Looking ahead to ‘19-‘20

[UconnPT2007]

As it currently stands, next season’s roster looks like this:

G - Vital, Gilbert, B Adams, Gaffney, Bouknight
F - Polley, Wilson, Diarra, Akok, Whaley
C - Carlton

Graduating: J Adams, T Smith, E Cobb, Yakwe, K Williams

Looking at that roster as it stands, unless you’re a relentless UConn optimist, it looks like a .500 AAC team, barring blockbuster freshman seasons from the incoming recruits (and/or landing a high ranking recruit with the remaining 2 scholarships). I know this is a multi-year rebuild both in terms of talent and culture, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow and I’m sure many of us were hoping Hurley could work some magic this season to get us in the hunt for the NCAA tourney with Jalen still around. It’s clear now after the brutal loss to USF that we are just as bad as last year and Hurley is not a miracle worker. I’m pleased with his recruitment abilities thus far but the in-game coaching is disappointing to say the least and the on-court results this season are indistinguishable from Ollie. It won’t always be this way, but being stranded in the wilderness sucks. I’ve refrained from commenting on the returning players but I think most would agree there’s several that aren’t up to traditional UConn standards. I always considered Ollie’s biggest weakness as a coach to be development of players - hoping that Hurley can mold some of these guys into high level contributors the way Calhoun used to.

Please disregard this thread if we win the title next year. Go Huskies!

 

[Kemba429]

It’s clear now after the brutal loss to USF that we are just as bad as last year and Hurley is not a miracle worker.

Were better than last year...

 

[UconnPT2007]

Were better than last year...

I mean, we are dispatching the cupcake teams with greater ease, but with ranked competition we’re still not competitive (FSU, Nova, Iowa) and we’re still losing to parallel competition (Zona, USF). We have one quality win (Syracuse) going into conference play just like last year (when we beat Oregon IIRC). I still see a lot of the same habits as last year, care to expand a little more on how you think we’re better? I’m open to other perspectives here but the USF loss was really eye opening - in a bad way.

 

[Kemba429]

I mean, we are dispatching the cupcake teams with greater ease, but with ranked competition we’re still not competitive (FSU, Nova, Iowa) and we’re still losing to parallel competition (Zona, USF). We have one quality win (Syracuse) going into conference play just like last year (when we beat Oregon IIRC). I still see a lot of the same habits as last year, care to expand a little more on how you think we’re better? I’m open to other perspectives here but the USF loss was really eye opening - in a bad way.

I was referring to the dreadful performances against dreadful teams. Like Monmouth, who we beat in OT by 3. Monmouth retained all but 3 players and currently stand at 1-13. The team has improved since last year.

 

[intlzncster]

I mean, we are dispatching the cupcake teams with greater ease, but with ranked competition we’re still not competitive (FSU, Nova, Iowa) and we’re still losing to parallel competition (Zona, USF). We have one quality win (Syracuse) going into conference play just like last year (when we beat Oregon IIRC). I still see a lot of the same habits as last year, care to expand a little more on how you think we’re better? I’m open to other perspectives here but the USF loss was really eye opening - in a bad way.

At least we are not getting run out of the gym to start every game requiring a massive comeback effort that always fell short. There's that.

 

[ucawn]

2021 will be big recruiting year. Lots of current sophomores. Hopefully team is performing higher by then to land top talent

 

[Mano]

Saw this thread and the avatar and thought “damn, Zandrew, given up already?!?”

 

[jibsey]

So we’re not getting a big man? “As it stands now” does not work for us because that would mean mediocrity again.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Too early to speculate on CV’s future but I will. We all know he considers himself an NBA (or at least pro) level player after testing the waters last year. His scoring is down but he is still playing much better. If we move away from Jalen dominating the ball that should go up.
However, there are also not many 6’2 shooting guards at the next level. I also am pretty sure he is a guy who really takes pride in his place in UConn’s history. He doesn’t want to be associated with this dark age and will be the undisputed leader on next year’s team. He also could end up near the top of UConns all time leading scorers.

 

[Friendship]

Give me Kofi/Wahab and a grad transfer. Please and thank you.

 

[yukonfan4]

I know this is a multi-year rebuild both in terms of talent and culture, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow and I’m sure many of us were hoping Hurley could work some magic this season to get us in the hunt for the NCAA tourney with Jalen still around.

you can't claim to know this is a multiyear rebuild and then be critical about not making the tourney in hurley's first year. if making the tourney were a realistic expectation going into the season than this would not have been considered a rebuild and it 100000000% is

 

[UConnDad]

There is still time to be better than last year but right now we are not. A W today would definitely boost my optimism. We in the crowd will bring it today. Give us some energy and effort boys.