NG may replace OC in starting line-up

[upstater]

I don't understand how you people can say he may not be able to regain his athleticism or just isn't that athletic in general. Or assume he will be poor on defense again. His hips were hurt throughout the year and these surgeries will only improve his game.

You people = one person named "onions"

 

[UConn17]

You people = one person named "onions"

That is true haha

 

[Onions]

I would ask Brandon but he's getting ready for the Padres game right now. He'll get back to me in a little bit. I imagine he'll tell me that Calhoun plays hard, can score from anywhere, is 100% money from midrange, and has a knack for yanking down rebounds. He even has "onions" as evidenced by his crucial late game 3 last year. As far as freshman at UConn go, he had one of the better freshman years we've seen stats wise. From what we've seen, he'll be one of the UConn greats.

How about asking Brandon about the time in the last seconds of a game last year, when Brandon was wide open at the rim on a breakaway, when instead of passing the ball to him for what would be Allen's first and only points in his college career, OC refused to give him the ball and dunked it himself to up his stats.

 

[aceboon]

How about asking Brandon about the time in the last seconds of a game last year, when Brandon was wide open at the rim on a breakaway, when instead of passing the ball to him for what would be Allen's first and only points in his college career, OC refused to give him the ball and dunked it himself to up his stats.

Allen scored during the 11-12 season, and really, who cares?

 

[tcf15]

I don't understand how people get hung up on these singular plays and think that the players are holding grudges or that it is a very big deal. Seriously, who cares? I'm sure that Brendan Allen is still steaming that he didn't get to score any points in that game.

Oh, and Allen already scored in the 11-12 season against Cincy: http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=320180041

 

[HuskyBballFan]

How about asking Brandon about the time in the last seconds of a game last year, when Brandon was wide open at the rim on a breakaway, when instead of passing the ball to him for what would be Allen's first and only points in his college career, OC refused to give him the ball and dunked it himself to up his stats.

I'm going to say that the huge 3 he made against Georgetown... and the other huge 3 he made against PC... and the 3 or 4 huge 3's against Syracuse were slightly more important than that play.

The kid averaged double figures as a freshman with two bad hips.

 

[Onions]

He averaged nearly 15 a game in the second half of the year until a wrist injury derailed his season. The list of UConn players who have been as explosive as he was as a freshman is slim - he put up 20 against Louisville, 14 against Pitt, 15 and 15 against Syracuse. Those were three of the best defenses in the country last year. I'm hopeful his defense and athleticism was more a product of his hip injury last season than a lack of desire/natural athletic ability. He isn't an elite athlete by any means, but I think "not particularly athletic" is selling him a bit short - he can jump and get up and down the floor fairly well. As for his rebounding ability, he displayed quite the knack for rebounding at a high rate later in the season. I'm willing to disregard his last few games in which he was ineffective because he was clearly dealing with injuries.

I project Omar as a poor man's Caron Butler. He's obviously inferior athletically to Caron, but I see a lot of similarities in their game. His handle and court vision aren't things I'm concerned with, as those are generally things freshman struggle with and can improve in their sophomore and junior seasons. His scoring ability is what makes be a believer - he's a natural scorer and if he sticks around until his junior year, I think he can put up 20 a game.

The thing I like most about him is his toughness and fearlessness. He got to the free throw line eleven times in a game last season, and nine times in two others. He's evidently not afraid to take the ball to the basket and he has the propensity for getting to the line, where he is an excellent free throw shooter. Maybe he's not the flashiest player to grace this program, but you can bet your ass he's going to have 15-20 points by the end of the night, even if it doesn't come in the prettiest fashion. He's an old-school player, which isn't surprising considering he grew up in Brooklyn. If his athleticism improves in the aftermath of his hip surgery, and he fine-tunes some of the weaker aspects of his game - specifically ball-handling and defense - the kid is going to be a hell of a player.

I don't see a big difference between your "not an elite athlete" and my "not particularly athletic" - I didn't say he couldn't move, I merely said that athleticism is not his key attribute. And yes he can score, which is one of the 2 things I gave him credit for, he can score and he can rebound OK. So could Rashad Anderson, to whom he is a more likely comparison than Caron, and that is not an insult to OC. I'm not saying he's a bad player, he's a pretty good player, but I don't see where he's a great player, and being injured all summer he's not had a chance to improve on any of his weaknesses. I'll be very happy to be proven wrong, but I will want to see him handle the ball under pressure or move his feet on defense before I anoint him. I agree he could average 15 points a night if he got the minutes, but I don't think he's going to get those minutes this year. With NGs growth over the summer and the addition of Kromah, along with the freshmen, the team is much deeper this year, especially at the wings, and the bulk of the offense is gong to be split between Shabazz, Boat and Daniels; every one else better play D and hit the boards to stay on the court.

 

[upstater]

I don't see a big difference between your "not an elite athlete" and my "not particularly athletic" - I didn't say he couldn't move, I merely said that athleticism is not his key attribute. And yes he can score, which is one of the 2 things I gave him credit for, he can score and he can rebound OK. So could Rashad Anderson, to whom he is a more likely comparison than Caron, and that is not an insult to OC. I'm not saying he's a bad player, he's a pretty good player, but I don't see where he's a great player, and being injured all summer he's not had a chance to improve on any of his weaknesses. I'll be very happy to be proven wrong, but I will want to see him handle the ball under pressure or move his feet on defense before I anoint him. I agree he could average 15 points a night if he got the minutes, but I don't think he's going to get those minutes this year. With NGs growth over the summer and the addition of Kromah, along with the freshmen, the team is much deeper this year, especially at the wings, and the bulk of the offense is gong to be split between Shabazz, Boat and Daniels; every one else better play D and hit the boards to stay on the court.

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.

 

[Hoophound]

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 much more of a scorer than Evans. Kromah just needs the confidence of his coach. He has skills that Evans can only dream of.

 

[gtcam]

He put up 14 points against Nicholas Batum and 16 against a very good Ukraine squad. The competition he's playing against in Europe is better than half the AAC.

I did say high end d1
And I see you claim the AAC is a bad conference in the Abu on UCONN and Ollie thread so I don't get your point
whatever- giffs is a favorite of mine and excited to see him this year

 

[joober jones]

Rashad Anderson didn't start a single game in 05-06 (except possibly on senior day but I'm not sure) and he was a huge factor all season. Whether he starts or not, NG will have an important role and a large presence.

 

[joober jones]

I'm not trying to take sides with anyone on the Brendan Allen/Omar Calhoun issue, but the 1 bucket he did score was pretty impressive. He attacked the baseline like another Allen we all know and love and gave us a quick 2 pts when nobody else was producing. I remember in the post-game comments Calhoun mentioned Allen having "the guts" to go baseline when everyone else was standing around.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Allen scored during the 11-12 season, and really, who cares?

Can we at least have a basic IQ test before allowing people to post here? To keep harping on one garbage time play so a kid whose name he doesn't know nor the fact that it wouldn't be his first basket is maddening. Not to mention how far off he is about Omar's ability.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't see a big difference between your "not an elite athlete" and my "not particularly athletic" - I didn't say he couldn't move, I merely said that athleticism is not his key attribute. And yes he can score, which is one of the 2 things I gave him credit for, he can score and he can rebound OK. So could Rashad Anderson, to whom he is a more likely comparison than Caron, and that is not an insult to OC. I'm not saying he's a bad player, he's a pretty good player, but I don't see where he's a great player, and being injured all summer he's not had a chance to improve on any of his weaknesses. I'll be very happy to be proven wrong, but I will want to see him handle the ball under pressure or move his feet on defense before I anoint him. I agree he could average 15 points a night if he got the minutes, but I don't think he's going to get those minutes this year. With NGs growth over the summer and the addition of Kromah, along with the freshmen, the team is much deeper this year, especially at the wings, and the bulk of the offense is gong to be split between Shabazz, Boat and Daniels; every one else better play D and hit the boards to stay on the court.

Obviously he isn't a great player now, but few players are as freshman. Not just any freshman can go out and pour in 20 points against the #1 team in the country and eventual national champions. Even if he's merely average in other facets of the game, he will be a great player if he continues to progress offensively.

As for his defense and ball-handling, I agree those are his two most pressing weaknesses. Luckily for UConn, with Boatright and Napier back in the fold this year, they won't need him to burden many of the ball-handling duties. Also, I've watched plenty of tape on Omar over the off-season, and the one thing that sticks out to me regarding his defense is how stiff he is in his stance. I have to believe his poor defense was more a product of his inability to properly position himself defensively - which makes sense if it was a hip injury - than a lack of lateral quickness. If the surgery goes well I think he'll be a great player.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Kromah is way better then RJ. More athletic, better shooter and handles the ball as well as RJ. Hopefully he has RJ's attitude.

 

[mauconnfan]

Giffey after 3 games for the German national team......

"​

is 15 of 19 from the floor, 6-for-8 on three-point attempts."​

According to the Courant this morning!​

 

[mauconnfan]

Obviously he isn't a great player now, but few players are as freshman. Not just any freshman can go out and pour in 20 points against the #1 team in the country and eventual national champions. Even if he's merely average in other facets of the game, he will be a great player if he continues to progress offensively.

As for his defense and ball-handling, I agree those are his two most pressing weaknesses. Luckily for UConn, with Boatright and Napier back in the fold this year, they won't need him to burden many of the ball-handling duties. Also, I've watched plenty of tape on Omar over the off-season, and the one thing that sticks out to me regarding his defense is how stiff he is in his stance. I have to believe his poor defense was more a product of his inability to properly position himself defensively - which makes sense if it was a hip injury - than a lack of lateral quickness. If the surgery goes well I think he'll be a great player.

While I like your post I am more impressed with: " I've watched plenty of tape on Omar over the off-season".............damn that's impressive!!

 

[Onions]

Obviously he isn't a great player now, but few players are as freshman. Not just any freshman can go out and pour in 20 points against the #1 team in the country and eventual national champions. Even if he's merely average in other facets of the game, he will be a great player if he continues to progress offensively.

As for his defense and ball-handling, I agree those are his two most pressing weaknesses. Luckily for UConn, with Boatright and Napier back in the fold this year, they won't need him to burden many of the ball-handling duties. Also, I've watched plenty of tape on Omar over the off-season, and the one thing that sticks out to me regarding his defense is how stiff he is in his stance. I have to believe his poor defense was more a product of his inability to properly position himself defensively - which makes sense if it was a hip injury - than a lack of lateral quickness. If the surgery goes well I think he'll be a great player.

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.

 

[mauconnfan]

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.

I think any talk of minutes and "greatness" needs to be put on hold until we hear how he is progressing from his surgery. Any talk of Omar and his game really is worthless until we see the finished product. If he is as good as he was last year "only" he is still a very solid impact kid who can score the ball. If what we hear from his dad and others, which I do believe, and his fundamentals suffered on each end due to limited physical capabilities then it will be exciting to see Omar with a clean bill of health. Let's see how it plays out before we start evaluating his minutes or eventual impact to this years team!

 

[James]

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.

 

[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.