Jalen Adams on Twitter

[JellyBean]

Y'all talking about Vance Jackson, Juwan Durham, and Steve Enoch, right? Vance struggled with his shooting so I can just imagine what would have happened this year the way our fellas missed shot after shot. With Juwan and Steve. Great kids. I just have a different view of those guys. I mean if you can't out work a player on the roster when you played here or you are getting out worked by the opponent, something is up. I wish them well at their current schools.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

What the past season wasn't enough proof to show we could have used all three?

 

[KingAG]

Enoch --> Onourah
Durham --> Whaley
Jackson --> Cobb
MAL --> Anderson

Every single one of these was a major downgrade. There's nothing to debate.

Was MAL really better than Anderson?

 

[Storrs South]

Vance struggled with his shooting

He shot 39% from 3 as a freshman

The best shooter this season was Larrier at 38% from 3

 

[JellyBean]

He shot 39% from 3 as a freshman

The best shooter this season was Larrier at 38% from 3

And we all saw how that worked out for Larrier. We were horrible at shooting this year.

 

[CL82]

It’s hard to build a case that any subtraction was an addition for a 14-18 team that got blown out in the majority of its losses.

Hard but not impossible. I think this maybe one of those cases. PM me if you want to discuss more.

 

[Storrs South]

And we all saw how that worked out for Larrier. We were horrible at shooting this year.

Because the next two best shooters were Jalen & CV that both shot 32% from 3 (decreases from 2016-17, a whole separate issue I won't get into).

Yes I would rather have two good 3 point shooters as opposed to one.

 

[intlzncster]

Because the next two best shooters were Jalen & CV that both shot 32% from 3 (decreases from 2016-17, a whole separate issue I won't get into).

Yes I would rather have two good 3 point shooters as opposed to one.

Vance would have played 30+mpg and been productive.

 

[Danzz]

Yet he was better than DO

That is a very low bar.

 

[Danzz]

Vance would have played 30+mpg and been productive.

He was no better than Polly.

 

[Vuce]

Jackson also shot 48% from 3 In conference games. The guys we brought in to replace him/them were not better

 

[JimHurley]

Enoch stunk. Anyone saying otherwise needs to rewatch some tape.

Exactly. The guy looked completely lost out there. Played no defense, had no heart, and was a foul machine. He was the only guy who left that I can say I won’t miss at all.

 

[uconnfan68]

Because the next two best shooters were Jalen & CV that both shot 32% from 3 (decreases from 2016-17, a whole separate issue I won't get into).

Yes I would rather have two good 3 point shooters as opposed to one.

As long as they can play defense, handle the ball, rebound, etc. you know, actually play basketball.

 

[the Q]

Enoch --> Onourah
Durham --> Whaley
Jackson --> Cobb
MAL --> Anderson

Every single one of these was a major downgrade. There's nothing to debate.

If you’re basing it on how they actually played.

Whaley was an upgrade on Durham as a frosh. While DO and Enoch are about a wash.

Comparing Cobb to Jackson is silly since they don’t even play the same position.

And Anderson was better than MAL this year.

Now long term maybe the program would’ve been better off with all those guys. But frankly there’s not a ton of evidence justifying that right now besides their HS recruiting ranking.

 

[Huskybass]

Jackson never proved he was "the shooter" when he was here. He did prove that he can't play D at all. Durham was the player I was most disappointed to leave. The kid had outstanding athleticism.

Jackson led the entire conference in 3 point shooting as a freshman. You expected better?

 

[Storrs South]

As long as they can play defense, handle the ball, rebound, etc. you know, actually play basketball.

A freshman shot 39% from 3 -- he also averaged 4 rebounds a game -- yes his defense was not good but he was a freshman. A coach is supposed to focus on playing to an athlete's strength on the court and developing those strengths further while improving weaknesses.

I don't know what more you wanted from him since he would have been at worst the 4th best player on this year's team.

 

[Huskybass]

He was no better than Polly.

He led the conference in 3 pt % and made the all rookie team. he was considerably better than Polley.

 

[Deleted at users request]

You have to be hurt to think this team couldn’t have greatly used those 3... Vance as a freshman shot way better than anyone on this team. Had confidence that none of these freshmen had either. Durham and Enoch were talented bigs. Something you couldn’t say about DO or Cobb. Enoch showed flashes of a great post game and was a good rebounder.

This team is light years better with those 3, MAL, and a healthy AG. Ollie has had the worst luck these past 2 years with some being self inflicted... Hate to see him go out like this.

 

[Scrutineer]

Y'all talking about Vance Jackson, Juwan Durham, and Steve Enoch, right? Vance struggled with his shooting so I can just imagine what would have happened this year the way our fellas missed shot after shot. With Juwan and Steve. Great kids. I just have a different view of those guys. I mean if you can't out work a player on the roster when you played here or you are getting out worked by the opponent, something is up. I wish them well at their current schools.

Jackson shot 39.7% on threes and it was that low because he had a rough start to his year. He came on once he got to league games.

 

[Kembacity]

Steve Enoch wasn't talented, but he was BIG and you can't teach height. Our tallest players were 6'9" this season! Every player who left would've made this team slightly better, it's beyond me how anyone could think that they wouldn't have helped

 

[krinklecut]

And you have him as the savior of the program. He wasn’t that good, and didn’t have the physical ability to be more than a spot up shooter.

No I don't. I haven't said anything about him other than "he was a freshman." Of course he was "hot and cold."

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He was no better than Polly.

Honestly, if you think Polley was better than Jackson, at the very least your evaluation is incredibly off. The idea that Polley is some diamond in the rough needs to cease until he actually does something valuable.

 

[temery]

How soon after the season ended did each leave/decommit?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

He led the conference in 3 pt % and made the all rookie team. he was considerably better than Polley.

We desperately needed Jackson this year .
The team offensively certainly would have been much better.
He was the best natural shooter on the team as a freshman even better than Rodney.
He had a slow start but Once he got confidence he was a terrific shooter.
Someone said 48% in Conference. That’s amazing.
When he started clicking. UConn actually looked real good
Winning 7 of 8 and battling SMU , Until JA hurt his ankle. I believe that would have been 8 of 9 . With a healthy JA we certainly win at ECU and become a real threat in the AAC tourney, Maybe the NCAA was out but that team could have been fun in the NIT.
Whaley has better instincts and quickness defensively but was no offensive contributor.Polley showed flashes of shooting ability ,Jackson got the benefit of a short rotation so he played himself into being a confident shooter.We may never know about Polley as he will probably leave.
Basically one more shooter and everyone on the team becomes better.
As for the other two guys Enoch was better than DO and bigger than anyone we had .
Poor footwork and an unwillingness to work on that , hampered his progress.
Carlton has better moves but is less physical.. Enoch was a man Carlton is a kid.
Durham was a great player at one time but whether he could ever get back to where he was is anyone’s guess. We did not see enough of him last year to judge.

 

[Woodson]

I would have liked to have seen what could have happened this year with a squd of Gilbert, Adams, Vital, Larrier, Jackson, Durham and Enoch, coached by someone competent (like the 2014 version of KO).

I’m flipping pissed that KO didn’t work out here. He was one of my top all time favorite players to come through, and he had the foundation to build a long tenure of success here. What the hell happened?

 

[jibsey]

KO’s work ethic and non communication with Calhoun has been confirmed. Maybe he thought he knew it all but hiscoaching sure didn’t show that.

 

[ctchamps]

We desperately needed Jackson this year .
The team offensively certainly would have been much better.
He was the best natural shooter on the team as a freshman even better than Rodney.
He had a slow start but Once he got confidence he was a terrific shooter.
Someone said 48% in Conference. That’s amazing.
When he started clicking. UConn actually looked real good
Winning 7 of 8 and battling SMU , Until JA hurt his ankle. I believe that would have been 8 of 9 . With a healthy JA we certainly win at ECU and become a real threat in the AAC tourney, Maybe the NCAA was out but that team could have been fun in the NIT.
Whaley has better instincts and quickness defensively but was no offensive contributor.Polley showed flashes of shooting ability ,Jackson got the benefit of a short rotation so he played himself into being a confident shooter.We may never know about Polley as he will probably leave.
Basically one more shooter and everyone on the team becomes better.
As for the other two guys Enoch was better than DO and bigger than anyone we had .
Poor footwork and an unwillingness to work on that , hampered his progress.
Carlton has better moves but is less physical.. Enoch was a man Carlton is a kid.
Durham was a great player at one time but whether he could ever get back to where he was is anyone’s guess. We did not see enough of him last year to judge.

Pretty spot on.
I had very little doubt this season was going to play differently than it played out. We struggled last year and there was no way the incoming players were better than the losses of Rodney, Kentan, Amida, Steve and Vance. Juwan did not play enough to make a difference. The wildcard was whether Terry and Alterique could make up the difference for those losses. I had doubts given their injuries and need to sit out a season (two in Terry's case) but was hopeful. Alterique going down early ended that hope quickly.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

He may not blame Ollie for those guys leaving. That statement could be used as a defense of sorts for Ollie.

not sure how it can defend Ollie... a good leader would have kept those players happy and would have kept them from transferring... therefore Ollie is to blame because he was unable to keep them. Seems pretty open and shut.... Ollie is to blame...

 

[champs99and04]

It's true that Jackson was bad defensively, but with a team like this, who really cares? We were a train-wreck on both ends of the floor and Jackson would have made us much, much better offensively. There is no way you could have watched him play and not seen an all-conference caliber prospect.

Enoch was one of the worst defensive players I have ever seen at UConn, so in his case it is less clear how much we missed him. He did have incredible tools on offense and almost certainly would have given us more than Onuorah even by accident. At the very least, he would have made us more watchable.

Durham hurt the most because he had game-changing potential on both sides of the court. Whether he was ever going to get there after two knee surgeries was anybody's guess.

I understand the statistical argument that these weren't good players, but anybody who thinks we didn't miss them like hell this season needs their head examined in my opinion. We're talking about a completely different level of talent than Polley, Whaley, and Carlton.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

not sure how it can defend Ollie... a good leader would have kept those players happy and would have kept them from transferring... therefore Ollie is to blame because he was unable to keep them. Seems pretty open and shut.... Ollie is to blame...

You do know coaches lose players all the time right? Doesn't always have to be 100% the coaches fault. Sometimes people are difficult or things just didn't work out how you thought they would. Was it all JC's fault when he lost AO? I don't have the answer but just saying it's not open and shut.