Roster construction

[uconngb]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point
A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard
And undersized power forward playing the 3
A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4
An excellent, if not well rounded, 5

We have no #1 or #2 point guard that can facilitate or start an offense
We have no sniper that can come in and shoot
We have no one that is just a flat out scorer
We have a bunch of really bad shooters

When you start every game with 3.5 guys on the floor that are offensive liabilities, guess what?? You dig yourself a lot of early holes. Have been saying this all year.

What’s the common denominator in all of our losses except one?? We scored 60 points or less. That’s letting other teams dictate pace. Our advantage, if we have one, is athleticism and depth. We need to run, wear teams down and impose our will. Cuz half court, slow paced games are not our specialty. Coaches need to figure this out.

And do a better job of filling the right positions on the court.

 

[rip7774]

Totally agree. Said this all off-season - It was so obvious. We’re UConn, even in the dark Ollie years we had guards that could create and were quick. No shot creators on this team but Cole (he’s really not athletic) who’s prone to struggles/can’t do much in crunch time. Nothing comes easy without those guys.

Huge mistake not taking Fatts or a similar guard (I don’t watch enough but I’m sure other quick, creative lead guards out there).

Like you said, so many guys in wrong roles bc roster construction. It’s like the 90s knicks on offense. Rock fight city a lot of nights, and didn’t have to be this way. So much talent, just missing those UConn guards!

 

[mauconnfan]

Hey the good news is every time Purdue plays we get to hear, like them, we are one of 3 programs not to take a grad transfer in this year.

 

[Kenny11]

Our roster construction/balance is one of our weaknesses for sure. We have too little ball handling and court vision and we have too much overlap in some of our strengths.

But the thing that doesn’t make sense which has been a constant of almost all of our players under Hurley besides Vital and Bouknight is how nervous and tight we play. I don’t understand it but these guys play scared/nervous way too often…and it seems to happen just as much if not more in home games!

 

[BigTenFan]

Hey the good news is every time Purdue plays we get to hear, like them, we are one of 3 programs not to take a grad transfer in this year.

Purdue is built mostly with Indiana kids. They will probably bring in someone next year for Jaden Ivey who will certainly be leaving.

 

[Chin Diesel]

1. Stagnation/regression of Gaffney and staff not seeing it, knowing it or expecting it. Killed the guard rotation
2. Expectation of Hawkins coming in and being a consistent shooting and scoring threat. Even 8 ppg consistently would be great.
3. Stagnation/regression of Akok. Dan Hurley can't figure out to utilize the skills Akok does have- blocking shots, running the floor and 3 point shooting, and relies on him to do the things he can't do- post defense, post offense.
4. The wings in Jackson and Martin. If you would have told me they'd both be more reliable as 3 point shooters than players who can finish at the rim, I wouldn't believe it, but here we are.

 

[TeasenDonut]

Kyle Lofton next year

 

[Dibbie]

4 years into the Hurley era and they rely heavily on 2 mid-major transfers and 2 5th year seniors. Sanogo is the only impact recruit, and he’s probably performing at a higher level than expected. Grasping hard onto the win vs Auburn, their only top-25 victory.

Not sure how long the leash is, but seeing UCONN had to cut an $11M check today, Dan Hurley is probably the guy for a while. Sadly, I expect prolonged mediocrity.

 

[Conndog]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point
A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard
And undersized power forward playing the 3
A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4
An excellent, if not well rounded, 5

We have no #1 or #2 point guard that can facilitate or start an offense
We have no sniper that can come in and shoot
We have no one that is just a flat out scorer
We have a bunch of really bad shooters

When you start every game with 3.5 guys on the floor that are offensive liabilities, guess what?? You dig yourself a lot of early holes. Have been saying this all year.

What’s the common denominator in all of our losses except one?? We scored 60 points or less. That’s letting other teams dictate pace. Our advantage, if we have one, is athleticism and depth. We need to run, wear teams down and impose our will. Cuz half court, slow paced games are not our specialty. Coaches need to figure this out.

And do a better job of filling the right positions on the court.

So, some of this will improve next year, but I hope we still get another player somehow in Transfers.

We have two recruits, Karaban (6'8) and Clingan (7'1 but everyone says he is a project as almost all big men are at first). We lose Martin and Polley, and we return Sanongo, RJ hopefully, AJ, Akok, Gaffne and Hawkins. What we will get out of Johnson, Diggins, is unknown, but based on this year, not much probably.

So will we have a #1 or #2 point guard to facilitate or start the offense? No
Will we have a sniper to come in and flat out shoot & score a la Ray? No, unless Hawkins can be that person.
With Karaban, I'm hoping we improve overall shooting and raise talent at the 3/4.
Maybe Clingan will show glimpses of dominant potential. Hope he can rebound and play some defense at least. Please don't use him in the hedging defense.

Can Diggins become an effective player? I think if he can show he can facilitate, and if Hawkins can become more reliable, we will be better. RJ coming back is huge. What about AJ? He has shown improvement in shooting, and I think his defense is generally solid. But he should be scoring more than he does. Hope he becomes more dominant and becomes more of a dangerous slashing type player.

The other improvement area is maybe for coaching staff to work on better offense plan. So many other teams seem like good offensive teams against us although their records wouldn't indicate that.

 

[ucp990411]

Our roster construction/balance is one of our weaknesses for sure. We have too little ball handling and court vision and we have too much overlap in some of our strengths.

But the thing that doesn’t make sense which has been a constant of almost all of our players under Hurley besides Vital and Bouknight is how nervous and tight we play. I don’t understand it but these guys play scared/nervous way too often…and it seems to happen just as much if not more in home games!

I have never seen so many nervous players. Why are they so scared?

 

[mauconnfan]

1. Stagnation/regression of Gaffney and staff not seeing it, knowing it or expecting it. Killed the guard rotation
2. Expectation of Hawkins coming in and being a consistent shooting and scoring threat. Even 8 ppg consistently would be great.
3. Stagnation/regression of Akok. Dan Hurley can't figure out to utilize the skills Akok does have- blocking shots, running the floor and 3 point shooting, and relies on him to do the things he can't do- post defense, post offense.
4. The wings in Jackson and Martin. If you would have told me they'd both be more reliable as 3 point shooters than players who can finish at the rim, I wouldn't believe it, but here we are.

All spot on points. The biggest of all is #1....we all hoped he’d make that jump but let’s be honest there was no guarantee at all based on the first 2 years. Hindsight now but they should have helped RJ out in the portal.

 

[Connecticut13]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point
A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard
And undersized power forward playing the 3
A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4
An excellent, if not well rounded, 5

We have no #1 or #2 point guard that can facilitate or start an offense
We have no sniper that can come in and shoot
We have no one that is just a flat out scorer
We have a bunch of really bad shooters

When you start every game with 3.5 guys on the floor that are offensive liabilities, guess what?? You dig yourself a lot of early holes. Have been saying this all year.

What’s the common denominator in all of our losses except one?? We scored 60 points or less. That’s letting other teams dictate pace. Our advantage, if we have one, is athleticism and depth. We need to run, wear teams down and impose our will. Cuz half court, slow paced games are not our specialty. Coaches need to figure this out.

And do a better job of filling the right positions on the court.

I don't know if it's poor roster construction -- or poor in-game management and an inability to create an effective rotation. Maybe both. But honestly, I feel like it's more the latter. I really think we have the pieces, but that they just haven't been put together and managed properly.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I have never seen so many nervous players. Why are they so scared?

Because they aren't comfortable in their roles. Truth be told if you throw up some of the shots the bench players took and missed, you'd be worried about sitting on the pine too.

Wasn't it Geno who said you don't practice until you get it right, you practice until you can't get it wrong. Or something to that effect.

I'm still taking this as an aberration. The team had been getting in to a groove and had settled on a 7 man rotation with Polley and Hawkins getting more minutes and Akok and Gaff getting spot duty. Seemed to be working. Whole team was off last night from the get go and it happens. Sucks for us fans to watch it but we know these things happen to almost every team throughout the season.

Win against Nova and it's all good.

 

[huskyfan224]

So, some of this will improve next year, but I hope we still get another player somehow in Transfers.

We have two recruits, Karaban (6'8) and Clingan (7'1 but everyone says he is a project as almost all big men are at first). We lose Martin and Polley, and we return Sanongo, RJ hopefully, AJ, Akok, Gaffne and Hawkins. What we will get out of Johnson, Diggins, is unknown, but based on this year, not much probably.

So will we have a #1 or #2 point guard to facilitate or start the offense? No
Will we have a sniper to come in and flat out shoot & score a la Ray? No, unless Hawkins can be that person.
With Karaban, I'm hoping we improve overall shooting and raise talent at the 3/4.
Maybe Clingan will show glimpses of dominant potential. Hope he can rebound and play some defense at least. Please don't use him in the hedging defense.

Can Diggins become an effective player? I think if he can show he can facilitate, and if Hawkins can become more reliable, we will be better. RJ coming back is huge. What about AJ? He has shown improvement in shooting, and I think his defense is generally solid. But he should be scoring more than he does. Hope he becomes more dominant and becomes more of a dangerous slashing type player.

The other improvement area is maybe for coaching staff to work on better offense plan. So many other teams seem like good offensive teams against us although their records wouldn't indicate that.

You’re forgetting about Floyd

 

[OkaForPrez]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point

He's got an almost 3:1 ATO ratio and is really strong off the dribble in the mid range.

A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard

Had 25 in the 2nd half a few games ago.

And undersized power forward playing the 3

I think you mean point forward because hes the best entry passer on the team and leads us in 3pt%.

A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4

Defensive player of the year playing the role asked of him offensively.

 

[uconnfan68]

Because they aren't comfortable in their roles. Truth be told if you throw up some of the shots the bench players took and missed, you'd be worried about sitting on the pine too.

Wasn't it Geno who said you don't practice until you get it right, you practice until you can't get it wrong. Or something to that effect.

I'm still taking this as an aberration. The team had been getting in to a groove and had settled on a 7 man rotation with Polley and Hawkins getting more minutes and Akok and Gaff getting spot duty. Seemed to be working. Whole team was off last night from the get go and it happens. Sucks for us fans to watch it but we know these things happen to almost every team throughout the season.

Win against Nova and it's all good.

As bad as we sometimes look… if 3 of 9 in the rotation play well, we’ll compete with anyone, and win most. If only 1 or 2 show up, we can’t get past the bad stuff.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

4 years into the Hurley era and they rely heavily on 2 mid-major transfers and 2 5th year seniors. Sanogo is the only impact recruit, and he’s probably performing at a higher level than expected. Grasping hard onto the win vs Auburn, their only top-25 victory.

Not sure how long the leash is, but seeing UCONN had to cut an $11M check today, Dan Hurley is probably the guy for a while. Sadly, I expect prolonged mediocrity.

Jesus this place blows these days. The clowns really come out of the woodwork after a loss. What a spoiled baby. "Prolonged mediocrity." Boo hoo.

 

[bendm]

and other than sanogo, if the players we have were living up to their expectations and playing the positions they were supposed to we would have a practically perfectly constructed roster:

starters:
AJ running the point like ben simmons (all jokes aside)
Cole playing off-guard focused on scoring
Polley automatic from 3
Akok the 5* 3&D stretch 4 never derailed by injury
Sanogo

Bench:
Diggins the frosh w/ the composure of an upperclassman
Gaffney the ever reliable CG
Hawk the BE freshman of the year
Martin the do everything tweener forward
Whaley the best backup center in D1 not named travion williams

so close! (not)

 

[UconnFanDC]

We are who we are. A mid to low top 35 team.

 

[NCNutmeg]

4 years into the Hurley era and they rely heavily on 2 mid-major transfers and 2 5th year seniors. Sanogo is the only impact recruit, and he’s probably performing at a higher level than expected. Grasping hard onto the win vs Auburn, their only top-25 victory.

Not sure how long the leash is, but seeing UCONN had to cut an $11M check today, Dan Hurley is probably the guy for a while. Sadly, I expect prolonged mediocrity.

We beat Marquette as well. That's another top 25 team we've beaten. They look great right now too.

"Prolonged Mediocrity" is too much. This is a good team that plays in a strong conference that at this moment is beating up on itself. Bad shooting is part of the game and they need to be better about spacing, moving without the ball to get open and converting easy shots.

There's too much whining happening after one loss. It's a bad loss going into the toughest stretch of the schedule, I get it, but I don't think the UConn we watched play Creighton is indicative of the team they truly are. Color me optimistic, but I'd rather move on with a short memory than poop my pants every time the team drops a regular season game. I reserve my rage fest for March.

 

[bendm]

Sadly, I expect prolonged mediocrity.

do you pine for the later ollie days when we had losing records? if being ranked for most of the season is your definition of mediocrity then sign me up.

 

[Northbound]

This place is certifiable - they lost a game, played pissed poor - it happens - chicken littles around here.

 

[Huskybass]

4 years into the Hurley era and they rely heavily on 2 mid-major transfers and 2 5th year seniors. Sanogo is the only impact recruit, and he’s probably performing at a higher level than expected. Grasping hard onto the win vs Auburn, their only top-25 victory.

Not sure how long the leash is, but seeing UCONN had to cut an $11M check today, Dan Hurley is probably the guy for a while. Sadly, I expect prolonged mediocrity.

1. Jackson isn't an impact recruit?
2 . Marquette is ranked.
3. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[BigTenFan]

do you pine for the later ollie days when we had losing records? if being ranked for most of the season is your definition of mediocrity then sign me up.

Agreed-Uconn playing in a tough conference with loads of highly recruited kids. They are going to have some bad games. Every program does. Let's see how they respond this weekend. I think they will play at a much higher level

 

[uconngb]

He's got an almost 3:1 ATO ratio and is really strong off the dribble in the mid range.

Had 25 in the 2nd half a few games ago.

And then disappeared the next two games

I think you mean point forward because hes the best entry passer on the team and leads us in 3pt%.

AJ is playing out of position and anyone who trusts his 3 point shooting on a high volume basis is kidding themselves. We need scoring from his position. He ain’t a scorer.

Defensive player of the year playing the role asked of him offensively.

My concern is how bad our offense is. Other than last night IW hasn’t been giving us much on offense and hasn’t been a shell of the defensive player he was last year

 

[Huskyforlife]

RJ is the second best PG in the big east.

 

[mauconnfan]

Love Thumbs down people who don’t tell you why?

 

[USNavyDog]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point
A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard
And undersized power forward playing the 3
A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4
An excellent, if not well rounded, 5

We have no #1 or #2 point guard that can facilitate or start an offense
We have no sniper that can come in and shoot
We have no one that is just a flat out scorer
We have a bunch of really bad shooters

When you start every game with 3.5 guys on the floor that are offensive liabilities, guess what?? You dig yourself a lot of early holes. Have been saying this all year.

What’s the common denominator in all of our losses except one?? We scored 60 points or less. That’s letting other teams dictate pace. Our advantage, if we have one, is athleticism and depth. We need to run, wear teams down and impose our will. Cuz half court, slow paced games are not our specialty. Coaches need to figure this out.

And do a better job of filling the right positions on the court.

Just some other observations that I've noticed. Andre Jackson can hit the 3 point shot but I don't like his form for some reason. He looks awkward everytime he shoots behind the arc, albeit he has hit them at some crucial moments.

Rasool Diggins' unexpected lack of playing time really hurt this team point guard depth. It would've been nice if he actually was ready to play this year. But he's not, and therefore R.J. Cole has much more pressure put upon him to be a facilitator of the offense.

 

[AdamaNation]

At the end of the day, it’s all about roster construction. This team has talent and depth, but is very poorly constructed. To wit:

Our starting lineup consists of
A two guard playing point
A 3 man that can’t score playing shooting guard
And undersized power forward playing the 3
A utility man that can once in a while (see tonight) get hot but is more often than not invisible on offense playing the 4
An excellent, if not well rounded, 5

We have no #1 or #2 point guard that can facilitate or start an offense
We have no sniper that can come in and shoot
We have no one that is just a flat out scorer
We have a bunch of really bad shooters

When you start every game with 3.5 guys on the floor that are offensive liabilities, guess what?? You dig yourself a lot of early holes. Have been saying this all year.

What’s the common denominator in all of our losses except one?? We scored 60 points or less. That’s letting other teams dictate pace. Our advantage, if we have one, is athleticism and depth. We need to run, wear teams down and impose our will. Cuz half court, slow paced games are not our specialty. Coaches need to figure this out.

And do a better job of filling the right positions on the court.

All good points but you do realize the other coaches, most whom have coached longer than Hurley, know these same things. Last game was a perfect example of letting Whaley beat them from outside. Thank god he hit a few or it would have been worse. I think Dan Hurley has improved each year here in varying increments. But no coach has never stopped getting outcoached once in a awhile. It too Calhoun forever to realize Tyler oleander was the only human to help break the zone(joking).

 

[jdb50]

It could be a sign that roster construction is an issue when your head coach is involved in a yelling match with fans who have had too many tall boys after a home game you should have won. Let's hope something gets figured out with the roster we have so we are not so offensively challenged.