Predicting starters, bench rotation, depth outlook for Huskies | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Predicting starters, bench rotation, depth outlook for Huskies

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444JR said:
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.
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He's 6'3, this is crazy
 
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.
 
navery12 said:
He's 6'3, this is crazy
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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.
 
444JR said:
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.
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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
 
444JR said:
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.
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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
 
uconnbill said:
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
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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.
 
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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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).
 
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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.
 
uconnbill said:
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
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That doesn't matter. The defense is completely different as is the game. I fully agree that our roster as proposed isn't small. But I think Boat/Bazz sized backcourt would be a real problem with the way we play defense and offense now. The "positionless" game requires bigger guards and in some cases, smaller forwards (unless super skilled bigger guys) than in the past.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
It's not that it's not clear, it's that it's a bit like being at Woodstock and being most excited to see Quill and the Keef Hartley Band.
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It’s a lineup that includes the 3 freshmen and arguably the 3 best athletes between Abraham/Solo/Samson. I don’t think it’s going to be the best lineup but, to me, is the most exciting.
 
david said:
It’s a lineup that includes the 3 freshmen and arguably the 3 best athletes between Abraham/Solo/Samson. I don’t think it’s going to be the best lineup but, to me, is the most exciting.
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Oh it would be exciting, for sure. Some of that excitement Hurley is looking to avoid! It would be a wild and crazy 5 though!! Petal to the metal!
 
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McNeeley will definitely start. Too much raw scoring talent and size. I have Abraham as my sleeper pick. Too much talent to only get 5-10 minutes a game. Expect a bigger role for him as the season emerges.
 
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bendm said:
Diarra 25 / Nowell 15
Aidan 22 / Ball 18
Liam 25 / Stew 10 / Ross 5
Alex 30 / Stew 10
Reed 22 / Samson 18
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Karaban will be 32-33 and no way Stewart only gets 20 mpg.
And Nowell isn't getting 15mpg unless there are injuries in the back court.
 
navery12 said:
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
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Of course, it also shows Paige Bueckers so…
 
Chin Diesel said:
Karaban will be 32-33 and no way Stewart only gets 20 mpg.
And Nowell isn't getting 15mpg unless there are injuries in the back court.
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Karaban was at 31mpg last year and we are much deeper this year including his backup expected to make a big jump. you said yourself stew will get more than 20mpg. i think our borderline 5* frosh is getting 15mpg. who you taking minutes from? let's see yours so we can all have a laugh.
 
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