The Offense and Recruiting

[upstater]

Could it be the offense seems so rudderless because of what happened with the APR probation a few years ago, plus the Calhoun transition, which resulted in the Omar Calhoun, Facey, Samuel classes? Samuel had big moments against Villanova in the tourney, and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything, but the fact that he wasn't the heir apparent at PG, and that he ended up transferring, really means that the baton was not handed over from Napier/Boatright to a PG who would then hand it over to Adams/Gilbert. We're missing our upperclassman PG who should be running the offense right now.

Gibbs is great but he is just now learning what Ollie wants. He hasn't had 3 years here.

I'm not even sure who the options were. Xavier Rathan-Mayes? Stevie Clark? The Graham kid at Kansas? And if it wasn't for scholarship reductions because of APR, then Kris Dunn?

The black hole year is still being felt.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Could it be the offense seems so rudderless because of what happened with the APR probation a few years ago, plus the Calhoun transition, which resulted in the Omar Calhoun, Facey, Samuel classes? Samuel had big moments against Villanova in the tourney, and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything, but the fact that he wasn't the heir apparent at PG, and that he ended up transferring, really means that the baton was not handed over from Napier/Boatright to a PG who would then hand it over to Adams/Gilbert. We're missing our upperclassman PG who should be running the offense right now.

Gibbs is great but he is just now learning what Ollie wants. He hasn't had 3 years here.

I'm not even sure who the options were. Xavier Rathan-Mayes? Stevie Clark? The Graham kid at Kansas? And if it wasn't for scholarship reductions because of APR, then Kris Dunn?

The black hole year is still being felt.

Been saying/wondering that as well. We don't have the senior leadership from players who have been here here. Seems to be heading in the right direction though. Just need front court players

 

[bmayuc]

We have had a mediocre, inconsistent, and unstable team/roster for going on 6 years now. Tons of transfers(in/out), a lot of swing & misses, and big-time coaching turnover.

This truth has been masked by several incomparable home-run players and historic tournament runs. Kemba/Shabazz absolutely carried their team to titles, and we had great role players surrounding them by luck and development.

But, this has caused gaps in development, real weaknesses that cannot be papered over(especially in the post), and the reliance for cornerstone production/hopes for some talented by limited role players(brimah, etc).

It would appear that with KO turning recruiting around and some dissapointing players running out of eligibility, we are about to enter another pretty dominant stretch if we get a bit lucky, but it wouldn't be fair to KO or the program to allow ourselves to be blinded by those two spectacular runs. We haven't had a real good regular season team since probably 09.

 

[CAHUSKY]

We have had a mediocre, inconsistent, and unstable team/roster for going on 6 years now. Tons of transfers(in/out), a lot of swing & misses, and big-time coaching turnover.
.

And it resulted in 2 National Championships. May the mediocre, inconsistent, instability continue.

 

[Ts5034]

I think the staff is headed in the right direction as far as recruiting goes. The 2016 class is considered top 10 by most of the recruiting sites, and from what everybody was saying, it looks like UConn is in good position to land that Zach Brown kid who is class of 2017. That would be huge because we desperately need another big man that can dominate both ends of the floor.

 

[Tenspro2002]

And it resulted in 2 National Championships. May the mediocre, inconsistent, instability continue.

There are two arguments here, one about the past and one about the future.

Your argument is about the past -- despite the inconsistency/mediocrity, we have two championships and we wouldn't trade the last 5 years for anyone else's. That's reasonable.

The fact is, if the future of our recruiting looks anything like the past 3-4 years have gone, we will be irrelevant by 2020. Appreciate the last 5 years for what they were, but they are not a blueprint for success.

Fortunately, KO appears to have turned things around recruiting-wise for 2016 and, hopefully, beyond.

 

[intlzncster]

And it resulted in 2 National Championships. May the mediocre, inconsistent, instability continue.

Not good for my health.

 

[Chief00]

We have had a mediocre, inconsistent, and unstable team/roster for going on 6 years now. Tons of transfers(in/out), a lot of swing & misses, and big-time coaching turnover.

This truth has been masked by several incomparable home-run players and historic tournament runs. Kemba/Shabazz absolutely carried their team to titles, and we had great role players surrounding them by luck and development.

But, this has caused gaps in development, real weaknesses that cannot be papered over(especially in the post), and the reliance for cornerstone production/hopes for some talented by limited role players(brimah, etc).

It would appear that with KO turning recruiting around and some dissapointing players running out of eligibility, we are about to enter another pretty dominant stretch if we get a bit lucky, but it wouldn't be fair to KO or the program to allow ourselves to be blinded by those two spectacular runs. We haven't had a real good regular season team since probably 09.

The past 6 years - yeah it sucks winning 2 National Championships in 6 years

 

[Stinger92860]

It appears KO is trying get more motion, but bad habits are hard to break. There is simply too much standing around at times. He has gone to a hi-lo with the bigs which has helped. How many times do you see Rodney pick a spot and never move without the ball. He is not the only one. Shot selection is really poor by everyone. There is not much time left to fix this.

 

[dennismenace]

And it resulted in 2 National Championships. May the mediocre, inconsistent, instability continue.

Despite our often inconsistent offenses the last two NC teams were in the words of JC "elite defensive teams". At the college level it seems as with UConn that elite
defenders can really take a team out of its game; especially at crunch time on the national stage. Boat, Bazz and Kemba plus other good to great defenders turn the game
around.

 

[Danzz]

The Facey/Samuel recruiting class hurt but our recruiting the last 2 years has been outstanding. We are going after top talent and landing our share. Players and especially families of players recognize that Ollie is a good man. It makes a difference what moms and dads think.

 

[djct1999]

The past 6 years - yeah it sucks winning 2 National Championships in 6 years

Quite frankly, it's very hard to argue. I think the frustration mounts with the inconsistencies. 2 titles in 6 years..... Wow! But we should never miss the tournament the other three and spend almost all that time in the regular season unranked losing to sub 100 teams. The concern isn't about the past but the future. Quite frankly, the last 1.5 years has scared the hell out of me. Two or three more years like the most recent and we will be asking ourselves how the hell did we win those titles. Living in the past does no one any good. Ask ucla or Indiana . While you are at it, ask Syracuse about that helms trophy!

 

[upstater]

We have had a mediocre, inconsistent, and unstable team/roster for going on 6 years now. Tons of transfers(in/out), a lot of swing & misses, and big-time coaching turnover.

This truth has been masked by several incomparable home-run players and historic tournament runs. Kemba/Shabazz absolutely carried their team to titles, and we had great role players surrounding them by luck and development.

But, this has caused gaps in development, real weaknesses that cannot be papered over(especially in the post), and the reliance for cornerstone production/hopes for some talented by limited role players(brimah, etc).

It would appear that with KO turning recruiting around and some dissapointing players running out of eligibility, we are about to enter another pretty dominant stretch if we get a bit lucky, but it wouldn't be fair to KO or the program to allow ourselves to be blinded by those two spectacular runs. We haven't had a real good regular season team since probably 09.

While I agree with you and it's the main point of my OP, I think Kemba's junior year regular season was pretty successful. Especially if you include the BET as part of the pre-NCAA tourney record. They played a lot of good teams OOC and went undefeated. The BE was brutal that year and Kemba got no calls in the conference, but it was no worse than, say, 2006.

The main thing missing right now is just a take control point guard. The current players would be doing much better with such a player. Purvis and Gibbs at off guard, Hamilton, Shonn Miller--you have more than enough firepower if we had say a junior or senior leader at guard.

 

[UConnStats]

We finally got to the line consistently. We shot 23 free throws, hitting 19 of them. Purvis snuck a 3P in at the end of the game (after hitting 2 free throws), and was then benched for forcing up a contested 3. Hopefully he is feeling it a bit more now.

We aren't always going to shoot 35%, but when we do, we need to supplement it with driving hard and getting fouled like we did tonight.

Our AdjD (KenPom's defensive metric) is 13th in the country. We play great defense. Ollie gets called put a lot, and rightfully so this year, but he's already proven to be a very good defensive coach.

 

[tykurez]

It was also the scholarship reductions. I believe there was also the visit limitations. You can only put so many eggs in the proverbial basket when you're working with less scholarships to offer and less facetime.

The worst thing about that punishment was the trailing affects it had. That's why 2014 was such a massive outcome for this program. We are just starting to get back on our feet with regards to recruiting.

 

[UChusky916]

We have had a mediocre, inconsistent, and unstable team/roster for going on 6 years now. Tons of transfers(in/out), a lot of swing & misses, and big-time coaching turnover.

This truth has been masked by several incomparable home-run players and historic tournament runs. Kemba/Shabazz absolutely carried their team to titles, and we had great role players surrounding them by luck and development.

But, this has caused gaps in development, real weaknesses that cannot be papered over(especially in the post), and the reliance for cornerstone production/hopes for some talented by limited role players(brimah, etc).

It would appear that with KO turning recruiting around and some dissapointing players running out of eligibility, we are about to enter another pretty dominant stretch if we get a bit lucky, but it wouldn't be fair to KO or the program to allow ourselves to be blinded by those two spectacular runs. We haven't had a real good regular season team since probably 09.

Not sure why posters are calling you out for telling it like it is. You are spot on.

Just because we won 2 national championships in the past 5 years does not mean the program has been close to dominant. We hit the jackpot in terms of Kemba and Shabazz... we can't keep counting on our guards to take over and produce like those types of guys, it's simply not sustainable. Part of the reason I think Boat and and Sterling have gotten unfair criticism from this board is because of their inability to live up to Kemba/Shabazz status, which is outrageous to expect.

The fact is, if KO can keep recruiting like he has been the past 2 years, we will have a shot at returning to dominance as early as next year. By dominance, I mean consistently in the high end of the top 25, national title contenders, and in the front runners for winning our league (especially if we're in the American).

 

[upstater]

Not sure why posters are calling you out for telling it like it is. You are spot on.

Just because we won 2 national championships in the past 5 years does not mean the program has been close to dominant. We hit the jackpot in terms of Kemba and Shabazz... we can't keep counting on our guards to take over and produce like those types of guys, it's simply not sustainable. Part of the reason I think Boat and and Sterling have gotten unfair criticism from this board is because of their inability to live up to Kemba/Shabazz status, which is outrageous to expect.

The fact is, if KO can keep recruiting like he has been the past 2 years, we will have a shot at returning to dominance as early as next year. By dominance, I mean consistently in the high end of the top 25, national title contenders, and in the front runners for winning our league (especially if we're in the American).

I dunno. That sort of PG play didn't start with Kemba.

When you have all the PGs who came through here, Khalid, AJ Price, Marcus Williams, Kemba, Shabazz, and others, it doesn't seem like it should be beyond UConn to expect to have an upperclassmen leader at PG. You don't have to be NBA caliber.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

If those are the criteria for dominance, then 2011 counts. We were ranked in the top 10 from the time we returned from Maui until the beginning of February. Then by tournament time we were a 3 seed, which means top-12 in the country. Then by April, we were #1 in the country.

 

[Huskybass]

This year is going to be kind of choppy. It just is without a leader at pg to run the show. Next year could be really good though. Losing Miller, who I believe has been our best player this season, along with Gibbs and Nolan, will hurt. But Adams will be far more seasoned and we have a great group coming in. The D is looking good and will be even better when Brimah returns. The sky is the limit next season if a couple of the newcomers can contribute.

 

[Stinger92860]

We finally got to the line consistently. We shot 23 free throws, hitting 19 of them. Purvis snuck a 3P in at the end of the game (after hitting 2 free throws), and was then benched for forcing up a contested 3. Hopefully he is feeling it a bit more now.

We aren't always going to shoot 35%, but when we do, we need to supplement it with driving hard and getting fouled like we did tonight.

Our AdjD (KenPom's defensive metric) is 13th in the country. We play great defense. Ollie gets called put a lot, and rightfully so this year, but he's already proven to be a very good defensive coach.

When RP took that ill advised 3, KO was up immediately and pointed to the bench for a sub. I saw the same on a forced drive by Adams.

 

[Kitaman]

Even if true in respect to post JC, the key is the direction the team is moving in. I would argue that 'the storm' is almost over and brighter days are ahead. It shows in recruiting and by allowing Adams to run the team, in preparation for next year.

As much grief as Gibbs gets here, one of his roles is mentoring JA and prepping him for next year. If he does a good job doing that then who cares what he is averaging right now. Miller down low is showing Facey, and Enoch how to play tough and get buckets. I also believe Amida is also benefiting from his presence. As for DHam he has his brothers' but Omar's experience and presence is going to benefit him and others.

Perhaps we overestimated this team, but this may be a sacrificial year in preparation for what's to come. Let this season play out, I expect we will make the Tourney, and no matter how far we go it will be another teaching moment for Adams, Hamilton and Enoch again in preparation for our future.

This seemingly unorganized collection of players is about to start a revitalization of UConn basketball, and any future successes should be credited to this group of players. We can continue to complain but there is something magical about to happen, and we may not see it today, but I know we will see it soon.

Even with last year's performance and this season's missteps and failures, there is a lot of hopefulness surrounding UConn basketball. There is a reason these kids have selected and are selecting UConn. Just wait and see. We are no longer knocking but walking through that door with all ten toes in! I haven't felt this good about our future in years.

Watch out basketball world, because I feel an earthquake rumbling.

 

[bmayuc]

Not sure why posters are calling you out for telling it like it is. You are spot on.

Just because we won 2 national championships in the past 5 years does not mean the program has been close to dominant. We hit the jackpot in terms of Kemba and Shabazz... we can't keep counting on our guards to take over and produce like those types of guys, it's simply not sustainable. Part of the reason I think Boat and and Sterling have gotten unfair criticism from this board is because of their inability to live up to Kemba/Shabazz status, which is outrageous to expect.

The fact is, if KO can keep recruiting like he has been the past 2 years, we will have a shot at returning to dominance as early as next year. By dominance, I mean consistently in the high end of the top 25, national title contenders, and in the front runners for winning our league (especially if we're in the American).

I tried to be fair to both sides. Yes its great we won 2 Natty Champs. Yes, they were kind of flukes punctuated by a lot of 'meh' play during the regular seasons.

Would I trade the champs? nope. Would I like to see more consistency? Yep.

Unfortunately, people who are as heavily invested as #boneyardin people will rip you even if you are moderately critical/truthful

 

[Inyatkin]

There are two arguments here, one about the past and one about the future.

Your argument is about the past -- despite the inconsistency/mediocrity, we have two championships and we wouldn't trade the last 5 years for anyone else's. That's reasonable.

The fact is, if the future of our recruiting looks anything like the past 3-4 years have gone, we will be irrelevant by 2020. Appreciate the last 5 years for what they were, but they are not a blueprint for success.

Getting pretty tired of this idea that the recruiting in the past 3-4 years happened in a vacuum, as if everything was going along just fine and all the sudden the bottom fell out of our recruiting and we ended up with some holes.
Let's just forget that we were hit with recruiting sanctions, the dissolution of our conference, a completely bogus postseason ban, and the retirement of one of the best coaches in the history of the game.
And in the meantime, during this downtime, we won two g@#%#m national championships, which posters like you are more than happy to "yeah, but" all day. "Yeah, we won a title, but,... "
It's ridiculous, and it's embarrassing. A national title is the holy grail, something fans of this team waited seemingly an eternity for, and now we've made it seem routine. There are elite teams that have never sniffed the kind of run we've been on, all while dealing with absolutely everything the college basketball world could possibly throw at us.
But go ahead, tell us again about how deeply concerned you are.

 

[intlzncster]

I tried to be fair to both sides. Yes its great we won 2 Natty Champs. Yes, they were kind of flukes punctuated by a lot of 'meh' play during the regular seasons.

Would I trade the champs? nope. Would I like to see more consistency? Yep.

Unfortunately, people who are as heavily invested as #boneyardin people will rip you even if you are moderately critical/truthful

Flukes? Both seasons we had the best player in the tournament. Both seasons we beat a murderers row to win the whole thing. Not a fluke. Just came together at the right time in 2014. 2011 was a great team. See upstater's post above.

The simple fact is, in the last six years, what other team would you rather trade places with? Tell me. I'd rather have UCONNs record/outcome in the last 6 than any other team in America. Last 7, I'll obviously take Duke. But that's it. There is no perfection.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Flukes? Both seasons we had the best player in the tournament. Both seasons we beat a murderers row to win the whole thing. Not a fluke. Just came together at the right time in 2014. 2011 was a great team. See upstater's post above.

Exactly. We disagree that it was a "fluke". That's the basic issue. I (we) think we had the best guard /backcourt, amazing defense and great coaching. Bmayuc thinks they were flukes.