NG may replace OC in starting line-up

[Onions]

Kromah = Evans
Brimah = Wolf
Facey might not play

The team is the same as last year in terms of depth.
Evans scored as much as Kromah at his midmajor
We can only hope that Brimah will give us as much as Wolf was going to this year.
I think you really underrate Calhoun. He's much better than you credit him for.

Kromah is far better than Evans in every facet of the game. I really liked Evans but he couldn't shoot at all and was limited athletically, Kromah does not have those limitations. Not all mid majors are created equal.

It's not Brimah vs.Wolf. It's Wolf vs Brimah, Nolan with a year more experience and summer work, and Facey. And purely speculatively I think Brimah will be a large upgrade over Wolf by himself. Time will tell.

And of course you left out the improvement of NG from last year to this. He is going to earn more minutes, whether he starts or not, and those minutes are going to come at the expense of someone else. I don't think they are going to come from Daniels, whose minutes I believe will also go up this year.

Everyone else on the team has improved by attending all sorts of camps and workouts during the summer with the exception of Omar, who has been hobbled by his surgery. If you don't think Omar hasn't fallen behind because of this then obviously you don't think off season work counts for anything. I think it does.

And again, I'm not saying Omar is a bad player. I think he's a good player, a natural scorer. I think the team has much better options all around this year and Omar is going to have to fight for his minutes and because of the surgery he's starting out with a disadvantage. I don't see him getting 30 minutes a game. I do see him being very effective getting 20-25 minutes a game, whether he starts or doesn't.

 

[mauconnfan]

The point you're missing is that while niels could be a nice starter, he doesn't have the same level of talent OC has. He is also probably the most coachable player on our team, his commitment to stay with us through rough times is a testament to that. He played 32 minutes a game as a freshman for a reason. By the end of the year he had become an effective defender with just one hand.

While I agree with your points I'm pretty sure the other guy went through some pretty tough times and stayed loyal also..........and I'm not quite sure there is a huge difference in "levels" now other than age!

 

[mauconnfan]

Kromah is far better than Evans in every facet of the game. I really liked Evans but he couldn't shoot at all and was limited athletically, Kromah does not have those limitations. Not all mid majors are created equal.

It's not Brimah vs.Wolf. It's Wolf vs Brimah, Nolan with a year more experience and summer work, and Facey. And purely speculatively I think Brimah will be a large upgrade over Wolf by himself. Time will tell.

And of course you left out the improvement of NG from last year to this. He is going to earn more minutes, whether he starts or not, and those minutes are going to come at the expense of someone else. I don't think they are going to come from Daniels, whose minutes I believe will also go up this year.

Everyone else on the team has improved by attending all sorts of camps and workouts during the summer with the exception of Omar, who has been hobbled by his surgery. If you don't think Omar hasn't fallen behind because of this then obviously you don't think off season work counts for anything. I think it does.

And again, I'm not saying Omar is a bad player. I think he's a good player, a natural scorer. I think the team has much better options all around this year and Omar is going to have to fight for his minutes and because of the surgery he's starting out with a disadvantage. I don't see him getting 30 minutes a game. I do see him being very effective getting 20-25 minutes a game, whether he starts or doesn't.

Again some points spot on.........Kromah will be a larger upgrade athletically to RJ, how that works into the same chemistry is yet to be seen!

Brimah is an unknown and to think he will be a huge upgrade to Wolf is only a guess at best. And if he is they will be really good!!! But I doubt that one for this year in particular.......

 

[Onions]

The point you're missing is that while niels could be a nice starter, he doesn't have the same level of talent OC has. He is also probably the most coachable player on our team, his commitment to stay with us through rough times is a testament to that. He played 32 minutes a game as a freshman for a reason. By the end of the year he had become an effective defender with just one hand.

Not as any kind of knock on Omar, but why do you think he's more coachable than Niels?

While Omar may have more scoring talent, Niels is 2 inches taller, which is a talent of it's own, and a much better defender. Omar has the height for a natural 2 guard, but he lacks the handle, which pushes him to the 3, where he is undersized. Omar will score playing at any position, but with one hand or two he is not in NGs class as a defender. Niels has been starring against NBA players this summer while Omar has been recovering from surgery. I don't know or care who starts, psychologically it might be best to start Omar, but I think the two of them will be competing for minutes, which will be great for the team.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Not as any kind of knock on Omar, but why do you think he's more coachable than Niels?

While Omar may have more scoring talent, Niels is 2 inches taller, which is a talent of it's own, and a much better defender. Omar has the height for a natural 2 guard, but he lacks the handle, which pushes him to the 3, where he is undersized. Omar will score playing at any position, but with one hand or two he is not in NGs class as a defender. Niels has been starring against NBA players this summer while Omar has been recovering from surgery. I don't know or care who starts, psychologically it might be best to start Omar, but I think the two of them will be competing for minutes, which will be great for the team.

Omar is only undersized at the 3 in JC's NBA-style lineup. He's not undersized in the rest of college basketball. (This is also true of DD at the 4.)

I think both OC and Giff will play 25+ minutes, and both players seem comfortable with their roles last year, OC starting and Giff providing stability at the 3/4 coming off the bench.

 

[upstater]

People have missed my point. Onions was talking about having a lot more depth.

With the loss of Wolf and Evans, and Facey maybe not playing, we don't have more depth. Kromah is going to have to take minutes from Napier, Boatright and Calhoun. The fact that he may do better with those minutes than Evans did does not diminish the fact that the minutes for Napier and Boatright will stay at the level they are now.

 

[James]

Have we really started to overrate Giffey in a matter of days? it's clear OC has the juice, look at the twenty point games he had last year. Then look at Giffeys best games ever. look at first I was into the idea of Giff starting, but ill say its def. calhouns minutes to lose. he's earned it. NG wasn't good enough last year

 

[upstater]

Have we really started to overrate Giffey in a matter of days? it's clear OC has the juice, look at the twenty point games he had last year. Then look at Giffeys best games ever. look at first I was into the idea of Giff starting, but ill say its def. calhouns minutes to lose. he's earned it. NG wasn't good enough last year

Unnoticed in Daniels' torrid second half was that Giffey played the best ball of his career during the same period. With Calhoun, Napier and a couple others hurt, these two carried the team to several victories and played well in a couple big losses (i.e. G'town). I do see Giffey having a big season. He needs confidence. I don't see an improvement in his 3 point shot (from watching the FIBA games). It's the same form, kind of discombobulated, same release, but he's simply shooting with more confidence, and it's making all the difference. It may just be that he's rising more into the shot.

Giffey could have a really big year where he gives the team 12 points.

Would anyone be surprised if Giffey averaged 12?

 

[Chief00]

It's not a zero sum game; if healthy both will make meaningful contributions!

 

[ctchamps]

Omar is getting the same surgery that Donnel Beverly received. I'm not comparing them as players, but did you notice any great improvement athletically in Beverly after the surgery, because I sure didn't. This belief that all of Calhoun's flaws are related to his hip problems and will be totally reversed by this surgery without giving any weight to the negatives due to loss of conditioning and lack of work in an important off season sounds like magical thinking.

Again, I think OC is a good and valuable player, but I don't think his greatness is assured and I don't see him getting 30 minutes a game this year.

Agree about DBev. Agree about OC starting off slowly. Same happened with AJP and SN following off season surgery.
Don't know how quickly OC will regain form. Don't know how much his condition impacted his play. Using DBev as the example doesn't factor in upside. OC's game could have been impacted by the hips or he could have reached his upside and just have played through pain. That's why we have the upcoming next few years to see who has the best crystal ball.

I'm not sure how you can advise others to be cautious about OC's future this year and yet be conclusive with your prediction.

 

[ctchamps]

It's not a zero sum game; if healthy both will make meaningful contributions!

Bingo! Arguing about who has the most potential or who could contribute the most this season is one thing.

But to continue the argument to the point it becomes necessary to put down the other UConn player to make the point valid tells me the person doing that is more concerned about his opinion than how well UConn can do in a season. It's an egocentric point of view!

 

[aceboon]

they lost again today and likely won't be movin on, Giffey with a subpar game, 2/8, only 5pts.

 

[mauconnfan]

they lost again today and likely won't be movin on, Giffey with a subpar game, 2/8, only 5pts.

17 for 27 in the tournament isn't too shabby though and I am sure great experience for him. He is ready!

 

[Onions]

Bingo! Arguing about who has the most potential or who could contribute the most this season is one thing.

But to continue the argument to the point it becomes necessary to put down the other UConn player to make the point valid tells me the person doing that is more concerned about his opinion than how well UConn can do in a season. It's an egocentric point of view!

So I guess the point I made about all of them competing for minutes which would benefit the team is part of my egocentricity.

This thread was started by someone else who wrote about Niels getting the start over Omar this season. I only responded to this quote: " particularly when Omar's on pace to be a great, great college player and could potentially emerge as our second best player next season." I don't think Omar is going to be better than either Boat or Daniels next year, especially because of the time lost recovering from surgery. I do think the team is on pace to be better this year, with improvements from players like Daniels, Kromah, Nolan, Brimah, Facey and Giffey, and I think there will be more competition for minutes because we have more better players. I don't think this is either outlandish or egocentric.

 

[ctchamps]

So I guess the point I made about all of them competing for minutes which would benefit the team is part of my egocentricity.

This thread was started by someone else who wrote about Niels getting the start over Omar this season. I only responded to this quote: " particularly when Omar's on pace to be a great, great college player and could potentially emerge as our second best player next season." I don't think Omar is going to be better than either Boat or Daniels next year, especially because of the time lost recovering from surgery. I do think the team is on pace to be better this year, with improvements from players like Daniels, Kromah, Nolan, Brimah, Facey and Giffey, and I think there will be more competition for minutes because we have more better players. I don't think this is either outlandish or egocentric.

Interesting that you thought I was referring to you in my post to Chief00! I was calling him out and not you!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Insert random non-committal comment here. Sometimes you log in and just feel like saying something.

Finally, a reason for me to log in after a couple of weeks when I got logged off for no known reason. Thanks.

 

[upstater]

Watching Greece-Finland right now. ESPN listens in on the coaches at timeouts.

Greek coach yelling at his players in English: "Deny the low post, play together. We are not helping, not playing as a team. They are pushing, grabbing, hitting us. What are we doing? We are p---ies. We are soft."

Nice ESPN