Love this quote by Dan Hurley

[HailUConn]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m deliriously happy.
But to top the last 2 years team, I need to question Dan’s sanity.

J/K, given his track record, I’m not betting against him. He is definitely seeing something we don’t. But if he is right, did he just confirm that Huskies are supposed to 3-peat!

 

[7774]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

 

[TheHorde]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m deliriously happy.
But to top the last 2 years team, I need to question Dan’s sanity.

J/K, given his track record, I’m not betting against him. He is definitely seeing something we don’t. But if he is right, did he just confirm that Huskies are supposed to 3-peat!

Is it reasonable to infer that he thinks AK will be back? I don’t see how he could say that without that being the case honestly.

 

[Peacefrog]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

There's just not any dead weight, is there?

 

[Tenspro2002]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

Yes. If Karaban comes back we have a depth chart of:

Diarra/Nowell
Mahaney/Ball
McNeeley/Stewart
Karaban/Stewart
Reed/Johnson

That's 9 guys who should get at least 15 mpg.

Then behind them: Ross, Abraham, Singare, at least two of which would probably be worthy of minutes, but might not get any.

 

[superjohn]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

It says we have two top 25 teams. We should be preseason #1 when AK announces he's coming back but people are dumb so we won't be.

 

[JungleLobo]

There's just not any dead weight, is there?

No Romoglue is in the portal

 

[Fan1978]

Is it reasonable to infer that he thinks AK will be back? I don’t see how he could say that without that being the case honestly.

Yes certainly implied

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

It depends on the progression/status of Ball, Stewart and Nowell. If 2/3 of those guys are hovering around double digit scorers for us next season, he might be right. And McNeeley seems like a guy we can plug right in, even as a freshman.

I just have a hard time not seeing growing pains next season trying to replace the production we lost. Wouldn’t rule out a juggernaut come Feb/March, but as fans, we just haven’t seen a lot from the majority of our starting lineup yet.

 

[metsfan2323]

Yes certainly implied

Even the comment about "portal closing" implies he is thinking Karaban will likely be back. If AK leaves we obviously need another transfer for the frontcourt.

 

[upstater]

I'd say there was a level of athleticism we had with Hawkins and Andre Jackson that we might potentially also have next year with Ball, Nowell, Stewart, Abraham and McNeely. If these players can play within the offense, then maybe Hurley sees a quicker and stronger team for next year? Personally I marveled at Newton's ability to go to the rim while maintaining control over his dribble and his balance. I call that athletic ability.

 

[superjohn]

I'd say there was a level of athleticism we had with Hawkins and Andre Jackson that we might potentially also have next year with Ball, Nowell, Stewart, Abraham and McNeely. If these players can play within the offense, then maybe Hurley sees a quicker and stronger team for next year? Personally I marveled at Newton's ability to go to the rim while maintaining control over his dribble and his balance. I call that athletic ability.

Athleticism is a lot more than running and jumping. Good point on Tristen, he has a great ability to play through contact and finish in all sorts of athletic ways. I always hear people say Luka and Jokic aren't athletic. They're incredibly athletic, they just don't jump high.

 

[my2cents]

Clingan's defense at the rim, will be the thing most missed next year.

 

[HailUConn]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

True.Still, rising tides raise the (champ)ship!

 

[Hunt for 7]

As several have noted, I don’t see him making this statement unless he felt confident that Alex will be back. Considering that as part of the equation I think it is not hard to see that point. I believe we fans as a group have discounted how good Ross can be. Ball is in my opinion has a very good chance to play at the next level. Stewart we saw flashes and he looks to have a very good all around game. Abraham looks very good and strength does not look like it’s going to be an issue.

We are bringing everyone back from a top recruiting class except the guy that was supposed to be one and done and replaced him with another one and done player.

And even if Karaban comes back we still have one open scholarship. Perhaps he will wait until it is a certainty that Alex is coming back to decide how he wants to fill that last scholarship. Maybe that is not realistic but there are still a few players out there in the portal that are very good.

But this roster, with the assumption that the three freshman, Stewart, Ball and Ross all make the expected improvement and Samson also improves, certainly looks at least on par with the last two years. It sounds kind of crazy but it is not an unrealistic take.

 

[McLovin]

Next years team, if Karaban comes back, could definitely be our best offensive team under Hurley. Easily.

But on the defensive side we will be missing a lockdown wing defender (Jackson and then Castle) and 8’ rim protector (Clingan).

Maybe Hurley goes full Loyola Marymount and just tries to score 120 points each game and sees who can keep up (joking, kind of)

 

[3rdbass]

Next years team, if Karaban comes back, could definitely be our best offensive team under Hurley. Easily.

But on the defensive side we will be missing a lockdown wing defender (Jackson and then Castle) and 8’ rim protector (Clingan).

Maybe Hurley goes full Loyola Marymount and just tries to score 120 points each game and sees who can keep up (joking, kind of)

Easily better than the #1 Offensive team this year in effiency(see Kenpom below) and top 21 scoring teams with 81.6 pts a game? With scorers like Cam, Newton, Karaban, Castle and Clingan this upcoming team will be hard pressed to match that kind of offense. No way will this team be better offensively with so many unknowns but what they will have that this team didn't have is quality depth all the way up to player 9. This year was maybe 6-7 as Stewart and Ball were too inconsistent to count on at times.

https://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankAdjOE

 

[August_West]

Easily better than the #1 Offensive team this year in effiency(see Kenpom below) and top 21 scoring teams with 81.6 pts a game? With scorers like Cam, Newton, Karaban, Castle and Clingan this upcoming team will be hard pressed to match that kind of offense. No way will this team be better offensively with so many unknowns but what they will have that this team didn't have is quality depth all the way up to player 9. This year was maybe 6-7 as Stewart and Ball were too inconsistent to count on at times.

https://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankAdjOE

We probably don’t match either ranking, but we will have an easier time matching our offensive ranking than defensive. Let’s leave it at that.

 

[dogpause]

Clingan's defense at the rim, will be the thing most missed next year.

Clingan prevented teams from taking the ball to the hole, and neutralized opposing big men. Add Castle's shutdown of their top scorer, and it was our defense that will be tough to replace.

 

[jbdphi]

That whole media availability session (watched it on YT) was just fantastic. You can see how Hurley is feeling pretty good about where things stand with the roster, his players and his coaching staff.

He did explicitly say that they intentionally did not try to overrecruit his returning freshman and his rationale for that made sense to me.

So many great quotes in that session. Highly recommend.

 

[aceboon]

listened to the media availability and Hurley said NBA scouts were asking about Ross after practices

 

[Rich]

So we could threepeat with:

1) 1 Five Star (Clingan)
2) 2 Five Stars (Clingan and Castle)
3) 1 Five Star (McNeely)

Please Duke keep doing what you're doing, LOL, 5 Stars Uber Alles. Pay no attention to Hurley he clearly hasn't the first clue on roster construction.

 

[Kitaman]

Dan could sell both Brooklyn Bridges, that's how good he is!

 

[superjohn]

listened to the media availability and Hurley said NBA scouts were asking about Ross after practices

He's our most slept on player.

 

[ABCDFE]

That quote says more about the bottom of the roster than the top.

was just about to post same. No one is taking over for Clingan's defensive and offensive presence. And right now I don't see someone as stout and a lock down defender as Castle. Will someone fill in Cam's savvy, tenacity and fire, TBD. If AK stays in the draft, I think the Liam has the potential to be that guy. Incoming freshman and the transfer guys to me will all be in the mix to be contributors.