Of the 5 incoming freshmen

[husky429]

Spot on.

I had a response typed up to that post as well, I just don't see it as an issue. Jackson, Castle and Newton are all capable of running our offense, especially when 2 or 3 are on the court simultaneously.

Castle can shoot enough, and Karaban and Newton are both snipers. I wouldn't be worried about that specific lineup's shooting ability.

Timberlake will be our 3rd sniper out of our top 6. That's plenty of shooting.

In this lineup, we will be relying on Castle to be a decent or better shooter a lot of the time. You really can't have a starting lineup with 2 shooters in 2023 and expect to have the level of success we should be aiming for. He is an okay shooter now but has rapidly improved over the last 18 months. With better shot selection and an off-season in the gym, I would expect 35% or better from him on a couple-few attempts per game.

I'm most excited about having multiple guys that can catch a body and draw fouls at the rim. We really only had one last year (Newton) and it showed during our bad stretch mid-season. Castle, Ball, Stewart all absorb contact really well. Clingan is going to get fouled a lot (and even more if he doesn't improve his foul shooting). I wouldn't be surprised if we were close to leading the nation in fouls drawn per game. We're going to have opponents on their heels A LOT.

 

[TRUCONN76]

Sampson Johnson is not a 5. His body and athleticism puts him as a 4.

 

[Mr. French]

In this lineup, we will be relying on Castle to be a decent or better shooter a lot of the time. You really can't have a starting lineup with 2 shooters in 2023 and expect to have the level of success we should be aiming for. He is an okay shooter now but has rapidly improved over the last 18 months. With better shot selection and an off-season in the gym, I would expect 35% or better from him on a couple-few attempts per game.

I'm most excited about having multiple guys that can catch a body and draw fouls at the rim. We really only had one last year (Newton) and it showed during our bad stretch mid-season. Castle, Ball, Stewart all absorb contact really well. Clingan is going to get fouled a lot (and even more if he doesn't improve his foul shooting). I wouldn't be surprised if we were close to leading the nation in fouls drawn per game. We're going to have opponents on their heels A LOT.

Yep, that's basically what I was saying. Castle is no sniper but he's not inept and he will only get better. He will get to the rack and provide that aspect of our offense, for himself and others.

At any given point, we will have lineups with 2 or 3 excellent 3 point shooters. We could run lineups with 4 good shooters if you went Newton, Timberlake, whoever, Karaban and Samson.

Overall, Hurley will be able to mix and match lineups where we always have 2 great and 1-2 solid shooters on the floor. I think that was mostly @navery12 point and I fully agree. Not worried in the least about our offense if that's our roster.

 

[3rdbass]

Sampson Johnson is not a 5. His body and athleticism puts him as a 4.

His length allows him to play the 5. If he can add some muscle I'm sure he will be the backup 5 to Clingan. Singare is just too rough around the edges to backup at the 5. Either way we will see when they are on the court. I would think if Johnson is staying that he knows he can get the minutes and that will have to be at both the 4 and the 5 position to make it worth it.

 

[Mr. French]

Sampson Johnson is not a 5. His body and athleticism puts him as a 4.

Samson is a true 4 in today's game but definitely could play 5 in a lineup with Jackson and Karaban.

 

[bendm]

Sampson Johnson is not a 5. His body and athleticism puts him as a 4.

6'10 215-220 is just fine for a stretch 5, and if he can't back up clingan than who will? singare is more likely to RS than be our backup C.

 

[7774]

Yep, that's basically what I was saying. Castle is no sniper but he's not inept and he will only get better. He will get to the rack and provide that aspect of our offense, for himself and others.

At any given point, we will have lineups with 2 or 3 excellent 3 point shooters. We could run lineups with 4 good shooters if you went Newton, Timberlake, whoever, Karaban and Samson.

Overall, Hurley will be able to mix and match lineups where we always have 2 great and 1-2 solid shooters on the floor. I think that was mostly @navery12 point and I fully agree. Not worried in the least about our offense if that's our roster.

It’s a stretch to call Newton an excellent 3 point shooter, and a bigger stretch to call Samson good.

 

[Mr. French]

It’s a stretch to call Newton an excellent 3 point shooter, and a bigger stretch to call Samson good.

I disagree. But I could change it to "very good" and "potentially very good for his position." Point would remain, there's plenty of shooting and scoring in that roster.

 

[aburks41]

His length allows him to play the 5. If he can add some muscle I'm sure he will be the backup 5 to Clingan. Singare is just too rough around the edges to backup at the 5. Either way we will see when they are on the court. I would think if Johnson is staying that he knows he can get the minutes and that will have to be at both the 4 and the 5 position to make it worth it.

People said that Clingan was raw coming into this season and look how that turned out...I would be surprised if Singare isn't getting legit backup minutes at the 5. He's an elite rim protector too, and he's a lob threat. He can also shoot the 3...that's really all we need him to be this year behind Clingan

 

[husky429]

It’s a stretch to call Newton an excellent 3 point shooter, and a bigger stretch to call Samson good.

It is not a stretch to call Newton an excellent 3 point shooter. He shot 37% from deep on the #3 offense in the country. He shot 41% beyond the arc in our last 18 games of the season. He had a shaky start and went absolutely bonkers when it mattered most.

I'll give you it on Johnson. Jury is still out so it's probably unfair to say he's either good OR not good. No one knows... he's essentially never played for us.

 

[Horatio]

Sampson is still a huge question mark. Nobody actually knows what we’ll get. Hopefully he stays and puts in the work this off season. With that said, we have 3 bigs next season, two unproven and one will be a starter for the first time. Off season development is the beauty of the sport.

 

[7774]

I disagree. But I could change it to "very good" and "potentially very good for his position." Point would remain, there's plenty of shooting and scoring in that roster.

Newton's played 4 years and his best 3 point percentage in a season by far is 36.6%. Samson is 1/7 from 3 in his career. If these were random players on some other team with those stats you would never define them that way.

We'll see if there is plenty of shooting and scoring. Removing 2 first team all conference players, who took almost 40% of our shots, and were the top 2 guys on the other team's scouting report each game will have a massive impact on how easy offense is for the returning players. A lot of this will depend upon just what type of player Castle actually is, and whether Clingan can come back making the wide open 3's teams gave to Sanogo this year.

 

[Sportsman5]

I’m intrigued with all and heck I’ve never seen anything but what people post here on video. But there’s something about Stewart’s game highlights that really have me thinking diamond in the rough. Just the post up and fade away jumpers, score in traffic, range along with his ability to handle for a big guy. Excited about them all though.

His family pedigree suggests that he will be very prepared for college basketball. This could help him make an impact at the beginning of the season.

 

[Scottobot]

Sampson Johnson is not a 5. His body and athleticism puts him as a 4.

Regardless of what his best position is, I expect he will come off the bench and play center when Clingan gets tired or in foul trouble. Knowing how crappy and biased Big East refs are I expect there will be a lot of games where Clingan is in foul trouble. Salmson will get about 15 minutes a game. He should be able to get some rebounds and defend opposing center, especially centers like Gold at Marquette that shoot 3s.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I would expect Ross, Ball and Stewart to have an equal likelihood of playing. They all have experience ahead of them in the rotation right now. Whoever can defend(!), shoot the rock, and limit TOs will get minutes.

Singare strikes me as a redshirt candidate. Great size and strength, bit very raw.

Not to mention we have four bugs between Karaban, Springs, Johnson, and Clingan

 

[Mr. French]

Newton's played 4 years and his best 3 point percentage in a season by far is 36.6%. Samson is 1/7 from 3 in his career. If these were random players on some other team with those stats you would never define them that way.

We'll see if there is plenty of shooting and scoring. Removing 2 first team all conference players, who took almost 40% of our shots, and were the top 2 guys on the other team's scouting report each game will have a massive impact on how easy offense is for the returning players. A lot of this will depend upon just what type of player Castle actually is, and whether Clingan can come back making the wide open 3's teams gave to Sanogo this year.

I mean…Newton is a very good 3 point threat and shooter, I guess we disagree there.

Samson is unproven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t opine that he would be a “good” 4th shooter in a lineup as a 4/5. He’s been touted as having that ability for 2+ years now. We can’t make educated opinions just because he hasn’t played yet?

 

[3rdbass]

People said that Clingan was raw coming into this season and look how that turned out...I would be surprised if Singare isn't getting legit backup minutes at the 5. He's an elite rim protector too, and he's a lob threat. He can also shoot the 3...that's really all we need him to be this year behind Clingan

Clingan was still a top 60(56 24/7 composite and 51 ESPN) where Singare is rated a lot lower and not even in the top 100. Clingan always had the skills and rated high because of it. People just questioned his competition and athletic ability. Singare also isn't 7'2" with those skills. He is really just a shot blocker at this time. I think Samson will see more time as backup center but we will see.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Well with Andre declaring it seems we might have room for Castle and Timberlake to start, who woulda known?

 

[businesslawyer]

Question, let’s say Newton and AJ come back.

If Castle has been told he’s the PG and will start, and we saw Newton struggle when playing off ball last year before switching his and Andre’s role, and Timberlake is suppose to be the natural replacement for Hawkins, how does all of that work?

If you have four players sharing three positions, does it really matter who starts? Until you try to make room for Ball, that's still 30 minutes per player.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Newton shot it 37% from deep this season and he would get to play even more off the ball. Karaban is a knock down open shooter, who showed more and more versatility with his shooting as the season got older. Castle only shot 31% from deep his senior season but it was on crazy high volume with a ton of deep and contested threes. Timberlake will play big minutes as 6th man and hits shots from all over.

Clingan is going to shoot 3s too. Johnson can shoot when he's in. I suspect Castle will take and make 3s. If not, he won't be a lottery pick like you said. Low volume perhaps, but he has to have that in his game. Always hope Andre gets better too.

 

[mauconnfan]

He isn't a diamond in the rough, he is ranked in the 60s, I think that almost every program in the country would be planning on either starting him or having him be their 6th man

I don't see 60s as diamonds or 4 stars I guess. Those are more 1-20/25 for me but what do I know. Just think he may rise above many of those ranked much higher than him within a short amount of time with his game.

 

[PNolanFan]

I don't see 60s as diamonds or 4 stars I guess. Those are more 1-20/25 for me but what do I know. Just think he may rise above many of those ranked much higher than him within a short amount of time with his game.

I think that if you look at a random selection of guys in the 60s, I bet about 30% of them play in the NBA and well over half of them are good college players. To me with a guy at that recruiting level and with Stewart's skill set, I fully expect him to come to UConn, play 2/3 years and then go to the NBA

 

[mauconnfan]

I think that if you look at a random selection of guys in the 60s, I bet about 30% of them play in the NBA and well over half of them are good college players. To me with a guy at that recruiting level and with Stewart's skill set, I fully expect him to come to UConn, play 2/3 years and then go to the NBA

I would like to see that info somewhere. Again he’s a 4 star so while there’s no doubt he could be as good as 5 stars or better eventually, they don’t consider him to be a diamond right now. I expect he will be a good college player, NBA who knows lots of work to be done. Think he looks to have the tools.

 

[dennismenace]

We started succeeding when Newton ran the show more and Andre learned how to play off ball though. Newton was essentially Steph in the offense and Andre became Draymond.

Even if we’re not talking about the starting lineup, who’s the finishing lineup in this case?

The guys that can make free throws in crunch time. It's a thing of beauty and a Uconn trademark.

 

[444JR]

Latest and final ESPN rankings update for the 2023 Class - posted in another thread but relevant here as well

Stephon Castle #12
Solomon Ball #32
Jayden Ross #80
Jaylin Stewart #91

 

[navery12]

Latest and final ESPN rankings update for the 2023 Class - posted in another thread but relevant here as well

Stephon Castle #12
Solomon Ball #32
Jayden Ross #80
Jaylin Stewart #91

Ross ranked ahead of Stewart is not what I expected to see. Great find by the staff to identify him early, despite the questions from the board when he committed

 

[ctchamps]

Ross ranked ahead of Stewart is not what I expected to see. Great find by the staff to identify him early, despite the questions from the board when he committed

After watching a complete game of Team Melo where they were losing big and time was running out both Ball and Ross were playing D like the game was tied.

Ross was a pg until a rapid 5 to 6 inch growth spurt caused a switch to wing. I was very high on this kid two years ago and still think people are undervaluing him.

 

[444JR]

Ross ranked ahead of Stewart is not what I expected to see. Great find by the staff to identify him early, despite the questions from the board when he committed

Well said. Ross’ climb is well deserved. He showed out all season against national powerhouse programs.

Doesn’t seem like ESPN has seen much of Jaylin Stewart and he’s underrated due to the level of competition he’s playing against much like Donovan Clingan.

 

[bmayuc]

I've seen close to a dozen full games Castle has played. I think he'll most likely be a lottery pick after next season.

Castle is 1 and done for sure. Its a weird comparison, but he plays with the same pace and vision of Marcus Williams. Probably not as good of a passer, but a better scorer due to his size.

Castle is a supersized, right-handed Marcus Williams. He's going to be so much fun and will start and play 25+ mpg

Solo Ball is an interesting piece - seems like a bouknight type - athletic strait-line drive and decent long range shooter. First guard off the bench 15mpg

Jaylin Stewart & Jayden Ross - Jaylin Stewart has a bit of daniel hamilton to him, whereas Jayden seems much more like a 3 & D guy. Ultimately they will both probably get their shot and whoever plays D and is consistent will win more minutes. Both different guys.

Sinare - if he's playing major minutes next year that will not be good for us. Either Samson Johnson will have not developed or Clingan is having conditioning issues.

 

[Deleted at users request]

After watching a complete game of Team Melo where they were losing big and time was running out both Ball and Ross were playing D like the game was tied.

Ross was a pg until a rapid 5 to 6 inch growth spurt caused a switch to wing. I was very high on this kid two years ago and still think people are undervaluing him.

You can tell from the way he moved last summer he was still growing into his body. It seems like he’s getting more comfortable recently and he looks explosive. To go along with having the skills of a guy who used to be a 6’2-6’3 PG.

Him and Solo both were amazing finds.