Three X Factors for this season 2024-2025

[Son of Robert]

Slow summer news; throwing this out here. X Factor being an unknown. Pick your most important three and add to the discussion. In no order here is mine.

Hurley stated he was betting heavy on his sophomores making impressive jumps this year. How successful will Solo Ball and Jaylin Stewart be in becoming key players/scorers this season, both offensively and defensively. In addition, how much will Jaden Ross add to the lineup this year.

Defense in the post. The offense will be good with SJ and Reed, but how tough is our D.

Leadership and effectiveness at the point. Between Diarra, Mahaney, and Nowell, what rotation of these players works best.

 

[auror]

1) What can Tarris Reed give us this year? Is he a dude or is he a negative? How is his drop coverage PnR D and offensive BBIQ and hands? Can Samson improve in rim protection, 1v1 post D, and defensive rebounding? The centers feel like good complements because they have strengths in different areas, but do they each have glaring weaknesses and so neither of them are good enough to actually be complete players?

2) Do we have an army of "good" guards and on ball perimeter wings or do we have some "great"? If Stewart (or Ball) and McNeeley are first round pick good and Diarra and Mahaney are All-Big East Conference level, we could 3-peat. If they're all just solid or young/inexperienced college players, we might be lacking some firepower.

3) Can Alex take the next step to be an alpha? He may be the most experienced rising junior in D1 history (77 starts in 2 years, 17 in the postseason), but will he just be a more polished version of the player he was (aka shoot a higher %, be more of a leader)? Or will he showcase more on ball creation, more driving, more off the dribble jumpers?

 

[RuffRuff]

Couldn’t agree more with these three, in particular #1. Only add I would have is overall team defense without the rim protection. We went through the last 7 games of year giving up 57 points a game. You could argue team defense was the biggest separator when it mattered, much of that due to Cling.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

No crippling injuries.
Team chemistry that builds across the full season.
Continued coaching staff growth & improvement.

 

[GHSWolverines]

How long will it take Mahaney to adapt to the physicality of BE play?
How good will the rim protection be? We have been spoiled the past few years.

 

[AllHusky]

Auror managed to sum up pretty much all major questions/Xfactors in one fell swoop. Nice job. The overall theme of your 3 points seems to me, do we have a Great Player(s) on this team? Lotsa potential, but is anyone going to step up in their area and be "The One"

Building on those questions or observations, My XFactor would be:

Can we be a Great Team(3 peat), without a Great Player(Lottery pick or at least first rounder)?

 

[REB1094]

1. For both championship seasons, Hurley developed key guys more than a player would develop in normal circumstances.

• Hawkins went from inconsistent 6PPG to lottery. Andre went from uncontrollable freak of nature to NBA draft pick. Sanogo was more expected but he ended up as F4 MOP
• Newton went from 3rd option to All America 1st team. Diarra and Samson went from nearly unplayable to BE 6MOY and one of the top backup bigs. Clingan/Karaban went from really good freshmen to top 10 NBA pick and a guy that could have been drafted
• We need Solo and Stewart to make big jumps. I'm talking competing for All BE teams. Anything Ross can give is a plus

2. Transfers and freshmen need to adjust

• We've been blessed with mostly hits on transfers (Newton/Cam/Diarra/Alleyne/Calcaterra) and instant impact freshmen (Karaban/Clingan/Castle)
• With Newton's first year, we saw how risky it can be if your lead transfer guard struggles. There will be an adjustment period for Mahaney and we'll have to have patience for that, but need it to be as quick as possible
• I'm less worried about Reed physically. His adjustment will be buying into Hurley's system and cutting inefficiencies out of his game
• McNeeley will be expected to hit the ground running. Nowell and Abraham will have to produce under limited minutes

3. Leaders need to lead

• Alex Karaban is the superstar of this team. Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson are the vets. How will Karaban respond to being the #1 guy on the scouting report? How will Samson respond to being the main big man that needs to play 20+ minutes a game instead of a short term spark plug off the bench? How will Diarra handle possibly being a starter, sometimes expected to take over the scoring load?

Those are the top 3 things on my mind

 

[WhereistheDove?]

1) What can Tarris Reed give us this year? Is he a dude or is he a negative? How is his drop coverage PnR D and offensive BBIQ and hands? Can Samson improve in rim protection, 1v1 post D, and defensive rebounding? The centers feel like good complements because they have strengths in different areas, but do they each have glaring weaknesses and so neither of them are good enough to actually be complete players?

This is number 1, 2, and 3 for me. Will we have a 5 rotation capable of competing for a national championship or is it going to be weakness that the staff has to try to cover up with game plan? I’m going into the season with faith that the staff has made the right choices and will coach them up but it’s definitely our biggest risk.

 

[Umami Zen]

-Can we defend/rebound as a team and get stops on a consistent basis?
-Do our Sophomores make the jump in an impactful way?
-Does AK truly believe he can be the Man and diversifies his offensive game beyond his excellent long range shooting?

 

[gtcam]

Hopefully either Ball or Stewie attended a professional camp over the summer, Hawkins was a 2 and done no matter how you cut it. He learned so much from attending CP3 camp that summer between freshman and soph year. There he learned how to get hit shot off quickly and how to create space to get the shot off. These are Hawk's own observations
Not saying that DH and staff didn't teach him valuable knowledge and he did grow under their wings, but nothing replaces working with guys who have spent years in the NBA and playing with and against them.
My two biggest concerns for the coming season are the defensive presence under the hoop and the height and length at the two guard positions. UConn was spoiled with bigger guards the past few seasons that could see over the opponent, and they could hit the boards.

 

[ucp990411]

My biggest concern is point guard play. Is Hass ready to be the main guy? Is Mahanney actually a point guard and is he ready for the physicality of the Big East? Is Ahmed ready? Don’t forget we had 3 starters last year who could be the lead guy including one who was the best point guard in the country. I expect opponents to attack whoever is the point guard.

 

[DRBackup]

No crippling injuries.
Team chemistry that builds across the full season.
Continued coaching staff growth & improvement.

Indeed. Sometimes we take health for granted, even though last season's dominance may have come as a bit of a "surprise" because Clingan was still getting needed minutes and health right up to the last game.

Last time we had a major injury impact a season was (i think) Dyson in 2009. They lost AJ in the tournament in 2008, but he never missed a beat coming back the following season.

 

[yungdowork]

Last time we had a major injury impact a season was (i think) Dyson in 2009. They lost AJ in the tournament in 2008, but he never missed a beat coming back the following season.

Not that it would have made much of a difference given it was the Covid season, but Akok Akok tearing his Achilles vs Memphis in 2020 sucked all of the air out of the entire arena. I think a lot of people forget how good he looked during his freshman year since he's faced a lot of adversity since then.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Not that it would have made much of a difference given it was the Covid season, but Akok Akok tearing his Achilles vs Memphis in 2020 sucked all of the air out of the entire arena. I think a lot of people forget how good he looked during his freshman year since he's faced a lot of adversity since then.

Even with that happening, the team was rolling/peaking going into the post-season. The final win at Gampel vs. Houston before COVID shut everything down was electric!

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Indeed. Sometimes we take health for granted, even though last season's dominance may have come as a bit of a "surprise" because Clingan was still getting needed minutes and health right up to the last game.

Last time we had a major injury impact a season was (i think) Dyson in 2009. They lost AJ in the tournament in 2008, but he never missed a beat coming back the following season.

I see you have wiped your memory clean of the KO years and I don’t blame you.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Hopefully either Ball or Stewie attended a professional camp over the summer, Hawkins was a 2 and done no matter how you cut it. He learned so much from attending CP3 camp that summer between freshman and soph year. There he learned how to get hit shot off quickly and how to create space to get the shot off. These are Hawk's own observations
Not saying that DH and staff didn't teach him valuable knowledge and he did grow under their wings, but nothing replaces working with guys who have spent years in the NBA and playing with and against them.
My two biggest concerns for the coming season are the defensive presence under the hoop and the height and length at the two guard positions. UConn was spoiled with bigger guards the past few seasons that could see over the opponent, and they could hit the boards.

I think Ross was the only player to attend an NBA camp this summer but I agree with your observations.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I haven't seen this come up yet in the discussion, and it's definitely an "X Factor" -

Will enough opposing teams put the off-season work in to "crack the code" on our offensive plays & schemes enough to limit its ridiculous effectiveness during the prior 2 years? And, will our coaching staff come up with enough new wrinkles/counters to keep teams on their collective heels again?

 

[Tenspro2002]

1) What can Tarris Reed give us this year? Is he a dude or is he a negative? How is his drop coverage PnR D and offensive BBIQ and hands? Can Samson improve in rim protection, 1v1 post D, and defensive rebounding? The centers feel like good complements because they have strengths in different areas, but do they each have glaring weaknesses and so neither of them are good enough to actually be complete players?

2) Do we have an army of "good" guards and on ball perimeter wings or do we have some "great"? If Stewart (or Ball) and McNeeley are first round pick good and Diarra and Mahaney are All-Big East Conference level, we could 3-peat. If they're all just solid or young/inexperienced college players, we might be lacking some firepower.

3) Can Alex take the next step to be an alpha? He may be the most experienced rising junior in D1 history (77 starts in 2 years, 17 in the postseason), but will he just be a more polished version of the player he was (aka shoot a higher %, be more of a leader)? Or will he showcase more on ball creation, more driving, more off the dribble jumpers?

I think these are right.

This is clearly the deepest and most balanced team we've had recently, but you can only play 5 at a time. Last year's starting 5 were elite at every position, with 2 capable subs.

If we merely have 10 good players, that's going to be a significant step backwards.

 

[ucp990411]

I am not too concerned about injuries. To quote Earl Weaver, we have “deep depth”

 

[freescooter]

We have some pretty massive holes to fill. I don’t think there was a better college point guard last year than Newton. Ball handling, passing, rebounding, scoring, making plays with the clock winding down, and playing defense. So for me #1 is finding a replacement who can do many of the same things. I doubt there are any who can do all.

Clingan was arguably the best big in the country last year. He basically was able to neutralize Edey which no one had done. And everyone else he played. If he didn’t dominate them. Who replaces him? They won’t be as good. How do we compensate.

Can Stewart be a top flight wing? He showed some signs last year but overall was used pretty sparingly. That he got “real minutes” during the tournament showed the coaches had confidence. But can he be a regular either starter or 6th man level player?

Even if all these things sort of work out, and let’s face it Clingan is a once in a decade player, it is really hard to win the NCAA tournament. Matchups, health, luck all come into play. This years team was probably the most dominant one I’ve ever seen. I doubt we see that again.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We have some pretty massive holes to fill. I don’t think there was a better college point guard last year than Newton. Ball handling, passing, rebounding, scoring, making plays with the clock winding down, and playing defense. So for me #1 is finding a replacement who can do many of the same things. I doubt there are any who can do all.

Clingan was arguably the best big in the country last year. He basically was able to neutralize Edey which no one had done. And everyone else he played. If he didn’t dominate them. Who replaces him? They won’t be as good. How do we compensate.

Can Stewart be a top flight wing? He showed some signs last year but overall was used pretty sparingly. That he got “real minutes” during the tournament showed the coaches had confidence. But can he be a regular either starter or 6th man level player?

Even if all these things sort of work out, and let’s face it Clingan is a once in a decade player, it is really hard to win the NCAA tournament. Matchups, health, luck all come into play. This years team was probably the most dominant one I’ve ever seen. I doubt we see that again.

Clingan famously did not neutralize Edey -- we let Edey get his and shut down everyone else. But Clingan was an elite mismatch at both ends, we saw that most glaringly against Illinois.

Rim protection is going to be a concern. Johnson will need to show he can defend opposing bigs, and we need Reed to defend intelligently, more like Sanogo.

 

[yungdowork]

Even with that happening, the team was rolling/peaking going into the post-season. The final win at Gampel vs. Houston before COVID shut everything down was electric!

For sure. CV saying "Snipa Out" and dropping the mic after has a special place in my heart. That team was a lot of fun

 

[superjohn]

Clingan famously did not neutralize Edey -- we let Edey get his and shut down everyone else. But Clingan was an elite mismatch at both ends, we saw that most glaringly against Illinois.

Rim protection is going to be a concern. Johnson will need to show he can defend opposing bigs, and we need Reed to defend intelligently, more like Sanogo.

Neutralize wasn't the right word but Clingan was the reason defensively we shut down Purdue...

Edey's #'s were gaudy but that was him playing out of his arse in the first 14 minutes of the game and him overpowering Karaban in garbage time for dunks. Edey had 16 points with 6 minutes left in the first half and then didn't score a point until there was 14 minutes left in the game when he hit a ft, UConn was already up by 13 at that point. Edey scored 15 points when the game was a blowout and it was straight up garbage time where he was clearing Karaban out for dunks.

The whole team was great defensively but Clingan's defense on Edey made it all possible. Everyone else double teamed Edey all season and Edey got his while the rest of Purdue lit teams up from the perimeter. We never doubled Edey because of Clingan and we saw how the rest of Purdue performs against elite defense when they aren't left wide open and actually have to try and make some plays on their own.

 

[Son of Robert]

I think Singare is on track to take SJ's spot next year. Right now he's in a good spot, getting coached up and developing his game, being patient, looking for minutes, contributing however he can on the court and off. One of 12 players on the best team in the nation two years running.