Now that the roster is in place, where’s the team’s weakness(es)? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

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

Clingan has to give them some buckets out of the post. If he strengthens his base this offseason, he could become dominate pretty quickly. He has shown signs of solid (not Sanogo like) footwork, and teams will be hard pressed to double him. Karaban, Spencer, Newton, Castle, Ball & company will be camped out on the arc and I don't think teams will leave any of them open like they did AJax. I think that's where part of Jackson's production could be replaced. It should also open up some driving rains for the big UConn guards.
I am interested to see where Karaban is at when the season starts. He's smart and looks like a gymrat. He was a pleasant surprise, but I would be shocked to see another jump in his game. I also think Stewart will push him in practice. Again, a deep team let's players really develop quickly and full because they have to practice against each other all the time and they won't to stand out in a positive way, so they are motivated.
 
We have a head coach who has never won a road game against a Top 25 team; hasn't yet beaten Sean Miller; and historically has a losing record in close games. Is this really the guy we want coaching our program?

How quickly we forget. ;)
 
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3rdbass said:
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.
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Yes, but he was the guy who would drive/dish. He was the one waiting for Hawk to come up screens, etc. Newton became less and less of our primary PG as the season wore on. If we are looking at question marks, Castle and Newton and who "runs" our half-court O has to be one of the pressing issues. I think it will be fine, but we did have our struggles at times when Newton tried to be our PG.
 
boog204 said:
Yes, but he was the guy who would drive/dish. He was the one waiting for Hawk to come up screens, etc. Newton became less and less of our primary PG as the season wore on. If we are looking at question marks, Castle and Newton and who "runs" our half-court O has to be one of the pressing issues. I think it will be fine, but we did have our struggles at times when Newton tried to be our PG.
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Maybe we watched different games but Newton was running our offense at the end of the year and AJ was just helping out like a Draymond Green with some passing. He wasn't a classic drive an dish guy basically because offenses could sag offf him since he couldn't score off the dribble.
 
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Sick Puppy said:
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.
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The best passer and playmaker in college hoops was Markquis Nowell.
 
Nick2005 said:
Shooting is only issue. No Hawkins? No joey or alleyene? I want 10 plus 3s a game given. Who?
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Alleyne shot 31% from three and made less than 1 three per game, that shooting shouldn't be difficult to replace.
 
3rdbass said:
Maybe we watched different games but Newton was running our offense at the end of the year and AJ was just helping out like a Draymond Green with some passing. He wasn't a classic drive an dish guy basically because offenses could sag offf him since he couldn't score off the dribble.
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You did not just compare Ajax to Draymond
 
Psolo12 said:
You did not just compare Ajax to Draymond
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Yeah comparable game in how rhey play. It has been done alot in this board since they both impact games without scoring due to their limitations there. Draymond is a bigger more physical guy while AJAX a better athlete but they both play the game similar in how they impact it by faciltating offense. Neithr can shoot or creat their own offense. Draymond is a better shooter but still not a skill he can lean on.
 
The main question I have is how the pieces fit together. I'm not worried about replacing certain guys. Every year you get a new team. Last year the team was really brilliantly complementary. No matter what was needed, Hurley could put a team out there for it.

This year I think we are less flexible. There may be certain teams that give us problems, and we might have a hard time matching up. If Johnson or the two freshman forwards really have an impact, then we probably have the ability to adjust as needed, but it's certainly not a given.
 
We are now at the bottom of the third page, and the word "defense" has not occurred in this thread to my notice.

Yet, a slow-footed perimeter defense is certainly the most glaringly-obvious weakness this team has to overcome. A starting lineup that replaces AJ with Spencer represents a massive regression in a defense that was often exposed by perimeter shooting even last year. Also, there is no projected starter at the 2 with the agility and foot speed of Hawkins.

It is simply true to say that none of our five starters is a 5-star athlete by today's standards. Defensive quickness is a question mark at every position, Castle is an amazing stop-and-go, slide-and-shuffle offensive ball handler, and perhaps he can translate these skills to defense, but he is so far untested.

My guess? We will see changes in playing time this year that nobody is now projecting. It will be dictated by our defensive shortcomings. Ball, Stewart and Ross are going to get minutes, and one or two of our current penciled-in starters are going to end up as instant offense off the bench.
 
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Leadership of Andre Jackson.

But I think Karaban becomes the vocal leader of the team on and off the court and Tristen fills the “everything and anything you need” leadership role that Jackson gave us.
 
New team, new identity fellas... These youngins gotta grow together... Take the lumps early (like last year) and gel into a National Championship threat in March...
 
Sphinx said:
We are now at the bottom of the third page, and the word "defense" has not occurred in this thread to my notice.

Yet, a slow-footed perimeter defense is certainly the most glaringly-obvious weakness this team has to overcome. A starting lineup that replaces AJ with Spencer represents a massive regression in a defense that was often exposed by perimeter shooting even last year. Also, there is no projected starter at the 2 with the agility and foot speed of Hawkins.

It is simply true to say that none of our five starters is a 5-star athlete by today's standards. Defensive quickness is a question mark at every position, Castle is an amazing stop-and-go, slide-and-shuffle offensive ball handler, and perhaps he can translate these skills to defense, but he is so far untested.

My guess? We will see changes in playing time this year that nobody is now projecting. It will be dictated by our defensive shortcomings. Ball, Stewart and Ross are going to get minutes, and one or two of our current penciled-in starters are going to end up as instant offense off the bench.
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I talked about it in the Sanogo/Clingan reply I had. I think provided he stays on the court for 25-28 minutes a game we will improve in the middle. The perimeter was will be interesting. I think Tristen improved throughout the year, we’ve read that Spencer can defend while being an intelligent player the question is can the freshman pick his game up on that end? Unknown I think but we have Diarra for D when needed. I’m not afraid of replacing Andre on D as much as I’m afraid to lose all the loose balls and rebounds he came up with from his position. Will be a different team because his replacement will be able to score though.
 
Hans Sprungfeld said:
We have a head coach who has never won a road game against a Top 25 team; hasn't yet beaten Sean Miller; and historically has a losing record in close games. Is this really the guy we want coaching our program?

How quickly we forget. ;)
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Hopefully I am just in a dense fog today and am missing the SARCASM in this post.

I will gladly REMEMBER the wins against:

Iona
St. Mary's
Arkansas
Gonzaga
Miami
San Diego State
 
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Hurleyman216 said:
I think getting 30 minutes or more from Clingan if we can get it is going to make us more dangerous than last year. He’s so disruptive in defense that if he can stay out of foul trouble we are going to be really really good. Backup 5 is our weakness. What will make or break our season is ultimately how quickly Hurley can get the freshman to buy into his system. If there’s even one bad apple in that stellar recruiting class in terms of attitude it could be our Achilles. Trusting the staff can mesh the young guys in with our experience.
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We can’t get 30 out of him. If we try it will end like Sanogos soph season. 26-28 min. Please
 
Sphinx said:
We are now at the bottom of the third page, and the word "defense" has not occurred in this thread to my notice.

Yet, a slow-footed perimeter defense is certainly the most glaringly-obvious weakness this team has to overcome. A starting lineup that replaces AJ with Spencer represents a massive regression in a defense that was often exposed by perimeter shooting even last year. Also, there is no projected starter at the 2 with the agility and foot speed of Hawkins.

It is simply true to say that none of our five starters is a 5-star athlete by today's standards. Defensive quickness is a question mark at every position, Castle is an amazing stop-and-go, slide-and-shuffle offensive ball handler, and perhaps he can translate these skills to defense, but he is so far untested.

My guess? We will see changes in playing time this year that nobody is now projecting. It will be dictated by our defensive shortcomings. Ball, Stewart and Ross are going to get minutes, and one or two of our current penciled-in starters are going to end up as instant offense off the bench.
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Wasn't our 3-point defense elite last year? Thought someone just posted how we were top 10 in threes allowed and 3p%.
 
Get a Job said:
Wasn't our 3-point defense elite last year? Thought someone just posted how we were top 10 in threes allowed and 3p%.
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Yeah we were 14th in 3 point defense last year so we were really good, anyone claiming otherwise was not paying attention. It's also not based in reality to act like Cam Spencer is a bad defender when Rutgers was the 6th ranked overall defense and 26th against 3's
 
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