Disagree with your initial premise. I think Johnson will start at the 4. Karaban will play some 4 and some 3. Jackson might play 5-10 mpg at the 4 but will mostly be the 3 like last year. I don’t see many minutes for Clingan in league games, unless Hurley completely changes his defense. I’d say Johnson gets as much time as the backup 5 as Clingan. Those may be the minutes where AJax is a 4. I expect Alleyne to be the 6th man.
It’s not a shot against him, that’s just not his game. He’s a big traditional low-post center that doesn’t have the foot speed to match up well when he has to guard the perimeter (especially with someone that can put it on the floor, see Nova). You deal with it to keep his offense in the game but asking him to do that when it’s not totally necessary is bonkers. There’s literally no upside in this situation. What is the challenge it poses to the opposing defense? That we have a 7 footer who isn’t a threat to create from the perimeter forced to camp out at the three point line and hopefully shoot/pass well enough to not be a total non-factor on offense? It’s a lineup that hurts UConn offensively and defensively.
I have no clue where to even start with this point.
I expect several DNPs. The problem is defense. Not offense. We have to completely change our defense any time he’s on the court.
That's not my original premise. Yes, Karaban and Jackson will play at the 4, but they will both also see time at the 3. As far as who starts at the 4 I think it will be Johnson, if he can earn that over Karaban. Johnson can potentially make it much harder to attack the rim on defense, and that is a significant part of the puzzle. So if Johnson's whole game has improved, both defensively, and he's a legit threat on offense, then I think he'll start, unless Karaban is ridiculously good right out of the gate.
Hopefully not. Hopefully we are less of a hard hedging one trick pony.
Agreed, I just think Geno figured she just had to walk the ball up the floor. It really was as 'freakish' an injury as I've ever seen. She just kind did one of those change of pace jab step type moves and it shows how quickly things can change. It's why I wouldn't want Sanogo out there in a blowout polishing his game at one end and going full tilt doing so.
BS Look for Clingan to be IMPACT.
Last year's lineup was a loser. Hurley better find a lot of time for Clingan somewhere if he wants to win. UC has never had anyone like him.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say he might be asked to defend some better players and systems than he did against NWC. Love his potential, but let’s maybe keep the expectations for a freshman center in check.
Is UConn playing CIAC teams next year? I hope he’s great. But he’s slow, and I’m not sure he can overcome that.
Being 7’2” with a gigantic wingspan helps overcome that.
My point is that having some question marks does not make a lineup necessarily a terrible idea. Having two centers with questionable at best foot speed and little to no ability to create from the perimeter does. All July rotation speculations are not created equal.
You unintentionally hit the nail on the head here, Kalkbrenner is the perfect comp for Clingan. He did crush our bigs last year, but that was as a sophomore. His freshman year went how I expect Clingan's to go. He averaged 13 minutes, with more against weak competition, and showed flashes on offense. But lots of games where he looked lost on defense and was in foul trouble which kept his minutes limited
We were clearly watching different games. I'm not saying the dude has lead feet, but he's a 240-250 lb center and if you're asking him to go guard a modern 4 the can create from the perimeter, it's going to be a bad time for everyone, which will end with some very quick foul trouble. It's the same reason I don't think Hurley should be asking Hawkins to defend a post player, it's just not his game.
