Official practice getting started | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Official practice getting started

Matrim55 said:
I feel the opposite. Can't shake the memory of what a disaster this team was without Jalen.
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That's not the way I recalled it. So I checked.

Games without Jalen- 4 point loss at Cincinnati, loss at the buzzer at Wichita State, 8 pts loss to Houston, 7 point loss at Memphis, 2 pt win vs USF. The only game that was a "disaster" was the usual blowout loss at Moody to SMU. We were competitive against some of the AAC's best in that stretch without Jalen even if we lost them.

I don't think Hurley is worried one bit about replacing Jalen Adams this year.
 
ASweet3781 said:
I don't think Hurley is worried one bit about replacing Jalen Adams this year.
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If he didn't worry about replacing our best player and best scorer, he's nuts. Especially when our next best has yet to make it through a season without losing significant time.

We do have a lot more depth/options this year, that is true.
 
intlzncster said:
If he didn't worry about replacing our best player and best scorer, he's nuts. Especially when our next best has yet to make it through a season without losing significant time.

We do have a lot more depth/options this year, that is true.
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I think he's happy with J Adams's replacements (Bouknight and Gaffney). Hurley knows he has a lot of work to do building them up. I don't think knowing you have work to do is the same thing as worrying. He could be excited about it.
 
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intlzncster said:
If he didn't worry about replacing our best player and best scorer, he's nuts. Especially when our next best has yet to make it through a season without losing significant time.

We do have a lot more depth/options this year, that is true.
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College basketball coaches every season replace players a hell of a lot better than Jalen Adams off of teams that were far more successful than the teams Adams led.

Hurley is not losing sleep over Adams not being here anymore.
 
andy34 said:
1) Alterique. He's healthy now and should be able to drive & draw contact at will. Whether he can do so and stay healthy remains to be seen.
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With AG he seemed to be able to handle the contact last year and was fearless driving to the hole.

It's the 'falls to the floor' that worries me, and now have to add running into picks. Not saying he's fragile, but I probably won't rest watching him until March 2020.
 
Guapo said:
www.theuconnblog.com

Photo Gallery: UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball Practice - 9/28/19

The Huskies kicked off preparations for the 2019-20 season on Saturday.
www.theuconnblog.com www.theuconnblog.com
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Going through these pics the one thing that stood out to me the most is how big Richie Springs is, he's standing right behind Whaley and he is a good couple inches taller and thicker. If he can carve out some space and box out I like his chances at meaningful minutes as the season progresses.
 
ASweet3781 said:
College basketball coaches every season replace players a hell of a lot better than Jalen Adams off of teams that were far more successful than the teams Adams led.
Hurley is not losing sleep over Adams not being here anymore.
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I just know that every time we lose our best player people say it'll be all good next year. And it almost never is. It's like clockwork on here.

We'll be better this year, simply because we have more good players, but we might not win a ton more games. Hopefully the team figures out how to close this year.
 
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UConnKev said:
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I've said it in the weight training threads, but Whaley has put on some muscle. That could bode well for him getting some spot minutes in some situations.

Gaffney looks a little thicker than I thought he'd be. Nice looking frame to develop too.
 
intlzncster said:
I just know that every time we lose our best player people say it'll be all good next year. And it almost never is. It's like clockwork on here.

We'll be better this year, simply because we have more good players, but we might not win a ton more games. Hopefully the team figures out how to close this year.
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It means nothing to lose a best player off a team that did nothing but lose with him as the best player.
 
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These practices will be much better than in our recent past. More talent, more depth, nobody is injured.
Serious competition for playing time here; Hurley will get the most out of these guys. Love seeing Cole on Gilbert, Gilbert on Cole, playmakers on each squad, going head to head. I think Cole will bring a lot to this team, even this year.
 
ASweet3781 said:
It means nothing to lose a best player off a team that did nothing but lose with him as the best player.
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Perhaps, but you can usually expect worse results the following year regardless. So a worse result than 'doing nothing but lose' is very bad indeed.

This year there are a confluence of factors that may alter that outcome (AG's health, new coach's system entrenched, player development, a bunch of new players, etc). We'll see.
 
AGs arms looking bigger than I remember. An off-season without rehab is what he needs to take his game to the next level
 
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uconnever said:
I think we will be better than people think.
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Could be but physicality is a big concern of mine. This is the most finesse Uconn team in recent memory, playing in a conference that is going to be very physical next year. Going to need to make shots.
 
intlzncster said:
The crazy thing last year was there was noticeable improvement both individually and team-wise from the prior year. So we looked better in a number of areas (and were by KenPom), yet the record still sucked.

These guys have yet to show they know how to win. We'll see.
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Let’s just try and leave this conference the way we came in.
 
Christian is a guy I find myself rooting very hard for.

www.courant.com

Dan Hurley keeping UConn men’s eyes on a prize: the American Athletic Conference trophy

Expectations are replacing optimism; goals are replacing hopes as the UConn men’s basketball team begins preparing for Dan Hurley’s second season. And in case anyone has a momentary lap…
www.courant.com www.courant.com
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Hurley spent a lot of time this offseason with Vital to resolve any issues left from their rocky first season together.

“We understand him better,” Hurley said, “and he understands how I need him to carry himself. I want him to play with the mindset that he’s not at odds with the staff. The staff’s behind him, ‘we just need you to play a certain way.’”

Vital, who averaged 14.2 points and 5.6 assists, said, “The communication is the best that it’s been. I think we have the relationship a coach and a senior guard are supposed to have in a winning program.”
———
 
I'd like to see much better perimeter defense. We gave up way too many guard drives last year, that breaks down the defense. The big comes to cover, leaves his guy for the dump off or the offensive rebound. The hallmark of defense in the Calhoun teams was getting beat to the hoop was extremely rare, or by a transcendent talent.
 
Doctor Hoop said:
I'd like to see much better perimeter defense. We gave up way too many guard drives last year, that breaks down the defense. The big comes to cover, leaves his guy for the dump off or the offensive rebound. The hallmark of defense in the Calhoun teams was getting beat to the hoop was extremely rare, or by a transcendent talent.
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I think we will for a couple of reasons. One we have more athletes out there to throw at people in a rotation. Bigger guys too. Hurley can finally yank anybody taking a play off and sit him on the bench knowing we have depth. Secondly, shot blocking. Carlton really improved late last year, Sid is strong in week side shot blocking and Akok could be a real force. So when guys do get by our perimeter defenders, we now have rim protectors. We have to stop over helping and leaving bigs open. I think Adams will emerge as a Lyman Depriest type player, maybe not quite that good on D, but a guy who can guard a lot of positions.

I think this team is going to be a major upside surprise. We have four new players. Three should be impact freshmen. We have experience, with a senior and 3 juniors who all saw a lot of minutes. Carlton is going to be hard to stop inside, and when they double him, Akok and or Polley is going to make them pay. Everyone is worried about guys creating shots, and while we need that, this team is going to score in transition and with an inside out game.
 
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