Joey California Leads Nation's Transfers in Performance Expectations

[BattersonBoyz]

Pretty cool interactive chart courtesy of r/cbb.

Joey Cold Cuts is leading all transfers in the country for performance vs expectations. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse at this point but JC has exceeded all of our wildest expectations, let's keep it rollng!

 

[Spaceman213J]

I remember when his tranfer was announced. It was 'Ho hum' and 'He's just depth for practice.' Honestly, I never posted about it, but I was one of them who thought that.
Then I worried about his defense even when he first came in and hit a few three's. He may never be on anyone's all defensive team, but the kid plays with effort and he and coaching staff are squeezing the orange dry and getting every ounce of juice out them that they can. So glad he's part of this team.

 

[Peacefrog]

He came in with a reputation as a guy that could make some threes and he's been true to form in that regard. The surprise for me has been his dribbling/passing. The scouting report is probably out about his shooting and he is seeing some hard closeouts. He can handle well enough to get by his man in these situations and force help. During these defensive breakdowns he has done a nice job finding open guys, particularly Clingan.

Cool chart BTW.

 

[UconnU]

Hurley is in a weird position where he’s arguably our best perimeter offensive threat but he simply can’t defend the PnR or any player with decent size and some momentum. So his minutes are all matchup dependent, like many other pieces sans the big 3. If the opposition is playing an undersized or stationary guard he’s a must play. Best pure shooter we’ve had in a long time. It’s easy to see why he chose the Big East and not the Big 10. Wish we had another year with him to add some lean mass.

 

[Kitaman]

He's this generations' Microwave:

 

[runner11]

I remember when his tranfer was announced. It was 'Ho hum' and 'He's just depth for practice.' Honestly, I never posted about it, but I was one of them who thought that.
Then I worried about his defense even when he first came in and hit a few three's. He may never be on anyone's all defensive team, but the kid plays with effort and he and coaching staff are squeezing the orange dry and getting every ounce of juice out them that they can. So glad he's part of this team.

I was of the opinion that he was a depth piece. His Senior #s were not good. But then I saw a quote from his coach about how he was hurt all year and a shell of himself. And I think he was honorable mention or 2nd team WCC the year before.

 

[nadavtheman]

Funny to go back and see The Yard's reaction to Joey's commitment. I'd put it in the luke warm category.

Joey Calcaterra commits to UConn - San Diego transfer

experienced guard depth

the-boneyard.com

 

[AntG168]

Funny to go back and see The Yard's reaction to Joey's commitment. I'd put it in the luke warm category.

Joey Calcaterra commits to UConn - San Diego transfer

experienced guard depth

the-boneyard.com

Mark My Words

This team is going to be REALLY good. Dan Hurley’s best yet. With all this versatility the answer as to whether he’s the man that can coach us to the promise land one day will be answered this season. So much versatility

AntG the prophet

 

[AtlantaHusky]

Hard to go wrong with JC initials.

 

[Jimdish255]

Thought maybe I still had a life and wouldn't be posting about backup transfers in mid-June but there it was on page 7 and I'm sticking by it!

Really happy the staff is keeping an open mind to portal guys to fill these spots. This guy may help us in practice more than the games but I think they'd be foolish not to give him a couple of looks in the early and preseason. The rest is up to him

 

[Dove]

Nice!!! I wanted him bad!

Yep!!!

 

[SeattleHoop]

I never mentioned my thoughts on him initially, but I had this gut feeling he was going to make a bigger impact than what most on here thought he was going to do.

Mainly because the West coast conferences tend to be underrated from a national lense and he performed well in his conference.

I knew the transition wouldn’t be as big of a leap as many here thought it would

 

[bigknight3]

Yep!!!

Nice!!! I wanted him bad!

Based on what?! Since when?!

(Honestly interested)

You never have an answer?!!! Lol

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I never mentioned my thoughts on him initially, but I had this gut feeling he was going to make a bigger impact than what most on here thought he was going to do.

Mainly because the West coast conferences tend to be underrated from a national lense and he performed well in his conference.

I knew the transition wouldn’t be as big of a leap as many here thought it would

 

[Dove]

You never have an answer?!!! Lol

See Post #77 !!

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

With guys like Martin, Joey California, and Newton among others, it’s safe to say we’ve come a long way from the behind the back no look passes from all star point centers like Eric Cobb.

 

[boog204]

here were my thoughts... "Great add... Veteran who has scored almost 1000 points for a decent mid-major and has some shooting ability. Who knows if he'll play a lot or not, but the more guys we have who can shoot/score, the better."

I am pleased with my take...

 

[boog204]

With guys like Martin, Joey California, and Newton among others, it’s safe to say we’ve come a long way from the behind the back no look passes from all star point centers like Eric Cobb.

Leave Cobb out of this... Dude actually had some talent. At the start of his senior year he was our best big man. 13/13 against Cuse, 16/7 against Iowa, and 12/10 against Arizona. Then, total suckitude. I'm being only 1/2 sarcastic with this post.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I wasn't too far off. I too have been impressed by his ball handling and passing, better than advertised. He's savvy as expected for a veteran player. I was right about the remaining scholarships.

Looks like a great addition. Depth, shooting, maybe some late game poise and FT shooting from a veteran player. Leaves a scholarship for next year. He gets to play Big East basketball and enjoy a bit more glamour plus get a year of grad school paid for. Win win for UConn and Joey.

Not sure they fill the 12th spot or what we'd need but I'd expect more "developmental" rather than another grad transfer. There aren't any more minutes to go around.

 

[Tenspro2002]

He's greatly exceeded my expectations, I thought he'd be a 5 mpg in-case-of-emergency guy, but he's been excellent, both shooting and driving into the lane to finish or dish. He also has incredible chemistry with Clingan already.

That said, this chart does have me concerned that some reversion is coming (and he's not going to shoot 55% from 3 all year). His per-40 stats are way higher than what he's done before. Some of that is playing in a better offense and not having to be a focal point, but what he's doing now isn't sustainable.

On the other hand, if he can give us performance even halfway between what he's done so far and what we expected, that would continue to be a huge lift off the bench.

 

[elmcityboy]

interesting chart! couldn't help but notice that miami's $800,000 man, nijel pack, is basically at the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Chief00]

Hurley is in a weird position where he’s arguably our best perimeter offensive threat but he simply can’t defend the PnR or any player with decent size and some momentum. So his minutes are all matchup dependent, like many other pieces sans the big 3. If the opposition is playing an undersized or stationary guard he’s a must play. Best pure shooter we’ve had in a long time. It’s easy to see why he chose the Big East and not the Big 10. Wish we had another year with him to add some lean mass.

That’s why you have good Bigs on defense.

 

[husky429]

I'll be the firs to admit I was wrong on him, and I'm happy to eat that crow.

He is a prime example of why shooting is by far the most important skill in the game.

By our standards, he's small and unathletic. His defense is middling. His passing and dribbling are fine but hardly a skillset that is hard to find in the portal.

Kid looks like the best guard on the court at times simply because he can shoot the bejesus out of the ball. And even when he ISN'T doing much, the gravity he has impacts the game tremendously.

The whole geometry of the game shifts when you have shooters on the floor. Everyone benefits from that spacing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That’s why you have good Bigs on defense.

Sure, if you don't have them hard hedging well past the screener and past the point line. I think Hurley has the pieces, especially once Johnson is back, to mix and match so that guys like Joey are playing mostly when we have a rim protector in the paint. When our best perimeter defenders are all in, we'll see Sanogo hard hedging. In short, we play differently on D with Clingan (and Sanogo is in drop at times), it's an adaptation I wasn't sure he'd make, but he has.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He's been everything he showed at the Gampel intrasquad scrimmage, and has met the challenge to sustain his value against the elevated P6 competition.

One of the great joys of this season is that nobody has been demanded to do too much, including 'everything instead of anything,' which was an issue in the past 2 years at times.

May it continue...