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Next Year's Expectations

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As others have posted before, I had fairly high hopes before grad transfer season, just with JA and Enoch coming in, with the rest of the roster maturing.

Now, with Gibbs and Miller, different expectations altogether. Instead of being a young and talented team, we are now a upperclassmen laden team, mixed with young talent.

What we have now is a recipe for real postseason success. We go 3/4 scary deep in the backcourt (counting D Ham as a wing), with Omar/SCII getting spot minutes; and now have a legit starting front court, with solid depth behind them. Think about it, Facey is now your 7th or 8th man. He will be a junior. Last year, he was expected to be top 4 as a sophomore. That's a huge difference.

The pieces are there. We will need to get our reps in. I'm hoping that we win some early season games against the tougher competition to build confidence. Plus, I really want to see this team run more. We will rebound better, so we should be able to get out in transition more. Having a 42% 3 point shooter in Gibbs is going to be huge when you have Rodney and Jalen penetrating the defense. Plus, I think Miller will give some stretch four ability.

Oh, and we haven't even talked about Brimah, the forgotten man, who now has a full summer to play ball, instead of rehab, and also hopefully lift weights. It is no longer as dire a situation if/when he gets in foul trouble, but hopefully that won't happen as much, and there is more depth behind him now anyways.

Very excited. I love the summer and don't want to rush it, but I'm ready for them to roll the balls out right now.
 
On paper we look pretty darn good, but I will temper my expectations until after the Battle of Atlantis.
 
Fishy said:
And then you have Hamilton
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The fact that you get that far into discussing our positive attributes before even mentioning our best (imo) player is one of the most hopeful signs for the coming season.

scotty0330 said:
Director of team happiness should be a position. Phil will fill that role nicely.
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I hear that we're considering bringing in Cliffy to coach that position.
 
1-8 somebody has to tell who has better pieces in the country. Gibbs/Purvis/Ham/Miller/Brimah is stocked with polish and experience, Enoch and Adams will fight for minutes in crunch time... mainly adams. Calhoun as a defined floor spacer and shooter is interesting as the 8th man...

wouldn't surprise me if miller is our best player, or if enoch gets serious tick late in games. I'm unaware of a better point guard rotation of gibbs/adams/cassell, anybody know one?

Too many freaking story lines.

-Can KO show off millers tools, possibly turn him into a pro? He has very nice size and production, need to see him on the floor in a husky jersey.

-how does JA and gibbs work together as an explosive point guard duo? One is a shooter the other an athletic freak who might play out of control at times as a freshman...

- is purvis the official alpha dog? or is it hamilton? you need one ( or 1.5) to make a deep run.

overly optimistic per usual going into next season. we can compete with anybody, or atleast should.
 
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When I think of expectations for upcoming seasons I also like to consider the field. As of now there is no overwhelming favorite which bodes well for us come tourney time. UNC and Maryland certainly look very good and deep. UNC is awaiting their NCAA punishment. I don't trust Turgeon to take a team all the way in the dance. Duke will be a top 5 team as well with their incoming class, however, they lack the senior leadership that they had this past season in Quinn Cook, to counter the inexperienced freshman.

As for us, our top 6 is unbelievable. Plain and simple. One of the best backcourts in the country. Shots will be a premium - let's hope that doesn't lead to chemistry problems. The thing is though, winning cures everything.

If we come out and start the year hot, winning the Battle 4 Atlantis or making a run to the finals, and beating 3 of 4 from Maryland/OSU/Gtown/Texas I don't think Gibbs, Purvis, Hamilton, Adams, Miller will mind taking a night or 2 off to feed the hot hand.

However, it's all speculation at this point and only time will tell. But holy hell am I excited for this season.
 
I believe we're a top 10-15 with gibbs now, still have to see how the chemistry goes and we still have to play but preseason i think this is how it goes... didnt go to in-depth in researching the teams


UNC
Maryland
Zags
Nova
Kansas
Duke
Kentucky
WSU
UVA
UCONN?
MSU
ISU
 
This team is deeper and has the potential to be more dangerous than any of us could've hoped for a couple short months ago. What sticks out to me is the vastness of veteran leadership. We have our two grad transfers coming in, Purvis and AB entering their junior years, and guys like Omar and Phil who have stuck with the program for the entirety of their college careers and been great influences in the locker room.

The tourney itself is so random and fickle that it's absolutely foolish for any team at any school to explicitly guarantee great success there. But I am very optimistic.
 
Also I think this will be Ollie's biggest test as a coach to generate results. Had a down year and now a loaded team, lets see what he really can do.
 
Expectations will be too high at the start.

This has the potential for being a Gay/Villanueva "good on paper/wanting on the court" kinda squad. However, I think Ollie will do a better job of making this team mesh as a unit than JC did with the Rudy/Charlie teams.
 
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storrsroars said:
Expectations will be too high at the start.

This has the potential for being a Gay/Villanueva "good on paper/wanting on the court" kinda squad. However, I think Ollie will do a better job of making this team mesh as a unit than JC did with the Rudy/Charlie teams.
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That team did have Rashad Anderson almost die on it, and lost AJ Price going into the season after he almost died...and despite that got a 2-seed.

I take your point, but that team nearly beat the 2005 UNC National Champs, and they did so without a really solid backup PG or any secondary ballhandler of note.
 
What is wrong with Rothstein?

When asked whether he thought SMU or UConn was better AAC team...
 
storrsroars said:
Expectations will be too high at the start.

This has the potential for being a Gay/Villanueva "good on paper/wanting on the court" kinda squad. However, I think Ollie will do a better job of making this team mesh as a unit than JC did with the Rudy/Charlie teams.
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This is a fairly near-sighted post. That 05' team, despite fighting off a championship hangover and losing Rashad Anderson, almost beat the eventual champs. In 06' AJ Price went down early, lost Marcus Williams 1/2 the year, and still went to the Elite 8 despite not having a second ball-handler or backup point guard.

Let's not underestimate how good of a coach Jim Calhoun was, and how good he was at making his teams hit their stride in February - April.
 
Fishy said:
It's a tough call.

First, I hope that every single player spends the summer in Storrs.

They have a lot of new parts that need to learn how to mesh - if I didn't think that we had a uniformly easy-going group, I'd be more worried about than I am. I think all the arrows are going in the same direction.

I do not hate the front court anymore - I rather like it.

I think putting Miller next to Brimah fixes a lot of what ails AB. Between Miller and a hopefully improving Facey, we'll finally consistently rebound from the power forward spot. When we go small, obviously Hamilton rebounds out of the front court as well - perhaps what has been a weakness will become a strength.

Enoch is in a good spot where anything he adds is gravy. Nolan retreats back towards the Donnell Beverly director of team happiness position.

The backcourt is positively evil.

Adams will be fine - he's in a good spot with two experienced players on either side. Gibbs is a 16 ppg scorer who can shoot, etc. But Purvis is the guy I expect to have a breakout year. With a year under his belt, I think the sky is the limit for him. If you're game planning a defense for our backcourt, you have a lot of decisions to make. Cassell can back up both positions.

And then you have Hamilton who glides between the front court and the backcourt.

A lot of balance, a lot of talent, lots of answers.

The negatives...

I think we'll turn the ball over a fair share.

There's only one basketball. Someone will have to give a little.

We have a couple of high-volume, low-percentage shooters...they will need to reign it in.
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Agree with everything you wrote with the possible exception that RP will have a breakout year. If he has it, it will be the following year (I suspect). He was so up and down that it is premature to expect he will suddenly be consistent and solid in crunch-time. At the end of last year, he would make a couple of shots and then would lose all sense of a team concept and would jack up the next shot that came along. He has not played as a solid, mature player yet, but hopefully will take more steps in that direction. If RP has a breakout year, I will be as happy as can be. It would be a great improvement. Obviously, I do not think this is likely, especially with the much better cast of teammates that will be on the roster. Rodney seems to be a great teammate, but needs to be able to keep himself focused and not so easily distracted when things take a bad turn. I think he is a year away from being a solid, consistent player. It will help him if Sterling can be "the guy" and take some pressure off. Last year, he showed some significant improvement, but was not someone who could steady the team or show consistent defensive focus.
 
Dogbreath2U said:
If he has it, it will be the following year (I suspect). He was so up and down that it is premature to expect he will suddenly be consistent and solid in crunch-time.
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Have you ever heard of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest?

Whenever you try to write about Rodney Purvis, I am instantly reminded of it and I imagine them opening a sportswriting category and you winning it.
 
CTBasketball said:
This is a fairly near-sighted post. That 05' team, despite fighting off a championship hangover and losing Rashad Anderson, almost beat the eventual champs. In 06' AJ Price went down early, lost Marcus Williams 1/2 the year, and still went to the Elite 8 despite not having a second ball-handler or backup point guard.

Let's not underestimate how good of a coach Jim Calhoun was, and how good he was at making his teams hit their stride in February - April.
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Rash missed seven games on the 05 team. And he was on the squad well in time for the NCAAs. As was Williams. Both years. Didn't get to FF either time.

JC was a great coach. However, I think the pressure of chasing banners led to some unintended issues. But since you brought up Williams missing games, I wonder if anyone of KO's kids would steal a laptop?
 
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Nnocu said:
Haha. Definitely taller. He's an honest 7'0"
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Ah, I'll defer then. I have heard some say shorter before (which I don't agree with) but as such I was playing it safe.
 
Austrie wasn't a star by any means, but he was a back-up ball handler.
 
tzznandrew said:
I haven't seen that confirmed anywhere. I definitely hope it happens. If it did, Duke/Maryland/Texas/Ohio State/Georgetown and the Battle 4 Atlantis with Syracuse, Michigan, Gonzaga, Texas, Washington, Texas A&M and Charlotte, makes our OOC among the best 2-3 in the country. As it is, it is impressive.
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I read somewhere Duke is booked for an Ooc game at the garden with the opponent TBD, could be us but who knows.
 
storrsroars said:
JC was a great coach. However, I think the pressure of chasing banners led to some unintended issues. But since you brought up Williams missing games, I wonder if anyone of KO's kids would steal a laptop?
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What is this BS you're trying to perpetuate? You can't predict the stupid idiotic things that are going to happen off the court with college kids. Saying Calhoun was somehow responsible for MW stealing laptops is straight horsepiss, the same can happen on KO's watch just as easily. If your inferring that KO takes "character" into the equation of recruiting a kid and Calhoun did not, well you're wrong there too. Look who KO just signed, Gibbs, a kid who was suspended two games last year for smashing poor Arcidiacono face into the court. Do I care Gibbs did that? No, I actually kinda like it, just don't go trashing Calhoun, and act like his motives were less than honorable.

I'd take a Marcus Williams any day of the week.
 
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This team has talent but ill wait and see before i start with expectations. Sure Miller was good in the Ivy league but being in the AAC is a whole new ballgame and i dont expect anything close to 16/8 per game from him. I think 8/5 could be more realistic but anything more would be a welcome surprise.
 
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sammydabiz said:
What is this BS you're trying to perpetuate? You can't predict the stupid idiotic things that are going to happen off the court with college kids. Saying Calhoun was somehow responsible for MW stealing laptops is straight horse , the same can happen on KO's watch just as easily. If your inferring that KO takes "character" into the equation of recruiting a kid and Calhoun did not, well you're wrong there too. Look who KO just signed, Gibbs, a kid who was suspended two games last year for smashing poor Arcidiacono face into the court. Do I care Gibbs did that? No, I actually kinda like it, just don't go trashing Calhoun, and act like his motives were less than honorable.
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Of course people get defensive whenever the almighty JC comes up...you would have to be completely ignorant of our history to see that Calhoun and Ollie both have vastly different comfort levels with taking character risks. I live with someone whose longtime job at the university involved considerable interactions with the AD in general and the MBB program at times, and to sum up what they've told me: Calhoun cared ruthlessly about winning at all costs, much more than he cared about academics or character.

And you know what? We don't have a blue blood program with such a vaunted position in the national CBB hierarchy if Calhoun built the program any other way. So I'm glad he did what he did. There's no conflict between being grateful for the job that Calhoun did and acknowledging that he toed the line often, sometimes crossing it. Ollie has a vastly different mindset that stems from his different background. He will never be the angry, vulgar curmudgeon that we love, but he is a worthy replacement if there ever was one.
 
Expectations for the 2015-16 season:
- Top 20 preseason ranking
- Winning the AAC regular season (Tournament is a crapshoot)
- Ranked in the #10-15 range in March and for most of the year
- #3-4 seed
- Sweet 16, with a reasonable chance at a Final Four

Things I would be disappointed with:
- Spending significant time outside the Top 25
- Failing to win the AAC
- Not earning a protected (#1-5) seed
- Not making the Sweet 16

Things I would be elated with:
- Spending significant time in the Top 10 and garnering legitimate buzz as a championship contender
- Making the Final Four
 
sammydabiz said:
What is this BS you're trying to perpetuate? You can't predict the stupid idiotic things that are going to happen off the court with college kids. Saying Calhoun was somehow responsible for MW stealing laptops is straight horsepiss, the same can happen on KO's watch just as easily. If your inferring that KO takes "character" into the equation of recruiting a kid and Calhoun did not, well you're wrong there too. Look who KO just signed, Gibbs, a kid who was suspended two games last year for smashing poor Arcidiacono face into the court. Do I care Gibbs did that? No, I actually kinda like it, just don't go trashing Calhoun, and act like his motives were less than honorable.

I'd take a Marcus Williams any day of the week.
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Lol, awesome.
 
Agree with Rothstein that on paper, we don't look like a title contender (read: a top-5 preseason team), but the pieces are there for a successful season. Second weekend of the tournament is the over/under line of success. Guards win championships.
 
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