New Article this morning

[Vancat]

In case you are starving for news, like me:

As UConn men’s basketball newcomers arrive to campus, let’s look at potential lineups for the 2021-22 season

With sophomore James Bouknight gone for the NBA draft, the UConn men’s basketball team is left with a void to fill. Replacing a player of Bouknight’s caliber is difficult — especi…

www.courant.com

 

[Vancat]

if you need it: Outline - Read & annotate without distractions

 

[husky429]

"There’s a solid chance those five begin the year as UConn’s starters. Cole, Whaley, Sanogo and Martin feel like locks, as they each started 20 games or better last season. The popular consensus is that Jackson, an uber athlete who showed flashes on both ends of the floor as a freshman, makes a considerable jump as a sophomore. He started just two games last season but has a long, lanky build at 6-6, 210 pounds."

Rolling out a lineup with exactly 1 proven three point shooter would be a disaster. Andre can't be on the floor with Sanogo and Whaley together if we expect to be able to score the ball.

This is why he needs to learn to shoot. Not being a shooter at anything but the 5 makes it soooo much more difficult to find you minutes, even if you do have valuable skills.

I'd prefer Gaffney or Hawkins at the 2, depending on who shows up in practice in the pre-season. Maybe even go with more shooters and throw in Polley at the 3 instead of Martin.

 

[Guapo]

"There’s a solid chance those five begin the year as UConn’s starters. Cole, Whaley, Sanogo and Martin feel like locks, as they each started 20 games or better last season. The popular consensus is that Jackson, an uber athlete who showed flashes on both ends of the floor as a freshman, makes a considerable jump as a sophomore. He started just two games last season but has a long, lanky build at 6-6, 210 pounds."

Rolling out a lineup with exactly 1 proven three point shooter would be a disaster. Andre can't be on the floor with Sanogo and Whaley together if we expect to be able to score the ball.

This is why he needs to learn to shoot. Not being a shooter at anything but the 5 makes it soooo much more difficult to find you minutes, even if you do have valuable skills.

I'd prefer Gaffney or Hawkins at the 2, depending on who shows up in practice in the pre-season.

make Whaley a legit 3 point threat - I believe he can do it

 

[boog204]

"There’s a solid chance those five begin the year as UConn’s starters. Cole, Whaley, Sanogo and Martin feel like locks, as they each started 20 games or better last season. The popular consensus is that Jackson, an uber athlete who showed flashes on both ends of the floor as a freshman, makes a considerable jump as a sophomore. He started just two games last season but has a long, lanky build at 6-6, 210 pounds."

Rolling out a lineup with exactly 1 proven three point shooter would be a disaster. Andre can't be on the floor with Sanogo and Whaley together if we expect to be able to score the ball.

This is why he needs to learn to shoot. Not being a shooter at anything but the 5 makes it soooo much more difficult to find you minutes, even if you do have valuable skills.

I'd prefer Gaffney or Hawkins at the 2, depending on who shows up in practice in the pre-season. Maybe even go with more shooters and throw in Polley at the 3 instead of Martin.

Agreed. Unless Jackson has really improved his shot, he will be a liability as the 2G and the lack of shooters will kill any offensive continuity. I'm hoping Hawkins steals the 2G slot from the get-go.

 

[husky429]

Agreed. Unless Jackson has really improved his shot, he will be a liability as the 2G and the lack of shooters will kill any offensive continuity. I'm hoping Hawkins steals the 2G slot from the get-go.

I believe he will have a Bouk-ish level impact as a freshman. He isn't nearly the shot creator, so I don't think he'll average 13ppg like Bouk did, but he's going to hit 35%+ from 3 and get out and run in transition. The spacing and efficiency he's going to bring will elevate the team. I also think that he and Andre will be our best perimeter defenders day 1.

I'm not sure Diggins has much of a path to a lot of playing time right now unless he is dominant in practice. I'm not sure his defense is there yet. Cole is going to get 25-30 minutes a game. Hopefully we DON'T allow Gaffney to play the 1 at all, and that gives Diggins whatever minutes Cole is on the bench for if he's earned it.

Johnson I believe will get his 10-15 a game, because I think he'll be better than Springs.

 

[boog204]

I believe he will have a Bouk-ish level impact as a freshman. He isn't nearly the shot creator, so I don't think he'll average 13ppg like Bouk did, but he's going to hit 35%+ from 3 and get out and run in transition. The spacing and efficiency he's going to bring will elevate the team. I also think that he and Andre will be our best perimeter defenders day 1.

I'm not sure Diggins has much of a path to a lot of playing time right now unless he is dominant in practice. I'm not sure his defense is there yet. Cole is going to get 25-30 minutes a game. Hopefully we DON'T allow Gaffney to play the 1 at all, and that gives Diggins whatever minutes Cole is on the bench for if he's earned it.

Johnson I believe will get his 10-15 a game, because I think he'll be better than Springs.

I think Diggins is going to play more than we think. He's probably the purest point guard we have. Cole is really a 2 in a PG body as is Gaff. I could see lots of times where we go small with Diggins and Cole together.

 

[borninansonia]

make Whaley a legit 3 point threat - I believe he can do it

I think he will become a better 3 point shooter. He has the coordination, focus, and desire. He will be the best player on the court in most games.

 

[Kenny11]

The thing that stood out in that article is the fact that our most productive lineup by +/- only played 24 minutes together last season. These lineup stats are something Hurley may want to look at more?

 

[Guapo]

I think he will become a better 3 point shooter. He has the coordination, focus, and desire. He will be the best player on the court in most games.

he has a decent stroke! I wanted to see him shoot more 3’s last year. He passed up a number of wide open opportunities last year and I wonder if it’s a confidence thing

 

[husky429]

The thing that stood out in that article is the fact that our most productive lineup by +/- only played 24 minutes together last season. These lineup stats are something Hurley may want to look at more?

I generally wouldn't read too much into it if they only have 24 minutes together. Sample size is tiny. What coaches are doing is looking at backcourt/frontcourt trends with minutes, and comparing that with the eye test from practice.

The reality is that by the second half of the season, Sanogo had to get 25 minutes a game or more--he was one of our few scorers. And that lineup includes Gaffney AND Cole, who in many other lineups DID NOT play well together.

Usually an assistant coach does a lot of the minutes comparison stuff. But the staff is certainly not ignoring lineup stats like this.

 

[Kenny11]

I generally wouldn't read too much into it if they only have 24 minutes together. Sample size is tiny. What coaches are doing is looking at backcourt/frontcourt trends with minutes, and comparing that with the eye test from practice.

The reality is that by the second half of the season, Sanogo had to get 25 minutes a game or more--he was one of our few scorers. And that lineup includes Gaffney AND Cole, who in many other lineups DID NOT play well together.

Usually an assistant coach does a lot of the minutes comparison stuff. But the staff is certainly not ignoring lineup stats like this.

Right. Very small sample size. It was obvious for a while that Bouknight should play with Polley more though. Having a shooter that the defenses respect would've helped free up bouknight more....weird season with stops and starts and injuries so maybe it doesn't matter.

 

[Road2Six]

Do we see Sanogo shoot the 3 ball at all next year?

 

[Peacefrog]

Do we see Sanogo shoot the 3 ball at all next year?

I don’t think he even attempted one last year. I’m betting there are good reasons for that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

"There’s a solid chance those five begin the year as UConn’s starters. Cole, Whaley, Sanogo and Martin feel like locks, as they each started 20 games or better last season. The popular consensus is that Jackson, an uber athlete who showed flashes on both ends of the floor as a freshman, makes a considerable jump as a sophomore. He started just two games last season but has a long, lanky build at 6-6, 210 pounds."

Rolling out a lineup with exactly 1 proven three point shooter would be a disaster. Andre can't be on the floor with Sanogo and Whaley together if we expect to be able to score the ball.

This is why he needs to learn to shoot. Not being a shooter at anything but the 5 makes it soooo much more difficult to find you minutes, even if you do have valuable skills.

I'd prefer Gaffney or Hawkins at the 2, depending on who shows up in practice in the pre-season. Maybe even go with more shooters and throw in Polley at the 3 instead of Martin.

Martin counts as a shooter. He was leading the team in 3P% until his late season slump, still finished better than Bouknight. I noticed you omitted the next sentence.

Andre Jackson, Cole, Martin, Sanogo and Whaley posted a +44.3 net rating last season in just 22 minutes together on the floor. That group shot 52.9% from the field, 37% from 3-point range and a 20.8% block percentage, in the 95th percentile nationally.

Defense matters. We cannot start Polley or even play him significant minutes. I think Gaffney will play a lot at the 2. I also think Whaley may lose his starting spot at the 4 to Akok, which would improve our shooting. In fact, I hope he does. This team desperately needs Akok at the 4. I think we all agree that Andre needs to shoot better. But I really just want to see him score, and attack the rim. His ability to distribute will help everyone.

 

[husky429]

Martin counts as a shooter. He was leading the team in 3P% until his late season slump, still finished better than Bouknight. I noticed you omitted the next sentence.



Defense matters. We cannot start Polley or even play him significant minutes. I think Gaffney will play a lot at the 2. I also think Whaley may lose his starting spot at the 4 to Akok, which would improve our shooting. In fact, I hope he does. This team desperately needs Akok at the 4. I think we all agree that Andre needs to shoot better. But I really just want to see him score, and attack the rim. His ability to distribute will help everyone.

I copied the whole paragraph--at least what I'm seeing in the Outline.com version of the article.

IMO you can't count on Martin to be a shooter. He shot 31% and 32% at URI, then 32% overall here. He also finished the season 3/17 from the field in the last 3rd of our season. His percentage would have been atrocious if not for the blazing hot start. That strikes me as a bad shooter who got hot for the middle third of the season.

That being said, I'm not counting on it but I would LOVE to be proven wrong.

 

[Psolo12]

Martin counts as a shooter. He was leading the team in 3P% until his late season slump, still finished better than Bouknight. I noticed you omitted the next sentence.



Defense matters. We cannot start Polley or even play him significant minutes. I think Gaffney will play a lot at the 2. I also think Whaley may lose his starting spot at the 4 to Akok, which would improve our shooting. In fact, I hope he does. This team desperately needs Akok at the 4. I think we all agree that Andre needs to shoot better. But I really just want to see him score, and attack the rim. His ability to distribute will help everyone.

You think the reigning Big East DPOY who's coming back for his 5th year is going to lose his starting spot?

 

[huskiesNhoos]

cole, gaffney and diggins are the only guys that can play the pg on this team (those who think ajax can fill in now are nuts...guy has great passing vision, but terrible ball-handling and decision making). Gaffney isn't much of a facilitator, more of a slasher when he's on, and a total ghost when he's off.

Moral of the story, I think we see a lot more Diggins than the other freshman assuming he can just protect the ball and minimize turnovers. and by a lot more I'm thinking 10-15min/game

 

[Dean Wormer]

I think people are sleeping on Gaff. As a junior year vet who knows what he needs to do, I expect a big year from him. But the key will be Dre. If he makes a big jump, we're golden.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You think the reigning Big East DPOY who's coming back for his 5th year is going to lose his starting spot?

I hope he does. The junior who is coming back from his horrific injury started over that same player as a freshman. So if he beats him out, it will be because he earned it. I want him to earn it, because we'd be a much better team. Akok is quite possibly the best combination of talent and athleticism on this roster.

 

[CL82]

I think Gaffney will play a lot at the 2.

does that mean you envision Diggins as the primary back up for Cole at the point? I think we have a good opportunity to break in Diggins with either Cole or Gaffney on the floor at the same time.

 

[HuskyHawk]

does that mean you envision Diggins as the primary back up for Cole at the point? I think we have a good opportunity to break in Diggins with either Cole or Gaffney on the floor at the same time.

Maybe, if he shows he can do it. I think we will see Jackson playing PG at times, especially with Gaff at the 2 for ball handling. Whole lot of potential lineups. I think Dan is going to try every combination he can think of.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Martin counts as a shooter. He was leading the team in 3P% until his late season slump, still finished better than Bouknight. I noticed you omitted the next sentence.



Defense matters. We cannot start Polley or even play him significant minutes. I think Gaffney will play a lot at the 2. I also think Whaley may lose his starting spot at the 4 to Akok, which would improve our shooting. In fact, I hope he does. This team desperately needs Akok at the 4. I think we all agree that Andre needs to shoot better. But I really just want to see him score, and attack the rim. His ability to distribute will help

It's much more likely Martin is the 32% shooter than 45%, and that's just not good enough for him to start over Polley, when we desperately need spacing.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It's much more likely Martin is the 32% shooter than 45%, and that's just not good enough for him to start over Polley, when we desperately need spacing.

What about the other side of the ball, where Polley is about as effective as a chair? Or ball handling? Or rebounding? Martin is vastly better at everything except 3 point shooting (and isn't much worse at that). I can see neither of them starting, because Gaffney is the SG and Jackson the SF. Or if Hawkins wins a spot. But I can't see Polley starting on this team.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

What about the other side of the ball, where Polley is about as effective as a chair? Or ball handling? Or rebounding? Martin is vastly better at everything except 3 point shooting (and isn't much worse at that). I can see neither of them starting, because Gaffney is the SG and Jackson the SF. Or if Hawkins wins a spot. But I can't see Polley starting on this team.

The idea that Martin and Polley are reasonably equivalent shooters is just freaking crazy. And I like Martin but he's not a "vastly better" ballhandler than Polley. He's a much better rebounder, probably a better defender, and he's more rugged.