Now that the roster is in place, where’s the team’s weakness(es)? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Now that the roster is in place, where’s the team’s weakness(es)?

A clear weakness is that our fanbase can’t just enjoy nice things and keeps looking for negatives instead of just enjoying the summer and the great opportunities the season to come presents.
 
Certainly going to be difficult to mirror the impact Sanogo/Clingan had. And many are concerned with what DC will do on offense to improve his back to the basket game, I feel he will get better but hard to match Sanogos year. But double his minutes and our rebounds will be better from the middle and our defense in the lane will be as well. There’s 2 sides to the court and while AS was ok on D his help defense was not very good most of the year. Whether it was to stay out of foul trouble or whatever he was invisible often off his man. DCs size will crest havoc in the middle if he can consistently play 25-28 minutes.
 
On paper, we are going to be relying on at least 2-3 guards who have never played here (Castle, Ball, Spencer) and another (Diarra) who was inconsistent at best. It's unclear if we have a true "facilitator" with AJ gone in the half court and both Castle/Newton are more combo guards it seems. Frontcourt depth could also be an issue behind DC and AK as none of our options have played much if at all. Now, I think all of these "issues" are overblown and we will still be quite good.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
A clear weakness is that our fanbase can’t just enjoy nice things and keeps looking for negatives instead of just enjoying the summer and the great opportunities the season to come presents.
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Most are responding to the OP
 
HuskyHawk said:
A clear weakness is that our fanbase can’t just enjoy nice things and keeps looking for negatives instead of just enjoying the summer and the great opportunities the season to come presents.
Expand ...
We’ve tried watching the Yankees, the Mets and the Red Sox. What else are we supposed to do? We’re lying in bed with smiles on our faces, smoking a cigarette, and looking at the ceiling for Chrissakes.
 
Experienced, proven depth.

The starting 5 are light years ahead in experience and proven talent in comparison to the players coming in off the bench. Diarra is our most proven, experienced bench player…think about that.

I look for Dan Hurley to use the Nov-Dec games to try to build the bench. By March of last year he could go 10 deep without losing effectiveness. This year he’ll be fortunate if he can go 8 deep.
 
I’m not really concerned with Singare being inexperienced. He’s a 7ft-er; the only thing we need him to do is disrupt shots at the rim, run the floor, and be a lob threat. That’s pretty much all we asked Clingan to do this past season. If he can be a freshman year Brimah, that would be excellent depth to protect Clingan.

I really don’t know how this team isn’t getting top 5 (at least) hype from the national media. Defending national champions, #4 recruiting class, and 2 lottery picks including a 7’3” unicorn who will likely be an all-american. Put DUKE on the front of our jersey and we are unanimously preseason #1.
 
Umami Zen said:
Most are responding to the OP
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I just don't like looking for a negative on a team we haven't seen play. So many new guys. Last year we did this and it was mostly "we don't have a PG" or "we don't have enough ball handlers" or similar. How'd that work out?

There are certainly some unknowns, because we have 5 freshmen and are relying on 2-3 of them to have an impact, one to step up as a starter. Weaknesses? No idea.
 
I do not know if it is a weakness, but my biggest concern is whether Clingan will be able to stay on the floor long enough. It is not a conditioning issue, but more so that it becomes an opposing coach's strategy get him in foul trouble. He'll need to show some real discipline. On the surface, the drop off can be quite large without Clingan in the game.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
I just don't like looking for a negative on a team we haven't seen play. So many new guys. Last year we did this and it was mostly "we don't have a PG" or "we don't have enough ball handlers" or similar. How'd that work out?

There are certainly some unknowns, because we have 5 freshmen and are relying on 2-3 of them to have an impact, one to step up as a starter. Weaknesses? No idea.
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I don't disagree with your sentiment.. More questions than answers except for projected starting five at this point. I usually prefer to see some footage/input from staff/game situations/scrimmages from newcomers-inexperienced guys before making any preliminary judgments.. I happen to be optimistic about this group of young guys and a bump from HD/SJ.. Gut feeling- not based on their ratings- but on their mentalities.

In a moment of weakness and disorientation from the Canadian haze .I bit on the OP question.
 
Agree on depth in the front court. Clingan averaged 2 fouls in him his 13+ minutes of playing time. There will certainly be games where he will see early bench time due to fouls.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I just don't like looking for a negative on a team we haven't seen play. So many new guys. Last year we did this and it was mostly "we don't have a PG" or "we don't have enough ball handlers" or similar. How'd that work out?

There are certainly some unknowns, because we have 5 freshmen and are relying on 2-3 of them to have an impact, one to step up as a starter. Weaknesses? No idea.
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I feel like some people just want this board to be inactive during dead periods in basketball news. There isn’t that much other stuff to talk about rn
 
navery12 said:
Backup at the 5. Samson has shown nothing in 2 years and Singare is very raw. I'm sure one of them will step up, but right now that's the only weakness I see. We're 2-3 deep at every other spot, and have lots of guys with complementary skill sets
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Sampson as much or more than anyone is the most unknown possible solution to a problem I can recall . He could be anywhere from the second coming of Cliff Robinson at Portland playing 3-4-5 off the bench on a finalist , simply a garbage time player , or something in between. .
We really don’t even know Clingan’s effective minutes. Let’s assume they are probably about 22-23 . Those were Carlton ‘s minutes as a sophomore his best year . That leaves 17-18 minutes of ?????.
I don’t suspect the 5 will be the two headed monster of last year but how close we get to that will go a long way in determining our success.
The only player averaging close to 35 minutes a game should be Newton . Getting him off the ball is key to his effectiveness. If multiple players are playing those minutes it means trouble .
 
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boog204 said:
On paper, we are going to be relying on at least 2-3 guards who have never played here (Castle, Ball, Spencer) and another (Diarra) who was inconsistent at best. It's unclear if we have a true "facilitator" with AJ gone in the half court and both Castle/Newton are more combo guards it seems. Frontcourt depth could also be an issue behind DC and AK as none of our options have played much if at all. Now, I think all of these "issues" are overblown and we will still be quite good.
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While AJ facilitated the offense he wasn't a PG either. WIth Castle and Newton who was effective in creating offense for others we are in good hands.
 
Just watched 1st half UConn vs Zags.

How do you replace the best passer and play maker in college hoops?
How do you replace the best shooter in college hoops?
How do you replace the best bench shooter in college hoops?
How do you replace the best center in college hoops?

You don't.
Team will look different next year. Still with our style of play, the same, but different. Kids will become men. Vets will step up. Coaches gonna coach. Gonna be fun.
 
I’m weak in the knees thinking about next season’s team while still toasting our ‘chip.
 
another way to look at this is, if you were the other coach, how would you try to beat us? I think it starts with trying to get Donovan into foul trouble. Of course if that doesn't work, you're eating a lot of leather.
 
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Waquoit said:
Sanogo was money down low when he got the ball this year. Can DC become a money finisher this year?
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Money down low or not we simply can look at doubling his output and the numbers will suffice. Sanogo 17.2/7.7/0.8 blocks - 13 minute Clingan X2 = 14/11.2/3.6 as a soph.. Now we know he needs to stay out of foul trouble but I expect with his work ethic he will be better down low and maybe even on the perimeter. But look at the overall this may not be where we have the most concern at all. Plus with some of the penetrators the lob is his money, easy money. Needs to get to Sanogos consistency at the foul line though too that alone will make his numbers comparable.
 
mauconnfan said:
Money down low or not we simply can look at doubling his output and the numbers will suffice. Sanogo 17.2/7.7/0.8 blocks - 13 minute Clingan X2 = 14/11.2/3.6 as a soph..
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I'm not convinced it works that way.
 
Complacency. We lost our top 3 players, Can 4 through 6 step up and fill that gap? Not if they stop getting better. Can the new pieces provide the necessary depth / flexibility? Not if they think just putting on the uniform wins games at this level.
 
I know the ranking is high but I just need to see these new players and Johnson before getting too confident. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of ups and downs early on. We won #5, so it’s house money right?
 
Shooting is only issue. No Hawkins? No joey or alleyene? I want 10 plus 3s a game given. Who?
 
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