Undersized at the 3, Crowded at the 4

[superjohn]

Jeez I wish we could be more like our 2014 team when Herculean Monster muscle Freshman Amida Brimah, Phil "Charles Atlas" Nolan, and Deandre "Human Growth Hormone" Daniels comprised our 4 and 5 front line rotation and out muscled and Body Slammed the front lines of the biggest teams in the country en route to a title.

I miss that interior strength!

We may be a little lacking at the 5 but as Sphinx pointed out we are loaded at the 4. We basically have the college versions of Barkley, Malone, Webber, and Rodman.

 

[Husky25]

A fair question I forgot to ask, "How many NC's has UConn won playing a small forward shorter than the opponent's point guard (which, given the current rotation, will be the case in at least half our remaining games.)

A fairer question would be to ask what your expectations for UConn are this season? If it is a national title, I think you'll be a wee bit disappointed come April.

 

[Jay-Bone]

I dont see that as a big issue.

Tarin Smith and Vital are 2 of our 3 best defenders. And despite possibly giving up a couple inches to opposing swings, their defensive results would be better than Polley's (have to reserve judgement on Wilson until he sees court time).

Good D overcomes height. Ask the Harrison twins.

A Giffey would have defended Tyler Cook way better than Polley or Smith.

I'm not even a Giffey homer and can see how huge he would be on this team.

 

[August_West]

A Giffey would have defended Tyler Cook way better than Polley or Smith.

I'm not even a Giffey homer and could see how huge he would be on this team.

I am a Giffey homer and of course he wouldve.

Hasheem Thabeet would be huge on this team too.

How about Donyell Marshall?

Al Sharpton?

 

[Jay-Bone]

I am a Giffey homer and of course he wouldve.

Hasheem Thabeet would be huge on this team too.

How about Donyell Marshall?

Al Sharpton?

More like Donny Marshall.

 

[August_West]

More like Donny Marshall.

No way.

 

[Jay-Bone]

No way.

Denham Brown?

Scott Burrell?

Rudy Gay?

How tall and quick is Spartacus? We know he's tenacious.

 

[superjohn]

I am a Giffey homer and of course he wouldve.

Hasheem Thabeet would be huge on this team too.

How about Donyell Marshall?

Al Sharpton?

Arne Duncan down low, Robert Reich to get under the guards defensively.

 

[3rdbass]

I agree. This board keeps saying not to worry as there are no good swings in the American. Well should be interesting to see how we defend Brandon Randolph and Terrence Mann. Iowa totally exposed the four guard line up. Hopefully Sid can step in and defend mobile forwards as Polley isn't quick enough and Tarrin doesn't have enough length.

If Sid is as good a shot blocker as Jalen makes him out to be, that should help what he lacks in strength.

We had no big that could stay in front of Tyler Cook for Iowa. Whaley was hurt and Polley, Yakwe, Cobb all got beat off the dribble when trying to cover him. When we went to the 4 guard lineup is the time we made our push. I'm not sure why fans want to shoehorn in a tradition lineup when we have subpar big talent upfront. We have teams like Villanova, Loyola-Chicago going to the final four last year and Golden State winning with small line-ups(even before Durant got there). So let's just put the best 5 we can on the court and try to win. Remember bigs have to cover our guards too so that is an advantage for us.

 

[Jay-Bone]

We had no big that could stay in front of Tyler Cook for Iowa. Whaley was hurt and Polley, Yakwe, Cobb all got beat off the dribble when trying to cover him. When we went to the 4 guard lineup is the time we made our push. I'm not sure why fans want to shoehorn in a tradition lineup when we have subpar big talent upfront. We have teams like Villanova, Loyola-Chicago going to the final four last year and Golden State winning with small line-ups(even before Durant got there). So let's just put the best 5 we can on the court and try to win. Remember bigs have to cover our guards too so that is an advantage for us.

Tyler Cook looked like he was playing a high school team when we went to the four guard and Tarrin was D'ing him with no secondary help. Our bigs despite being a lot of them are all plodders. Look, I love the 4 guard, but it'd be nice to have something to replace it with to defend big and fast. It remains to be seen, because at least we won't be playing a Cook and Iowa any time soon and with what Sid can bring to the table. Not sure why this is being argued so defiantly, as OP made a valid point, but I guess thats just how he/she and I see it.

 

[Wordbomar]

Come conference play, assuming full health, I see a lineup something like this:

Starters
G- Gilbert
G- JAdams
G- Vital
F- Polley
C- Carlton

Bench
G- Smith (Starters minutes)
F- Wilson (15-20 mins)
C- Cobb (10-15 mins)
G- BAdams (5-10 mins)
F- Mamadou (5-10 mins)
F- Whaley (3-5 mins if needed/DNP)
C- Yakwe DNP
F- Kwint DNP

 

[3rdbass]

Tyler Cook looked like he was playing a high school team when we went to the four guard and Tarrin was D'ing him with no secondary help. Our bigs despite being a lot of them are all plodders. Look, I love the 4 guard, but it'd be nice to have something to replace it with to defend big and fast. It remains to be seen, because at least we won't be playing a Cook and Iowa any time soon. Not sure why this is being argues do defiantly. OP made a valid point.

We have answered this with lacking talent at the bigs. We have to play our best players and they are presently Guards and Wings. If Diarra comes back healthy and plays smart you will see a more traditional lineup but until then I don't think we will do that much.

 

[Jay-Bone]

We have answered this with lacking talent at the bigs. We have to play our best players and they are presently Guards and Wings. If Diarra comes back healthy and plays smart you will see a more traditional lineup but until then I don't think we will do that much.

I'm not sure what you're talking about, we're arguing that we don't have quick wings. You're saying we do. Diarra is not the point. Diarra is more of a Yakwe, Cobb type defensively. Polley is the closest we have to a wing and he's not there yet to guard mobile bigs.

Actually Kwintin is the closest we have in athleticism, but well you know....

 

[MDHuskFan]

This guy makes a good point. Why aren’t we taking minutes from CV, Smith, Jalen & AG so we can give Yakwe & Kwinton more time on the floor as our only healthy “traditional” 4’s

 

[August_West]

I'm not sure what you're talking about, we're arguing that we don't have quick wings. You're saying we do. Diarra is not the point. Diarra is more of a Yakwe, Cobb type defensively. Polley is the closest we have to a wing and he's not there yet to guard mobile bigs.

Actually Kwintin is the closest we have in athleticism, but well you know....

Nah Diarra is pretty athletic. He has the quick twitch muscle response thing happening

 

[Jay-Bone]

This guy makes a good point. Why aren’t we taking minutes from CV, Smith, Jalen & AG so we can give Yakwe & Kwinton more time on the floor as our only healthy “traditional” 4’s

Thats not the point at all. Its about traditional 3's not 4's. Thats how far off you are in your ascertainment. But I'm going to give up now, so don't fret.

 

[cowboysnation]

Come conference play, assuming full health, I see a lineup something like this:

Starters
G- Gilbert
G- JAdams
G- Vital
F- Polley
C- Carlton

Bench
G- Smith (Starters minutes)
F- Wilson (15-20 mins)
C- Cobb (10-15 mins)
G- BAdams (5-10 mins)
F- Mamadou (5-10 mins)
F- Whaley (3-5 mins if needed/DNP)
C- Yakwe DNP
F- Kwint DNP

I see Wilson and BAdams getting more minutes as the season goes on.

I see Polley, Smith, and Vital get a slight decrease in minutes as the season goes on.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Thats not the point at all. Its about traditional 3's not 4's. Thats how far off you are in your ascertainment. But I'm going to give up now, so don't fret.

It’s really a simple concept, if you play traditional 3’s you have to play traditional 4’s then don’t you? Because currently our “traditional 3’s” are playing the 4. Plug them in at 3 and you have to play ppl at the 4 still. You’re identifying a known issue with our roster where there isn’t a solution on the roster this moment...Additionally, playing traditional 3’s takes minutes away from the people I mentioned in the first post.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Sid at the three when we play big and at the four when we play small. The kid is an athletic freak and needs to be on the court to utilize his energy and athleticism. As Vital and Jalen said in the video he’s good at blocking shots and his shot has improved. Him providing speed on the wings when we run will be what we need. It’s also another 5 fouls if it comes to that. Him playing is great for the team

 

[Husky68]

A fairer question would be to ask what your expectations for UConn are this season? If it is a national title, I think you'll be a wee bit disappointed come April.

As will pretty much every team except one.

 

[Husky25]

As will pretty much every team except one.

Not the point. Do you think UConn is even in the discussion?

 

[CTBasketball]

I'm not sure what you're talking about, we're arguing that we don't have quick wings. You're saying we do. Diarra is not the point. Diarra is more of a Yakwe, Cobb type defensively. Polley is the closest we have to a wing and he's not there yet to guard mobile bigs.

Actually Kwintin is the closest we have in athleticism, but well you know....

I feel like Hurley is going to ride the hot hand at the 3-5 the rest of the season. No one’s minutes are safe!

 

[AdamaNation]

Wilson is 6’8” with a handle? Why do we get caught up in 3/4? Our lineup has a million permutations but he can be on the floor with Polley if we are up against a big lineup, if he can rebound. If he can’t hold onto the ball or turns it over the guards are going to play more the way I see it. Hurley will figure out the best way to go, it’s why he gets the big bucks.

Yes. We have a lot of options with lineups now. Big. Small. Fast. Defense. Offense. Three point shooting. Free throws. Zone. Press. I like the unpopularity of an adams -Wilson -Polley -Diarra/Whaley/Cobb -Carlton/Cobb lineup if we need to go big.

 

[Hurleyman216]

You guys are over complicating things here...in college ball over the past 10 years or so there isn’t much difference between the 3 and the 4 positions. The days of having Okafor playing center and Armstrong playing the 4 are long gone. The name of the game is getting as many guys on the floor that can hit a 3 as possible

 

[jibsey]

You guys are over complicating things here...in college ball over the past 10 years or so there isn’t much difference between the 3 and the 4 positions. The days of having Okafor playing center and Armstrong playing the 4 are long gone. The name of the game is getting as many guys on the floor that can hit a 3 as possible

Agree. Rebound and hit a 3. We had an uptick in 3 point shooting but then went cold. I still have concerns over Gilbert, Vital and Jalen’s %’s there because of all the time they have to get on the floor.

 

[bendm]

most championship level teams still play a traditionally sized 4 and 5 together. i'm sure there are many more examples from the past 2 seasons but here are a few from memory:

Last Year
Nova: paschal and spellman
Duke: bagley and carter
Purdue: edwards and haas
Arizona: ristic and ayton
A&M: williams and davis

This Year
Kansas: lawson and azabuike
Kentucky: travis and washington
MSU: ward and goins
Oregon: wooten and bol
Gonzaga: hachimura and tillie (once back from injury)
duke: not included b/c zion is a freak of nature

everyone should root for wilson and diarra to develop enough to take vital and polley's starting spots by the end of the year.

not only would they match up better defensively with the aforementioned teams, but as former top 100 four-star recruits, they SHOULD have higher ceilings than vital and polley.

i hope hurley can bring out the best in them.

 

[intlzncster]

I hear you there are certainly times CV drives me crazy with his shot selection, I'm just kind of indifferent on Polley. Here's to hoping he proves me wrong

You stole my avatar

Ha, I think I edited one for @scdono the day it came out!

Wanted just the Championships and only Hurley in there.

 

[Scrutineer]

Sid is nowhere near 6'8 and he's impossibly skinny.

Saw him up close as he left the floor at halftime of the UMKC game and he looks like he has a 36 inch chest. Was he actually in a weight program for the past year and a half?

 

[intlzncster]

Jeez I wish we could be more like our 2014 team when Herculean Monster muscle Freshman Amida Brimah, Phil "Charles Atlas" Nolan, and Deandre "Human Growth Hormone" Daniels comprised our 4 and 5 front line rotation and out muscled and Body Slammed the front lines of the biggest teams in the country en route to a title.

I miss that interior strength!

Shabazz's don't grow on trees tho

 

[intlzncster]

You guys are over complicating things here...in college ball over the past 10 years or so there isn’t much difference between the 3 and the 4 positions. The days of having Okafor playing center and Armstrong playing the 4 are long gone. The name of the game is getting as many guys on the floor that can hit a 3 as possible

I like the old maximum: put your best 5 on the court and let the opponent adjust.