Rothstein on Campus Today

[BigErnMcCracken]

If we're relying on Martin as one of our "shooters" we are in trouble. And, again, the idea that Akok is a better shooter than Whaley is, at this point, nothing more than wishful thinking. I honestly don't get why people keep repeating it. His form looks good in the instagram clips maybe.

 

[Waquoit]

If Akok is healthy and further developed, he's a better defensive player than last year's DPOY, yes.

I love Akok but I can't buy this. Whaley was on it last season. He was an elite defender.

 

[navery12]

Martin played the 2 at times last year. He can play the 2. He shot over 40% without Bouk. Akok at the 4 in place of Whaley (which I think happens eventually if not initially) helps our shooting. The real question for me is if Martin is the 2, can Andre be the 3? That is when we may become too shooting challenged. But Hurley is going to run out dozens of lineups and see what works.

It's amazing how you pick and choose when shooting percentages matter. You keep touting Martin as a shooter at 40% which beyond being a bad shooting % is incredibly misleading. And then ignore the fact that Akok has not been a better shooter than Whaley and keep insisting he is

 

[dennismenace]

So you're of the thought that we'll go to Samson before Tyler if we need a 3???

Think Polley will have to compete for minutes on defense in order to be out there hoisting up 3's. But he is an upperclassman and it's time for him to step up defensively or his time will go down. Too much talent around now to be one dimensional. Truly wish him the best and hope he catches fire like Whaley did.

 

[mauconnfan]

Eh, I think that's a fairly rigid way of looking at things. At least in my mind there is not a significant difference between the 2 and 3. Positionless basketball has been en vogue for some time. To me, an ideal lineup has an initiator/ball handler, 3 versatile wings, and someone to shore up the paint/protect the rim.

I think the players mentioned above all bring different qualities to the wing position and should be able to be mixed and matched with each other. Up to Hurley to experiment with lineups to find what's optimal. He may have had some struggles with game planning around a limited roster last year, but I have full confidence in him

Not rigid at all from what I see he’s spot on. Polley and Martin have zero hope to play the 2 and while Jackson maybe improved his handle he can’t shoot a lick without major improvement. 1-2 need to be RJ-Sool-Gaff-Hawkins for the most part. This team will be very good if and when making shots otherwise they will need to defend the hell out of it to stay in games.

 

[mauconnfan]

I love Akok but I can't buy this. Whaley was on it last season. He was an elite defender.

Akok a better shot blocker maybe if Healthy but Whaley most definitely a better all around defender. Both have had trouble against big burly 5s though.

 

[auror]

No. He's not. Not even close. He's a better shot blocker than last years DPOY, but defense is more than shot blocking. There was absolutely no comparison between IW's perimeter defense and Akok's. If Akok can get to that level, great, but Akok's defensive prowess before his injury was entirely in the paint.

I love Akok but I can't buy this. Whaley was on it last season. He was an elite defender.

At the college level, rim protection is king, especially in Hurley's defense.

I think Whaley is a very, very good defender and his hedging of screens is truly elite. He's strong, he walls up on the block, he rebounds his position well, is decent defending the rim, and he has incredible timing on ball swipes.

But Akok's defensive talent is very much on another level. He could be game wrecking this season. I think (if he is as healthy as they say) Akok is going to be one of the best defenders in the country.

 

[mauconnfan]

At the college level, rim protection is king, especially in Hurley's defense.

I think Whaley is a very, very good defender and his hedging of screens is truly elite. He's strong, he walls up on the block, he rebounds his position well, is decent defending the rim, and he has incredible timing on ball swipes.

But Akok's defensive talent is very much on another level. He could be game wrecking this season. I think (if he is as healthy as they say) Akok is going to be one of the best defenders in the country.

Are we underestimating Whaley’s shot blocking ability? He’s not as intimidating of a shot blocker as the Healthy Akok I agree but off the dribble a much better defender. Akok could be improved there too but we need to see that first.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Seems like the in your face full court defense will be back and that style should limit all but one or two guys to 20-25 minutes a night. That should make things work with so many mouths to feed and so few minutes. I think that’s also what hurley optimally wants anyway.
I always seem to think the best teams have defined roles and guys know what to expect so I don’t know if there will be as much variation of lineups as some people think from night to night.
If I had to guess the guys that will be slightly disappointed minute wise I would bet polley and Martin end up under 20 a game.

 

[bballgrda]

If Akok is healthy and further developed, he's a better defensive player than last year's DPOY, yes.

And he gives you more spacing on offense, which is important as either will be starting alongside Sanogo, a better interior scoring threat. I would definitely start him over Whaley under those conditions. Whaley can give great energy off the bench.

Agreed. As much as I love Whaley, I think he is most effective at the 5. If Akoks timeline has unfolded as one could have reasonably hoped, he unlocks more dynamic styles of play imo.

I haven't mathed it out or looked at past years stats but I imagine Whaley can exist at the 4 for some time and should be around 30min (wild guess) per game.

And to be clear, I wasn't advocating for Martin at 2. Though I do think he has a decent 3 ball when set (again haven't looked at stats).

There are so many players to be excited about with a wide range of expectations. At least to me haven't seen any of them play in months, even longer since in person. Really looking forward to the season!

 

[businesslawyer]

At the college level, rim protection is king, especially in Hurley's defense.

I think Whaley is a very, very good defender and his hedging of screens is truly elite. He's strong, he walls up on the block, he rebounds his position well, is decent defending the rim, and he has incredible timing on ball swipes.

But Akok's defensive talent is very much on another level. He could be game wrecking this season. I think (if he is as healthy as they say) Akok is going to be one of the best defenders in the country.

You are entitled to die on this sword. Was Akok an elite shot blocker? Damn right. Do I see an upside in Akok that I don't see in IW? Yes. But very few will agree with your conclusion that Akok pre-injury was a "better" defender. What IW did on the perimeter last year was in fact elite, and maybe as good as I've ever seen anyone hedge of screens in college ever. And, he's a good shot blocker. That makes one a better defender than just being an outstanding shot blocker.

 

[McLovin]

The lineup Rothstein tweeted would win a lot 60-54 games

And lose a lot of 59-56 games.

 

[McLovin]

Hawkins is going to have to start and it's going to have to happen fairly early in the season. You can't have Martin and Jackson starting together at the 2 and 3.

Wrong. Defense still wins championships but we need some scoring threats on the floor. It’s asking way too much of Cole to put him out there at 5’11” as the only shot creator with 4 other dudes who can’t shoot (although I’d absolutely love for Akok/Jackson/Martin to prove me wrong and be able to bang 3s at a 40% clip.)

 

[husky429]

If we're relying on Martin as one of our "shooters" we are in trouble. And, again, the idea that Akok is a better shooter than Whaley is, at this point, nothing more than wishful thinking. I honestly don't get why people keep repeating it. His form looks good in the instagram clips maybe.

Whaley has way better form. He's a better shooter, period. He just has no confidence in his shot. If he can continue to shoot mid-30% and up his attempts to 3 a game or so, he's our starting 4. Should be either way imo.

We're also forgetting Akok will not have played more than a handful of minutes in competitive games for close to 2 years by the time our season starts. And even in the 20 games he did play, he was a guy who looked unpolished but with a high ceoling...Super high ceiling. but experience matters. My money is on Whaley.

I'd guess whaley plays 10-15 mins at the 4 and 5 each game. He's a more effective 5 than 4, but Sanogo is a beast. Gotta find a way to get those 2 on the floor together

 

[Brochacho]

The obvious answer is Jackson/Polley/Akok/Whaley/Sanogo and laugh at the short teams /s

 

[auror]

You are entitled to die on this sword. Was Akok an elite shot blocker? Damn right. Do I see an upside in Akok that I don't see in IW? Yes. But very few will agree with your conclusion that Akok pre-injury was a "better" defender.

This is definitely not my position.

Strictly that junior year Akok will be a better defender than 5th year Whaley.

 

[businesslawyer]

This is definitely not my position.

Strictly that junior year Akok will be a better defender than 5th year Whaley.

Well, if you're making a prediction we'll see. I'd be surprised, but obviously a prediction can't be wrong until it plays out.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

With so much "unproven," I lack the courage or hubris to make any predictions as to starting lineups or playing time, but I do wonder how many games in a series of 10 would be won by the 2nd team below, if Polley were added.

And don't sleep on Springs.

Cole
Hawkins
Jackson
Akok
Sanogo

Diggins
Gaffney
Martin
Johnson
Whaley

 

[bballgrda]

The harder prediction might be trying to guess go many lineup changes there are throughout the year.

 

[Hoops01]

Couple things
if u think John R.came all the way to UCONN and didn’t get a private sit down and input from DH your crazy.
you obviously have no idea about his relationship with the hurley family. Johns constant positive pub for the program is immeasurable
martin can and will play at the 2, he is one of the 5 best players on the team so he will start
akok is both a better shooter and shot blocker then Whaley if healthy. I think straight up Whaley should start and is a better all around defensive player BUT bottom line akok’s UPSIDE long term is way higher then Whaley’s ever will be.
akok if healthy must and will play more minutes and valuable minutes then Whaley this year, his upside will dictate that.

team has so much depth it’s going to allow DH to have unlimited opps for substitutions, match ups and player combinations.

this flexibility will allow DH to be at his best as a coach

 

[Kenny11]

Lineups will be interesting. Having such a stacked frontcourt is very unique. Many coaches would use Polley or Martin as a small ball 4 though it makes no sense for us to do that with our guys that are actually real 4’s and 5’s being so good.

 

[superjohn]

Couple things
if u think John R.came all the way to UCONN and didn’t get a private sit down and input from DH your crazy.
you obviously have no idea about his relationship with the hurley family. Johns constant positive pub for the program is immeasurable
martin can and will play at the 2, he is one of the 5 best players on the team so he will start
akok is both a better shooter and shot blocker then Whaley if healthy. I think straight up Whaley should start and is a better all around defensive player BUT bottom line akok’s UPSIDE long term is way higher then Whaley’s ever will be.
akok if healthy must and will play more minutes and valuable minutes then Whaley this year, his upside will dictate that.

team has so much depth it’s going to allow DH to have unlimited opps for substitutions, match ups and player combinations.

this flexibility will allow DH to be at his best as a coach

Why should Whaley straight up start if Akok is better than him and Akok must and will play more minutes and valuable minutes than Whaley?

 

[husky429]

Couple things
if u think John R.came all the way to UCONN and didn’t get a private sit down and input from DH your crazy.
you obviously have no idea about his relationship with the hurley family. Johns constant positive pub for the program is immeasurable

I mean I've seen Goodman at a practice come and go without speaking to the HC (not UConn, different big east school). Maybe Rothstein did speak to hurlet but I wouldn't guarantee it.

 

[SeattleHoop]

We are gonna struggle shooting the rock next season. But our rebounding is going to be insane. We are going to get a lot of second and third chances which will make up for the shooting woes a bit. We will run into issues when we face teams that can keep us off the glass.

I like this team though. We are gonna be a rugged, in your face type team that opponents will dread playing

 

[ToolzieFan]

As for the Akok-Whaley debate:

In 19-20, Akok had a 9.8% block rate, good for 28th in the country. It was 6.7% against Tier A and B competition, per KenPom.

In 20-21, Whaley had a 10.6% block rate, which was 20th in the country. It was 10.0% against Tier A and B competition. As a junior, it was 8.5% overall (43rd), and 6.9% against Tier A and Tier B.

I can’t assume that Akok will be a better shot blocker or overall defender than Whaley this year. If he is, then I don’t if many teams will have better rim protection or interior defense than us.