Tyler Polley returning to UConn

[YearoftheHusky]

Damn, I thought I was told he was going to make $$$$ as a Pro. Guess the taste of pine is more to his liking.
No handle, no moves, no speed, an eternity to get his shot, no D, can’t hit the glass and NO options.
Like a kid that won’t leave home.

I can’t help but laugh at the irony since I am assuming this was posted using dial-up in your parents’ basement, considering how out of touch you are.

 

[gtcam]

No one has said that or insinuated that. This is a CBI level post by you

Have you met HuskyMagic??????????????

 

[jibsey]

If Hurley can get him open shots then all good.

 

[Chief00]

Just think of this statement for a minute. Tyler is entering the draft for feedback but is returning to UConn. Given that predetermined decision, it will be interesting to see what if any team invites him in for a workout?
Tyler is a very nice kid and I wish him the best.

 

[Husky68]

Already a good team as is with 3 scholarships left. I’m excited for next season. Happy to have Whaley and Polley both back.

Love me some Ollie guys!

 

[TRest]

Just think of this statement for a minute. Tyler is entering the draft for feedback but is returning to UConn. Given that predetermined decision, it will be interesting to see what if any team invites him in for a workout?
Tyler is a very nice kid and I wish him the best.

Pretty sure Vital did that in the past, Chief.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I just don't get this impulse to say snarky things about kids on the team you root for. Especially things you would never in a million years say to the kid if you met him.

Polley has shot 40+% for two seasons in his career. He was not very good this past season coming back from injury and was at 35.5%. Acting like he's Michael Kidd Gilchrist or something where it would be absolutely unheard of for him to do something he's already done twice is just moronic.

Apologies to Michael Kidd Gilchrist, that was unnecessary.

 

[kansashusky]

Glad he is entering the draft for some feedback. We need him to develop an offensive repertoire outside of spot up threes.

 

[Chief00]

I care about shooting. I think Polley is, a marginal improvement over Martin as a shooter. He's a massive downgrade as a defender, rebounder, ball handler, passer and overall hustle player.

My logic is that the best guy should start. Sanogo beat out Whaley and Josh at center over time. Whaley started because he was our best 4 with Akok not healthy. With Akok healthy, he is probably our best 4, but they will each need to compete for those minutes and against Springs/Johnson too. Martin or Jackson is easily our best SF, both are far more complete players than Polley. Jackson may get time as a guard as well. Gaffney is, at the moment, our best SG. But Hawkins will compete there, as will Jackson and Martin to some degree. Cole is the best PG, but he has to fight with Gaffney and possibly Diggins for those minutes.

Best guys play.

To me it’s who is in there at the end and gets the winning time minutes.

 

[Chief00]

Martin is a junk yard dog-Meant in the best possible way-If he can clean up his put-backs and garbage baskets next year-He's all BE material.

Would love to see SnC develop some explosion in his legs this summer.

The put-backs are in large part mental and he needs to focus on getting the ball just over the rim.

 

[navery12]

Just think of this statement for a minute. Tyler is entering the draft for feedback but is returning to UConn. Given that predetermined decision, it will be interesting to see what if any team invites him in for a workout?
Tyler is a very nice kid and I wish him the best.

It's okay Chief, I know you're a Casual Fan™️ so wouldn't expect you to know there are advantages regarding practice time and workouts to entering your name in the draft

 

[Kitaman]

The put-backs are in large part mental and he needs to focus on getting the ball just over the rim.

I really wonder what COVID interruptions did to many college ballers' development. Martin faced the interruptions along with transferring to a new team (unfamiliarity), and then Bouk being in and out (injury) along with other newcomers and no designated or prominent Captain/Leader.

I really don't know if he found his fit or purpose. I expect this to be solved next season leading to him being a much better performer. He has D1 talent but to me needs to shed the continual in-game deferring and his offensive shyness (nice word for disappearance).

My question of him is; as a Senior can become dominating in games?

 

[Travelman6]

I just don't get this impulse to say snarky things about kids on the team you root for.

man I cannot wait to never have to read another one of these posts. part of me does hope that KO goes after every UConn recruit just to piss off the people who have to express some version of this sentiment every time his name comes up.

The longer this marinates the more I love the idea of Ollie poaching kids from UConn.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Outside shooting is going to be a big need. If Polley ups his game a little more, especially on D, he'll take minutes away from someone.

I see Akok eating up a lot of minutes as well. Don't be surprised if Whaley sees his minutes go down a bit.

Agree. It's going to be a competition. All of these guys need to fight for time, with the possible exception of Sanogo and maybe Cole.

Jackson: Does he improve his shot? Can he attack and score at the rim? Take his disruptive D up a notch?
Polley: Can he get his defense up to at least ok? Can he improve in the hustle areas...rebounding, lose balls, coming off screens? Can he attack the basket more reliably?
Whaley: Can he make midrange jumpers consistently? Can he improve his finishing around the rim and ball handling? Can he hold ground better against true bigs?
Akok: Needs to return to form as a defender and rebounder. Need to improve his outside shooting and finish better. Would like to see him attack the basket off the bounce more often, it would be very hard to defend.
Gaff: Continue defensive improvement. Play as the aggressive, penetrating guard all the time. Move better off the ball so he can get more clean looks. Play faster.
Martin: Get that 3 point shooting back up to 35%. Finish better at the rim, protect the ball, stop rushing it on layups and putbacks.

These are just examples, but I do think it's going to be interesting to see which guys make the needed improvements to earn those minutes.

 

[UCSouth]

@Travelman32 , What's your point, other than infatuation with @BigErnMcCracken posts?

 

[ClifSpliffy]

i dont think we're that far off actually. 3rd option on offense doesnt mean i think he's the third best player. but he's definitely our best 3 point shooter, which is what we need more than anything. so imo that makes him the best fit for the SF spot given our other personnel

'but he's definitely our best 3 point shooter,'
he is? then why did he finish behind both rj (our best) and jalen in 3% this past season?

 

[karstenkibbe]

I’m by no means the captain of the Tyler cheerleader squad, but I am thrilled that he is returning. I do think that he can make a significant impact next season - especially if he can regain his pre-injury shooting consistency.

After re-watching many of this season’s games, one really important thing was confirmed: our point guards time and again missed Polley for open looks or chose not to look to him. Even worse - and this speaks to some piss-poor fundamentals - many passes to him were atrocious and either caused him to shoot out of rhythm or no longer have an open shot.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

@Travelman32 , What's your point, other than infatuation with @BigErnMcCracken posts?

I’m sure he thought there was a point there but I’m not seeing it.

 

[UconnU]

I stand by my statement that he will not be returning. He will be drafted into the Kevin Ollie developmental league as the top pick.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

More of these 5th year players seem to be returning than I expected. I wonder what the overall numbers are.

We could see some pretty good teams next season that no one was expecting to be that good, just because they are bringing back a lot of experienced players.

 

[bendm]

'but he's definitely our best 3 point shooter,'
he is? then why did he finish behind both rj (our best) and jalen in 3% this past season?

for the 3rd time- he was clearly not his old self this year after missing half a season. pre-injury polley was shooting 40% from 3 before he went down. that's the guy i'm excited for and hopeful we finally get back.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

All of this rotation minutes allocation stuff is pointless, we're going to have at least 12 guys who could get significant minutes almost anywhere. The season is 7 months away and minutes will be earned through competition. The one thing Hurley needs to stress constantly is pushing pace so we can use all this depth to our advantage and wear our opponents out.

This is completely true. People speculating in rotation, starters? Pointless except for the fun of doing it.

As Geno has said, the players in practice and games are the ones who will determine who gets minutes. Not DH and not the BY.

 

[Waquoit]

I’m sure he thought there was a point there but I’m not seeing it.

Pointless, in other words.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

So I went down the wormhole and found Tyler's original "commits to UConn" BY thread:

Tyler Polley commits to UConn!

Four-star stretch PF.

the-boneyard.com

Some interesting quotes worth revisiting & possibly discussing (politely)...I screenshotted them because I basically forgot about the multiquote function...

To start:

Here's a bummer-post:

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Interesting that his game quickly evolved to mainly just being a 3pt shooter:

How many dunks has Tyler gotten in his time at UConn? I think I recall one this year...