Next Year's Expectations

[3rdbass]

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.

Huh maybe not top 5 but Rothstein said barely top 25 and 2nd to SMU. I definitely think we have top 10 talent now and number 1 in the AAC. I don't care about this underdog thing I just want to be top dog at the end of the year whether we sneak up on people or are top 10 all year long.

 

[CTBasketball]

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?

That's like saying, "I wonder if any of JC's kids would go smoking and drinking in the Bahamas before games." You're better than that dude cmon. Sometimes coaches have no effect on players that happens everyday.

 

[tzznandrew]

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?

Rash was not the same after he came back. He lost a ton of weight from the staph infection, and the whole experience left him a shell of his former self. He was probably their 4th best player that year (behind Marcus Williams, Gay, and Villanueva), and the type of knock-down shooter the team needed to do any real damage in the post-season.

As for the laptops, who knows. Players make these decisions, not coaches.

 

[tzznandrew]

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.

Chemistry is the issue for the team, because they replace Boat with Gibbs, which is close to a wash on offense and a decline on defense...but get Shonn Miller into the lineup and our defense--blocks, rebounds, positioning--gets better. We still have a top notch rim protector, we have a Adams off the bench, and we have Purvis and Hamilton getting another year of experience.

I get not saying their Top 5 (although there are very few teams I look at, on paper, and worry about), but for Rothstein to suggest they are barely Top 25... I mean, you have to compare them to the field, and this team oozes talent.

 

[The Funster]

This is a very deep, solid team. Gibbs and Miller coming puts other players in roles/positions that suits their skills/level better than if those two weren't here. I can't wait to see what DHam brings as a soph but the key to me is Purvis. When he is on he is a battering ram, getting to the rim almost at will. A good start and confidence from the get go and he will be a run away train. If he gets off to a slow start, we might be less impressive early but there is too much here to think we won't make another late year run.

 

[tzznandrew]

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.

On Purvis:

From the first game through the Houston game (2/1), he averaged 9.3 ppg and scored under 10 points in 11 of 18 games.
After the Houston game, he averaged 14.4 ppg, and scored under 10 3 of 15 games.
When March rolled around, he averaged 17.2 ppg, and scored under 10 1 of 8 games.

 

[caw]

I am going to admit I didn't really pay attention to Gibbs on defense when I watched SHU last year. Is he considered a good defender?

UConn lost Boatright, Samuel and Lubin and replaced them with Gibbs, Adams, Enoch and Miller. I know how big Boat was for UConn but overall that seems like an upgrade on paper.

Not to mention Cassell should be healthy and available this year. Hopefully this team fully meshes because it could be quite good and deep.

 

[djct1999]

What matters most is come March of next year, there is not a coach in America that will want to see UConn in its bracket.

 

[Robertelamin]

This program has been so bipolar since 2010 I never know what to expect anymore.

 

[storrsroars]

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.

Meh. One is chalked up to overzealous competitiveness in the heat of battle (see: Sellers, Rod), the other is, well, stupid.

I think Stairmaster's reply sums up my feelings very well. And I actually think JC backed off in his last couple of years, recognizing the character issues of some of those mid-2000s recruits. Thus you get a Kemba who emerged as one of the best leaders any team ever had and Bazz as the "Hungry Husky" who couldn't scrape together money for a sandwich, but didn't steal to buy one, and got two championships.

JC brought us three banners and an enduring national spotlight. He also brought us APR issues and a rep as U-Convicts. Maybe JC's way was the only way given the time and place. There's no question our success is a product of JC's vision and desire to win. But to point out some of the issues is not perpetuating anything nor revisionist history. It just is.

 

[UConn990411]

What is wrong with Rothstein?

When asked whether he thought SMU or UConn was better AAC team...

Does this...

...look like the face of someone you should take seriously?

The answer's no.

 

[ctchamps]

This program has been so bipolar since 2010 I never know what to expect anymore.

It has been a roller coaster ride and not for the feint of heart. It's hard to imagine any program in any sport that has had the extremes of up and downs that the UConn men's bb program has gone through since 2010.

 

[mauconnfan]

Meh. One is chalked up to overzealous competitiveness in the heat of battle (see: Sellers, Rod), the other is, well, stupid.

I think Stairmaster's reply sums up my feelings very well. And I actually think JC backed off in his last couple of years, recognizing the character issues of some of those mid-2000s recruits. Thus you get a Kemba who emerged as one of the best leaders any team ever had and Bazz as the "Hungry Husky" who couldn't scrape together money for a sandwich, but didn't steal to buy one, and got two championships.

JC brought us three banners and an enduring national spotlight. He also brought us APR issues and a rep as U-Convicts. Maybe JC's way was the only way given the time and place. There's no question our success is a product of JC's vision and desire to win. But to point out some of the issues is not perpetuating anything nor revisionist history. It just is.

JC took chances on kids no doubt and won some of those with Caron leading the way. They ALL take chances and the stories of failure are abundant but we only hear of ours. It happened with all of them - the APR was BS but happened. For the most part JC played by the books more than most ever did and he is the sole reason that Miller and Gibbs are able to be recruited by KO so let's try to remember that instead of taking a walk into the negative history. It;s a great day to be a Husky fan so let's leave it at that!

 

[Dogbreath2U]

On Purvis:

From the first game through the Houston game (2/1), he averaged 9.3 ppg and scored under 10 points in 11 of 18 games.
After the Houston game, he averaged 14.4 ppg, and scored under 10 3 of 15 games.
When March rolled around, he averaged 17.2 ppg, and scored under 10 1 of 8 games.

There is no doubt he showed great improvement offensively and I would expect he will continue to do so. I feel like he needs to improve the consistency of his focus on defense and in being solid with the ball.

 

[mauconnfan]

We lost Boat (big loss) and TSam (not as big now).

We gained 33.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 65.5/game Division 1 college basketball minutes. Add this to Jalen Adams, Daniel Hamilton, Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah, Phil Nolan, Kentan Facey, Steve Enoch, Omar Calhoun and Sam Jr and how can you not be excited for the 2015-16 season? Back in Feb/March I was asking for some recruiting "magic" or some transfers/graduating sr's to fall into our laps. Damn I think it happened, and I couldn't have guessed it would have been this good. Hang on for a fun ride, this is good stuff huh?

 

[BankShot]

Which team is described beneath?

The PG, a very good ball experienced handler who can nail the 3. A exciting tough as nails freshman PG off the bench, an African based center who is a beast on defense, a man at 4 who is a rebounding monster, and a SG who is a bull in a china shop getting to the rim who can occasionally be lights out from the 3 point arc and is consistently mystifying good and bad in his play. Finally a flex 2/3/4 with athleticism through the roof, who has the ability to take over a game.

Price-Walker-Thabeet-Adrien-Dyson-Robinson
vs
Gibbs-Adams-Brimah-Miller-Purvis-Hamilton

Can't wait until we CRUSH the ORANGE in ATLANTIS, what a way to start a season of promise with a Championship (Paradise Jam? Maui 2X?) and doing it beating Cuse to a pulp

 

[Dogbreath2U]

We lost Boat (big loss) and TSam (not as big now).

We gained 33.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 65.5/game Division 1 college basketball minutes. Add this to Jalen Adams, Daniel Hamilton, Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah, Phil Nolan, Kentan Facey, Steve Enoch, Omar Calhoun and Sam Jr and how can you not be excited for the 2015-16 season? Back in Feb/March I was asking for some recruiting "magic" or some transfers/graduating sr's to fall into our laps. Damn I think it happened, and I couldn't have guessed it would have been this good. Hang on for a fun ride, this is good stuff huh?

Yep, more Husky magic has come our way! It's crazy but still great to be a Husky fan.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

Which team is described beneath?

The PG, a very good ball experienced handler who can nail the 3. A exciting tough as nails freshman PG off the bench, an African based center who is a beast on defense, a man at 4 who is a rebounding monster, and a SG who is a bull in a china shop getting to the rim who can occasionally be lights out from the 3 point arc and is consistently mystifying good and bad in his play. Finally a flex 2/3/4 with athleticism through the roof, who has the ability to take over a game.

Price-Walker-Thabeet-Adrien-Dyson-Robinson
vs
Gibbs-Adams-Brimah-Miller-Purvis-Hamilton

Can't wait until we CRUSH the ORANGE in ATLANTIS, what a way to start a season of promise with a Championship (Paradise Jam? Maui 2X?) and doing it beating Cuse to a pulp

i like the comparison to that 2010 final four squad. just taking a stab at comparing them on a position by position basis:

pg: price
sg: wash
sf: hamilton
pf: adrien
c: thabeet
6th: wash

although nostalgia may be clouding my judgement a bit. would be interested to hear others opinions.

 

[Matt1010]

What is wrong with Rothstein?

When asked whether he thought SMU or UConn was better AAC team...

That first poster can't speak english and the fact that he wanted us listed as a final four team before Gibbs is laughable so I don't blame Rothstein. He just released his early preseason top 25 and has us at #17 (SMU 16 and Cincy 20). I think that is a very fair assessment. SMU will be very good this year as well and I don't think it is a lock we win the AAC. On the other hand I think we finally start to the the conference gain some respect at least in basketball because we SHOULD get 3+ teams in the tournament all capable of winning a couple games.

 

[B1GEast]

 

[3rdbass]

There is no doubt he showed great improvement offensively and I would expect he will continue to do so. I feel like he needs to improve the consistency of his focus on defense and in being solid with the ball.

If you watch the games last year RP was our 2nd best on the ball defender last year. He was solid there though I do agree he has to improve his handle and also learn to dish out the ball every once in awhile instead of bulldozing every defender.

 

[ctchamps]

Meh. One is chalked up to overzealous competitiveness in the heat of battle (see: Sellers, Rod), the other is, well, stupid.

I think Stairmaster's reply sums up my feelings very well. And I actually think JC backed off in his last couple of years, recognizing the character issues of some of those mid-2000s recruits. Thus you get a Kemba who emerged as one of the best leaders any team ever had and Bazz as the "Hungry Husky" who couldn't scrape together money for a sandwich, but didn't steal to buy one, and got two championships.

JC brought us three banners and an enduring national spotlight. He also brought us APR issues and a rep as U-Convicts. Maybe JC's way was the only way given the time and place. There's no question our success is a product of JC's vision and desire to win. But to point out some of the issues is not perpetuating anything nor revisionist history. It just is.

Nothing expressed by anyone is "just is". Everyone of us is invested with our statements and that investment is "never" "absolutely" objective. (I'm sure more than one individual will get the irony of my statement, hence the usage of quotations.)

Every program has their share of problems with athletes. The higher profile programs get more scrutinized and their problems are more exposed. In addition JC was more scrutinized because he didn't know how to rub elbows with the press. In fact he rubbed them the wrong way. Various members of the press had a vendetta against him and targeted him. He also alienated Hathaway and Hathaway sabotaged him.

You've highlighted the APR issue since it came to light. Even at the time the NCAA made it retroactive, there were a number of people who recognized that it was flawed at best and vindictive at worse. Given the recent exposures of Syracuse and UNC, it becomes more obvious that the APR is smokes and mirrors trying to mask a system that has much bigger issues. The real culprit is monies in sports, not the "type" or "character" of player JC recruited.

JC has flaws. He is not perfect. You and a very small minority of UConn fans (such as freescooter), have a preference regarding how a coach should behave and the type of athlete they should recruit. I see nothing wrong with having that preference. It's our prerogative to prefer something that most pleases us and certainly the type of coach you desire may have avoided some of the pitfalls that surrounded JC. However, I have yet to see any individual who is perfect. And because of these flaws everyone of us introduces a set of problems into the flow of events we call life, whether or not we prefer to admit it.

I liked the rawness and combativeness that JC expressed. It was "honest" and refreshing. Occasionally I felt embarrassed for the man and for the program he represented. But I prefer the open person and not the individual who masks who he or she is by representing themselves as something they really aren't. There was very little phoniness regarding JC.

 

[CL82]

Chemistry is the key as others have said, but Miller and Gibbs are mature kids who haven't been surrounded by this kind of talent before. They will understand the potential to do great things and I think that they'll do what they need to do to make things works.

I'm not sure about Purvis. He's enormously talented but his decision making seemed questionable at times.

I think a potential weakness of UConn bigs is the tendency to go for the block rather than play wall up and then box out and be in position to rebound. Miller allows Brimah to continue to be a shot blocking intimidator and gives us a more reliable scorer down low. He was a huge addition as was Gibbs.

We're doomed.

 

[TasteofUConn]

5

 

[Milo65]

It's all about Chemistry... The 11-12 team had a ton of talent (young talent), but could never get it together. There was a lot of NBA talent, but they also had guys playing in the wrong positions.

 

[jibsey]

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.

What if Brimah emerges as a real force? Based on last year it doesn't look that way, but the kid is driven and with a big summer ....

 

[sammydabiz]

Meh. One is chalked up to overzealous competitiveness in the heat of battle (see: Sellers, Rod), the other is, well, stupid.

I think Stairmaster's reply sums up my feelings very well. And I actually think JC backed off in his last couple of years, recognizing the character issues of some of those mid-2000s recruits. Thus you get a Kemba who emerged as one of the best leaders any team ever had and Bazz as the "Hungry Husky" who couldn't scrape together money for a sandwich, but didn't steal to buy one, and got two championships.

JC brought us three banners and an enduring national spotlight. He also brought us APR issues and a rep as U-Convicts. Maybe JC's way was the only way given the time and place. There's no question our success is a product of JC's vision and desire to win. But to point out some of the issues is not perpetuating anything nor revisionist history. It just is.

Meh.
Calhoun brought us "U-convicts"?!? lol wow you're special. (Let's just latch on to the things our rivals say, which are all obviously true) no other schools had off-court issues, just us huh?
Plus the APR is bullcrap, we had already sacrificed schollies for that dumb rule and still got retroactively butt raped....
To assume that any recruit Ollie brings in will be squeaky clean and not commit anything stupid off the court is a recipe towards being let down in the future, but by all means........ go right ahead

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Chemistry is the issue for the team, because they replace Boat with Gibbs, which is close to a wash on offense and a decline on defense...but get Shonn Miller into the lineup and our defense--blocks, rebounds, positioning--gets better. We still have a top notch rim protector, we have a Adams off the bench, and we have Purvis and Hamilton getting another year of experience.

I get not saying their Top 5 (although there are very few teams I look at, on paper, and worry about), but for Rothstein to suggest they are barely Top 25... I mean, you have to compare them to the field, and this team oozes talent.

Oh believe me, I disagree with him on the barely top 25 comment. Whether they're better than SMU, who knows. Honestly, it's all irrelevant at this point. Conjecture in May is meaningless. I only said that to call us, at this point, a title contender would be pretty difficult to justify.

In fact, now that I see his top 25, us at 17 seems pretty much right where we deserve to be. No reason not to be optimistic for a fun season ahead.

 

[Danzz]

Brimah and chemistry will be the keys and Miller should help Brimah a lot. Trying not to get expectations too high because that hasn't worked well in the past but damn this looks like a very solid team that could beat anybody. Now all they have to do is do it.

 

[James]

i'm pretty sure miller is better than any forward in the conference, and i'm also not privy to a better pg duo than adams and gibbs... saying uconn is fringe top 25 is absurd scouting. they will start nearly 4 all conferences guys and an all american.