Remember, Johnson is almost back

[Umami Zen]

Nah, there's no way he's only playing 7 this season. We're the deepest team in the country. A lot of teams and pundits talk about depth but they don't have real depth, this team has real depth. If you don't use it we become more ordinary, we wear down like other teams, and we aren't wearing down teams like we should.

As Yogi used to say.. "We have deep depth."

 

[jibsey]

If Samson is as good as his coaches/teammates say he is.. Time to show it in games.. And if he does.. FF for UConn.

And that’s what we fans have missed, seeing what he can actually do out there. He’s the size of Sanogo with the same skills? More of an outside shooter?

 

[willie99]

That's great, happy to have the kid back.

Hurley still only has 200 minutes per game to divvy up. Good problem to have I suppose. Might be a game to game thing for minutes. Who's playing well, who's not, who's banged up and could use some rest and last but not least, matchups

I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride. That's why Danny gets paid the big bucks

 

[HuskylnSC]

Nah, there's no way he's only playing 7 this season. We're the deepest team in the country. A lot of teams and pundits talk about depth but they don't have real depth, this team has real depth. If you don't use it we become more ordinary, we wear down like other teams, and we aren't wearing down teams like we should.

my post said 7 in the tournament 8 in the BET, 10 now. So we agree. We will see 10 players getting minutes outside garbage time during the regular season. Now there are goes who will get a couple of minutes to give guys a blow but significant minutes, more than 20, will be limited in the more important games.

 

[Stinger92860]

my post said 7 in the tournament 8 in the BET, 10 now. So we agree. We will see 10 players getting minutes outside garbage time during the regular season. Now there are goes who will get a couple of minutes to give guys a blow but significant minutes, more than 20, will be limited in the more important games.

it may be a different 7/8 on any night. Stay with the hot hand(s)

 

[Husky25]

Calipari did that more recently at Kentucky than 96

Yes, I guess he did. I suppose I don't remember it since KY didn't win in 2015.

 

[Palatine]

If Samson is as good as his coaches/teammates say he is.. Time to show it in games.. And if he does.. FF for UConn.

I remember Calhoun telling everyone how "special" Jeremy Lamb was. But we didn't see it in games for half a season. We were wondering why JC kept giving him minutes and he was doing little. Then, it made sense.

 

[superjohn]

my post said 7 in the tournament 8 in the BET, 10 now. So we agree. We will see 10 players getting minutes outside garbage time during the regular season. Now there are goes who will get a couple of minutes to give guys a blow but significant minutes, more than 20, will be limited in the more important games.

We don't agree. He's not going to eliminate our strength we have over everyone else in the country at the end of the season by only playing 7 guys. Even when we had no real depth to speak of Hurley played 8.

 

[Husky25]

Karaban played 37 minutes against ISU. He’s a freshman who didn’t play games last year and will hit a wall early if that continues. Whether Johnson gets those minutes or AJ gets some of them opening up more minutes for guards, Karaban would be better off not leading the team in minutes and that will open some up.

That having been said, Johnson will have to be really really good to get more than a few minutes a game, because it’s hard to believe Karaban isn’t going to continue to get starters minutes.

Think of this — if we leave Alleyne as a starter, even if not getting starters minutes (which I don’t think will happen but it could), we could bring in a second unit of AJ, Johnson, Clingan, Joey C and Diarra. Quite possible that unit, as starters, could compete for the Top 25. That’s depth.

I also think Karaban is playing too much. He's eclpsed 30 minutes in 3 of 8 games, but has also been at 25 or less in three games. I think he should be around 27-28 minutes (where he is now), just more consistency. There're minutes there for Johnson.

There are also minutes at the 5, Teams are going to continue to challenge Sanogo. He's grown into his body, but 6'-9", 245lbs. is still a lot of inertia. He hasn't fouled out yet, but has committed 3 or more fouls in 6 games, and 4 in half of those (including 3 out of the last 4), while not yet playing 30 minutes in any one contest. On the other hand, Johnson committed 4 fouls in 17 minutes vs. Stonehill. So, there is that too.

Is it crazy to think that Karaban could play a couple wing minutes in order to make room?

 

[navery12]

I also think Karaban is playing too much. He's eclpsed 30 minutes in 3 of 8 games, but has also been at 25 or less in three games. I think he should be around 27-28 minutes (where he is now), just more consistency. There're minutes there for Johnson.

There are also minutes at the 5, Teams are going to continue to challenge Sanogo. He's grown into his body, but 6'-9", 245lbs. is still a lot of inertia. He hasn't fouled out yet, but has committed 3 or more fouls in 6 games, and 4 in half of those (including 3 out of the last 4), while not yet playing 30 minutes in any one contest. On the other hand, Johnson committed 4 fouls in 17 minutes vs. Stonehill. So, there is that too.

Is it crazy to think that Karaban could play a couple wing minutes in order to make room?

There are no minutes at the 5. Any minutes Sanogo isn't playing should and will go to Clingan

 

[Husky25]

There are no minutes at the 5. Any minutes Sanogo isn't playing should and will go to Clingan

I'm inclined to think there are a few. I understand he is more suited for the 4, but if Sanogo is in foul trouble, someone will have to back up Clingan, or vice versa. There is also the chance that, as freshmen, Clingan and/or Karaban become a bit less effective than they have been to date.

Of course I am just spitballing. Johnson's absence created a nice problem to have.

 

[Palatine]

There are no minutes at the 5. Any minutes Sanogo isn't playing should and will go to Clingan

That seems a bit arbitrary when we haven't seen Johnson in the middle. He could provide a chance of pace in some games or merely provide some fouls in others.

 

[navery12]

That seems a bit arbitrary when we haven't seen Johnson in the middle. He could provide a chance of pace in some games or merely provide some fouls in others.

I just don't see how it's possible when there's already complaints about not being able to play Clingan enough this year. There might be a few random games where he gets a 3 minute stretch but that's it

 

[Dove]

Johnson. Johnson...who is this Johnson guy...

 

[navery12]

I'm inclined to think there are a few. I understand he is more suited for the 4, but if Sanogo is in foul trouble, someone will have to back up Clingan, or vice versa. There is also the chance that, as freshmen, Clingan and/or Karaban become a bit less effective than they have been to date.

Of course I am just spitballing. Johnson's absence created a nice problem to have.

But even if Sanogo is in foul trouble that means he's been playing minutes at the 5 to get those fouls. So unless it's a Hawkins like game to pick up his fouls that's still going to be Sanogo/Clingan. Johnson is definitely going to be getting minutes but it's just hard to see any avenue for minutes at the 5

 

[MTBingNinja]

Hearing people saying that he has the most NBA potential of the group. Hope he stays healthy and is able to display some of the skills. Another enticing development as we move forward in the season

 

[Husky25]

But even if Sanogo is in foul trouble that means he's been playing minutes at the 5 to get those fouls. So unless it's a Hawkins like game to pick up his fouls that's still going to be Sanogo/Clingan. Johnson is definitely going to be getting minutes but it's just hard to see any avenue for minutes at the 5

Two quickies in the 1st half opens that avenue. If I recall, it happened to Okafor on his share of occasions.

All I am saying is that it looks like UConn has a decent solution for the situation. Regardless, if he's earned it, Johnson will get his.

 

[JB75]

If Samson is healthy I think it will be vital to play him next Joey C who is definitely struggling despite real effort against other guards taking him to the hoop. Samson might provide just enough rim protection that those guards may hesitate taking it all the way to the cup.

Joey c struggling? He got beat on two plays by Iowa State’s guard back to back but for the most part has drawn charges and played pretty good d. Much better than expected. Not to mention he’s almost like a mini ajax - all over the ball/floor and likes to mix it up. all we need is barely average d from him. His shot is what counts. Great spark off the bench.

 

[Scot-e]

Like some here I don't see a problem with minutes even if we play 10 deep.

It's not the amount of minutes these days but what you do with them that matters.
Certain players will get starter minutes as long as they are playing well and if not they will sit- no-one is transferring as long as they get in the game and prove they belong on the floor on that given day.

I would be more worried about this if we were ranked 30 and had to share time between 10 players.
(People can barley pay attention to a 8 second tic toc video these days) Getting 15 minutes vs 20 or 10 vs 15 will not matter over the course of the season to anyone that is going to be valuable to this team moving forward.

 

[auror]

Like some here I don't see a problem with minutes even if we play 10 deep.

It's not the amount of minutes these days but what you do with them that matters.
Certain players will get starter minutes as long as they are playing well and if not they will sit- no-one is transferring as long as they get in the game and prove they belong on the floor on that given day.

I would be more worried about this if we were ranked 30 and had to share time between 10 players.
(People can barley pay attention to a 8 second tic toc video these days) Getting 15 minutes vs 20 or 10 vs 15 will not matter over the course of the season to anyone that is going to be valuable to this team moving forward.

Yeah. Winning sure does help with buy-in at lower minutes. And we're going to be in high profile games thanks to our high ranking so people will get talked about even with lesser minutes and there will be plenty of scouts and "draft experts" checking out our games.

 

[driveway]

Johnson will have to contribute like every other Husky is doing right now or he will be watching a lot.

 

[HuskylnSC]

We don't agree. He's not going to eliminate our strength we have over everyone else in the country at the end of the season by only playing 7 guys. Even when we had no real depth to speak of Hurley played 8.

We are both saying that he will continue to play 10 during the regular season. That looks like agreeing. We deviate in the tournaments. No big deal, it's just opinions. And time will tell.

 

[PNolanFan]

In terms of average minute breakouts, I think we are going to struggle to find minutes for everyone but in terms of average minutes per game on a normal night in ideal conditions, I would like to see it be something like this

pg	Newton	28​	Calcaterra	8​
sg	Hawkins	28​	Diarra	8​
sf	Jackson	28​	Alleyne	20​
pf	Karaban	20​	Johnson	20​
c	Sanogo	28​	Clingan	12​
		200​

 

[dingaling]

He hasn't proved it in games. The other guys have to this point. He's going to have to recover, play well in practices, and then show out in very limited minutes when he gets his chance. If I'm Hurley, I can't just hand over minutes from other bigs to him until he earns it in games.

I personally believe Hurley is gonna send out whoever gives us the best chance to win. You can say Sanogo earned a lot of minutes going forward, but the moment Hurley thinks someone else gives them a better chance to win in a spot, i bet he makes the switch regardless of what they have done.

 

[superjohn]

In terms of average minute breakouts, I think we are going to struggle to find minutes for everyone but in terms of average minutes per game on a normal night in ideal conditions, I would like to see it be something like this

pg	Newton	28​	Calcaterra	8​
sg	Hawkins	28​	Diarra	8​
sf	Jackson	28​	Alleyne	20​
pf	Karaban	20​	Johnson	20​
c	Sanogo	28​	Clingan	12​
		200​

Far too low on Clingan, too much for Alleyne and Johnson. If Joey keeps making shots and providing what he's providing he certainly needs more than 8 minutes.