Rothstein on UConn

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah to keep it in perspective that was a reporter's statement. Vital and Coach have history, and one thing I noticed last season is that Coach has Vital's attention. It was evident in the 'massive' reduction of stupid/selfish shots taken last year. He was a different and improved team player, thanks to Hurley.

And Hurley decided he shouldn’t start late in the season, when we had far worse options to start in his place than we do next year.

I appreciate his passion and enthusiasm, but it causes him to do a lot of stupid things. He improved on that last year for sure, but he really has to erase the bad habits he picked up his first two years here. We need him to be better. And I think that involves accepting a reduced role.

 

[the Q]

And Hurley decided he shouldn’t start late in the season, when we had far worse options to start in his place than we do next year.

I appreciate his passion and enthusiasm, but it causes him to do a lot of stupid things. He improved on that last year for sure, but he really has to erase the bad habits he picked up his first two years here. We need him to be better. And I think that involves accepting a reduced role.

He’s the teams best shooter and best defensive player. And one of the best rebounders.

He needs to play a lot. Just in the right role.

 

[husky429]

And Hurley decided he shouldn’t start late in the season, when we had far worse options to start in his place than we do next year.

I appreciate his passion and enthusiasm, but it causes him to do a lot of stupid things. He improved on that last year for sure, but he really has to erase the bad habits he picked up his first two years here. We need him to be better. And I think that involves accepting a reduced role.

Our best rebounder, shooter, one of (but probably is) our best perimeter defender, with more heart than everyone but rique put together shouldn't start. Got it.

Vital was FAR from an ineffecient chucker last year. His numbers were excellent. He needs to work on lead guard skills, not his mentality, imo. He plays like a 6'2 small forward.

I feel like some of the people on here that call him a gunner are of the old school "transition 3s are bad" types. Even though that is statistically an excellent shot and part of Hurley's design. Not saying that's you.. just food for though.

 

[superjohn]

Vital is not our best rebounder.

 

[husky429]

Vital is not our best rebounder.

Perimeter rebounder*. 2nd on the team last year if I'm not mistaken.

I have a soft spot for guys who punch above their weight class.

 

[superjohn]

Perimeter rebounder*. 2nd on the team last year if I'm not mistaken.

I have a soft spot for guys who punch above their weight class.

Sure, that's a big distinction though.

 

[HuskylnSC]

methinks rothstein is hunting clicks. too effusive, methinks

 

[ToolzieFan]

I didn’t realize Vital’s defensive rebounding percentage was so close to Carlton’s.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He’s the teams best shooter and best defensive player. And one of the best rebounders.

He needs to play a lot. Just in the right role.

Best defender? That’s laughable. He is aggressive and high energy sure, but routinely overplays, goes for steals, and gets beat. He doesn’t play sound team defense. He’s a great rebounder for a guard I’ll give him that.

He’s the best catch and shoot shooter, but can’t shoot off his dribble. His ball handling is also sub par. He’s a good player, but is very limited. Agree he needs to be in the right role.

 

[superjohn]

Best defender? That’s laughable. He is aggressive and high energy sure, but routinely overplays, goes for steals, and gets beat. He doesn’t play sound team defense. He’s a great rebounder for a guard I’ll give him that.

He’s the best catch and shoot shooter, but can’t shoot off his dribble. His ball handling is also sub par. He’s a good player, but is very limited. Agree he needs to be in the right role.

Exactly, he gives max effort, is a good catch and shoot player, and rebounds really well for a guard but that's about it. This board overrates him.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Exactly, he gives max effort, is a good catch and shoot player, and rebounds really well for a guard but that's about it. This board overrates him.

Who’s a better perimeter defender? Cuz it definitely isn’t AG. I expected AG to be lockdown when he came in but he hasn’t been.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Our best rebounder, shooter, one of (but probably is) our best perimeter defender, with more heart than everyone but rique put together shouldn't start. Got it.

Vital was FAR from an ineffecient chucker last year. His numbers were excellent. He needs to work on lead guard skills, not his mentality, imo. He plays like a 6'2 small forward.

I feel like some of the people on here that call him a gunner are of the old school "transition 3s are bad" types. Even though that is statistically an excellent shot and part of Hurley's design. Not saying that's you.. just food for though.

I never called him a gunner. He took horrible shots for his first two years and showed poor decision making. I don’t blame him. He played too much too soon because we had nobody. And KO didn’t have the depth to pull him. He was much improved last year. I don’t like his half court defense and I think he has moments when he doesn’t see the right decision is to move the ball. Much as Polley doesn’t see when he needs to try to score and instead passes.

This team now has a lot more offensive firepower than any UConn team he has played on. He’s going to be on the court with 4 guys who can score (unless Whaley is in), that will be new for him. I hope he rises to the challenge. If we are able to press, I think that plays to his strengths on D.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Who’s a better perimeter defender? Cuz it definitely isn’t AG. I expected AG to be lockdown when he came in but he hasn’t been.

There was no Ricky Moore on last year’s team. Nor Bazz or Boat. AG was better and B Adams was better than CV by the end of the year. They played their man and didn’t gamble. I don’t recall people blowing by Gilbert.

Fortunately for CV I think Hurley will turn up the pressure. That lets Vital do his thing. Akok and an improved Carlton on D, plus Sid’s shot blocking will let us be more aggressive.

I have a feeling Gaffney will be our best perimeter defender along with Adams.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

There was no Ricky Moore on last year’s team. Nor Bazz or Boat. AG was better and B Adams was better than CV by the end of the year. They played their man and didn’t gamble. I don’t recall people blowing by Gilbert.

Fortunately for CV I think Hurley will turn up the pressure. That lets Vital do his thing. Akok and an improved Carlton on D, plus Sid’s shot blocking will let us be more aggressive.

I have a feeling Gaffney will be our best perimeter defender along with Adams.

Adams may be, didn’t get to see enough of him to make an outright judgment. But AG was arguably a bad perimeter defender. He got beat very easily.

 

[superjohn]

Who’s a better perimeter defender? Cuz it definitely isn’t AG. I expected AG to be lockdown when he came in but he hasn’t been.

None of them have been good defenders, we've sucked the past couple of years.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

None of them have been good defenders, we've sucked the past couple of years.

No i totally agree. But what i’m saying is I think Vital has been the best of a somewhat bad bunch.

 

[CL82]

There was no Ricky Moore on last year’s team. Nor Bazz or Boat. AG was better and B Adams was better than CV by the end of the year. They played their man and didn’t gamble. I don’t recall people blowing by Gilbert.

Fortunately for CV I think Hurley will turn up the pressure. That lets Vital do his thing. Akok and an improved Carlton on D, plus Sid’s shot blocking will let us be more aggressive.

I have a feeling Gaffney will be our best perimeter defender along with Adams.

Hurley’s defense is uptempo and aggressive but doesn’t gamble. So if “CV’s thing” is going for steals I suspect DH may have a short leash.

 

[ctchamps]

Defintely not elite, but very good. 83rd percentile of qualified players on above average volume. Vital was actually elite last year: 92nd percentile on 90th percentile volume.

Problem wasn’t lack of firepower. Problem was lack of offensive rebounding and that there were too many games only one or two players shot well. Rather have players shoot 35-40% per game than 25-48% per game.

 

[browndog319]

So we just ditch CV???

 

[browndog319]

If those things about Bouk, Akok, and Polley are true then there's no way we don't get an NCAA bid.

Well, we have to win...

 

[ctchamps]

Polley has to rebound to play the 3 or 4 and get his 20-25 minutes. And if he gained confidence in his handle and getting to the hole then he will make a huge difference. His improvement in most everything except rebounding was evident last year, enough to think a larger jump is possible. People saying Sid gets little credit amazed how much negative stuff is here on Polley. He's long, he can shoot and he defends better than many here think. But hey I agree, needs to be more aggressive and rebound the damn ball. If he changes that he will play a lot of 3 and some 4 depending on the other teams lineup.

Again it's Rothstein but there are some exciting pieces and why not have some positive thoughts going into the season. We aren't far from hearing a lot more soon!

Didn’t Rothstein predict UConn would make the tournament last year?

My scouting eye has been high on Polley and Carleton from the beginning.

Polley was given some of the most difficult guarding assignments last year including covering opposing team’s threes. I would have loved if he figured out how to release from his players and get rebounds. Rip made a huge leap his junior year. I believe Polley will improve this season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hurley’s defense is uptempo and aggressive but doesn’t gamble. So if “CV’s thing” is going for steals I suspect DH may have a short leash.

Agreed. He gambled way too much last year and clearly drew the ire of Hurley on that side of the ball. But I think we had to play “keep your man in front of you” D, because we had poor rim protection. Carlton has improved and Akok is a major upgrade. If Sid learns to play D in the system he can be a force on that end as well.

 

[ctchamps]

Bouknight is a stud! Watched a complete game he and Springs played in. Kid plays 110% all game on both ends. Something Steve E. didn’t do. He’s CV with Rip talent. If he can develop his game at the Division 1 college level UConn will be tournament bound.

Chemistry with Richie is a bonus.

 

[ctchamps]

Polley should be important as a stretch big for spacing and efficient scoring reasons. The problem is that he can't defend bigs or rebound. But he's a pretty good big wing defender. So really, he's not a stretch big. He's just a 3 that can't guard quick 3s. So we were playing essentially a 3 at the 4 and a 1.5 at the 3, and we didn't have enough size to deter people from driving and our rebounding suffered. Sid or anyone else not being defensively playable at the 4 was a big problem for us last year, obviously.

Akok & Bouknight should help fix those issues. Against teams with slow 3s (ala Cincinnati), we can play Polley at the 3 and be fine. Against teams with quick 3s, we can play Bouknight (or Sid if his defensive processing is improved). That plus Akok's general rim protection and 2nd year in the Hurley system should allow us to be a top 50 defensive team this year (we were 100+ last year).

There’s a lot of good posts in this thread but this is the most salient imo. We lacked the players who could offer depth with various match ups.

Everything you state I agree 100%. I’d add getting Springs was important to play against teams with strong and tall bigs. Hope Sal can get kid strong by mid season.

 

[intlzncster]

Problem wasn’t lack of firepower. Problem was lack of offensive rebounding and that there were too many games only one or two players shot well. Rather have players shoot 35-40% per game than 25-48% per game.

Really, it's both of those things. We were collectively a bad shooting team. And bad rebounding.

Polley was given some of the most difficult guarding assignments last year including covering opposing team’s threes. I would have loved if he figured out how to release from his players and get rebounds. Rip made a huge leap his junior year. I believe Polley will improve this season.

Polley was given those assignments by default because he had no chance of guarding anything else.

And he has negative aggressiveness and awareness on the boards. That's why he didn't rebound. Some of that is fixable. Like his low motor.

Rip always had a motor though (and talent/awareness). Polley is just a passive kid. Hoping he can flip that switch. Carlton has managed it.

Polley's best role would be a 3&D guy, likely off the bench. Hoping he grows into that.