Uconn 2015-16

[UconnFanDC]

Injuries, coach personal issues and lack of chemistry/cohesiveness doomed this team. I believe that we have a good group to start the season. We could use a power rebounder to help ease that area. We have had a down year before. It hurts when its directly off of a Championship though.

I am not blaming the conference for lack there off. When I look at VCU, Memphis in Con USA, Gonzaga, Wichita State, etc.. They have survived because of scheduling. Ollie has done that. We hung with Duke and were plays away from Texas, Yale, Temple, Memphis and others from having 24 wins under our belt. Yes all know this to be the case.

I believe that Jalen, Hamilton, Purvis and the cast can focus as a team putting Ryan's team behind them and having a new identity. And yes a freshman can lead a team to the promise land. Its been done many times. Lets just hopw egos are not in the way and that Ollie gives his best coaching job. Oh and that we get a rebounding machine from the big men left!

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

We desperately need to add players to this roster for us not to avoid another NIT appearance. Not sure the AAC will be a 3 bid league and Tulsa/Bearcats will be the top 2 teams entering the season barring some nice additions to our roster. My expectations are very high for Adams but to project him as a true Alpha his Frosh year may be a bit overly optimistic considering our returning roster. NC State right now is a team with great chemistry.

 

[tzznandrew]

We desperately need to add players to this roster for us not to avoid another NIT appearance. Not sure the AAC will be a 3 bid league and Tulsa/Bearcats will be the top 2 teams entering the season barring some nice additions to our roster. My expectations are very high for Adams but to project him as a true Alpha his Frosh year may be a bit overly optimistic considering our returning roster. NC State right now is a team with great chemistry.

They should be better than a 3-bid league next year.

Tulsa and Cincy bring back pretty much everyone.

SMU loses some Moriera, but brings back most of its key players. I'd say that gets 3 teams right there.

Memphis also brings back almost all its players, so they should be better next year.

Temple loses Cummings and Morgan, so they may take a step back. But they aren't going to go back to 2014 Temple, I don't think.

Houston and ECU bring back pretty much their whole teams. They weren't good, but if they just beat the scrubs on their schedule their RPI will be fine.

I think the league has a "bounce-back" year of sorts, with Cincy, Tulsa, UConn, and SMU spending a good portion of the season in the Top 25, and maybe even Memphis (if they get a PG). Additionally, I think Sampson will have Houston near the RPI Top 100.

 

[pnow15]

What is all of this doom about? For all intents and purposes, we made the NCAA Tournament this year and we got to play the first game before a packed house in our own gym. We lost because our best player was knocked dizzy with 18:31 to go in the first period.
And the refs let it pass. Ollie did not call time out and demand a replay and insist that Mareira be removed from the game.
In which case we still might have won with a wounded Boat.

 

[ASweet3781]

So all these AAC teams that beat us this year bring back the majority of their teams? Things will not get better with roster improvement. There needs to be valuable roster addition. Help is needed.

 

[tzznandrew]

So all these AAC teams that beat us this year bring back the majority of their teams? Things will not get better with roster improvement. There needs to be valuable roster addition. Help is needed.

Aside from Boat, our next three best players were a freshmen, and two sophomores who had offseason surgery--one of which had to take the whole year previous off.

Hamilton, Adams, and Purvis will be the most talented trio in the league. By far.

If any of our bigs can just hold their own on the glass and provide a modicum of offense, we'll be at the top of the league with Cincy.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

They should be better than a 3-bid league next year.

Tulsa and Cincy bring back pretty much everyone.

SMU loses some Moriera, but brings back most of its key players. I'd say that gets 3 teams right there.

Memphis also brings back almost all its players, so they should be better next year.

Temple loses Cummings and Morgan, so they may take a step back. But they aren't going to go back to 2014 Temple, I don't think.

Houston and ECU bring back pretty much their whole teams. They weren't good, but if they just beat the scrubs on their schedule their RPI will be fine.

I think the league has a "bounce-back" year of sorts, with Cincy, Tulsa, UConn, and SMU spending a good portion of the season in the Top 25, and maybe even Memphis (if they get a PG). Additionally, I think Sampson will have Houston near the RPI Top 100.

I don't think the committee will be to generous with invitations. SMU loses Cunningham and Kennedy also. So that front court is gone. Memphis has talent. They are the quintessential under achievers though when the expectations are higher. Coaching is sub par and that is saying it nicely. This is a concerning transition post Boat despite the anticipated progression of certain players. Unless Adams is given the reins to become a Melo Trimble type player his freshman year I am concerned. Talent is good at Maryland but guys like Wells evolved into better team players. Not sure we have that on our UConn roster. Love DHam though.

 

[ASweet3781]

Aside from Boat, our next three best players were a freshmen, and two sophomores who had offseason surgery--one of which had to take the whole year previous off.

Hamilton, Adams, and Purvis will be the most talented trio in the league. By far.

If any of our bigs can just hold their own on the glass and provide a modicum of offense, we'll be at the top of the league with Cincy.

Well if we are going to have the most talented trio by far our offense better look a hell of a lot better than it did this year.

Big if there on our bigs no? None of them held their own this year. Some have been here 3 years. Why would they start next year? Get another body that can help. Stop with the small razor thin margin of error because your playing 3 on 5.

 

[Matrim55]

I don't think the committee will be to generous with invitations. SMU loses Cunningham and Kennedy also.

Kennedy is back - he's a senior. And let's all remember that the Pac12 was a 2-bid league just a couple of years ago.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Kennedy is back - he's a senior. And let's all remember that the Pac12 was a 2-bid league just a couple of years ago.

Yep you guys are right. He had a RS. So that does give hope for 3 bids.

 

[Matrim55]

Yep you guys are right. He had a RS. So that does give hope for 3 bids.

If everybody does what they should OOC in November and December, this could/should be a 4- or 5-bid league. The talent is there.

 

[tzznandrew]

I don't think the committee will be to generous with invitations. SMU loses Cunningham and Kennedy also. So that front court is gone. Memphis has talent. They are the quintessential under achievers though when the expectations are higher. Coaching is sub par and that is saying it nicely. This is a concerning transition post Boat despite the anticipated progression of certain players. Unless Adams is given the reins to become a Melo Trimble type player his freshman year I am concerned. Talent is good at Maryland but guys like Wells evolved into better team players. Not sure we have that on our UConn roster. Love DHam though.

Win games. That's it. If our conference didn't lose games to the likes of Florida Atlantic (2x!!) or South Carolina State we'd have a much better conference RPI.

With some of the worst offenders bringing back their full teams, I feel like our conference RPI will go up. With some of our best teams bringing their players back, I think we can beat some marquee OOC teams.

It's pretty simple.

As for UConn: Hamilton, Purvis, and Adams are going to be dynamite, and the offense is going to flow better, especially by the end of the year. Mark my words.

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm going to have a whole thread on this later...but this is the horror show this year:

I'll try to blow it up when I make the full post, but that was the bottom 5 teams OOC results and RPIs. And if they just didn't lose non-P5 sub-100 teams (not that hard) all of their RPIs would be much higher--higher even than they are listed there, every individual RPI improvement helps everyone else in the league.

(Edit: not sure why the attachment isn't larger, since it is bigger on my computer.)

 

[JimHurley]

2015-16 team will be good. Purvis, Hamilton, and Adams are going to be unstoppable.

 

[Hi-Low]

Win Battle 4 Atlantis.
No last-second 3's to lose OOC games that kill us at end of year....10-2 minimum OOC.
Have a F.U. attitude during AAC season....no BS just win/tie the league title.
Enter the NCAA tourney as a 4-5 seed (ceiling for AAC but who cares)
Get to the 2nd weekend and who knows....

I like Purvis & Hamilton a lot in their 2nd UConn years...Adams hopefully gives us a dynamic playmaker. Brimah, Facey, Nolan, Lubin & Enoch give us good size....just need 1 of them to get 8-9 boards a game....no more D-Ham leading us in rebounds please. Calhoun, Samuel & Cassel will give us ok backcourt depth....but 1 more ball handler from JUCO or HS please.

Personally pretty excited, too bad have to wait 8 months....hit the weights and practice free-throws guys....40 game season coming soon!

 

[SixRings]

So all these AAC teams that beat us this year bring back the majority of their teams? Things will not get better with roster improvement. There needs to be valuable roster addition. Help is needed.

I hear you but don't necessarily agree. Last years team was not the most talented and won it all. We will have plenty of talent but can it come together and win those close games? Can they find the role players and play unselfish as a team?

 

[polycom]

Next years team will be about chemistry and not talent.

 

[Lefty2one]

Adams is the huge wildcard. I'll admit it's ridiculous to say our season will hinge largely on a freshman PG but that's how I feel. Our returning guards are a weakness outside of Purvis we desperately need a legit PG on the roster. If Adams can make the whole team go and make others around him better then it should be a much more enjoyable season than 14-15.

This of course is assuming the doom report from last week doesn't turn out to be real and that we don't lose any of our key pieces this summer.

 

[UconnFanDC]

W

What is all of this doom about? For all intents and purposes, we made the NCAA Tournament this year and we got to play the first game before a packed house in our own gym. We lost because our best player was knocked dizzy with 18:31 to go in the first period.
And the refs let it pass. Ollie did not call time out and demand a replay and insist that Mareira be removed from the game.
In which case we still might have won with a wounded Boat.

What are you talking about? And we made NIT. Far from NCAAs

 

[jibsey]

I have confidence in KO that he saw what the deficiencies were and will go out and address it in recruiting, he's and his staff are not blind.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Win games. That's it. If our conference didn't lose games to the likes of Florida Atlantic (2x!!) or South Carolina State we'd have a much better conference RPI.

With some of the worst offenders bringing back their full teams, I feel like our conference RPI will go up. With some of our best teams bringing their players back, I think we can beat some marquee OOC teams.

It's pretty simple.

As for UConn: Hamilton, Purvis, and Adams are going to be dynamite, and the offense is going to flow better, especially by the end of the year. Mark my words.

Appreciate the optimism and quality post. I always like reading numbers. Where is the leadership going to come from next year? Our NIT performance without Boat didn't give be much hope. I understand the sample is small and JA is not here yet but...what are your thoughts? You need good leadership to be a special team.

 

[Sportsman5]

Aside from Boat, our next three best players were a freshmen, and two sophomores who had offseason surgery--one of which had to take the whole year previous off.

Hamilton, Adams, and Purvis will be the most talented trio in the league. By far.

If any of our bigs can just hold their own on the glass and provide a modicum of offense, we'll be at the top of the league with Cincy.

great points

 

[whaler11]

Who gives a how many bids the AAC gets. Just as long as UConn gets one.

 

[ASweet3781]

I hear you but don't necessarily agree. Last years team was not the most talented and won it all. We will have plenty of talent but can it come together and win those close games? Can they find the role players and play unselfish as a team?

I don't get how a team that finishes in 6th place in the AAC and has Brimah/Nolan starting has "plenty" of talent. I just didn't see it this year and that was reinforced by watching some of these teams in the NCAA's.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Rodney is the key to the season, assuming that Jalen will be pretty damn good (although with freshman ups and downs) over the course of his first year. I expect Daniel to play with more focus and less mistakes (if not, we are in some trouble). But Rodney has to become a lot more consistent and less mistake prone for the team to be a lot better. His emotions were all over the place during games and we need him to be more steady, more of a leader by example.