent since he didn't shoot well until the final - but he was a glue guy with defense/rebounding. His three stops late against UK defending the paint against Young and Randle were enormous.
But I suppose that's a minor quibble - I think of 2011 as Kemba's run, and Lamb was pretty ridiculous for a freshman with his clutchiness.
I'm not sure I would reduce our 2014 title to just a magical Bazz run, although obviously he deserves top billing. When Bazz faltered (St. Joe's) was in foul trouble (Nova) or was game planned out of the game (Florida) others answered the call. Boat and DD had their fingerprints on that run too as excellent supplemental players. Giff to a lesser extent since he didn't shoot well until the final - but he was a glue guy with defense/rebounding. His three stops late against UK defending the paint against Young and Randle were enormous.
But I suppose that's a minor quibble - I think of 2011 as Kemba's run, and Lamb was pretty ridiculous for a freshman with his clutchiness.
If Ollie has nothing to do with developing their confidence, and Giffey/Daniels have nothing to do with developing their own ability, and their parents have nothing to do with their genes, then yes, you could say Shabazz is directly responsible for making them who they were.
Shabazz > Boatright, we all agree on that. But Daniels and Giffey spent a lot of time in the gym working on their shots/game, I think they deserve more credit for the players they were/are than Shabazz.
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Well, the offense in 2014 was significantly better on KenPom whether due to "execution" or not. 2014's offense played really well for the first 2-3 months of the season. 2015 never played well.
Their biggest difference as players is when it comes to using ball screens, which is a huge deal in Ollie's offense. Napier was a magician at that and knew how to attack any type of ball screen defense the defense threw at him. Countless times Boatright would get blitzed into oblivion and the offense would be in trouble. Admittedly having Daniels on the floor is a huge help for that type of stuff, but even without him out there Napier could still be successful.
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One other important dynamic to consider regarding Miller: his rebounding ability should allow us to flourish in the open court more than we were able to this season with the guards having to chip in to rebound.
I don't know how good Miller is as an outlet passer, but I would be willing to wager he is significantly better than any of our other big men, and Adams, Purvis, and Hamilton are all players built to score in the open court.
I don't know how good Miller is as an outlet passer, but I would be willing to wager he is significantly better than any of our other big men, and Adams, Purvis, and Hamilton are all players built to score in the open court.
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This is an all in year. IMHO we lose purvis amida Hamilton Nolan miller that will be 4 out of 5 starters. This is the way u onn basketball rolls we build and attack then it takes time to reload. The next wave will be the two young guys we got this year. But 2015-2016 is an all in year.
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We lose Nolan, Miller and possibly/likely Hamilton.
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This is nonsense. Daniels and Giffey shot well because they were great shooters. If Boatright had been able to run an offense with the weapons Napier had, he'd have looked a lot more like a consummate PG. He used more possessions because other guys were unable or unwilling to. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times that Hamilton/Purvis/Samuel caught the ball in position for a wide-open jumper, and instead drove the ball into the defense and turned it over. Or took the shot and missed. Boatright created great looks for his teammates all the time last year; they just weren't good enough to take advantage of them most of the time.
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