Palpable Buzz

[mauconnfan]

Alterique certainly has the potential to be special so no reason to say "this is not possible." I mean I am quite sure the hype machine is on in full blast although we haven't heard much else, but this wouldn't do anything but make Jalen better also so I hope it's true or close. I mean 2 games last year and we have people saying he sucked on defense, he didn't do much blah blah blah. It's almost equal to the nitwits who were throwing Chill under the bus after a month or 2 because he couldn't close.

The kids is really good, if he stay healthy and and Jalen can possibly be one of the top 5 backcourts in the country and add CV and Anderson potentially the best overall or close. It's all good no reason to play our backcourt against each other. They will need to have chemistry early and I think the time they've had to spend will allow that to begin early this year, heck it has to.

 

[Son of Robert]

this is going to sound corny as hell but rique controlling the aux cord was huge first indicator. he has lockerroom under his control

Not such a silly post and I know you are aware of this. We both saw the same interview probably. Jalen's playing music too. It's just subtle directed information that helps point us towards the dynamics.

 

[King Husky]

Yeah I appreciate this opinion here, but Jalen Adams is a better basketball player than AG. He's got more experience, more skill, more size. I'm not saying it's a huge margin, but Jalen is the face of the team.

Jalen's a better player in terms of his skillset, but it all comes down to who can influence games more... which is often mental.

 

[David 76]

Let's go for best backcourt and not which guard is better.

 

[MSGSeven]

this is going to sound corny as hell but rique controlling the aux cord was huge first indicator. he has lockerroom under his control

Yeah it does but you've been on fire lately so you get a pass

 

[ctchamps]

Jalen's a better player in terms of his skillset, but it all comes down to who can influence games more... which is often mental.

Rip was a far better player than KEA but KEA was JC's floor general. He had the knack for observing and understanding the court as well as the moxie to stand up to JC and keep the players loose.

Real good team players know how to defer in addition to offering skill sets. Additionally some players feel more comfortable leading as opposed to following and vice versa.

Of course this is all conjecture. When the season opens we'll find out how the players work things out.

 

[Waquoit]

Rip was a far better player than KEA

People forget how good KEA was.

 

[superjohn]

People forget how good KEA was.

El-Amin was great but Rip was far better, not at all a slight to Khalid.

 

[ctchamps]

El-Amin was great but Rip was far better, not at all a slight to Khalid.

Exactly.

My best scouting report ever was going to MM (app. two hour drive each way) observing freshman KEA and telling my wife and son Khalid was the piece the team needed and he was going to help UConn get it's first NCAA championship. I was very high on the kid's ability and leadership.

I was blown away with how he led his players even in a glorified scrimmage.

 

[mauconnfan]

El-Amin was great but Rip was far better, not at all a slight to Khalid.

This^

But Waq is right many do forget how good, or how important KEA was to the Huskies. I mean Rip was a better player and there is no doubting that but in the overall scheme of things they were of fairly equal importance to the overall mental strength of that team. One with what he did the other with how he led, 2 Husky greats for sure.

 

[Waquoit]

El-Amin was great but Rip was far better, not at all a slight to Khalid.

Yeah, it is. Rip wasn't far better. They were 1 and 1A.

 

[superjohn]

Yeah, it is. Rip wasn't far better. They were 1 and 1A.

IMO opinion he was. Of course we needed both of them to win it all but Rip and Brand were 1 and 1A in the whole country. I love Khalid and he is an all-timer but Rip had the best UConn career ever IMO.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I saw Foxen and another very tall young man at the football game today. Both looked very tall.

 

[Goat]

There were not enough games before Alterique and Terry were hurt to be sure, but I did feel that there was some sorting out that never was completed last fall over whether Alterique or Jalen was the alpha. Before Jalen stepped up last season to be the unopposed leader, I would have bet that Alterique was going to emerge as the alpha. Jalen and Terry were also going to each be a force, but Alterique would be the true point. An obviously improved Jalen with a supporting cast is going to be a big improvement from last year's reduced roster. But, if Jalen and Alterique can play at the same time, sharing on the ball duties, the team will be tough to defend and the offense will be better than it has been for a while. I won't care about the controversy over whether the best player was the one scoring the most points or the one making the most assists.

Of course, Boneyarders will savage each other trying to make the distinction.

Meanwhile, I want to hear the buzz about who is going to grab 10 rebounds a game.

 

[UConnSwag11]

We have Adams, Gilbert, Vital, and Anderson. What are some of the other top backcourts in the country?

 

[Huskyforlife]

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.

Gilbert was toasted repeatedly last year.

 

[EastConn'er]

Gilbert was toasted repeatedly last year.

You mean the same Gilbert, who stole an inbound pass at the end of the Northeastern game & missed a game tying 3-pointer @ the buzzer? He played 2.5 games, so hard to say he was "repeatedly was toasted"... He's the same guy who was noted has Plus defender during several summer camps. I forget who reported it, but it was reported many top PGs struggled to bring the ball up the court against his on the ball defense.

 

[Kenny11]

Gilbert was toasted repeatedly last year.

First year on campus...I would hope he got toasted repeatedly.

 

[Kevin Caliendo]

I'm actually surprside its not Larrier. he's the guy I think that has the best chance to be an NBA player on the team.

 

[JimHurley]

We have Adams, Gilbert, Vital, and Anderson. What are some of the other top backcourts in the country?

Duke: Allen, Trent, Duval, O'Connell
Arizona: Trier, Jackson-Cartright, Alkins
Villanova: Brunson, Booth, DiVincenzo, Bridges

 

[Rewster]

You mean the same Gilbert, who stole an inbound pass at the end of the Northeastern game & missed a game tying 3-pointer @ the buzzer? He played 2.5 games, so hard to say he was "repeatedly was toasted"... He's the same guy who was noted has Plus defender during several summer camps. I forget who reported it, but it was reported many top PGs struggled to bring the ball up the court against his on the ball defense.

I remember hearing the same report on AG's defense and while the sample size was very small given the hype I was about disappointed in what I saw also.

He looks to be more of an opportunistic defender. Setting up the other guard for occasional steals but not a balls out in your shorts defender cutting off penetration.
Time will tell.

 

[Huskymagic]

You mean the same Gilbert, who stole an inbound pass at the end of the Northeastern game & missed a game tying 3-pointer @ the buzzer? He played 2.5 games, so hard to say he was "repeatedly was toasted"... He's the same guy who was noted has Plus defender during several summer camps. I forget who reported it, but it was reported many top PGs struggled to bring the ball up the court against his on the ball defense.

He was toasted repeatedly and had trouble with size on him. Alterique is the third best player on this team after Jalen and Terry. We need him to be good but not to run the team for this year, he's not there yet.

If Jalen is not running the show as the lead guard with the rock in his hands mostly, we will not be good. Yes Rique will get to handle the rock as well but it should be 80 to 20% in favor of Jalen.

 

[Wordbomar]

Duke: Allen, Trent, Duval, O'Connell
Arizona: Trier, Jackson-Cartright, Alkins
Villanova: Brunson, Booth, DiVincenzo, Bridges

That’s good company

 

[EastConn'er]

He was toasted repeatedly and had trouble with size on him. Alterique is the third best player on this team after Jalen and Terry. We need him to be good but not to run the team for this year, he's not there yet.

If Jalen is not running the show as the lead guard with the rock in his hands mostly, we will not be good. Yes Rique will get to handle the rock as well but it should be 80 to 20% in favor of Jalen.

Yes, we get you are not high on AG, but he's a lot better than you give him credit for. He was not roasted. He had 7 steals in 2.5 games. You need to stop making assumptions that JA or AG is the best player, both will have the ball in their hands throughout the game. Stop making it a competition. PS - JA averaged over 3 TO's per game, AG 1.3 TO's.

 

[DonaldDraper]

Lots of stat dumping here that is not germane to the coming team. Jalen scored more, turned it over more and missed more shots than he should this year. The hope is that we have a balanced attack that doesn't require him to have to generate all of the offense. If what the tweet says is true it means teams can't load up their defense on Jalen, and if they do AG is going to make them pay for it. It is a very valuable asset to have two players who can break down a defense because it spreads the defense and makes it easier for both players to do so. The difference in style will be fun to watch as AG seems to be a blow-bye/first step guy like Kemba whereas Jalen is a downhill guard who uses size and jumping ability.

With all of this in mind, Jalen will be Batman and AG will be Robin to start the season and it will require an extremely decisive advantage by AG to change that.