Miller Instant Starter?

[FartMan69]

I wouldn't have my expectations too high for Miller. Check out his 14-15 stats against teams from major conferences:

12/31 @ Cuse - 12 pts, 5 boards
11/21 vs Penn St - 15 pts, 3 boards
11/20 vs South Carolina - 9 pts, 3 boards

Miller's 16.8/8.5 averages are eye-popping, but in these three games Miller averaged 12.0/3.7. While that's still a very good clip, this small sample suggests that Miller does not physically dominate in games against higher competition. No doubt, Miller is a very welcome addition, but I'm still banking on a Adams-Purvis-Hamilton-Facey-Brimah starting 5, with Nolan, Enoch and Miller providing depth in the 5, 4 and 3 spots, respectively.

I mean it's your opinion and all but we don't play in a major conference

 

[Stainmaster]

I mean it's your opinion and all but we don't play in a major conference

Agreed. Also which other bigs on our roster could put up similar numbers against that type of competition?

Brimah put up 6 and 4 vs. WVU, 4 and 2 vs. Texas, 0 and 1 vs. Duke, 7 and 1 vs. Stanford, and 0 and 0 vs. ASU. Florida was a slight exception with 10 boards, but only 3 points.

Facey fared slightly better earlier in the season: 10 and 8 vs. WVU, 4 and 8 vs. Texas, and 14 and 9 vs. Duke (the real shocker: a player some here want to transfer to the MAAC almost hung a double-double on the eventual national champs). But after he hit the wall...2 and 4 vs. Florida, 4 and 4 vs. Stanford, 2 and 2 vs. ASU.

Nolan? I may be one of his biggest fans here, but his poor play was magnified against P5 teams: 4 and 2 vs. WVU, 0 and 2 vs. Texas, zilch vs. Duke and Stanford, and 2 and 0 vs. Florida. 8 and 3 vs. ASU was a little nicer.

In no way was/is S. Miller below the level of any of our bigs, and I have a feeling that he will end up one of our biggest contributors in the post against our toughest competition.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I wouldn't have my expectations too high for Miller. Check out his 14-15 stats against teams from major conferences:

12/31 @ Cuse - 12 pts, 5 boards
11/21 vs Penn St - 15 pts, 3 boards
11/20 vs South Carolina - 9 pts, 3 boards

Miller's 16.8/8.5 averages are eye-popping, but in these three games Miller averaged 12.0/3.7. While that's still a very good clip, this small sample suggests that Miller does not physically dominate in games against higher competition. No doubt, Miller is a very welcome addition, but I'm still banking on a Adams-Purvis-Hamilton-Facey-Brimah starting 5, with Nolan, Enoch and Miller providing depth in the 5, 4 and 3 spots, respectively.

Well you need a good team to go with your own ability, he can't put up a double double against good teams when he was most likely the only guy on his team that caused those major teams trouble. They probably focused on him and didn't allow him to dominate. Think of the whole picture as opposed to just his numbers.

 

[Walker11]

I wouldn't have my expectations too high for Miller. Check out his 14-15 stats against teams from major conferences:

12/31 @ Cuse - 12 pts, 5 boards
11/21 vs Penn St - 15 pts, 3 boards
11/20 vs South Carolina - 9 pts, 3 boards

Miller's 16.8/8.5 averages are eye-popping, but in these three games Miller averaged 12.0/3.7. While that's still a very good clip, this small sample suggests that Miller does not physically dominate in games against higher competition. No doubt, Miller is a very welcome addition, but I'm still banking on a Adams-Purvis-Hamilton-Facey-Brimah starting 5, with Nolan, Enoch and Miller providing depth in the 5, 4 and 3 spots, respectively.

First, as mentioned, extremely small sample size. Second, Penn St. and USC are P5 teams but they were not better than Harvard and Yale. I'm not sure why you are separating them out.

 

[Gringo]

Thank you! This needs to be repeated ad nauseum - people don't seem to realize how good DHam became at initiating the offense in the last two months of the season. He had better than a 2-to-1 assist/to ratio and the ball will be in his hands a ton.

I think we should aim for a 5th-year shooter (Smith from Va Tech, McGlynn from Towson) - a specialist who can help stretch the floor at all times.

I disagree with you here. True Hamilton can make plays in the half court, but they really struggled bringing the ball up against full court pressure. Boat was our only player who consistently handled the press well and he is gone. We are adding Adams, but I think this team could really use another quality ball handler.

 

[pnow15]

Um, no I think it's one stupid poster. Okafor shot nearly 60% for his career at UConn and averaged over 17 his sr. year on a LOADED team.

So let's see Mr. Basketball,
I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game.
So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy,
Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins,
Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

 

[FartMan69]

So let's see Mr. Basketball,
I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game.
So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy,
Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins,
Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

How does listing NBA greats support your argument?

 

[johnhuskies95]

So let's see Mr. Basketball,
I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game.
So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy,
Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins,
Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

You said he was mediocre. And your post here is just bizarre.

 

[Leebo]

pnow will just ignore you if you say something that goes against what he said.

 

[Stainmaster]

I don't think we need first-ballot Hall of Famers to do well. Just a hunch though.

 

[Gurleyman]

So let's see Mr. Basketball, I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game. So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four. Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy, Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

There's a few more rungs on the ladder in between mediocre and Kareem.

 

[pnow15]

You said he was mediocre. And your post here is just bizarre.

What is bizarre?

How does listing NBA greats support your argument?

All of these guy played in Final Fours. They were great in college also.
When a player gets to a certain level, then he has to be compared with other player who got to the same level. The point was simple. Compared to the other Final Four players, Okafor's "Offensive" game was not impressive.

 

[UConnSwag11]

So let's see Mr. Basketball,
I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game.
So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy,
Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins,
Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

lol, how does listing first ballot hall of famers support your argument that okafor didnt have a great offensive game in college? because he has multiple injuries in the nba not allowing him to live up to his potential in the nba disqualifies him from having a great offensive game in college? so you're going to compare him to hall of famers? that's like saying bananas aren't a fruit because they can't ride a bike... it's insane... crazy talk... you also listed guards and wing players in that list, players who had an outside jumpshot and had the ball in their hands all the time... what did the other bigs do that emeka couldnt, dunk on everyone bc they were 7'5 and everyone else was 6'8?

 

[Blue Blood]

What is bizarre?

All of these guy played in Final Fours. They were great in college also.
When a player gets to a certain level, then he has to be compared with other player who got to the same level. The point was simple. Compared to the other Final Four players, Okafor's "Offensive" game was not impressive.

So if we get back to your original post you are in actuality comparing Shonn Miller to these legends since he is a legit finisher. I'm now much more excited about next season.

 

[Gurleyman]

What is bizarre? All of these guy played in Final Fours. They were great in college also. When a player gets to a certain level, then he has to be compared with other player who got to the same level. The point was simple. Compared to the other Final Four players, Okafor's "Offensive" game was not impressive.

There have been around 3000 players who reached the Final Four. You use Wilt, Kareem, MJ, Bird and Magic as your measuring stick - perhaps the five greatest players ever (or 5 of 6, figuring Russell needs to be in there). You list 10 players total, but there are still 2990 others who reached that "certain level" who you fail to mention.

I mean, Lake Superior is a large body of water. It's no Pacific Ocean, but that doesn't mean you should try to swim across it.

 

[David 76]

You forgot Taliek Brown. Ricky More, Tyler Olander, Linehan, Wolfe. All bona fide offensive greats because they were in a final four.

 

[FartMan69]

What is bizarre?

All of these guy played in Final Fours. They were great in college also.
When a player gets to a certain level, then he has to be compared with other player who got to the same level. The point was simple. Compared to the other Final Four players, Okafor's "Offensive" game was not impressive.

So you're ignoring all of Okafor's college stats because your list of hall of fame players once made the final four? I really don't understand why you took that route to help your argument because it makes no sense.

 

[nyhusky89]

With his size and offensive skill, he's going to be able to stretch the defense and create space for Hamilton, Purvis and Adams. This is a nice compliment to the team. I don't want to make the comparison, but Giffy just comes to mind with his size and touch with the ball. We needed this bad, very happy tonight.

Does anyone know if we are done for 2015 recruiting or is there one more?

Giffey, i would imagine, is a better comp for his make up (hopefully) than his game. He shot 30%/20%/26% from 3 in his 3 years and although Giffey was not a marksman until Sr year, he was better than that. I do see what you are saying in that he should be a guy that can give solid minutes and contribute on D, on the glass and as a space creator outside the line. Rebounding stats tend to translate from level to level (or so seems to be the common basketball knowledge, I've never seen the #'s), so I feel comfortable that he can average 6-7 boards a game (minutes depending, maybe 8 or 9 if we are being greedy) and I would hope KO told him to shoot 1,000 3's a day this summer. Adams/Hamilton/Purvis while talented are 3 ball dominant players and you need guys like Brimah and Miller (yes, i know they are completely different players, but Brimah will touch the ball about as frequently as miller, or closer to him than the other 3) to glue them together.

Bottom line-any addition to this front-court with even a modicum of talent is going to help. A 5th year kid who presumably has a decent head on his shoulders, knows how to rebound and is solid on D is darn near perfect if he shoots 36%+ from 3.

 

[UConnDad]

You forgot Taliek Brown. Ricky More, Tyler Olander, Linehan, Wolfe. All bona fide offensive greats because they were in a final four.

Well Ricky first half vs Duke was great in my opinion.

 

[Kitaman]

View attachment 9282

I don't think ball-handling is going to be as much of a problem next year as it was this year, even if the staff is unable to add another guard. I suspect Hamilton will be more than adequate as a secondary ball-handler next season, and Purvis made big strides in that area towards the end of the season.

I suspect that will be the case. Panic isn't necessary, yet another ball handler brings security and more importantly relief to Adams. However much of this is dependent on the improvement of the existing players. And this past season proved that 'major' improvements are not automatic or to be taken for granted.

With that said not too many freshman can be counted on as reliable ball handlers anyway on a Div 1 level. Therefore it would probably have to be a transfer to meet this 'immediate' need.

 

[businesslawyer]

We're literally at a point where people question Emeka Okafor.


Think about that.

Not sane people

 

[Danzz]

As someone said, Miller wouldn't have committed to play one year at UConn if he was told he'd be a backup PF. I think Ollie is assuming Miller will come in and start. Facey will still see decent minutes at the 4 and Nolan will give us some good minutes at the 5. I see Enoch playing between 15 and 20 minutes next year. Once Nolan is gone he'll see increased minutes. And once Facey and Brimah graduate, he'll be playing 30+ minutes. So, yeah, I think Miller should and will be an instant starter.

There is no way Ollie told him that he would start at PF. More likely Miller didn't feel threatened by what he saw at UConn and liked the vibe.

 

[RedStickHusky]

So let's see Mr. Basketball,
I made the statement that I never was impressed by Okafor's offensive game.
So, why don't we take a historic look at some other player's who made it to the Final Four.
Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Camelo Anthony, Akeem the dream, Pat Ewing, James Worthy,
Larry Johnson, Kareem, Bill Walton, Jerry Lucas, Micheal Jordan, Derrick Coleman, Chris Mullins,
Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas to name but a few. And then tell me all about Okafor's great offensive game.

Why not include Ralph Sampson on this list as someone who reached a level in college that never did as a pro? two different games.

 

[joober jones]

"bananas aren't a fruit because they can't ride a bike", while relevant in the context of this thread, is arguably the most comical thing ever said on the Boneyard.

 

[OkaForPrez]

"bananas aren't a fruit because they can't ride a bike", while relevant in the context of this thread, is arguably the most comical thing ever said on the Boneyard.

Post avatar

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Just thinking that with there being a high probability that Miller starts at PF, and with Enoch coming in and backing up both the center and PF positions, that it'd be a good thing for both the team and Facey to red-shirt this year. Plus you have Nolan in the mix backing up both C and PF positions. Facey's playing time may get reduced from starter minutes to 5 mpg.

Facey, sitting out a year, could come back in 2016 with 2 years left and fill the holes in the frontcourt (Nolan, Miller...possibly DHam and Brimah) as a two-year starter. I think he showed flashes last year of talent and has a lot of potential...no point in wasting that potential getting garbage time minutes next year.

 

[lange10]

Just thinking that with there being a high probability that Miller starts at PF, and with Enoch coming in and backing up both the center and PF positions, that it'd be a good thing for both the team and Facey to red-shirt this year. Plus you have Nolan in the mix backing up both C and PF positions. Facey's playing time may get reduced from starter minutes to 5 mpg.

Facey, sitting out a year, could come back in 2016 with 2 years left and fill the holes in the frontcourt (Nolan, Miller...possibly DHam and Brimah) as a two-year starter. I think he showed flashes last year of talent and has a lot of potential...no point in wasting that potential getting garbage time minutes next year.

I don't see Ollie redshirting Facey in any situation this year. If anyone is going to be redshirted (I don't think they will be because with 5 bigs we have 25 fouls to give, which we certainly need - see AAC championship game) it would be the freshman Enoch.

 

[Gurleyman]

Facey turns 22 this summer. I doubt we will see him redshirt. He'd enter his pro career overseas at 25 if he sat out a year.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Yeah, you're probably both right.

I wouldn't mind seeing Enoch redshirt instead of Facey, but the downside is that Enoch would be a better backup to Amida at center than Facey and/or Nolan.