Strangely optimistic

[ConnHuskBask]

No. 1 ranked player in the AAC by Kenpom, 2nd team all conference, you can go on but you are debating with someone whose basketball comprehension does not go beyond looking at FG%.

Not saying Hamilton was a lights out shooter, but the field goal percent being low was certainly brought down by having to put up bail out shots towards the end of the shot clock (at least anecdotely it seemed).

I get everyone trying to rationalize this but this is terrible news if we wanted to really contend next season.

 

[superjohn]

Agree 100%. That said, the direction this thread seems to be heading is that "we didn't play the two-headed point guard attack because Hamilton demanded so much of the ball, which meant we were inefficient."

I think that's incorrect. The truth is we didn't play the two-headed PG system because we didn't have two PGs worth playing, and because of that Hamilton was given the ball in all sorts of bad spots, which helped lead to his inefficiency.

Next year we will have two ball-handlers, most likely. The thought of that in addition to Hamilton's passing & playmaking had me giddy.

You're creating this in your head, everyone knows we didn't have a two headed point guard monster this past season, Gibbs couldn't penetrate at all and Adams didn't really come on until later in the year. I see us getting back to that with Gilbert and Adams.

 

[Lefty2one]

I think there are way too many x-factors to be optimistic at this point, including the future of Purvis and Brimah. The loss of Hamilton is big though, despite the fact that he was a whipping boy around here quite often this season.

Who the hell knows though, the highest expectations we've had recently (2010, 2012, 2016) were our most disappointing seasons and ones with little hope (2011, 2013, 2014) weren't all that bad.

 

[Matrim55]

No , I have google on my computer too. I'm aware of his rebounding and passing, I'm also aware of his shooting. I would ask you to call it straight but you fail to ever look at things with any sort of complexity. Hamilton is a very good player but has glaring holes in his game, shooting/finishing and balhandling are not at an elite college level and are nowhere near NBA level. UConn is historically at it's best with two elite level ballhandlers who can also score and an elite wing scorer. Hamilton has a lot of things he is good at, being an elite scorer at the wing position is not one of them. He will be missed for sure but not as much as some expect.

What a bizarre intellect you have.

 

[superjohn]

What a bizarre intellect you have.

How so? You call me out for bringing up that Hamilton is a career 38% shooter, I don't call you out for bringing up his rebounding and assist numbers. Hamilton is what he is, a very good college player who also has glaring holes in his game. We are obviously better off with him but your act is tired with you coming at me for bringing up the fact that he was an inefficient scorer for us. If this is how you discuss things I'll make a point of no longer discussing things with you, it's just not a good look.

 

[Matrim55]

How so?

Your analysis: " 38% shooting guard at the end of the day is still a 38% shooting guard" is then followed by accusing someone else of lacking nuance. You deny making tautological arguments and then make the tautological argument that UConn always do better with two PGs and a scoring wing.

It's bizarre.

Anyway, let me boil it down: Hamilton shot 45% from the field when on the court with Brimah this year. Also, playing on the same court with 2 PGs would lead to 1) better shots, which means 2) increased efficiency, and then you have 3) your high-scoring wing.

Sometimes a 38% shooting guard isn't actually a 38% shooting guard. And sometimes a cigar really is a ****.

 

[mauconnfan]

Anyone who thinks they have the answer on how much of an impact DHam will have by leaving is wrong. Thoughts, sats, %'s, etc etc there's an argument for both sides. He was easily our best rebounder, hunted boards like no one else. He got many of those because he was reading them, not guarding his man. does it mean he's smart or lazy on D? Both really so again, there's a chance both sides have some reasoning here. Also he threw the ball away with an efficiency many would prefer to forget and instead call him an assist machine. Well if you're trying to make great passes all the time some will connect and some will be great passes right.

He hurts with his decision, quite honestly himself probably more than us. Awful decision and I'm amazed considering what the family has already seen, I'm baffled by this. He shoots the ball from his chest, he doesn't get sir on his drives he's a grounder and he cheats on d. Seemed to turn the corner at the end of the year but we will never know now, very disappointing decision and must say I will be amazed if he ever sees any significant time in the NBA.

Someone is excited about this right? A grad transfer, Larrier, a freshman or anyone who wants to wear the uni and be a Husky. We'll be fine, he was going to be a very big piece no doubt but irreplaceable? NO Life goes on in Storrs.

 

[August_West]

I thought Dham would be a beast next year. He was finding his groove toward the end of the year and I totally felt next year could be one of those major leaps we see from time to time between Soph and junior years ( most recently bazz and kemba come to mind) . That said with everyone back I was a little worried about chemistry issues as far as who really is the guy. So losing him while I will miss seeing what might've been,doesn't hurt as bad as it might've because it has potential to be addition by subtraction floor chemistry wise...... Maybe.

However I will echo what I've seen in this thread. No purvis back and all bets are off and I will be severely worried. I think purvis is first team AAC next year and in running for player of the year if he comes back.

We can't lose purvis.

We could've weathered one or the other. Not both.

 

[Gurleyman]

Sometimes a 38% shooting guard isn't actually a 38% shooting guard. And sometimes a cigar really is a ****.

In college, he's been much more a point forward than a shooting guard.

 

[mauconnfan]

Your analysis: " 38% shooting guard at the end of the day is still a 38% shooting guard" is then followed by accusing someone else of lacking nuance. You deny making tautological arguments and then make the tautological argument that UConn always do better with two PGs and a scoring wing.

It's bizarre.

Anyway, let me boil it down: Hamilton shot 45% from the field when on the court with Brimah this year. Also, playing on the same court with 2 PGs would lead to 1) better shots, which means 2) increased efficiency, and then you have 3) your high-scoring wing.

Sometimes a 38% shooting guard isn't actually a 38% shooting guard. And sometimes a cigar really is a ****.

That Brimah DHam crap is so vastly overrated it's pitiful. Please you guys are lost. How many times can I tell you one game when he scored 15 or so 12 were without Brimah on the court. Want to watch all the games to see how many he scored with Brimah on the bench. He played 30 plus minutes your guy played 18 so the only real answer is to look at every game and check the minutes they were in together. Do you have that stat?

Otherwise it's as simple as the truth, he was in a slump and suddenly started making a few shots when Brimah came back, coincidentally and that's it.

Sorry Matrix love your stuff I really do but you fall in love with generic stats way too much.

 

[Kitaman]

The biggest hurt on the team of Dham leaving early may be rebounding.

Chief I always think that rebounding is easier to replace than scoring and ball handling. IF (caps yes) our bigs can rebound better that will pick up DHam's loss.

What DHam brought though was an offensive threat, not consistent but enough to win games. He averaged 12 points (6/half). Thank goodness Larrier at least is not an untested freshman, but an experienced D1 player so logically we have a player ready to pick up that loss. If he averages double digit scoring we should be okay.

Brimah could be the biggest loser because I think most of his offensive scoring plays came off of DHam passing the last two years. Yet anyone of our guards can throw an alley oop pass with practice. Still I always wondered if Brimah 'depended' on DHam.

I'm agreeing on the rebounding and hope that we can overcome that by picking up his 9 boards either by committee or a surprising and 'improved' big and Larrier. Easier said than done because that was an excellent gift he had.

Defensively I expect Larrier and others to match or exceed.

Purvis is the wild card.

 

[superjohn]

Your analysis: " 38% shooting guard at the end of the day is still a 38% shooting guard" is then followed by accusing someone else of lacking nuance. You deny making tautological arguments and then make the tautological argument that UConn always do better with two PGs and a scoring wing.

It's bizarre.

Anyway, let me boil it down: Hamilton shot 45% from the field when on the court with Brimah this year. Also, playing on the same court with 2 PGs would lead to 1) better shots, which means 2) increased efficiency, and then you have 3) your high-scoring wing.

Sometimes a 38% shooting guard isn't actually a 38% shooting guard. And sometimes a cigar really is a ****.

You seem too personally invested in this, I've pointed out what made him good at UConn and what made him not so good. You think the kid has a chance to be an excellent NBA player, to me this is laughable. I love the kid but the NBA isn't looking for 6'6 frail point forward's with limited athleticism, a short wingspan who's best trait is rebounding. His position needs to be shooting guard and at this point he's a lousy NBA shooting guard prospect. I get it, you think he's a lot better than I do and think he's a really good NBA prospect, I don't and I'm not going to make excuses for the parts in his game that are lacking. I just wish he made the right decision to come back and work on those things that are lacking in his game.

 

[Chief00]

Chief I always think that rebounding is easier to replace than scoring and ball handling. IF (caps yes) our bigs can rebound better that will pick up DHam's loss.

What DHam brought though was an offensive threat, not consistent but enough to win games. He averaged 12 points (6/half). Thank goodness Larrier at least is not an untested freshman, but an experienced D1 player so logically we have a player ready to pick up that loss. If he averages double digit scoring we should be okay.

Brimah could be the biggest loser because I think most of his offensive scoring plays came off of DHam passing the last two years. Yet anyone of our guards can throw an alley oop pass with practice. Still I always wondered if Brimah 'depended' on DHam.

I'm agreeing on the rebounding and hope that we can overcome that by picking up his 9 boards either by committee or a surprising and 'improved' big and Larrier. Easier said than done because that was an excellent gift he had.

Defensively I expect Larrier and others to match or exceed.

Purvis is the wild card.

I don't disagree scoring is usually hardest to replace since it's a skill not an effort stat. Having said that without Dham and Miller we are a really poor rebounding team. I have some hope for Enoch and Facey can occasionally be a live body on the offensive bounds. Otherwise let's see what the Freshmen can bring to the table. It will be learning on the job.

 

[SubbaBub]

Losing Purvis would be a bigger blow. I won't miss Ham's inconsistency. His numbers can be replaced. Adams needs an experience shooter and scorer to help carry the load and I see no reason to trust any freshmen coming in to do a better job than a 5th year senior.

 

[superjohn]

I thought Dham would be a beast next year. He was finding his groove toward the end of the year and I totally felt next year could be one of those major leaps we see from time to time between Soph and junior years ( most recently bazz and kemba come to mind) . That said with everyone back I was a little worried about chemistry issues as far as who really is the guy. So losing him while I will miss seeing what might've been,doesn't hurt as bad as it might've because it has potential to be addition by subtraction floor chemistry wise. Maybe.

However I will echo what I've seen in this thread. No purvis back and all bets are off and I will be severely worried. I think purvis is first team AAC next year and in running for player of the year if he comes back.

We can't lose purvis.

We could've weathered one or the other. Not both.

We lose Purvis and we are screwed. Even with Rodney we still need at least one more legit ballhandler brought in, preferably one who can shoot it.

 

[Matrim55]

You think the kid has a chance to be an excellent NBA player, to me this is laughable.

Truly you have a bizarre intellect.

This discussion isn't about whether or not he'll make an excellent NBA player (he almost certainly won't), and never has been. It's about how much his departure hurts us.

You assume it'll have limited impact. I posit it lowers our ceiling from potential top 10 team to fringes of the top 25.

And now I'll leave you to your mad ravings.

 

[Ts5034]

I do not see this as addition by subtraction. I really hope Brimah and Purvis dont get any crazy ideas and declare for the draft now. With Hamilton gone, there is an opportunity for Larrier or one of the Freshman to step into that role. I really hope Ollie adds a graduate transfer in the next couple months because we have the scholarships available and I think the team still lacks another rebounder/big man.

 

[Waquoit]

There were several games when the team started clicking when DHam was sitting. The Temple game in the AAC tourney is one.

 

[Gurleyman]

Losing Purvis would be a bigger blow. I won't miss Ham's inconsistency. His numbers can be replaced. Adams needs an experience shooter and scorer to help carry the load and I see no reason to trust any freshmen coming in to do a better job than a 5th year senior.

Thing is, there's a fair enough chance that you wouldn't have been missing his inconsistency next year even if he did come back.

 

[Kitaman]

I don't disagree scoring is usually hardest to replace since it's a skill not an effort stat. Having said that without Dham and Miller we are a really poor rebounding team. I have some hope for Enoch and Facey can occasionally be a live body on the offensive bounds. Otherwise let's see what the Freshmen can bring to the table. It will be learning on the job.

Chief , uk have proven that freshman are unreliable and unpredictable and they get the best high schoolers in the nation. Just saying we have to keep expectations low for freshman and be pleasantly surprised when they succeed expectations. Sometimes you get 'lucky' and we've had a lot of nice freshman ballers/contributers at UConn.

We have to look to our vets and that number is dwindling to graduation and potential declaration. Good news is that Jalen and Enoch won't be freshman, Facey and Brimah are Champion seniors and Larrier is experienced. That's something to work with, so the freshman hopefully won't have to bring a lot. If AG gives us JA performance and development that would be great for a freshman and our team.

Again Purvis is the wild card.

 

[djct1999]

I do not see this as addition by subtraction. I really hope Brimah and Purvis dont get any crazy ideas and declare for the draft now. With Hamilton gone, there is an opportunity for Larrier or one of the Freshman to step into that role. I really hope Ollie adds a graduate transfer in the next couple months because we have the scholarships available and I think the team still lacks another rebounder/big man.

Without question, UConn is a better team with DHam on it. But the gap in ability between DHam and Larrier is far smaller than the two voids that we will feel without Brimah and Purvis.

 

[Gurleyman]

There were several games when the team started clicking when DHam was sitting. The Temple game in the AAC tourney is one.

We played awesome for 10 minutes without Bazz against Nova.

 

[superjohn]

Truly you have a bizarre intellect.

This discussion isn't about whether or not he'll make an excellent NBA player (he almost certainly won't), and never has been. It's about how much his departure hurts us.

You assume it'll have limited impact. I posit it lowers our ceiling from potential top 10 team to fringes of the top 25.

And now I'll leave you to your mad ravings.

"FT% is more predictive of the ability to hit the pro 3 than 3-point % at the college level. If Hamilton gets into the right team and they let him develop, he'll end up being an excellent pro.
If not, he'll get to see Europe."

These are your words, homey. Don't make it out like I'm making up stuff about what you said. You think he has a chance to be an excellent NBA player, I think that's laughable. It is what it is but not being honest isn't a good look for you, so you can cut it out with the bizarre intellect and mad ravings nonsense. I said we are better with Hamilton but I don't think not having him will have the impact many others think it will.

 

[Matrim55]

"FT% is more predictive of the ability to hit the pro 3 than 3-point % at the college level. If Hamilton gets into the right team and they let him develop, he'll end up being an excellent pro.
If not, he'll get to see Europe."

These are your words, homey.

That's A) from another thread, and B) not germane, since the discussion is about how Hamilton's departure will affect UConn next year. That's literally the point of this thread.

You have trouble keeping your thoughts straight, so I'll boil it down even further:

Even if Hamilton was only going to be a 38% shooter again next year, we'd still miss him a ton. Even if he never plays a single NBA minute - which I think is possible - we'd still miss him a ton.

And this...

Hamilton is a jack of all trades who isn't good enough at any one trade.

Remains an depressingly dumb take.

 

[Connrack]

if he's going to get paid playing basketball in say australia, i say that's much better than to go to school when you dont want to

Joe D. said on his radio show this afternoon that word was that Hamilton had dropped down to two classes this semester. If that was/is true, he said that Hamilton probably would have struggled to remain eligible to play in the fall. It appears Hamilton and his family were intent on him leaving after two years.