Kentan Facey Deserves Credit

[huskymagic]

Kentan was very good on the floor for UCONN against Bryant. He solidified his starting spot at power forward with his solid play and fantastic rebounding display. His athleticism grabbing rebounds, running up the court, and lateral quickness shows he has been really working hard and improving as a player. He also has a good shooting form which with added confidence can make him a solid mid range shooter.

 

[dogpause]

I think his offense is going to come around too, especially getting second chance points. Seems that KO has decided to invest in him. Wasn't he a NYC POY?

 

[mauconnfan]

His defense is behind still but he's better and it shows. Kid can board and that's been tough to come by. But in all reality he needs to get better on D and fast. The guards will get crucified on D if he doesn't hedge and help more naturally real soon. It will come just makes me nervous after a year of practicing it's not here. But I have patience in the "process".

 

[Palatine]

Facey has the look of a very athletic player, someone who may be able t contribute on both ends of the floor.


There is a huge difference between practice and games, he needs more seasoning on the floor.

 

[Rico444]

Dude is a natural rebounder. 11 boards in 24 minutes is really impressive, no matter who the opponent is. As soon as he left the game in the first half, we started getting beat up on the boards, and once he came back in we took over again. He's going to be a huge asset this year.

 

[mauconnfan]

Noticed another thing. While he didn't get wider and maybe never will, his arms were definitely stronger and he worked hard to get there. Has an athletic long body which may never get huge but as long as he's strong enough to win boards that's all that counts, Lord knows he goes up to get them!

 

[Stinger92860]

His defense is behind still but he's better and it shows. Kid can board and that's been tough to come by. But in all reality he needs to get better on D and fast. The guards will get crucified on D if he doesn't hedge and help more naturally real soon. It will come just makes me nervous after a year of practicing it's not here. But I have patience in the "process".

He did a much better job hedging and sliding in the 2nd half. A lot of work to do. He will improve with more playing time. If he can get put backs, hit the occasional 8-10 footer and set some solid screens he will be a consistent plus player.

 

[eos91]

He has the look of someone who will be a beast sometime between now and when he is a senior.

Regarding his rebounding, three things really stood out:
1. His first and second jumps are really fast (shockingly fast)
2. He gets from strong side to weak side to rebound extremely well
3. When he gets his hands on the ball (always two hands), he seems to come down with it.

i would not be surprised if he averaged a double double at least one year before his career is done (and that is saying a lot!)

 

[Sibeerian]

Our version of a mentally stable Dennis Rodman.

 

[ctchamps]

He did a much better job hedging and sliding in the 2nd half. A lot of work to do. He will improve with more playing time. If he can get put backs, hit the occasional 8-10 footer and set some solid screens he will be a consistent plus player.

I'm excited about Kentan's rebounding ability. It has been a few years UConn has had a player that rebounds as great as Kentan and is not a guard. Kentan attacks rebounds like Kemba or Shabazz but has the advantage of height and court position. And unlike someone like AO he can get around defenders to get offensive rebounds. He can be really special for UConn.

However what @mauconnfan mentions is important. If Facey cannot learn to handle the pick and rolls, whatever he gives the team in rebounding will be lost in points allowed. In the first half there were at least 6 points scored by Bryant directly because Facey was horrible at hedging. However I agree with you. That second half was a significant improvement. And that is why I'm very excited about Facey as a player for this season. He picks things up quickly.

The big question will be how quickly he can integrate this into his DNA without having to do it consciously. If he can do that, and we'll know this by seeing him consistently doing it in games, then this team can go far imo. I agree with @Palatine that game situations are different than practice and therefore we need to be patient with his development. But we've observed players who never were able to overcome deficiencies in spite of significant playing time.

In short there is no way of knowing what type of player Facey will be as the season progresses but I'm optimistic and excited.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

He has the look of someone who will be a beast sometime between now and when he is a senior.

Regarding his rebounding, three things really stood out:
1. His first and second jumps are really fast (shockingly fast)
2. He gets from strong side to weak side to rebound extremely well
3. When he gets his hands on the ball (always two hands), he seems to come down with it.

i would not be surprised if he averaged a double double at least one year before his career is done (and that is saying a lot!)

One big plus for Kentan is that he really does have great hands. When he touches the ball, he secures it. In this one way, he reminds me of Caron who had (has) great hands when rebounding.

 

[ctchamps]

His defense is behind still but he's better and it shows. Kid can board and that's been tough to come by. But in all reality he needs to get better on D and fast. The guards will get crucified on D if he doesn't hedge and help more naturally real soon. It will come just makes me nervous after a year of practicing it's not here. But I have patience in the "process".

And here we go again - AO redux.

It's obvious that there are difference in how to evaluate players. Some people don't analyze every aspect of a players game. Others weigh aspects of the game differently. I prefer, like you, to examine the overall play of a player. IMO a player who is a ten in rebounding and a 1 in hedging is no different than a player who is a 5 in both categories (depending of course on the composition of the rest of the team). But to another observer, in their opinion, the first player might be better than the second player.

I'm hoping Kentan develops enough that there is no issue between posters.

 

[upstater]

He will learn to hedge. No worries there.

 

[mauconnfan]

And here we go again - AO redux.

It's obvious that there are difference in how to evaluate players. Some people don't analyze every aspect of a players game. Others weigh aspects of the game differently. I prefer, like you, to examine the overall play of a player. IMO a player who is a ten in rebounding and a 1 in hedging is no different than a player who is a 5 in both categories (depending of course on the composition of the rest of the team). But to another observer, in their opinion, the first player might be better than the second player.

I'm hoping Kentan develops enough that there is no issue between posters.

He already is a better rebounder than AO and hopefully will be a better (smarter) defender than him also. Why did you go there?

 

[Chin Diesel]

He will learn to hedge. No worries there.

I'd say it's more accurate to say he should learn to hedge. There is an art to knowing when to leave your man at the right time. Not too soon and not too late.

Right now his awareness has him a step behind which means easy layups.

His help defense is the only area where he is deficient that UConn needs him to be better.

 

[Waquoit]

I liked Facey's energy. I got the feeling that he is going to do whatever it takes to stay on the floor. I think the combination of athleticism and desire to get better will lead to consistent improvement.

 

[David 76]

Going into this season my biggest concern was are PFs. Facey, appropriately, has stuff to learn, but he has put my mind at ease.