There's a big difference guarding HS guards and guarding D1 high-major guards. Now TS might in fact be an excellent defender at the new level he just joined, but unless you've seen him play D against Boat and Bazz, I'm not jumping on the band-wagon. I heard from someone who saw him play in HS, that he has border-line athleticism, but maybe that report was incorrect.
Length and Size can make up for a little lack of speed. Then there's end-to-end speed compared to first step speed. To defend in the half-court, you don't need a world class 40, but you do need some combination of good instincts, a quick first step or two, reach and strength. Of these attributes, it's hard to make up for not having quick feet. For example Marcus Williams was not very fast or quick, but had solid instincts that helped him be an average (or maybe better put, a slightly under-average) defender. He struggled to keep smaller and quicker PGs from blowing by him. At 6-4, and assuming he has a good reach, he just might be a nice defender if he has solid instincts and quick feet. At 190, well strong athletic guards will be able the turn the corner on him if they can gain a half-step. Watching a player defend one-on-one on TV or even in the stands doesn't look all that hard, but anyone who hasn't watched up close or played the game against quicker and bigger opponents would be shocked at how little advantage it takes for a guard to get that half-step and blow right by the defender.
I hope you're right and he's the second coming of Lyman DePriest...okay, maybe that's a bar is a tad too high. For those who remember him he could defend 1 through 5 and was a once-in-a-lifetime defender. Maybe Rick Moore would be comparison, but even Ricky was the best on-the-ball defender we've ever had. Just ask William Avery.
Not that he's anywhere close to the player Rondo of the C's is, who is a big and long PG, but I remember watching him in college and scratching my head as to what people saw in him and why the C's drafted him, and boy did he prove me silly! Granted he still can't shot the J with any consistency, at least as NBA guards are concerned, but he can defend like few other guards. He and Avery Bradley form quite the defensive duo if the C's can every get both healthy and on the floor at the same time, but I digress.
Someone I know who knows talent told me that he thought TS was a reach for UConn. Now maybe he didn't see him at his best. It's not that uncommon to draw a wrong conclusion from seeing a recruit just a handful of times, but this came from someone that I trust his eye for talent. With that said, I hope TS proves this report wrong and even if he doesn't, I will still root for him to succeed and contribute as much as he's capable. Keep in mind one thing, it appears that the staff is recruiting like crazy to get a 2014 PG. Would they be doing so if they had a high level of confidence that TS and Purvis could collectively lead UConn's offense? Now that doesn't mean TS won't turn out to be a defensive specialist, but unfortunately your PG and 2G need to be able to contribute on both ends of the floor. You can get away with putting in a defensive specialist at the 2G to match up against whichever guard is torching you, but you can only do that in spurts and not at the lead guard position if you have enough offensive weapons at the other 4 positions. If that defensive specialist has little to offer on the offensive end, teams will cheat defensively on other players, not worrying about leaving this player open.
I guess these questions will be answered over time. It might take a couple years of experience before we get to see what TS is capable of doing, but maybe he'll surprise us, seeing KO put him on some guard who's going off on us to slow him down. My guess is I just spent more time on this than I should have and TS won't be a factor till his junior or senior season if he sticks around that long. I'm not writing him off. I remember watching Beverly thinking this kid is way over his head athletically and he turned out to be an important and productive guard off the bench his final season. Granted, he'd drive me nuts when he played with allusions of grandeur thinking he was the second coming of Kemba Walker, but when he played within his abilities, he contributed. I think TS, although a very different player than Beverly, will turn out to be a solid guard off the bench as an upper-classman, and not a starter, but as I mentioned above, I hope he proves me wrong. I never mind eating my pound of crow when a player out-performs what I think they're capable of doing.
My expectations for him are not complicated for 2013-14. 1) Defend the oppositions (1,2 & 3) like your life depends on it.... preferably contributing to lowering 3 point attempts from the Luke Hancock's and Chris Crawford's of the world 2) Don't turn the ball over 3) make free throws 4) Be an unselfish distributor pass first PG helping to facilitate cohesion when needed if 1 of our guards loses focus on the "main event" (likely to happen periodically so having TS insurance is prudent).
