Right on Track

[Huskybass]

Year Two. Game 7, as Coach Hurley would say.

We have nice depth, solid defense, plenty of bench scoring, Al and Christian are playing more within themselves, and we have only scratched the surface with Akok and Bouk. BA has vastly improved and Gaffney is looking healthier and more comfortable. Josh has to get more consistent. Overall, I would say the rebuild is right on track with Javonte Brown Ferguson, Springs, Jackson and Cole being added to the roster next season.

In my opinion, things are right on track. As Coach Hurley said in the post game press conference there is lots of work to be done, but I think we should all enjoy how far the program has come since Hurley took over. And honestly, we probably will all enjoy the success a bit more given the rough stretch over the past 3 or 4 seasons. I know I appreciate having a good team more than ever.

 

[jleves]

I have to disagree.

We are significantly ahead of schedule. I doubt most of us expected us to be battling to double OTs and actual wins against early season top 25 teams and talking about a possible NCAA tourney bid in year 2 of Hurley.

Bouk might have the most impact as a freshman since Khalid. Akok has a lot of frosh Emeka in him. Adams has made a huge jump from his 1st year. Carlton has not been as consistent as necessary but has shown great leaps in a couple of years. Vital & Gilbert deserve to be on a high level D1 team. Polley has had stretches of being really good.

We have two unavailable guys on the bench who will contribute a lot next year and two more studs ready to join the team for the summer who will benefit greatly from a weird but excellent S&C coach.

Way ahead of schedule!

Just being able to watch entire games again is huge.

 

[nadavtheman]

Just being able to watch entire games again is huge.

funny because its true

 

[UCONNRPh]

Absolutely spot on..

 

[HuskyHawk]

I have to disagree.

We are significantly ahead of schedule. I doubt most of us expected us to be battling to double OTs and actual wins against early season top 25 teams and talking about a possible NCAA tourney bid in year 2 of Hurley.

Bouk might have the most impact as a freshman since Khalid. Akok has a lot of frosh Emeka in him. Adams has made a huge jump from his 1st year. Carlton has not been as consistent as necessary but has shown great leaps in a couple of years. Vital & Gilbert deserve to be on a high level D1 team. Polley has had stretches of being really good.

We have two unavailable guys on the bench who will contribute a lot next year and two more studs ready to join the team for the summer who will benefit greatly from a weird but excellent S&C coach.

Way ahead of schedule!

Just being able to watch entire games again is huge.

I expected it. This is about what I thought we'd be. I thought we'd be a tournament team and borderline top 25. Depth and experience matter.

The "how" is different though. I thought Carlton would be more of a force, I expected Bouk to play from day 1 (didn't we all?) and be a future star. I thought AG would be a superb senior PG. Brendan Adams is the biggest upside surprise. Polley is about as expected. Akok about as expected. Vital is better in some ways and yet providing less scoring than expected. AG worse than expected, although trending back in the right direction. Sid about as expected and I think he will get better. I actually thought Whaley would be better and thought we'd have Springs.

 

[Chief00]

It’s nice having some scoring off the bench, so people can have the argument who starts. Chief would rather look at minutes and rotations.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Great post. I also tend to agree that we are in better shape than expected. The offense is further along than i expected. And by that, i mean it actually looks like we have an offense.

The only thing big hole this team has is more athleticism at center. I'm not counting Akok as a center even though i suspect foul trouble and matchups will force Akok to play center at times.

 

[Excalibur]

I have to disagree.

We are significantly ahead of schedule. I doubt most of us expected us to be battling to double OTs and actual wins against early season top 25 teams and talking about a possible NCAA tourney bid in year 2 of Hurley.

Bouk might have the most impact as a freshman since Khalid. Akok has a lot of frosh Emeka in him. Adams has made a huge jump from his 1st year. Carlton has not been as consistent as necessary but has shown great leaps in a couple of years. Vital & Gilbert deserve to be on a high level D1 team. Polley has had stretches of being really good.

We have two unavailable guys on the bench who will contribute a lot next year and two more studs ready to join the team for the summer who will benefit greatly from a weird but excellent S&C coach.

Way ahead of schedule!

Just being able to watch entire games again is huge.

I would say we're ahead of schedule as well. Maybe not way ahead, but ahead. I didn't expect to be beating Florida and giving Xavier all they could handle early in year 2. While St. Joes did expose some deficiencies, one of the major ones (a go-to wing scorer who can stop a run) seems to have been addressed with Bouknight coming off of his suspension. We'll know more once we get into conference play and teams have more material to scout us with. I expected us to be an NIT team this year. If we're competing for an NCAA birth, then we are ahead of schedule.

The difference has been player development and recruiting. The change in Adams has been huge, and as responsible for our improvement as the addition of Bouknight. Whaley has gone from filler to serviceable. From a recruiting standpoint, two of our best three athletes are new guys.

We still have some deficiencies. A lack of depth and strength in the front court is the biggest, and one that conference foes will try to exploit. We have two reliable three point shooters, and a bunch of others that can be hot or cold on any given night. If all of them happen to be cold, we are pretty easy to defend. The good thing is that we have won some games with defense when the offense wasn't clicking.

 

[CL82]

I have to disagree.

We are significantly ahead of schedule. I doubt most of us expected us to be battling to double OTs and actual wins against early season top 25 teams and talking about a possible NCAA tourney bid in year 2 of Hurley.

Bouk might have the most impact as a freshman since Khalid. Akok has a lot of frosh Emeka in him. Adams has made a huge jump from his 1st year. Carlton has not been as consistent as necessary but has shown great leaps in a couple of years. Vital & Gilbert deserve to be on a high level D1 team. Polley has had stretches of being really good.

We have two unavailable guys on the bench who will contribute a lot next year and two more studs ready to join the team for the summer who will benefit greatly from a weird but excellent S&C coach.

Way ahead of schedule!

Just being able to watch entire games again is huge.

Sid's looking better as well.

In the off season everyone tends to project players' contribution at their high possible levels. It's human nature. Amazingly, it seems like we are actually getting pretty close that for everyone but Josh. Not dumping on the kid, but he took a step back. If we get him back to not missing bunnies, we are very tough team to play.

(Still doomed, however.)

 

[BFieldHusky]

I would say we're ahead of schedule as well. Maybe not way ahead, but ahead. I didn't expect to be beating Florida and giving Xavier all they could handle early in year 2. While St. Joes did expose some deficiencies, one of the major ones (a go-to wing scorer who can stop a run) seems to have been addressed with Bouknight coming off of his suspension. We'll know more once we get into conference play and teams have more material to scout us with. I expected us to be an NIT team this year. If we're competing for an NCAA birth, then we are ahead of schedule.

The difference has been player development and recruiting. The change in Adams has been huge, and as responsible for our improvement as the addition of Bouknight. Whaley has gone from filler to serviceable. From a recruiting standpoint, two of our best three athletes are new guys.

We still have some deficiencies. A lack of depth and strength in the front court is the biggest, and one that conference foes will try to exploit. We have two reliable three point shooters, and a bunch of others that can be hot or cold on any given night. If all of them happen to be cold, we are pretty easy to defend. The good thing is that we have won some games with defense when the offense wasn't clicking.

The one thing about our conference though is that most teams don't have a great frontcourt. I know Memphis does, but who else really does?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Every identified weakness has shown evidence of being addressed. Not all are completely handled (nor, probably, will all be successes).
Going strong to the rim and rebounding seem next in line. Hurley said something pretty close to, "There's SO much work to do. So much that I'VE got to do" after St. Joe's. He's doing it.

Bench scoring
Free throws
Assists
Ball & player movement
Turnovers (both forcing & reducing)
Player rotations
Shot selection (including reductions)

Bouknight was on the bench, and Gaffney was limping during St. Joe's. Might even consider that as "getting 2 more players"

If players stay healthy, it's not unreasonable to imagine continuous improvement, including 'experimentation' and continuing to let players learn from their 'allowed' mistakes.

ALL of this fits the experienced turnaround coach narrative. Yesterday was also day 1 of month 2.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The one thing about our conference though is that most teams don't have a great frontcourt. I know Memphis does, but who else really does?

USF does if Yetna is back.

 

[superjohn]

USF does if Yetna is back.

Out for the season.

 

[superjohn]

There's always a lot to work on but we should be undefeated right now. I like the makeup of this team.

 

[Waquoit]

I like the makeup of this team.

And that ain't hay, that's something.

 

[UConnRock]

For the most part the team has learned how to play intense and consistent defense without committing as many fouls. That has been an Achilles heel for a while. In previous years a bump in defensive intensity would invariably end in a foul.

 

[intlzncster]

Sid's looking better as well.

In the off season everyone tends to project players' contribution at their high possible levels. It's human nature. Amazingly, it seems like we are actually getting pretty close that for everyone but Josh. Not dumping on the kid, but he took a step back. If we get him back to not missing bunnies, we are very tough team to play.

(Still doomed, however.)

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I feel he put on too much weight this offseason (what was it, 25 pounds?). He seems slower and even more earthbound this year. jmo tho

 

[HooperScooper]

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I feel he put on too much weight this offseason (what was it, 25 pounds?). He seems slower and even more earthbound this year. jmo tho

It's not just your opinion. I think losing 10-15 pounds would help rather than hurt.

 

[Huskybass]

It's not just your opinion. I think losing 10-15 pounds would help rather than hurt.

I really like Josh. He came a long way as a Soph. But honestly he seems more sluggish this season. If he returns to form and can avoid foul trouble that would be a huge plus. A little lighter and more explosive might be exactly what he and the team needs, but at 11 ppg and 7 rpg he really isn't far off from the 13 and 8 I had hoped for this season.

 

[Excalibur]

It's not just your opinion. I think losing 10-15 pounds would help rather than hurt.

To me, the weight he gained doesn't look like "good weight", but I know I'm no expert on this. He's bigger, but there's a bit of squishy weight there as well.

 

[CL82]

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I feel he put on too much weight this offseason (what was it, 25 pounds?). He seems slower and even more earthbound this year. jmo tho

It's not just your opinion. I think losing 10-15 pounds would help rather than hurt.

A little lighter and more explosive might be exactly what he and the team needs.

To me, the weight he gained doesn't look like "good weight", but I know I'm no expert on this. He's bigger, but there's a bit of squishy weight there as well.

I think so too. I think with best of intentions, he added weight to help him bang in the post but he seems sluggish.

 

[8893]

I think so too. I think with best of intentions, he added weight to help him bang in the post but he seems sluggish.