SMU game reinforced that next year we will be loaded

[NielsisGood]

Hate to break it to you but, Brimah could certainly be useful next year.

We need big men.

Brimah is useless this year because the kid is never on the court because of foul trouble.

He's had 4 years, what makes you think his foul issues would suddenly change next year? The team will unquestionably be better without him. His lack of any skill outside of swatting a couple balls into the 3rd row has been detrimental to the team for as long as he's gotten major minutes. People like you overvalue Brimah because of the success this program has had with other raw project shot blocking bigs, while failing to see that Brimah is not at all comparable to Emeka or Thabeet, and that Brimah legit STINKS at every facet of the game outside of shot blocking.

 

[NielsisGood]

Interesting. He is kind of a specialty player. Block shots, rip down those rebounds. If he was surrounded by some scorers, some offensive leaders, he could focus on those aspects. Uconn does not have the luxury right now.

There is not a single aspect to Brimah other than his height that leads me to think he'd ever be a good rebounder.

 

[David 76]

Hey Upstater,
Would you please stop saying Brimsh is a well rounded player, as good as Emeka and would be ready to avoid all fouls next year, and that he was the shortest person at the inauguration?

 

[UConnDad]

I had ACL replacement surgery. Recovery can be relatively quick. I was back to playing hoop in less than a year. Was back to 5k running in 6 months. And I was 47 at the time. These young guys heal faster and should have better care and monitoring than I had. A question for me would be what was used for the new ligament as this determines whether the surgery is entirely arthroscopic and thus less invasive. Anyone have any knowledge of their surgeries?

 

[mauconnfan]

Hard to believe people aren't getting this. Have they watched us without Brimah on the court this year? The solution to a guy killing you by only giving you 22 minutes per game is not to bring his minutes down to 0. Brimah would be better served playing for a team that could use him for what he is - a 20-30 minute guy who is going to excel in some match-ups and not others. He's not a foundational piece, but he's still a useful player.

Yes I watched us play a really solid 1st half of basketball vs Georgetown in the first half most recently when he played a minute. Your point is? This is not a good argument because it could easily be said "did you watch us with Brimah on the court this year?" Let's start with the first game when the 6'7 dude from Wagner had a career game vs him. He's not the whole problem at all but he's not the answer at all either for the future, he's exactly the reason we aren't that good, inconsistent play and not very intelligent play. Had fun watching the 13 points last night, good stuff. Loved the box out on the free throw too (typical and just plain putrid) and the 3 rebounds in 30 plus minutes? I mean please, it's time to understand those 3 blocks only negated the mistakes on the same end. This guy looks like a difference maker but the real basketball people watch and see the other things which leave you befuddled 4 years later that anyone could be that dumb.

Move on people, love the kid all you want we all do for his enthusiasm for the game and the program, but drop the "we will miss him" crap. Yeah we will miss him if we suck again, and we might, but we need to get better as team and if it means playing 3 6'7 guys who understand the game then so be it. But consistency and intelligence is required moving forward, let's hope this does get better.

 

[jibsey]

Whether you agree or disagree that we will be loaded next year it's almost a moot point when you think about how we have been performing against OOC heavyweights out of the gate. Last 2 years we have not beaten those teams and immediately found ourselves behind the 8 ball. This is all happening as KO is spreading minutes, giving new players a chance and trying to find a rotation while trying to make everyone on the roster happy. Some of this is because the players he counted on were not getting it done but if we are truly loaded which I don't buy we will know pretty quick. We will have a massive hole in the middle the way i see it and still will have a bad perimeter shooting team if recruiting doesn't address that.

 

[mauconnfan]

Whether you agree or disagree that we will be loaded next year it's almost a moot point when you think about how we have been performing against OOC heavyweights out of the gate. Last 2 years we have not beaten those teams and immediately found ourselves behind the 8 ball. This is all happening as KO is spreading minutes, giving new players a chance and trying to find a rotation while trying to make everyone on the roster happy. Some of this is because the players he counted on were not getting it done but if we are truly loaded which I don't buy we will know pretty quick. We will have a massive hole in the middle the way i see it and still will have a bad perimeter shooting team if recruiting doesn't address that.

The "massive hole" can be covered fairly easy since we've actually had one anyway. SMU didn't have a legit 5 at all yet they played some pretty decent basketball against us.

What we really need is to put 5 really good basketball players on the court who know how to play the game and not worry too much about what position they play. Many teams have been successful doing so, I know we do eventually need a real 5 and would love one, but they can be a good team mixing and matching too with all in and all healthy.

 

[FartMan69]

Op is like bait.

 

[jibsey]

The "massive hole" can be covered fairly easy since we've actually had one anyway. SMU didn't have a legit 5 at all yet they played some pretty decent basketball against us.

What we really need is to put 5 really good basketball players on the court who know how to play the game and not worry too much about what position they play. Many teams have been successful doing so, I know we do eventually need a real 5 and would love one, but they can be a good team mixing and matching too with all in and all healthy.

I see this, but what about another shooter? Other than Vance none of these guys come in as 3 point shooters. Of course, Jalen, Alterique, Vital, and Larrier will make 3's to some degree but if they are low percentage we are back to square one. By that I mean 30%. But I agree that good players can negate the need for a big if we have enough of them.

 

[mauconnfan]

I see this, but what about another shooter? Other than Vance none of these guys come in as 3 point shooters. Of course, Jalen, Alterique, Vital, and Larrier will make 3's to some degree but if they are low percentage we are back to square one. By that I mean 30%. But I agree that good players can negate the need for a big if we have enough of them.

Oh yes sorry agree fully on another shooter. I think it will be key to have mor shooters on the court such as Larrier and Alterique even though they may be low to mid 30's, still helps. But to get max impact on the perimeter it would be a huge get if the staff suddenly picked up a 40-50%er. I'm on that page with you for sure.

 

[pnow15]

Fans are having tailgate parties at basketball games next year?

 

[intlzncster]

I had ACL replacement surgery. Recovery can be relatively quick. I was back to playing hoop in less than a year. Was back to 5k running in 6 months. And I was 47 at the time. These young guys heal faster and should have better care and monitoring than I had. A question for me would be what was used for the new ligament as this determines whether the surgery is entirely arthroscopic and thus less invasive. Anyone have any knowledge of their surgeries?

Gotta remember, these guys are going hard every single day in practice, plus games. The amount of wear and tear and constant recovery is so far above anything an amateur is doing.

Also, There's a big difference between simply returning to action, and competing at a top level athletically, where a small percentage difference in output can affect your entire game.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

We're going to miss Brimah's defensive presence (when he isn't racking up fouls) for sure next year. Someone stepping up as a defensive anchor from our bigs will be important. It will be the first year since Boat where the team had a clear leader heading into the season though. I'm looking forward to having a top PG with a great second ballhandler in Alterique as well as plenty of scoring options. The team should be dangerous next year as long as Ollie and Jalen do a good job of making sure everyone knows their roles.

 

[ctchamps]

We're going to miss Brimah's defensive presence (when he isn't racking up fouls) for sure next year. Someone stepping up as a defensive anchor from our bigs will be important. It will be the first year since Boat where the team had a clear leader heading into the season though. I'm looking forward to having a top PG with a great second ballhandler in Alterique as well as plenty of scoring options. The team should be dangerous next year as long as Ollie and Jalen do a good job of making sure everyone knows their roles.

Most of your sentiment I agree with. UCF game showed what a decent Brimah game can bring to the team. Unfortunately that player showed up much too infrequently for anyone imo to say his absence would be worth more than 3 or four games. Now 3 or 4 games could be significant depending on a lot of things.

Until or unless we see things from Steve that would be a significant improvement from Steve's defense this year, UConn will have trouble against teams like ECU or UCF, teams AB has been important in getting a W.

The rest of the players look great on paper. The problem is time playing together. There is no way of knowing how quickly Gilbert and Larrier will integrate with Jalen (these are the 3 core players with a decent chance Vance will be the fourth part of a core)

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Most of your sentiment I agree with. UCF game showed what a decent Brimah game can bring to the team. Unfortunately that player showed up much too infrequently for anyone imo to say his absence would be worth more than 3 or four games. Now 3 or 4 games could be significant depending on a lot of things.

Until or unless we see things from Steve that would be a significant improvement from Steve's defense this year, UConn will have trouble against teams like ECU or UCF, teams AB has been important in getting a W.

The rest of the players look great on paper. The problem is time playing together. There is no way of knowing how quickly Gilbert and Larrier will integrate with Jalen (these are the 3 core players with a decent chance Vance will be the fourth part of a core)

I definitely agree that AB shows up infrequently throughout the season. But when he is in the game he is a force defensively. Something that would be useful tournament time.

You're right too that the question is how will Gilbert and Larrier adjust to Adams. Like I said before, I hope these guys buy in to Jalen as the leader right away so they can fall into their role. Jalen needs to finish top 3 in the Husky Run next year too. Has to increase his stamina.

 

[uchusky32]

Most of your sentiment I agree with. UCF game showed what a decent Brimah game can bring to the team. Unfortunately that player showed up much too infrequently for anyone imo to say his absence would be worth more than 3 or four games. Now 3 or 4 games could be significant depending on a lot of things.

Until or unless we see things from Steve that would be a significant improvement from Steve's defense this year, UConn will have trouble against teams like ECU or UCF, teams AB has been important in getting a W.

The rest of the players look great on paper. The problem is time playing together. There is no way of knowing how quickly Gilbert and Larrier will integrate with Jalen (these are the 3 core players with a decent chance Vance will be the fourth part of a core)

Not only have we not seen enough of Steve he's missing valuable game time to get the experience he needs for next year. Nothing better at getting experience than playing.

 

[ctchamps]

Not only have we not seen enough of Steve he's missing valuable game time to get the experience he needs for next year. Nothing better at getting experience than playing.

The dang thing is Steve really has great potential on the offensive side of things. But he, like Kentan in the past, will get reduced playing time if he doesn't do well on defense. And that's the tragedy of things because he was just starting to show an understanding of what the coaches want from him on defense. And then he get's hurt slowing down that progress. I'd say Steve, the coaches and us fans can't get a break but that would be a horrible pun in this case.

 

[David 76]

The dang thing is Steve really has great potential on the offensive side of things.

Is that the dang thing?