Transfer Portal Starting to Load

[Jaydumo20]

Some depressing takes on here. The SEC has had more money and has been cheating for years, well before NIL was a thing. This isn't new. NIL bridges the gap. We at least have offers to make now. Legitimate ones and competitive to what they offer. Is it the same? No. But what we have is good enough to win National Championships. Calm down.

100% 100% 100%

For good reason we are afraid of the power of mass amounts of money and those who have it, but this thinking ignores all of the nuances of life and sports. They are not small nuances. Teams have been trying to buy championships in all sports for years. Sometimes the richest team wins etc. but it is never a guarantee. The best things in sports history and human history happen in the absence of, or despite, big money.

 

[Agent0]

And a starting PF or is that stew? My comment was based on hoping to pull 2 starters out of the portal. Pg and PF

The starting 4 next year will be a portal guy

 

[Excalibur]

Can't tell if people are just naive or whistling past the graveyard. The world is changing very fast, and it's legitimate to wonder if we have the resources to keep up.

 

[superjohn]

Some depressing takes on here. The SEC has had more money and has been cheating for years, well before NIL was a thing. This isn't new. NIL bridges the gap. We at least have offers to make now. Legitimate ones and competitive to what they offer. Is it the same? No. But what we have is good enough to win National Championships. Calm down.

This board has been depressing take after depressing take when it comes to this stuff for the past dozen years. Year after year the same nonsense about us being left behind. We got a bit of a reprieve from it this past year in the spring summer because we destroyed everyone in a dozen straight tournament games but the posters are back at it again.

There's a portion of this board that won't he satisfied unless we win every single national championship and if there's anything up in the air they think the roof is going to cave in on them.

 

[BigTenFan]

Highest bidder doesn't equal success. Look at Kansas the last couple of years. Chemistry and right fit are just as important as identifying talent. See Hunter Dickinson and AJ Storr.

See IU

 

[Jaydumo20]

Can't tell if people are just naive or whistling past the graveyard. The world is changing very fast, and it's legitimate to wonder if we have the resources to keep up.

I'd agree but I saw this same text last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. And the term "whistling past the graveyard" was used a bunch the summer before the 23-24 season. I guess it was true. We whistled passed the graveyard filled with the decaying corpses of every big money nil school we left for dead on the court

 

[HU5KIES]

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Our season is done. What again is special about April 9 (title of thread) ? We can't talk about our players yet ?

I'm guessing that date was selected by the author of this thread because the tournament will have been completed by that date.

The actual forum rule is that we cannot speak of any of our players until he announces that he is entering the portal.

 

[Mets1432]

Our season is done. What again is special about April 9 (title of thread) ? We can't talk about our players yet ?

To add to that, IF a Uconn player enters the portal this week, can we still not talk about it?
I don't want to get banned again lol.

 

[Hunt for 7]

My bones say Alex isn’t coming back. He probably has zero to gain by coming back as his tape is out and he’s a year older, other than NIL that trumps what he’s getting on a 2 2 way.

The NIL trumps two way is going to be a thing I think. If you are not 1st round and can make $1M plus in NIL for staying in school I think that is more money than two ways will offer. Unless the player ends up being in the NBA for more than 35 games.

So I guess you can look at it as a player leaves because he is betting on himself to earn a roster spot. For some players like Alex I don’t see the needle moving much on his ceiling in the NBA, if he stays another year or goes early.

Whatever he decides I hope it works out the best way possible for him.

 

[Brochacho]

Would we be interested in Swain from Xavier?

 

[RuffRuff]

Can't tell if people are just naive or whistling past the graveyard. The world is changing very fast, and it's legitimate to wonder if we have the resources to keep up.

Yup, try not to bring up this painful reality as it's scoffed at here. We'll have to be very creative as long as we are part of the BE.

Right now what we have to our advantage is a very visible & marketable coach.

Never thought it would happen this fast, but seeing the makeup of the S16 is unlikely to be a coincidence vs a trend. In just two years we've gone to a F4 with 2 mid majors, to a chalk P3 + Duke S16. Things are moving fast. Top 40 HS recruits are exclusively going to P4 and us. Now let's track the portal to see where the top players go and to likely watch the same.

The back end of the BE is going to be an outhouse on fire weighing down the rest of the league. A ticket out can't come soon enough.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I think we saw a few glimpses of it, but I expect Solo to get a fair amount of run at PG next year. Has he shown it? No, but his passing and ball handling got much better as the season went on. He's not an NBA SG. Just doesn't have the size. His path is as a scoring PG (defense must improve). People scoffed at me when I said Tyrese Martin would come back as a guard his senior year, but he did. Solo can work his butt off and become a PG.

That allows us to (a) still bring in a bigger PG (b) split time between Solo and Mullins at SG and (c) bring in a wing with size to play the 3.

I see a whole bunch of speculation despite the rule against it, but it seems clear that some players who have eligibility won't be back.

 

[RuffRuff]

I'm all for trying anything as long as there is PLENTY of insurance in place. We need depth. One of the most frustrating elements of this years team was how thin we were.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I'm all for trying anything as long as there is PLENTY of insurance in place. We need depth. One of the most frustrating elements of this years team was how thin we were.

This. Would be great if he takes that leap. Would be insane for Hurley to count on it.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Contextualizing the defense will matter here. Is it an IQ thing? Is he not athletic enough? How was the team's defense overall?

Metrics only tell a piece of the puzzle. He could be absolutely awful on defense or have a ton of potential. He has the size... I'm sure the staff will be doing some digging.

Some people here seriously just rely on numbers and not their eyes smdh

 

[Fan1978]

Guy couldn’t guard a chair

He is a lazy selfish player

 

[RuffRuff]

Amazing is the fact that there are 3 top ten HS kids that have not made their selection yet, Ament/Burries/Peat. If I'm a top program and I'm pulling together NIL, I am DEFINITELY waiting to see what I can get in the portal before I divvy it out to a potential 1 and done. Can these kids really be doing themselves any favor waiting this long to commit? What is the benefit of waiting until the portal opens up as a HS recruit?

 

[UConnJim]

Highest bidder doesn't equal success. Look at Kansas the last couple of years. Chemistry and right fit are just as important as identifying talent. See Hunter Dickinson and AJ Storr.

I think Kansas would have been better of keeping Zuby Ejiofor instead of taking Dickinson. I think Zuby would have been a better fit for Kansas' style of play.

 

[husky99]

 

[NHUConnfan]

Samson definitely improved... but did anyone else find themselves muttering or screaming "don't foul, don't foul!" during the games?

The thing is, the loose way that Samson played was what made him such a dynamic player. It was a double edged sword and the best move the staff made last off season was finding a big that could play significant minutes (Reed).

As frustrating as it was, had he toned it down a bit I think we would be screaming for him to do something.

 

[bendm]

Stewart at the 3 and recruiting a solid PF would work too. I'm not sure the details matter as much as getting some guys wjp can attack the rim and have size to defend

Final 4 quality rotation depending on the transfers?

Transfer PG1 30 / Adams 10
Ball 30 / Mullins 10
Stew 20 / Mullins 10 / Ross 10
Transfer PF 30 / Stew 10
Reed 25 / Reibe 15

Bench: Transfer PG2 / Furphy / Singare

30: Transfer PG1 / Ball / Stew / Transfer PF
25: Reed
20: Mullins
15: Reibe
10: Adams / Ross

 

[BFieldHusky]

This board has been depressing take after depressing take when it comes to this stuff for the past dozen years. Year after year the same nonsense about us being left behind. We got a bit of a reprieve from it this past year in the spring summer because we destroyed everyone in a dozen straight tournament games but the posters are back at it again.

There's a portion of this board that won't he satisfied unless we win every single national championship and if there's anything up in the air they think the roof is going to cave in on them.

Great post.

 

[NHUConnfan]

My bones say Alex isn’t coming back. He probably has zero to gain by coming back as his tape is out and he’s a year older, other than NIL that trumps what he’s getting on a 2 2 way.

I think we're gonna find out that AK was still really banged up where a few weeks off will help him regain his skills that took a dip. What we saw this year is not who he is.

 

[RuffRuff]

Final 4 quality rotation depending on the transfers?

Transfer 30 / Adams 10
Ball 30 / Mullins 10
Stew 20 / Mullins 10 / Ross 10
Transfer 30 / Stew 10
Reed 25 / Reibe 15

Bench: Transfer PG / Furphy / Singare

30: Transfer PG / Ball / Stew / Transfer PF
25: Reed
20: Mullins
15: Reibe
10: Adams / Ross

Probably worth waiting to see what we bring back before even attempting one of these grids.