PN playing well

[Pudge]

I don't get it.

Why in praising Nolan do you have to knock Olander? TO is a fine college player. He never was going to be anything but a kid who worked his ass off & got maybe double digit minutes. He got elevated when RS & AO left. With Wolf, we had the equivalent of a good MAAC frontcourt. Nolan appears to be developing some good things right in front of us. We still need the savvy of TO. (I think a lot of posters ignore the basic defense a guy like Olander plays ... not the blocks or the rebounds; just the postioning) It's all good.

 

[ChrisSmith]

Personally, I agree. Keep playing Nolan until he shows this two game stretch was a fluke.

Well I think Nolan will keep playing simply because UConn has 8 healthy bodies. And he has played every game since Wolf was suspended.

As to what was the fluke, 2 games ago through 5 games ago, Nolan played a combined 36 minutes and scored 0 points. So today seems more like the fluke. Maybe he's turned a corner. But I think chances are we see inconsistency the rest of the season. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another good game, and another game where he doesn't take a shot.

Regardless, Nolan will continue to see time, as will Olander.

 

[Rico444]

I don't get it.

Why in praising Nolan do you have to knock Olander? TO is a fine college player. He never was going to be anything but a kid who worked his ass off & got maybe double digit minutes. He got elevated when RS & AO left. With Wolf, we had the equivalent of a good MAAC frontcourt. Nolan appears to be developing some good things right in front of us. We still need the savvy of TO. (I think a lot of posters ignore the basic defense a guy like Olander plays ... not the blocks or the rebounds; just the postioning) It's all good.

Olander plays OK defense, but he doesn't rebound well and doesn't have enough strength to be, overall, a good center in the Big East. If you think that's a knock, I'm sorry. It's just the truth. I think he can play a role, but Nolan deserves more minutes than TO.

 

[ChrisSmith]

What has Olander shown you to make you think he's better? Nolan played better D and rebounded better in this game and against Georgetown. He deserves the chance to prove that he's legit.

Here's from another thread:
FG % - advantage Olander
FT % - advantage Olander
Pts per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Rbds per 40 minutes - advantage Nolan (7.2 vs. 6.5, hardly significant, and both are poor)
Blocks per 40 mintues - even
Steals per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Turnovers per 40 minutes - even
Fouls per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Assists per 40 minutes - advantage Olander

So that's what makes me think Olander is the better player this year.

 

[Rico444]

Well I think Nolan will keep playing simply because UConn has 8 healthy bodies. And he has played every game since Wolf was suspended.

As to what was the fluke, 2 games ago through 5 games ago, Nolan played a combined 36 minutes and scored 0 points. So today seems more like the fluke. Maybe he's turned a corner. But I think chances are we see inconsistency the rest of the season. I wouldn't be surprised if he has another good game, and another game where he doesn't take a shot.

Regardless, Nolan will continue to see time, as will Olander.

He's a freshman, so yeah, I expect him to get better as the season goes on. And this is now two games in a row where he has played really well; Ollie just didn't give him as many minutes against Georgetown. I'm not saying he's the second coming, but he deserves to play at least 15 minutes and prove that this WAS a fluke, like you say.

 

[ChrisSmith]

Olander plays OK defense, but he doesn't rebound well and doesn't have enough strength to be, overall, a good center in the Big East. If you think that's a knock, I'm sorry. It's just the truth. I think he can play a role, but Nolan deserves more minutes than TO.

See my above post for what seems to me to be pretty clear evidence Olander has been the better player this year. Now tonight Nolan was clearly the better player - and played almost twice as many minutes as Olander! And maybe Nolan will be the better player the next 2 games and next year, and should get more minutes.

So I don't get what people are trying to argue. To me it just seems like people are blasting on Olander for playing 14 minutes, when it's not Olander's fault there was nobody else to play those 14 minutes tonight.

 

[Rico444]

Here's from another thread:
FG % - advantage Olander
FT % - advantage Olander
Pts per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Rbds per 40 minutes - advantage Nolan (7.2 vs. 6.5, hardly significant, and both are poor)
Blocks per 40 mintues - even
Steals per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Turnovers per 40 minutes - even
Fouls per 40 minutes - advantage Olander
Assists per 40 minutes - advantage Olander

So that's what makes me think Olander is the better player this year.

Nolan has been getting about 3 minutes per game, you're really gonna extrapolate that out over 40 minutes? Besides, I already said that Olander was the better player earlier in the year. But Nolan appears to have turned a corner that last two games, and with how poorly Olander has played, and the fact that Nolan is a freshman and he's more likely to improve significantly, makes me pretty optimistic that this is legitimate. But at the very least, give him a chance to prove me wrong!!!

 

[ChrisSmith]

He's a freshman, so yeah, I expect him to get better as the season goes on. And this is now two games in a row where he has played really well; Ollie just didn't give him as many minutes against Georgetown. I'm not saying he's the second coming, but he deserves to play at least 15 minutes and prove that this WAS a fluke, like you say.

He did not play "really well" against Georgetown. He took 1 shot and has 2 rebounds. That is not playing "really well". He gave a solid 14 minutes, nothing more. He did play "really well" today, or at least something close to it.

 

[Rico444]

He did not play "really well" against Georgetown. He took 1 shot and has 2 rebounds. That is not playing "really well". He gave a solid 14 minutes, nothing more. He did play "really well" today, or at least something close to it.

He also played great defense against Nate Lubick, while Olander did not.

 

[ChrisSmith]

Nolan has been getting about 3 minutes per game, you're really gonna extrapolate that out over 40 minutes? Besides, I already said that Olander was the better player earlier in the year. But Nolan appears to have turned a corner that last two games, and with how poorly Olander has played, and the fact that Nolan is a freshman and he's more likely to improve significantly, makes me pretty optimistic that this is legitimate. But at the very least, give him a chance to prove me wrong!!!

How else can you compare them without extrapolating? Just use poster's subjective opinions? Extrapolating isn't ideal, but it's the best option.

 

[Rico444]

How else can you compare them without extrapolating? Just use poster's subjective opinions? Extrapolating isn't ideal, but it's the best option.

Let's just save each other the next 30 minutes of going back and forth...I agree Olander was better early in the year, even said it in my last post, but Nolan has shown enough improvement to where I think he deserves at least the same number of minutes as Olander in the last few games. I think from these last few posts we both agree on that. We also both agree that he was very good today. So the only disagreement now is whether or not Nolan played a good game against Georgetown. Let's just agree to disagree on that one and drop it, because I don't really care enough about it when we agree on pretty much everything else.

 

[aceboon]

this dude ChrisSmith is making my head hurt

 

[Brochacho]

Olander is a better player than Nolan, I think. Right now at least. But for how they have to be used Nolan's skills translate much better to the 5 than Olander. It's like asking a second baseman and a first baseman to play short, the second baseman (Nolan) will translate better than the first (Olander).

Olander is a point forward, better off playing up high making good passes and able to crash the boards. Can't use him that way on this team. Nolan is better around the basket and better at fighting for position.

I think Nolan has the potential to be special.

 

[aceboon]

Olander is a better player than Nolan, I think. Right now at least. But for how they have to be used Nolan's skills translate much better to the 5 than Olander. It's like asking a second baseman and a first baseman to play short, the second baseman (Nolan) will translate better than the first (Olander).

Olander is a point forward, better off playing up high making good passes and able to crash the boards. Can't use him that way on this team. Nolan is better around the basket and better at fighting for position.

I think Nolan has the potential to be special.

Olander is not a point forward

 

[ChrisSmith]

Let's just save each other the next 30 minutes of going back and forth...I agree Olander was better early in the year, even said it in my last post, but Nolan has shown enough improvement to where I think he deserves at least the same number of minutes as Olander in the last few games. I think from these last few posts we both agree on that. We also both agree that he was very good today. So the only disagreement now is whether or not Nolan played a good game against Georgetown. Let's just agree to disagree on that one and drop it, because I don't really care enough about it when we agree on pretty much everything else.

That's not the disagreement. The disagreement is that I don't think it's necessary to knock Olander in order to compliment Nolan. The kid tries hard and stays out of trouble. It's not his fault that UConn needs him to play 15 minutes plus a game.
Let's compliment Nolan without saying Olander shouldn't play anymore. Olander will still get 14 minutes like he did tonight even if Nolan is playing 26.

 

[Huskyforlife]

He did not play "really well" against Georgetown. He took 1 shot and has 2 rebounds. That is not playing "really well". He gave a solid 14 minutes, nothing more. He did play "really well" today, or at least something close to it.

You're a joke if you think olander does the things we need him to do better than Nolan. You're right when you say neither is great yet, but if Nolan played olander type minutes his averges would look better.

 

[mauconnfan]

Tyler is what he is.......leave the kid alone......he helped us to get to 19-9 somehow, he had to whether you like it or not......

Now Phil didn't look like he belonged in the line up yet for the 1st 20 or more games but suddenly that's a new kid. As I said before he is noticeably stronger looking in the shoulders and arms (not saying huge but definitely respect the work put in) and I believe that play well into his confidence out there. He snatch a couple rebounds away, seems to have quick ups and is moving his feet noticeably better........he's going to be a player for sure and will get more minutes in the last 2 if he continues this play!! I'm happy for the kid, seems real nice and was patient but put his work in!

 

[SeattleHoop]

Olander shouldn't get knocked i agree. Though through skimming Rico's post I didn't observe any "knocking" really. Just observation that Nolan brings a better set of skills to the table, which I happen to agree with so far. And I also agree that he should have the chance to prove me wrong. Nothing on Olander, I just think Nolan is a good player and deserves more time than he has been getting. No "knocking" at all. And I think Ollie has noticed Nolan's contributions and I am willing to bet he gets increasingly more time the rest of the season and into next year.

 

[UChusky916]

The fact that many people coming to say 'hey, be nice to Olander' shows how obvious it is that he shouldn't be playing over Nolan at this point. No one is knocking Olander, we're just stating facts. Nolan looks better and he should play more minutes than Tyler. Starting doesn't matter, but Nolan needs minutes.

 

[huskyharry]

Moot point now...with NG out they both will be getting plenty of minutes....Leon should get a few more as well.

 

[DanDar]

Nolan as a freshman didn't know the offense and was liability earlier in the year on offensive sets. Clearly that is behind him now.

Sent from my MAXX HD.

 

[uconnforlife]

When I went to the open UConn practice in December nobody practiced harder then Phil Nolan. He was fighting for rebounds and diving for loose balls and from then on I knew he was gonna be a solid player. Just didn't think he would get the chance to show it this year but he has.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Nolan as a freshman didn't know the offense and was liability earlier in the year on offensive sets. Clearly that is behind him now.

Sent from my MAXX HD.

Agree, there were times where Phil looked lost and it would cost the team. He actually had a pretty rough start in the game yesterday, but came back with a strong second half. He had a great aggressive rebound in a key spot down the stretch. He went up like he was determined that no one else was going to touch that ball, which was great to see. He looks very quick and fast for his height. He does not seem to be a really instinctive shot blocker so far, but maybe he will show more of that with time.

 

[ChrisSmith]

First half:
Olander - 1-2 from the field, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 0 turnovers, 0 fouls
Nolan - 1-2 from the field, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 1 foul

Clearly Olander is the better player. Olander needs to get Nolan's minutes.

 

[ChrisSmith]

In case you can't tell, that was sarcasm. Both these guys need to play tonight and against PC. I think Nolan has more upside, but Olander still may be the better player today. No reason to blast one guy or the other. Let's hope they both can contribute.