Jalen Returning for Senior Season

[Towney007]

Well it's certainly good news and I think this expedites a rebuild by quite a bit - especially if we get a best case scenario with more of the players than not. While it's hard to have any clue where we are nationally - we should be very competitive in the conference. I mean right now we actually look great in the back court. We have guard depth, Adams will certainly be the focal point for scoring and i'm especially intrigued to see what he can do now that he won't have to play PG. The key is going to be Gilbert, really; but if he's even above average, we stand to be 'fine' to actively good in the back court. The talent is certainly there.

My questions are just going to be up front again. Carlton coming back could be big and not only getting him back but taking some steps forward. Diarra - to me at least- is by far the most interesting guy on the team. He's incredibly raw, but I love his pace and aggressiveness and if he can prove his chops next year - we could be better than anticipated. Whalley to me replaces Larrier - and might even be an upgrade, so we should be OK there. Vital comes back and we're really interesting. He's a fun jack of all trades, master of none guy who would give us a lot more flexibility.

We won't be all that deep and I think elite teams should and probably will blow our doors off - but again - if cards fall the right way, we could play post season hoops again and that'd be a massive feather in the cap as we'll have a real, legitimate recruiting class to lean back on for Hurley 2.0.

 

[Paesano]

Also, can we keep track of people who said it doesn't matter if Jalen Adams left? And revisit it after the season?

Can we keep track of people who implied Jalen is an idiot for not doing the "smart" thing Vital is doing and also implying that he doesn't "want to get better" which, apparently, can only be done by entering the draft?

 

[Paesano]

By checking out do you mean taking a stretch of time off on the court when he had to play the 6th most minutes per game of anyone in all of college basketball because we didn't have any other reliable scoring options?

How do those minutes compare to the typical minutes an NBA guard plays in a season? Jalen needs to get in better shape. Period. Good shape isn't good enough. He needs to be in great shape to play his way into the NBA. He can't ignore the conditioning part of strength and conditioning.

 

[kansashusky]

Another bump. @kansashusky, any insider updates? Is the staff putting in work?

A couple things.

First the Xavier Johnson recruitment has been very quiet since he has decommited. He is waiting for something.

The two guards we took are not pure point guards, they are scoring guards who will play the two and three. the same kind of position that Vital played.

I have heard everything from Vital is doing this to get good feedback to his head is in the clouds and he really thinks he has a shot playing somewhere now.

I have also heard this is something very similar to what Bill Self did with Brannen Greene at Kansas.

 

[WrenchFan69]

I applaud Jalen for playing so many minutes and doing it all for us last year. He was definitely overworked and being able to sit him another 4-5 minutes a game will help him. That being said, I don't think he's ever been at the top level of conditioning he's capable of. If there's one thing I'm very sure of, it's that anyone who will see the court next year will be at least tied for the best shape of their life, barring injuries

 

[jibsey]

I’m psyched and feel like if Jalen had 2 more players around him with great talent we could be in contention for another banner. As of now we don’t have that but if gilbert is healthy it will mean a lot for Jalen.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The reliance on Anderson was injury-related, but there should have been anotherr guard. And youth was a problem, but the young big guys’ growth was stunted because Ollie didn’t realize he needed them to play like sophomores as the season progressed.

Agreed. The reliance on Anderson was driven in part by Gilbert, but even more so by Ollie's insistence on playing a 3 guard lineup on a team with only 3 guards. Even with Gilbert out, AA should have been a 12-15 minute a game guy. Diarra was criminally under-utilized. Cobb and Whaley both should have played more, DO much less. Once KO finally played Polley, he started hitting from outside. Larrier was played out of position at the 4 all season long.

UConn was not loaded with talent by our standards, but we had better players than the Memphis team that blew us out twice. That's how badly the team was mismanaged.

 

[EBonz30]

You need to start listening to Chief. I liked Vital but don’t see it happening. Adams video showed him lifting weights - ok - not a lot but it’s a start of buying in to the new culture. CV needed to be respectful of Coach Calhoun and let Hurley know he was buying in.

Gotta listen to Chief, right on point with this one. Get it Chief!!

 

[Dove]

By checking out do you mean taking a stretch of time off on the court when he had to play the 6th most minutes per game of anyone in all of college basketball because we didn't have any other reliable scoring options?

Jalen way too many times was an absentee playa in the first half of games. Even Larrier called him lethargic (himself, too). Totally Ollie's fault IMO. Hopefully Hurley solves this chronic issue.

 

[QDOG5]

Been boning up on Smith

I hope you asked permission first.

 

[Waquoit]

I was worried that he looked at next year and wasn’t ready to carry the entire team on his shoulders again.

Maybe he wants to see what it would be like playing on a team with a plan.

 

[BlueDogs]

Smart move and good for his future. He’s going to get much better under Hurley and be well positioned for the NBA draft.

 

[YoungFree]

Some of the best news I heard all weekend.

 

[deedougie]

Agreed. The reliance on Anderson was driven in part by Gilbert, but even more so by Ollie's insistence on playing a 3 guard lineup on a team with only 3 guards. Even with Gilbert out, AA should have been a 12-15 minute a game guy. Diarra was criminally under-utilized. Cobb and Whaley both should have played more, DO much less. Once KO finally played Polley, he started hitting from outside. TL was played out of position at the 4 all season long.

UConn was not loaded with talent by our standards, but we had better players than the Memphis team that blew us out twice. That's how badly the team was mismanaged.

Agree 100 percent. Two players that have been hardly mentioned are Cobb and Whaley. Both of them showed flashes of what they could achieve during last season. Would love to see them on a well coached team with a clearly defined role.

I think with the talent already there the UConn MBB team can really surprise us next season.

 

[GetTheFacts]

Kinda feel bad for Adams. He's one of the most talented players I've ever seen in a UConn uniform but was stuck with inferior coaching and a watered-down roster for the majority of his career.

 

[KembaStepback]

Let not forget we get Sidney Wilson next yr. He is the one who will replace Larrier. Hopefully Sid can and will play more team ball and be a bit more aggressive and consistent.

 

[Danzz]

Jalen way too many times was an absentee playa in the first half of games. Even TL called him lethargic (himself, too). Totally Ollie's fault IMO. Hopefully Hurley solves this chronic issue.

Ran into Corny Thompson at dry cleaners many years ago when he just got back from Italy. I asked him why he usually waited until the 2nd half before he started scoring. He told me if he didn't get Alexsinas scoring early that Chuck would just go through the motions for the rest of the game.
Don't know if this is what Jalen was doing but maybe.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ran into Corny Thompson at dry cleaners many years ago when he just got back from Italy. I asked him why he usually waited until the 2nd half before he started scoring. He told me if he didn't get Alexsinas scoring early that Chuck would just go through the motions for the rest of the game.
Don't know if this is what Jalen was doing but maybe.

Interesting. I will say that our best offensive performances involved Jalen distributing the ball early and getting the other guys going. Sometimes he'd try and they wouldn't score, and JA would put it on his shoulders and take over. But those were often not good games for us. I know we like to pretend otherwise, but he really is a scoring point guard, not a shooting guard. He's best with the ball in his hands.

 

[CTBasketball]

I like the optimism around our program since KO was fired.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Kinda feel bad for Adams. He's one of the most talented players I've ever seen in a UConn uniform but was stuck with inferior coaching and a watered-down roster for the majority of his career.

I said this countless times last year. This is not the UConn he signed up for but here he is committed up for year 4(hunnid) determined to flip the script.

 

[Huskymagic]

Let not forget we get Sidney Wilson next yr. He is the one who will replace TL. Hopefully Sid can and will play more team ball and be a bit more aggressive and consistent.

Look out for Tyler Polley next year. The kid is our 2nd best talent after Adams. Underrated and way underutilized last year.

He will be more confident this year and has the trust of Hurley.

 

[UconnU]

Look out for Tyler Polley next year. The kid is our 2nd best talent after Adams. Underrated and way underutilized last year.

He will be more confident this year and has the trust of Hurley.

He's also a perfect fit at the 4 in Hurley's system!

 

[UConnStats]

He's also a perfect fit at the 4 in Hurley's system!

He was the worst rebounder and the weakest player on the team physically. He played more like a 2 than a 4 last year. Not sure how much bigger we can expect him to play next year.

 

[Danzz]

He was the worst rebounder and the weakest player on the team physically. He played more like a 2 than a 4 last year. Not sure how much bigger we can expect him to play next year.

I'd say he is a natural 3

 

[fatlucy]

Gotta listen to Chief, right on point with this one. Get it Chief!!

I have no issue with Chief but some of his cheerleaders scare me....