Tyler Polley | The Boneyard

Tyler Polley

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Colin G

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Is Tyler Polley Going to be the next guy who gets phased out of the program due to improvement, same as guys like sidney wilson, carlton, Brendan Adams etc? I'm not sure where he gets minutes unless he's ON FIRE from the jump or if we're down big in games and need an offensive spark, Hawk seems like he's a shooter but a more well-rounded player plus Polley isn't the greatest defender. He was helpful playing stretch 4 and spacing the floor, however with a frontcourt rotation looking like akok, whaley and sanogo with samson playing minutes here and there and then Hawk coming on, tyrese martin there and a hopeful breakout year from AJAX it looks as if Polley is the odd man out more than anyone else. Only Thing though is that he helps with arguably our biggest weakness next year: Shooting the 3.

I Like tyler polley but I can't complain when a guy that used to be a consistent starter is going to have a hard time finding the floor, says a ton about our recruiting over the past few years.

** Just some speculation **
 
Colin G said:
Is Tyler Polley Going to be the next guy who gets phased out of the program due to improvement, same as guys like sidney wilson, carlton, Brendan Adams etc? I'm not sure where he gets minutes unless he's ON FIRE from the jump or if we're down big in games and need an offensive spark, Hawk seems like he's a shooter but a more well-rounded player plus Polley isn't the greatest defender. He was helpful playing stretch 4 and spacing the floor, however with a frontcourt rotation looking like akok, whaley and sanogo with samson playing minutes here and there and then Hawk coming on, tyrese martin there and a hopeful breakout year from AJAX it looks as if Polley is the odd man out more than anyone else. Only Thing though is that he helps with arguably our biggest weakness next year: Shooting the 3.

I Like tyler polley but I can't complain when a guy that used to be a consistent starter is going to have a hard time finding the floor, says a ton about our recruiting over the past few years.

** Just some speculation **
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It's his 5th year, how would he be phased out of the program? And why would we have asked him to take a 5th year and come back? I'm confused.
 
If Polley gets passed by better talent then that's a good thing for the team's success. Plus this is his last season no matter what happens so he's not leaving to go play somewhere else like the 3 guys you mentioned. He'll leave at the end of the season as a Husky who "bleeds blue" (his words when he announced he was coming back).
 
Colin G said:
Is Tyler Polley Going to be the next guy who gets phased out of the program due to improvement, same as guys like sidney wilson, carlton, Brendan Adams etc? I'm not sure where he gets minutes unless he's ON FIRE from the jump or if we're down big in games and need an offensive spark, Hawk seems like he's a shooter but a more well-rounded player plus Polley isn't the greatest defender. He was helpful playing stretch 4 and spacing the floor, however with a frontcourt rotation looking like akok, whaley and sanogo with samson playing minutes here and there and then Hawk coming on, tyrese martin there and a hopeful breakout year from AJAX it looks as if Polley is the odd man out more than anyone else. Only Thing though is that he helps with arguably our biggest weakness next year: Shooting the 3.

I Like tyler polley but I can't complain when a guy that used to be a consistent starter is going to have a hard time finding the floor, says a ton about our recruiting over the past few years.

** Just some speculation **
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He's a senior so no. He'll play his spot minutes this year because like you said he's the best player to fill the most glaring hole (3 point shooting) and then he'll graduate and move on. He played around 20 minutes a game when we were at full strength last year so that may decrease to 10-15 though just because the team is so deep
 
There will be some games where he will be invisible and some games where his floor spacing will come up big for some late game shots.

He's definitely on the shortlist of players I'd want on the court down two with a minute remaining.

He'll have a role that's needed on every championship team: the guy who can hit an outside shot when it matters most.
 
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Being unable to find minutes for the conference reining 6th man of the year is a good problem to have. Deep deep team we’ll be putting on the court. These kids will be competing their butts off for minutes like the Calhoun teams were.
 
Last season he was coming back from an ACL tear and did not get a full preseason to prepare. We did not see the most complete version of the player he can be, as indicated by some of the flashes his junior year before the injury.

I don't think he would have made the choice to come back after consulting with the coaching staff if there weren't realistic pathways for him to get some meaningful minutes this season.

I do agree he may see less time on the floor due to the increased depth of our talent pool. He strikes me as the kind of teammate that'll be OK with that, though, if the team is doing well. Winning is fun and Tyler deserves to do more of it given everything he has gone through and given to this program.
 
I'm in agreement with the OP. Polley is a one-trick pony and doesn't really do much besides shoot 3s, which makes us love him when he goes 5-7 and hate him when he goes 1-7. He doesn't rebound well, doesn't really share the ball well, and doesn't play great defense. That's largely due to what his role has been, as dictated by the style of play, over the past few seasons. His best, albeit intangible, impact is that he opens up the floor and forces defenses to cover him or risk death-by-three-pointer. Not sure if there will be as many minutes for that kind of contribution, or lack thereof, on our deepest team in a decade.

That said, his Marquette heroics are an all-time UConn performance. He singlehandedly set us off in the right direction in Big East play when it could've easily gone awry.
 
Last year he played about half of available minutes. I think he ends up around 40% this year unless we suffer significant injuries.

Still a part of the team. Still relevant, just slightly less so.
 
There are a lot of players who have not yet achieved playing college basketball what Polley has who folks are counting on to be better than him. Maybe they will all surpass him. But maybe, also, they will not. And given that TP was coming off a major knee injury, it would not be surprising to see him make a substantial improvement this year from last year.

We will see what happens. But I'll make two points. A guy his heights who shoots what he does from the line will find himself on the floor in a lot of games where we're trying to protect leads. And if both he and Hurley didn't think he had a realistic shot to be in the rotation next year, he wouldn't have come back.
 
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The only way TP will be compensated with meaningful minutes if he decides that hitting the boards and playing defense with 100% effort is in his game time MO. He was able to claim some minutes due to injuries and lack of bench strength (which appears to have been addressed). Is he a meaningful member of the squad? Without a doubt but this year its really up to him to demand those minutes.
TP is a true Husky - that can't be argued
 
If TP can get open and or to his spots.. And his teammates are getting him the ball in his spots. He'll be fine.

He hasn't shown he can consistently create space off the dribble. So far.
 
and, oh, check this out from our last, and biggest game.
2 guys played 20 minutes. one took 5 shots, 6 points, with zero boards, zero assists, zero steals, zero blocks, and zero ft's. the other took 6 shots, 12 points, with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 3 of 4 from the stripe.
it's called 'answering the bell.'
and don't come at me if tp puts up double digits in an early season game against st winnie of pooh - who cares? garry and hurley would dominate in that one too. hey coach! forget oldendays, which were decidedly not golden, and play the new guys to see what they got.
and, of course, jmoney. see 'answering the bell' comment, cuz, that's what actually happened, not some fig newton of someone's imagination.
 
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Colin G said:
** Just some speculative agitation **
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FIFY

I recognize in you a tendency to approach me any of your posts from a certain angle, enough so that you once took the effort to say that, differently spelling aside, you are not Collin Gillespie.

I like that I see much team spirit & little infighting among the Replies. Instead, there is a balance of appreciation, hopefulness, reasonable questions, and a more informed sense of the reality surrounding a 5th year player choosing to return.

I additionally note that the only Reply that has thus far endorsed your OP, comes from someone who posts even less frequently than you do. And even that post concludes, after a catalog of past deficiencies, as follows...
PlayItLeo said:
That said, his Marquette heroics are an all-time UConn performance. He singlehandedly set us off in the right direction in Big East play when it could've easily gone awry.
Expand ...

This is the time of year for the fan base to most strongly root for improvement from everyone who has played in prior years, the delight of well-added recruits, a cornucopia of pleasant surprises, a healthy & uninjured roster, a matured coaching staff, and a meshing of personalities that results in a terrific season for fans who will watch in-person or from a distance, live or time-shifted, and either casually or, well, you know...

Go Tyler!
Go Huskies!

Oh look, even an "uninterested and unconcerned" comment has arrived with "hope" before I could hit "Post reply."
NP. We can use that "thing with feathers" if we're gonna fly high.
 
Colin G said:
Is Tyler Polley Going to be the next guy who gets phased out of the program due to improvement, same as guys like sidney wilson, carlton, Brendan Adams etc? I'm not sure where he gets minutes unless he's ON FIRE from the jump or if we're down big in games and need an offensive spark, Hawk seems like he's a shooter but a more well-rounded player plus Polley isn't the greatest defender. He was helpful playing stretch 4 and spacing the floor, however with a frontcourt rotation looking like akok, whaley and sanogo with samson playing minutes here and there and then Hawk coming on, tyrese martin there and a hopeful breakout year from AJAX it looks as if Polley is the odd man out more than anyone else. Only Thing though is that he helps with arguably our biggest weakness next year: Shooting the 3.

I Like tyler polley but I can't complain when a guy that used to be a consistent starter is going to have a hard time finding the floor, says a ton about our recruiting over the past few years.

** Just some speculation **
Expand ...
I actually think Polley is one of our more easy situations. You put him in let him take a couple open 3s, if he hits he gets minutes if he dont he rides the pine. He is horrendous defensively, doesnt rebound or do much other than shoot. If he cant do that there is no need to have him on the court.
 
With all the upward hype on Cole, Martin, Jackson and the freshman TP is the "he's still here?" guy. Many keep harping on "plays no defense, no rebounds, can't pass"; I don't see it or at least not as big a negative vs. other player's shortcomings.
Cole get abused by athletic and or post up guards. Martin can't shoot worth a lick and gets outrebounded by taller guys who then get putbacks. Jackson is a bad on ball defender and super/duperly bad shooter.
Bill Bradley didn't get a lot of rebounds for the Knicks, he boxed out and was always guarding the opponents "shooter wing" 20 feet from the basket. On offense his job was to space the floor 20 feet from the basket and get back on defense. That's TP role.
I don't see the big weakness in TP's defensive game, he isn't a Whaley but then his guy usually isn't a Sanogo or Jackson clone on other team. Just get in the way at 6'9".
I'm expecting TP to be important contributor. Hurley needs to design schemes and movement that gets him some space/shots on offense, TP is big and agile enough to be a problem for many opponents on offense (assuming of course that he makes some shots).
 
Husky68 said:
With all the upward hype on Cole, Martin, Jackson and the freshman TP is the "he's still here?" guy. Many keep harping on "plays no defense, no rebounds, can't pass"; I don't see it or at least not as big a negative vs. other player's shortcomings.
Cole get abused by athletic and or post up guards. Martin can't shoot worth a lick and gets outrebounded by taller guys who then get putbacks. Jackson is a bad on ball defender and super/duperly bad shooter.
Bill Bradley didn't get a lot of rebounds for the Knicks, he boxed out and was always guarding the opponents "shooter wing" 20 feet from the basket. On offense his job was to space the floor 20 feet from the basket and get back on defense. That's TP role.
I don't see the big weakness in TP's defensive game, he isn't a Whaley but then his guy usually isn't a Sanogo or Jackson clone on other team. Just get in the way at 6'9".
I'm expecting TP to be important contributor. Hurley needs to design schemes and movement that gets him some space/shots on offense, TP is big and agile enough to be a problem for many opponents on offense (assuming of course that he makes some shots).
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Martin was the best rebounder on the team and Cole held his own defensively, Gillespie was the only player I remember posting him up for easy scores, RJ was also 10th in the Big East in steals. You don't have to make up stuff about other players to try and elevate another player.
 
ClifSpliffy said:
mr lifetime 6.5 ppg, less than .5 steals, blocks, or assists per game, and with 2 boards per? count me as uninterested and unconcerned, with only hope that he does way better this season. yup, that's all i got, hope, and not much else. what u got? certainly not data, that's for sure.
and, please don't include jarlton in ur list of folks 'programmed out.' it only took aboot 5 minutes for a final four team to offer him a spot.
a final four team.
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I understand what you are saying completely. But right before Polley got hurt something got into him and he was driving to the hole and rebounding well. He had 19 and 11 the game before he got hurt if I recall correctly. If THAT guy returns, he will have to be on the floor.
 
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One of my biggest Polley gripes last year had little to do with Tyler himself. The guy can’t create his own shot and he sometimes can’t find ways to create space. All about the catch and shoot. His teammates and coaches must know that as well. So if you go back and rewatch many of last season’s games, it’s inexplicable how his teammates fed him piss-poor passes or were a half second late in finding him at the moment he was open. Guards need to do a better job on both of those fronts.
 
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Huskybass said:
I understand what you are saying completely. But right before Polley got hurt something got into him and he was driving to the hole and rebounding well. He had 19 and 11 the game before he got hurt if I recall correctly. If THAT guy returns, he will have to be on the floor.
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Just a reminder he did this for one (1) game against TULANE. Polley needs to focus on being a knock down shooter and thrive in that role. He will get his minutes and be successful if he does that.
 
He has 3 games with over 5 rebounds (total including offensive) in 4 years and 102 career games as a 6'9" player. Exactly 1 a year over the last 3 years.

Martin as a 6'6" player had 18 such games just last year in 22 games.
 
Psolo12 said:
Just a reminder he did this for one (1) game against TULANE. Polley needs to focus on being a knock down shooter and thrive in that role. He will get his minutes and be successful if he does that.
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My point is that I think he is certainly capable of being less one dimensional if fully healthy. If he can rebound a bit and take it to the hole, he will be considerably more valuable. At his size, grabbing 4 or 5 rebounds a game should be the minimum expectation.
 
TP will play a lot more three than four. Last year, he did show some good 'drive for the layup' instincts, as long as he started close enough for it to be a one dribble drive. The second bounce gets him in trouble. As far as his 3 point shooting goes, his skill is mostly limited to catch and shoot. Stop and pop only works for him on the break. That being said, teammates have to pass him the ball so it reaches him the instant he breaks open, and he has to be setting his feet for the shot before the ball ever arrives. If he hesitates on the shot and loses the opening, he's got to think pass before bouncing it.
 
Tyler was picking up his game before his serious injury. The problem is he still wasn't consistent with his shooting. If he's shooting well I want to see him playing and I'd like us to find out early in each half whether or not he's shooting well by getting him the ball. That's what will open up the court for the rest of the team. We need him and you don't bring back a 5th year senior to phase them out. But he needs to have that confidence and focus every game.
 
auror said:
He has 3 games with over 5 rebounds (total including offensive) in 4 years and 102 career games as a 6'9" player. Exactly 1 a year over the last 3 years.

Martin as a 6'6" player had 18 such games just last year in 22 games.
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mr martin is an 11/7 machine. inform yurself, gentle readers, by looking at his stats since forever -11/7. pretty much any season of his, not just last year, 11/7.
make the big shot? make the big play? wreck the game in a good way?
mebbe yes, mebbe no, but always 11/7.
seven boards a game in cbb is a big deal, and 11 points is pretty good too.
11/7. count on it. except for our last game, when he grabbed 11. it was a big game. at least he brought half of his stuff that we count on. half of a loaf is way better than no loaf. on point cuz this thread is aboot a loafer.
 
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