Vital is becoming Vital

[FASTEDDY]

Christian Vital is becoming Vital to our success this year.

CV has played real big, hit some key shots and been clutch at the free throw line.

The extra court time he has received this year due to the injuries that we have had, has helped his growth tremendously and I see him as a Vital part of our 4 headed guard rotation next year.

 

[CL82]

Christian Vital is becoming Vital to our success this year.

CV has played real big, hit some key shots and been clutch at the free throw line.

The extra court time he has received this year due to the injuries that we have had, has helped his growth tremendously and I see him as a Vital part of our 4 headed guard rotation next year.

I see him in Rashad Anderson/John Gywnn like role, but less limited to the three.

 

[uchusky32]

He is knocking down 3s playing good D and driving hard to the rim. I like his game. He will be hard to keep off the floor next year. He will go into next year with so much confidence.

 

[Matrim55]

I feel stupid for ever comparing him to Austrie. How about a slightly less athletic/better ball-handling Albert?

 

[Matt1010]

His conference stats say it all...

 

[superjohn]

I feel stupid for ever comparing him to Austrie. How about a slightly less athletic/better ball-handling Albert?

Albert more of a pure shooter but Vital will become the better all-around player, there seems to be a rare toughness/leadership quality about him.

 

[Chuck]

He's a hard one to compare. I was thinking less athletic Dyson, but I don't think that's it. He's much better off the dribble than Albie, but Albie was a much better shooter. What about Monquencio Hardnett? Personality wise, he reminds me most of Kemba. I'm not saying he'll ever be a Junior-year Kemba, but he seems to have that joy for the game.

What I have decided though is he's the kind of guy that I hate on other teams. Happy to have him. JC never liked to hold a scholarship and a lot of our late signings failed. Vital has been a great addition.

 

[selles]

Albert more of a pure shooter but Vital will become the better all-around player, there seems to be a rare toughness/leadership quality about him.

Agree with that. Ultimately, could see his role being similar to the upperclassman version of Ricky Moore. Maybe he's not going to wow you offensively, but he does so many different things and is so tough that you just don't want him off the court.

 

[Matrim55]

Agree with that. Ultimately, could see his role being similar to the upperclassman version of Ricky Moore. Maybe he's not going to wow you offensively, but he does so many different things and is so tough that you just don't want him off the court.

I bet he wows us with his shooting, actually. Whatever you guys want to put for his 3-point % over the next 3 years, I'll take the over.

Dude has a high, quick release, doesn't take bad shots and will be playing his whole UConn career off of guys who know how to run the offense (Jalen & Alterique). Pretty good combo!

 

[selles]

I bet he wows us with his shooting, actually. Whatever you guys want to put for his 3-point % over the next 3 years, I'll take the over.

Dude has a high, quick release, doesn't take bad shots and will be playing his whole UConn career off of guys who know how to run the offense (Jalen & Alterique). Pretty good combo!

Well I did say "maybe"! All I really know is I love watching the kid play.

 

[Fishy]

He does take bad shots. It's part of being a freshman, but he definitely takes some he should pass on.

He's the recruiting steal of the Ollie era. He'll be here for four years and opposing fans will feel like he's been here for ten before he leaves.

He's a solid second or third ball-handler on the court. He'll be an excellent defender and he's a shooter which will be important when we're running an Alterique/MAL backcourt in a few years.

Most important - he's smart and he's Kemba-level competitive. No worries about having him on the court at the end of the game...as we saw last night.

I'd say he's like a Sterling Gibbs that we'll have for four years.

 

[husky429]

He's the kind of player opponents fans will hate for years.

Positives:
- Good 3 point shot (his release will make it hard to get off the dribble I think. Seems a little far behind his head and straight-armed. But that's much easier to work with than a chest shot a la Omar Calhoun)
- Solid defender. Off ball = terrific as has been pointed out. His strip yesterday in the lane yesterday was glorious help defense. 1:1 he could work on, as he's not as quick laterally as Rodney. Let's get him in the gym for the summer and re-evaluate next year.
- Seems to play within the flow of the offense more than some other players. Obviously takes some bad shots, but overall his sense is good for a freshman.
- Clutch. 'Nough said at this point. He's make free throws, threes, steals. Done it all at this point.
- Secondary ballhandling is solid. Next step will be working to become that primary man.
- BBIQ seems solid.

Negatives:
- Finishing at the rim! He really, really needs to work on this.
- 1:1 d is just okay
- Freshman. They all have that ability to just blow it sometimes. But we have seniors like that too!

 

[pj]

You guys are all underselling Vital. He's far more rounded as a player than Albert Mouring, and even as a shooter, Vital may be as good. Look at stats: Vital is shooting 36.9% on 3s for the season, and improving rapidly: in the last 6 games, 19-36 for 52.8%. Mouring shot a career 41.2% but that was 10.0% as a frosh and 37.2% as a soph, it was only as an upperclassman that he shot over 40%. Vital has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.5, Mouring's TOs aren't available online but by memory I'll guarantee his A:TO ratio was worse. Vital as a frosh has more rebounds, steals, and assists per game than Mouring over his career.

Monquencio Hardnett? Come on, the guy was out of control and a turnover machine. His stats are nowhere near Vital's.

He's a solid all-around guard. We've had a lot of players at UConn with great strengths and great weaknesses. Vital is one of those all-around good players. If you want a comparable, Fishy's Sterling Gibbs is good. How about Russ Smith of Louisville? Russ Smith College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

 

[RichZ]

He's a hard one to compare. I was thinking less athletic Dyson, but I don't think that's it. He's much better off the dribble than Albie, but Albie was a much better shooter. What about Monquencio Hardnett? Personality wise, he reminds me most of Kemba. I'm not saying he'll ever be a Junior-year Kemba, but he seems to have that joy for the game.

What I have decided though is he's the kind of guy that I hate on other teams. Happy to have him. JC never liked to hold a scholarship and a lot of our late signings failed. Vital has been a great addition.

His game seems so much about effort, confidence and will, that I find it easier to compare him based on that than on skills or position. His mannerisms and on court demeanor remind me more of KFree than anyone else.

 

[Tenspro2002]

He's definitely a rich man's Craig Austrie.

Slightly better shooter, more athletic, more aggressive, but he has the same steadiness and basketball IQ.

Excellent 4 year player to have as a 6th man or 3rd guard in a 3-guard lineup.

Or backcourt depth will be ridiculous next year with Adams/Gilbert/Vital/MAL at the 1/2, and I bet at least one of those guys gets significant minutes at the 3 when we go small.

 

[superjohn]

He's that 4 year guy you see at a mid-major or even Wichita State who is a beast in the tourny and you wonder why that guy didn't end up in a Power 5 conference. Always wanted us to have a guy like that and it seems we may have found him.

 

[JMick]

I think/hope 10 years from now we'll be comparing new guys to Vital. He is a unique player.

 

[Fishy]

Mouring only took ten threes as a freshman - remember, he was a mid-season addition to a team that was going to win a national championship in his sophomore season. Vital would not have cracked that lineup either.

Don't like the Austrie comparison - Vital is in a higher orbit.

 

[Kembacity]

Agree with a lot of the points I'm seeing here, kid is fantastic and such a surprise. Let's look at it for what it is, this year's team at this point is last year's team minus Hamilton/Gibbs/Shonn, and with the only new contributors being Vital/Jackson/Durham who barely plays. None of those guys were expected to come in and be dominant talents making pro scouts drool. Looking at that base understanding, the basketball they've played in stretches lately is pretty damned impressive.

I truly cannot wait to see upperclassmen Christian Vital. Early on I could tell he'd be a kid I liked because he put the effort out there, he seems like the type who wants to absorb every Ollie-ism he can and knows what it means to put that jersey on and give every ounce of effort he has. It's been a rough season to be a fan, but man I have such love for just about every name on that roster, they all make their mistakes but they've all given me a number of things to scream emphatically about, and that's all I can ask of my team really

 

[Mano]

Love the effort he shows. Seemed like he was all over the court at times last night. He was wreaking havoc on D and at times trying to do too much on O. Settled in nicely in the latter parts of the game though. I love, love, love that he almost always seems to have his feet set and ready to shoot.

 

[husky429]

Vital is going to allow us to miss on some shoot-for-the-moon type guards if we have to, too. Next years HamD very well may land in our pockets, but if he doesn't we don't need to worry because we'll have a steady 8/3/3 (at least) type guy in the back court.

 

[LStudfellow]

Comparing him to Craig Austrie is a significant underrating of Christian Vital. PJ, Fishy and others of you saying he is well beyond that are right. Go look at Craig Austrie's stats: Craig Austrie College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Craig was not close to Christian. Period. Do not use the recruiting service rankings as any support, either. Just because they were close in their composite rankings for their respective years, we can all see with our own eyes that Christian Vital is a significantly better player than Craig Austrie ever was at this level.

Christian Vital also illustrates once again that other than the top 10 to 20 recruits every year, we should all give much more weight to who we beat out for a recruit than what his ranking is in the recruiting rating services. When Rick Pitino and his staff are actively recruiting a player you can be pretty sure that guy is at least a "4-star" recruit, no matter what his ranking in the composite is. Also involved as you may recall were Syracuse, Florida, Miami (Fla.) and our recent recruiting foils Maryland. No way Christian Vital was not one of the best 100 players coming into college this year with that group of schools vying for his services in addition to us.

We definitely have found an excellent player in Christian Vital... a player who is significantly better than the recruiting rating services thought, but not Kevin Ollie, or Rick Pitino. And if he is a guy who works at his game as hard as he plays - watch out for the next 3+ years!

 

[PAHusky]

He's accelerated-learning-curve Giffey

 

[imno1]

His game is bit like Billy Hoyle

 

[CTBasketball]

I hate comparisons, but since peer pressure is so popular here I'll go with Scotty Reynolds.

Dare I say a level-headed Victor Paige?