Starting line up

[Scrappy3]

We need to adjust and we will.
With three non shooters in starting line up with under sized pg— it sets the stage for slow starts
Even though we have won big— we have started slow— it’s guard-able by bad teams so good teams even harder.
Whalley to me is the natural 5. The fact that he’s sitting at the three point line is not great. And he’s there for one reason and all teams will know it. Big to big pass down low to adama
But whalley is best as a back up 5 with Akok as the more natural opposite big in unit 1
Whalley brings what we need on unit 2. We can play 4-1 with whalley and we will see great production and better balance
9-10 guys can play
But my theme is the same
Three non shooters and two legit 5 men in unit 1 is not the best we can do.

By the way how Good is Hawkins going to be???!

 

[TheChamps990411]

We need to adjust and we will.
With three non shooters in starting line up with under sized pg— it sets the stage for slow starts
Even though we have won big— we have started slow— it’s guard-able by bad teams so good teams even harder.
Whalley to me is the natural 5. The fact that he’s sitting at the three point line is not great. Abs he’s there for one reason and all teams will know it. Big yo big pass down low to adama
But whalley is best as a back up 5 with Akok as the more natural opposite big
Whalley brings what we need to on unit 2. We can play 4-1 with whalley and we will see great production and better balance
9-10 guys can play
But my theme is the same
Three non shooters and two legit 5 men in unit 1 is not the best we can do.

Whaley had 10 rebounds 6 points and 2 blks in 17 minutes on a bad ankle. Dan Hurley has basically said Whaley is going to start, end of story. Our shooting is fine.

 

[husky429]

Whaley had 10 rebounds 6 points and 2 blks in 17 minutes on a bad ankle. Dan Hurley has basically said Whaley is going to start, end of story. Our shooting is fine.

Well, not quite. Today he said he isn't ready to tinker with the starting lineup but that anyone who is a liability on defense or brings nothing on offense will see their minutes decrease. We're just too early to make adjustments yet. I would imagine we keep a consistent rotation through Atlantis and revisit after that.

Hopefully Whaley has upped his game with a few days to rest that ankle.

 

[my2cents]

Its not who is starting but who is finishing the games that is important. Minutes will be determined by quality of play that day.
Having said that, Jordan Hawkins is a future NBA player and should get a lot of playing time.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Its not who is starting but who is finishing the games that is important. Minutes will be determined by quality of play that day.
Having said that, Jordan Hawkins is a future NBA player and should get a lot of playing time.

Thats fine, but you can't just leave points onnthe court. And that is what our starting unit is doing.

 

[UofCT]

Whaley had 10 rebounds 6 points and 2 blks in 17 minutes on a bad ankle. Dan Hurley has basically said Whaley is going to start, end of story. Our shooting is fine.

Akok is better than Whaley. Hurley knows, Whaley knows and the rest of the team knows it. Whaley has no business starting over Akok. Time to make the change now. I'd also like to see Gaffney starting over Cole but I'll save that for another thread.

 

[Scrappy3]

Whaley had 10 rebounds 6 points and 2 blks in 17 minutes on a bad ankle. Dan Hurley has basically said Whaley is going to start, end of story. Our shooting is fine.

He’s a great player
But that 17 min would be better with unit 2.
It’s not about whalley. It’s about spreading the floor and adding a shooter.

 

[SeattleHoop]

Akok is better than Whaley. Hurley knows, Whaley knows and the rest of the team knows it. Whaley has no business starting over Akok. Time to make the change now. I'd also like to see Gaffney starting over Cole but I'll save that for another thread.

I’m a pretty big Gaffney fan myself but Cole has an edge to him that Gaffney doesn’t imo. Cole hasn’t had to turn it on yet be when he does I think he’s better than Gaff still. We’ll see

 

[bendm]

why stop there? spread the floor as much as realistically possible by replacing whaley w/ akok and aj w/ hawk. we only have 1 of our 4 best shooters starting (and i say realistically because polley obviously shouldnt replace martin)

imo the intimidation effect of our uber physical starting lineup is overhyped. akok and hawk are nba level athletes too.

both a first unit of cole/hawk/martin/akok/sanogo and second unit of gaff/aj/polley/whaley would have great blends of physicality and shooting

 

[businesslawyer]

I think that Whaley is still a better two way player than Akok, but however they split minutes I agree that Akok is a better fit with the other four starters than Whaley. That having been said, if Hawkins supplants Jackson in the first unit — and remember we saw Hawkins with the other starters in the open practice scrimmage — Whaley’s fit gets better.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

I’m a pretty big Gaffney fan myself but Cole has an edge to him that Gaffney doesn’t imo. Cole hasn’t had to turn it on yet be when he does I think he’s better than Gaff still. We’ll see

yea i think it needs to stay cole…for now.

main problem with cole is that he cannot penetrate with any success. he is getting consistently blocked at the rim against low major teams, i don’t foresee much success against high majors.

nevertheless, with his shooting and leadership abilities, i think he is the right choice at the 1 for now.

would love to see gaffney usurp him as he has a much higher ceiling, but not clear if he can consistently reach it.

 

[mauconnfan]

Akok is better than Whaley. Hurley knows, Whaley knows and the rest of the team knows it. Whaley has no business starting over Akok. Time to make the change now. I'd also like to see Gaffney starting over Cole but I'll save that for another thread.

Well at least you know. Akok made a couple 3s and played ok. Defensively he was lost always lost his guy. Whaley is our absolute best defender overall it’s not that close. So I doubt Hurley knows.

Whaley stays and deservedly so!

 

[HuskyHawk]

Not worth worrying about really. I do with Hurley would substitute earlier in games. If he’s going to stick with these starters he needs to go sub sooner. Akok is better than Whaley and the dropoff on D is minimal. Akok is a better interior defender. Jackson brings all kinds of things, so Hawk should remain a sub, but perhaps come in sooner. Same with Gaffney. We have 8 guys who could start.

 

[TheChamps990411]

He’s a great player
But that 17 min would be better with unit 2.
It’s not about whalley. It’s about spreading the floor and adding a shooter.

Dan Hurley doesnt agree.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Well, not quite. Today he said he isn't ready to tinker with the starting lineup but that anyone who is a liability on defense or brings nothing on offense will see their minutes decrease. We're just too early to make adjustments yet. I would imagine we keep a consistent rotation through Atlantis and revisit after that.

Hopefully Whaley has upped his game with a few days to rest that ankle.

Agree.

 

[Scrappy3]

Dan Hurley doesnt agree.

He will. It will be a natural progression. Whalley is a 5 man Akok a 4

 

[UofCT]

I’m a pretty big Gaffney fan myself but Cole has an edge to him that Gaffney doesn’t imo. Cole hasn’t had to turn it on yet be when he does I think he’s better than Gaff still. We’ll see

While Cole hasn’t turned it on yet Gaffney has and it’s very clear who the better guard is

 

[mauconnfan]

Not worth worrying about really. I do with Hurley would substitute earlier in games. If he’s going to stick with these starters he needs to go sub sooner. Akok is better than Whaley and the dropoff on D is minimal. Akok is a better interior defender. Jackson brings all kinds of things, so Hawk should remain a sub, but perhaps come in sooner. Same with Gaffney. We have 8 guys who could start.

Hate to tell you the drop off in D is large. And if anything Whaley is as good as an interior defender and maybe even shot blocker. Akok is lost on the pick and roll so they will use and abuse him there. Not sure how many have noticed but teams (like Nova and others who scout well) will not let the guys who Whaley is guarding go to the top to set screens because he’s so good there.

I like Akok and he’s going to get better and better while playing more. But for now as far whos better for our team consistently it’s still Whaley. Potentially i will give you Akok I agree but certainly not as we speak.

 

[mauconnfan]

While Cole hasn’t turned it on yet Gaffney has and it’s very clear who the better guard is

It was clear yesterday no doubt but overall no. Actually not just yesterday Gaff has looked good 2-3 games especially on O. While he’s a bit better on D this year Gaff is still getting beat off the dribble and needs to get better there as so will the competition. Cole was also less than adequate yesterday on D, lazy to say the least.

Ways to go but Gaff has improved offensively and that’s to like. He throws awful passes and some damn good ones as well. He needs to get consistent and he needs to finish better on O. But it looks like he’s doing a lot less east-west so far which is great.

Cole needs to get back to who he was and make shots or Gaff will take minutes no doubt. Because they will not play together much anymore with Hawkins and Jackson on the roster.

 

[mauconnfan]

Dan Hurley doesnt agree.

Amazing what some see, don’t see and forget as well. Lol

 

[Pmurph678]

Yet

Dan Hurley doesnt agree.

 

[my2cents]

Thats fine, but you can't just leave points onnthe court. And that is what our starting unit is doing.

My starting five: Gaffney, Hawkins, Akok, Martin, Sanogo
Back ups: Cole, Whaley, Polley, Jackson

 

[jibsey]

Hurley and his staff are matching us up with Auburn and will have a game plan but we're lacking outside shooting in that lineup. He likes Jackson in the lineup and I think he should stay.

 

[navery12]

While Cole hasn’t turned it on yet Gaffney has and it’s very clear who the better guard is

Correct, it's Cole

 

[husky429]

It was clear yesterday no doubt but overall no. Actually not just yesterday Gaff has looked good 2-3 games especially on O. While he’s a bit better on D this year Gaff is still getting beat off the dribble and needs to get better there as so will the competition. Cole was also less than adequate yesterday on D, lazy to say the least.

Ways to go but Gaff has improved offensively and that’s to like. He throws awful passes and some damn good ones as well. He needs to get consistent and he needs to finish better on O. But it looks like he’s doing a lot less east-west so far which is great.

Cole needs to get back to who he was and make shots or Gaff will take minutes no doubt. Because they will not play together much anymore with Hawkins and Jackson on the roster.

Akok is not nearly as bad as you are suggesting. You choose some weird hills to die on sometimes. He's an excellent defender. Are we even watching the same game?

Whaley is definitely marginally better defender. But he's also a better defender the 99.9% of college players. However, If he's gonna blow it on offense this bad consistently, it really isn't worth the better defense. It's not like our D is bad without him.

I suspect Whaley will regress to the mean soon enough. He isn't going to shoot 1/8 forever.

 

[jibsey]

Akok is not nearly as bad as you are suggesting. You choose some weird hills to die on sometimes. He's an excellent defender. Are we even watching the same game?

Whaley is definitely marginally better defender. But he's also a better defender the 99.9% of college players. However, If he's gonna blow it on offense this bad consistently, it really isn't worth the better defense. It's not like our D is bad without him.

I suspect Whaley will regress to the mean soon enough. He isn't going to shoot 1/8 forever.

Akok against a muscular 5 is going to get eaten alive inside, and that's why Whaley is in there.

 

[navery12]

Akok against a muscular 5 is going to get eaten alive inside, and that's why Whaley is in there.

But Whaley isn't playing the 5, he's playing the 4

 

[jibsey]

But Whaley isn't playing the 5, he's playing the 4

So the way I see it the guys playing 4 and 5 are defending the rim no matter their number especially with help defense. I like Akok's shot blocking and he should play a lot but Hurley is wedded to Whaley case closed. Fouls will dictate a lot of this against stronger teams we'regoing to pile them up.

 

[navery12]

So the way I see it the guys playing 4 and 5 are defending the rim no matter their number especially with help defense. I like Akok's shot blocking and he should play a lot but Hurley is wedded to Whaley case closed. Fouls will dictate a lot of this against stronger teams we'regoing to pile them up.

I agree with everything you just said, but that's different from what you posted before. You said Akok can't replace Whaley because he'll get eaten alive by muscular 5's. That's factually incorrect when Whaley is mostly playing the 4

 

[Fatroony5]

Akok is not nearly as bad as you are suggesting. You choose some weird hills to die on sometimes. He's an excellent defender. Are we even watching the same game?

Whaley is definitely marginally better defender. But he's also a better defender the 99.9% of college players. However, If he's gonna blow it on offense this bad consistently, it really isn't worth the better defense. It's not like our D is bad without him.

I suspect Whaley will regress to the mean soon enough. He isn't going to shoot 1/8 forever.

Ya he won’t continue to shoot 1/8 that’s for sure. But his finishing at the rim continues to be an issue, he really needs to square up or try to dunk those put backs, he seems like he’s just throwing the ball at the rim at bad angles. I wonder if we’ll see more teams throw zone looks at UConn. The starting line up struggled early with that, having Whaley play high post with a high low look against a zone isn’t great. I hope he gets it going because I like him as a player, but against good comp, he can’t play like that. Wonder if he’d get it going more if he came off the bench and subbed directly for Sanogo.