We will be a top 25 team next year - Lock it in

[HuskyHawk]

Who do you think Rique will be in his first year of college ball coming off two shoulder surgeries? Who do you think Larrier will be after a torn ACL and not playing D1 ball for 2 years? Outside of Jalen, Rique and Terry it's a team full of guys ranked 150-200 coming out of high school and no frontcourt.

Fishy isn't being a pessimist, he's being a realist.

This is 2017, not 1982. Those injuries are nothing. Recovery is complete and the injuries are of no further consequence. Now we still lack any proven front court players. That's the risk. But those players will be fine. Tournament team based on this roster, but they needed the extra depth of Wilson.

 

[BaZZnBOAT]

This is 2017, not 1982. Those injuries are nothing. Recovery is complete and the injurys are of no further consequence. Now we still lack any proven front court players. That's the risk. But those players will be fine. Tournament team based on this roster, but they needed the extra depth of Wilson.

Agreed. It hurts, but not necessarily the end of the world. Waters would be huge. Tyler Polley will get a lot of PT.

 

[Jaybo]

I don't trust Gilberts should. Tremont is a must get for that reason alone. Can larrier go hard after the injury? Besides jalen and vital, the whole teams one big question mark.

 

[KingAG]

I don't trust Gilberts should. Tremont is a must get for that reason alone. Can larrier go hard after the injury? Besides jalen and vital, the whole teams one big question mark.

I trust the doctor. The doctor says hes fine.....hes fine

 

[BaZZnBOAT]

I trust the doctor. The doctor says hes fine.....hes fine

I will concede that the fact that this has happened to him on multiple occasions is concerning. His talent isn't really a question, however.

 

[KingAG]

I will concede that the fact that this has happened to him on multiple occasions is concerning. His talent isn't really a question, however.

But he's never had this surgery. This off season has conditioned us to fret the unnecessary. The chances of rique hurting his shoulder again are really low

 

[Huskybass]

Scrappy?

3.0

 

[Walker11]

There is a huge range where this team can fall. There is a lot of high end talent and we need them to be as advertised, and we need a big to pop. It wouldn't take a ton to make the team a disaster either. Anyone who is confident in any prediction for next year is clueless.

 

[KingAG]

There is a huge range where this team can fall. There is a lot of high end talent and we need them to be as advertised, and we need a big to pop. It wouldn't take a ton to make the team a disaster either. Anyone who is confident in any prediction for next year is clueless.

Reality^^^

 

[pj]

Coaches Comment Continued:


The coaches getting the reviews they have been getting, and the reports that came out about how agreessive they were with the wilson recruitment leads me to believe that a serious change in approach and attitude has taken place but just not in enough time to salvage this recruiting cycle. Im interested to see how 2018 shakes out. But chills being on another level recruiting wise(BField and 99 said this), chills developmemtal skills being lauded by recruits, and our s&c coach being a major piece to land a recruit addresses one of the boneyards biggest concerns, development. Add that to an agressive recruiting approach amd we may be coming out of this tunnel of doom. This coming season and the 2018 recruiting results will answer a lot of questions. All we can do is sit back and wait til Nov

I'm going to quibble a bit with that -- the fact that we argue for our ability to develop players by referring to the assistant coach who just arrived after getting fired from a team that went 9-22, is embarrassing, considering the head coach who spent 13 years in the NBA should be able to develop players, as should the other two assistants. If that's our player development pitch, it's not a strong pitch. The negative recruiting must be focusing on player development -- KO has actually been pretty successful at winning, given the talent he had. Changing assistants gives them a bit of an answer about development, but it will only really be answered when we generate more NBA draft picks. I think the staff really wanted Sid because they need to bring in players with NBA potential, and he had the athleticism to have a chance.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

This is 2017, not 1982. Those injuries are nothing. Recovery is complete and the injuries are of no further consequence. Now we still lack any proven front court players. That's the risk. But those players will be fine. Tournament team based on this roster, but they needed the extra depth of Wilson.

I'll give you that the surgery and rehab are a lot better. Gilbert will likely be 100% functionally, in my educated opinion, but with a small risk of re-injury. But ACL recovery is a little different, particularly for a sport like basketball. Larrier is more likely to lack a little explosiveness and lateral quickness the first year, but will get more of it the more he plays. Adrian Peterson style recoveries are rare.

 

[KingAG]

I'm going to quibble a bit with that -- the fact that we argue for our ability to develop players by referring to the assistant coach who just arrived after getting fired from a team that went 9-22, is embarrassing, considering the head coach who spent 13 years in the NBA should be able to develop players, as should the other two assistants. If that's our player development pitch, it's not a strong pitch. The negative recruiting must be focusing on player development -- KO has actually been pretty successful at winning, given the talent he had. Changing assistants gives them a bit of an answer about development, but it will only really be answered when we generate more NBA draft picks. I think the staff really wanted Sid because they need to bring in players with NBA potential, and he had the athleticism to have a chance.

Isnt he universally recognized as the guy who developed isaiah thomas. Recruits and media members seem to think he's great at player development. But i will say that's all im basing it on.

 

[superjohn]

This is 2017, not 1982. Those injuries are nothing. Recovery is complete and the injuries are of no further consequence. Now we still lack any proven front court players. That's the risk. But those players will be fine. Tournament team based on this roster, but they needed the extra depth of Wilson.

Even if the injuries are fully healed which I expect they are, there is the mental aspect to get over and the growing pains of a first year player and a player who has missed two seasons in a row. We need both of them to be stars for us to be a tournament team next year. It's pretty damn rare for us to have a first year player be a star for us. Most of our top rated point guards throughout the years show flashes as a freshman but make a lot of mistakes, they usually don't fully get it all and reach stardom until junior year.
Many in the thread seem to be glossing over all our question marks and expecting all best case scenarios. That's almost never how it plays out in reality and this team has more question marks than any other UConn team I've ever seen heading into a season.

 

[jibsey]

KO is going to prep the hell out of what he has, and no one will be expecting anything. Kind of like that Michigan State early game. That said we need more players, right?

 

[KingAG]

Even if the injuries are fully healed which I expect they are, there is the mental aspect to get over and the growing pains of a first year player and a player who has missed two seasons in a row. We need both of them to be stars for us to be a tournament team next year. It's pretty damn rare for us to have a first year player be a star for us. Most of our top rated point guards throughout the years show flashes as a freshman but make a lot of mistakes, they usually don't fully get it all and reach stardom until junior year.
Many in the thread seem to be glossing over all our question marks and expecting all best case scenarios. That's almost never how it plays out in reality and this team has more question marks than any other UConn team I've ever seen heading into a season.

Question: do you think rique can be the bazz to jalen's kemba? Not a 'star' per se but VERY good

 

[pj]

Isnt he universally recognized as the guy who developed isaiah thomas. Recruits and media members seem to think he's great at player development. But i will say that's all im basing it on.

I'm not saying the "Chill is a great developer of players" story is false. Only that the story should be "the UConn staff, and especially head coach Ollie, is great at developing players." As far as Isaiah Thomas's development goes, you never know how much credit belongs to Chill vs other coaches, and also how much belongs to Isaiah Thomas. Opposing coaches can say, if Chill is so great at development, why didn't any of the other dozen roster players on Washington develop enough to combine with Markelle Fultz and create a winning team? Ollie's development of Christian Vital, Vance Jackson, and Kentan Facey last year was more impressive. Getting to 16 wins with a decimated squad was more impressive. They need to sell the head coach and the staff as a whole, and show that the negative recruiting is wrong.

 

[superjohn]

Question: do you think rique can be the bazz to jalen's kemba? Not a 'star' per se but VERY good

Yes.

 

[KingAG]

I'm not saying the "Chill is a great developer of players" story is false. Only that the story should be "the UConn staff, and especially head coach Ollie, is great at developing players." As far as Isaiah Thomas's development goes, you never know how much credit belongs to Chill vs other coaches, and also how much belongs to Isaiah Thomas. Opposing coaches can say, if Chill is so great at development, why didn't any of the other dozen roster players on Washington develop enough to combine with Markelle Fultz and create a winning team? Ollie's development of Christian Vital, Vance Jackson, and Kentan Facey last year was more impressive. Getting to 16 wins with a decimated squad was more impressive. They need to sell the head coach and the staff as a whole, and show that the negative recruiting is wrong.

Okay gotcha. I think i agree lol. We need our head coach to be the one lauded for hia development skills not just an assistant. If thats your point, its hard to disagree

 

[Walker11]

I'm not saying the "Chill is a great developer of players" story is false. Only that the story should be "the UConn staff, and especially head coach Ollie, is great at developing players." As far as Isaiah Thomas's development goes, you never know how much credit belongs to Chill vs other coaches, and also how much belongs to Isaiah Thomas. Opposing coaches can say, if Chill is so great at development, why didn't any of the other dozen roster players on Washington develop enough to combine with Markelle Fultz and create a winning team? Ollie's development of Christian Vital, Vance Jackson, and Kentan Facey last year was more impressive. Getting to 16 wins with a decimated squad was more impressive. They need to sell the head coach and the staff as a whole, and show that the negative recruiting is wrong.

The League is littered with guys from U Washington who weren't exactly big time recruits. They have more pros than us. Coaching does not only equal player development. 16 wins with our roster was embarrassing. Facey developing as a SR. isn't impressive. We need to sell whatever recruits are buying and I don't care if its true.

 

[upstater]

This is 2017, not 1982. Those injuries are nothing. Recovery is complete and the injuries are of no further consequence. Now we still lack any proven front court players. That's the risk. But those players will be fine. Tournament team based on this roster, but they needed the extra depth of Wilson.

Well, a lot of people on this board are making the argument that Juwan Durham is going to be much better at his next stop because his recovery from torn ACL was holding him back

 

[KingAG]

Well, a lot of people on this board are making the argument that Juwan Durham is going to be much better at his next stop because his recovery from torn ACL was holding him back

I'll give you this one. Thats an interesting point. I guess the counter argument would be juwan tore 2 ACLs in back to back seasons

 

[superjohn]

There is a huge range where this team can fall. There is a lot of high end talent and we need them to be as advertised, and we need a big to pop. It wouldn't take a ton to make the team a disaster either. Anyone who is confident in any prediction for next year is clueless.

I see three high end talents, two of them have a bit of a question mark.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Well, a lot of people on this board are making the argument that Juwan Durham is going to be much better at his next stop because his recovery from torn ACL was holding him back

What was holding him back is that he hasn't really played in 3 years. I think he will be darned good eventually. Larrier may not be as good early, as he was last year, but he'll be fine.

 

[upstater]

What was holding him back is that he hasn't really played in 3 years. I think he will be darned good eventually. Larrier may not be as good early, as he was last year, but he'll be fine.

It will be interesting to see that now Durham will not have played in 4 years at his next stop.

 

[Walker11]

I see three high end talents, two of them have a bit of a question mark.

Me too. I think that should be a great starting point in the AAC.

 

[SouthBayHusky]

Question: do you think rique can be the bazz to jalen's kemba? Not a 'star' per se but VERY good

If he had played his freshman year and had one year under his belt then I would say yes. Unfortunately, even our greatest guards throughout Uconn history were never VERY GOOD (in the vein of a junior year Boatright) in their freshman years.

 

[King Husky]

Tyler Polley and Josh Carlton are being overlooked. Polley is around 20 slots lower than Sidney Wilson in composite rankings. Different players, but what I'm trying to say is that he's no slouch! We beat out good teams for him. Josh Carlton was a beast when I saw him in person. The pieces COULD be there. We won't know until the season.

The one part I disagreed with in OPs post is that Whaley and Cobb are underrated. Carlton and Polley I have more hope for.

 

[InKembaITrust]

Barring any injuries Alterique is going to be an absolute STUD this upcoming season. Unlike Larrier he'll have his legs underneath him and a major chip on his shoulder (pun intended).

He, Larrier and Diarra are going to be some extremely hungry huskies with a dark cloud of doubt-filled fans over their heads every game, only giving them more motivation to leave it all out on the floor.

The only thing I worry about is the chemistry between Alterique & Jalen. I wasn't crazy about what I saw early on this past season with Jalen playing off the ball. Jalen's a ball dominate guard who needs it in his hand as much as possible creating for himself and others. Will however be refreshing to have 2 ball handlers on the court together and they have all summer to figure it out.

Al, Larrier and Diarra need this mentality:

 

[Austin316]

Josh Carlton is a sleeper...

 

[gtcam]

I'll give you that the surgery and rehab are a lot better. Gilbert will likely be 100% functionally, in my educated opinion, but with a small risk of re-injury. But ACL recovery is a little different, particularly for a sport like basketball. Larrier is more likely to lack a little explosiveness and lateral quickness the first year, but will get more of it the more he plays. Adrian Peterson style recoveries are rare.

I've coached dozens of soccer players (male and female) coming off ACL injuries, including my daughter who went on to become an All American, and with the exception of two I can think of, all performed extremely well at higher levels of play.