Tyler Polley vs. Vance Jackson

[RichZ]

Some good video of the 3 new incoming freshmen here: A look at the UConn men’s basketball recruiting class: 2017-18...

...MAL - Will be a good 15-20 minute guy keeping both AG and JA fresh next year with little drop-off when they hit the bench or get in foul trouble a big plus over the options KO was left with in such situations this year.

Polley - I've heard some DHam- Deandre Daniels comparisons, but as I watched the video I kept getting flashbacks to Rip Hamilton particularly the way he smoothly finishes at the rim on the break. Not enough video of him shooting to see if his touch and off the ball movement is close to Rip's, but physically and how he finishes he's very similar. I was pleasantly surprised - my guess is he will force himself into getting some major minutes and have some nice scoring games for us.

Carlton - Not a lot of video, but some good points can be drawn from it. He clearly has some understanding of offensive positioning, he has good hands for a big (always a plus), he has good body control attacking the rim, it's unclear how well he boxes out or protects the rim, but he's aggressive to the ball. My guess he will be a useful interior presence next year and not just by default. The soundness of the fundamentals I could pick up on seem to indicate he will be more then adequate in filling minutes for us at the 5 or 4.

At least in that particular highlight video, MAL seemed to favor going to the hole over passing or shooting the J. Much like JA, he is completely right handed, and depending on how you squint, this makes his drives on the left side of the hoop either spectacular or flat out awkward, because the degree of difficulty goes up when you shoot right handed layups from the left side. (This comes from a 100% left handed shooter whose "signature move" was a heavy english, banked layin from the right side. Fodder for shot blockers as the level of competition got higher.)

Polley. Mostly transition and inside highlights, but I really like where he releases his jumper from. High over his head, not in front if his chin like some of our recent shooters and a lot of the recruits whose videos I've watched seem to do.

Carlton appears to be a pretty effective defensive rebounder. But he seems to look for a close outlet as soon as he comes down, while still in a crowd. Needs to learn the wide pivot to clear space and get a quick look down court for the longer outlet (think Wes Unseld and Dave Cowens.) Offensively, I would have called him for offensive fouls on a couple of the moves on his highlight video.

 

[Coach J]

At least in that particular highlight video, MAL seemed to favor going to the hole over passing or shooting the J. Much like JA, he is completely right handed, and depending on how you squint, this makes his drives on the left side of the hoop either spectacular or flat out awkward, because the degree of difficulty goes up when you shoot right handed layups from the left side. (This comes from a 100% left handed shooter whose "signature move" was a heavy english, banked layin from the right side. Fodder for shot blockers as the level of competition got higher.)

Polley. Mostly transition and inside highlights, but I really like where he releases his jumper from. High over his head, not in front if his chin like some of our recent shooters and a lot of the recruits whose videos I've watched seem to do.

Carlton appears to be a pretty effective defensive rebounder. But he seems to look for a close outlet as soon as he comes down, while still in a crowd. Needs to learn the wide pivot to clear space and get a quick look down court for the longer outlet (think Wes Unseld and Dave Cowens.) Offensively, I would have called him for offensive fouls on a couple of the moves on his highlight video.

I was surprised to not see a broader offensive game from MAL for a guy so highly ranked. Did like Polley's release, but didn't see enough of them to know how proficient he is with his jumper. With Carlton, I didn't see enough from the short video to tell if the defensive rebounds he got were because of the size and athletic advantage he had over his opponents or if he is well schooled in boxing out. No matter what you have to love his aggressiveness though. Luckily longer outlet passes and wider pivots are easily correctable. He's going to help.

 

[Coach J]

Oh well so much for that MAL just asked out of his NLI!