John Fanta quote on where UConn will be in the BE next year

[CL82]

He's not wrong in that it is tough to make up for the loss of Bouk and that there is no clear heir apparent.

 

[alexd]

Bottom line... it's a solid conference.

 

[Brochacho]

Posted a few times that Tyrese, statistically, doesn’t coexist well with a ball dominant wing like Bouk. Raw talent he’s not a top 5 player on the squad and I doubt he leads in scoring but I think he’s the guy next year when we need a bucket.

 

[Ajs120102]

Posted a few times that Tyrese, statistically, doesn’t coexist well with a ball dominant wing like Bouk. Raw talent he’s not a top 5 player on the squad and I doubt he leads in scoring but I think he’s the guy next year when we need a bucket.

I think we undervalue what a potential AJax development combined with a confident Akok will be.

 

[BackAftaThis]

I think we undervalue what a potential AJax development combined with a confident Akok will be.

Those 2 are the key to everything.

 

[87Xfer]

i can also see Adama becoming an A-type player

 

[Hoophound]

I think we undervalue what a potential AJax development combined with a confident Akok will be.

Or we overestimate it. I'm not sure which. Akok needs to play like a star or second fiddle. Ajax has a lot of talent but learning to shoot is critical. Rarely does a kid that can't shoot, become a shooter. It is possible, but it takes coaching and then an outrageous amount of time shooting. Taliek Brown never learned to shoot and his work ethic was legendary.

 

[BGesus4]

i can also see Adama becoming an A-type player

Good call. I mean he was an A-type player in many stretches of games last season. Not really sure if there’s anyone in the league that can stop him.

 

[Ajs120102]

Bottom line this is kind of a make it or break it year if Hurley is a hard no on recruiting transfers. Team gets a heck of a lot younger in 23. So let’s see. I’m more optimistic on 22 than most.

 

[LIuconn]

Glad we have Whaley to set the defensive tone for the new guys. Gonna need a few turnovers into points next season

Half court offense might be rough

 

[bmayuc]

Next year will be interesting - I get Fanta's point, which is basically that its unclear who steps up and what their quality is. The counterpoint to that is that this team is LOADED 1-12 wit solid players. There is not a bum on this roster for other teams to pick on. But some of our games may be epic rockfights.

Adama & AJax seem like the 2 guys that could take big leaps and become NBA type players, and I'm hopeful that Rahsool Diggins can add some playmaking and swagger.

 

[Storrs South]

The team this upcoming season is better than the squad that rolled in Cintas Center and convincingly beat Xavier without Bouknight and they had fans in the stands for the game

I don't think UConn is by any means a runaway for #2 in the conference, but seems to be an over-inflationary level of concern because they played a couple bad games when Bouk was out (SJU, Seton Hall @ Home, and @ Providence) after primarily gameplanning around Bouk during whatever version of summer practice they go due to COVID. They also had no problem with Xavier & Butler (twice!), that are bringing back the same teams, without Bouknight.

Seton Hall, while I think will be good, will also be very different given the turnover. It's a big infusion of talent but it's a huge question mark if it can all come together. It's also not a very deep squad. After Richmond, Cale, Rhoden and Yetna, there isn't much talent left 5 through 13 (maybe Weston as a freshman or Aiken avoids the injury bug). Otherwise, those 4 will need to be play big minutes every night and be major contributors to be successful.

UConn should be preseason #2. I'd be disappointed if they didn't finish 3rd or better (but satisfied as long as they made the tourney and win at least one game).

Tier 1 - Nova, UConn, Xavier, Seton Hall

Tier 2 - Butler, SJU (assuming no Champagnie otherwise Tier 1), Creighton, Providence

Tier 3 - Marquette, Georgetown, DePaul

 

[cap10dingus]

Could it be that our biggest weakness next year is also our biggest strength? Sure we don't have a "proven" alpha but even if one doesn't step up to that role, I think it will happen, we have 4-6 guys that are high level robin's. We come out of a TO 10 seconds left tied with the ball how does the other team game plan that? We come out of the same timeout on D how do they game plan who Jax, Whaley and crew will be guarding? This team has got that old school UConn feel and I think this year we find out how good a coach Hurley really is. He's proven he can recruit. He's proven he can build a culture. The X's and O's will be front and center this year. I'll take a team that can fly, plays great defense, loves each other, is a cohesive unit, and has insane depth over having a obvious star any day. There is no questions this coming years team will have all of those qualities. I've been very excited about our last few recruiting classes and teams but I have to tell you this team feels like something special, not just because I want it to be. I don't care how we start the season but by March, barring insane injuries, this team is a top 15 team nobody will want to face. Lock it in, be confident in that, and Bleed Blue! U

 

[Fishy]

Fanta is not wrong.

 

[freescooter]

Good call. I mean he was an A-type player in many stretches of games last season. Not really sure if there’s anyone in the league that can stop him.

In the current version of the game bigs are not that valuable. They are not really dominant players unless they have really unique talent Give me good guards who can shoot 3s over talented bigs any day.

 

[freescooter]

The team this upcoming season is better than the squad that rolled in Cintas Center and convincingly beat Xavier without Bouknight and they had fans in the stands for the game

I don't think UConn is by any means a runaway for #2 in the conference, but seems to be an over-inflationary level of concern because they played a couple bad games when Bouk was out (SJU, Seton Hall @ Home, and @ Providence) after primarily gameplanning around Bouk during whatever version of summer practice they go due to COVID. They also had no problem with Xavier & Butler (twice!), that are bringing back the same teams, without Bouknight.

Seton Hall, while I think will be good, will also be very different given the turnover. It's a big infusion of talent but it's a huge question mark if it can all come together. It's also not a very deep squad. After Richmond, Cale, Rhoden and Yetna, there isn't much talent left 5 through 13 (maybe Weston as a freshman or Aiken avoids the injury bug). Otherwise, those 4 will need to be play big minutes every night and be major contributors to be successful.

UConn should be preseason #2. I'd be disappointed if they didn't finish 3rd or better (but satisfied as long as they made the tourney and win at least one game).

Tier 1 - Nova, UConn, Xavier, Seton Hall

Tier 2 - Butler, SJU (assuming no Champagnie otherwise Tier 1), Creighton, Providence

Tier 3 - Marquette, Georgetown, DePaul

Correction: tier 7 DePaul.

 

[PChoops]

As a outsider looking in, I disagree. Your team is strong, especially on the front line(Best in the BE, we second though......Big Nate) I think RJ steps it up big time while Jackson scares the hell out of me (Even Ray Charles can see the potential). Jackson will be the guy, point forward type.

 

[Waquoit]

But just because we don't have an A player now doesn't mean one won't develop from our roster. I think we have potential.

 

[auror]

Our "A" player is going to be our defense, which I expect to be in the top 10 of the country next year.

 

[bmayuc]

Our "A" player is going to be our defense, which I expect to be in the top 10 of the country next year.

That is not how this works.

 

[Dogman69]

The one I just don't get is Butler. They return almost all of their production from last year. I don't love that argument tough when the production was bad.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

Another underrated component is our offensive rebounding. They were elite all year but ineffective at finishing after the rebounds. If the rebounding stays the same and the finishing improves we will improve by a couple of buckets a game mitigating some of Bouk's dynamism.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

That is not how this works.

Very good-to-excellent defense wins/steals about 3-4 games per year. It keeps you in almost every game. It almost certainly keeps you in the top 3 of your conference. That'll work for now - until we can recruit another class or two of outstanding offensive threats.

 

[auror]

That is not how this works

An "A" player is generally an efficient player despite a high usage (or a playmaker who generates a high rate of highly efficient looks for others).

What that boils down to is an opportunity benefit: a surplus of per possession efficiency relative to a "B" level player using the same possessions.

An improved defense relative to last year can generate the same per possession efficiency surplus. So no, it's not the same thing, but it can net out to be the same.

 

[JimCtheGOAT]

We will absolutely be better than next year. No single player will be as good as Bouk, but collectively and from a versatility/ depth/ overall balance perspective, I don't think it will even be close.