OOC this year

[Dann]

whats realistic? whats great, whats bad? your thoughts?

MSU(N)
VT
Wake(N)
Iona or Quinn(N)
tba(N)
SB
UNH
NCST(N)
Harvard
MES
Fordham
Wash

-this is the first year in a while from what i remember where we dont have a big ooc game in the meat of our BE schedule
-its a ruff start to the season first 3 games all things considered. VT will be a quality mid major this year and Wake can't be anything but better thant the past 2 years i asume.
-Wash is a nice home game for fans to see and being home gives us a good chance i think. fans will be hungry for a big time game to support the team.

would 8-4 going into BE play be realistic? is 9-3 or better a stretch? MSU and NCST are big time games that will challenge our 10 man depth as a team, especially down low. Wash, Harvard and Wake are toss ups until we see soemthing from them and us. can't sleep on VT or the 3rd pjam game. whats a failure record wise hitting the BE games? what are your thoughts?

 

[CTGoonie]

I think Uconn wins the paradise jam but loses to MSU and NCSU. The rest are all winnable games if the players really buy in to what HCKO is selling. That's 10-2 heading into the New Years night game at Marquette.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

We're not the favorites, but weird things could happen in that Michigan State game - it's the first game of the year, it's being played in Germany, and it's on a boat. No better time for an upset there.

We have to win at least 2 in the Virgin Islands tournament. Wake Forest was terrible last year and some of their better players left. They are a mess. The rest of that field isn't all that great either.

Washington is always is very talented, but we get them at home and you know they'll play a very fast pace, which we'll gladly take this year.

NC State might be the best team on our schedule not named Louisville.

Harvard and Vermont are tricky games, but we can't afford to lose to them.

So in total, I think there are 4 OOC games that wouldn't be considered bad losses (MSU, Washington, NC State, and New Mexico in the Virgin Islands).

 

[HooperScooper]

We're not the favorites, but weird things could happen in that Michigan State game - it's the first game of the year, it's being played in Germany, and it's on a boat.

The game is being played inside an airplane hangar, not on a boat. Ramstein AFB is probably about 300 miles from the ocean.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Are they doing the military uniforms for that game like UNC and MSU last year? Would love to see a UConn version of that.

 

[UConnSwag11]

anythings possible with the MSU game, we do have the german connection... i could see us losing that game but winning at the garden with what i hope will be a massive pro uconn crowd 90%

 

[husky99]

I would be ok splitting the msu and ncst game..how great would be the win over msu for this team team and ollie

 

[DogMania]

We're not the favorites, but weird things could happen in that Michigan State game - it's the first game of the year, it's being played in Germany, and it's on a boat. No better time for an upset there.

Historically, it's best to catch MSU early. They tend to struggle out of the gate for whatever reason and then get hot late. That game might be more winnable than most think.

With that said, I don't know what to expect this coming season. We have some solid experience and talent at the both guard positions and the wing. I have a feeling Omar will play mature for his age. If healthy, the combination fo Bazz & Boat can be a handle to keep out of the paint and beyond the arc. Lamb will be missed, but I think we'll get solid production from the wing rotation of Daniels, Giffey and Tolksdorf.

It's our front court of Wolf, Olander and Nolan that scares the heck out of me. That's not only a thin rotation of 3 bigs at the 4 & 5, but a very experienced group with suspect talent. What happens if Wolf is not able to play at the level needed or stay on the floor for very long. There's no one on the roster that has true 5-man size. There are going to be games where the 6-8 Tolksdorf or Daniels will be called upon to play the 4. According to ESPN.com, Tolksdorf is listed at 220 lbs while DD hasn't eclipsed the 200 mark weighing in at 195.

Needless to say, KO is going to have to get this team to play fast on offense and pressure the perimeter a lot on defense. Teams with size are going to shred us if they are able to easily get the ball in the post to their bigs. Who'd a thought that we would be wishing Bradley hadn't transfered. We'd at least have another big body with some years in the weight room under his belt. I hope Nolan hais filled out since his junior year. ESPN has him listed as 6-9 but barely topping 2 bills at 203 lbs.

 

[CTBasketball]

MSU(N) - W
VT -W
Wake(N) - W
Iona or Quinn(N) -W
tba(N) - W
SB - W
UNH -W
NCST(N) - Idk.
Harvard -W
MES - W
Fordham -W
Wash - W (This will be a very hard game to win.)