Nolan's extra weight.

[dogpause]

He needs to overlearn what it is he's supposed to do when he gets the ball so that he can do it reflexively. He's like an tortoise - yup, I caught the ball, now let's see, um uh, what do I do now? Oh yeah, I think I'm suppose to shoot it...Yup, that's what I'll do, I'll shoot it...

KO and his staff can surely come up with some drills that will help him perform two relatively simple tasks in succession. Can't they?

 

[donyell34]

You think! He's been here 3 years and we would think he's trending up but he's stagnant. Expected some slight improvement ; how hard can that be. Put the Rock in a let him bang some bodies around at least we have him for 4 years.

 

[TheChamps990411]

On a night AB goes for 40, Face gets 15 and Lubin gets 5 because Coppin st had no grasp on the concept of post defense Nolan cant manage to score a single point? I mean are you kidding me?!!! He absolutely STINKS and should not be out on the floor except in garbage time. He should not be playing D1.

 

[Vancat]

wow. pretty harsh.

 

[CallMeBruce]

You think! He's been here 3 years and we would think he's trending up but he's stagnant. Expected some slight improvement ; how hard can that be. Put the Rock in a let him bang some bodies around at least we have him for 4 years.

Statistically, he's the worst he's ever been. His scoring and rebounding rates are half of what they were last year, blocks are less than half, fouls and turnovers are way up, etc. He's costing the team points every minute he's on the floor.

 

[TheChamps990411]

wow. pretty harsh.

Yeah i know but sometimes the truth has to be said and sometimes its harsh. I dont like to sugar coat like a lot of apologists on here. I praised his play in the tourney last season which was a revelation and helped contribute to our title. But the fact is he has been absolutely terrible this year thus far and hasnt been very good since hes been here. I really hope he gets it together but i see absolutely no reason to believe he will. I mean come on, Brimah,Facey and even Lubin played well against that horrible coppin st frontcourt but Noland did Zilch !!!

 

[Vancat]

I will say I have been disappointed so far. I was expecting better from him this year.

 

[uchuskies2009]

Anyone happen to know what his +/- would be?

 

[uconnfan68]

I love Phil and hate to criticize the guy but really WTF has he really worked on in the off-season . He finished last season strong for Phil and was an important player in the rotation during the championship run. I really thought Phil was gonna build on that but it ain't happening . Was expecting so much more. Call it what you want but he ain't getting better and imo he's worse.

He made a really nice move against Texas, where he spun around and had a clean dunk from about 10', but he, incredibly, missed a dunk. Two points for an uncontested layup... hopefully next time. Oh, and we lost by 1.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah i know but sometimes the truth has to be said and sometimes its harsh. I dont like to sugar coat like a lot of apologists on here. I praised his play in the tourney last season which was a revelation and helped contribute to our title. But the fact is he has been absolutely terrible this year thus far and hasnt been very good since hes been here. I really hope he gets it together but i see absolutely no reason to believe he will. I mean come on, Brimah,Facey and even Lubin played well against that horrible coppin st frontcourt but Noland did Zilch !!!

Nolan plays better defense than all of those you name on the post. Brimah blocks more shots and is scarier no doubt but Nolan is a better defender physically as long as he isn't looking for the charge only which is now a problem. Facey is not a good defender at all yet unless you count Coppin. We will see how much better he is now against Jefferson. While you like to hammer Phil as to not being good at all his stats will never be but there are still some decent things he does others can't do like it or not. Not all rosey with the one's you prefer to discuss!

 

[Kitaman]

Anyone happen to know what his +/- would be?

Actually its a waste to spend time to research or even look up this stat.
The eye test works just fine in this case.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Nolan plays better defense than all of those you name on the post. Brimah blocks more shots and is scarier no doubt but Nolan is a better defender physically as long as he isn't looking for the charge only which is now a problem. Facey is not a good defender at all yet unless you count Coppin. We will see how much better he is now against Jefferson. While you like to hammer Phil as to not being good at all his stats will never be but there are still some decent things he does others can't do like it or not. Not all rosey with the one's you prefer to discuss!

Facey can score,hit free throws and most importantly rebounds and played very well against texas so his good by far outweighs his deficiencies same with Amidah. Nolan being better defensively is a stretch unless your simply talking against msu in the tourney ill give you that but to say hes better than Amidah thats nonsense. Amidah changes the game with his presence in the post. Sorry you dont like Nolan being called out but it is what it is.

 

[jdb50]

I was hoping Phil would pick up where he left off last season but to say he has been underwhelming is an understatement. If Phil had to rebound for food he would have his own personal chair at the food bank every night.

 

[Palatine]

You would think he would get tired of having his shot block and get really aggressive on put backs. It just hasn't happened yet.

Just look at the ease this young pup gets up.

 

[huskyharry]

Nolan plays better defense than all of those you name on the post. Brimah blocks more shots and is scarier no doubt but Nolan is a better defender physically as long as he isn't looking for the charge only which is now a problem. Facey is not a good defender at all yet unless you count Coppin. We will see how much better he is now against Jefferson. While you like to hammer Phil as to not being good at all his stats will never be but there are still some decent things he does others can't do like it or not. Not all rosey with the one's you prefer to discuss!

I really think Phil will start regressing to the mean and start playing at least as well as he did last year...TSam as well...and that should boost the team's fortunes considerably

 

[UConn17]

I think Nolan's biggest problem involving strength is that, while his upper body is very strong, his lower body/legs are very weak still. That is why he isn't as explosive as he can be and why he gets pushed around so easily

 

[RipCity]

Lubin likely will get the chance to steal minutes from Nolan, but the question is whether he'll be able to or not (that topic may deserve its own thread).

I haven't seen any noteworthy defense from Lubin. He doesn't have a single block in 25 minutes so far. But he boards much more efficiently than Nolan, and he only has 1 foul in those 25 minutes thus far which I love to see. Lubin doesn't have the height to guard centers like Nolan, but if he's able to use his body well enough to alter shots and defend rather than block shots, I see no reason why he shouldn't play more. Has anyone paid more attention to his on-ball defense than I have?

Side-note: Lubin isn't nearly as cut as he looked in some of the pictures people posted. He actually looks a little pudgy on the court. I certainly still wouldn't mess with him, but that surprised me a bit. He also has the best shoe-game on the entire team as a freshman.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Lubin has been inconsistent, which is better than being consistently terrible, which is what Phil has been. Nolan isn't doing anything well enough to fill a role. We need someone who can give our bigs a rest, and at this point, I'm not sure that Lubin wouldn't be better suited to that.

I'm struggling to think of wtf you've seen out of Lubin to think he'd be better suited to get more minutes. Are we watching the same guy?

 

[mauconnfan]

Facey can score,hit free throws and most importantly rebounds and played very well against texas so his good by far outweighs his deficiencies same with Amidah. Nolan being better defensively is a stretch unless your simply talking against msu in the tourney ill give you that but to say hes better than Amidah thats nonsense. Amidah changes the game with his presence in the post. Sorry you dont like Nolan being called out but it is what it is.

I like Facey but let's not call him a great rebounder by any stretch now. Maybe with 7,8 or 9 against Duke we can. But the last 2 games with 3 against Yale where 6'6 white guys were keeping him off his feet and 5 against Coppin Out, he's regressing a bit. Hope it's just a slump, but his minutes are way too many to throw those numbers up against teams like that. He can score a little but nothing outside of transition except a couple nice put backs or over the top dunks. Definitely more than Nolan but let's not begin to believe he can guard a solid PF as well as Nolan its not close no matter how much you hate Phil! Not saying Phil's great but he's got a clue the other not so much yet. Call him out all you want that's your prerogative, I could care less, Phil's also frustrated me.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I'm struggling to think of wtf you've seen out of Lubin to think he'd be better suited to get more minutes. Are we watching the same guy?

Nolan has been a complete zero so far this season. His per40 numbers are 3.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 8.2 fouls, 2.9 turnovers, 0 steals, 0 assists on 50% shooting.

Lubin hasn't been a world beater, but his per40 numbers are 8 points, 11.2 rebounds (!), 0 blocks, 1.6 fouls, 0 turnovers, 0 steals, 1.6 assists.

Obviously sample size caveats apply, and I'm by no means saying that Lubin is going to be great, but Nolan has been so downright awful that giving Lubin more minutes is the only reasonable solution I can come up with. I would have liked to have seen an experience fifth-year guy who could pick up some of these minutes, but we never got one, so we're stuck with only two functional big men.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I like Facey but let's not call him a great rebounder by any stretch now. Maybe with 7,8 or 9 against Duke we can. But the last 2 games with 3 against Yale where 6'6 white guys were keeping him off his feet and 5 against Coppin Out, he's regressing a bit. Hope it's just a slump, but his minutes are way too many to throw those numbers up against teams like that. He can score a little but nothing outside of transition except a couple nice put backs or over the top dunks. Definitely more than Nolan but let's not begin to believe he can guard a solid PF as well as Nolan its not close no matter how much you hate Phil! Not saying Phil's great but he's got a clue the other not so much yet. Call him out all you want that's your prerogative, I could care less, Phil's also frustrated me.

I never called Facey a great anything. Like you said Nolan wasnt much better and thats my point. Right now Nolan isnt even as good as Facey as far as what hes able to contribute and thats terrible.

 

[Palatine]

But UConn standards for the past few years, Facey is Dennis Rodman.

 

[mauconnfan]

I never called Facey a great anything. Like you said Nolan wasnt much better and thats my point. Right now Nolan isnt even as good as Facey as far as what hes able to contribute and thats terrible.

All good Champs.

But we will need someone to stop someone or at least control someone on the post. Hate to tell you best bet is Nolan. Brimah doesn't body up well and loses his guy easily doesn't feel the move and we need to keep him out of foul trouble. Kentan has a ways to go defensively. It's not a great choice and he deserves some berating for showing no improvement. But he guarded some people when we needed him last year so we know he still can and hopefully steps up. Guarding down there will be as important or moreso than scoring against Duke, at times! I mean a lot of things have to happen for the stars to align, one of those is for Nolan to play some key minutes, not sure how many that is, but some!

 

[mauconnfan]

But UConn standards for the past few years, Facey is Dennis Rodman.

Daniel Hamilton is our best rebounder as of right now. But Facey is close and improved but the last 2 games are a little alarming against lesser teams.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Daniel Hamilton is our best rebounder as of right now. But Facey is close and improved but the last 2 games are a little alarming against lesser teams.

Facey has been a better rebounder than Hamilton has. Facey gets 15.1% of all rebounds while he's on the floor to Hamilton's 11.7%.

 

[mauconnfan]

Facey has been a better rebounder than Hamilton has. Facey gets 15.1% of all rebounds while he's on the floor to Hamilton's 11.7%.

One guy is asked to guard on the outside, shoot from the outside and handle the ball on occasion as well as being potentially our best passer. The other is asked to rebound the basketball and stay near the basket. To me if they both have 6.3 a game the guy who isn't hanging around the basket has a real good nose for the ball, but again just me. DHam also plays 8 more minutes but he goes to get it as good as anyone in traffic. Facey's better at going UP to get it though. Need them both to get 8 plus tomorrow! LOL

 

[TheChamps990411]

All good Champs.

But we will need someone to stop someone or at least control someone on the post. Hate to tell you best bet is Nolan. Brimah doesn't body up well and loses his guy easily doesn't feel the move and we need to keep him out of foul trouble. Kentan has a ways to go defensively. It's not a great choice and he deserves some berating for showing no improvement. But he guarded some people when we needed him last year so we know he still can and hopefully steps up. Guarding down there will be as important or moreso than scoring against Duke, at times! I mean a lot of things have to happen for the stars to align, one of those is for Nolan to play some key minutes, not sure how many that is, but some!

I completely agree with all of this.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

One guy is asked to guard on the outside, shoot from the outside and handle the ball on occasion as well as being potentially our best passer. The other is asked to rebound the basketball and stay near the basket. To me if they both have 6.3 a game the guy who isn't hanging around the basket has a real good nose for the ball, but again just me. DHam also plays 8 more minutes but he goes to get it as good as anyone in traffic. Facey's better at going UP to get it though. Need them both to get 8 plus tomorrow! LOL

I would agree with this, the percentage number seems pretty misleading, although honestly i couldn't tell you how they're rebounding because i'm typically preoccupied with marveling at how bad the offense looks. Hoping for a big step forward tomorrow night in a game that - if they're not ready to go from the jump - could get ugly like last year's Louisville massacre.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Nolan has been a complete zero so far this season. His per40 numbers are 3.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 8.2 fouls, 2.9 turnovers, 0 steals, 0 assists on 50% shooting.

Lubin hasn't been a world beater, but his per40 numbers are 8 points, 11.2 rebounds (!), 0 blocks, 1.6 fouls, 0 turnovers, 0 steals, 1.6 assists.

Obviously sample size caveats apply, and I'm by no means saying that Lubin is going to be great, but Nolan has been so downright awful that giving Lubin more minutes is the only reasonable solution I can come up with. I would have liked to have seen an experience fifth-year guy who could pick up some of these minutes, but we never got one, so we're stuck with only two functional big men.

I'm just really not sure what Lubin offers as an upgrade other than maybe rebounding. The guy is maybe 6'6, and keep in mind that Nolan often replaces Brimah. So if you want Lubin to take Nolan's minutes you're basically advocating for Lubin and Facey as your front line for part of the game, which is a defensive disaster waiting to happen.

 

[joober jones]

Nolan is playing depressed and he needs to play angry. Does anyone recall the game against West Virginia where he got a terrible foul call then immediately grabbed a missed shot and slammed it down with authority on the very next play? We need more of that Phil.