Nolan

[Huskyforlife]

He looked great tonight in limited time imo. since our season is almost done i would like to see what we got in him. Yes that means starting at the 4 or 5 and playing starter minutes. he's more athletic than olander and seems to be a better rebound. not against GTown though. SF or UC would be a good test. thoughts? Allen should get a chance to back up for a game to, I'm sure Evans wouldn't mind.

 

[caw]

He is improving but he is a bit off from starting. He gets lost a bit on defense and gets pushed around. If he can gain some muscle/strength for next year he could start next year. Brimah/Facey and Nolan are going to be adding a lot of length next year.

 

[BoatShow]

There were like 2 minutes were he was all over the place doing good things. There also some times where he did things like kick the ball while trying to set a pick. He played well playing really extended minutes for the first time, I can deal with 3 more years of his hustle and effort, assuming we add some more polished front court players.

Thing is...if he did start I'd want him at the 5 giving TO a shot to play at the 4, but I wouldn't wanna take anyone else outta the lineup.

 

[aceboon]

he's getting his opportunnity to play now with Wolf out, why does he need to start?

 

[3uconn]

I think Nolan has been playing very good in his limited time. In my opinion Nolan is a much better rebounder than Olander. It's simple Nolan can jump and Olander can barely leave the ground. On the offensive end what is Olander giving us? Yeah he gives us some points here and there but nothing special most of the time. Nolan can go in maybe get an offensive rebound and outback here and there I would be happy. Take this game as an example. When Nolan came in a few minutes after the beginning of the second half UConn went on their run that gave them the lead for the rest of the game. He didn't do much on offense, if anything at all, but he got rebounds and got the ball to the guards. I'm not saying that he should play 30 minutes a game and start over Olander all the time now but he should see 10 to 20 minutes in some upcoming games. What do we have to lose, mine as well get him some experience.

 

[Jerry1714]

If KO thinks that starting him will help us win then he should start. None of this "lets see what he has our season is ending" crap. We're not playing marathon oil in a exhibition game, these games count and postseason ban or not I want to win every game by 100

 

[champs99and04]

Nolan showed some promise in the second half, but I still don't think he's quite ready to contribute on a consistent basis. The difference between him and Olander isn't necessarily production - the difference is opposing teams actually have to guard Olander because he's capable of making a mid-range jumper from time to time. UConn plays 5 on 4 offensively when Nolan's out there and that's why he doesn't play much.

 

[joober jones]

I highly doubt we'll see Nolan start this year, but I hope we can get a good four years out of him and see him progress a la Hilton Armstrong

 

[EricLA]

He's very athletic. Doubt we see him start, but honestly, I have no problem with him in there over Olander. Aside from the ND game, I'm not sure Olander is much, if any, better than Nolan.

 

[Ts5034]

This is a situation where the more he plays, the better it is for him. Hes not going to improve in practice or sitting on the bench. He needs the experience

 

[Ricky1Moore]

At least he has the capability of blocking shots from the oppositions biggest guys around the rim. And he's gotten much better with not fouling... He needs a good summer camp and some protein shakes. Good pickup. Classic uconn big man that pays off a few years down the line

 

[DMW88]

He has improved. He has upside. He needs to get stronger. TO still is our best option. And lets remember, this was against Depaul.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm sorry but the kid is obviously working hard. Has anyone noticed how most of the season that you could not tell the difference between he and DD because of their size. I am starting to see a "bigger" Phil Nolan as I believe his weight room and nutritional habits are beginning to show some impact.

I loved a few things he did last night with confidence on D, some hedging, the quickness to the baseline to cut off and the blocked shots - nice anticipation. One thing he didn't do twice was roll off of picks and left Bazz hanging but that's okay it will come. He is more physical in there now and is beginning to feel he belongs.........great to see!

 

[Chief00]

George B is a big Tyler supporter; so that plays a role I guess still.

 

[pj]

This is a situation where the more he plays, the better it is for him. Hes not going to improve in practice or sitting on the bench. He needs the experience

Fans say this about every bench player, and yet the bench players always are much better as juniors than as freshman.

 

[upstater]

No, I thought he was playing very small prior to his block. When positioning for a rebound, he never puts his body on a defender, tries to go around. On his foul when the DeP player was driving, he kind of crouched instead of going up for an easy block. He seems a bit invisible to me.

 

[upstater]

No, I thought he was playing very small prior to his block. When positioning for a rebound, he never puts his body on a defender, tries to go around. On his foul when the DeP player was driving, he kind of crouched instead of going up for an easy block. He seems a bit invisible to me.

 

[ford82]

I think the staff has done a great job managing playing time. Nolan doesn't need to get a start, UConn is trying to finish the season strong, not experiment on potential lineups for next season. All of a sudden he should get starter's minutes? Their first priority is to win every game, and even though Olander hasn't played well, the team is winning.

Allen is a nice kid, but there is no way he should get put in any game before R.J. Evans.
Why wouldn't Evans mind? Evans is the better player by far and he only has a few more games to play in his college career.

 

[mauconnfan]

No, I thought he was playing very small prior to his block. When positioning for a rebound, he never puts his body on a defender, tries to go around. On his foul when the DeP player was driving, he kind of crouched instead of going up for an easy block. He seems a bit invisible to me.

He was much more physical last night and even moved a couple guys on block outs which prior has not happened!

 

[Danzz]

He looked great tonight in limited time imo. since our season is almost done i would like to see what we got in him. Yes that means starting at the 4 or 5 and playing starter minutes. he's more athletic than olander and seems to be a better rebound. not against GTown though. SF or UC would be a good test. thoughts? Allen should get a chance to back up for a game to, I'm sure Evans wouldn't mind.

What has Allen done to make you think he should get PT? Ollie sees these kids in practice everyday and if he thought Allen would help he would be in there. Allen is probably a good player but he simply may not have Div. 1 talent.

 

[mauconnfan]

What has Allen done to make you think he should get PT? Ollie sees these kids in practice everyday and if he thought Allen would help he would be in there. Allen is probably a good player but he simply may not have Div. 1 talent.

Div 1 "UConn talent/Big east" talent......he may be a nice role player at Central, Sacred Heart, Monmouth, UMass (had to ) which are all Div 1 just not UConn..........

 

[rbny1]

Ollie should start whatever lineup gives us the best chance of winning. The starting lineup of Napier, Boatright, Calhoun, Daniels and Olander has done well despite its limitations. We're 19-7! - which is far better than I had imagined we would be. Congrats to the players. I don't know why Ollie would experiment with other lineups to see how they work. Let's win all the games we can and not mess around.