On to 2019-2020 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

On to 2019-2020

Doctor Hoop said:
I know I’m in the minority with this opinion, but I really do think there might be enough next year already to be 50-50 on earning a tourney bid (NCAA not NIT). I expect the three freshman - Akok, Gaffney and Bouknight - to be in the rotation and contributing immediately. I expect strength work with Polley, Whaley, Wilson and Carlton that will help them rebounding and defending and finishing inside. I expect a lot of shooting work, Adams, Wilson, Polley, Akok, so they all are less streaky and better from 3, and learn to catch ready to shoot. And I expect them to all be much more fit with 7 months to build their conditioning.

I have no idea what to think about Diarra. And if someone can guarantee me that Gilbert stays healthy that would help. But I think there’s enough to work with to be top 5 in the AAC and on the cusp of an invite. I want more talent, especially Achiuwa, and another big for depth, so keep grinding. But even without I’m not as down on the chances as some here seem to be.
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I'm with you. I also think we're underrating Hurley's impact. The guy does have a track record, after all. The returnees will have had a year in his system. With good coaching, players improve from year to year. And the new guys will be blank slates for him to mold.

Losing spirals. What these guys need more than anything is confidence in their ability to win. There were a number of conference games this year that were there for the taking, but we failed to make crucial winning plays with 3, 4, 5 minutes left and often affirmatively shot ourselves in the foot. Coming down the stretch of those games, I didn't believe we were going to win and I got the feeling the team felt the same way. I am hopeful that new blood in the backcourt, under Hurley's tutelage from day 1, can change that mindset.

I don't think we'll be Top 25 next year, but I do believe that we'll be significantly better.
 
selles said:
I'm with you. I also think we're underrating Hurley's impact. The guy does have a track record, after all. The returnees will have had a year in his system. With good coaching, players improve from year to year. And the new guys will be blank slates for him to mold.

Losing spirals. What these guys need more than anything is confidence in their ability to win. There were a number of conference games this year that were there for the taking, but we failed to make crucial winning plays with 3, 4, 5 minutes left and often affirmatively shot ourselves in the foot. Coming down the stretch of those games, I didn't believe we were going to win and I got the feeling the team felt the same way. I am hopeful that new blood in the backcourt, under Hurley's tutelage from day 1, can change that mindset.

I don't think we'll be Top 25 next year, but I do believe that we'll be significantly better.
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Good forward looking analysis from selles and Doctor Hoop. I think there is reasonable expectation that we will improve, despite losing Jalen Adams, and hopefully some of those games where the W/L hung in the balance in the last few minutes and became an L will become W's next season. We lost 11 games by 8 points or less, including losses to Cincinnati by 2 and 4 points respectively.
 
I’m optimistic for what is to come because this year I saw something I hadn’t seen in a few years. I saw players improving. Carlton is the obvious case. And how long has it been since we’ve seen a big make this much progress? But Polley improved as well. So did Vital. AG improved too.

And the fact that our players are developing means we should be able to expect better play next year. I haven’t expected that the last few years. I hoped that some long shot top tier recruit was going to come in to improve play. And that was my only hope. So, as long as Coach Hurley keeps the trend line on the guys we get going in the right direction, I’m going to remain optimistic - and that’s not something I do easily.
 
zepfan said:
You're the guy telling it like it is. Without one or two additional players that can make an impact next year (post players preferably), our improvement will be minimal. I don't know how good Akok, Gafney and Bouknight are... but to improve the team they will have to be able to score. We have minimal offense right now with Jalen gone.
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Imagine this years team. But thinner for next year. AA is the thinnest guy I have seen as brimah at least had some shoulder width(no meat). Cobb our biggest body is gone. Jalen and Tarin are beasts compared to what we have coming in and if vital is gone forget about it.
 
MervthePurvis said:
Imagine this years team. But thinner for next year. AA is the thinnest guy I have seen as brimah at least had some shoulder width(no meat). Cobb our biggest body is gone. Jalen and Tarin are beasts compared to what we have coming in and if vital is gone forget about it.
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Thats where I think losing out on Kofi Cockburn will hurt. One of the biggest criticisims over past 5 years has been that we cannot recruit strong big guys. Every big guy and player for the matter is a string bean. Thats why Hurley brought in Sal Alosi as our new strength coach. Sometimes our front court would be getting so out muscled that you would wonder if theres anybody thats big enough who can just simply push some people around down below and grab a few rebounds.
 
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UConnDan97 said:
If you're in the minority, then I must be in the super minority by saying that if we aren't better than 50/50 toward an NCAA bid next year, then we have the wrong coach...
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You are. These things always take longer than you think. We are getting some more talent next year. But we lose our best player. And the young guys are green.

The guys we have will improve, but they are mostly not great players anyway, so....

Tempered.
 
I'm always optimistic but there are major holes to be filled next year. The biggest is finding a real leader who will demand more from his teammates.
 
I’ll reserve judgement until the roster is settled, but I’m confident that those who stay will be better in November than they are today.

JC and SW in particular can make major strides if they take the S&C program seriously.
 
intlzncster said:
You are. These things always take longer than you think. We are getting some more talent next year. But we lose our best player. And the young guys are green.

The guys we have will improve, but they are mostly not great players anyway, so....

Tempered.
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Nah.

The proposed goal was a 50/50 at a tourney bid. Next year is year 2. With multiple upperclassmen having already had a full year in his system, along with Akok having a semester with him.

If he isn't good enough in year 2 to give us a coin flip chance at a tourney bid, he's not the right one. Period.
 
UConnDan97 said:
Nah.

The proposed goal was a 50/50 at a tourney bid. Next year is year 2. With multiple upperclassmen having already had a full year in his system, along with Akok having a semester with him.

If he isn't good enough in year 2 to give us a coin flip chance at a tourney bid, he's not the right one. Period.
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When you look at other (tournament) teams and realize only 1 or 2 of your guys could play for them, that should tell you something.

We'll need about 3 to 4 guys to make Kemba Walker (So to Jr) leaps.
 
MervthePurvis said:
Imagine this years team. But thinner for next year. AA is the thinnest guy I have seen as brimah at least had some shoulder width(no meat). Cobb our biggest body is gone. Jalen and Tarin are beasts compared to what we have coming in and if vital is gone forget about it.
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This is a silly post, why would we be imagining this years team when it will be a different team?

Cobb won't be missed. The three guys we have coming in are a drastic upgrade athletically and talent wise. This is really the thinnest guy you've ever seen?
Akok-Uconn.jpeg
 
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lange10 said:
Hate to be that guy but we need to add 2-3 immediate impact players to that roster or we’ll be bottom half of the AAC again.
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Thank you. I am not as bullish as others on our recruiting class. Players in the 80’s usually are not impact players the first year. And Akok ad a 4? Let’s see how his 185 lbs fare against Houston, Cinn and other quality teams. More than anything we need muscle and toughness.
 
JB75 said:
I’d start akok and bouknight over Wilson and polley in a heartbeat. I don’t care if they are juniors in high school. Unless Wilson and polley drastically improve, we re going to be in trouble if either one of those dudes-god forbid both- are starting next year .
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Ever see these guys play?
 
superjohn said:
You're replying to one of the biggest Ollie sycophants, he hasn't exactly afforded Hurley the same leeway he did Ollie.
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You're a clown.

I'm offering Hurley the exact same treatment I offered Ollie. It wasn't acceptable for Ollie to miss post season play twice in a row, even after the defections and the injuries. It's not acceptable for Hurley either.

We're talking about a 50/50 chance at a bid. I'm watching teams like South Florida rack up 19 wins, and yet I have to hear how UConn needs at least 2 more years? We should see more improvement from Carlton, Vital, Polley, Wilson, B Adams, Gilbert, etc. And all that isn't even factoring in the new folks like Akok who by all accounts looks like our best player in practice. It has very little to do with Ollie...
 
UConnDan97 said:
You're a clown.

I'm offering Hurley the exact same treatment I offered Ollie. It wasn't acceptable for Ollie to miss post season play twice in a row, even after the defections and the injuries. It's not acceptable for Hurley either.

We're talking about a 50/50 chance at a bid. I'm watching teams like South Florida rack up 19 wins, and yet I have to hear how UConn needs at least 2 more years? We should see more improvement from Carlton, Vital, Polley, Wilson, B Adams, Gilbert, etc. And all that isn't even factoring in the new folks like Akok who by all accounts looks like our best player in practice. It has very little to do with Ollie...
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You can only improve so much if you have a limited ceiling. 80% of Hurley's roster is MAC level players. Tyler Polley, Eric Cobb, Isaiah Whaley, Sid Wilson, Kwintin Williams, Brendan Adams and Tarin Smith wouldn't get more than 5 minutes a game on any good team.
 
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Rico444 said:
You can only improve so much if you have a limited ceiling. 80% of Hurley's roster is MAC level players. Tyler Polley, Eric Cobb, Isaiah Whaley, Sid Wilson, Kwintin Williams, Brendan Adams and Tarin Smith wouldn't get more than 5 minutes a game on any good team.
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The only players worth keeping going forward on this team are Gilbert, Vital, and Carlton. Polley and Wilson are still young but they look like they are 2 years away from being where we want them to be. Hopefully Bouk, Akok, and Gaffney are as good as advertised.
 
Rico444 said:
You can only improve so much if you have a limited ceiling. 80% of Hurley's roster is MAC level players. Tyler Polley, Eric Cobb, Isaiah Whaley, Sid Wilson, Kwintin Williams, Brendan Adams and Tarin Smith wouldn't get more than 5 minutes a game on any good team.
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Are we saying that these recruits aren't better than USF or Tulsa (18 wins)??? I don't believe that for a second, and neither did the national recruiting services when they evaluated them.

Furthermore, the question was a 50/50 to an NCAA bid, which means we are really talking about being locked in for the NIT. That's what we're saying here. If the expectation is that we can't make the NIT in year two, then what the heck are we doing here???
 
UConnDan97 said:
Are we saying that these recruits aren't better than USF or Tulsa (18 wins)??? I don't believe that for a second, and neither did the national recruiting services when they evaluated them.
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Did you watch Sid Wilson this year? He's extremely athletic, but he doesn't have a clue what he's doing on the court yet and he's a terrible shooter. Guys that athletic are always going to be ranked top 100, but aren't always ready to contribute meaningful minutes. And yes, the rest of the guys I mentioned are all sub-100 recruits and they sure look like it.

It takes time to coach up players. Look at Hurley's track record: his record the first two years at Rhode Island was not good. Then he got his guys in, developed them, and turned them into a program that was consistently winning when he left. That was at Rhode Island. Once he gets us up and running, he'll be able to get much better recruits than he was able to over there (actually, Akok is already higher ranked than anybody else he's ever gotten) and we'll be back to being a big-time program.
 
Rico444 said:
You can only improve so much if you have a limited ceiling. 80% of Hurley's roster is MAC level players. Tyler Polley, Eric Cobb, Isaiah Whaley, Sid Wilson, Kwintin Williams, Brendan Adams and Tarin Smith wouldn't get more than 5 minutes a game on any good team.
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You're talking to a guy who expected that team to win the AAC this year. He's not really the guy to have a rational basketball discussion with.

And he keeps bringing up South Florida and now Tulsa as if they have a better than 0% chance of making the tournament.
 
superjohn said:
You're talking to a guy who expected that team to win the AAC this year. He's not really the guy to have a rational basketball discussion with.

And he keeps bringing up South Florida and now Tulsa as if they have a better than 0% chance of making the tournament.
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Not to mention we just beat South Florida twice in the past week, lol.
 
Rico444 said:
Did you watch Sid Wilson this year? He's extremely athletic, but he doesn't have a clue what he's doing on the court yet and he's a terrible shooter. Guys that athletic are always going to be ranked top 100, but aren't always ready to contribute meaningful minutes. And yes, the rest of the guys I mentioned are all sub-100 recruits and they sure look like it.

It takes time to coach up players. Look at Hurley's track record: his record the first two years at Rhode Island was not good. Then he got his guys in, developed them, and turned them into a program that was consistently winning when he left. That was at Rhode Island. Once he gets us up and running, he'll be able to get much better recruits than he was able to over there (actually, Akok is already higher ranked than anybody else he's ever gotten) and we'll be back to being a big-time program.
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But that's my point about Wilson. You know the talent is there. Not having a clue should get fixed after 16 months with a coach.

Look, there is no question to me that this roster is not top tier. But there is also no question to me that this team is a 20 win team in this conference. Hell, they may have been 20 wins this year if Jalen doesn't get hurt!

I said multiple times on the BY that Ollie could not afford to miss the NIT twice. There's no reason not to have that standard for Hurley, when considering the program and the current conference...
 
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superjohn said:
You're talking to a guy who expected that team to win the AAC this year. He's not really the guy to have a rational basketball discussion with.

And he keeps bringing up South Florida and now Tulsa as if they have a better than 0% chance of making the tournament.
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I'd LOVE for you to pull up a quote from me where I said they'd win the AAC. Go ahead, I'll wait. You're complete nonsense...
 
Rico444 said:
Not to mention we just beat South Florida twice in the past week, lol.
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And lost to them too. And finished behind them in the conference standings. But you know...
 
UConnDan97 said:
I'd LOVE for you to pull up a quote from me where I said they'd win the AAC. Go ahead, I'll wait. You're complete nonsense...
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UConnDan97 said:
This is where I'm at also. I was very excited about Akinjo, Matthews, and Kisunas. And I'm currently very excited about Adams and Smith.

I believed that we would be in the hunt for the conference title this year with Ollie and an extra year for the entire team + Sid Wilson and new recruits. I now believe that we will be in the hunt for a conference title this year with Hurley + the extra year, Wilson, and recruits.

People come and go. UConn is forever...
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UConnDan97 said:
But that's my point about Wilson. You know the talent is there. Not having a clue should get fixed after 16 months with a coach.
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1) Hurley has been here 12 months.
2) Coaches have very limited time with the players over the summer. He's essentially been coaching him up for 6 months, not 16.

Look, there is no question to me that this roster is not top tier. But there is also no question to me that this team is a 20 win team in this conference. Hell, they may have been 20 wins this year if Jalen doesn't get hurt!
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If Jalen and Alterique didn't get hurt we probably get to 20 wins...outside of them and Carlton, though, the rest of the players aren't good enough to hang with good teams.

I said multiple times on the BY that Ollie could not afford to miss the NIT twice. There's no reason not to have that standard for Hurley, when considering the program and the current conference...
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Ollie was the one that brought in these players, that's why two non-postseason years in a row are so damning. Let Hurley bring in his own guys and work with the players he had forced on him for more than 6 months...I guarantee you next year will look better than this. I don't care if you're Jim Calhoun; no coach can survive coaching up a team full of players that aren't that talented - and he didn't even recruit - AND have your two best players get hurt and miss multiple games. Every single coach in America is going to struggle in that situation.
 
Our front court is abysmal. Think about how bad we would have been without Josh having a huge jump the second half of the year.

You can’t win in college without a big time front court. Either a rim protector, post player, or both.

Next year, we’ll have both.
 
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