What’s next immediate need? PF or Center

[superjohn]

Kid is an athlete. Looks to be a more natural athlete than Tarris. Tarris better ball skills around the rim. What he’s not is that skyscraper rim protector.

Enormous hands...

 

[RuffRuff]

Enormous hands...

View attachment 119831

Good lord - like a softball. Kid has big time upside. Needs to develop a bag of his own/identify offensively.

 

[3rdbass]

I think we all say that Hines isn't the polished product that Tarris was so right now we need someone at the 4 or 5 who has good size and can help us out inside as it will take 1-2 years to get to Tarris's level of production. Right now we are even smaller than last year. It will be interesting who we are looking at besides the Washington and Cincy guys. Not sold on an injury prone Washington guy and the Cincy guy might be going to Michigan.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Just spent the last two hours watching all of the Hines games I could. Let’s temper our expectations. He never really jumped off the screen to me. Not as tall as Reed maybe a bit more bouncy……but we still need more in the front court. Khamenia is not as big as Alex….i really think we are still not very athletic. Maybe the two freshman give us a bit more and a stronger Mullins but we need some guys that can play above the rim.

 

[Scrutineer]

Michigan just won with a huge lineup and people here think we should roll in with no true power forward on the team

That's because most don't believe Breeding and Anderson will ref next year's championship game.
How else could there be the 6-8 horrific calls and/or no calls again?

 

[ec33]

Looking at Tarris he is just another level with his muscle defnition and girth. I definitely saw some baby fat in Hines when he played. I didn't know Tarris was longer than Hines. I know Tarris is listed an inch taller.

Another guy coming off his freshman season. Likely to be stronger next season and I would expect him to be more and more polished as he is coached up as the season goes along.

 

[Hunt for 7]

7’5” in the portal…..lets go get him….

 

[SoCalCanine]

he's been correct about exactly 2 things which were coin flips at worst.

Handle/Post

 

[3rdbass]

Another guy coming off his freshman season. Likely to be stronger next season and I would expect him to be more and more polished as he is coached up as the season goes along.

Yeah but still won't be the polished big guy inside like Sr. Tarris. It is going to take a little while.

 

[ec33]

Yeah but still won't be the polished big guy inside like Sr. Tarris. It is going to take a little while.

No, UConn is going to be relying more on the back court than the front court next season.

And then likely switch the following year with progress.

 

[dennismenace]

Khamenia is not going to play the 35 minutes that Karaban played. Stewart averaged 18 minutes, Ross averaged 17 and Malachi 16. There are more minutes available than the 5-10 minute range discussed. With the right tandem Hines will likely play less than Reed.

Landrew??

 

[bendm]

If they get Hines and Thiam, I'll be baffled and awed in a very good way, on many levels. You'd have to sell both of them on 20mpg, or potentially see minutes to Hines at the 4. It would be a full shift in operating model. Given NK's flex between the 3 and 4, and Mullins flex between the 2 and 3, anything is possible. Kepnang makes perfect sense though if he still has eligibility.

Hoping that thiaw wants to battle Hines for starting C versus signing with UM and walking into the starting C spot (assuming Mara is gone) and being paid handsomely for it, is not something I’m holding my breath for

If we don't land a big time PF or another C equal or better than Hines we are Do0med

You are completely out of touch. We would be lucky to get a backup C equal to Reibe but that’s also all we need.

 

[bendm]

We need 2 minimum front court players. Currently have no depth and expecting Nik/Hines to put up monster numbers in year 1 is kind of insane.

We need a backup big that can give us 10-15mpg at C. Another 5mpg at PF would be ideal, but assuming Ball returns then Landrew is the primary backup 4. The sooner people accept that reality the better.

Silas 30 / County 10
Ball 25 / Mullins 15
Mullins 15 / Ross 25
Nik 25 / Landrew 15
Hines 25 / Kepnang* 15

30: Silas / Mullins
25: Ball / Ross / Nik / Hines
15: Landrew / Kepnang*
10: County

 

[HuskyHawk]

Please tell me which decent 4 Reibe could guard and how could he move in our offense as a 4.

We played several teams that had 6’10 - 7 ft PFs last year. Reibe can shoot 3s and Hurley should have let him shoot more. Obviously he’s mostly a 5 but he’s a floor spacing 5. Good teams are playing bigger than they have in a long time, if not ever.

Prey 6’10”
Tiller 6’10”
Condon 6’11”
Johnson 6’9” but 255

It doesn’t matter but it would have provided some options to match up at times.

 

[NJHusky]

Or, I'd gladly welcome back Reibe. Get him backup C minutes but then allow him to expand his perimeter game at the 4 in a, hear me out, a double-big lineup!

I think that’s the issue with Reibe. He doesn’t think he’s a backup..wants to be the man.

 

[NJHusky]

The issue is the NCAA will lose in court. The only solution is a collective bargaining agreement which schools and NCAA have fought for years against. There needs to be one in place for basketball and football

Can’t the NCAA just reinstate the sit to transfer rule? That would severely dampen the portal activity.

 

[bendm]

We played several teams that had 6’10 - 7 ft PFs last year. Reibe can shoot 3s and Hurley should have let him shoot more. Obviously he’s mostly a 5 but he’s a floor spacing 5. Good teams are playing bigger than they have in a long time, if not ever.

Prey 6’10”
Tiller 6’10”
Condon 6’11”
Johnson 6’9” but 255

It doesn’t matter but it would have provided some options to match up at times.

Yes but arguably those teams SFs were the bigger mismatches: Hopkins/White/Haugh/Yaxel. We also beat all of them except UM.

I just don’t get what the point of the complaining is right now. Assuming ball returns we are not in the market for a starting player, PF or otherwise.

 

[PNolanFan]

We need a backup big that can give us 10-15mpg at C. Another 5mpg at PF would be ideal, but assuming Ball returns then Landrew is the primary backup 4. The sooner people accept that reality the better.

Silas 30 / County 10
Ball 25 / Mullins 15
Mullins 15 / Ross 25
Nik 25 / Landrew 15
Hines 25 / Kepnang* 15

30: Silas / Mullins
25: Ball / Ross / Nik / Hines
15: Landrew / Kepnang*
10: County

I like this, maybe the one thing I would add is that we need a serviceable backup PG in case County is not ready for that role. Dare I say Terrance Samuel from 2014 would be the perfect guy to add in that role

 

[Son of Robert]

For you guys who think Hines is carrying around a lot of baby fat and needs to cut his weight down I strongly disagree. Dude has one of the best motors in college basketball and the thing that makes him so impressive is that motor, how he moves at that size, and gets up so quickly at his size.

We're not exactly a big team.

Dude is in shape...

Good look man. Najai's movement is so fluid, his natural coordination and athleticism is just effortless. Going to his left or his right in that drill was sharp. Blessed to have this guy playing at UConn.

 

[boog204]

We played several teams that had 6’10 - 7 ft PFs last year. Reibe can shoot 3s and Hurley should have let him shoot more. Obviously he’s mostly a 5 but he’s a floor spacing 5. Good teams are playing bigger than they have in a long time, if not ever.

Prey 6’10”
Tiller 6’10”
Condon 6’11”
Johnson 6’9” but 255

It doesn’t matter but it would have provided some options to match up at times.

Reibe shot 30% from 3 and under 60% from the line on the season (those also reflected his summer FIBA stats, too.) Can we stop making him out to be Kevin Love or something being “held back?” He was also an atrocious defender and he didn’t want to stay here.

 

[boog204]

3 big rotation.. i definitely agree.. it will be needed when running into 2 big lineups

I was saying Hines and then a combo guy to cover the 4 and 5. We don’t need a backup at every spot. I guarantee we’ll go small with Ross or Landrew playing some 4.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yes but arguably those teams SFs were the bigger mismatches: Hopkins/White/Haugh/Yaxel. We also beat all of them except UM.

I just don’t get what the point of the complaining is right now. Assuming ball returns we are not in the market for a starting player, PF or otherwise.

Whether Ball comes back or not, we're not in the market for a starting player. Ross/Landrew have the 3 spot covered. Simply saying what we ideally need, now that Stewart is leaving, is a swing big that can play 4/5. That combination of minutes might allow us to entice a better caliber player than we'd get if we bring in two guys one to backup 5 and one to backup 4. Probably still get a project 5 in addition.

 

[ctbro1999]

I think that’s the issue with Reibe. He doesn’t think he’s a backup..wants to be the man.

Seems to me he wants the starting gig without putting in the requisite work in practice. (not saying he wasn't going hard in practice, but he likely wanted assurances of starting before any of the summer training or preseason work even commenced). Hurley couldn't offer any guarantees, so Reibe went portaling.

 

[superjohn]

Whether Ball comes back or not, we're not in the market for a starting player. Ross/Landrew have the 3 spot covered. Simply saying what we ideally need, now that Stewart is leaving, is a swing big that can play 4/5. That combination of minutes might allow us to entice a better caliber player than we'd get if we bring in two guys one to backup 5 and one to backup 4. Probably still get a project 5 in addition.

I don't see how Jaylin leaving means we need a swing big that can play the 4/5. Jaylin isn't bigger than Khamenia or Landrew. We need a 7 footer.

 

[navery12]

Not going to get into the semantics of who's playing the 2 vs the 3 vs the 4 right now, though it certainly matters. I'm not sure whatever backup 4 we bring in will be getting any minutes there.

Just using round numbers here so increase or decrease them by 1 or 2 if it makes you happier, but from a strict minutes view this is what we have:

Solo Ball 25
Braylon Mullins 30
Nik Khamenia 25
Jayden Ross 25
Colben Landrew 20

That's 125 right there, and there's 120 minutes available at the 2-4 spots

 

[ucp990411]

We played several teams that had 6’10 - 7 ft PFs last year. Reibe can shoot 3s and Hurley should have let him shoot more. Obviously he’s mostly a 5 but he’s a floor spacing 5. Good teams are playing bigger than they have in a long time, if not ever.

Prey 6’10”
Tiller 6’10”
Condon 6’11”
Johnson 6’9” but 255

It doesn’t matter but it would have provided some options to match up at times.

Sorry but Reibe lacks the foot speed and the strength to guard any of those guys.

 

[Ricker]

We need a backup big that can give us 10-15mpg at C. Another 5mpg at PF would be ideal, but assuming Ball returns then Landrew is the primary backup 4. The sooner people accept that reality the better.

Silas 30 / County 10
Ball 25 / Mullins 15
Mullins 15 / Ross 25
Nik 25 / Landrew 15
Hines 25 / Kepnang* 15

30: Silas / Mullins
25: Ball / Ross / Nik / Hines
15: Landrew / Kepnang*
10: County

I don't think this roster cuts it to be a final 4 contender. We need a bigger brawnier player option at least available at the 4, and based on games I've watched, County for 10 min at the point scares the crap out of me both offensively and defensively. I don't think his handle, or his defense, or his shooting, or his driving ability, or his foul shooting, is as good as either Ball or Mullins, and they aren't the answer either.
When we had RJ Cole and just Gaffney behind him, we had to play Cole every minute despite Gaffney doing well enough in later years. I think Silas/County would be a return to that situation. In addition, Silas & Hines would be too valuable to lose any time to injury. We are never that lucky.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't see how Jaylin leaving means we need a swing big that can play the 4/5. Jaylin isn't bigger than Khamenia or Landrew. We need a 7 footer.

Simply a suggestion that a big that can do both (and maybe that's Hines) helps solve the backup 4 problem as well. If you can tell the player he'd get minutes at both spots, maybe you get a better player to come. A backup 5 is good for 15 minutes anyway, more than any other position. But a backup 4 is only about 10. If we need to attract two guys across 25 minutes that's a harder sell.

 

[AllHusky]

Reibe shot 30% from 3 and under 60% from the line on the season (those also reflected his summer FIBA stats, too.) Can we stop making him out to be Kevin Love or something being “held back?” He was also an atrocious defender and he didn’t want to stay here.

Other than those things, whats wrong?

 

[superjohn]

Simply a suggestion that a big that can do both (and maybe that's Hines) helps solve the backup 4 problem as well. If you can tell the player he'd get minutes at both spots, maybe you get a better player to come. A backup 5 is good for 15 minutes anyway, more than any other position. But a backup 4 is only about 10. If we need to attract two guys across 25 minutes that's a harder sell.

I just don't get why you brought Jaylin into the conversation of us needing another big. Jaylin isn't a big, he's neither big or brawny. Out tallest player currently is 6'10, we need a 7 footer to share the position with Hines. It doesn't need to be an equal split but it has to be a good player who can give us 15 minutes per night.