Next Year's Hopes - Durham &Diarra

[mauconnfan]

You seem to have decided you dislike the player and refuse to acknowledge his development. In the beginning of the season his play was very poor, well below mediocre. Missed close in shots and missed free throws at a Shaq like rate (58.8% on the season). But somewhere along the way he turned the corner a bit. He did start to show some nice moves around the basket and hit free throws at a much better rate (made 10 in a row over the last 3 games). He's still a bit of a bull in a china shop, but there was definite improvement. Defensively I haven't seen much change. Still plays D with his hands. Not sure if it's defensive laziness or lack of foot speed, but that is the most critical area where he needs improvement.
At 6-11 258 (per UConnHuskies.com) I think he could stand to drop a few pounds and increase his foot speed and mobility. By comparison Durham is listed at 207 and he's a little too light. Maybe 240-245 is a good weight, but just a guess.

Steve needs better foot speed but even without, if he knew where to be he'd be fine. Thus far he doesn't seem any better than what we have put up with and then add he doesn't block shots like AB we really need him to improve there. I think 10-15 lbs to get trimmer is good but not all of the answer.
On offense he needs to take him time and use his strength. Ball fake and explode high, needs to explode rather than look like a 6'6 guy when he's ready to score form the low block. Like his jumper from the line, like his left handed hook when close and his moves on the block, but can't shoot 40% need to make more of those. Good news is the improved FT% because if he gets stronger with the ball there, he will be going to the line more no doubt.

 

[pj]

Keep in mind we had 6-8 players most of the year and couldn't practice 5 on 5. That's going to really stall development of someone like Durham, not to mention most of the bigs who can't practice defensive rotations or offense in a realistic settings.

Expect a big jump next season.

 

[chiller99.5]

Going in a different direction with this but more than a few of our players played tentative knowing the next option to them was a walk on. Durham looked unsure out there and understandable with the knee issues he has, probably set him back in strength training as well.Having a big stronger player to box out on the boards and muscle up would make life more bearable for these young slim guys we have now.

 

[Matrim55]

Harry Giles will be great. If he doesn't come out this year (which he shouldn't) and comes out next year, he could be #1 overall.

He absolutely should come out this year, since he's still guaranteed to be a first round pick and maaaaybe even in the lottery.

He's a guaranteed millionaire when that happens, whereas if he goes back to Duke and suffers one more injury he's Ray Smith.

If Giles returns to Durham then K's done him dirty.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It looked like Durham was still recovering from his ACL injuries. Hopefully an offseason of strength & conditioning can help him look a lot better next year. He has the tools offensively and the length defensively to be a shot blocker. You can definitely tell he's not 100% back by the way he barely jumped this year. He's 6'11 and could barely dunk this season. I for one am not worried about the development of our bigs. Enoch and Durham have a lot more potential than Brimah and Facey. With more responsibility should come more confidence.

 

[tzznandrew]

He absolutely should come out this year, since he's still guaranteed to be a first round pick and maaaaybe even in the lottery.

He's a guaranteed millionaire when that happens, whereas if he goes back to Duke and suffers one more injury he's Ray Smith.

If Giles returns to Durham then K's done him dirty.

If you're picking 3 or after, he could be an enticing selection. Lots of upside.

 

[KembaStepback]

The last game against Cincy showed that without Jalen on the floor, no one else could run the offense. Having AG would have made a big difference. This team will be fun to watch. Cobb as insurance will help. Enoch and Durham will make progress. Vital and Jackson got so much experience this yr. It will only help. Larrier coming back and being himself will be fun to watch too. I look forward to this. What they need to know is that Jalen is the alpha dog. He seemed to start to embrace that role. The one thing he needs to figure out is when to take over a game, when to get teammates involved etc. Sometimes he seemed to press the idea of getting teammates involved more than he should. He's got to pick his spots. He'll get there. I'm excited for next season.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Giles will come out, and be a lottery pick after the snippets of athleticism he has shown late in the season. NBA thrives on athletes.

And Durham has shown more than he's being given credit for. He hit a couple threes with a smooth stroke, at 6-11, and if he develops that it's a huge weapon. He got some offensive rebounds and put backs in his few minutes, and his length bothered Gary Clark much more than Enoch's giving ground/bend but don't break approach.

He needs some upper, lower and core strength work, and needs to continue his ACL rehab working on plyometrics, change of direction, etc. Again, he can play 5, but a best case scenario has him rotating at the 4 because of his ability to stretch the defense. Would love to see him as a high post option, or catching at the foul line against zones.

 

[The Funster]

We were getting crushed on the boards in early 2014 when he finally scrapped the leak-out by the guards. It was after the SMU game that we finally stopped trying to run, and as a result we were a better team for the rest of that season than we otherwise would've been.

We just haven't had the big men to do anything else since then. Saying "I don't like the philosophy of having all five guys crash the defensive boards because it limits our chance to break" is nice, but the alternative is "holy hell did we really give up 15 offensive rebounds and 25 second-chance points?"

Definitely get your point. I hate to say it but that is where Brimah hurt us. He sold out too often to block shots and that left us way too susceptible to being killed off the glass. Also I'm not talking all out breaks but to the ability to get 4 or 5 free buckets a games is not out the realm of possibility.

 

[Matrim55]

Definitely get your point. I hate to say it but that is where Brimah hurt us. He sold out too often to block shots and that left us way too susceptible to being killed off the glass. Also I'm not talking all out breaks but to the ability to get 4 or 5 free buckets a games is not out the realm of possibility.

Agree.

 

[jdb50]

How often did we try and block a shot on a player who we weren't guarding and then have our own man grab the rebound and get a put back. I would like to see this stop from our bigs. How about our bigs reaching for a rebound that they weren't quick enough to get to. Offensive possessions run through them that we never got a shot off. SE can get decent shots he just needs to make more. A soph. that is a good place to start from. Not sure on his passing ability. We saw potential in our graduating bigs after their freshman year but the improvement from that point was not great enough to wind up with us having a losing season 3 years later. This is a huge off season for SE and JD I hope they can seize the opportunity and get themselves starting positions next year.

 

[freescooter]

Use your damn eyes ...

His shots were in limited patches. He has skill etc etc. If this is all it takes for you to crap on a KID ... move onto the next. Again, he may never get to a higher level; however, there is no doubt on his physical skills. It is a bunch of things that are holding him back. I will not be surprised if he surpasses all the guys we'd name in the last 6 years. The probable outcome is he never gets it. IF he works though ...

And you might win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. There are a bunch of things holding you back but if you somehow overcome them hey, the sky is the limit. You have the skill set. Now it's on you.

See how that works. The kid is what he is and until he takes a huge step toward he is just 5 (very quick) extra fouls. He can't shoot can't play defense and can't rebound. When and if he does any of those things consistently I'll change my evaluation of him.

 

[jibsey]

Watching Clark of Cincy basically walk into the lane numerous times backing down Enoch was tough to watch!

Every time he did I hated and admired it all at once. And it always ended with an uncontested layup,a foul, or both. How bout this, just have Enoch and our bigs watch Clark's tape about 12 hours a day, maybe it'll rub off.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Every time he did I hated and admired it all at once. And it always ended with an uncontested layup,a foul, or both. How bout this, just have Enoch and our bigs watch Clark's tape about 12 hours a day, maybe it'll rub off.

Agree about watching Clark. He just takes his time and gets our defenders into trouble every time, it seemed. Our big's also should watch Jake Voskuhl as well, but for different reasons. During his junior year on the NC team, Jake was an excellent positional defender who had a lot better lateral quickness than I recall noticing. He set crushing screens that were simply due to his becoming virtually unmovable. He kept the other centers away from the lane, pretty much no matter how big they were. He cut down on the dumb fouls a lot after his freshman year, I believe. Solid rebounder, great outlet passer, and had pretty good hands. Since none of our bigs look like they will be in the Okafor/Thabeet category, they could learn a lot by watching Jake.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Vital,Adams,Gilbert and Langford look very promising and im excited about those guys. Larrier(if healthy) and Jackson can be solid at the 3. The 4 and 5 spots terrify me. Far too many ifs and if recent history has shown ifs have gotten us nowhere. I think ultimately itll be Durham and Enoch starting even if theyre not much improved theyll likely be our best options.

There is zero chance that both Durham and Enoch start. Even KO knows it's better to go small at the 4 than have two black holes at the 4 and 5.

In November the starting lineup will be:
Adams
Vital
Larrier
Jackson
Enoch/Cobb (whoever comes ready to play)

Gilbert and MAL will get the bench minutes at the 1/2/3; I expect to see a lot of 3-guard lineups.
Durham or Cobb/Enoch will be the first bigs off the bench -- Durham at the 4 if we go big, at the 5 if we go small. Cobb/Enoch are 5's only, should never play alongside each other.
Carlton may see a few minutes at the 5, Polley maybe a minute at the 3/4, but they're buried way down on the depth chart unless they perform well beyond their recruiting rankings.
Diarra I don't expect to play.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm asking anyone with video skills (maybe tc) to put together a few of Enoch's stellar offensive moves and compare, I can't believe the short memories here.

hi.

I laughed so hard Storrs South. Perfect response to jibsey and not many people caught the connection.

 

[Storrs South]

I laughed so hard Storrs South. Perfect response to jibsey and not many people caught the connection.

Glad someone got the joke. For those that didn't, my next video can be a continuation of the Tale of the Tape videos I did for Vance Jackson & Purvis earlier this year.