Postgrad Watch 3.0

[Hugo]

We don't need a stud big man; 3 of UCONN's championships were won without one. Just a serviceable one. He has to be able to rebound/D/set screens/pass a little and score garbage. We'll see about the guys on our roster.

Think we are saying pretty much the same thing. I mentioned D and rebounding. Add your screening and passing and we are on the same page. A Jake or an AO would be a major upgrade to what it appears we have at the 5 next year. However, I would love to have a true stud as it opens up the inside-out game which we have not had recently.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You are far less smart than Ollie is, so how you could say this is beyond me.

I love the irony of people worrying about depth at center and saying we wasted a scholarship on Cobb. Are people even watching the NCAA tournament? A lot of teams with 6'9" space eaters at the 5. I think Durham will be solid and put on some muscle too since he's finally not injured.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Here's a Post Grad worth considering. For those of you who can remember three years ago a common opinion on this board from Janury on was that we "always seem to go on a run when TSAM is in the lineup". In this video TSAM gets 2 points, 1 rebound, and an assist from the forward position.

I see TSAM as a point forward in a three guard lineup. He is not a point guard.

No. We need a big or a sniper that we know can contribute immediately.
Only way we should consider taking back TSam is if we have ABSOLUTELY no options to fill a need.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Here's a Post Grad worth considering. For those of you who can remember three years ago a common opinion on this board from Janury on was that we "always seem to go on a run when TSAM is in the lineup". In this video TSAM gets 2 points, 1 rebound, and an assist from the forward position.

I see TSAM as a point forward in a three guard lineup. He is not a point guard.

dude no way...not at all

 

[mauconnfan]

I love the irony of people worrying about depth at center and saying we wasted a scholarship on Cobb. Are people even watching the NCAA tournament? A lot of teams with 6'9" space eaters at the 5. I think Durham will be solid and put on some muscle too since he's finally not injured.

I know he's not going to be like Shaq from Wichita State but similar body and their defense with I'm in the middle was really good clogging it up. Don't need shot blockers as much as you need smart space eaters. Agree Hawk!!

 

[Fishy]

Elijah Brown is leaving New Mexico and no, UConn should not recruit him.

Not a good shooter, takes a ton of bad shots and doesn't even know what defense is.

 

[pj]

I think most informed posters with half a brain would disagree with you. He was the "6th man" in 14 and a key cog. Apparently he also ran over your dog which is unfortunate.

Terence Samuel 2014 stats, 2013-14 UConn Huskies Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com: 9th on the team in minutes played with 9.0 per game; 9th on the team in points with 1.4 per game; 12th on the team in rebounds with 0.9 per game. For a "sixth" man he's awfully 9th-12th ish.

 

[mauconnfan]

And yet we don't win a national champiship in 14 without him. So suck on that.

Are you kidding me? He made some plays in some big moments no doubt. But he was never a very good player, hard nosed kid who couldn't shoot a lick and handled it like a forward. But timing is everything and AB knows a little about that too. Doesn't mean these are people we need or want. He was never the best player off the bench or the 6th man unless it was him they needed right away. This was not a microwave coming off the bench.

Hey again, some big moments I will be forever grateful for as a Husky fan. But this is a huge pass.

 

[intlzncster]

Are you kidding me? He made some plays in some big moments no doubt. But he was never a very good player, hard nosed kid who couldn't shoot a lick and handled it like a forward. But timing is everything and AB knows a little about that too. Doesn't mean these are people we need or want. He was never the best player off the bench or the 6th man unless it was him they needed right away. This was not a microwave coming off the bench.

Hey again, some big moments I will be forever grateful for as a Husky fan. But this is a huge pass.

Come to think of it, imagine Brimah's story were he a 2nd or 3rd option at the 5 his whole career. He might be really well thought of here. He just wasn't a starting caliber center at UCONN.

 

[Burnsbros23]

This thread is about if we should take Terrence Samuel back.... was not expecting that.

Absolutely not. Agree with fishy clearly not a high major guard.

 

[Towney007]

To me unless it's a big, i'm not really interested.

 

[WrenchFan69]

May affect Koulechov's decision to leave or not if Rhoades heads to VCU

 

[WrenchFan69]

Looks to be done, keeping an eye out for anything about Koulechov. I'd like this one a lot

 

[champs99and04]

Has anybody heard anything on Jaylen Adams or Matt Mobley? If we're still in the market for a shooter, I don't think we do much better than Mobley - he shot 38% last season on over 7 attempts per game. He put in 28 against Florida, 20 against Dayton, and 34 against VCU. The Bonnies finished 91st in KenPom, which is four spots ahead of us.

My guess is Mobley could shoot in the 45% range playing alongside Adams - our guy - and Gilbert. They'd be stress-free looks in fewer minutes compared to what he's used to. He grew up about an hour from campus so I don't know if there would be any interest or not. Seems like Sterling Gibbs part two.

 

[Matrim55]

Has anybody heard anything on Jaylen Adams or Matt Mobley? If we're still in the market for a shooter, I don't think we do much better than Mobley - he shot 38% last season on over 7 attempts per game. He put in 28 against Florida, 20 against Dayton, and 34 against VCU. The Bonnies finished 91st in KenPom, which is four spots ahead of us.

My guess is Mobley could shoot in the 45% range playing alongside Adams - our guy - and Gilbert. They'd be stress-free looks in fewer minutes compared to what he's used to. He grew up about an hour from campus so I don't know if there would be any interest or not. Seems like Sterling Gibbs part two.

Seems very unlikely Mobley will do a postgrad year elsewhere, from what I've heard.

 

[jibsey]

I love the irony of people worrying about depth at center and say we wasted a scholarship on Cobb. Are people even watching the NCAA tournament? A lot of teams with 6'9" space eaters at the 5. I think Durham will be solid and put on some muscle too since he's finally not injured.

I know Durham has basketball skills and can contribute but what makes you think he can put on muscle in the offseason? Kids that age and body type have a hard time of that just like Brimah and Facey did. I bet no more than 10 lbs when we see him in September and it won't be noticeable on a 6'11" kid. BTW, I don't think Cobb is wasted for a ship.

 

[intlzncster]

I know Durham has basketball skills and can contribute but what makes you think he can put on muscle in the offseason? Kids that age and body type have a hard time of that just like Brimah and Facey did. I bet no more than 10 lbs when we see him in September and it won't be noticeable on a 6'11" kid. BTW, I don't think Cobb is wasted for a ship.

Don't think he needs to to be an impact player. Don't get me wrong, I (and KO and staff and Durham) want him to do so, but it's not going to kill him. Quickness and awareness at his position will do far more for baskets, rebounds and D than anything.

 

[The Funster]

Unless they see a guy they have to get I'd like them to hang on to the schollie for the next year. Sniper? Yes. Burly rebounder at the 4 -5? Yes please.

 

[Stainmaster]

Just saw that Hans Brase is leaving Princeton and will have a sixth year of eligiblity. He's missed almost two full seasons with injury, and I know that Caruso is the Princeton guy @Matrim55 is high on, but he put up Shonn Miller rebounding and shooting numbers in his last full year in the Ivy. He's also quite the 3-point shooter. He may not be exactly what we're looking for, but on a board where multiple pages were devoted to discussing whether or not Terrence Samuel should get the last scholarship, I figured it'd be worth bringing him up.

Hans Brase

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Just saw that Hans Brase is leaving Princeton and will have a sixth year of eligiblity. He's missed almost two full seasons with injury, and I know that Caruso is the Princeton guy @Matrim55 is high on, but he put up Shonn Miller rebounding and shooting numbers in his last full year in the Ivy. He's also quite the 3-point shooter. He may not be exactly what we're looking for, but on a board where multiple pages were devoted to discussing whether or not Terrence Samuel should get the last scholarship, I figured it'd be worth bringing him up.

Hans Brase

Didn't Shonn average like 17-9 his last year? 11-8 arent quite the same

 

[Stainmaster]

Didn't Shonn average like 17-9 his last year? 11-8 arent quite the same

Shooting as in percentage, not scoring (42.4% vs. 43.4%).

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Shooting as in percentage, not scoring (42.4% vs. 43.4%).

My bad, read it wrong haha

 

[champs99and04]

He wouldn't be my first option but he was second in the Ivy League in defensive rebound % a couple years ago.

 

[WrenchFan69]

So Rice's coach is off to VCU and their leading scorer, guard Marcus Evans, is also transferring. Could make it easier for Koulechov to leave

 

[intlzncster]

So Rice's coach is off to VCU and their leading scorer, guard Marcus Evans, is also transferring. Could make it easier for Koulechov to leave

You've got an unbelievable hard-on for this Russkie.

 

[businesslawyer]

Terence Samuel 2014 stats, 2013-14 UConn Huskies Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com: 9th on the team in minutes played with 9.0 per game; 9th on the team in points with 1.4 per game; 12th on the team in rebounds with 0.9 per game. For a "sixth" man he's awfully 9th-12th ish.

Year long averages don't tell the story with him, because he spent most of the year out of the rotation and barely playing. It was only in mid-February that KO finally gave up on Omar, kept him nailed to the bench and started playing T Sam regularly.

 

[lange10]

Between Jalen, Alterique, Vital and Makai I am not concerned about our guard play entering next season. As nice as it sounds to add Koulechov to the roster I worry about the implications it may have on chemistry. Vital played his way into a starting role next year, or at least a fight for it vs. Gilbert. I am not speculating on transfers but as a guard on our current roster, if we recruited Koulechov I would not take to it well.

Now, if Ollie and co. want to add a guard who can come in play 10-20 min, shoot 40% from 3 and play some good D, then I'm all for it. Basically, at the guard position I don't think we need anything more than a glue guy.

However, we need an impact big immediately - a cog in the paint who can get us 8 and 10.

 

[pj]

Year long averages don't tell the story with him, because he spent most of the year out of the rotation and barely playing. It was only in mid-February that KO finally gave up on Omar, kept him nailed to the bench and started playing T Sam regularly.

If mid-February means Feb 15, then starting with the Feb 15 game against Memphis, UConn played 14 games. TSam had two good games -- the NCAA tourney games against Villanova and Iowa State, when we needed a third guard to match the opponent. Apart from those two games, he scored 17 points total in the other 12 games, less than 1.5 per game. He had 10 rebounds total in the 12 games, 0.8 per game. Terrence Samuel 2013-14 GGame Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

That team just had a shortage of guards. After Shabazz and Boat, there was TSam, Omar who was 6'6" with a poor handle, and Lasan Kromah 6'6" likewise. In the Nova and ISU games, any third guard would have done as well as TSam, all the attention was on Shabazz, Boat, Giffey, and Deandre. I'm glad TSam stepped up in those games, but he is the definition of a replaceable player.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Between Jalen, Alterique, Vital and Makai I am not concerned about our guard play entering next season. As nice as it sounds to add Koulechov to the roster I worry about the implications it may have on chemistry. Vital played his way into a starting role next year, or at least a fight for it vs. Gilbert. I am not speculating on transfers but as a guard on our current roster, if we recruited Koulechov I would not take to it well.

Now, if Ollie and co. want to add a guard who can come in play 10-20 min, shoot 40% from 3 and play some good D, then I'm all for it. Basically, at the guard position I don't think we need anything more than a glue guy.

However, we need an impact big immediately - a cog in the paint who can get us 8 and 10.

8 and 10 is a pretty good cog. To get someone who can get us 10 boards a game at this point in time would be close to a miracle.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

If mid-February means Feb 15, then starting with the Feb 15 game against Memphis, UConn played 14 games. TSam had two good games -- the NCAA tourney games against Villanova and Iowa State, when we needed a third guard to match the opponent. Apart from those two games, he scored 17 points total in the other 12 games, less than 1.5 per game. He had 10 rebounds total in the 12 games, 0.8 per game. Terrence Samuel 2013-14 GGame Log | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

That team just had a shortage of guards. After Shabazz and Boat, there was TSam, Omar who was 6'6" with a poor handle, and Lasan Kromah 6'6" likewise. In the Nova and ISU games, any third guard would have done as well as TSam, all the attention was on Shabazz, Boat, Giffey, and Deandre. I'm glad TSam stepped up in those games, but he is the definition of a replaceable player.

I'll preface this by saying I don't think it's a good idea to bring Samuel back, unless he wants to be a grad walk on. However, this analysis would be a little unfair no matter who the player is, for the following reasons:

1. When he came into the game, he was not being called on to score. He was being called on to be another ball handler, and to guard quicker smaller lineups.
2. If he's on the floor with Boatright, Napier, Daniels, which of them would you want to sacrifice offensive opportunities to let Samuel have more?
3. Per game averages don't work for a seventh, eighth, or ninth guy off the bench - I would expect them to be low. He's not getting that many minutes. The question instead is, is he adding value in the minutes he gets?
4. He was a freshman. How much of a contribution do you expect for most freshman fourth guards? How much would you have expected from Vital this year had Gilbert not been lost for the season?

As you say, in the two games where he was needed to match the opponent, he did his job well. In other words, he added value when necessary.