Omar say his future is at UConn

[4UConn]

Great news...my bet is that he gets his shot back next year.

 

[partial]

It's nice that he said that but sometimes things change pretty quickly in the off season when you have time to think about how many minutes you might really get next year. Hope he stays i think he's much better than he's shown this year.

 

[Matrim55]

It will definitely be a Boat/DD led team next year (assuming both stay) as seniors. They are best friends.

Don't rule out the leadership role Samuel will play - he's a nasty son of a bitch and a winner who brings New York toughness, something that DD and (to a lesser extent) Boat lacks.

Samuel might not be the vocal leader or the guy everyone rallies around in the huddle, but he absolutely sets the tone on the defensive end of the court. And with his fearlessness driving to the basket on offense, he will be valuable beyond statistics for a team that looks like it'll be a little too content to settle for jumpers at times.

And then when he's a junior, he'll be the captain. No doubt about it.

 

[joober jones]

Gotta love a kid who bleeds blue. Rooting for #21.

 

[superjohn]

Don't rule out the leadership role Samuel will play - he's a nasty son of a bitch and a winner who brings New York toughness, something that DD and (to a lesser extent) Boat lacks.

Samuel might not be the vocal leader or the guy everyone rallies around in the huddle, but he absolutely sets the tone on the defensive end of the court. And with his fearlessness driving to the basket on offense, he will be valuable beyond statistics for a team that looks like it'll be a little too content to settle for jumpers at times.

And then when he's a junior, he'll be the captain. No doubt about it.

Boat doesn't lack for toughness, he's as tough as they come. NYC toughness is nice and all but NYC doesn't compare to Chicago these days for ballplayers.

 

[Fishy]

That's good news, but in all honesty his current value is not at its highest. !

"That's good news but let me say something bad about him anyway."

In a perfect world, pressing the Post Reply button would result in an electric shock.

 

[James]

Boat is already a clear leader on this team. He often needs to be reigned in by the alpha dog napier, but he does his share of barking orders. Next year he will learn 'patience'. You can tell Samuel is cut from the same cloth as napier, he can take tough criticism.

 

[HuskyHawk]

"That's good news but let me say something bad about him anyway."

In a perfect world, pressing the Post Reply button would result in an electric shock.

What little civility we had is disintigrating pretty rapidly.

 

[metsfan2323]

Don't rule out the leadership role Samuel will play - he's a nasty son of a bitch and a winner who brings New York toughness, something that DD and (to a lesser extent) Boat lacks.

Samuel might not be the vocal leader or the guy everyone rallies around in the huddle, but he absolutely sets the tone on the defensive end of the court. And with his fearlessness driving to the basket on offense, he will be valuable beyond statistics for a team that looks like it'll be a little too content to settle for jumpers at times.

And then when he's a junior, he'll be the captain. No doubt about it.

I believe Napier mentioned in the post game press conference sat. that Samuel has emerged as a leader in practice.

 

[UConn17]

I expect Purvis to be a leader as well. And also, it may be a good thing to not rely on one player so heavily

 

[Rico444]

We're gonna be stacked next year. And we're gonna be HUGE. No more teams bullying us around...besides Boatright, every other player on the team is tall for their position.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I can't imagine that there would be any doubt that Daniel Hamilton should be higher in the line up than Calhoun. Calhoun is currently a 5 minute a game player who is about 10th on our depth chart. Hamilton is a stud recruit.

Most kids that come to UConn, including Omar Calhoun, are "stud recruits." High school basketball is easier than D1 ball. We do this dance literally every season.

 

[UConn17]

Thank the basketball gods

 

[Tenspro2002]

We're gonna be stacked next year. And we're gonna be HUGE. No more teams bullying us around...besides Boatright, every other player on the team is tall for their position.

Eh, DD is still a beanpole at the 4. He has the requisite height at 6'8, but nowhere near the appropriate girth to battle a most earth-bound power forward.

Otherwise, I agree with you that we're appropriately-sized at most positions, neither too big and under-skilled (a problem sometimes in the latter years of the Calhoun era), nor too small.

 

[David 76]

I love the talent we will have next year. I loved the talent we had in 2012 also.
Do not underestimate what the loss of Shabazz will mean next year. I hope it is not as bad as 2012.

 

[UChusky916]

Still think Omar could hit a big shot or two this year when we need him if Giff/Kromah get in foul trouble.

This kid bleeds blue. Love him.

 

[Strummer]

Most kids that come to UConn, including Omar Calhoun, are "stud recruits."

Everybody on this board should temper their expectations for Omar. I think it's both unfair and unrealistic to believe that this kid is going to turn into a starter and stud scorer his Junior year.

Fact is, he was a 40% overall and 32% 3-point shooter his first year who had more turnovers than assists. His playing time was largely predicated on the fact that we were a depleted bunch coming off a mass exodus.

This year the numbers get worse, but, really, even if you give him a complete pass for this year, the most obvious role for Omar going forward is as a back up who gets spot minutes.

On a team with Boatright, Daniels, Purvis, Brimah, Facey, Samuels, Hamilton, Lubin and so on, I can't imagine him improving enough from his freshman year stats to warrant him getting more than a few minutes a game.

I think that, unfortunately, expectations for Omar were inflated by several very productive games, one of which produced an poignantly memorable win, that were much more the aberration than the norm.

At the end of the day, it would be great if Omar came around and became a starter who provided important minutes for UConn, but at this point, I think that's an unlikely result and an unfair expectation. I hope he stays healthy and graduates with a UConn degree at no cost to him. Anything above that, it's gravy for the kid.

 

[Fishy]

Everybody on this board should temper their expectations for Omar. I think it's both unfair and unrealistic to believe that this kid is going to turn into a starter and stud scorer his Junior year.

Fact is, he was a 40% overall and 32% 3-point shooter his first year who had more turnovers than assists. His playing time was largely predicated on the fact that we were a depleted bunch coming off a mass exodus.

Meaningless.

Napier shot 37% overall and 32% from three as a freshman. Niels Giffey shot 40% overall and 32% from three as a freshman.

And as a point guard, Nap's assist to turnover ratio was just 1:5-1. Niels has never had a positive ratio. (Pro tip - assist to turnover ratio is not a particularly good indicator for anything other than a point guard.)

Omar had a typical and encouraging freshman season - he didn't have an typical offseason, he had double hip surgery.

Obviously, it affected him - he could be a vastly different player next season