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Name me a better starting 5 next year
Not sure if top 6-7 will play in the NBA, but I have no idea how they are going to manage minutes:
PG - Napier 30 Backup Boatright 10
SG - Lamb 30 Backup Daniels 5 Boatright 5
SF - Smith 15 Backup Daniels 15 Giffey 10
PF - Drummond 25 Backup Smith 10 Olander 5
C - Oriakhi 30 Backup Drummond 5 Wolf/Bradley 5
I really can't figure it out. I know Daniels/Boatright/Drummond will be freshman but with their talent it seems like I'm shorting them on minutes. Same with Giffey.
That is a stacked team as long as either Boatright and/or Daniels can backup the 2 in spurts. The length of that team is sick, PG is kind of small, but with how pesky I expect the Napier/Boatright combination to be, that's fine.
True that!Simply Amazing
I expect Giffey to see some time there as well, he had a very good summer overseas playing predominately the SG position. He needs to show some more ballhandling skills then he showed last year(those youtube clips seemed to indicate that he was capable, I think he was just a lil cautious), but I expect him to be the primary backup for Lamb there and then splitting time with Daniels as a backup SF.
I agree. There has to be three ecstatic people on the team - Shabazz, Alex and Jeremy. It will be very hard for teams to focus on Alex and Jeremy with AD in the line up. Shabazz should be enjoying a season of creating assists!This solidifies this team IMO, the only perceived weakness was the Center position so we swiftly fill that need with the best freshman in the country. Not too shabby.
I'd still take 04 team with veterans Brown, Gordon, Okafor etc...bench definitely stronger in 04, but who knows by March...to early to really predict, but fun to speculate...
Don't forget the Nate Miles incident was still looming over our heads as well... We are officially loaded again and feels sooo good.To quote the legendary Fishy...what JC has done in 18 months would make Lazarus jealous. This was a basketball program that many thought was on the brink of falling apart (I wasn't convinced, but i was VERY concerned). A horribly disappointing season, an old coach who was contemplating retirement, etc.. Now you look at the roster and you're reminded of the talent level of the 2006 team. Amazing.
On paper, it would be the 2004 team by a lot. Gordon over Lamb, a senior Taliek probably over a more talented by young Shabazz, Okafor over Drummond (or Oriakhi), Boone was a good role player, but could give PF to this team, and the SF is tough to call (the experience of Denham/Rashad vs. greater athleticism/upside for Roscoe and DD). But still, the potential of this year's team is very strong.
A whole lot will come down to how well Shabazz can lead the team. If he plays as inconsistently as he did last year, we probably don't compete for a title in the BE or NCAA.
Me!!!Who else is already envisioning Bazz to Drummond alley oops?
I'll take either of them! And the funny thing is we have both. I'm waiting until this season plays out. It's still a young team and will require time for the players to mesh. But I'm hopeful this team proves comparable to 2004.You take the 2004 team and it's not even close. So many talented veterans, so many good young studs. This years team has great potential, but even at the end of the season (without knowing how we'll turn out) I'm still taking '04. That's the best team, top to bottom, UConn has put on the court in my humble opinion.
Think about the size of this team. There are very few teams that even start 6'7 6'8 small forwards nowadays. A lot of teams go 3 guards, or a small combo guy playing sf.
Oriakhi will have great size at the pf position, Drummond is supposedly incredibly long, Roscoe and DD are those tall, lanky wings, and JL, well...
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Right now I would take the 04 team but its easy to say that because you know what you're getting because we know how everyone turned out. With this team we don't necessarily know the progressions of everyone but we have a decent idea. Some people make the leap some don't. That being said, I would take this team against the 2011-12 UNC team and the 2011-12 UK team and against any other 2011-12 team.