Not Cutting Minutes?

[MexicoHusky]

This probably doesn't mean much, but it's interesting that no one seems to be losing their minutes. Us fans always think our team goes 10 deep at the beginning of the year, but that usually isn't the case once you get into conference play.

This doesn't seem to be the case this year. Everyone is still getting minutes. Their PT also seems pretty legit. For example, Adams has received his share of criticism from this forum. Some have argued his minutes should be eliminated. Tonight he hit a three.
Last game he hit two. His form and confidence looked solid while doing it.

Is Adams great? Obviously not, but he plays ok defense and he's hitting open threes at a respectable rate. That's what we hope for out of a reserve guard. I don't see his minutes disappearing.

The same can be said for everyone on the team. Injuries withstanding, seems like everyone is still getting roughly the same minutes and I don't see that changing.

 

[imno1]

This probably doesn't mean much, but it's interesting that no one seems to be losing their minutes. Us fans always think our team goes 10 deep at the beginning of the year, but that usually isn't the case once you get into conference play.

This doesn't seem to be the case this year. Everyone is still getting minutes. Their PT also seems pretty legit. For example, Adams has received his share of criticism from this forum. Some have argued his minutes should be eliminated. Tonight he hit a three.
Last game he hit two. His form and confidence looked solid while doing it.

Is Adams great? Obviously not, but he plays ok defense and he's hitting open threes at a respectable rate. That's what we hope for out of a reserve guard. I don't see his minutes disappearing.

The same can be said for everyone on the team. Injuries withstanding, seems like everyone is still getting roughly the same minutes and I don't see that changing.

We need to find minutes for Akok and some when Jackson comes back.

 

[Greathusky]

Hopefully Springs will remain patient and not jump despite seeing few minutes this year. I haven't seen enough to discuss his skills but he looks physically ready.

 

[Kitaman]

We need to find minutes for Akok and some when Jackson comes back.

When is Jackson's projected return date?

 

[ToolzieFan]

We need to find minutes for Akok and some when Jackson comes back.

I think the timeline for Jackson was six weeks. It’s going to be a challenge to work him back into the rotation if we’re playing well at that time; it’ll be especially tough if Martin and Polley are still playing so well. He’s a guy who could have really benefitted from some easy non-conference games on the schedule. I’m still as confident in his long-term potential, but at this point I view anything he gives us this year as a bonus.

After the last few years, it’s so nice to have too much depth, as opposed to playing with 7 or 8 man rosters.

 

[GoDAWGS]

When is Jackson's projected return date?

Someone here said the type of injury is usually 6-8 before he can start practicing, id imagine how young he is and how well the team is playing well see him on the longer side of things

 

[RedStickHusky]

Depth is a strength if we get the same intensity across the board. Really showed up in the last couple of games.

 

[navery12]

I think depth was always going to be this team's strength but we've never really had more than 10 guys vying for minutes at any time. If everyone is healthy when Jackson and Bouknight return someone will be the odd man out

 

[Kitaman]

I think depth was always going to be this team's strength but we've never really had more than 10 guys vying for minutes at any time. If everyone is healthy when Jackson and Bouknight return someone will be the odd man out

I see Jackson being the odd man out, not due to talent but due moreso to bad luck (injury). He needed time on the floor to develop and adjust and lost it. He would have to come back and make significant contributions to earn minutes, outside of that I see him just relieving players for rest.

 

[Bongo Fury]

As a fan I’d rather see the right combination of players to win regardless of how highly touted they may be. Did UCONN really benefit by playing Andre Drummond?

 

[SubbaBub]

Hurley likes to mix and match lineups (big/small) to give teams a different look, so you can't just have x minutes at each position because they will overlap. There are three pools of player, big, small, and swing.

Bigs: Whaley, Carlton, Akok, Sanogo; You will rarely see more than 1 or 2 from this group on the floor at the same time.
Smalls: Cole, Gaffney; I'm still OK with both playing as the backcourt with Bouk/Polley at the 3/4 with Whaley or Carlton as our best offensive lineup you can sub Sanogo at the 5; Martin for Cole straight up or playing the 4 for Gaffney (pushing Cole to the 1, Bouk to the 2 and Polley to the 3) and not lose much.

Swings: Bouk, Polley, Martin, Adams; These are with wildcards, knowing their roles when the step on the court is key. Bouk ad Polley are known. Martin and Adams roles will change depending who else is on the floor. Right now I think Adams role is fairly well defined. He is the backup for Bouk for maybe 5 mpg and the backup for Cole at the 2 as a spot up shooter and ball handler. He's mostly solid but I think you aren't going to get huge numbers from him. All I'm looking for is clean pay and hustle. Martin has had some difference making moments but is smaller version of Larrier/Giffey and has struggled against superior athletes but again rebounding, hustle, hitting open threes is what I'm looking for.

That's the 10 man rotation. We seems to get in to trouble when Cole, Gaffney, and Adams/Martin are on the floor at the same time, especially if the other two spots aren't Bouk/Whaley. IMO, this lineup should be avoided or limited to the 1-2 minutes preceding a TV timeout. The shooting just isn't there right now and allows teams to double Bouk/Whaley more often. I'm fine with Hurley going with the hot hand and asking one of these guys to separate themselves.

I am very happy that all these guys seem to be buying into the team concept. Yes, they are all looking to make their mark when they get in and take shots they probably shouldn't, I'm not seeing any of the selfish play that we've seen from some of the recent teams.

 

[Palatine]

As a fan I’d rather see the right combination of players to win regardless of how highly touted they may be. Did UCONN really benefit by playing Andre Drummond?

Drummond scored 10 points had seven rebounds and three blocks a game. He was also a lottery pick and it always helps your recruiting to have lottery picks.

 

[Waquoit]

Drummond scored 10 points had seven rebounds and three blocks a game. He was also a lottery pick and it always helps your recruiting to have lottery picks.

How much did Drummond help subsequent recruiting? It's a hard question to measure. I'm thinking zero.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Hurley likes to mix and match lineups (big/small) to give teams a different look, so you can't just have x minutes at each position because they will overlap. There are three pools of player, big, small, and swing.

That's the 10 man rotation. We seems to get in to trouble when Cole, Gaffney, and Adams/Martin are on the floor at the same time, especially if the other two spots aren't Bouk/Whaley. IMO, this lineup should be avoided or limited to the 1-2 minutes preceding a TV timeout. The shooting just isn't there right now and allows teams to double Bouk/Whaley more often. I'm fine with Hurley going with the hot hand and asking one of these guys to separate themselves.

Hurley still has a bunch of lineups that do work and is finding out which combos don't work. With Bouk out Hurley has gone to Polley on the floor at almost all times so teams have to respect a shooter outside. Granted Polley isn't the driving threat of Bouk but he forces a defense to always account for where he is.
Adams and Martin are such wild cards with offense. As we have already seen this season in seven games, they can be 12-15 points scorers or goose eggs.
Figuring out lineups when those two are both cold will be the biggest dilemma to solve going forward. They each bring a bunch to the game other than scoring that Hurley likes- rebounding, defense, aggessiveness. But at the same time you do need to score eventually.

 

[Palatine]

How much did Drummond help subsequent recruiting? It's a hard question to measure. I'm thinking zero.

He had 26 points points and 24 rebounds for Cleveland while we were beating Butler.

So your opinion is that getting players to the league and specifically producing lottery picks has "zero" effect on recruiting. That's interesting but it's not correct. It is probably the single most important factor.

 

[BlueDogs]

Hopefully Springs will remain patient and not jump despite seeing few minutes this year. I haven't seen enough to discuss his skills but he looks physically ready.

Springs is really smooth and going to be a very good player. I hope he doesn’t take off. He will get his opportunities. We are just so stacked, it becomes it’s own problem.

 

[upstater]

We need to find minutes for Akok and some when Jackson comes back.

Hurley might take the European soccer approach for the better teams. They dont have a fixed starting team, and many different players get PT depending on the opponent or what kind of form they are in.

We shouldn't play more than 9 players a game BUT depending on how players are playing, they don't have to be the same 9.

 

[Waquoit]

He had 26 points points and 24 rebounds for Cleveland while we were beating Butler.

So your opinion is that getting players to the league and specifically producing lottery picks has "zero" effect on recruiting. That's interesting but it's not correct. It is probably the single most important factor.

My specific question was what did Drummond do? And you made it something else then answered that. Bad faith.

 

[bendm]

My specific question was what did Drummond do? And you made it something else then answered that. Bad faith.

every time a recruit visits a campus somewhere the head coach of said school inevitably points at a wall showing a picture of every player from said school that's in the nba...calhoun used to do it. there are plenty of anecdotal quotes of past UConn players talking about this. the effect can't be measured but the ability of a coach/school to get guys to the league is one of the biggest factors in recruiting. this goes without saying.

 

[mauconnfan]

We win can’t argue with that. But Sanogo needs more than 9 minutes there’s too much there. The TOs aren’t great but 4 rebounds, numerous balls kept alive in the 9 minutes this kid is active. And his defense is getting better every game a great baseline cutoff yesterday and a couple very nice post up stops where players had to kick out. Needs to be at least 12-15 or more depending on foul trouble etc etc..

But again match ups and other things change these thoughts during games. Just think Sanogo is going to be so good but he needs to play.

 

[gtcam]

Its still early in the season - at least this season
Once it gets toward March, if there is still basketball, I would hope that DH will come up with a 8-10 person rotation.
Right now he is probably giving extra minutes to those who may not be in that rotation but is giving everyone who deserves a chance to earn a spot that chance
Still would love what goes on in his head on some of those line-ups

 

[Waquoit]

Usually guys play themselves out of the rotation after the early cupcakes are done. Who has done that here? I look at it like "Mission Impossible". Phelps had a book full of folks he could count on depending on the mission. Hurley has a team full of players.

 

[dennismenace]

Having 9-10 guys hustling their butts off for 40 mins erases a lot of mistakes and I think that is building their confidence. They made a lot of silly turnovers in the first half but kept playing through it with intensity. Guys coming off the bench are bringing more energy. I find this a lot of fun to watch. It will be interesting to see if the formula works down the stretch. The biggest problem had been outside shooting. We may live or die with that but all the rest of things they do sometimes compensate for that. Relentless hustle gonna wear you down!