For this year, the experience and calming influence on Smith is incredibly valuable. Brendan Adams was a bit overwhelmed by the MSG spotlight last night, which could be expected. The addition of Smith provides a trustworthy player that had no experience with the Ollie regime. The fact that he got 30 minutes last night and Vital got a quality 16 minutes is notable. Vital didn't play badly, but Smith was key throughout the 2nd half. Hurley did a great job of getting the right players in the right situations. The fact that 2 non-starters had 28 and 30 minutes of PT shows the flexibility of Hurley and the team.
Top minutes were Adams 38, Polley 32, Smith 30, Gilbert 28 and Cobb 29. Gilbert would have had more if not for 1st half fouls. Cobb was obviously more comfortable than Carlton vs the extended 'cuse zone with his passing, handle and outside threat. Carlton will get his time against more conventional defenses. Nice to have those interchangable bigs to fit different situations. Whaley will get more time when 100%. There will certainly be a battle for PT when Diarra and Wilson return. Would expect Adams not to play 38 minutes when team is healthy. Wilson will take minutes from both Adams and Polley depending upon the opponent and whether UConn needs a shooter (Polley), and handler/creator (Adams) or a slasher scorer (Wilson).
