Making sense of Facey's late development

[UChusky916]

As the season approached, before the team was decimated by injuries, the 4 spot was the biggest question mark on the team this year. Funny (and sad because of our injuries) how things work out, as Facey has simply been a ROCK and super-reliable down low at PF for most of the year. Gotta love how his game has blossomed this year.

goshdarn, I absolutely love the player that Facey has become this year. He gives you everything you want from the 4 spot:
-Strong rebounder (especially on the offensive end - creates easy buckets)
-Solid defender
-Reliable offensive threat (this has been his biggest improvement)

We always saw early-season flashes from Kentan, but he always seemed to fade as the season progressed. This year, however, he's asserted himself as our most reliable player after Adams.

So why did it take so long to see this Kentan Facey emerge? You could argue a few reasons:

• I've always felt it was a confidence issue with Facey, but this year he's seen minutes out of necessity, and the confidence has CLEARLY not been lacking. Is it simply that he needed more minutes?
• Perhaps injuries to the perimeter players forced our traditional guard-orientated offense to run through the post more than normal?
• Simply a senior stepping-up when the team needs him?
• Maybe Facey losing his Dad last year really affected his play last year more than we realize, and he was due to break out sooner?

Really tough to pin-point what the key was to Facey's blossoming development this year. Maybe it was a combination of the factors above. It's just so odd for a player of his age to emerge at this late stage of his college career (He's 23 years old). It's not like Facey grew into his body as many Sophomores/Juniors do at 18-19. Physically, he's pretty much the same player he has been. And he's always shown flashes of the player he is today, he just lacked consistency.

His turning the corner was almost entirely mental. So how could we have 'unlocked' him sooner? How much is the coaching staff to blame for his late emergence? Because, as I said, I don't think there were any doubts that Facey was capable of this play earlier in his career. Is it a knock on our big-man coaches that it took him so long to emerge?

Curious what everyone's thoughts are on Facey's unique development. How is it that someone plagued by consistency has now become a RELIABLE ROCK for us this year? As frustrating as Purvis and Brimah have been as seniors, Facey's development has been equally as pleasing. Really gotta tip your hat to him. He will be missed.

 

[7774]

He fouls way, way less this year, so that's allowed him to stay on the court more.

I do think you're overestimating somewhat how good he's been.

 

[Goat]

Lose your dad, meet Shonn Miller, that delayed the metamorphosis a click.

 

[Matrim55]

With guys who come late to the sport, it usually takes longer to master the little things, and practice time can only do so much. The best teacher is game reps.

Facey is still learning, and still makes those mistakes even as he's improved so, so much. Example from yesterday? The reviewed 3 from late in the first half. Why in god's name did he help off that kid when Amida was in good defensive shape and SMU were spitting fire from downtown?

Little things like that aren't actually that little, and they kept him on the bench longer than most hoped.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Facey has been great this year. His emergence is similar -- if not to Hilton in 2006 -- at least to Gavin Edwards in 2010 (with that season being a better comp for this one anyway).

The problem is, we need to get more than 1 good year out of 4 from our bigs. So far, Brimah never "got it" in 4 years. Enoch is half-way there and still hasn't gotten it. Nolan, who, granted, didn't offer a lot of physical gifts, nonetheless seemed to regress in his last 2 years.

If Carlton comes in and doesn't offer more than spot minutes and liability for his first 3 years, that's not good enough from a recruiting and/or development standpoint. Durham needs to take a big leap as well, hopefully getting further along from his injuries will help.

So while I'm encouraged by this one bright spot in our development of bigs, it needs to happen more often and more quickly. We'll see.

 

[gtcam]

Facey has been a surprise in some sense and a damn good player
In my opinion, he has been a greater contributor than S Miller was last year
I believe he had this in him but couldn't crack the line up.
KO must have impressed upon him the fact that with the injuries, this team needed him more than ever and Kelis Fisher has risen to the occasion.
The fact he was named Mr Basketball in NY says something about the fact that the kid has talet
I couldn't be happier for a UConn player since Giffs

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

When we cut it to 5 with the ball yesterday we absolutely had to get it to Facey and instead we got a rushed early clock 3 from 25 ft.

 

[bmayuc]

It takes consistent minutes, and consistent roles, for many players to blossom.

I don't think its any secret that Ollie has struggled with role definition as a coach, and this has hampered his ability to develop players.

Now, Presto, everyone gets injured and Kentan gets major burn because there are **literally** no other options and voila he starts playing good basketball, unafraid of the hook.

Same thing is happening to Enoch. If Ollie really thinks that Steven has the ability to become "One of the best offensive bigs ever to play at UConn", he should like... probably play him more. If he fouls out, whatever. But put the damn kid on the floor. He's already used up 2 years of eligibility!

 

[champs99and04]

He fouls way, way less this year, so that's allowed him to stay on the court more.

I do think you're overestimating somewhat how good he's been.

This. His per minute numbers have been steady for virtually his entire career. The main difference, in addition to what you said, is that we've needed him more this season.

That's not to say he isn't improved. He is. He's a lot better defensively than he was last year, he's more assertive offensively, and he's steadily improving as a one on one guy. But his assist to turnover ratio is 1 to 3, he attempts only seven field goals per game, and before yesterday, he was in the midst of a six game slump in which he was averaging 8 and 6 on 41% shooting.

Yet, a guy like Brimah, who has also improved, is consistently slammed. He's improved a lot as a rebounder.

To me, you can throw him, Facey, and Purvis into the same pile - flawed players who would have been nice to have on better teams but weren't going to take you anywhere as the lead guys. The fact that Brimah and Purvis' flaws are more enraging shouldn't negate the larger career arch that we've seen from all of them.

 

[HooperScooper]

Yet, a guy like Brimah, who has also improved, is consistently slammed. He's improved a lot as a rebounder.

While I agree the eye test would seem to prove that assertion correct the numbers don't show that much improvement. Some, but not "a l0t".

Freshman: 3.0 rpg in 16.2 mpg. Or 7.41 rpg over 40 minutes.
Sophomore: 5.0 rpg in 26.3 mpg. Or 7.60 rpg over 40 minutes.
Junior: 4.6 rpg in 21.0 mpg. Or 8.76 rpg over 40 minutes.
Senior: 6.0 rpg in 24.4 mpg. Or 9.84 rpg over 40 minutes.

 

[CTBasketball]

While I agree the eye test would seem to prove that assertion correct the numbers don't show that much improvement. Some, but not "a l0t".

Freshman: 3.0 rpg in 16.2 mpg. Or 7.41 rpg over 40 minutes.
Sophomore: 5.0 rpg in 26.3 mpg. Or 7.60 rpg over 40 minutes.
Junior: 4.6 rpg in 21.0 mpg. Or 8.76 rpg over 40 minutes.
Senior: 6.0 rpg in 24.4 mpg. Or 9.84 rpg over 40 minutes.

If Facey or Brimah play anywhere close to 40 minutes, they would foul out. So in my opinion this stat is irrelevant. The per game rebound stat is much more informative. With that being said:

Senior: 7.3 rpg/ 28.9 mpg = 0.25 rebounds/min

Junior: 3.6 rpg / 12.7 mpg = 0.283 rebounds/min

Sophomore: 5.2 rpg / 21.5 mpg = 0.242 rebounds/min

Freshman: 1.7 rpg / 5.1 mpg = 0.333 rebounds/min

Excluding the small sample size his freshman year, you could say Kentan has been a consistent rebounder his entire career, not improving much in this aspect. Obviously when you reduce fouls, which he has you can play longer and collect more rebounds.

Facey's biggest improvement is on the offensive end. I would say playing with Shonn Miller helped him a lot here - going up against a skilled big like him can rub off on you. Confidence comes with time.

 

[upstater]

When we cut it to 5 with the ball yesterday we absolutely had to get it to Facey and instead we got a rushed early clock 3 from 25 ft.

SMU's coach called a timeout, and when they came back on the court, they doubled Facey immediately. He was pushed out to the 3 point line and started looking for a pass. This was the time to cut to the hoop and for the guards to drive.

 

[boog204]

I think it's pretty simple. We all thought he had some talent along the way, but that there was a confidence gap. Well this year he has more confidence. Could be that he has nothing to lose, or that he's a senior, or what I think, that there's literally no hook. There is so little behind him that he can just play unlike previous years. Wish we had him for another year.

 

[SubbaBub]

The answer is confidence and work in the gym to perfect a handful of moves and they working in the games to get those shots. His desperation 3 at the end was the exception. Otherwise, it's all post moves, free throw line elbow jumpers, and baby hooks. Exactly what you want from your big man. If the other players on the court did the same thing for 40 minutes our record would be a lot better. Practice the shots you will take in the games and then only take those shots during the games. We've been breaking this cardinal rule all darn season.

 

[7774]

I think it's pretty simple. We all thought he had some talent along the way, but that there was a confidence gap. Well this year he has more confidence. Could be that he has nothing to lose, or that he's a senior, or what I think, that there's literally no hook. There is so little behind him that he can just play unlike previous years. Wish we had him for another year.

The answer is confidence and work in the gym to perfect a handful of moves and they working in the games to get those shots. His desperation 3 at the end was the exception. Otherwise, it's all post moves, free throw line elbow jumpers, and baby hooks. Exactly what you want from your big man. If the other players on the court did the same thing for 40 minutes our record would be a lot better. Practice the shots you will take in the games and then only take those shots during the games. We've been breaking this cardinal rule all darn season.

Do you guys really think that if he was still committing a foul every 6 minutes like he was last year that he would be playing big minutes this year?

It's a testament to him that's he's improved his defensive positioning/awareness and decision making to the point where he cut his foul rate in half, but this whole "confidence/lack of hook" narrative is so crazy to me.

He was not behind the Okafor/Boone/Villanueva front court last year. He had plenty of opportunity to play big minutes and he was a foul machine.

 

[boog204]

Do you guys really think that if he was still committing a foul every 6 minutes like he was last year that he would be playing big minutes this year?

It's a testament to him that's he's improved his defensive positioning/awareness and decision making to the point where he cut his foul rate in half, but this whole "confidence/lack of hook" narrative is so crazy to me.

He was not behind the Okafor/Boone/Villanueva front court last year. He had plenty of opportunity to play big minutes and he was a foul machine.

He's absolutely improved his defense but he was not going to play much last year behind Miller. We ended up going small more often than not so you saw DHam at the 4 a decent amount and Phil was more reliable defensively. I've said before, Facey was very, very solid the beginning of his soph year. Then he lost all his confidence and poise and essentially had a lost junior year. There's definitely improvement this year, but he can also just play for the first time without having someone looking over his shoulder. I think that's a huge aspect, too.

 

[7774]

He's absolutely improved his defense but he was not going to play much last year behind Miller. We ended up going small more often than not so you saw DHam at the 4 a decent amount and Phil was more reliable defensively. I've said before, Facey was very, very solid the beginning of his soph year. Then he lost all his confidence and poise and essentially had a lost junior year. There's definitely improvement this year, but he can also just play for the first time without having someone looking over his shoulder. I think that's a huge aspect, too.

I think he would have played plenty last year if his foul rate was similar to this year, so I guess we'll agree to disagree. He would have taken all of Enoch's minutes and some of Nolan's. He was more impactful on the court than either of them, but he just kept committing fouls.

 

[champs99and04]

While I agree the eye test would seem to prove that assertion correct the numbers don't show that much improvement. Some, but not "a l0t".

Freshman: 3.0 rpg in 16.2 mpg. Or 7.41 rpg over 40 minutes.
Sophomore: 5.0 rpg in 26.3 mpg. Or 7.60 rpg over 40 minutes.
Junior: 4.6 rpg in 21.0 mpg. Or 8.76 rpg over 40 minutes.
Senior: 6.0 rpg in 24.4 mpg. Or 9.84 rpg over 40 minutes.

I would say an improvement of 2.5 rebounds per 40 minutes is pretty significant, no?

 

[HooperScooper]

If Facey or Brimah play anywhere close to 40 minutes, they would foul out. So in my opinion this stat is irrelevant. The per game rebound stat is much more informative.

I'm not sure why you said that. Nobody plays 40 minutes a game but that is a stat that is used a lot to show rate (points, rebounds, etc.). I guess you can show rate by doing it per minute but the change isn't as drastic or the numbers as comprehensible (e.g. 0.25 vs. 0.283) so it's hard to compare in a meaningful way. Comparing rebounds in a full 40 minute game is more understandable so I'm guessing that's why they use that stat a lot. Champs99and04 said Brimah had improved his rebounding "a lot" and I tried to show that he had definitely improved but not by "a lot" compared to his freshman and sophomore rates.

 

[HooperScooper]

I would say an improvement of 2.5 rebounds per 40 minutes is pretty significant, no?

I would say a year to year increase of 2.5 rebounds a game is a big improvement. But not as impressive if it's a 3 year improvement. It's all relative though. If a freshman averages 13 rpg it's hard to increase that by much since it's already high.

O.K. after all that let's just say Brimah is a better rebounder this year than he was in prior seasons and call it a day.

 

[auror]

I think he would have played plenty last year if his foul rate was similar to this year, so I guess we'll agree to disagree. He would have taken all of Enoch's minutes and some of Nolan's. He was more impactful on the court than either of them, but he just kept committing fouls.

Agreed. He was literally fouling twice as often last year (6.7 vs. 3.3 fouls/40).

He actually had his best numbers as a sophomore. Slightly better rebounding rates and slightly higher shooting accuracy. Block rate is higher this year.

 

[huskyharry]

Facey's biggest improvement is on the offensive end. I would say playing with Shonn Miller helped him a lot here - going up against a skilled big. Confidence comes with time.[/QUOTE]
Here is hoping that that same
family tree of hereditary skill and confidence extends to Juwan Durham next year!

 

[willie99]

When we cut it to 5 with the ball yesterday we absolutely had to get it to Facey and instead we got a rushed early clock 3 from 25 ft.

the crowd was abuzz, had to take the hero shot

turnover leading to layup plus one moments later, the wind in the sails all but disappeared

I don't get it, those are the moments we used to be rock steady, and now we're idiots. Hamilton did the same stuff last year





as for Facey, simply amazing, love watching him emerge. Watching him and the two freshmen playing well are the most enjoyable things about this team. Wishing Facey had more help, he doesn't deserve to go down like this.

Maybe they can make something positive happen when facing the end of their season, with their backs against the wall, that's all we got

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

He is getting MEANINGFUL rebounds. His freshman year he would go out and dominate during garbage time. Those numbers are a little deceptive.

 

[mauconnfan]

No magic sauce to tell us how he got better. The light went off, the talent and athleticism was there just didn't do the things on the court when given the chance. Everyone has touched on the many things which helped this transition but really the 2 biggest were probably Shonn Miller and muscle gain. Shonn knew how to play D and position himself and how could Kentan not learn from a year of that? Also just being a stronger person physically, not getting tossed around or bouncing off of people makes him better. He was always capable of going up and getting a rebound, now he can finish an offensive rebound. He feels stronger so he gathers himself and goes up strong with the ball using both hands. Wish he had one more year, he could be the answer no doubt but it's only a wish. Happy for the young man to finish this way, good for him!

 

[Matrim55]

the crowd was abuzz, had to take the hero shot

turnover leading to layup plus one moments later, the wind in the sails all but disappeared

I don't get it, those are the moments we used to be rock steady, and now we're idiots. Hamilton did the same stuff last year

No PG on the court last year. No PG on the court in the 2nd half vs SMU. If you can't get a good shot, you take a bad one.

Also, in the history of UConn nobody has taken more of those shots than Shabazz, who is my favorite player ever to wear the shirt. So let's not convince ourselves too much that this was entirely out of the blue.