The Future Is Bright | Page 2 | The Boneyard

The Future Is Bright

imno1 said:
Some just can’t enjoy a win
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I was thinking of the same thing. When the team plays like crap they are verbally punished. When they play well,they are verbally punished..lol Last night I was really pleased how they played. Turnovers were down. Shooting was better. Second half rebounding looked good. Defensive was very good. What is not to like.
 
Rico444 said:
Dear lord this board is insufferable. Obviously thus team isn't going anywhere this season, but there's nothing wrong with getting excited about the future. Call me a homer, but I am definitely pumped up about the idea of an upperclass frontcourt of Whaley and Carlton.
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Well said.
 
mauconnfan said:
You and WestHtfdHusky should go to the dog park and kick some dogs, that's what turns people like you on I'm sure. People enjoy a win, celebrate it and discuss it any way and yet the Debbie Downers need to flap their lips. You ever think maybe I should just shut up on this one and wait for the next loss to pounce on Dan97? Give it some thought.
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Exactly. I saw a team playing together last night. I was pumped after the game. We beat Temple Sunday? I will be really pimped. After Temple I fly down to Savannah and pick up son and off to Orlando to watch our Husky's secure another conference win against UCF.
 
imno1 said:
Some just can’t enjoy a win
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some are actually disappointed with a win, so emotionally invested in Ollie being fired they can't even acknowledge the team played better with Gilbert on the court and three freshmen big men are improving with experience.

If Carlton, Whaley and Polly continue on this path of progress, and there's no reason to think otherwise, then the future does look bright. We'll be better next year, and we can be really special in their Jr and Sr years. Experience is the world's greatest teacher, these kids are not one and done players. I think one has to be pretty stupid to actually argue otherwise.
 
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Seeing this thread title gave me a good laugh after the news broke. The brightness is a train barreling down the tracks to obliterate the program. fun times
 
TouchdownHusky said:
Please stop with the Gilbert hopefulness. He arrived in Storrs as damage goods coming out of high school. Probably why the Huskies got him (other programs stopped being interested)
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Do you use facts to form your opinions or just make crap up?

Gilbert had Dislocated his shoulder ONE time before he committed to UConn. The 2nd time was the Jordan Classic after he had ALREADY committed to UConn. Nobody backed off a McD AA for the reason of "damaged goods" because of a single HS shoulder separation.

So your premise is that the Huskies should have laid off a kid for a single shoulder separation in HS and they should have been able foresee 3 more incidents after?
 
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Penfield said:
I think Carlton will be a really solid big man and Whaley could find a role on a good team.

Vital needs to mature. That will be his biggest obstacle
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Really need either Carlton or Whaley to master the Horace Grant FT line jumper.

But now i'm just nitpicking.
 
Last night was the first game all year we had a sliver of chemistry and a pep in our step. The first game that felt like a true group effort (which is hilarious considering Adams and Vital scored 60% of our points). Better ball movement and we were attacking more.

We need to stick with Polley at the 3 as often as possible and keep Anderson off the court. If a team goes really small then we'll have to adjust obviously, but...

1) Carlton-Whaley-Polley-Vital-Adams is our best lineup
2) Play the friggin kids, we don't need Anderson playing 30+ minutes a night
3) I don't mean to harp on Anderson because he's in a situation that he should never be in, but he's the worst usual/regular starter this program has had in 30 years. Gilbert's injury really hurts this year with a lack of depth in the backcourt.
4) Anderson doesn't give us anything that Polley can't unless we're matching up against a small three-guard lineup. Anderson can't shoot, his handle is shaky and he's not a playmaker. We might as well give Polley more minutes, he didn't make any bad mistakes last night that I saw.

Carlton is already a better player than Enoch, he can finish inside and has nice craftiness to his game plus he can rebound. Whaley is probably best suited as a great energy guy off the bench but he could develop into a perfect four in today's game. He'll be a nice barometer for the staff's development skills.
 
Lefty2one said:
Last night was the first game all year we had a sliver of chemistry and a pep in our step. The first game that felt like a true group effort (which is hilarious considering Adams and Vital scored 60% of our points). Better ball movement and we were attacking more.

We need to stick with Polley at the 3 as often as possible and keep Anderson off the court. If a team goes really small then we'll have to adjust obviously, but...

1) Carlton-Whaley-Polley-Vital-Adams is our best lineup
2) Play the friggin kids, we don't need Anderson playing 30+ minutes a night
3) I don't mean to harp on Anderson because he's in a situation that he should never be in, but he's the worst usual/regular starter this program has had in 30 years. Gilbert's injury really hurts this year with a lack of depth in the backcourt.
4) Anderson doesn't give us anything that Polley can't unless we're matching up against a small three-guard lineup. Anderson can't shoot, his handle is shaky and he's not a playmaker. We might as well give Polley more minutes, he didn't make any bad mistakes last night that I saw.

Carlton is already a better player than Enoch, he can finish inside and has nice craftiness to his game plus he can rebound. Whaley is probably best suited as a great energy guy off the bench but he could develop into a perfect four in today's game. He'll be a nice barometer for the staff's development skills.
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I'll be the first (and maybe only) person to stick up for Anderson last night. His line was 7 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and only 1 turnover. He attacked the glass. He hit an open 3 which helped to extend the SMU defense a little. He worked hard on the defensive end as always, and he gave us a performance that helped us win.

Has he had some stinkers in a UConn jersey? Absolutely. But last night was not one of them. When you only have 3 guards, you need them all to be productive. And Anderson was productive last night...
 
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Kenny11 said:
Carlton and Whaley are keepers. They have all conference potential.
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I get the Carlton piece of this, but I don't think that Whaley has shown that he is a basketball player. He is more of a great athlete that is opportunistic and I don't know much more he can stuff the stat sheet just doing that. He is going to have to go outside his comfort zone and shoot the ball against defenders. He's only taken 36 shots in 285 mintues of play. I'm very supportive of players (especially freshman) knowing their role, but someone on this team needs to step up and put the ball in the hole. Jalen is dying for us to have another offensive threat so they can stop playing Jordan rules on him.
 
Lefty2one said:
Last night was the first game all year we had a sliver of chemistry and a pep in our step. The first game that felt like a true group effort (which is hilarious considering Adams and Vital scored 60% of our points). Better ball movement and we were attacking more.

We need to stick with Polley at the 3 as often as possible and keep Anderson off the court. If a team goes really small then we'll have to adjust obviously, but...

1) Carlton-Whaley-Polley-Vital-Adams is our best lineup
2) Play the friggin kids, we don't need Anderson playing 30+ minutes a night
3) I don't mean to harp on Anderson because he's in a situation that he should never be in, but he's the worst usual/regular starter this program has had in 30 years. Gilbert's injury really hurts this year with a lack of depth in the backcourt.
4) Anderson doesn't give us anything that Polley can't unless we're matching up against a small three-guard lineup. Anderson can't shoot, his handle is shaky and he's not a playmaker. We might as well give Polley more minutes, he didn't make any bad mistakes last night that I saw.

Carlton is already a better player than Enoch, he can finish inside and has nice craftiness to his game plus he can rebound. Whaley is probably best suited as a great energy guy off the bench but he could develop into a perfect four in today's game. He'll be a nice barometer for the staff's development skills.
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Carlton is a joy to watch. My favorite UConn "big" in a long time. And I love the effort that Whaley gives. Plus Polley just oozes potential. It was nice to see the team do 2 important things last night after falling behind 8-0:

1. Play as a team and exhibit a decent level of chemistry;

2. Make a handful of winning plays at crunch time;

I wish Diarra was in the mix as well last night. I wonder why he didn't get any minutes.
 
DonaldDraper said:
I get the Carlton piece of this, but I don't think that Whaley has shown that he is a basketball player. He is more of a great athlete that is opportunistic and I don't know much more he can stuff the stat sheet just doing that. He is going to have to go outside his comfort zone and shoot the ball against defenders. He's only taken 36 shots in 285 mintues of play. I'm very supportive of players (especially freshman) knowing their role, but someone on this team needs to step up and put the ball in the hole. Jalen is dying for us to have another offensive threat so they can stop playing Jordan rules on him.
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Luckily at this point that doesnt have to be Whaley.

Larrier? Absolutely. Vital? Yes. Carlton? he is warranting a few more touches. Polley? to a point. knock down a few open ones as a 3rd/4th option.

Whaley? Play defense, and rebound, and dont screw us up.
 
August_West said:
Luckily at this point that doesnt have to be Whaley.

Larrier? Absolutely. Vital? Yes. Carlton? he is warranting a few more touches. Polley? to a point. knock down a few open ones as a 3rd/4th option.

Whaley? Play defense, and rebound, and dont screw us up.
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A few more offensive putbacks...maybe adding a 15 ft jumper.

But yeah, he's the glue guy. High energy dude who does those "winning basketball plays" that the Celtics track.

he can guard multiple positions and board.
 
They played well, and all but the most irritable people are happy with the win and how we played. I just don't think the ceilings for these players is as high as the OP is making it out to be. Carlton maybe, since he's shown good footwork, hands, and an ability to rebound. But unless he shows an otherworldly development in his jump shot and offensive game, Whaley's ceiling is as an energy guy who brings defense and rebounding -- a needed role player but not a high level starter. Polley has the potential to be a versatile scorer and defender but has a very long way to go. Vital is a feast-or-famine streak shooter who, like others have said, is a good first or second guy off the bench but not someone who you can rely on every night offensively, even if I love his competitiveness. We know that Wilson is an athlete, but I hope that he's a better shooter than scouting reports have suggested.

Bottom line is that, without Adams (assuming that he is leaving), we lack a reliable go-to scorer. You can make up for that by being able to stretch the floor, but we don't appear to have the shooters to do that either. I just don't see enough guys that can make shots on a consistent basis to think that we'll be much better next year.
 
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What's cool about Whaley is that we haven't had any players like him that I could think of. A skinny 6'8 forward who specializes in rebounds and blocks? Weird profile, but a very fun guy to root for.

Whaley's stats in 7 2018 games: 5.3 p, 4.4 r, 2.3 b
 
DonaldDraper said:
I get the Carlton piece of this, but I don't think that Whaley has shown that he is a basketball player. He is more of a great athlete that is opportunistic and I don't know much more he can stuff the stat sheet just doing that. He is going to have to go outside his comfort zone and shoot the ball against defenders. He's only taken 36 shots in 285 mintues of play. I'm very supportive of players (especially freshman) knowing their role, but someone on this team needs to step up and put the ball in the hole. Jalen is dying for us to have another offensive threat so they can stop playing Jordan rules on him.
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The announcers commented in the second half last night that KO told them he doesn't want Whaley shooting more. He wants him to play the energy guy role and that's it. So I think Whaley's lack of offense is in part a function of what he is being told to do (and not to do) by the coaches.

The kid is quick off the floor and coordinated and put up good scoring numbers against excellent high school competition. He also has a good sense for the game. I think he'll be capable of providing at least competent offense down the road, especially once he gets stronger. It will help if he practices that little 12 foot jumper Rudy Johnson used to take all the time.
 
DonaldDraper said:
I get the Carlton piece of this, but I don't think that Whaley has shown that he is a basketball player. He is more of a great athlete that is opportunistic and I don't know much more he can stuff the stat sheet just doing that. He is going to have to go outside his comfort zone and shoot the ball against defenders. He's only taken 36 shots in 285 mintues of play. I'm very supportive of players (especially freshman) knowing their role, but someone on this team needs to step up and put the ball in the hole. Jalen is dying for us to have another offensive threat so they can stop playing Jordan rules on him.
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Agree on a lot here, but I think Whaley has shown he's a basketball player no doubt, the instincts on both ends are very good. But he does need to round that off with an offensive game. I believe he will be a serious alley pop threat for the next 3 years, if we get smart enough passers. Would love to see a little jump hook worked on, 1,000 shots a day from 12 feet and in using the backboard from the side. There is a ton to uncover in this young man and eventually could be a diamond in the rough. He's already smarter on D as far as fouling, Agau got an offensive rebound and ball faked, Whaley stayed on his feet until he did go up but when he did, Whaley kept away from contact and just waved his hand over the shot making sure the ref had nothing to call. 4 games ago it wold have been#4 and he would've been sitting. Little things every game he's doing, he and Carlton are exciting. Carlton had 2-3 rebounds he ripped away from SMU players, getting an edge love that.
 
August_West said:
Do you use facts to form your opinions or just make crap up?

Gilbert had Dislocated his shoulder ONE time before he committed to UConn. The 2nd time was the Jordan Classic after he had ALREADY committed to UConn. Nobody backed off a McD AA for the reason of "damaged goods" because of a single HS shoulder separation.

So your premise is that the Huskies should have laid off a kid for a single shoulder separation in HS and they should have been able foresee 3 more incidents after?
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No, but I'm saying that's why they got him. And how is that working out?
 
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Excalibur said:
So we got him because other teams supposedly backed off because of a recurring injury that hadn't actually recurred yet. Do you know how stupid that sounds?
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True. It was worth the risk to get him. But once the shoulder separated for a second time, his absence can no longer be used honestly as an excuse or an "if only".
 
TouchdownHusky said:
Please stop with the Gilbert hopefulness. He arrived in Storrs as damage goods coming out of high school. Probably why the Huskies got him (other programs stopped being interested). He hasn't play well or long into the season for two years now. Better to lament Jerome Dyson being hurt in the 09 Final Four. His loss really was damaging since we all knw he could play.
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You're wrong about why Altrique came here. It's certainly fair game to ask why we didn't bring in any insurance for him other than Anderson.
 
UConnDan97 said:
The youngsters are growing up, folks. There's a lot to be excited about, with players like Whaley, Carlton, Vital, and others. They are learning to play together and they are getting better. The growth is there. The improvement is there. And the future is bright.

Pride. Heart. UConn.

(If Jalen comes back, the future is even brighter...)
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@UConnDan97 is a great poster but if there ever was a post that spits in the face of mojo, this surely is one.

Of course it could also have been @August_West offering to eat mojo sandwiches and then not following through. Mojo gods hate a false offering.
 
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