Tyler Polley Fully Cleared | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Tyler Polley Fully Cleared

Amazing how many like to say Tyler is a poor defender not sure what they actually watch during games. He improves dramatically from his freshman year and was well above average prior to the injury, probably our 3rd or 4th best defender. Rebounding needs to be better no doubt but we saw he can. Will be interesting to see how and where he carves his minutes with this team. Don’t think he starts but could win it back when completely healthy, rooting for him great kid.
 
CTBasketball said:
Polley should be a 3pt ace off the bench. His defense is awful, he can’t rebound well enough for his size, and his offense is one dimensional.

If we go small, it’ll be Cole, Bouk, Martin/Gaffney, Jackson, then Whaley.

If we go big, it’ll be Cole, Bouk, Martin/Jackson, Whaley, Carlton. Or maybe Sanogo for Carlton. Theres no room for Polley to start I don’t think.
Expand ...
Awful is a stretch, he can't guard physical players, ill give you that. But like @husky429 mentioned, he will bring out the best in our rim attackers by giving them space to operate. Having a guy who can average 10 points on no dribbles is very valuable to an offense. This is all assuming he doesn't improve in any other area either.
 
I think we will see a senior Tyler closer to what he showed right before his injury than the less aggressive TP. I expect him to start as a stretch 4 and play well.
 
mauconnfan said:
Amazing how many like to say Tyler is a poor defender not sure what they actually watch during games. He improves dramatically from his freshman year and was well above average prior to the injury, probably our 3rd or 4th best defender. Rebounding needs to be better no doubt but we saw he can. Will be interesting to see how and where he carves his minutes with this team. Don’t think he starts but could win it back when completely healthy, rooting for him great kid.
Expand ...
You can tell the season is close when posters start dissing our players.

Polley was an above average versatile defender and a below average rebounder who was just starting to correct that deficiency when he had the injury.

His weakness on offense was his inability to drive to the basket and even that started to improve. Everything was beginning to click for him.

I’m always cautious about what to expect from players returning from an injury. But if Tyler picks up where he was prior to injury he’s getting lots of playing time.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
Hurley didn’t want to make him a stretch 4 last year I don’t see why with more options he would do it this year.
Expand ...
We didn’t have Martin last year who is an excellent rebounder. It’s not a big deal anyway if lineups don’t work we have so much firepower it’s ridiculous. I really don’t see the freshman starting unless they’re sprinkled in occasionally.
 
.-.
Chief00 said:
Depth is great but deep teams of similarly talented players scare Chief. What needs to be established early on, is who are the 7 best players, who will get most of the minutes? This is particularly challenging because of multi position players. If too many guys are equal it becomes about minutes rather than winning games.
My is sense is that Brown and Sonago will get more of what many think of as Whaley and Carlton’s minutes than many expect.
Expand ...
seems to me the surest way to limit the minutes distribution in the front court is for brown to redshirt. playing 4 different centers is a surefire way to run into the problem you're worried about
 
Last edited:
Tampahusky said:
We didn’t have Martin last year who is an excellent rebounder. It’s not a big deal anyway if lineups don’t work we have so much firepower it’s ridiculous. I really don’t see the freshman starting unless they’re sprinkled in occasionally.
Expand ...
I still don’t think he puts a non rebounder at the 4 and someone who has very little experience defending the post.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
I still don’t think he puts a non rebounder at the 4 and someone who has very little experience defending the post.
Expand ...
It's kind of semantics tbh. If it makes you feel better you can say Martin is the 4 and Polley the 3, but their skillsets are very complementary whichever way you spin it
 
navery12 said:
It's kind of semantics tbh. If it makes you feel better you can say Martin is the 4 and Polley the 3, but their skillsets are very complementary whichever way you spin it
Expand ...
I don’t think it’s semantics to say hurley would not play polley at the 4 last year. Even when asked he said he didn’t see it as a fit.
If you want to say when polley and Martin are on the floor together they are interchangeable that’s got some validity but not the point I was trying to make. That also gets you into how many minutes are they spending together on the court? Now he can be a 4 but only with certain personnel around him.
 
bendm said:
i think martin only loses his starting spot if akok comes back at 100%, which is not expected. i also like polley at SF and martin at stretch 4, he's the better rebounder/defender.
Expand ...

This obsession with assigning guys to positions based on rebounding is baffling to me. How many times over the last several years have we had perimeter guys as some of our top rebounders? Was Vital the power forward last year, or do you just need to update your basketball analysis?
 
Chief00 said:
Depth is great but deep teams of similarly talented players scare Chief. What needs to be established early on, is who are the 7 best players, who will get most of the minutes? This is particularly challenging because of multi position players. If too many guys are equal it becomes about minutes rather than winning games.
My is sense is that Brown and Sonago will get more of what many think of as Whaley and Carlton’s minutes than many expect.
Expand ...

Amen to the minutes' concerns and the effect it can have on chemistry.
 
.-.
Jbirdp5 said:
I still don’t think he puts a non rebounder at the 4 and someone who has very little experience defending the post.
Expand ...

Ignoring the fact that Polley primarily played as the 4 for two years, what kind of backwards-ass, 1996 idea of basketball are you stuck in that you think anybody plays with two post defenders on the floor anymore?
 
mauconnfan said:
Amazing how many like to say Tyler is a poor defender not sure what they actually watch during games. He improves dramatically from his freshman year and was well above average prior to the injury, probably our 3rd or 4th best defender. Rebounding needs to be better no doubt but we saw he can. Will be interesting to see how and where he carves his minutes with this team. Don’t think he starts but could win it back when completely healthy, rooting for him great kid.
Expand ...

Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong team, but didn't Tyler put the clamps on Wichita State's best forward last year?
 
Watchdog said:
Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong team, but didn't Tyler put the clamps on Wichita State's best forward last year?
Expand ...
Danny thinks Tyler is a unique defender because he can defend fairly effectively multipositionally. In particular that helps on switch offs. Danny likes to switch more than Chief, who is old school about fighting through screens. Tyler needs to work on rebounding better, it’s no secret. He also needs to get on the same page as the guy who will get him the ball in the right spot.
 
Chief00 said:
Danny thinks Tyler is a unique defender because he can defend fairly effectively multipositionally. In particular that helps on switch offs. Danny likes to switch more than Chief, who is old school about fighting through screens. Tyler needs to work on rebounding better, it’s no secret. He also needs to get on the same page as the guy who will get him the ball in the right spot.
Expand ...
TP will also be surrounded by better play makers this season as well. Guys like Gaffney and Cole should be able to get him the ball in the right spot at the RIGHT TIME. Often times last season, our primary ball handlers struggled with that. I think having guys who will find him in space will help his game a lot. Especially if Bouk is creating and looking to dish (along with AJ as well in time).
 
CallMeBruce said:
Ignoring the fact that Polley primarily played as the 4 for two years, what kind of backwards-ass, 1996 idea of basketball are you stuck in that you think anybody plays with two post defenders on the floor anymore?
Expand ...
First off don’t come at with some bs and try and make things personal, I’m simply saying what hurley said last year when asked about using polley as a stretch 4. When did he play the 4 last year?, and again if you respond try debating the point and don’t come at me like some type of tough guy
 
.-.
Assuming TP is back to 100% health, he’s going to see a lot of minutes and has a lot of value to bring to the team. His shooting ability is elite relative to the college level.

I just hope he can stay healthy, he was really taking strides last year. People are talking like we have too much depth for Polley to get good playing time... we actually don’t have too much depth at the wing/forward with 3 and D abilities (yes, Tyler’s D improved quite a bit last season if you weren’t watching). Beyond that, Akok is coming off an achilles which isn’t easy to return from 100%.
And AJ is unproven at the moment (Hurley favors upperclassmen until the young guys earn their PT). And BA is more of a combo guard/wing. Polley fills a void to start the season and it sounds like he should have a great senior season if he’s 100% (mentally and physically)
 
RayIsTheGOAT said:
Assuming TP is back to 100% health, he’s going to see a lot of minutes and has a lot of value to bring to the team. His shooting ability is elite relative to the college level.

I just hope he can stay healthy, he was really taking strides last year. People are talking like we have too much depth for Polley to get good playing time... we actually don’t have too much depth at the wing/forward with 3 and D abilities (yes, Tyler’s D improved quite a bit last season if you weren’t watching). Beyond that, Akok is coming off an achilles which isn’t easy to return from 100%.
And AJ is unproven at the moment (Hurley favors upperclassmen until the young guys earn their PT). And BA is more of a combo guard/wing. Polley fills a void to start the season and it sounds like he should have a great senior season if he’s 100% (mentally and physically)
Expand ...

You left out Tyrese Martin who will get significant minutes. With Bouk & BAdams able to play both 2 and 3, AJ as a classic 3, Martin and Polley as versatile forwards who can play 3 or 4, plus Akok, Springs, and Whaley as 4s, I'd say there's plenty of depth.

If you had to have a specifically 3-and-D role player, then Polley is best suited to it -- but how many of those guys do you need? One is enough.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
I don’t think it’s semantics to say hurley would not play polley at the 4 last year. Even when asked he said he didn’t see it as a fit.
If you want to say when polley and Martin are on the floor together they are interchangeable that’s got some validity but not the point I was trying to make. That also gets you into how many minutes are they spending together on the court? Now he can be a 4 but only with certain personnel around him.
Expand ...
As others have pointed out it's not really worth getting hung up on what we call positions, but I'll bite. In the last game Polley played the lineup we had on the floor for multiple stretches was Gilbert, Bouknight, Vital, Polley, Akok with Polley at the 4
 
When it comes to TP and rebounding, look at film from last two seasons. Quite often when the opposing team shoots, Polley would go towards halfcourt and start filling a lane for a fast break or sprint to the corner for a corner 3 in transition. If I could notice that, I'm positive the coaches could see it and I believe it's what the coaches wanted. I don't think the coaches have had as much of an expectation for TP to be rebounding more as much as us fans do. With newer players and new positions and responsibilities TP may be asked to bang inside a bit more and grab boards. Fortunately with this team there appears to be enough talent to bring in another player if the starter isn't performing at the level expected.
 
.-.
The problem with Polley starting is it creates such a logjam at the 4/5. But he's obviously best suited for this team as the stretch 4. The Polley we know with such improved strength should be able to fight for boards he couldnt get in years past. Great problems.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
First off don’t come at with some bs and try and make things personal, I’m simply saying what hurley said last year when asked about using polley as a stretch 4. When did he play the 4 last year?, and again if you respond try debating the point and don’t come at me like some type of tough guy
Expand ...
He was the starting 4 in the game he got injured.
 
CallMeBruce said:
This obsession with assigning guys to positions based on rebounding is baffling to me. How many times over the last several years have we had perimeter guys as some of our top rebounders? Was Vital the power forward last year, or do you just need to update your basketball analysis?
Expand ...
polley hasnt demonstrated he can play PF and it's primarily because he was one of the worst rebounders on the team. he's not as big of a liability on the boards when he's playing SF and matched up with smaller guys...not sure where you get lost in that analysis it's exceedingly straightforward
 
navery12 said:
As others have pointed out it's not really worth getting hung up on what we call positions, but I'll bite. In the last game Polley played the lineup we had on the floor for multiple stretches was Gilbert, Bouknight, Vital, Polley, Akok with Polley at the 4
Expand ...
I am not hung up on positions so much but in using your reference he started every game next to akok and Carlton. If you look at the vast majority of minutes he was a wing and guarded wings from the other team.
 
Jbirdp5 said:
I am not hung up on positions so much but in using your reference he started every game next to akok and Carlton. If you look at the vast majority of minutes he was a wing and guarded wings from the other team.
Expand ...
So then we agree, he'll split his time between the 3 and 4. It's really a moot point because the 3 and 4 have very similar roles in Hurley's system, they're both wings
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,189
Messages
4,556,179
Members
10,441
Latest member
Virginiafan


Top Bottom