The New Roster -- Where is the Athleticism?

[MDHuskFan]

Solo would have been the 2nd best athlete on our championship team. Dre was a next level athlete who we’ll talk about athleticism wise for a while.

Non issue

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Even for this place it feels early to be inventing problems to worry about.

 

[OceanDoggie]

We could really use Nahiem Alleyne on the roster right now.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Personally I would like to see the starting lineup

Tristen Newton
Stephon Castle
Samson Johnson
Alex Karaban
Donovan Clingan

1993 called. It wants its lineup back.

That lineup would lead the universe in rebounding but would never score.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Was Arkansas athletic this past season? I seem to remember reading that they were one of the more athletic teams out there and I vividly remember Clingan beating the entire Arkansas team the full length of the court on one exceptionally memorable play.

More relevantly, Arkansas couldn't shoot. I'll take a team of savvy basketball players who can dribble, pass, and shoot, over one who can win dunk contests but can't win 5 on 5.

 

[inWV]

The only major difference in athleticism will be attributed to the loss of Jackson, and what he brought to the table will be hard (if not impossible) to replicate next season. Fortunately that doesn't mean we can't still be really good.

Jackson is a generational athletic talent wrt the UCONN program. I think you’ll see Karaban pick up some of the distribution load. I think he’s the next glue guy. On the plus side, whoever replaces Andre will be a better shooter.

 

[dennismenace]

We get more athletic at the rim next year.

Agree and I am really looking forward to the development of Singare and having him come in off the bench. The team as a whole looks to me like a a real nice blend of depth, talent and skills that just needs to be brought up to Uconn standards and work together in unity to create another juggernaut.

So exciting to have these young guys together with the staff we have. Hoping more of them will check in for the summer.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Athleticism is a problem for UConn basketball next season?

You really want to stick with that?

Yeah? Does pretending problems not exist make their existence vanish?

I still think it’s a top 15 team minimum before adding Spencer.

 

[navery12]

Yeah? Does pretending problems not exist make their existence vanish?

I still think it’s a top 15 team minimum before adding Spencer.

There's plenty of actual problems to point to with next year's team (keeping in mind it's an incomplete roster). A lack of athleticism wouldn't even crack the top 100

 

[TheChamps990411]

Clingan, Newton, and Castle Are very good athletes. I feel that Ball and Ross are too. Hawkins and Sanogo are all time great Huskies but I’m not sure I would categorize either as elite athletes.

Ball and Ross are so underrated. Those two are going to have more impact than many think. I was right about Sanogo a couple years ago, i was right about Clingan and im going to be right again. Mark my words.

 

[Huskyforlife]

There's plenty of actual problems to point to with next year's team (keeping in mind it's an incomplete roster). A lack of athleticism wouldn't even crack the top 100

I never said it’s a back breaking problem. Our starting backcourt probably has a combined vertical leap of 65’, our starting 4 is unathletic in general. Our center is athletic for 7’3 260, but not athletic for the position generally speaking. The backups aren’t factoring into my position much, but most of the freshmen seem decently athletic.

 

[TheHorde]

Ball and Ross are so underrated. Those two are going to have more impact than many think. I was right about Sanogo a couple years ago, i was right about Clingan and im going to be right again. Mark my words.

Man I love all 5 of the guys coming in. Ball is an athlete, competitor, and an alpha. Ross seems like a silent assassin type that will be a lights out shooter who can also get to the rim better than people think. And I think he’s only going to get stronger and better. Ross is the type of kid that will outplay his recruiting ranking. I love Stewart too. He’s a great fit for our offense. Singare can develop and get better going against Clingan and Samson in practice for a year. Castle and Newton paired together in the backcourt is a cheat code. The ball handling and rebounding they’ll get from the back court my gosh. And they’ll run teams off the three point line again. Can’t wait.

 

[superjohn]

Yeah? Does pretending problems not exist make their existence vanish?

I still think it’s a top 15 team minimum before adding Spencer.

I predict they'll have more dunks and more blocked shots than they had this past season. How is this athleticism problem going to manifest itself? You don't think they'll be able to guard people or get out on the fastbreak?

I could see there being some sort of issues early because we'll be bringing in 5 freshmen and Samson has hardly gotten game action to this point but it won't be because they don't have athleticism.

 

[navery12]

I never said it’s a back breaking problem. Our starting backcourt probably has a combined vertical leap of 65’, our starting 4 is unathletic in general. Our center is athletic for 7’3 260, but not athletic for the position generally speaking. The backups aren’t factoring into my position much, but most of the freshmen seem decently athletic.

I just don't think most of what you said is true. Newton just tested as average to slightly above average in his vertical at the combine, so unless Castle has no jumping ability I'd take the over on that 65" and I don't think it's particularly close. Same thing with Clingan, we just watched him beat guys down the court all year and praised him for it. Not gonna pretend it's a strength or anything, but all of these guys are average at worst and it's certainly not going to hinder anything we want to do next year. Especially when the 2 "weakest" links in transition would be Clingan and Karaban, who are both elite passers to more than make up for that

 

[Huskyforlife]

I just don't think most of what you said is true. Newton just tested as average to slightly above average in his vertical at the combine, so unless Castle has no jumping ability I'd take the over on that 65" and I don't think it's particularly close. Same thing with Clingan, we just watched him beat guys down the court all year and praised him for it. Not gonna pretend it's a strength or anything, but all of these guys are average at worst and it's certainly not going to hinder anything we want to do next year. Especially when the 2 "weakest" links in transition would be Clingan and Karaban, who are both elite passers to more than make up for that

I’ll put it this way. Jackson and Hawkins were our most athletic rotation players and starters. We’ve replaced them with Castle and “player to be named later,” both of which i expect to be tiers below athletically. I do think that’s significantly downgrading our athleticism from last years team, but I’m also not saying we have the athleticism of a mid major. Newton is a below average athlete on the court, Clingan and Sanogo are more or less a wash. Our backups might be slightly more athletic, but we don’t know who’s gonna play off the bench, and how functional their athleticism is to high level basketball.

I also think this has been identified as a weakness by Hurley, which is why we’re heavily after Abraham and Howard in 2024.

 

[navery12]

I’ll put it this way. Jackson and Hawkins were our most athletic rotation players and starters. We’ve replaced them with Castle and “player to be named later,” both of which i expect to be tiers below athletically. I do think that’s significantly downgrading our athleticism from last years team, but I’m also not saying we have the athleticism of a mid major. Newton is a below average athlete on the court, Clingan and Sanogo are more or less a wash. Our backups might be slightly more athletic, but we don’t know who’s gonna play off the bench, and how functional their athleticism is to high level basketball.

I also think this has been identified as a weakness by Hurley, which is why we’re heavily after Abraham and Howard in 2024.

You're entitled to your opinion, I think you're just objectively wrong on everything you're saying so we'll just have to agree to disagree. You keep comparing to last year's team which is completely irrelevant. Nobody is saying we're not taking a step back in terms of athleticism, just that taking a step back doesn't suddenly make it a weakness

I think the Howard/Abraham comment is just trying to spin anything possible to fit your argument. With a sample of 2 recruits you could find thousands of possible connections and make it a thing. Our #1 target for 2 years has been Betsey who is a pure shooter with very little athleticism, so could just as easily say we're going hard after Betsey/Howard and think shooting is more important than athleticism. All those claims are just blind guesses since none of us know

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I’ll put it this way. Jackson and Hawkins were our most athletic rotation players and starters. We’ve replaced them with Castle and “player to be named later,” both of which i expect to be tiers below athletically. I do think that’s significantly downgrading our athleticism from last years team, but I’m also not saying we have the athleticism of a mid major. Newton is a below average athlete on the court, Clingan and Sanogo are more or less a wash. Our backups might be slightly more athletic, but we don’t know who’s gonna play off the bench, and how functional their athleticism is to high level basketball.

I also think this has been identified as a weakness by Hurley, which is why we’re heavily after Abraham and Howard in 2024.

I think you’re underselling Castle athletically. I think he’s a legit lob threat, something Hawkins wasn’t. Clingan got a lot of praise for his ability to run the floor. Athleticism isn’t a problem there.

The concerns are Karaban and Newton who both played last year and replacing Andre. But there’s no athletic replacement for Andre.

 

[TheHorde]

I think you’re underselling Castle athletically. I think he’s a legit lob threat, something Hawkins wasn’t. Clingan got a lot of praise for his ability to run the floor. Athleticism isn’t a problem there.

The concerns are Karaban and Newton who both played last year and replacing Andre. But there’s no athletic replacement for Andre.

Hawkins was objectively not terrific attacking the basket, perhaps because of his slender frame. He has hops for days, but how many dunks did we see him miss? Quite a few. I think he will add size and strength in the league and will improve on his ability to finish at the rim. He has an elite fitness level and ability to move without the ball, obviously.

 

[lilbuddha]

1993 called. It wants its lineup back.

That lineup would lead the universe in rebounding but would never score.

I actually like this lineup. The only question mark offensively is Johnson but 4 out of 5 is good.

 

[Umami Zen]

Not sure why we're into athleticism discussion before we have even seen these guys "live".. If I was a gambling man.. And I'm not.. We'll be fine.. This will be a different team than 2022/23 Championship team.. Better or worse on athleticism?? Who knows.. Can they play as a team and leverage each other's strengths?? All I care about.. Enjoy the summer like @August_West is goin' to do..

 

[AtlantaHusky]

I'm a glass half full guy. We are clearly doomed.