What about this lineup for now?
- Thread starter HailUConn
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Hurley will give Jayden every chance to win the starting job at SF...but...I bet Hurley loves the idea of having Jayden as the 6th man who can sub in for everyone except Hines
Chin Diesel
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going
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Swap Ross for Colben, at least at first. If Colben can keep Ross out of starting lineup it bodes very good for UConn.
Mullins is in his natural position at the 2 and getting 26-28 mpg.
Ross shot 39% on 3's last year and finally started looking comfortable shooting them. I don't know if he repeats that number with bigger volume, but even at 35% he is a threat.
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I don't see enough shooting or ability to penetrate in this lineup. We can critique Ball's abilities to drive all we want but the fact is that he was the best at it of any Husky last year.
So that's gone.
I think Ross benefited from having open looks on his 3s since he was the 4th option. He's not going to have that benefit anymore.
You’re overstating things a bit. 1) our best lineups were with Ross in there and 2) in the situation you are responding to he’s still the 4th option. Mullins, Silas, Nik being the first 3
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Perfect and agree. Keep the 6th man intact it’s important piece to the year and I hope he learned from trying to make Diarra a starter, never was a good idea. A back up PG a must now as Junior will see combo more of have a shot at it.
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Think Nik sees time at the 3 spot and back up at the 4. Still will get a starting 4. Will share the 3 with Ross.
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Demary was a better penetrator when healthy and Smith was doing it better in the Tourney. Even Mullins was doing it better at the end of the year than Ball. Ball was basically just a shooter. Hopefully a year off he can develop more to his game on offense and defense.
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HuskyHawk
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Nik is better going to the rim than Alex was. Landrew is better at it than any wing we had last year. A stronger Mullins playing at the 2 can do more of it and won’t be mismatched on size anymore. Shooting is fine. All those guys can shoot. Nik is also a gifted passer, more so than Alex ever was. He will find shooters in our offense.
I was never sold on Ross because for 2 years he kept trying to “make the big play”. Gambled on D, fouled people when he didn’t get a rebound, took ill advised shots. But he figured it out, became a very good defender and shot the ball really well. He deserves the opportunity to start and play major minutes. If Landrew beats him out it means this team is great. I’m very happy with our 1-6 guys. Need to fill out 7-9.
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Than where does Landrew play? He was ranked 20th in his class.
HuskyHawk
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And consensus is he was underrated. Nik is the 4. We do need depth behind him.
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Nanak of the north, Yukon Husky
I cannot believe there is news we lost a potential all Big East starter for the upcoming season and people are just fine staying put with either Ross or a 4 star freshman moving into the starting lineup.
This was an historically weak high school class and it’s 2026 where college basketball is an old man’s sport for those who seem determined to to move both Landrew and County up in the rotation.
This was an historically weak high school class and it’s 2026 where college basketball is an old man’s sport for those who seem determined to to move both Landrew and County up in the rotation.
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Though I assume you mean he was the 5th option last year
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That is how I see it too. Ross will start at the 3 but wouldn't be surprised if Landrew is starting by the time we hit Big East play.
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I can see 4 of the 5 you named could be the starting lineup. Portal season is not over. There is still some quality players left.
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I am somehow taking the cynic's position here which is weird because during the season Im more optimistic than 95% of the board.
I do agree with Nik being better at driving than Alex. It's just that we're losing Solo, a guy who was doing that from the 2guard spot.
As for Landrew, I believe he will eventually become UConn's go-to guy. However, I've watched him play entire games and he has a lot to clean up in his game. Guys are blowing by him all the time, he fumbles the ball a lot, and if he's not dunking, he's getting swatted. All these are easily correctable and will get better with development, but as an incoming freshman, we can't rely on him for more than 15 minutes.
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I agree. That was our glaring weakness last season. How is that being fixed? Or are we just hoping the threes fall?
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I won't be worried about that with what Mullin's father said and watching some tapes of him. Mullins is going to drive the ball a lot to the basket next year and with some added strength he will be better than Ball at it. He is taller and was already showing the some of that ability at the end of the year. What we miss from Ball is his ability to shoot the 3 when healthy.
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I agree we need shooting but it’s important to remember that Solo shot 30% from 3 on nearly 7 attempts per game
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I disagree with this. I think the numbers show Solo was better inside the arc than both those players. Ball was at 54% while Silas was at 47% and Malachi at 34%.
In fact, I hope Demary watched a little bit of Cam Spencer's game because he could learn to hesitate more, back into the defender behind him, and use runners more instead of driving all the way to the hoop.
HuskyHawk
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County isn’t moving up. Mullins is going to play 30 mpg. Normally I might say a freshman isn’t equipped for the starting 3 spot except we have started one there three years in a row and of those Landrew is the biggest, strongest and most “grown man” of all of them. Mullins struggled defending those guys, he was less equipped to do it than Landrew is.
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Ball did a great job with Mid-range jump shots. He is a not a guard that penetrates and scores at the rim on a consistent basis. Also, you don't think Freshmen Mullins is not going to make a big jump in his game as far as going to the basket especially after an offseason getting stronger. Watch some tapes of Mullins he has the ability to go to the basket and his father even hinted UConn wanted him to play a different role in our offense this past year. I'm not worried about replacing what Ball gave us in penetration. Also, Landrew at the 3 has the ability to take his man off the ball plus we don't know who we are bringing in yet. Let's see who else is coming in as we still have spots to fill.
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Portal madness isn’t close to over so this will all change soon. But as of today..
If we find a really good PF in the portal, can Khamenia play 3 and we run a backcourt that is 6’4, 6’6, and 6’8? The opposite of last year, we’d have a lot of size in the lineup
If we can find a really good SF, then just slot them in with Nik at the 4
If neither of those happen, I’d go Ross over Colben. A senior Ross that is finally confident and playing freely is really valuable. I think Silas is due for a big scoring year and of course Braylon can get buckets, so a defensive wing at SF wouldn’t put us in a rough spot offensively. Need to see Landrew do it at this level before slotting him in. Need to be a REALLY special player to start as a freshman on a team with title aspirations
So right now I have Silas, Mullins, Ross, Khamenia, Hines
If we find a really good PF in the portal, can Khamenia play 3 and we run a backcourt that is 6’4, 6’6, and 6’8? The opposite of last year, we’d have a lot of size in the lineup
If we can find a really good SF, then just slot them in with Nik at the 4
If neither of those happen, I’d go Ross over Colben. A senior Ross that is finally confident and playing freely is really valuable. I think Silas is due for a big scoring year and of course Braylon can get buckets, so a defensive wing at SF wouldn’t put us in a rough spot offensively. Need to see Landrew do it at this level before slotting him in. Need to be a REALLY special player to start as a freshman on a team with title aspirations
So right now I have Silas, Mullins, Ross, Khamenia, Hines
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Landrew was rated top 20 in this year's class. I know it was weak but the talent is there especially with Ross starting. I'm more worried about more depth at the guard position than the 3.
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