I didn't notice that. If Newton and Jackson are coming back they start along with Castle, Karaban, and Clingan.
Yeah they’re absolutely not the exact same players. But they’re both guys whose greatest impacts will be getting down hill to score at the basket or create for their teammates. He might be the best 4th playmaker for a team in the country, but how many minutes can he secure with Newton/Jackson/Castle taking the vast majority? Especially when all 4 of our playmakers will need floor spacing to thrive. I think when people have these conversations, they forget how few minutes really exist outside of the first 6 rotation players.
Unless we get another C don’t be surprised to see AK get spot minutes at the 5 like AJ did the 4. He’s smart enough.
It’s not a good shooting lineup. Just saying “yes it is” doesn’t make it true.
Not in talent level or play style, just the spot in the rotation.
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.
Not as good as this year but It’s a better shooting lineup than the Cole/Martin/AJ/Whaley/Sanogo lineup from last year
It’s not a bad shooting lineup.
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.
If that’s true, your opinion is more valid. But I’m sure 99% of us haven’t seen that much.
Yes it is.
He hopefully will shoot better next season. But in his junior season he shot 2 more 3s per game and his percentage was 4% worse. Usually when guys increase their volume, their percentage goes down, unless you’re talking the truly gifted shooters. And obviously I know Timberlake will shoot great off the bench if that’s what happens, but I was strictly talking about the starting 5, who will obviously play lots of minutes together.
There is a tendency to think in terms of the "normal" 7 man rotation. I think that Uconn put that to rest last year and went with 8-9 man rotations. With portal availability a much bigger recruiting asset there are other teams going to lean to this new way in the future. Give Dan Hurley credit for going against his old instincts and buying into spreading the minutes in order to maximize the situational talent and keeping players fresh. As the year went on we became an absolute steamroller. Credit also the other coaches and players themselves for trusting in the newer system. I loved how the earlier Uconn teams played with larger rotations and hyper aggressive defenses. We did not see us full court pressure and that was wise. Others opined that full court presses lead to easy baskets with those who know how to break them. We learned that you don't always need to play full court press to be an elite defense.
It’s not. There’s a space in between bad and elite. Bad is what seton hall or Arkansas rolled out last season. I think you’re underrating the shooting ability of Castle AND Clingan. I think Ill be proven right here
I think the scenario (assuming Newton and AJ return) where Castle starts but Timberlake gets more minutes is quite possible.
