Some lineup options...

[campcalhoun2009]

That I think would be interesting and might help a couple struggling players.

1. Play Olander AND Wolf together. Wolf has shown the ability that he should be getting extended minutes and is also a better shot blocker than Olander. Playing them together would allow DD to shift to the 3 (his natural position) and allow Wolf to play on the block and Olander to play at the elbow, where he's much more effective offensively. We saw last year how effective Olander was playing alongside Drummond down low. It opened up space for him to shoot elbow jumpers or shot fake and drive which I believe are his two strongest moves. He'd also be defending the opponents 4 which would probably be a better defensive matchup for him and wouldn't rely on him to block shots as much (something he isn't very good at). This would also help out in grabbing more rebounds as we'd have more size on the floor. Seems with the 2 plays skills sets being relatively different and Wolf showing he is more than capable of handling minutes this would be an interesting option to explore for some stretches.

2. Play Calhoun alongside just 1 other guard. A lineup where OC comes off the bench to spell Boatright or Napier would do a few things to help his game I believe. 1. It creates more space for him to move. Right now when OC is in the game with Boat and Bazz he is very passive and usually just standing in the corner/behind the 3 point line. Also Boat and Bazz need a lot of space to work their respective games. With just one of the killer B's in the lineup he can take more space on the outside to create his own shot off the dribble, either mid-range or getting to the rim to draw fouls/finish. 2. It puts him in a true 2 guard role (I believe his best position). A side effect of him usually (ie always) playing in a 3 guard set is that be rarely has the ball in his hands. He doesn't seem to be a spot up shooter and he passes the creating responsibilities off to the B's. I think we'd see his game open up a lot more if he was in a lineup where he was the clear scoring guard option and had the freedom to do a little more in the offense.

Just my thoughts after watching the developments for the first couple months.

 

[UofCT]

I agree. We should start and end every game with Wolff/Olander/DD/Boat/Bazz. This is our best lineup. Id even occasionally have Giffey in as opposed to Olander at times if we want to go smaller.

 

[Dann]

i have been yelling about this for to long. agree all day...

 

[CTBasketball]

I concur. The only problem is that they'll go right after our bigs and get them in foul trouble. Then we'd be done if they both pick up 2 or 3 fouls before the half.

 

[aceboon]

Disagree completely on both points, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want KO to play Wolf & Olander together so Olander can get torched by a quick 4 just so ya'll can get the thought out of your heads. J Calhoun has brainwashed a good lot of you into thinking big=better.

 

[campcalhoun2009]

Disagree completely on both points, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want KO to play Wolf & Olander together so Olander can get torched by a quick 4 just so ya'll can get the thought out of your heads. J Calhoun has brainwashed a good lot of you into thinking big=better.

It's not like we've never seen Olander play the 4 effectively before. I actually think he defends that position better than when he's matched up with someone bigger who generally bullys him in the post and uses his ineffectiveness as a shot blocker against him.

Obviously you're always going to run into match-up options with certain players (stretch 4's etc) and can shift into a smaller set. I think Wolf/Olander together helps out offense and rebounding a ton and would work fine defensively in most circumstances.

Also on the foul trouble issue: it's good that we've seen the smaller sets (with DD/NG) at the 4 work so it wouldn't be too hard to rotate based on foul issues.

 

[ctchamps]

I concur. The only problem is that they'll go right after our bigs and get them in foul trouble. Then we'd be done if they both pick up 2 or 3 fouls before the half.

Exactly. Next season this option might take place if Nolan can develop into a serviceable five or if UConn gets a big who can play 15 minutes. Otherwise KO is hamstrung. Lest anyone need concrete evidence all they have to do is look at DePaul. Without their starting five they went to the back up and had to play the bench warmer for a good part of the game.

KO has to play EW and TO as back ups to one another because Nolan isn't ready. I agree with everyone else, a lineup with EW, TO, DD, SN and RB would be a much better rebounding lineup. Not going to happen too often this season.

Personally I would prefer a line up of EW, DD, NG, RB and SN but that also won't happen too often this season for the same reason as above.

 

[ctchamps]

Disagree completely on both points, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want KO to play Wolf & Olander together so Olander can get torched by a quick 4 just so ya'll can get the thought out of your heads. J Calhoun has brainwashed a good lot of you into thinking big=better.

TO played the 4 well alongside AO or AD. But you are correct, when they pulled AO or AD out to the perimeter TO struggled. It's pick your poison - rebounding or guys driving to the basket.

 

[aceboon]

I just don't see how playing Olander up front helps rebounding and offense when (A) he hasn't rebounded and (B), he's not a threat to score and the spacing is better when we have a more perimeter based line-up on the court. Only switch I would make is for Giffey at the 3 in place of Omar or if he's not going to start at least play Giffey and DD more together. Don't want to make it seem like I'm bashing him but more Olander on the court is not a good thing.

It's not like we've never seen Olander play the 4 effectively before. I actually think he defends that position better than when he's matched up with someone bigger who generally bullys him in the post and uses his ineffectiveness as a shot blocker against him.

Obviously you're always going to run into match-up options with certain players (stretch 4's etc) and can shift into a smaller set. I think Wolf/Olander together helps out offense and rebounding a ton and would work fine defensively in most circumstances.

Also on the foul trouble issue: it's good that we've seen the smaller sets (with DD/NG) at the 4 work so it wouldn't be too hard to rotate based on foul issues.

 

[Kitaman]

Sadly Olander is a marginal college player. Never destined to be an All Star or a BE first teamer. He is what he is, and Ollie will find a way to maximize his skills. As for potential its appears Wolf leads in that department, on his size alone. Olander does need a major confidence boost, as it appears he's hedging, unsure of himself and not truly taking it strong to the hoop. His defense is porous lately, not really protecting the hoop. Could be his lack of speed or fear of getting into foul trouble. He could also use a little attitude, hard to manufacture, but if he gets more confidence and a mean streak then he and the team will be much better. He's experienced and knows the BE very well.

By the way he is our best mid-range, near basket shooter. I just wish he would consistently knock them down (i.e. confidently). Quite honestly he should be starting but is losing ground to Wolf with every game. Lets hope he recovers.

 

[aceboon]

Also, as for Omar, I would love for him to be able to play the SG to give either Bazz or Boat a rest but he's been a disaster when handling the ball and having to make decisions against legit teams. I expect him to be better next year and in the future, but right now if an opposing D can focus on trapping or trying to cut off only either Bazz or Boat you're going to see the turnovers pile up if the other is out of the game.

 

[campcalhoun2009]

I think people are forgetting how well Olander played in stretches last year when paired with Drummond on the floor. Well enough to send AO to the bench (although with the way he played last year idk how much that's saying).

He's much better when he's not the only big on the floor, he doesn't have to block shots, doesn't have to guard 5's, and can play his mid range offensive game with more ease. Obviously we wouldn't do this all the time but I don't get why we haven't seen it at all yet.

 

[ctchamps]

Sadly Olander is a marginal college player. Never destined to be an All Star or a BE first teamer. He is what he is, and Ollie will find a way to maximize his skills. As for potential its appears Wolf leads in that department, on his size alone. Olander does need a major confidence boost, as it appears he's hedging, unsure of himself and not truly taking it strong to the hoop. His defense is porous lately, not really protecting the hoop. Could be his lack of speed or fear of getting into foul trouble. He could also use a little attitude, hard to manufacture, but if he gets more confidence and a mean streak then he and the team will be much better. He's experienced and knows the BE very well.

By the way he is our best mid-range, near basket shooter. I just wish he would consistently knock them down (i.e. confidently). Quite honestly he should be starting but is losing ground to Wolf with every game. Lets hope he recovers.

I'm with you. A good part of TO's game comes between his ears. Last year he was going gang busters until he played Fairfield and got schooled by his brother. That was the beginning of the slide for TO. This year he struggled against those same type of teams.

Some people have moxie. Others don't. RB, Rashad, Jeff, KFree, KO, KEA won't back down for anything. I think OC will turn out that way as well. Some players have to be pushed to get the maximum out of them. BG was a good example of this. Same with Caron and Jeremey. DD is probably another one. Others go into their shell when the coaches get on them. Boone was an example of this. Same with Alex. And still other players stop playing within themselves when things start going wrong. This is Tyler's problem. There is nothing a coach can do to help Tyler because he's already down on himself.

I was afraid that starting Wolf was going to be detrimental to Tyler. EW has moxie, and is less likely to be phased by not starting whereas TO will go into a funk. And TO will NOT blame the coach for not starting. He will blame himself. Unlike Alex.

 

[aceboon]

Olander's season was pretty much done after the Fairfield game when his brother destroyed him, he played about 3-4 good games the entire season up to that point. That's a pretty small stretch.

 

[caw]

I'll say this, you don't want to start both Olander and Wolf against ND. They would be burned from 3 trying to guard ND's four.

However, there are some games this year where going big may be needed. The next game is the one game where going big may be needed (if Behannan was playing). Pitt may be another game where it is needed as they have Adams (flop so far but big and relatively mobile) and Zanna. If Coleman on Cuse ever grows a pair, then playing big against them would be good also.

 

[ctchamps]

Olander's season was pretty much done after the Fairfield game when his brother destroyed him, he played about 3-4 good games the entire season up to that point.

Exactly, which tells me a good part of his problem is in his head. It's a small sample but the TO who was in at the end of the game was a different player than early in the game. Sure he played against the bench warmer, but he moved differently. And he knocked down both free throws. In other words he was a different player when the game was no longer in doubt.

 

[caw]

I think OC will turn out that way as well.

I agree with this, kid seems tough. He's struggling but his defense and hustle isn't stopping. I think he has a good future at UConn.

 

[ctchamps]

I agree with this, kid seems tough. He's struggling but his defense and hustle isn't stopping. I think he has a good future at UConn.

I'm high on him. His freshman season is playing out very similar to Jeremy albeit he's more consistent in his progression.

 

[joober jones]

Giffey can't play the 4 against anyone other than a depleted DePaul. He just doesn't have the size.

 

[mauconnfan]

The best lineup on this team right now, and I think clearly, is Boat, Bazz, Giffey, Daniels and Wolf.........it's the most effective 5 we can out on the floor and the best rebounding team.

While Tyler played a little better last night let's not start throwing him in the starting lineup because he made a couple nice plays in mop up duty. While I was happy for him and we need him, he was still very ineffective on defense in the first half and putting him and Wolfie in together does not bode well by me.........And Giffey is a better rebounder anyway with more time!

 

[aceboon]

Giffey can't play the 4 against anyone other than a depleted DePaul. He just doesn't have the size.

I don't want to trot Giffey out there against Syracuse's front line and Louisville if Behanan is playing, but he can get by against most teams in the BE. He played the 4 just fine against Marq and was the reason DD didn't get back in the game. Did a very good job defensively against Leslie in the NC State game as well. Not sure what games you've been watching this year if you think he's been overmatched out there, the majority of his minutes have come at the 4.

 

[61cygni]

A lineup based on the specific match up for any given opponent? Inconceivable!

 

[Rico444]

Playing Olander at the 4 for extended minutes means you're taking DD out of the role he's had so much success in. He's not quick enough to guard most 3s, and he's done almost all of his damage in the paint. Not sure why you'd want to jeopardize that.