2025 Recruiting: - Niko Bundalo Update | Page 5 | The Boneyard

2025 Recruiting: Niko Bundalo Update

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JerseyAlum said:
Stew is more like a 3 than a 4. Heck he can be a 2. We have 4x 6'7" guys (McNeeley, Stewart, Ross, Abraham) within 5 lbs of each other so very right for small forward. Reibe at 7'0" is a 5 though he could stretch to a 4 maybe.

Though Hurley likes position less players, it means he likes guys who can be 1 or 2, or 3 or 4 or even 2-3-4. If Stew is back next year, I see him at 3.
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I believe every single minute stewart has played for UConn has been at the 4...maybe some at the 3... definitely none at the 2
 
huskiesNhoos said:
I believe every single minute stewart has played for UConn has been at the 4...maybe some at the 3... definitely none at the 2
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Standard here for a 4 size is pretty high at the college level. Abraham looks a legit 6’7”. Think about some of the 4s of the past here (Freeman, Adrien). KJ Adams is 6’7”, Jwan Roberts is a 6’8 center.

If we brought Bundalo on could see him playing the Grant Nelson type role, but it might be at the cost of retooling and pushing someone out.
 
huskiesNhoos said:
I believe every single minute stewart has played for UConn has been at the 4...maybe some at the 3... definitely none at the 2
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JerseyAlum said:
Stew is more like a 3 than a 4. Heck he can be a 2. We have 4x 6'7" guys (McNeeley, Stewart, Ross, Abraham) within 5 lbs of each other so very right for small forward. Reibe at 7'0" is a 5 though he could stretch to a 4 maybe.

Though Hurley likes position less players, it means he likes guys who can be 1 or 2, or 3 or 4 or even 2-3-4. If Stew is back next year, I see him at 3.
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Stewart played 553 possessions last year, only 129 were with Alex Karaban also on the court. But 59 of those 129 were also with no center on the court, so Karaban or Stewart were at the 5. Probably some nuance in there but as a rough estimate, he only played ~12% of his time at the 3 last year
 
navery12 said:
Stewart played 553 possessions last year, only 129 were with Alex Karaban also on the court. But 59 of those 129 were also with no center on the court, so Karaban or Stewart were at the 5. Probably some nuance in there but as a rough estimate, he only played ~12% of his time at the 3 last year
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Thanks - my 4 vision is biased for Karl Malone type bodies so would have thought "more weight" needed for our 6'7"...but as Ruff put it the standard in college is pretty high. Ultimately it is what a 4 does: back down other big men close to the rim, turnaround 6' baselines, blocks, rebounding. I liked our big 4s, like Adrien, Boone...even Freeman looked like a mean boxer type body. Not saying Stewart fits that mold (maybe he's more athletic which strikes me as a 3, but I digress).
 
JerseyAlum said:
Thanks - my 4 vision is biased for Karl Malone type bodies so would have thought "more weight" needed for our 6'7"...but as Ruff put it the standard in college is pretty high. Ultimately it is what a 4 does: back down other big men close to the rim, turnaround 6' baselines, blocks, rebounding. I liked our big 4s, like Adrien, Boone...even Freeman looked like a mean boxer type body. Not saying Stewart fits that mold (maybe he's more athletic which strikes me as a 3, but I digress).
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Those types of 4’s have gotten their way with Karaban. He did do better towards the end of the season last year against them
 
Karaban style 4 is the price you pay if you want to move to the spacing offense Hurley is looking to run, which is more about shooting than grinding. A classic 4 pounding 2's near block will be offset by a 4 that can efficiently hit the 3 ball - everything here is based on analytics these days. The biggest question right now is the one everyone is asking, and how does this team make the adjustment to not having an ultra elite rim protector, who covered up a ton of the defensive flaws in last years team (Newt, Cam & AK all less than great a defenders).
 
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navery12 said:
I don't disagree, but I'd also say give Mahaney time with Hurley before writing him off. You'd likely have been saying the same thing about Cam Spencer last year and Joey Calcaterra 2 years ago, and both of them got NBA chances. And Mahaney will have 2 years here to develop
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I'm not writing him off but Joey C. never caught on besides the G-Leagues. I just don't think he will get drafted. Either way I do see him here for 2 years and not leaving early for the draft after this year.
 
Now we will see what Hurley's next move.

I like Abraham as much as the next guy, but I don't think I would let him stop me from creating the nightmare Reibe-Bundalo frontline. Abraham could well fit in at the 3-spot (and will have to as a professional).
 
Fan1978 said:
I like joey c but he was not even close to mahany.
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Yeah I was just knocking that down too. Either way I don't see Mahaney leaving early as he isn't going to do as well in the NBA were you do need elite athletic ability or great shooting along with an NBA body. Unless Mahaney can transform his body into Cam Spencer I don't see him leaving early this year.
 
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3rdbass said:
Yeah I was just knocking that down too. Either way I don't see Mahaney leaving early as he isn't going to do as well in the NBA were you do need elite athletic ability or great shooting along with an NBA body. Unless Mahaney can transform his body into Cam Spencer I don't see him leaving early this year.
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CTFAN4LIFE said:
Solo is a one of a kind.
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Han Solo Reaction GIF
 
I think ppl are putting way too much overthinking into roster positions & not paying attention to UConn‘s style of play… it’s really positionless hoops besides obvious players like sing reed johnson karaban hass nowell & Mahaney who are limited to 1 or 2 spots due to mobility & or size …the rest of the roster at 6’5-6’7 are very interchangeable versatile pieces at 3-4 positions that’s what makes these UConn teams so dangerous the make up of skill but with size …bc as they say you can’t teach height ( personally why im a big fan of big guards 6‘4/6’5)
 
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Why don't we want Bundalo? We'll have to play teams with two bigs, like Alabama--he wouldn' help?
I guess Furphy may be Plan B if we lose Mullins, but Bundalo Plan B?
I can only think Danny thinks it's getting crowded; even if we lose two, I suspect one of Solo, Stewart, McNeeley returns.
If Bundalo and Abraham played 4, whoever returns shares 3 with Ross, leaving Adams and Mullins at 2, Nowell and Mahaney at 1.
That's a full ten man rotation--perhaps more than Danny can contemplate. Still, I like Bundalo a lot.
 
ec33 said:
Now we will see what Hurley's next move.

I like Abraham as much as the next guy, but I don't think I would let him stop me from creating the nightmare Reibe-Bundalo frontline. Abraham could well fit in at the 3-spot (and will have to as a professional).
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I agree, Bundalo is a workaholic and the combo with Reibe would be awesome. Playing time works itself out. injuries and a few guys dropping a level are inevitable. look forward to the Greek crushing it at Richmond this year. bottom line Bundalo is too good to pass on.
 
I think everyone on the Yard agrees on Bundalo, but Hurleys cryptic comment about playing Reibe as a stretch 4 with Tarris sometimes next year makes you wonder whether they were mutually exclusive recruits.
 
AllHusky said:
I think everyone on the Yard agrees on Bundalo, but Hurleys cryptic comment about playing Reibe as a stretch 4 with Tarris sometimes next year makes you wonder whether they were mutually exclusive recruits.
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That would be an absolute nightmare for us defensively, it won’t happen.
 
AllHusky said:
I think everyone on the Yard agrees on Bundalo, but Hurleys cryptic comment about playing Reibe as a stretch 4 with Tarris sometimes next year makes you wonder whether they were mutually exclusive recruits.
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Yes. You have to trust in Hurley's vision. He knows the roster he is trying to create and where the current players fit.

Still, coaches says lots of things that aren't meant to be taken all that seriously or aren't practical during in-game scenarios (Sanogo-Clingan).
 
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HungryHu5ky said:
whatttt ….Abraham is not a 4 he’s a solid 3
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Defended Flagg a bunch at the HS relatively well, Flagg is a hard core 4 in college. Perhaps that’s out of default. That said wouldn’t be so sure he’s not a 4 in the position-less concept. I’d argue he’s more of a 4 than AK in many ways. If you saw him up close, he’s a strong/long athletic looking 6’7”.
 
RuffRuff said:
Defended Flagg a bunch at the HS relatively well, Flagg is a hard core 4 in college. Perhaps that’s out of default. That said wouldn’t be so sure he’s not a 4 in the position-less concept. I’d argue he’s more of a 4 than AK in many ways. If you saw him up close, he’s a strong/long athletic looking 6’7”.
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If by relatively well you mean "for a guy not big enough to do the job properly" then I agree.

There are not that many at Flagg's level in college though. And if we have learned anything from AK being undersized at the position the last two years, it is that there are few traditional power forwards these days and you can mostly get away without the size.

On the other hand, you can see where a guy like Bundalo would be a nightmare for opposing 4s. He is a poor man's Flagg and after a year of college his sophomore season will be "less poor."
 
ec33 said:
If by relatively well you mean "for a guy not big enough to do the job properly" then I agree.

There are not that many at Flagg's level in college though. And if we have learned anything from AK being undersized at the position the last two years, it is that there are few traditional power forwards these days and you can mostly get away without the size.

On the other hand, you can see where a guy like Bundalo would be a nightmare for opposing 4s. He is a poor man's Flagg and after a year of college his sophomore season will be "less poor."
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The one thing I do wonder about is whether Hurley and staff, now that the brand is almighty and attracting top tier recruits, is if they’re willing to start pushing players out of the program that they’ve seen they can upgrade (ala Duke last season). It’s hasn’t happened much, given the player development model but if you’re attracting 5 stars year over year and you can see a glaring opportunity to upgrade talent, you move on it:
 
RuffRuff said:
The one thing I do wonder about is whether Hurley and staff, now that the brand is almighty and attracting top tier recruits, is if they’re willing to start pushing players out of the program that they’ve seen they can upgrade (ala Duke last season). It’s hasn’t happened much, given the player development model but if you’re attracting 5 stars year over year and you can see a glaring opportunity to upgrade talent, you move on it:
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And where do you draw the line? Reibe could block Singare PT. Mullins takes away minutes for the wing players (and Adams).

But they passed on Brea -- even with AK in doubt.

I guess we will see where Bundalo falls. We think that adding him will make Reibe and the others look better, but the coaching staff might see his being on the court with them at the same time as a detrimental.
 
ec33 said:
And where do you draw the line? Reibe could block Singare PT. Mullins takes away minutes for the wing players (and Adams).

But they passed on Brea -- even with AK in doubt.

I guess we will see where Bundalo falls. We think that adding him will make Reibe and the others look better, but the coaching staff might see his being on the court with them at the same time as a detrimental.
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The difference (IMO) is that Bundalo has more upside than every big not named Reibe, whereas the guards/wings we wanted to keep happy had more upside than Brea.
 
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