Palpable Buzz

[UConnStats]

Jalen's turnovers really hurt his efficiency, and Alterique is a better defender, so it wouldn't shock me if Gilbert was the best player on the team.

His counting stats probably won't be as high as Adams', but if he's more efficient he could be the better player.

 

[ctchamps]

The thing about Deng....he could have been a tremendous college basketball players, but he had the worst people in his ear. Once they thought they had a superstar on their hands, they immediately thought they were better coaches than Calhoun. (And especially Leitao, who they seemed to have a vendetta against.)

Even at Fairfield, which became a true grease fire, Deng and Deng Gai responded to the crossfire by barely making an effort to play team basketball.

Similar to Majok, nothing good happens when you have handlers worried about their own bottom line.

People love you're humor and deservedly so. It's brilliant. I find these background stories you provide even more valuable. Thanks.

 

[husky429]

Jalen's turnovers really hurt his efficiency, and Alterique is a better defender, so it wouldn't shock me if Gilbert was the best player on the team.

His counting stats probably won't be as high as Adams', but if he's more efficient he could be the better player.

His defense was not better than jalens in the couple games they played together. Alterique was beyond atrocious. And jalen wasnt great either, to be fair. That can change, but lets not create a false narrative.

Jalens offensive burden hindered his defense last year. Lets see what hes capable of this year before making that judgment.

Our D is going to look very differrent this year to the less "casual fans". Ollie mentioned during his speech that without a rim protector well see less pressure off the ball, more helping on drives, and attempts to get the ball into the least-playmaker type wings hands.

 

[UConnStats]

His defense was not better than jalens in the couple games they played together. Alterique was beyond atrocious. And jalen wasnt great either, to be fair. That can change, but lets not create a false narrative.

Jalens offensive burden hindered his defense last year. Lets see what hes capable of this year before making that judgment.

Our D is going to look very differrent this year to the less "casual fans". Ollie mentioned during his speech that without a rim protector well see less pressure off the ball, more helping on drives, and attempts to get the ball into the least-playmaker type wings hands.

I'd amend that to say that Gilbert had a better defensive rep coming out of high school. He'll also get more steals, which will lead to some easy transition buckets.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

This shouldn't turn into a jalen vs ag conversation! It's just good to hear that statement either way. Jalen knows what he has to prove, Terry too! Maybe this buzz is just motivation for AG to try to live up to the hype? Maybe he actually looks really good? Either way this bids well for Uconn basketball this year, and that excites me!

 

[husky429]

I'd amend that to say that Gilbert had a better defensive rep coming out of high school. He'll also get more steals, which will lead to some easy transition buckets.

True. Hopefully he took this last yesr to pick up in rotations and communication because with his insane speed, he could be elite

Gonna be nice to have one lengthy guard in jalen, a sniper in cv, and some speed in rique. Tons of flexibility on the perimeter

 

[UConnStats]

True. Hopefully he took this last yesr to pick up in rotations and communication because with his insane speed, he could be elite

Gonna be nice to have one lengthy guard in jalen, a sniper in cv, and some speed in rique. Tons of flexibility on the perimeter

Yeah, obviously the fact that we're even having this conversation means good things for the program. I'm ready for the season to start.

 

[Waquoit]

Jalens offensive burden hindered his defense last year.

Do you really believe that?

 

[Walker11]

Do you really believe that?

Do you actually not believe this?

There is a reason guys who are elite on both sides are so rare.

 

[UConnNick]

"Oh, he's the best player on the team," El-Amin replied.

You mean besides you and Richard Hamilton, right?

"I said, he's the best player on the team."

Out of Africa Forced to leave his home in war-torn Sudan at age nine and raised in Egypt and England 6'11" freshman forward Ajou Deng is bringing a world of talent to Connecticut

#palpablebuzz

In all seriousness, I DO think AG is going to be awesome. But better than JA this year? Gosh, I doubt it.

That may have been true as a practice player, which is all Khalid had seen of him at the time he made his comment. Unfortunately, it didn't transfer to the court during real games.

 

[husky429]

Do you really believe that?

You dont think the amount of time he spent with the ball being double teamed, and chased around the floor, being the only viable 1v1 scoring option would exhaust a player on tje other end of the floor?

Youre crazy if you dont think that. Jalen was literally on the floor after some games, all while going through multiple injuries. He had insane heart last year

 

[Kenny11]

I heard Gilbert was more impressive than Adams before the season last year, but mostly because Adams was out of shape, enjoying campus life,and had little injuries (from being out of shape). But I think Adams is taking things much more serious now. Both should be very good. Adams will be better.

 

[Waquoit]

Do you actually not believe this?
There is a reason guys who are elite on both sides are so rare.

I don't buy it one bit. Defense is effort. Last year all I read was the incredible pressure Rodney was under because he had to do it all himself. Now I'm reading Jalen's offensive "burden"? Please. How do you have two guys having to "do it all " themselves? Let's play team ball and play defense, too. Never heard about Kemba or Bazz using their offensive "burden" to excuse their defense.

 

[Rico444]

You dont think the amount of time he spent with the ball being double teamed, and chased around the floor, being the only viable 1v1 scoring option would exhaust a player on tje other end of the floor?

Youre crazy if you dont think that. Jalen was literally on the floor after some games, all while going through multiple injuries. He had insane heart last year

Not to mention during conference games, he basically didn't come off the court. I'm sure he was exhausted at the end of games. He had more asked of him than any UConn guard since Kemba.

 

[Danzz]

You dont think the amount of time he spent with the ball being double teamed, and chased around the floor, being the only viable 1v1 scoring option would exhaust a player on tje other end of the floor?

Youre crazy if you dont think that. Jalen was literally on the floor after some games, all while going through multiple injuries. He had insane heart last year

Agree. Jalen had to do too much and something had to suffer. They were unable to rest him enough and he looked exhausted at times. Try playing D when your legs are like rubber.

 

[Walker11]

I don't buy it one bit. Defense is effort. Last year all I read was the incredible pressure Rodney was under because he had to do it all himself. Now I'm reading Jalen's offensive "burden"? Please. How do you have two guys having to "do it all " themselves? Let's play team ball and play defense, too. Never heard about Kemba or Bazz using their offensive "burden" to excuse their defense.

TBH, this is too obvious to waste my time arguing. Think what you want.

 

[ctchamps]

Do you really believe that?

I'd say it was more of the minutes he had to play and the ankle injury really inhibited his ability on both ends.

 

[husky429]

I don't buy it one bit. Defense is effort. Last year all I read was the incredible pressure Rodney was under because he had to do it all himself. Now I'm reading Jalen's offensive "burden"? Please. How do you have two guys having to "do it all " themselves? Let's play team ball and play defense, too. Never heard about Kemba or Bazz using their offensive "burden" to excuse their defense.

Thats because kemba and bazz didnt have their sidekick off the court for all but two games. Jalen played close to 40 minutes a night and was the ONLY real ballhandler on the team...

God i hope you dont coach this game. Poor kids

 

[ctchamps]

His defense was not better than jalens in the couple games they played together. Alterique was beyond atrocious. And jalen wasnt great either, to be fair. That can change, but lets not create a false narrative.

Jalens offensive burden hindered his defense last year. Lets see what hes capable of this year before making that judgment.

Our D is going to look very differrent this year to the less "casual fans". Ollie mentioned during his speech that without a rim protector well see less pressure off the ball, more helping on drives, and attempts to get the ball into the least-playmaker type wings hands.

I felt Jalen, Christian and even Vance improved significantly over the season. Gilbert has the rep as @UConnStats pointed out so I'm not worried about him. The biggest concern is Terry. I felt in his limited play he was a liability on defense.

Well he's the second biggest concern. I have no clue if there is a decent defensive player to play the 4 and 5.

 

[Jim]

The real test for being the best player on the team is if he makes everyone around him better. When healthy AG has all the tools to do that. I can't wait to see if the reports are true!

 

[sammydabiz]

My biggest worry:

Last year Jalen looked his best when handeling the rock and distributing. His vision on the court was masterful at times.
If AG becomes the primary ball handler, I'm not sure how Jalen's game will further develop. Not saying it won't, just that JA primarily being off the ball a lil nervous how his game is going to develop. Even though Bazz & Boat were natural 1's both were great off the ball as well. Hoping for the same this year too

 

[nashusky109]

Hes our starting PG and if he's healthy I don't see anyone starting over him. People forget he was a highly touted recruit for us and we only saw a 2 game sample. I'm so excited for Jalen and Alterique to tear up the court this season.

 

[HawkHusky]

Last year we had no chance in games where Jalen had an off day or opponents shut him down. If the above about AG is true, we won't have to worry about it as much this year. That's a huge positive.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Nice thread title my man

 

[ctchamps]

Nice thread title my man

Initially, on quick glance, I saw palpable Bazz. Coincidence? I think not.