Rocket Watts? | Page 15 | The Boneyard

Rocket Watts?

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selles said:
I understand the skepticism about freshmen, but Bouk became the "go get a bucket guy" by the middle of his freshman year. Not out of the realm of possibility that Hawkins takes the role next year.
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Bouk had the mentality of being the man. We need someone else to bring that. Maybe it will be Hawkins or Diggins. It definitely won’t be someone with a timid mentality.
 
mauconnfan said:
This will mean that both the freshman will need to be good and impactful (this is for 8893) immediately. Otherwise we will see WAY too much of Cole and Gaffeny on the court together and that scares the hell out of me. Hopefully Diggins and Hawkins are ready because we need more dynamic guards to be really good.
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Amen brother. - scares the heck out of me, too. If the freshman aren’t really impactful, get ready for a bunch of 62-60 rock fights - our returning guards are not impact players.
 
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bendm said:
when in the last 30 years has our 12th man been a top 65 recruit?
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no need for a top 65 recruit
how about a kid who can just flat out fire in 3s?
I am pretty positive there are a handful out there - both incoming freshmen and xfer portal
Don't understand Dan Hurley's reluctance unless he is going Picker route and hope his son fills that role
Just plain ridiculous not to bring a pure shooter in
Save the scholly and save the TOs
 
Ajs120102 said:
called it
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Context matters. It was evident they were trying to add an impact player but it didn’t work out. They weren’t just going to add a “scorer” or “shooter” just to add one. That doesn’t make a lot of sense if the player isn’t a major upgrade. I’m sure they would have added a guy like Grady, Richmond etc if they could have. People are clamoring for guards and want to add a guy like Rocket who literally shot 33% last season from the field, that doesn’t really help them all that much. They’ll probably struggle at times offensively but they’ll be an elite defensive team and guys will improve. I think they’ll be fine.
 
Inteesting from Amore. I didn't realize the courant was still covering UConn men's basketball. I thought they had become the exclusive media outlet for women's basketball.
 
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Speaking of context.. IMO. Dan Hurley/staff are excited with their incoming class and with the retention of IW/TP. Among the primary themes of his pitch to them had to be available PT. In this day and age of the portal and transfers-- How do you maintain continuity between seasons with underclassmen? I believe part of the answer is the coach delivering on the PT that was discussed during recruitment and in their early college years.

Dan Hurley did that with the previous class and I believe he'll do that with the incoming class (and IW/TP)..

They could really like the Corey Floyd class and the vibes they're getting from prospective recruits and simply want to invest in this roster- this year with player development and PT.BTW-Still not convinced he's closed the door on a reclass if it's the right fit.

It's not a bad place to be coming from. 2021 is going to be fun with this roster as it is currently constructed.
 
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Fatroony5 said:
Context matters. It was evident they were trying to add an impact player but it didn’t work out. They weren’t just going to add a “scorer” or “shooter” just to add one. That doesn’t make a lot of sense if the player isn’t a major upgrade. I’m sure they would have added a guy like Grady, Richmond etc if they could have. People are clamoring for guards and want to add a guy like Rocket who literally shot 33% last season from the field, that doesn’t really help them all that much. They’ll probably struggle at times offensively but they’ll be an elite defensive team and guys will improve. I think they’ll be fine.
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Well put.

I am glad that Hurley was trying to improve the roster because there is no question that there is room for improvement in the back court, where we currently have more questions than answers.

But I am also glad that we are not settling for a transfer that is another question instead of an answer.

The team as currently constructed has all the experience and defensive grit need to compete at the highest level and win championships. As I said last season, Cole is a serviceable point guard as part of an elite team--but without Bouk we need someone to develop as an elite scorer. We have a few possibilities, but none we've seen do it in real time enough to be confident about it.
 
Recent tape on Hawkins is really encouraging re: his development this season. Has the eye of the Tiger.

Could easily see him forcing Dan Hurley's hand for PT earlier in the season than previously expected. Sool and him are going to give defenders nightmares
 
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CardiacAndre7 said:
The truth is we didn’t have enough scorers on last years team and we lost our only true scorer, replacing him with unproven freshman. We needed/need to add someone to put the ball in the hoop, and if we don’t it’s gonna be a struggle on the offensive end.
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Is Watts “a proven scorer”?
 
8893 said:
In fairness, I deserve a fair amount of blame for putting any stock in what Hurley says at this point. I believe his public comments have proven to be less than worthless most of the time.
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Honeymoon’s over?
 
8893 said:
Well put.

I am glad that Hurley was trying to improve the roster because there is no question that there is room for improvement in the back court, where we currently have more questions than answers.

But I am also glad that we are not settling for a transfer that is another question instead of an answer.

The team as currently constructed has all the experience and defensive grit need to compete at the highest level and win championships. As I said last season, Cole is a serviceable point guard as part of an elite team--but without Bouk we need someone to develop as an elite scorer. We have a few possibilities, but none we've seen do it in real time enough to be confident about it.
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Hurley is very much in the mindset of: improve the roster when/where you can but don’t force it just to make a move. He’s not branded as a transfer guy like Musselman, Oats, Beard etc. So some of these bigger talents in the transfer market probably aren’t looking that hard at UConn. They could definitely add a guy, but their thinking probably is: there isn’t a glaring need on the roster and not a top end guy that is definitively better than what we have.

Its easy to sit there and say we need a “scorer” or need a “shooter.” But who are you adding is always the question. There’s not a need for another rotation guy, finding a big time bucket getter in the portal at this point probably isn’t happening. Continue to focus on recruiting high schoolers and develop your guys. We’ve seen the past two seasons under Hurley freshmen make a big impact. Current guys get better and a guy like Hawkins helps fill in the gaps. Add in Diggins who can help control things and allow Gaffney to get off the ball to be more of an attacker, I think they’ll be fine.
 
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Fatroony5 said:
Hurley is very much in the mindset of: improve the roster when/where you can but don’t force it just to make a move. He’s not branded as a transfer guy like Musselman, Oats, Beard etc. So some of these bigger talents in the transfer market probably aren’t looking that hard at UConn. They could definitely add a guy, but their thinking probably is: there isn’t a glaring need on the roster and not a top end guy that is definitively better than what we have.

Its easy to sit there and say we need a “scorer” or need a “shooter.” But who are you adding is always the question. There’s not a need for another rotation guy, finding a big time bucket getter in the portal at this point probably isn’t happening. Continue to focus on recruiting high schoolers and develop your guys. We’ve seen the past two seasons under Hurley freshmen make a big impact. Current guys get better and a guy like Hawkins helps fill in the gaps. Add in Diggins who can help control things and allow Gaffney to get off the ball to be more of an attacker, I think they’ll be fine.
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Agree with a lot of what you say but the fact is Gaffney has been nothing but flashes. He's shown some ability but the higher percentage by far in 2 years is a guy who drifted east to west with little impact on the offense. Now you did mention we will be an elite defensive team, the issue is if Gaff is playing a lot there will need to be a major improvement there for sure. He gets beat off the dribble from the perimeter badly more often than not. Cole did a much better job than expected and is tough but he's not going to shut many people down either. The back court is left hoping for a rookie invasion or another surprise I'm afraid. I am all in of the improvements from those on the roster happen, but to be confident we can compete at a high level as expected with what was left I'm afraid I'm not very confident. But again, that's just me I hope I live on crow the next season.
 
mauconnfan said:
Agree with a lot of what you say but the fact is Gaffney has been nothing but flashes. He's shown some ability but the higher percentage by far in 2 years is a guy who drifted east to west with little impact on the offense. Now you did mention we will be an elite defensive team, the issue is if Gaff is playing a lot there will need to be a major improvement there for sure. He gets beat off the dribble from the perimeter badly more often than not. Cole did a much better job than expected and is tough but he's not going to shut many people down either. The back court is left hoping for a rookie invasion or another surprise I'm afraid. I am all in of the improvements from those on the roster happen, but to be confident we can compete at a high level as expected with what was left I'm afraid I'm not very confident. But again, that's just me I hope I live on crow the next season.
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The strength of this team will be defense, they will be an elite defensive team. Would expect them to jump into the top 15-20 in KenPom there, pretty confident in that.

I hear you and I agree he hasnt shown enough consistency yet. The good thing is he did improve from his freshmen season and his numbers last year are respectable. When getting off the ball, we’ve seen him show the ability to knock down shots. He didn’t shoot a ton but 36% from 3 is respectable. It shows if utilized correctly, he could leap to being a double digit scorer, don’t think that’s asking too much. I think they’ll be fine honestly, they have good players. Might not always be pretty, but would expect them to still compete towards the top of the league again.
 
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jibsey said:
I'm tired of athletes that can jump over the moon but can't shoot.
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But he totally killed First Night, so there's that.
 
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