Player Who Will Improve the Most by 2012/13

[Frank Ivy]

Who ya' got?
I'm hoping that 3 players will have break out years. 2 would be awesome. 1 would be nice.

I think Napier will improve, but will essentially be the same player, with added wisdom, next season.
It will be hard to know if Wolf improved.
Giffey can definitely make a big jump, and be a 10/6/5 kind of player.
Olander, I think, will improve, but will pretty much be the lovable big lug we've come to know.
Boatright will definitely be better, but he was very good already, so his increase might not be that, relatively, large.

So I'm going with Daniels. I'm hoping he goes from struggling bench player to a 10/5/3 kind of player. I think he has the skill set, and I'm figuring he's going to get the PT.

I'm excited about 2012/2013. It sucks that we're staring a tourni ban in it's .44 muzzle, but . . .

. . . this will be a building year. I don't see anybody leaving or going pro in 2013, which means that 2013/14 is going to be a year where we may be fielding a team with some good upperclass leadership and some good young talent.

It's 70F outside, I'm attending a nice party, my wife is awesome, and I'm thinking about UConn Ball.

Who you got?

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I run the risk of being disappointed, but I continue to think that Giffey could be a bigger contributor IF JC made a commitment to play him and stick with him. He has to be able to loosen up and play more instinctively. Calhoun would need to let him play through mistakes, tell him to score the ball, and not just be someone who passes to someone else unless he's wide open.

I wonder if Deandre could play some at the 4. I know he's as skinny as a rail, but I'm not sure that Nolan is all that much bigger. At whatever position he plays, I'd like to see him try to do more than shoot 3 pointers.

If they could become threats to drive the ball and make plays, it becomes a lot harder to shut down our smurf guards.

The best would be if Wolf could come in and make some hook shots and generally be a plus rather than a big liability. Again, he will need playing time to see if he can play at this level. I would love to see a finesse post player who can make offensive plays, pass the ball, and be serviceable rebounding and defending. It all comes down to whether he can run and move with decent quickness.

Although Boat had some very good moments as a frosh, it would be great to see him become better able to create enough space to get off midrange shots more easily and to generally shoot the ball more consistently. I also would like him to become a much better entry passer, as well as zone buster. Is that too much to ask?

 

[champs99and04]

Honestly wouldn't be surprised if Boatright averaged like 23 and 6 next year. Nobody can guard him.

But I'll be conservative and say 17 and 6 for Boatright, which may or may not be most improved.

For next years team to reach it's full potential, I sure hope it's Daniels.

 

[DrewDog85]

Honestly wouldn't be surprised if Boatright averaged like 23 and 6 next year. Nobody can guard him.

But I'll be conservative and say 17 and 6 for Boatright, which may or may not be most improved.

For next years team to reach it's full potential, I sure hope it's Daniels.

Has to be Daniels !!!!

 

[Huskies4ever]

[quote="It's 70F outside, I'm attending a nice party, my wife is awesome, and I'm thinking about UConn Ball.[/quote]
This just means you're a nut like the rest of us.

My bet is Daniels. He certainly has the tools and will have a year under his belt.

 

[Danzz]

I run the risk of being disappointed, but I continue to think that Giffey could be a bigger contributor IF JC made a commitment to play him and stick with him. He has to be able to loosen up and play more instinctively. Calhoun would need to let him play through mistakes, tell him to score the ball, and not just be someone who passes to someone else unless he's wide open.

I wonder if Deandre could play some at the 4. I know he's as skinny as a rail, but I'm not sure that Nolan is all that much bigger. At whatever position he plays, I'd like to see him try to do more than shoot 3 pointers.

If they could become threats to drive the ball and make plays, it becomes a lot harder to shut down our smurf guards.

The best would be if Wolf could come in and make some hook shots and generally be a plus rather than a big liability. Again, he will need playing time to see if he can play at this level. I would love to see a finesse post player who can make offensive plays, pass the ball, and be serviceable rebounding and defending. It all comes down to whether he can run and move with decent quickness.

Although Boat had some very good moments as a frosh, it would be great to see him become better able to create enough space to get off midrange shots more easily and to generally shoot the ball more consistently. I also would like him to become a much better entry passer, as well as zone buster. Is that too much to ask?

The other problem with Giffey is his teamates don't pass to him. Watch him when he is in the game and you will see what i mean.

 

[imno1]

The other problem with Giffey is his teamates don't pass to him. Watch him when he is in the game and you will see what i mean.

But when they do pass it to him he gives it up immediately which could be the reason they don't pass it to him.
I expect Bazz and Boat to play at a high level next season. But it's DD's time to shine if this team expects to be competitive. To me he has the highest ceiling since he was ranked so highly but showed nothing last year. Reminded me of Jamal Coombs-McDaniel with expectations and performance first year.

 

[willie99]

Tyler, Neils & Wolfe (OMG, almost forgot DD)

Bazz as already accomplished a lot and Boat looks good too

I guess I expect them all to be a lot better, it's tradition

 

[huskyharry]

I think Shabazz and TO struggled with injuries for much of the second half of the year...SN's foot trouble and TO's heel. Early in the season, TO was playing very well...averaging close to a double-double and shooting with confidence. Once he got injured he was a step slower and then lost confidence in his shot.
At time SN was almost a no show then other games he would score 25+ , shoot really well and pass well. Early in the season, his shooting % was much better.
Boatshow was hampered by the NCAA attack and the resultant uncertainty about when he would get to play, then difficulty finding his role within the team chemistry.
DD started his season with a long dry spelling shooting...which hurt his confidence in other aspects of his game. Then he got buried on the bench when Roscoe started playing better the last couple of weeks.
NG played consistently solid defense and always gave good effort but lack of playing time made it tough to get confidence in his shot.
Wolf is definitely going to be much improved, because of much more attention from the coaching staff, a good work effort and more time on the court.
However, I think the biggest improvement will be in how they play as a team...I.e. team chemistry.
We lost 4 important players from last year's team and another player with potential who never saw the court. But each of those 4 players had deficiencies in their games and their potential far exceeded their actual performance.
AO and RS were sub-par passers. AD had highlight reals that showed he was a good passer but in practice threw it away more times than he made a great pass. AO also had horrible hands and would fumble away passes and rebounds every game.
JLamb played three outstanding games & played very well in stretches for the rest of the year but was also often a shrinking violet on offense and sometimes fell asleep on defense.

The new editions will obviously bring less raw talent to the table, but it is likely that we will see much better ball movement, more emphasis on team play and hopefully fewer turnovers

 

[Rico444]

I think the next few years, this team will sink or swim based on the play of Shabazz and the boat show (no pun intended). I think both will be really good next year.