Rothstein Top 25 for 2016-17

[UConnTrumbull]

1. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
2. 16-17 Top 25: 1. Duke 2. Villanova 3. Kansas 4. Xavier 5. Kentucky 6. Wisconsin 7. Virginia 8. Oregon 9. UNC 10. Indiana 11. Louisville
   
3. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   12. Arizona 13. UCLA 14. Gonzaga 15. Michigan State 16. West Virginia 17. UConn 18. Syracuse 19. Cal 20. Cincinnati 21. Dayton 22. URI
   
   
4. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   23. Colorado 24. Virginia Tech 25. Creighton

UConn in at 17. Take it with several grains of salt.

 

[Inyatkin]

I think that makes four years running at least someone has had us at 17 or 18 preseason.

 

[raf46]

1. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
2. 16-17 Top 25: 1. Duke 2. Villanova 3. Kansas 4. Xavier 5. Kentucky 6. Wisconsin 7. Virginia 8. Oregon 9. UNC 10. Indiana 11. Louisville
   
3. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   12. Arizona 13. UCLA 14. Gonzaga 15. Michigan State 16. West Virginia 17. UConn 18. Syracuse 19. Cal 20. Cincinnati 21. Dayton 22. URI
   
   
4. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   23. Colorado 24. Virginia Tech 25. Creighton

UConn in at 17. Take it with several grains of salt.

what are the odds for our winning NATL Championship? Would be a great futures bet.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Am I the only one who's kind of shocked by this? We were nowhere near the top 25 at the end of last season and we lost a few pretty big names. Do people expect the freshmen to make that big of an impact?

 

[EBonz30]

Am I the only one who's kind of shocked by this? We were nowhere near the top 25 at the end of last season and we lost a few pretty big names. Do people expect the freshmen to make that big of an impact?

I think I am a little shocked....

I think some people expect Monster seasons from Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier, as do I.

I will be shocked if both players aren't the real deal, is it enough to put us in the top 25, not sure.

 

[Jay-Bone]

1. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
2. 16-17 Top 25: 1. Duke 2. Villanova 3. Kansas 4. Xavier 5. Kentucky 6. Wisconsin 7. Virginia 8. Oregon 9. UNC 10. Indiana 11. Louisville
   
3. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   12. Arizona 13. UCLA 14. Gonzaga 15. Michigan State 16. West Virginia 17. UConn 18. Syracuse 19. Cal 20. Cincinnati 21. Dayton 22. URI
   
   
4. Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 4h4 hours ago
   23. Colorado 24. Virginia Tech 25. Creighton

UConn in at 17. Take it with several grains of salt.

Top 25 w/o D-Ham and no juniors. I'll take it with salt or w/o salt.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

what are the odds for our winning NATL Championship? Would be a great futures bet.

We were in the FIELD going into 13-14 at Caesars' book, you'd have won something on the order of 350-1 had you bet us. There were lines on 150 or so teams, including nonsense ones like Middle Tennessee State and Arkansas Pine Bluff but not us. That said, sometimes bookmakers like to throw some quasi-enticing teams into the field to increase the number of bets on it, but nonetheless if you'd bet the field for 2014 you'd be a bit wealthier.

 

[pj]

D-Ham was good but Terry Larrier may be as good. Jalen will have a year under his belt and Alterique gives another ball handler that we needed. Rodney and Amida will be playing for their NBA futures. It should be a good team.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Am I the only one who's kind of shocked by this? We were nowhere near the top 25 at the end of last season and we lost a few pretty big names. Do people expect the freshmen to make that big of an impact?

Not shocking at all
I disagree we were certainly top 25,
Polls are BS

We lost to a one seed in the 2nd round ( top 32) if we had a little better seed ,top sixteen was realistic.
We lost some guys everyone does, we have four guys returning who have started
A stud PG. A transfer 5 star that started for VCU as a freshman ,a rim defender, a proven shooter and a great incoming class.
Be glum if you want , I think we have a pretty good team ,that come March no one will look forward to playing.
As good as the post grad transfers were at times I think fitting older guys into a different culture is difficult and KO never quite succeeded in optimizing their potential. Larrier has had a full year in the system before he steps foot on the court.
This is the first UConn team in years that will not have to put someone on the floor who really doesn't have the ability to play at this level. Look at the 10 deep chart.
That depth is huge for growth in practice sessions.

 

[KingOPancakes]

@AZHuskiePop - I didn't mean to come off as glum on next years team. I really like the roster and have high expectations. The point I was trying to make was that the poll makers didn't have us near the top 25 most of last year so I find it kind of shocking that Rothstein thinks trading DHam, Miller and Gibbs out for our incoming class is such a huge improvement.

 

[Fishy]

We're about 50-1 for the 2017 title - that roughly corresponds to being top-15/20.

 

[Leebo]

We were definitely going to be at least top 10 with DHam so this isn't an outrageous position.

 

[HooperScooper]

17 in Gary Parrish's Top 25 and One also. Seems 17 or 18 seems to be where most have the Huskies.

No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Kentucky hold steady in post-draft decisions Top 25 (and one)

17. CONNECTICUT

The loss of Daniel Hamilton hurts because it represents the loss of a high-level college player who doesn't project as a first-round pick. Put another way, he didn't have to go. But he's gone. And that's a blow. But UConn still has a solid core of veterans in Rodney Purvis and Amida Brimah, an impactful transfer in Terry Larrier, and a top-10 recruiting class. So Kevin Ollie has a roster he can work with.

No mention of Adams. He may be the biggest key to next season. Does he make that huge freshman to sophomore leap?

 

[TasteofUConn]

Not buying it. I think we struggle to make the Tourni. Won't believe that we're a top 20 team until I see Larrier play against a non-cupcake. Not enough ball handlers w/o DHam. We'll see. This is the most pessimistic I've been in a very long time.

 

[UConnStats]

If Purvis tightens his handle it would immensely help this team next year. He's going to have to handle the ball a good amount, and he has the scoring prowess to elevate his game with better control of the ball.

 

[Leebo]

Not buying it. I think we struggle to make the Tourni. Won't believe that we're a top 20 team until I see Larrier play against a non-cupcake. Not enough ball handlers w/o DHam. We'll see. This is the most pessimistic I've been in a very long time.

Go take a look at the roster.

 

[dennismenace]

Our offense sucked last year. This year we have an experienced Jalen along with freshman AG and Vitale at the guard positions who can distribute. I think the flow of offense will be much much better next. I think the big question will be rebounding. Hoping on Larrier and the high motor Diarra as well as Enoch stepping up. Definitely hoping on
on Facey to have at least some improvement. AB might surprise but I am not counting too much on that. I think there will be much less confusion now that the backcourt seems
to have penetrators and distributors. I am looking forward to all those kids getting in the mix. There will be mistakes but I think much better chemistry when things settle down a way into the season.

 

[lange10]

If Purvis tightens his handle it would immensely help this team next year. He's going to have to handle the ball a good amount, and he has the scoring prowess to elevate his game with better control of the ball.

Agreed.

We're a bit limited in ball handlers but I don't think Purv will be relied on as heavily as you suspect. I anticipate Ollie playing small ball a ton featuring Adams, Gilbert and Purv. Jalen/Alterique will do the bulk of the handling can get in the lane at will and it'll create open jumpers for everyone. Purv is a great spot up shooter and will reap the benefits.

 

[breezy]

I think I am a little shocked....

I think some people expect Monster seasons from Jalen Adams and Terry Larrier, as do I.

I will be shocked if both players aren't the real deal, is it enough to put us in the top 25, not sure.

D-Ham was good but Terry Larrier may be as good. Jalen will have a year under his belt and Alterique gives another ball handler that we needed. Rodney and Amida will be playing for their NBA futures. It should be a good team.

This thread is the first time where I've seen people get really amped about Larrier. I'm not saying I don't expect/hope he's great, but where's the indication he's supposed to be amazing? For as frustrating as he could be, Dham was really good at basketball...
Agreed though, if he can be Dham we will be great. I'm not criticizing excitement I'm truly curious as I know next nothing about Terry.

 

[David 76]

I certainly expect us to play with more consistency this year and we won't have a 2-3 month draught from our best player. That is what made us borderline last year. Add in Brimah's injury.

If this team clicks like last year's didn't, I think we will be top 15. If it doesn't, we have a bigger problem. I think it will click.

 

[aceboon]

This thread is the first time where I've seen people get really amped about Larrier. I'm not saying I don't expect/hope he's great, but where's the indication he's supposed to be amazing? For as frustrating as he could be, Dham was really good at basketball...
Agreed though, if he can be Dham we will be great. I'm not criticizing excitement I'm truly curious as I know next nothing about Terry.

Not saying he will or won't be, but you don't have to be "amazing" to be better than the DHam we saw the last 2 years.

 

[breezy]

Not saying he will or won't be, but you don't have to be "amazing" to be better than the DHam we saw the last 2 years.

Fair. I just want to know where the high expectations are coming from sans a quote comparing him to a luxury car.

 

[dennismenace]

This thread is the first time where I've seen people get really amped about Larrier. I'm not saying I don't expect/hope he's great, but where's the indication he's supposed to be amazing? For as frustrating as he could be, Dham was really good at basketball...
Agreed though, if he can be Dham we will be great. I'm not criticizing excitement I'm truly curious as I know next nothing about Terry.

I think DHam played well considering he was really out of position as a point man. He rebounded very well. But our offense stalled in the half court because we just did not have a point guard who set it up.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Were back to having the same issue we had 2 years ago. With miller gone we again have no one to feed the ball into in the post. I expect a lot of passing around the 3pt line and 3pt shots to start the season until someone hopefully emerges as an option

 

[Candyman]

Am I the only one who's kind of shocked by this? We were nowhere near the top 25 at the end of last season and we lost a few pretty big names. Do people expect the freshmen to make that big of an impact?

Most of the freshman have to just be good role players except Gilbert. Gilbert will have to produce from day 1. We have Adams, Purvis, Brimah, Facey and Larrier all with college experience most likely starting. So losing Miller, Gibbs and DHam hurts but we have a much better overall team. I can see why we are a top 25 team. Most experts are excited for our small lineup with the three guards.

I think the expectations need to be tampered down a bit for Larrier. Saying he may be better than DHam is a stretchright now. He had a sub par freshman year at VCU and then sat out a whole year. I think he is going to be very good but may take some time to get there. Also, someone mentioned he was a 5 star recruit, which is not true and adding to his high expectations.