Top Dogs: Andre Jackson, UConn PG?

[navery12]

@navery12 do you have an example of this being successful?

Do I have an example of what being successful?

 

[navery12]

And there you see the same posters from last year who thought Cole was going to lead UConn to success. @navery12 can't let go of his narrative and simply examine the result. And he's not alone.

As I put on the football board earlier this week, being the best player when overall team talent level is low and overall team success is low doesn't make you a great player or an impactful player. Every team, regardless of record or success has to have a leading scorer and a best player.

And that's the concern with Newton. Does his individual success on ECU translate in to leading UConn beyond the first round of NCAA tourney??

View attachment 79727

Because you're an idiot when it comes to RJ Cole. I respect your basketball opinions but you are just unbelievably blind about him. I will dislike every single post you ever make bashing RJ Cole just like I have been

 

[Huskyforlife]

And there you see the same posters from last year who thought Cole was going to lead UConn to success. @navery12 can't let go of his narrative and simply examine the result. And he's not alone.

As I put on the football board earlier this week, being the best player when overall team talent level is low and overall team success is low doesn't make you a great player or an impactful player. Every team, regardless of record or success has to have a leading scorer and a best player.

And that's the concern with Newton. Does his individual success on ECU translate in to leading UConn beyond the first round of NCAA tourney??

View attachment 79727

The ncaa tournament cannot be your only barometer for success. Let’s just get that out of the way first.

Saying cole played on a team with little talent, when 2 guys already got nba contracts, with at least 2 more likely down the line, is also ridiculous. Especially when you consider he was the best player on a team ranked in the top 25 most of the year. Are you suggesting team talent is still low this year? Cause the starting lineup was likely 4/5 returning players before Jackson was injured.

And nobody is asking Newton to be our best player, he just has to be somewhere in the top 5, which is beyond reasonable for someone of his skill level and experience.

 

[husky429]

Sooo… AJax has a broken pinky finger requiring surgery. May not be able to start the season off healthy. What’s our plan now?

PG: Newton
SG: Hawkins
SF: Alleyne/Karaban?
PF: Sanogo
C: Johnson

Sanogo ain't playing the 4 brother. I suspect it's Alleyne and Karaban at the 3 and 4. Maybe Johnson at the 4.

Sanogo doesn't have a lick of PF to his game.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Do I have an example of what being successful?

Making someone a PG who wasn’t originally a PG.

 

[8893]

Sooo… AJax has a broken pinky finger requiring surgery. May not be able to start the season off healthy. What’s our plan now?

PG: Newton
SG: Hawkins
SF: Alleyne/Karaban?
PF: Sanogo
C: Johnson

Although I have never seen either of them play yet, I’d be curious how we look with Newton and Diarra playing alongside each other, which sounds like an old school UConn look to me.

 

[Deleted at users request]

The ncaa tournament cannot be your only barometer for success. Let’s just get that out of the way first.

Saying cole played on a team with little talent, when 2 guys already got nba contracts, with at least 2 more likely down the line, is also ridiculous. Especially when you consider he was the best player on a team ranked in the top 25 most of the year. Are you suggesting team talent is still low this year? Cause the starting lineup was likely 4/5 returning players before Jackson was injured.

And nobody is asking Newton to be our best player, he just has to be somewhere in the top 5, which is beyond reasonable for someone of his skill level and experience.

The most talented guys on the team outside of Sanogo did not have huge roles because they weren’t ready according to Hurley. I wouldn’t really count them.

That’s what makes this team very good though that Newton isn’t going to be depended on as our best player. Same as Cole and Martin shouldn’t have been that last year (but we didn’t really have a choice).

 

[Bonamassa]

I think Jackson is poised to put it all together and absolutely explode this year.

 

[Mr. French]

Nah man Jackson isn’t anywhere close to the scorer Lavine is. Like no where close.

This wasn't to say he's as good as Lavine ... but did you see Lavine as an underclassman at UCLA?

It was mostly to say he's probably got "NBA ALL-STAR" as a goal of his, and it's been done before. He's got the raw tools.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I think Jackson is poised to put it all together and absolutely explode this year.

Buddy, do I have some news for you…

 

[bigknight3]

Buddy, do I have some news for you…

He meant put his hand back together...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Out of morbid curiosity, I'd love to know how Jason Kidd performed in the NCAA tournament? My spider senses are telling me his record of leading a team to deep NCAAT success is thinner than a beautifully sliced piece of prosciutto.

And he couldn’t shoot then either.

 

[navery12]

Making someone a PG who wasn’t originally a PG.

I'll skip the obvious example of first half of 2022 Andre Jackson to second half of 2022 Andre Jackson since I know my audience. For another UConn-centric example Sterling Gibbs played off the ball his freshman year at Texas and then become a very good PG at Seton Hall and serviceable at UConn. Jalen Adams also played off the ball freshman year alongside Gibbs before moving to PG his sophomore year and looking much better

 

[I Bleed Blue]

Sanogo ain't playing the 4 brother. I suspect it's Alleyne and Karaban at the 3 and 4. Maybe Johnson at the 4.

Sanogo doesn't have a lick of PF to his game.

Oops I flip flopped Adama and Samson at the 4 and 5. Brain fart

 

[Deleted at users request]

This wasn't to say he's as good as Lavine ... but did you see Lavine as an underclassman at UCLA?

It was mostly to say he's probably got "NBA ALL-STAR" as a goal of his, and it's been done before. He's got the raw tools.

Lavine was a scorer and very natural shooter in college though. He wasn’t no where near as good as he is now but you could see the skill and tools. His NBA Draft combine was amazing. Andre Jackson isn’t close to that right now. Even his jumpshot form needs a complete makeover.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I'll skip the obvious example of first half of 2022 Andre Jackson to second half of 2022 Andre Jackson since I know my audience. For another UConn-centric example Sterling Gibbs played off the ball his freshman year at Texas and then become a very good PG at Seton Hall and serviceable at UConn. Jalen Adams also played off the ball freshman year alongside Gibbs before moving to PG his sophomore year and looking much better

Jalen Adams was the #5 POINT GUARD in the country coming out of high school.

Jalen Adams, Connecticut Huskies, Point Guard

Jalen Adams is a 6-1, 170-pound Point Guard from Ashburnham, MA.

247sports.com

Sterling Gibbs was also a PG coming out of high school. These are terrible examples.



Again, name me one example of someone who was not ever a PG make a successful transition to PG in college or the pros.

Andre Jackson SG

Andre Jackson, Connecticut Huskies, Shooting Guard

Andre Jackson is a 6-6, 180-pound Shooting Guard from Albany, NY.

247sports.com

Not to mention all these examples didn’t have any tournament or NBA success. Which makes me ask what is your standard for success?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'll skip the obvious example of first half of 2022 Andre Jackson to second half of 2022 Andre Jackson since I know my audience. For another UConn-centric example Sterling Gibbs played off the ball his freshman year at Texas and then become a very good PG at Seton Hall and serviceable at UConn. Jalen Adams also played off the ball freshman year alongside Gibbs before moving to PG his sophomore year and looking much better

I don’t even get the argument people are making. If you have a ball dominant PG he better be Kemba, Baz level. But ideally you don‘t have a ball dominant PG at all. Cole was a bit too ball dominant. Alterique was way too ball dominant. I don’t want one unless he’s the best player on the team by a big margin.

You put the ball in the hands of creative offensive players. I sure hope Newton is one. I know Andre will be one. I expect Hawkins to become one. I have high hopes for Alleyne and Diarra. Even Sanogo and Johnson at times, although they should mostly be finishers. If there is anybody on this team standing around dribbling and looking for an opening, then the offense isn’t working as intended. We aren’t running crappy ISO basketball anymore.

 

[navery12]

Jalen Adams was the #5 POINT GUARD in the country coming out of high school.

Jalen Adams, Connecticut Huskies, Point Guard

Jalen Adams is a 6-1, 170-pound Point Guard from Ashburnham, MA.

247sports.com

Sterling Gibbs was also a PG coming out of high school. These are terrible examples.



Again, name me one example of someone who was not ever a PG make a successful transition to PG in college or the pros.

Andre Jackson SG

Andre Jackson, Connecticut Huskies, Shooting Guard

Andre Jackson is a 6-6, 180-pound Shooting Guard from Albany, NY.

247sports.com

Not to mention all these examples didn’t have any tournament or NBA success. Which makes me ask what is your standard for success?

We're talking about someone successfully playing the PG position, so that's how I define success is a player having individual success. In any event, I figured start of the season was time to clean up the ignore list and take everyone off. Took a whole 2 days to remember why you were on ignore, it's hard to keep up with the moving goalposts and disingenuous arguments when talking to you. All good though, won't cloud up the board with anymore back and forth, back on the list you go

Also, since you've decided 247 recruiting profiles are the deciding factor on what a guy's position was and not where he played freshman year, this guy turned into a pretty good PG for us

 

[gtcam]

It won't. He's going to let Sanogo handle the ball and attack off the dribble, and take 3's. Because Adama has to show that. But it won't be most of what he does. He has to let Andre show his PG skills. Not full time, but scouts need to see enough to project him. Hawk has to show what he needs to show, but we aren't worried about it because it's what we need. Newton was talked about for the NBA too, so yeah, he's got to show his skills as well. What Andre really needs is to show his ball handling and passing is more controlled, better game and situational awareness, so we can expect he will focus on that.

It's not new. Calhoun did it and let Freeman go outside as a senior when it wasn't really what the team needed from him.

The experimenting should be limited to the lesser opponents at first
I'm not at all sold on AJ being the point guard
I thought that according to many Newton is the next super PG at UConn?
My thoughts are that, while not a PG, Diarra might be the best xfer

 

[bigknight3]

Jalen Adams was the #5 POINT GUARD in the country coming out of high school.

Jalen Adams, Connecticut Huskies, Point Guard

Jalen Adams is a 6-1, 170-pound Point Guard from Ashburnham, MA.

247sports.com

Sterling Gibbs was also a PG coming out of high school. These are terrible examples.



Again, name me one example of someone who was not ever a PG make a successful transition to PG in college or the pros.

Andre Jackson SG

Andre Jackson, Connecticut Huskies, Shooting Guard

Andre Jackson is a 6-6, 180-pound Shooting Guard from Albany, NY.

247sports.com

Not to mention all these examples didn’t have any tournament or NBA success. Which makes me ask what is your standard for success?

Why are you ignoring that Ajax's passing ability and PG-like skills weren't already a part of his game coming out of high school?

Why are you ignoring that Ajax's favorite player is Pistol Pete and he envisions himself a distributor in a point-whatever you want to call it role?

Why are you ignoring that Hurley has talked about AJax running point for two years and that it'd be his best NBA position?

Why are you ignoring that after Cole, AJax was our only effective player running the point last season?

Why are you ignoring that AJax significantly cut down on turnovers and wild passes and playing out of control the half or third of the season, when those metrics have already be presented several times on the 'Yard?

Why are you ignoring that AJax running point was probably discussed on exit meetings with Hurley and he's had an entire off-season to work on improving his point-specific skills along with his outside shooting?

Why are you ignoring that we'll have our answers either way in a few weeks (longer now due to his injury)?

 

[Mr. French]

Lavine was a scorer and very natural shooter in college though. He wasn’t no where near as good as he is now but you could see the skill and tools. His NBA Draft combine was amazing. Andre Jackson isn’t close to that right now. Even his jumpshot form needs a complete makeover.

I dno why I am justifying this, especially when you're arguing about other stuff currently, but Lavine was not a very natural shooter in college.

 

[bigknight3]

I'm baaaaaack. Maybe I missed it on here, but have we had the conversation about Andre Jackson, UConn PG, on here yet? Because if we haven't, I think we need to.

Good thing @RobDauster is reporting that we have another PG prospect in Tristan Thompson...

 

[Huskyforlife]

I dno why I am justifying this, especially when you're arguing about other stuff currently, but Lavine was not a very natural shooter in college.

38% on almost 4 attempts as a 19 year old with a pretty stroke isn’t a natural shooter? You must have a high bar for shooters.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The experimenting should be limited to the lesser opponents at first
I'm not at all sold on AJ being the point guard
I thought that according to many Newton is the next super PG at UConn?
My thoughts are that, while not a PG, Diarra might be the best xfer

What? How is Diarra not a PG? He’s a classic PG. Newton will be good. I expect him to be a knock-off lesser version of Ben Gordon, enough PG skills to play it, but a multi level scorer. AJ is a facilitator. His job is to help disrupt the defense in whatever way is necessary. So he needs the ball in his hands quite a bit. He’s scary as hell for opposing teams. Do we ever stop and think about that?

I‘m not sure how people don’t find this exciting. This team is wild. How the hell do you game plan for this? A 6’5 scoring PG and a 6’6” athletic freak PG with preternatural vision as a two PG lineup. With the best center in the country, a deadly shooting wing and a 6’10“ or 6’8” shooter/dunker PF. Who can guard that? Not any team I’ve seen. Good luck to them.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Why are you ignoring that Ajax's passing ability and PG-like skills weren't already a part of his game coming out of high school?

Why are you ignoring that Ajax's favorite player is Pistol Pete and he envisions himself a distributor in a point-whatever you want to call it role?

Why are you ignoring that Hurley has talked about AJax running point for two years and that it'd be his best NBA position?

Why are you ignoring that after Cole, AJax was our only effective player running the point last season?

Why are you ignoring that AJax significantly cut down on turnovers and wild passes and playing out of control the half or third of the season, when those metrics have already be presented several times on the 'Yard?

Why are you ignoring that AJax running point was probably discussed on exit meetings with Hurley and he's had an entire off-season to work on improving his point-specific skills along with his outside shooting?

Why are you ignoring that we'll have our answers either way in a few weeks (longer now due to his injury)?

I can give you a very long list of good passers who aren’t necessarily good point guards and never tried to be a point guard. I’m still waiting for you all to give me one good example of someone who was never a point guard make that switch.

I’ll give you a UConn centric example of that too. Daniel Hamilton. Was probably the best passer on our team during that time and best in the pick and roll. Still didn’t try to make him a point guard.

 

[Deleted at users request]

We're talking about someone successfully playing the PG position, so that's how I define success is a player having individual success. In any event, I figured start of the season was time to clean up the ignore list and take everyone off. Took a whole 2 days to remember why you were on ignore, it's hard to keep up with the moving goalposts and disingenuous arguments when talking to you. All good though, won't cloud up the board with anymore back and forth, back on the list you go

Also, since you've decided 247 recruiting profiles are the deciding factor on what a guy's position was and not where he played freshman year, this guy turned into a pretty good PG for us

View attachment 79736

Combo guard = point guard/shooting guard. You can’t be this basketball dumb can you.

Yes guys played out of position because they were good enough to play but had another guy playing the position. Didn’t make them not a point guard. Again you can’t be this basketball dumb. Was Shabazz or Kemba not a point guard at the time they both played together? Boatright? Etc?

Also the goal would be preparing Andre Jackson for the NBA so how is that not the standard for success? But I’m moving goal posts lol.

 

[Deleted at users request]

38% on almost 4 attempts as a 19 year old with a pretty stroke isn’t a natural shooter? You must have a high bar for shooters.

I feel like I’m going crazy here having to explain what should be obvious stuff lol

 

[Huskyforlife]

What? How is Diarra not a PG? He’s a classic PG. Newton will be good. I expect him to be a knock-off lesser version of Ben Gordon, enough PG skills to play it, but a multi level scorer. AJ is a facilitator. His job is to help disrupt the defense in whatever way is necessary. So he needs the ball in his hands quite a bit. He’s scary as hell for opposing teams. Do we ever stop and think about that?

I‘m not sure how people don’t find this exciting. This team is wild. How the hell do you game plan for this? A 6’5 scoring PG and a 6’6” athletic freak PG with preternatural vision as a two PG lineup. With the best center in the country, a deadly shooting wing and a 6’10“ or 6’8” shooter/dunker PF. Who can guard that? Not any team I’ve seen. Good luck to them.

He doesn’t know…

 

[Deleted at users request]

I don’t even get the argument people are making. If you have a ball dominant PG he better be Kemba, Baz level. But ideally you don‘t have a ball dominant PG at all. Cole was a bit too ball dominant. Alterique was way too ball dominant. I don’t want one unless he’s the best player on the team by a big margin.

You put the ball in the hands of creative offensive players. I sure hope Newton is one. I know Andre will be one. I expect Hawkins to become one. I have high hopes for Alleyne and Diarra. Even Sanogo and Johnson at times, although they should mostly be finishers. If there is anybody on this team standing around dribbling and looking for an opening, then the offense isn’t working as intended. We aren’t running crappy ISO basketball anymore.

I think people are caught up on the PG label. I know I am. I don’t think there’s any way Andre Jackson plays PG at the next level. Making a plan for him to do so is setting him up for failure. Scottie Barnes by all means was a much better “PG” in college a few years ago and he’s playing the 3/4 now in the NBA. Do we really believe Andre Jackson is going to be better than him?

I like this team a lot and think we have the pieces. But Andre Jackson should not be prepping to be an NBA PG.

 

[bigknight3]

I can give you a very long list of good passers who aren’t necessarily good point guards and never tried to be a point guard. I’m still waiting for you all to give me one good example of someone who was never a point guard make that switch.

I’ll give you a UConn centric example of that too. Daniel Hamilton. Was probably the best passer on our team during that time and best in the pick and roll. Still didn’t try to make him a point guard.

AJax has more athleticism, better handle, better passing, and more natural Point instincts that Hamilton. And could his athletic ability projects that he could guard the opposing teams 1 or 2 on the defensive end. Where you slot as a defender also is a factor in whether it's advantageous for you to be full time PG or if you're a SF who runs the point occasionally. (Note about this is included in the article below as well)

The Westbrook example was already provided.

Does this article on Tyreke Evans satisfy you?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1374524


Article discusses his shift between PG, SG and SF throughout his career, where he excelled with the bar in his hands and slashing to the basket but his biggest shortcoming was his lack of skill and interest in passing.

Ajax, has the size and athleticism and passing ability to be a big PG. To reach his full potential, he needs improved outside shooting, tighten his ball handling, and improve his bbq and aggressiveness when opportunities for him to dunk or score at the rim are presented.

We're not saying it'll definitely happen but it's intriguing enough a prospect to give it a chance to come to fruition this season.