Predicting starters, bench rotation, depth outlook for Huskies

[Scrutineer]

So, to summarize, all those making predictions are doing so based on recruit/transfer ratings, their own thoughts or biases based on what they saw last year, what the bloggers are saying or what they personally saw in the "open practice".

This coaching staff has made it clear their focus is on winning and choices about who plays will be based on who gives the team the best chance to win. Not their rankings or how well they played elsewhere..........and my bet is they're more concerned with winning in March and April than November.

That said, the one guy who's seen every summer workout in person or by video hasn't commented on individual players (as far as I'm aware) but has been quoted saying the team has an abundance of talent but not necessarily the alpha dogs the team has had the past two years.

That's the major challenge the coaches are facing with respect to naming a starting lineup. Assessing the current talent level and deciding who has the upside potential that can facilitate the three-peat.

And, for driven guys like DH, that may mean he's in near crisis mode in August...............

 

[444JR]

Due to size, I would really love to see Mahaney pushed to the 6th man role by Solo or Stewart/McNeeley. Mahaney would be the best bench scorer in the big east and probably the country and still play a ton of minutes.

The early season bye games will tell a lot and the lineups will probably switch a few times before the rotation is set by Big East conference play. Hopefully everyone is healthy and ready to go so we can make the most of those games in terms of getting up to speed.

Prediction:
1. Diarra
2. McNeeley
3. Stewart
4. Karaban
5. Reed

6. Mahaney
7. Samson
8. Solo

9. Nowell
10/11. Ross/Abraham

 

[superjohn]

Due to size, I would really love to see Mahaney pushed to the 6th man role by Solo or Stewart/McNeeley. Mahaney would be the best bench scorer in the big east and probably the country and still play a ton of minutes.

The early season bye games will tell a lot and the lineups will probably switch a few times before the rotation is set by Big East conference play. Hopefully everyone is healthy and ready to go so we can make the most of those games in terms of getting up to speed.

Prediction:
1. Diarra
2. McNeeley
3. Stewart
4. Karaban
5. Reed

6. Mahaney
7. Samson
8. Solo

9. Nowell
10/11. Ross/Abraham

Due to size? Mahaney isn't Spud Webb.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

The full rotation is right, but I'd be surprised if the starting lineup isn't

Diarra
Mahaney
McNeeley/Stewart
AK
Reed

I can't see Solo starting. Mahaney is really, really good and Solo needs to totally overhaul his dribbling and passing to be a core piece of our euro offense. I want to see him slot into a bench sparkplug role a la Diarra in 2023-24 and continuing building those ball skills so he can be a leader his junior year.

Johnson may start. I'm 60/40 on Reed vs him

way to commit! The Liam-Stewart choice and center choice are the only real question marks to start the year with. So based on your post, you are exactly where the rest of us are.....

.

 

[Tenspro2002]

The full rotation is right, but I'd be surprised if the starting lineup isn't

Diarra
Mahaney
McNeeley/Stewart
AK
Reed

I can't see Solo starting. Mahaney is really, really good and Solo needs to totally overhaul his dribbling and passing to be a core piece of our euro offense. I want to see him slot into a bench sparkplug role a la Diarra in 2023-24 and continuing building those ball skills so he can be a leader his junior year.

Johnson may start. I'm 60/40 on Reed vs him

I have

Diarra (25)/Nowell (15)
Mahaney (25)/Ball (15)
McNeeley (25)/Stewart (15)
Karaban (30)/Stewart (10)
Reed (25)/Johnson (15)

 

[Khal Drogo]

The full rotation is right, but I'd be surprised if the starting lineup isn't

Diarra
Mahaney
McNeeley/Stewart
AK
Reed

I can't see Solo starting. Mahaney is really, really good and Solo needs to totally overhaul his dribbling and passing to be a core piece of our euro offense. I want to see him slot into a bench sparkplug role a la Diarra in 2023-24 and continuing building those ball skills so he can be a leader his junior year.

Johnson may start. I'm 60/40 on Reed vs him

I’m going with Johnson over Reed.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

View attachment 103018

If I were a conspiracy theorist I'd point out that the lineup on the scoreboard in this graphic is Diarra, Mahaney, Stewart, Karaban, Johnson

With 5ish minutes to go in the 1st half. Maybe they’re giving the starting lineup of Ball, Nowell, Ross, Abraham, & Singare a rest.

 

[AllHusky]

I have

Diarra (25)/Nowell (15)
Mahaney (25)/Ball (15)
McNeeley (25)/Stewart (15)
Karaban (30)/Stewart (10)
Reed (25)/Johnson (15)

Like this alot, though my sentimental side wants Samson to get more run! Love Tarris though

 

[huskiesNhoos]

I think the only locked in starters are Diarra and Karaban. Reed/Johnson is a toss up like everyone's been saying

This'll basically be a copy/paste from something I posted previously, but you have to also think Mahaney is the next closest to a lock otherwise there's only 1 ballhandler on the floor, which can't be a thing with our offense. So for me it's:

Diarra
Mahaney
Ball/Stewart/McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson/Reed

very matchup dependent, but good flexibility with Nowell and the three left out of my above list coming off the bench

 

[444JR]

Due to size? Mahaney isn't Spud Webb.

He's not the tallest and has a slight frame. Plenty of posters have echoed this. He's not the athlete that Boatright or Napier were either. He's going to be great. He's showed that in his last two seasons at St. Mary's and is working with the best coaching staff in the country. My prediction, and the reasoning behind it, is mental gymnastics from a basketball simpleton/couch warrior, attempting to dream up a "bullet proof" lineup similar to the quality that Dan Hurley lauded in last years team.

I also can't help wanting to force Stewart, McNeeley, and Karaban all into the starting lineup. Hard to see Hassan not starting. Mahaney definitely does not get up like Spud Webb. Hopefully he's quick and crafty like Muggsy Bogues.

 

[navery12]

He's not the tallest and has a slight frame. Plenty of posters have echoed this. He's not the athlete that Boatright or Napier were either. He's going to be great. He's showed that in his last two seasons at St. Mary's and is working with the best coaching staff in the country. My prediction, and the reasoning behind it, is mental gymnastics from a basketball simpleton/couch warrior, attempting to dream up a "bullet proof" lineup similar to the quality that Dan Hurley lauded in last years team.

I also can't help wanting to force Stewart, McNeeley, and Karaban all into the starting lineup. Hard to see Hassan not starting. Mahaney definitely does not get up like Spud Webb. Hopefully he's quick and crafty like Muggsy Bogues.

He's 6'3, this is crazy

 

[BigDawg]

I think people on this board underestimates Stewart’s skills & expected growth. He would’ve played a lot last year had he not been behind such talented & experienced players in front of him. I think he’s going to make a big jump this year with the experience of practicing against those guys last year & the limited game experience he had. I’m a big J Stewart fan & I think he’s our starter on the wing.

 

[444JR]

He's 6'3, this is crazy

the Muggsy Bogues comment or the entire take?

2022-23 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'5 Jordan Hawkins + 6'6 Andre Jackson
2023-24 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'4 Cam Spencer + 6'6 Steph Castle

2024-2025 starting backcourt of 6'2 Hassan Diarra and 6'3 Aidan Mahaney + a 6'7 Liam McNeeley(who is not expected to be the All-American level defender that Steph Castle was) Just leaves a bit to be desired on the defensive end imo. That's all.

It's not that Aidan Mahaney is a small basketball player at all. Combined with Diarra not being the biggest guy is my concern when comparing this coming season's potential starting lineup with the last two national champion starting lineups.

 

[uconnbill]

the Muggsy Bogues comment or the entire take?

2022-23 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'5 Jordan Hawkins + 6'6 Andre Jackson
2023-24 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'4 Cam Spencer + 6'6 Steph Castle

2024-2025 starting backcourt of 6'2 Hassan Diarra and 6'3 Aidan Mahaney + a 6'7 Liam McNeeley(who is not expected to be the All-American level defender that Steph Castle was) Just leaves a bit to be desired on the defensive end imo. That's all.

It's not that Aidan Mahaney is a small basketball player at all. Combined with Diarra not being the biggest guy is my concern when comparing this coming season's potential starting lineup with the last two national champion starting lineups.

Did you forget the lineup of Bazz and Boat both small and much smaller than this current lineup that UConn will have this upcoming season

 

[navery12]

the Muggsy Bogues comment or the entire take?

2022-23 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'5 Jordan Hawkins + 6'6 Andre Jackson
2023-24 starting backcourt was 6'5 Tristen Newton and 6'4 Cam Spencer + 6'6 Steph Castle

2024-2025 starting backcourt of 6'2 Hassan Diarra and 6'3 Aidan Mahaney + a 6'7 Liam McNeeley(who is not expected to be the All-American level defender that Steph Castle was) Just leaves a bit to be desired on the defensive end imo. That's all.

It's not that Aidan Mahaney is a small basketball player at all. Combined with Diarra not being the biggest guy is my concern when comparing this coming season's potential starting lineup with the last two national champion starting lineups.

Honestly all of it, but especially the Muggsy Bogues comment even if it was a joke. Considering how great Diarra is on defense that backcourt doesn't really scare me at all. And if it's that bad defensively there are a ton of really good wings that are going to be in the rotation and can be subbed in.

The guys you mentioned might be taller, but there's some serious hindsight going on there. Because every one of those guys except Andre Jackson was being talked about like you are with Mahaney as a serious defensive liability going into those seasons. And then Dan Hurley coached them

 

[444JR]

Did you forget the lineup of Bazz and Boat both small and much smaller than this current lineup that UConn will have this upcoming season

Mentioned Bazz and Boat in the post before this one you replied to. @navery12 made good counter points. I was making up reasons to start both McNeeley and Stewart; probably should've focused on their strengths instead of questioning Mahaney's abilities to make the point. Like I wrote a couple posts earlier, Mahaney is going to be great.

Hassan Diarra
Liam McNeeley
Jaylin Stewart
Alex Karaban
Tarris Reed Jr.

Probably needs more ball handling(Mahaney), but that lineup in my prediction for the starters.

 

[ddent68]

What does “athlete” mean? Someone who is fast and good at jumping? There are a lot of good basketball players that wouldn’t win a dunk contest. People on here last season said Cam wasn’t a good athlete. People criticize AK. I want good basketball players and you need all kinds. Sorry but Mahaney is a stud. I think he can defend. We’ll see. Cam and Alex can.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Everyone is comfortable wit Karaban starting and getting somewhere around 30-33 mpg.
We know Johnson and Reed are getting all 40 min at the 5 spot. And unless something drastically changes it will be closer to a 20/20 split than a 30/10 split.
That is about 70-75 minutes between Karaban and the 5 spot leaving about 125 minutes total for Mahaney, Diarra, Ball McNeeley and Stewart. That means those five can split 120 minutes at an average of 24 mpg.
Figure injuries, foul troubles and some bad match ups on any given night and four of them will be getting over 25 mpg and one will be around 10-15 mpg. How these minutes work out as being a starter or coming off the bench is not much a concern for me.
Ross, Nowell and Abraham will be spot minutes as available. If any of these three are so good they need to force minutes from the group of Mahaney, Diarra, Ball, McNeeley and Stewart, thst is a problem the staff will gladly take on solving.
Or, as we always realize by the end of February, these things have a way of working themselves out.

 

[80shusky]

I really think Stewart needs to start at the 3 and spell Karaban at the 4. If he gets pushed to the bench again I am worried [REDACTED]. McNeeley can still easily get starters minutes coming off the bench to cover the 2, 3 or 4. Obviously once they have some games under their belts whoever is most effective in what spot will work itself out but at least to start the year I'm a start Stewart fan.

 

[NJHusky]

I think it comes down to 3 guys for 2 starting spots. Stew, Liam and Aidan. Does Liam have the handle to cover the 2? If not it’s him v stew for the 3

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Hot take based on what we’ve seen this summer.

Diarra
Ball
Stewart
Karaban
Johnson

Mahaney
Liam
Ross
Reed

Think we play around with Diarra, Ball, and Mahaney as the lead guards and find a way for Ross to get minutes. All signs from over the summer point to him at least being a valuable rotation player. He seemed to have a really great summer. The best summer of all the wings in and outside the program (only one to go to an NBA camp).

Hope he’s rewarded for it. (The really spicy hot take would have him starting but I’m not going that far).

 

[david]

Abraham and Nowell are going to force themselves into the rotation. I think the starting 5 will be Diarra, Mahaney, Stewart, Karaban, Reed, but the lineup I’m most excited about watching is Nowell, Ball, McNeeley, Abraham, Johnson

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I’m most excited about watching is Nowell, Ball, McNeeley, Abraham, Johnson

This lineup would run teams off the court athletically.

I’d be excited to see that too.

 

[superjohn]

I really don't understand some of these starting lineups people have. We still have to score the ball and it's going to be even more important because we no longer have the human eraser in Clingan.

 

[husky429]

+ a 6'7 Liam McNeeley(who is not expected to be the All-American level defender that Steph Castle was)

Castle wasn't expected to be the defender he was either. Castle was a much worse defender than McNeeley in HS. I wouldn't count him out if he puts the work in.