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.

 

[HungryHu5ky]

I don’t think ppl understand how solid Junior is at 6’4 unselfish 3 level scoring gets after it on defense he’s gonna with UConn for at least 3yrs giving us another chance to win

 

[LStudfellow]

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.

And my counterpoint to you: I present to you a more accurate comparison than Cayden Boozer, from our own team just 2 years ago: Mr. Ahmad Nowell

County's ranking, according to 247Sport: 36, Composite 48. Nowell's ranking in 2024, according to 247Sport: 33, Composite 37. Practically identical. And furthermore, Nowell was considered more of a pure point guard than County is, who is considered a combo guard.

Diarra knee issue lingers into the season and continues to worsen, Mahaney struggles mightly because he was not a point guard and proved very quickly he could not handle point guard duties at our level. Hurley is desperate to turn to the next guy in line, who was Nowell (who also got hurt, but of course that has happened on a yearly basis with 2 to 4 of our guys, so it could happen to County as well). Nowell proved very quickly that he could not handle the position at this level. It helped to torpedo our OOC season, and we ended up with a disappointing season overall as a result.

You say County has "way more talent than Smith", and stand on that as if it is already proven true... except you have no idea if that is true, or not. I believe in facts and history. The fact is that if we had left our fate at point guard in the OOC season to a freshman again this last year (say, Darius Adams) and not had Malachi we would not have gone 5-1. And it would have materially, negatively affected our entire year, as it did the year before. You can disregard factual history all you want, but since we literally have proof from the last two years, it doesn't make your argument any more plausible.

And here is my mic drop for you: you use Duke's Cayden Boozer as your argument, except that you then have to disavow the fact that his immaturity played a major role in our comeback from 19 points down in the game that ultimately ended their season. He played great in the first half, but not in the second half. And I think most people agree that it was his brain fart to not hold the ball and instead try to pass it forward that gave us the chance to win. Does a junior or senior make the same mistake? I go no further than the mature, head's up play by our senior AK to find the open man in Mullins instead of hoisting up a desperation, contested shot of his own which would have had 0% chance of going in.

Sorry, but the facts line up on my side way more than on yours.

 

[jibsey]

And my counterpoint to you: I present to you a more accurate comparison than Cayden Boozer, from our own team just 2 years ago: Mr. Ahmad Nowell

County's ranking, according to 247Sport: 36, Composite 48. Nowell's ranking in 2024, according to 247Sport: 33, Composite 37. Practically identical. And furthermore, Nowell was considered more of a pure point guard than County is, who is considered a combo guard.

Diarra knee issue lingers into the season and continues to worsen, Mahaney struggles mightly, Hurley is desperate to turn to the next guy in line, who was Nowell (who also got hurt, but of course that has happened on a yearly basis with 2 to 4 of our guys, so it could happen to County as well). Nowell proved very quickly that he could not handle the position at this level. It helped to torpedo our OOC season, and we ended up with a disappointing season as a result.

You say County has "way more talent than Smith", and stand on that as if it is already proven true... except you have no idea if that is true, or not. I believe in facts and history. The fact is that if we had left our fate at point guard in the OOC season to a freshman again this last year (say, Darius Adams) and not had Malachi we would not have gone 5-1. And it would have materially, negatively affected our entire year, as it did the year before. You can disregard factual history all you want, but since we literally have proof from the last two years, it doesn't make your argument any more plausible.

And here is my mic drop for you: you use Duke's Cayden Boozer as your argument, except that you then have to disavow the fact that his immaturity played a major role in our comeback from 19 points down in the game that ultimately ended their season. He played great in the first half, but not in the second half. And I think most people agree that it was his brain fart to not hold the ball and instead try to pass it forward that gave us the chance to win. Does a junior or senior make the same mistake? I go no further than the mature, head's up play by our senior AK to find the open man in Mullins instead of hoisting up a desperation, contested shot of his own which would have had 0% chance of going in.

Sorry, but the facts line up on my side way more than on yours.

AK would do that as a freshman. Some players regardless of ranking have it. If we went by the numbers next to a players name then Duke has more titles than we do.

 

[LStudfellow]

I don’t think ppl understand how solid Junior is at 6’4 unselfish 3 level scoring gets after it on defense he’s gonna with UConn for at least 3yrs giving us another chance to win

This may all be true... but how exactly does this translate into him being THE GUY to be our back up at point guard next year. Sorry, but it doesn't. In no way, shape, or form.

With that having been said, I hope you are 100% right about him. From your mouth (keyboard) to God's ears, as they say.

But that doesn't mean I believe you can entrust him with the back up point guard position next year for a team that now clearly has championship aspirations again after the way things have fallen for us in the last week.

Sorry, but no.

 

[Lafayette]

And my counterpoint to you: I present to you a more accurate comparison than Cayden Boozer, from our own team just 2 years ago: Mr. Ahmad Nowell

County's ranking, according to 247Sport: 36, Composite 48. Nowell's ranking in 2024, according to 247Sport: 33, Composite 37. Practically identical. And furthermore, Nowell was considered more of a pure point guard than County is, who is considered a combo guard.

Diarra knee issue lingers into the season and continues to worsen, Mahaney struggles mightly because he was not a point guard and proved very quickly he could not handle point guard duties at our level. Hurley is desperate to turn to the next guy in line, who was Nowell (who also got hurt, but of course that has happened on a yearly basis with 2 to 4 of our guys, so it could happen to County as well). Nowell proved very quickly that he could not handle the position at this level. It helped to torpedo our OOC season, and we ended up with a disappointing season overall as a result.

You say County has "way more talent than Smith", and stand on that as if it is already proven true... except you have no idea if that is true, or not. I believe in facts and history. The fact is that if we had left our fate at point guard in the OOC season to a freshman again this last year (say, Darius Adams) and not had Malachi we would not have gone 5-1. And it would have materially, negatively affected our entire year, as it did the year before. You can disregard factual history all you want, but since we literally have proof from the last two years, it doesn't make your argument any more plausible.

And here is my mic drop for you: you use Duke's Cayden Boozer as your argument, except that you then have to disavow the fact that his immaturity played a major role in our comeback from 19 points down in the game that ultimately ended their season. He played great in the first half, but not in the second half. And I think most people agree that it was his brain fart to not hold the ball and instead try to pass it forward that gave us the chance to win. Does a junior or senior make the same mistake? I go no further than the mature, head's up play by our senior AK to find the open man in Mullins instead of hoisting up a desperation, contested shot of his own which would have had 0% chance of going in.

Sorry, but the facts line up on my side way more than on yours.

County is a shooting guard who more recently has started handling the offense so transitioning to combo guard so the comp is different.

Plus you're comparing a 6'0" point guard to a 6'4" combo guard.

Also Ahmad is one of the only freshman I can remember being guarded to the point of desperation too much. It's like everyone knew they could body him up no problem.

I think the comp is newer: Darius Adams. Similar build and skill set. Not saying County > Smith by any stretch, so just setting a better comparative since we haven't really seen either play.

 

[LStudfellow]

AK would do that as a freshman. Some players regardless of ranking have it. If we went by the numbers next to a players name then Duke has more titles than we do.

Sorry, I can not argue with someone who just wants to use non-related information to try and support an argument that is factually incorrect, based on actual recent events.

Again, I give you our results from 2024-2025 versus this last year. With a seasoned veteran Smith to back up Demary we are able to navigate our gauntlet of top level OOC games at 5-1. The year before, without adequate back up for Diarra we go to Maui and lose 3 straight games against opposition that was not as good as the 6-game gauntlet we faced this year. Maybe that Memphis team from two years ago compares to this year's Texas team. Otherwise? Colorado ended up being terrible, and Dayton was good but certainly not great.

I don't understand how after what we literally just experienced over the last two years any of you are willing to go the 2024-2025 route again.

And here's a hint: I guarantee you that Hurley doesn't want to go that route again. Unlike you who continue to want to argue this, our head coach learns from his past mistakes.

 

[HW611]

Tried to take a deep dive into County’s film today. There’s not much I found outside of his highlights on YouTube and hudl below.

Junior County on Hudl

Watch Junior County's videos and highlights on Hudl. More info: Utah Prep - Utah Prep Boys Basketball / Herriman, UT

www.hudl.com

Overall, he seems super… solid. Honestly he seems like a really good fit to be a 3-4 year guard here.

I don’t necessarily see NBA guy. But he does seem right in that big guard Newton, Demary role who can be really good for us here and do a little bit of everything.

He definitely has PG skills. As even in his YouTube highlights there’s a lot of good passes on drives both for 3s and dump offs to the bigs. He looks like an efficient dribbler too which I appreciate as far as getting to spots and not being flashy. Didn’t see him doing too much dribble wasting.

On his hudl page he has defensive highlights of blocks and steals which is right up this programs alley.

He honestly seems like a great long term fit for our program to eventually become our lead 6’4 big guard who is also a plus defender for multiple years.

For the Nowell comparisons, Nowell was a guy who played with the ball in his hands a lot and was smaller and couldn’t shoot.

County is a really willing passer and can play without the ball (which is ideal for this offense) while being able to shoot and bring an advantage for us defensively. He doesn’t seem like the kind of player that’ll dribble the air out the ball which is important.

I think the staff has really learned their lesson on the type of guard they want with him and I hope we plan on getting him ready as soon as possible to be the PG of the Future for us.

 

[HW611]

County is also not Darius Adams who was a shot chucking score first guy. They’re just both 6’4 and light skin. That’s where the similarities end there.

 

[LStudfellow]

County is a shooting guard who more recently has started handling the offense so transitioning to combo guard so the comp is different.

Plus you're comparing a 6'0" point guard to a 6'4" combo guard.

Also Ahmad is one of the only freshman I can remember being guarded to the point of desperation too much. It's like everyone knew they could body him up no problem.

I think the comp is newer: Darius Adams. Similar build and skill set. Not saying County > Smith by any stretch, so just setting a better comparative since we haven't really seen either play.

I hope County turns out to be a great multiple year player for us. I wish this for every young man who commits to our program.

And yes, I am comparing a 6'0" point guard to a 6'4" combo guard to play the extremely important position on next year's team of: back up point guard. You are actually making the argument for me.

Next year's team is not in need of a back up combo guard... it is in serious need of a back up point guard. One who can handle pressure in our most important games against very good teams. And you are fine with us leaving it up to a 6'4" combo guard that we have no idea about at this point? With a team that will clearly be good enough to contend for the title again.

Sorry, but you talk as if the last two years of UConn basketball didn't just happen.

And I bet at least half of you if not most of you, at the end of 2024-2025 were lamenting the fact that the biggest short coming on that team was the lack of a competent back up point guard. Like pretty much everybody else on this board at that time. I think some of you like to argue just for the sake of arguing.

 

[HW611]

Defense at the :23 mark is pretty impressive.

 

[HW611]

I hope County turns out to be a great multiple year player for us. I wish this for every young man who commits to our program.

And yes, I am comparing a 6'0" point guard to a 6'4" combo guard to play the extremely important position on next year's team of: back up point guard. You are actually making the argument for me.

Next year's team is not in need of a back up combo guard... it is in serious need of a back up point guard. One who can handle pressure in our most important games against very good teams. And you are fine with us leaving it up to a 6'4" combo guard that we have no idea about at this point? With a team that will clearly be good enough to contend for the title again.

Sorry, but you talk as if the last two years of UConn basketball didn't just happen.

And I bet at least half of you if not most of you, at the end of 2024-2025 were lamenting the fact that the biggest short coming on that team was the lack of a competent back up point guard. Like pretty much everybody else on this board at that time. I think some of you like to argue just for the sake of arguing.

I love how the freshman who hardly played gets blamed for our PG depth and not the transfer we brought in who had ample opportunity the freshman didn’t get.

 

[ec33]

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

I think that is part people are missing. Throwing County in as the backup PG means always being on the ball. Our examples of CG's as PG's in the Hurley system are Newton and Demary. As transfers, we missed the part where they were off-ball types (even if ball dominant scorers in the half court).

If County earns minutes, it likely will be as the "PG" (with the abundance of better options at the 2 to 4) but in lower stakes situations where we also see Ball and Mullins bring the ball up. When playing St. John's and being pressed, that is going to be the backup PG brought in expressly to play the backup PG role.