Tyler Polley next year.

[UconnU]

Anyone else think he could be in line for a break out year? A few things give me confidence. He has competition at the position, he looks to have added some weight and now has experience; for example he was noticeably better on defense by the end of the year. If he can only the toughness aspect down he could be in line for a big year. If I were Hurley I would look to toughen him up. We have a former coach who may be able to help with that if coach needs any advice....

 

[CTBasketball]

1. He was not noticeably better on defense by the end of the year. He was just as lost and flat footed as he was in November.
2. Toughness isn’t really taught. There’s a reason he doesn’t rebound.
3. If we’re using Polley for anything else than a spot up 3-pt shooter, that could mean trouble.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Anyone else think he could be in line for a break out year? A few things give me confidence. He has competition at the position, he looks to have added some weight and now has experience; for example he was noticeably better on defense by the end of the year. If he can only the toughness aspect down he could be in line for a big year. If I were Hurley I would look to toughen him up. We have a former coach who may be able to help with that if coach needs any advice....

Yes. The report is he’s putting on a lot of muscle. That may help his willingness to bag down low and grab boards. He made baby steps on that late last year. His defense was much improved by the end of last season. He’s a good 3 point shooter and can put it on the floor. First step is not special but he can get by people. He over-passes. May need to shoot more.

I think he was already a decent player and will be upgraded to good. Above average in the league. We tend to underestimate individual improvement because we saw so little for awhile.

 

[JMick]

I think he's going to be a really nice piece his senior year, but idk about this year. I think he still has a ways to go.

 

[NYtoCT]

Yes. The report is he’s putting on a lot of muscle. That may help his willingness to bag down low and grab boards. He made baby steps on that late last year. His defense was much improved by the end of last season. He’s a good 3 point shooter and can put it on the floor. First step is not special but he can get by people. He over-passes. May need to shoot more.

I think he was already a decent player and will be upgraded to good. Above average in the league. We tend to underestimate individual improvement because we saw so little for awhile.

He cannot put it on the floor. I asked Hurley at the roadshow if he expects Polley to drive to the basket more this year and his answer was that’s not really Polley’s game. His game is shooting and I think Hurley said they’re working on Polley’s ability to create his own shot.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Nothing wrong with a 6'8 wing who scores 8 points a game and 38% from 3P land.

On that note, I do not see Polley "breaking out" this year, but I see him continuing to grow as a player and becoming more multi-dimensional. Maybe he'll score 10 ppg this season, but I'm not counting on it.

For the last two seasons, Polley was our only player with size who could stretch the floor, so adding Akok to the mix will greatly help open up the floor for more athletic guys like Wilson and Bouknight to do their thing.

It'll be a fun year!

 

[Fan4ever]

He cannot put it on the floor. I asked Hurley at the roadshow if he expects Polley to drive to the basket more this year and his answer was that’s not really Polley’s game. His game is shooting and I think Hurley said they’re working on Polley’s ability to create his own shot.

Agree. If the aggressiveness/toughness/effort to rebound is not there, odds are the approach to handle, drive and initiate contact are also missing. Would be a nice addition to see, would make him a much more difficult to defend forcing defenses to switch and creating an open man.

 

[HuskyHawk]

He cannot put it on the floor. I asked Hurley at the roadshow if he expects Polley to drive to the basket more this year and his answer was that’s not really Polley’s game. His game is shooting and I think Hurley said they’re working on Polley’s ability to create his own shot.

He did it a few times last year. As I mentioned, his first step is meh. It's not a strength. But if his long range shooting is strong enough he can certainly dribble by a close out defender and get to the rim or pass.

It would be nice if he improved his ability to create his own shots, just like CV. Both of them are solid catch and shoot guys, but neither shoots well off of motion or a dribble.

 

[mauconnfan]

1. He was not noticeably better on defense by the end of the year. He was just as lost and flat footed as he was in November.
2. Toughness isn’t really taught. There’s a reason he doesn’t rebound.
3. If we’re using Polley for anything else than a spot up 3-pt shooter, that could mean trouble.

He was better on defense without a doubt. There's a lot more there than you care to give him credit for but no matter his rebounding and toughness do need to improve no doubt there. But his defense on McDuffie alone in which he (and others of course but majority was Tyler Phommachanh) shot only 9 for 31 in 2 games was pretty good. Held him to 9/3 in the first and although he did get 19/5 the next game he was 5 for 17 from the floor.

He learned the passing lanes, showed lateral quickness a little more consistently but he improved and can be a very good defender I believe. If he is only a 3 pt shooter I think that will be trouble for us. Need him to rebound the ball, make shots, get to the rim and defend. For me he's a better option than Sid for more minutes and can give us a few at the 4 also.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Nothing wrong with a 6'8 wing who scores 8 points a game and 38% from 3P land.

On that note, I do not see Polley "breaking out" this year, but I see him continuing to grow as a player and becoming more multi-dimensional. Maybe he'll score 10 ppg this season, but I'm not counting on it.

For the last two seasons, Polley was our only player with size who could stretch the floor, so adding Akok to the mix will greatly help open up the floor for more athletic guys like Wilson and Bouknight to do their thing.

It'll be a fun year!

If he puts up 8 ppg on 38% from 3, and does it as a specialist off the bench in 15 mpg, that's great.

If he puts up those scoring numbers as a starter getting 30 mpg, while giving nothing on the boards or elsewhere, that's a problem.

 

[Ts5034]

I like Polley. I dont think he can be a Kevin Freeman or Jeff Adrien, but I dont think he has to be in order to make an impact the next two years. If he can add a little more muscle, and improve his shot making ability, I think he will be a huge X-factor. I would love it if his off season training consisted of hitting the weight room hard and putting up 200 threes a day in the practice facility and Gampel.

 

[mauconnfan]

I like Polley. I dont think he can be a Kevin Freeman or Jeff Adrien, but I dont think he has to be in order to make an impact the next two years. If he can add a little more muscle, and improve his shot making ability, I think he will be a huge X-factor. I would love it if his off season training consisted of hitting the weight room hard and putting up 200 threes a day in the practice facility and Gampel.

Agree but his shooting is there. Nothing wrong with getting even better though I agree maybe even 500 a day. Even more important is the ball handling part on offense. He always catches coming to the ball or off a pick and brings it back to the guards. Need the defender to be worried he can catch and occasionally get it to the rim. He'd get more open looks too so the handle is almost as important to his ability to board this coming year.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I like Polley. I dont think he can be a Kevin Freeman or Jeff Adrien, but I dont think he has to be in order to make an impact the next two years. If he can add a little more muscle, and improve his shot making ability, I think he will be a huge X-factor. I would love it if his off season training consisted of hitting the weight room hard and putting up 200 threes a day in the practice facility and Gampel.

Yeah, he's not Jeff Adrien by any stretch of the imagination. But I see him as a Niels Giffey type by his senior year. He's trending in that direction. Versatile forward who can play 3-4 and shoot and score a little bit around the rim, even if he's not a post player.

 

[rayrayfor3]

Yeah, he's not Jeff Adrien by any stretch of the imagination. But I see him as a Niels Giffey type by his senior year. He's trending in that direction. Versatile forward who can play 3-4 and shoot and score a little bit around the rim, even if he's not a post player.

Niels is a good comparison. Feel like Neils had more of those intangible glue guy attributes, and a higher BBIQ (those go hand-in-hand) and he was much more than just a shooter. Could deff happen with Polley, however he has yet to show anything other than being a decent 3pt threat.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Niels is a good comparison. Feel like Neils had more of those intangible glue guy attributes, and a higher BBQ (those go hand-in-hand) and he was much more than just a shooter. Could deff happen with Polley, however he has yet to show anything other than being a decent 3pt threat.

I agree, but he didn't really put all that together until his senior season. So Polley has time. Niels was a little quicker probably. If Polley really is adding 20 pounds, he will be stronger.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I like Polley - I also think he more or less is who he is as a player. 3 point specialist, with hopefully decent enough defense to not be a liability.

Not necessarily an indictment on him, but it was pretty impressive how he could play 30 mins some games and come away with 0 boards, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 fouls, 0 FTs, etc.

 

[Ricker]

I was very pleased recruiting Polley but I have been shocked how he can be a long 6'9 mobile player with a pro football father and be literally pathetic rebounding, even against poorer competition. The previous post prompted me to look. This isn't even a complete list of inadequacy.

UMass Lowell 28 min 1 Reb
Lafayette 26 min 1 Reb
Temple 29 min 1 Reb
ECU 36 min 1 Reb

3 Consecutive Games 78 min in the game 1 Total Rebound!!!
Drexel 19 min 0 Reb
Villanova 32 min 0 Reb
South FL 27 min 1 Reb

Tulane 26 min 0 Reb
Cinn 32 min 0 Reb 0 Asst 0 Blk

The boneyard sees him as a spot up shooter and Jalen Adams as needing to work on his shot but Polley at 38% was only +2.5% better than Jalen and they took a similar # of attempts. He only looks like a sniper vs Wilson or B Adams.

Coupling pathetic stats with out of position and slow defensive feet and it's tough to make an argument that he is not a major weak link on the court. He has got to improve or play less. There is so much room for improvement I'll bet a bit of both. He has to get 2 rebounds every 10 minutes of playing time.

 

[CTBasketball]

He was better on defense without a doubt. There's a lot more there than you care to give him credit for but no matter his rebounding and toughness do need to improve no doubt there. But his defense on McDuffie alone in which he (and others of course but majority was Tyler Phommachanh) shot only 9 for 31 in 2 games was pretty good. Held him to 9/3 in the first and although he did get 19/5 the next game he was 5 for 17 from the floor.

He learned the passing lanes, showed lateral quickness a little more consistently but he improved and can be a very good defender I believe. If he is only a 3 pt shooter I think that will be trouble for us. Need him to rebound the ball, make shots, get to the rim and defend. For me he's a better option than Sid for more minutes and can give us a few at the 4 also.

The rebounding numbers need to come up - I think we could take a hit on defense in favor of increased rebounding. The problem is Sid isn’t much better at defense, and can’t shoot. But he’s uber athletic around the rim.

If only they were merged into one player!

 

[Kenny11]

He will be a better player. Guys are working hard and improving. Hopefully he learns how to use his length for this year.

 

[olehead]

1. He was not noticeably better on defense by the end of the year. He was just as lost and flat footed as he was in November.
2. Toughness isn’t really taught. There’s a reason he doesn’t rebound.
3. If we’re using Polley for anything else than a spot up 3-pt shooter, that could mean trouble.

What about Tiger in the Cage rebounding drill?

 

[lange10]

I was very pleased recruiting Polley but I have been shocked how he can be a long 6'9 mobile player with a pro football father and be literally pathetic rebounding, even against poorer competition. The previous post prompted me to look. This isn't even a complete list of inadequacy.

UMass Lowell 28 min 1 Reb
Lafayette 26 min 1 Reb
Temple 29 min 1 Reb
ECU 36 min 1 Reb

3 Consecutive Games 78 min in the game 1 Total Rebound!!!
Drexel 19 min 0 Reb
Villanova 32 min 0 Reb
South FL 27 min 1 Reb

Tulane 26 min 0 Reb
Cinn 32 min 0 Reb 0 Asst 0 Blk

The boneyard sees him as a spot up shooter and Jalen Adams as needing to work on his shot but Polley at 38% was only +2.5% better than Jalen and they took a similar # of attempts. He only looks like a sniper vs Wilson or B Adams.

Coupling pathetic stats with out of position and slow defensive feet and it's tough to make an argument that he is not a major weak link on the court. He has got to improve or play less. There is so much room for improvement I'll bet a bit of both. He has to get 2 rebounds every 10 minutes of playing time.

Oof. I was going to say I think he could be a nice piece for us off the bench but those numbers are tough to defend.

 

[Hoops91]

I think polley will have some really big games but the majority of the games he’ll struggle. He needs to take it to the hole, maybe adding some muscle in the off-season will help his confidence.

I think he has potential as a pure shooter, I think anything more is a stretch. I do like the kid!

 

[Madmannsucks]

Frankly, based on how he ended his Freshman year, I expected more than we saw last year. Could have been the coaching transition, or not. Just thought he was going to add more. His "D" improved and he has shown he can hit the "J". Needs more consistency on offence. Frustrating to me with today's players...when the shot isn't falling, go to the hole...even in the pros, they just keep jackin 3's. Go to the hole.

 

[ToolzieFan]

I think Polley will be a nice complementary player who can hit some threes and provide length on defense. Yes, his rebounding and handle need work, but that's also never going to be his game. From a shooting perspective, 38% on threes is respectable. However, he doesn't really create his own shot or hit contested threes - he's not Rashad Anderson hitting threes over people that he seemingly had no business even getting off. As a bench player and rotation piece who is capable of going off once in a while, Polley can be a solid contributor for the next two years. I'm obviously rooting for him to exceed my expectations.