Team Update From Borges

[aceboon]

http://borgesblognhr.blogspot.com/

 

[James]

Seems enthusiastic about brimah and facey. if facey is hitting that mid range jumper it'll open the driving lanes up for slashers

 

[OkaForPrez]

Its becoming cliche to gush about KO, but I love this guy. He makes it a point to talk about his players character and the classroom with equal importance to their development on the basketball court. Its ever present in every interview. I love to hear him talk about energy givers and energy takers. It means he's recruiting guys for fit as much as talent. Talent is important, but basketball is a team sport, and chemistry is critical. We saw it in 11, we saw it last year and we saw the alternative in 2012. You can have all the talent in the world, but you have to have chemistry and heart.

Nice to see we have our new slogan for 13/14. 10 toes in = Level 5.

 

[ASweet3781]

Seems enthusiastic about brimah and facey. if facey is hitting that mid range jumper it'll open the driving lanes up for slashers

Damn. I was hoping he'd take a page out of some folks here and get all doomsday about the loss of Wolff, question himself for bringing in the GW transfer, and make over the top statements about how Wolff was the difference between making the Final 4 or not.

Perhaps both Facey and Brimah will make us forget about Wolff sooner rather than later? KO seems to think so.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Damn. I was hoping he'd take a page out of some folks here and get all doomsday about the loss of Wolff, question himself for bringing in the GW transfer, and make over the top statements about how Wolff was the difference between making the Final 4 or not.

Perhaps both Facey and Brimah will make us forget about Wolff sooner rather than later? KO seems to think so.

Forgive me for responding to another wolf tangent into a thread it doesn't belong in, but in all the commentary I've read on Wolf there seems to be two camps:

1. Those who think we will be a very good team next year, despite a significant loss to a key front court contributor. And by significant I mean we would be better with him than we are without him.
2. Those who think losing wolf means nothing and anyone suggesting otherwise are history revisionists.

Wolf is not Bazz. He is not Deandre. He is not Boat or Calhoun or even Giffey. But he provides a skillset that we desperately need and could have used him on the floor. Nobody is saying we are losing Emeka Okafor that I've read. No doomsday, but a cause for concern as next years expectations are great.
KO's quote about the freshman hitting the weight room and increasing their skills on the block, reinforces the above for me. I'm surprised its lead you to your conclusion.

 

[mauconnfan]

Damn. I was hoping he'd take a page out of some folks here and get all doomsday about the loss of Wolff, question himself for bringing in the GW transfer, and make over the top statements about how Wolff was the difference between making the Final 4 or not.

Perhaps both Facey and Brimah will make us forget about Wolff sooner rather than later? KO seems to think so.

I hope they do!! But what else would KO say?

 

[champs99and04]

Forgive me for responding to another wolf tangent into a thread it doesn't belong in, but in all the commentary I've read on Wolf there seems to be two camps:

1. 
   [ ]Those who think we will be a very good team next year, despite a significant loss to a key front court contributor. And by significant I mean we would be better with him than we are without him.
   [ ]Those who think losing wolf means nothing and anyone suggesting otherwise are history revisionists.

Wolf is not Bazz. He is not Deandre. He is not Boat or Calhoun or even Giffey. But he provides a skillset that we desperately need and could have used him on the floor. Nobody is saying we are losing Emeka Okafor that I've read. No doomsday, but a cause for concern as next years expectations are great.

KO's quote about the freshman hitting the weight room and increasing their skills on the block, reinforces the above for me. I'm surprised its lead you to your conclusion.

While I agree Wolf is a solid piece who I'd like to have on the team next season, I think we should assess his value relative to his frontcourt mates (Olander/Brimah/Facey/Nolan) and not in a vacuum. I'd say the two schools of thoughts you outlined above are pretty accurate, but I find myself in a bit of a sub-camp: the fact that he was our best option in the frontcourt last season doesn't necessarily mean he'll be the best option (or even one of) this year. Is he an extra body? Yes. Would he, theoretically, push Nolan, Facey, Brimah, and Olander in practice and possibly help them become better players? Yes. Is he capable of giving you five fouls and possibly an added element of bad-assery (I think that should be a word)? Yes.

But if the Calhoun years have taught us anything, it's that players vary significantly in the manner in which they interact with dynamics not necessarily directly related to their game, most notably, the pressure of playing at a school like UConn. It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm not sure if I'm making perfect sense or just rambling, but the point is some players are better served not constantly having to look over their shoulders wondering if an Enosch Wolf is coming into the game to replace them. Does the void Wolf's departure leaves in the frontcourt press Facey and Nolan, two players with arguably considerable upside, into an environment more conducive to showcasing their ability? Really, that's been my take on the Wolf thing from the start: on the surface, we lose Wolf's assets, but is it possible the 15-20 minutes Wolf would have likely played could have stunted the development of Phil Nolan or Kentan Facey? I think by pure virtue of their athleticism, foot-speed, and length, it's safe to assume they have higher ceilings than Wolf. With Wolf now likely out of the fold, the chances those two players have achieved a higher percentage of their potential by March has dramatically increased. Just one man's opinion.

 

[SeattleHoop]

I think by pure virtue of their athleticism, foot-speed, and length, it's safe to assume they have higher ceilings than Wolf. With Wolf now likely out of the fold, the chances those two players have achieved a higher percentage of their potential by March has dramatically increased. Just one man's opinion.

Thank you for taking the time to explain it, because that is exactly how I feel about the situation.

 

[mauconnfan]

The funny thing is all the Wolf non believers feel it would be impossible for him to improve for some reason.......everyone else will get better but because he's a 7' white German guy he is just a big lump worth 5 fouls?
I hope they step up and feel Nolan was on that track. While Facey is a nice looking prospect I find it funny people think he can handle the rigors og college basketballs centers? The Huskies will move on no doubt and mix up line ups to create the best possible solution to being undersized........but like it or not unless Brimah makes a freshamn move they will be undersized without Wolf at times. Not having him has more impact than some of you believe but hey, that's your opinion! "Higher ceilings" are great but it's like thinking about finishing your basement.....the ceilings aren't up yet!

Hope you are all right!!

 

[Waquoit]

Agreed "higher ceilings" are great, it depends on how long it takes to get there. Perhaps Facey will be quick study, I have no idea. I do know that Nolan will not be better than Wolf would have been this year.

 

[upstater]

Agreed "higher ceilings" are great, it depends on how long it takes to get there. Perhaps Facey will be quick study, I have no idea. I do know that Nolan will not be better than Wolf would have been this year.

Nolan showed us very little last year. But what he showed us a few times at the end of the year was better than anything Wolf gave us during the year. Wolf was frequently out of position, fell asleep on his assignment, didn't bother blocking out. He competed for rebounds well and used his height for tip-ins and such. He did not play at such a high level that it would be difficult to imagine a freshman surpassing him with a year under his belt. I'd rather have him on the team, but I am not very worried about it.

 

[Scot-e]

I thought this was a team update thread? Talk about beating a dead horse.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Wolf's primary value is protecting the rim. Olander at the 5 led to many Vincent council finishes at the cup. You could clearly see teams alter their gameplan when TO was in the paint. We can't really afford any minutes with him there in my opinion. He should be the back up 4 behind DD and really needs to battle facey for those minutes. I think Nolan is going to surprise us next year, but I'd much rather have him in a platoon with wolf than unknown commodities coming in. Wolfs floor was good enough to give us an interior defensive presence to allow for our other weapons to win games. I don't know what facey and brimahs floors are.

 

[zls44]

I hope they do!! But what else would KO say?

DOOOMMMMEEEDDDDDDD