Silver Linings | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Silver Linings

temery said:
Were all of the Michigan starters first year transfers? If so, that's a pretty messed up future for college basketball.
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We had more players in our starting lineup who started their college careers at Michigan than Michigan did.

Big $ schools will just buy new rosters every year. Broken system
 
Another Silver Lining is Coach Hurley probably recruited Demary, Malachi, Millender, and Koroma on the promise of not playing as much as they’re used to but they would help UCONN get to a final four. That was probably the major factor in getting starters to commit to lesser roles. Hurley delivered on that promise. Millinder contributed in the Furman game, Malachi finally got a spotlight that he would’ve never gotten anywhere else. You can’t put a price on these things, especially when we’ll need to add pieces this portal season.
 
Jholla2183 said:
Hoping for a 5 that can start or very least push Reibe for time. And a 4 that can shoot but taller than Alex so he can play 5 in a pinch. Another PG is absolutely necessary, doubt Danny is comfortable running County out as the only other bal handler
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Agree on the 5. Love Reibe's offensive potential. If I'm honest with myself, the defense regressed a bit as the year wore on and rebounding was a struggle at times. Also fouls became an issue. Some of this is being a freshman and he will develop and improve in these areas I'm sure. Enough to challenge for another championship and playing 25-30 minutes a game? That would be a major gamble. I trust our coaches but it's pretty obvious we need a very good contingency plan at the very least at C. Most of the best teams this year had 3 bigs. We need more frontcourt size next year regardless. Too many physical mismatches were on the floor for us at times at various positions. The fact we overcame them time and time again is a tribute to both our players and coaches.
 
UCfor3 said:
Agree on the 5. Love Reibe's offensive potential. If I'm honest with myself, the defense regressed a bit as the year wore on and rebounding was a struggle at times. Also fouls became an issue. Some of this is being a freshman and he will develop and improve in these areas I'm sure. Enough to challenge for another championship and playing 25-30 minutes a game? That would be a major gamble. I trust our coaches but it's pretty obvious we need a very good contingency plan at the very least at C. Most of the best teams this year had 3 bigs. We need more frontcourt size next year regardless. Too many physical mismatches were on the floor for us at times at various positions. The fact we overcame them time and time again is a tribute to both our players and coaches.
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Love Reibe, but I'm not convinced he can be a starter yet next season. I would ideally prefer an old and experienced 7 footer at the 5 with Reibe still coming off the bench for about 15 min/game.
 
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We need some size. One big isn’t going to get it done unless it’s another Clingon. We seemed to lack another big at the 4.
 
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WrenchFan69 said:
No Nimari Burnett had been there a couple years. But rest assured the future is definitely messed up for college basketball
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Hard calling him a starter where by seasons end McKinney was getting more time. 5 brand new players lead that team, which is scary. But so was last Duke last year, who only had Proctor as a returner.

Don’t think Hurley will ever go this route because he simply doesn’t enjoy it.
 
Kitaman said:
Almost feeling sorry for Jaylin Stewart. Its like he's been forgotten his whole career.
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Same here. The fact he keeps coming back is a testament to how much kids love the program. Does Hurley reward his for it next year?
 
3rdbass said:
The 4 we get in the Portal is going to be the biggest position we will need. I think it is going to be a more athletic player who can sore. Also, need an Athletic 5 to pair with Reibe.
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Not reasonable to believe 100% that Reibe will be back at UConn
 
gtcam said:
Not reasonable to believe 100% that Reibe will be back at UConn
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In today’s world of portal, I don’t think you can call anything 100%. Especially when bigs are at a premium. The staff probably knows that at this point, the entire deck is on the table.
 
The silver lining is that we ended this Michigan team's unstoppable / best of all time narrative. Taking them to the final minute + the duke win makes it feel like we are in control of the sport. We won't win every championship, but if you're going to win one you need to check in with Connecticut
 
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I love the high number 4 but it’s absurd at this point. The good news is that Hurley will bring in elite talent to compliment the players who leave, I’m pretty certain.
There will be endless speculation and threads and everyone here is poised to weigh in to keep us all going until next fall.
Where do we need the help to get back for another shot at the final four?
 
djct1999 said:
I think we need to do a lot in the portal. We need size and athleticism. We need guys who can attack the rim and a 5. The verdict is out on how to stop us by switching everything on the perimeter. Danny needs to reload and adjust this offseason. I also think there are just two locks to return. Everything else is fluid.
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Hopefully, there is a change of pace PG that UConn can land. I'd also like to see a 5 who can offer some rim protection and a big 4. Karaban leaves such a big hole, and though he could be pushed around at times, he was fundamentally as sound as they come and when healthy, turned into a pretty good 1-on-1 defender. There is a lot to replace.
I haven't read anything in a while. Are there any 'late or Spring bloomers' that the staff is also interested in?
 
Kitaman said:
Almost feeling sorry for Jaylin Stewart. Its like he's been forgotten his whole career.
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He's gotten plenty of opportunities here. He just hasn't ever made the next level leap to be a starter at the level that we expect our starters to be at. Ross took bigger strides this year and IMO outplayed Stew on the bench. Not sure either of them will be starting caliber next year, but I'd love to have Ross back with another summer of development off the bench.
 
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Horatio said:
We gotta get a rim protector and get taller. We got beat tonight by the rim protection we used to have.
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7’3” doesn’t grow on trees but I think I’m not alone in hoping we start to engage the international market a little more.

We comb euro leagues for plays, why not players?
 
aburks41 said:
He's gotten plenty of opportunities here. He just hasn't ever made the next level leap to be a starter at the level that we expect our starters to be at. Ross took bigger strides this year and IMO outplayed Stew on the bench. Not sure either of them will be starting caliber next year, but I'd love to have Ross back with another summer of development off the bench.
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Stewart has talent and skill but isnt aggressive enough. He's got a mild personality. Maybe he's on his phone / game console too much. Hurley made another reference recently about that.
 
Jholla2183 said:
Hoping for a 5 that can start or very least push Reibe for time. And a 4 that can shoot but taller than Alex so he can play 5 in a pinch. Another PG is absolutely necessary, doubt Danny is comfortable running County out as the only other bal handler
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Your 5 right over Reibe adds the problem of needing a backup 5 so that second request for a 4 that can play backup 5 makes sense. Good luck finding a 6'10" guy who can guard 1 through 5 while putting up 15 points per game on 36% 3-point shooting though.
 
The silver lining are coming off two national titles who had a year that was a disaster in and still took the national titles winner to get a 50/50 call their way to knock UConn out last year and then this season in which Solo and Mullins didn't find their shooting strokes and not much went right UConn still made it to the championship game and lost on FT disparity.

The rest of the NCAA needs UConn to have significant problems and have bad calls against them when facing their eventual champions in order to stop them.

Let the staff cook (although I am sure I will chime in with my occasional remark as well).
 
The “silver lining” is that the staff is clearly elite and can nearly max out the potential of a given roster. 2024 UConn didn’t look at all vulnerable like Michigan did.

If they can polish the kinks with the roster construction, we will be back in no time hoisting number 7.
 
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Dibbie said:
We had more players in our starting lineup who started their college careers at Michigan than Michigan did.

Big $ schools will just buy new rosters every year. Broken system
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The system is broken no doubt, but I think this year Michigan happened to strike oil with this particular roster. Buying a new roster is almost never a recipe for a championship.
 
FightOnCT said:
The system is broken no doubt, but I think this year Michigan happened to strike oil with this particular roster. Buying a new roster is almost never a recipe for a championship.
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It wasn’t for St. John’s but we need inside muscle from center and PF and it’s not just Jaylin Stewart.
 
Fishy said:
Honestly, if, and this is a big if, we can keep everyone, we're just a few portal pieces away from being loaded for bear.

I know Demary and Mullins have NBA decisions to make, but given where they're at now and considering NIL, both of them are probably better off returning. It took all season, but I think we got glimpses of last year's Solo this weekend. He'll be better next year. Reed, Stewie...I hope they return.

Just add some size and athleticism and let's go again.

Gonna be weird as hell not seeing Alex out there.
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I think we got glimpses of last year's Solo this weekend. He'll be better next year.

He's certainly gotten criticism for his shooting this season. Post-game he talked about his wrist issues and getting two shots in his ankle to play. It's certainly possible that physical problems affected his shot for much of the season.
 
Cheddie said:
I think we got glimpses of last year's Solo this weekend. He'll be better next year.

He's certainly gotten criticism for his shooting this season. Post-game he talked about his wrist issues and getting two shots in his ankle to play. It's certainly possible that physical problems affected his shot for much of the season.
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Possible?
 
Cheddie said:
I think we got glimpses of last year's Solo this weekend. He'll be better next year.

He's certainly gotten criticism for his shooting this season. Post-game he talked about his wrist issues and getting two shots in his ankle to play. It's certainly possible that physical problems affected his shot for much of the season.
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Not an excuse and they had a guy in trouble by Jaylin, Silas and Stew impaired? With all that and FOULS it’s amazing we kept in that game.
 
jibsey said:
It wasn’t for St. John’s but we need inside muscle from center and PF and it’s not just Jaylin Stewart.
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Well yeah, we absolutely need to fill some of the holes in this upcoming roster with talent, especially at the 4. I’d love a 4 that can backup the 5 for insurance but that might’ve been a one year fad with this year having a lot of those. On the flipside, Karaban’s constant movement and ability to stretch the court made anticipating our offense more difficult.

We’ll see what the portal offers. I think Landrew has the strength to find minutes as a backup 4 too.
 
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