Way too early UConn 2018-2029 poll.

[Stainmaster]

Also expect myself, freescooter, and Paesano to talk about Ollie all season long.

Couldn't agree with you more.

 

[JMick]

How did so many people forget that fan expectations dictated team performance? This is disconcerting.

August said we'd win 20 games last year. I told him we'd win 15. If you want fast food advice he's great. Otherwise I'd lay off his predictions

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Let’s take one year at a time.
These are the givens.
(Let’s accept the fact that KO was M.I. A.. or for whatever personal reasons was going through the motions and his coaches were all yes men going along for the ride as a given and that staff has been replaced by a hard working experienced group)
2018-19 .
With only the loss of Larrier , who because of injury and style never seemed to be the right complement to our other players.
I expected a 20 +win season just based on personal without a coaching change.
Why.
A guard duo of Jaylen Adams , Christian Vital who are playing their third season together.
The addition of the A10 sixth man of the year plus Adams II and Gilbert Give us not only one of ,if not the best back courts in the AAC but if Hurley sorts them out in the entire country.
With UConn that’s always the cornerstone of success.
The rest of the team last year was a mess but we saw some potential as the year went on. Finding the right combination was a huge problem with 8 first year players .
Emerging from that mess we saw what could be blended in Time into a formible unit
Carlton emeges as one of the better offensive bigs whose lack of experience on D prevented him from further development by increased playing time.
Polley in a similar fashion emerged as that potential third option whether it be at the 3 or the stretch 4. (Think DD .) Wilson replaces the atletism of TL And I suspect by us backing away from Mathews , Hurley believes he can shoot well enough to play the 3 or 4 .
Or we will see more three guard than I like.
Whaley who to this point has been an offensive liability if he developed a shot has excellent defensive potential.
Diarra is a versatile guy who can give you back up minutes at the 4 or 5 and like Whaley
his shooting will determine his minutes.
Williams and Cobb frankly are redundant especially the latter with the addition of the St John’s guy. The post grad is intriguing because unless he is injured he has the capibility of much greater contribution than last years numbers indicate especially as a shot blocker.
Shooting is key . Frankly it was KO ‘s preoccupation with what turned out to be a futile attempt at team D that doomed last years team. When his focus should have been on offensive chemistry.Trying to get continued defenive intensity from kids that can’t score may work in spurts but it’s certainly not sustainable.
If you put three decent shooters plus Carlton on the floor with JA , with an experienced coaching staff who seems to get it and are willing to work and next year will be a very good year. Frankly I worry more abou 2019-2020
With so much experience why would anyone predict less?



.

 

[superjohn]

Couldn't agree with you more.

Expectations, Strawmaster will continue strawmastering.

 

[superjohn]

August said we'd win 20 games last year. I told him we'd win 15. If you want fast food advice he's great. Otherwise I'd lay off his predictions

Love the guy but basketball isn't his thing.

 

[8893]

Expectation is making the tournament. Also expect August_West and 8893 to talk about Ollie all season long.

You and I have the same expectation for the team; I expect to talk about Ollie only when necessary to remind people like @JMick of their own double standard if they start making excuses for Hurley .

 

[intlzncster]

I would’ve expected Ollie to make it past first weekend with this collection of players, so I expect Hurley to.

Weird, I wouldn't even have expected Ollie to make the tournament.

If we do make the Tournament, we'll have exceeded expectations for Hurley's first year.

You guys think it's going to be an 8-10 win turn around? The AAC is going to be bad this year, so I think a 2 bid league, given that it was 3 last year. 25+ wins makes the Dance?

 

[8893]

Does anyone think Jalen Adams is coming back expecting to miss the tournament?

smh

Barring injuries, this roster is more than tournament-worthy.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You and I have the same expectation for the team; I expect to talk about Ollie only when necessary to remind people like @JMick of their own double standard if they start making excuses for Hurley .

Fair enough, but did anyone, I mean anyone, think that he could suddenly take these guys and get to a sweet 16? I don't recall that being anyone's expectation. While I expect us to win 20 games, maybe more, there are variables outside of the coach's control. We should probably be a bubble team.

I think the eye test will be important. Are they passing the ball? Are they running coherent offensive sets? Are they moving well off the ball? Are they over-helping on D and leaving the 3 point shot open....repeatedly? How are the switches on D? How much intensity do we see on defense and in attacking the boards? How is the substitution pattern? Is he putting together lineups that work?

If they do those things, they will win more games. But this roster can play a great game and would still lose to a team like last year's Villanova.

 

[JMick]

You and I have the same expectation for the team; I expect to talk about Ollie only when necessary to remind people like @JMick of their own double standard if they start making excuses for Hurley .

Lol my expectations for Hurley are 10x that of the last regime. I'm giving Hurley 6 wins over last season with the same players

 

[intlzncster]

Does anyone think Jalen Adams is coming back expecting to miss the tournament?

smh

Barring injuries, this roster is more than tournament-worthy.

There's what the players expect, and there's more realistic objective expectations. I'd hope the players expectations are at an unrealistic level.

FWIW, I edited my post above with additional clarification with the following: You guys think it's going to be an 8-10 win turn around? The AAC is going to be bad this year, so I think a 2 bid league, given that it was 3 last year. 25+ wins makes the Dance?

 

[8893]

Lol my expectations for Hurley are 10x that of the last regime. I'm giving Hurley 6 wins over last season with the same players

Same players?

So you have no expectations for Sid Wilson and Alterique?

 

[JMick]

Same players?

So you have no expectations for Sid Wilson and Alterique?

Considering they're basically freshman? Not huge expectations. To be clear, by 20 wins I mean regular season with a chance at 22-23 wins and bubble conversation after the AAC tournament

We should be a completely different team in February compared to the beginning of the season

 

[intlzncster]

Same players?

So you have no expectations for Sid Wilson and Alterique?

It's going to take awhile for kids to adjust to Hurley. And a number of them probably won't. I expect it to be rocky at first.

This particular team knows nothing but losing. It's not like you just flip a switch and there you go.

Maybe it happens, but that would be an unusual occurrence.

 

[Husky68]

Look, if you expect a 2nd weekend with a brand new coach/scheme and the same players that finished under .500 two years in a row I don't know what to tell you. 20 wins would be a good season for us.

Hardly the same players. No DO, AA or TL (which includes starter and part time starter). Gilbert would/could be nice addition. Grad transfers sound better than DO & AA. Getting red shirt kid sounds like a plus and the freshman at least has an older brother who thinks he can play. I'm expecting the freshman (and Cobb) to be nowhere near the same players as last year.

Replacing a scheme that doesn't work with one that does seems like a good reason to expect more improvement.

Michigan got to the final game playing no higher than a 6 seed (Houston missed a golden opportunity) so whose to say, just make the tournament. Having a Jalen type player (he reminds me a lot of the Houston guy with the bun) on a well coached team can steal some close games.

 

[JMick]

It's going to take awhile for kids to adjust to Hurley. And a number of them probably won't. I expect it to be rocky at first.

This particular team knows nothing but losing. It's not like you just flip a switch and there you go.

Maybe it happens, but that would be an unusual occurrence.

Apparently realism isn't allowed today

 

[superjohn]

Does anyone think Jalen Adams is coming back expecting to miss the tournament?

smh

Barring injuries, this roster is more than tournament-worthy.

My expectation is to be a bubble team with us sneaking in the tournament. We were horrendous this year but with a better coach, Jalen as a senior, and some improvement from guys being a year older we should be right there to sneak in. August saying he thinks Ollie and Hurley would both have a sweet 16 team this year is a bit asinine.

 

[Yardigan]

How did so many people forget that fan expectations dictated team performance? This is disconcerting.

and hilarious, too

 

[8893]

But this roster can play a great game and would still lose to a team like last year's Villanova.

Um, yeah, I'd still expect them to lose to the eventual National Champion.

There's what the players expect, and there's more realistic objective expectations. I'd hope the players expectations are at an unrealistic level.

FWIW, I edited my post above with additional clarification with the following: You guys think it's going to be an 8-10 win turn around? The AAC is going to be bad this year, so I think a 2 bid league, given that it was 3 last year. 25+ wins makes the Dance?

Jalen said he expects to win a National Championship; I said I expect to make the tournament.

The clarification you added--i.e., the conference is too weak--is another excuse that was roundly rejected when applied to Ollie.

Sheesh

 

[superjohn]

Um, yeah, I'd still expect them to lose to the eventual National Champion.



Jalen said he expects to win a National Championship; I said I expect to make the tournament.

The clarification you added--i.e., the conference is too weak--is another excuse that was roundly rejected when applied to Ollie.

Sheesh

The players expected to win a national championship before last season, I wouldn't be looking to seriously at what players expectations are.

 

[8893]

The players expected to win a national championship before last season, I wouldn't be looking to seriously at what players expectations are.

I am and I'm not; I mean the lip service stuff is silly. And I think a National Championship is an unreasonable expectation.

But if we do not have a reasonable expectation of making the tournament next season, Jalen is a fool for returning imo.

 

[Waquoit]

The trolling here is just boring.

 

[intlzncster]

The clarification you added--i.e., the conference is too weak--is another excuse that was roundly rejected when applied to Ollie.

Sheesh

That's not an excuse, it's simply a fact, and should be taken at face value. It's important in how many teams will make the tournament. I'm guessing two at this point. That could change. There's likely less chances this year. That's just the way it is.

When a new coach comes in, expecting the moon is normal among fans. But it doesn't make it right. These things take time.

 

[8893]

That's not an excuse, it's simply a fact, and should be taken at face value. It's important in how many teams will make the tournament. I'm guessing two at this point. That could change. There's likely less chances this year. That's just the way it is.

When a new coach comes in, expecting the moon is normal among fans. But it doesn't make it right. These things take time.

Making NCAAs = "the moon"?!?

Wow, et tu alphabet man?

 

[JMick]

Making NCAAs = "the moon"?!?

Wow, et tu alphabet man?

After the last two years the NCAA tournament might as well be Mars. There's a lot to fix and a lot of bad habits to break.

 

[BFieldHusky]

I agree with @JMick that the coaching difference alone gets us 5-6 more wins. I also think that the league itself will not be as good next year. Which helps.

To me, we need a couple of the rising sophomores to really develop. I am putting Carlton and Diarra in that category.

Gilbert needs to stay healthy. I keep saying that, but if he does (BIG IF) than suddenly we have a natural PG who can score, pass, and most importantly play solid defense.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Making NCAAs = "the moon"?!?

Wow, et tu alphabet man?

He has most of the same roster that was terrible last year, and which was blown out at a pace never previously experienced by any UConn team. If he does make the tournament, it's a pretty big indictment of Ollie. I do think it's possible, but any time you project as a bubble team, your margin for error is a couple of games. Injuries, the number of other bubble teams, RPI of opponents, lots of factors put you on one side of the line or the other.

I will say this, I doubt that non UConn fans expect UConn to make the tournament. SI, CBS, ESPN, etc. The projection will probably be NIT at best.

 

[Mr. French]

2024 with the double up from the Girl's side.

Book it now.

Get in vegas.

It's like the Giants even year thing. Years ending in 4 are UConn's.

9s haven’t been too bad either ...

 

[the Q]

9s haven’t been too bad either ...

But they include a choke job or a brutal injury (or both). I like 4s.

 

[intlzncster]

You and I have the same expectation for the team; I expect to talk about Ollie only when necessary to remind people like @JMick of their own double standard if they start making excuses for Hurley .

Besides the fact that it's never the same standard when you're starting at different points. Hurley in year 1. Ollie in year 6. Year 1 gets far more leeway than year 6. Full stop.

But if we do not have a reasonable expectation of making the tournament next season, Jalen is a fool for returning imo.

What other reasonable choice did he have to improve his stock? Go G League? Better to come back and see if he can shine under a new coach and see if he can get himself into the draft mix.