Junior County

[jibsey]

Hurley will never go into a season without ample insurance at PG after the Mahaney year. Hell, even this year he made sure he had a backup to the backup. Fine letting a County fight it out in camp, but no way you just hand him backup duties. He's going ot grab a Millender or a Smith.

Hurley hands nothing to nobody, but he’s learned from Mahaney.

 

[DogMania]

I've posted this before. There are two positions that you do not want to rely on freshman for even major minutes off the bench. Point Guard and Center.

Since the point guard has the ball in their hands quite a bit and is a catalyst to starting the offense, you'd rather be able to rely on two experienced players. A big drop off on both ends of the floor can be the difference from winning and losing a game.

As for the center position, freshman bigs tend to foul at an alarming rate and tend to get bullied in the post unless they have unusually mature bodies.

You obviously want to work in your freshman and develop them as the season goes on. It's just dangerous when you have to rely on a freshman to be a key contributor, especially during tournament time.

I'd like to see Hurley land another Smith for the 1 and also add another very good big, since ideally you want to keep the talent level high at the 5 and have 10 fouls to work with.

 

[ctchamps]

Counterpoint, Duke’s PG got hurt and their freshman stepped up and they go to the final four if not for a miracle shot. So yes, County could step in. He’s got way more talent than Smith. The issue is risk. It’s a gamble. But sitting him on the bench is a gamble too and if Mullins is back there are zero minutes at SG on this team.

This is the most rational argument. No matter how good at talent evaluation a coaching staff is they don’t get it right 100% of the time. Given how relatively short a season is and how important every game is there is a limit with experimentation. You increase the odds of success by bringing in redundancy. There are risks and downsides associated with it just as there are risks and downsides not doing it.

@HW611 along with a small minority of us turned out to be correct about Ross arguing against the majority in this forum that Ross's lack of playing time was limiting his development. The coaching staff correctly decided that Ball and Mullins should be the respective players getting the preponderance of minutes at the two and three. Ross only got the opportunity to prove the minority opinion because both Ball and Mullins were getting into foul trouble. Ross was built in redundancy willing to sacrifice himself for the goal of the team winning a championship. An extremely rare individual who fortunately got his opportunity in a unlikely situation.

You try to get the best possible experienced point guard in the portal willing to play backup minutes hoping that both County and this hypothetical experienced pg are both more than capable and both have to fight it out for that backup role. The worst case scenario is both are inadequate. But the chances are reduced when testing out two viable options.

 

[Nameless]

I think what people who are saying County should be the backup PG are forgetting are all 3 of our teams who made the championship game had a Diarra/Malachi. The veteran backup who not only drops dimes but is an absolute pest defensively.

The one year we didn't in the past 4 we were just a decent team and got bounced in the 2nd round.

County may be a good player worthy of some minutes next year. But expecting him to fill the role of a veteran PG, especially when most consider him to be more of a combo guard is a pretty risky gamble.

 

[SaeHusky]

In Hurley we trust. Im sure he ihad watched County enough to know whether he needs to bring in a backup PG like Smith or a 3rd string like Alec. I for one am not going to 2nd guess the current GOAT of CBB coaches

 

[navery12]

I think it would have been ideal for us to play County more off the ball freshman year, I'm not convinced he's a PG and more of a 2 guard. But given our roster construction for next year as of now the only path to minutes is backup PG and he needs minutes

 

[Drame]

You never know how some guys will show up to campus. Shabazz was #98 in the country and SHOWED up on campus as a freshman.

 

[aceboon]

I could be wrong but I thought County said the staff pitched him on developing him as a PG, I know they did that with Darius Adams and Adams specifically mentioned TNew as the mold. Silas was labeled a combo guard coming out of HS, I've seen recruiting services label County the same and the UConn press release when he signed his letter of intent labeled him as such. Most of the 6'4" and up guards that get labeled as PGs these days are combo guards, that "true PG" stuff is mostly dead.

 

[navery12]

I could be wrong but I thought County said the staff pitched him on developing him as a PG, I know they did that with Darius Adams and Adams specifically mentioned TNew as the mold. Silas was labeled a combo guard coming out of HS, I've seen recruiting services label County the same and the UConn press release when he signed his letter of intent labeled him as such. Most of the 6'4" guards that get labeled as PGs these days are combo guards, that "true PG" stuff is mostly dead.

Was just digging around his commitment thread, the only quote I saw was him saying they saw him playing a little bit on and off ball. But I agree every combo guard just ends up getting labeled a PG anyway

 

[Scottobot]

As we scan the portal for our second point guard why can’t it be Junior? Strong, has a handle, slasher and shooter inside and behind the line. Yes there’s a learning curve and there will be some painful learning moments but why couldn’t he be the one to give 20 minutes a game? The way the portal is these days if the kids don’t get the floor time to develop they are gone. He’s in the top 30-50 player range.

I think they will do both and see who can play the position.

 

[uconn_jack]

I’m comfortable with him being the main backup PG, and if he isn’t, we may struggle to keep him here. He’s too good to not play at all. That said, Dan will definitely need at least a Millender level PG as well, because we can’t risk it all on Silas staying healthy. If Mullins is back I’d be slightly less worried because I think he can probably run the point if he has to. His ability to facilitate improved dramatically late in the season. It’s one of the reasons we went so far.

This is what I would like to see as well. Someone like Millender who would be fine being the 2nd backup, but is competent to be the 1st backup if needed. If we ever want to have any retention of freshmen again, we are going to have to find a way to play them. We can't just always pull in transfer backups over them every year and wonder why they don't develop or stay. Maybe some of you are fine with thay, I'm not.

 

[auror]

I think what people who are saying County should be the backup PG are forgetting are all 3 of our teams who made the championship game had a Diarra/Malachi. The veteran backup who not only drops dimes but is an absolute pest defensively.

The one year we didn't in the past 4 we were just a decent team and got bounced in the 2nd round.

County may be a good player worthy of some minutes next year. But expecting him to fill the role of a veteran PG, especially when most consider him to be more of a combo guard is a pretty risky gamble.

Think County will be a pest defensively, or at the least very sturdy.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I just don’t know what is this horrific scenario that you all are imagining with County. Smith had good games, yes. But his averages show he was largely mid for most of the year. Even unplayable at certain points.

You may disagree, but the nightmare scenario is 2024-2025 where we had effectively one guy that could comfortably bring the ball up against pressure (2024-2025 had an added bonus of an injury to Diarra). Our offense already struggled quite a bit at times last season with only having two dependable ball handlers and one of those guys graduated. You may believe County will be good enough to handle that but I think brushing off as just backup PG minutes is a little flippant. If Hurley thinks he’s up for it, I’ll get behind it but it feels like a big gamble.

 

[navery12]

You may disagree, but the nightmare scenario is 2024-2025 where we had effectively one guy that could comfortably bring the ball up against pressure (2024-2025 had an added bonus of an injury to Diarra). Our offense already struggled quite a bit at times last season with only having two dependable ball handlers and one of those guys graduated. You may believe County will be good enough to handle that but I think brushing off as just backup PG minutes is a little flippant. If Hurley thinks he’s up for it, I’ll get behind it but it feels like a big gamble.

This is the piece I'm still trying to figure out, does Dan Hurley want to bring in a backup PG from the portal? So far it doesn't seem to be the case, but it's still early

 

[Waquoit]

That is no different than this year and look at how critical Smith was.

We can’t rely on a freshman in that role. Too big of a risk for a national title contender. It could derail the entire season.

The trick is finding another Smith. A productive starter a step or two down wanting more than being a big fish in a small pond. Someone willing to be a back-up in the big-time. Malachi went to the final game and played his best. I just read some knob call him a disappointment. There can't be that many around.

 

[Waquoit]

Boneyard mythology would try to convince you that 2011 Shabazz can't be replicated in the 2020s

Hey ace, Shabazz may not be in a class of his own. But what ever class he's in, it don't take long to call the roll.
H/t Bum Phillips

 

[Scrutineer]

It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s insane that Dan Hurley was literally sealing the deal with NK on a visit before anyone knew about it. At the same time, I like hearing a bunch of names bc then I can play along like I know anything. As it is, I’m on the 247 transfer portal thing looking up the PG from East Tenn St and wondering if he’s a sleeper. And no, I don’t have a life nor anything better to do at this time.

You're honest too............ 😎

 

[Scrutineer]

You never know how some guys will show up to campus. Shabazz was #98 in the country and SHOWED up on campus as a freshman.

There there's Wagglington (joking here, for those without a sense of humor) from Illinois........number 198 or something and will be a lottery pick.