What should we expect from Facey going forward? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

What should we expect from Facey going forward?

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Hysteria said:
21 years old? who knew....I want to like him, but really can't see how he contributes much this season. Only five on the floor & there are other pretty darn good ones on our squad this year.
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You've now expressed this sentiment 4 or 5 times in this thread. The only thing I can gather is that you just don't understand the fact that positions matter in basketball. They matter much less in college than the NBA, but they still matter.

We have 6 really good guards/wings on this team, but Kentan Facey isn't really competing for minutes with those guys. He's competing with Rakim Lubin and/or the slim chance that Nolan and Brimah can co-exist without fouling on every possession.
 
On a team that struggled inside and had trouble matching up with most big front courts most of the regular season, Facey couldn't get off the bench, yet somehow he's going to be the starter at the 4 and score 8-10 point/game? Wow. I don't know. If I were a betting man I'd bet on him to play limited minutes, mostly when we need defensive stops, rebounding. Marcus White might be a good example of the type of player. Or this year's Tyler Olander. Really, though it is pretty difficult to predict. Ollie has done some good things with lesser bigs. Wolfe was a stiff early in his career and made decent progress, not great by any means but adequate, before his unfortunate incident. On the other hand, Olander seemed to regress as his career went on.
 
freescooter said:
On a team that struggled inside and had trouble matching up with most big front courts most of the regular season, Facey couldn't get off the bench, yet somehow he's going to be the starter at the 4 and score 8-10 point/game? Wow. I don't know. If I were a betting man I'd bet on him to play limited minutes, mostly when we need defensive stops, rebounding. Marcus White might be a good example of the type of player. Or this year's Tyler Olander. Really, though it is pretty difficult to predict. Ollie has done some good things with lesser bigs. Wolfe was a stiff early in his career and made decent progress, not great by any means but adequate, before his unfortunate incident. On the other hand, Olander seemed to regress as his career went on.
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(a) this post basically guarantees that he's going to have an All-American season. The next time you're sanguine about a guy will be the first.

(b) Facey's weakness last year - what kept him on the bench - was defending in the half court, so I don't know that he's going to be the guy to come in for the purpose of getting stops. He's shown promise offensively and as a rebounder; no reason to think he won't be a contributor this year with DeAndre gone. I don't think Marcus White is an apt comparison at all; Kentan is/will be a much, much more diverse threat on offense.
 
Facey is gonna surprise a lot of doubters. I think the fact that there was no consideration of transferring tells me the staff and Kentan himself believes he can be a factor on this team. To me the glass is 3/4 full.
 
freescooter said:
On a team that struggled inside and had trouble matching up with most big front courts most of the regular season, Facey couldn't get off the bench, yet somehow he's going to be the starter at the 4 and score 8-10 point/game? Wow. I don't know. If I were a betting man I'd bet on him to play limited minutes, mostly when we need defensive stops, rebounding. Marcus White might be a good example of the type of player. Or this year's Tyler Olander. Really, though it is pretty difficult to predict. Ollie has done some good things with lesser bigs. Wolfe was a stiff early in his career and made decent progress, not great by any means but adequate, before his unfortunate incident. On the other hand, Olander seemed to regress as his career went on.
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Last year we had DD and Giffey playing the 4. Facey taking their spot would have involved restructuring our offense in the middle of a game from a spread to a traditional 2-big lineup, and he didn't bring enough to the table to change what we were doing. This year, there are no stretch 4s to compete with, so we won't be able to play the same way, and the door is wide open.

I don't think he'll score double figures, but I could see him being a guy who can get 7-8 boards a night if he can stay on the floor with just a little bit of offense.
 
Gurleyman said:
Last year we had DD and Giffey playing the 4. Facey taking their spot would have involved restructuring our offense in the middle of a game from a spread to a traditional 2-big lineup, and he didn't bring enough to the table to change what we were doing. This year, there are no stretch 4s to compete with, so we won't be able to play the same way, and the door is wide open.

I don't think he'll score double figures, but I could see him being a guy who can get 7-8 boards a night if he can stay on the floor with just a little bit of offense.
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Giffey started playing the 4 on occasion late in the season in part because Facey couldn't stay on the floor. He played the 3 a lot more than he played the 4. Given how brutally this team rebounded for the first half of the season, the idea that Facey - the team's best rebounder - was sitting entirely because of the guys ahead of him is absurd.

The door is wide open for Facey, but if he doesn't cut his foul rate significantly, it's not going to matter, because he won't be able to stay on the court. That's the ballgame for Facey. If he can stay on the court, he's going to be playing a lot. If not, we're in trouble.
 
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Gurleyman said:
Last year we had DD and Giffey playing the 4. Facey taking their spot would have involved restructuring our offense in the middle of a game from a spread to a traditional 2-big lineup, and he didn't bring enough to the table to change what we were doing. This year, there are no stretch 4s to compete with, so we won't be able to play the same way, and the door is wide open.

I don't think he'll score double figures, but I could see him being a guy who can get 7-8 boards a night if he can stay on the floor with just a little bit of offense.
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That's not totally unreasonable, though I think we'll have a couple of guys coming in who will play the 4 and Nolan will play it too in a more in the style of Josh Boone if not as well. The more I think about it the more I think Facey might be an Ed Nelson type player...situational replacement averaging 8-9 minutes/game, 2-3 rebounds 2-3 points. Big strong kid with limitations.
 
CallMeBruce said:
Giffey started playing the 4 on occasion late in the season in part because Facey couldn't stay on the floor. He played the 3 a lot more than he played the 4. Given how brutally this team rebounded for the first half of the season, the idea that Facey - the team's best rebounder - was sitting entirely because of the guys ahead of him is absurd.

The door is wide open for Facey, but if he doesn't cut his foul rate significantly, it's not going to matter, because he won't be able to stay on the court. That's the ballgame for Facey. If he can stay on the court, he's going to be playing a lot. If not, we're in trouble.
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Giffey playing the 4 had nothing to do with Facey's foul trouble issues, when he wasn't playing the 3 he backed up Daniels at the 4 this year just like he did last year, Giffey has always been the 2nd option at the 4 after Daniels. Facey did not play because offensively he wasn't close to the options that Daniels and Giffey were, and he wasn't close to them in the concept of team defense either. It would be pretty silly to play Facey over 2 superior options just because of his rebounding, and its not like Giffey and Daniels were terrible rebounders.
 
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freescooter said:
On a team that struggled inside and had trouble matching up with most big front courts most of the regular season, Facey couldn't get off the bench, yet somehow he's going to be the starter at the 4 and score 8-10 point/game? Wow. I don't know. If I were a betting man I'd bet on him to play limited minutes, mostly when we need defensive stops, rebounding. Marcus White might be a good example of the type of player. Or this year's Tyler Olander. Really, though it is pretty difficult to predict. Ollie has done some good things with lesser bigs. Wolfe was a stiff early in his career and made decent progress, not great by any means but adequate, before his unfortunate incident. On the other hand, Olander seemed to regress as his career went on.
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Facey was a freshman behind two quality upperclassmen, Deandre Daniels and Niels Giffey. He showed considerable talent, and both the guys ahead of him have left. He's competing with Phil Nolan who is going to get half his minutes at center, and with Rakim Lubin, a freshman who is shorter and less skilled. Why wouldn't Facey get the bulk of the minutes at PF?
 
Quite frankly, Facey may be one of the big upside surprises this year. As I said previously he spent time both in the weight room and gym this summer.
 
Chief00 said:
As I said previously he spent time both in the weight room and gym this summer.
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Thank god we have your inside access for scoops like this. Both the weight room and the gym? Good heavens. Let's not let word get out, other teams might start copying this approach.
 
Chief00 said:
Quite frankly, Facey may be one of the big upside surprises this year. As I said previously he spent time both in the weight room and gym this summer.
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Lol. So he has something in common with every other college basketball player on the planet?
 
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HuskyBballFan said:
Lol. So he has something in common with every other college basketball player on the planet?
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Actually we have had players over the years that have NOT done that. The guys who stayed in Storrs most of the summer would tell you it can be pretty boring that time of year especially if you can't afford a car. In short, you and your buddy have no clue what you are talking about. Not everyone works really hard and the guys who did this summer will improve the most this season and yes Facey is one of those guys and fortunately this season we have a few other guys who made that committment.
 
Chief00 said:
Actually we have had players over the years that have NOT done that. The guys who stayed in Storrs most of the summer would tell you it can be pretty boring that time of year especially if you can't afford a car. In short, you and your buddy have no clue what you are talking about. Not everyone works really hard and the guys who did this summer will improve the most this season and yes Facey is one of those guys and fortunately this season we have a few other guys who made that committment.
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The vast majority of high-major, Division 1 college basketball players "work really hard" on their games in the summer...regardless of whether they stay on campus or go home.
 
CallMeBruce said:
Giffey started playing the 4 on occasion late in the season in part because Facey couldn't stay on the floor. He played the 3 a lot more than he played the 4. Given how brutally this team rebounded for the first half of the season, the idea that Facey - the team's best rebounder - was sitting entirely because of the guys ahead of him is absurd.

The door is wide open for Facey, but if he doesn't cut his foul rate significantly, it's not going to matter, because he won't be able to stay on the court. That's the ballgame for Facey. If he can stay on the court, he's going to be playing a lot. If not, we're in trouble.
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Just like how we were in trouble last year?
 
HuskyBballFan said:
The vast majority of high-major, Division 1 college basketball players "work really hard" on their games in the summer...regardless of whether they stay on campus or go home.
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Calhoun would tell you otherwise. That's what set certain UConn players apart - Ray Allen / Ben Gordon etc. and frankly not all UConn players
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Thank god we have your inside access for scoops like this. Both the weight room and the gym? Good heavens. Let's not let word get out, other teams might start copying this approach.
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BigErnMcCracken said:
Thank god we have your inside access for scoops like this. Both the weight room and the gym? Good heavens. Let's not let word get out, other teams might start copying this approach.
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Mid way through the article Tom Brady explains the importance of practice, putting hard work in and how it translates in the game. For those who never played a sport, I think this will help you understand better, quite frankly.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/08/...n-their-butts-probably-more-than-their-wives/
 
johnhuskies95 said:
Just like how we were in trouble last year?
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No, not like last year, because last year, we had Daniels and Giffey, who could both play the 4 without foul problems, and Olander, who was able to provide depth at the 4 and 5. This doesn't seem that complicated to me.
 
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ConnHuskBask said:
As @Silk31 points out, we did try to go after some 5th year front court players but it didn't work out.

My point is people are making projections based on a handful of individual plays and using rate stats that don't mean much over such a small sample.

Another thing - I can't imagine Brimah and Phil being on the floor together so much as it kills spacing but I don't see much of an alternative.

I just think some people may be setting the bar too high. He could exceed expectations but nobody is gathering that based on 3 jumpers. As a sophomore Daniels averaged 12/5 for example. To jump from a non factor to 8/6 would require a huge leap.
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"..." in minutes, not in performance. This kid can move on the court, sees the ball off the rim, can shoot/finish. He needs to learn when at defensive disadvantage it's often ok to just make the offensive guy shoot over you and look for the rebound and on help side defense get there a bit sooner.
 
Getting stronger - which was Facey's primarily barrier to more playing time last season along with the more experienced Griffey and Daniels being ahead of him - has been seriously addressed this summer from what I have been told. Therefore, I see Facey getting lots of time. The intangible he has is he is quick to the ball on rebounds. You can't teach that. He is a much better shooter than the average fan or poster knows.
 
In addition to his physical attributes, Facey has a year of experience of being with the team. That's one more year of learning Ollie's system, becoming comfortable playing ball alongside his teammates, and understanding both his and his teammates' strengths and weaknesses than Lubin (his main competition for minutes) has. For the most part, fitting into a team's system occurs independently of overall talent. Lubin may be a tank, but I'm confident that whatever Ollie has in mind for him will require a good deal of work and adjustment.
 
Chief00 said:
Getting stronger - which was Facey's primarily barrier to more playing time last season along with the more experienced Griffey and Daniels being ahead of him - has been seriously addressed this summer from what I have been told. Therefore, I see Facey getting lots of time. The intangible he has is he is quick to the ball on rebounds. You can't teach that. He is a much better shooter than the average fan or poster knows.
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Yes, but my recollection is that KO said his defense determines his minutes straight up. That lack of strength and knowledge/experience meant he couldn't guard most decent PFs. That meant he couldn't see big minutes despite his above average rebounding and decent offensive skills. If he's strong enough and has learned enough not to get pushed under the basket and can avoid fouling on aggressive moves, he'll play a lot.

I expect KO to use situational lineups all year. He can go big/strong quite easily, he can put a very fast team on the floor, he can put a team loaded with shooters on the floor, he can play 3 guards with Purvis at the 3 and crush anybody who presses us or press them. Increasingly, KO is bringing an NBA style in that regard, and will look to exploit match-ups as he sees them. I think a lot of college coaches play lip service to the idea, but end up playing 7 guys the same minutes every game.
 
Highlight videos always make you feel better.

I expect good things from this kid. He will be a safe player out there. He's got a great group of guys both coaches and players to put him in the best position to succeed.
 
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CallMeBruce said:
No, not like last year, because last year, we had Daniels and Giffey, who could both play the 4 without foul problems, and Olander, who was able to provide depth at the 4 and 5. This doesn't seem that complicated to me.
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As currently constructed, the front court on this team isn't asked to do a whole lot, and certainly isn't a focal point. With Boatright and Purvis we'll have arguably the best backcourt in the country. It seems silly to me to fret over the overall success of the team based on whether not Kentan Facey can stay out of foul trouble.
 
johnhuskies95 said:
As currently constructed, the front court on this team isn't asked to do a whole lot, and certainly isn't a focal point. With Boatright and Purvis we'll have arguably the best backcourt in the country. It seems silly to me to fret over the overall success of the team based on whether not Kentan Facey can stay out of foul trouble.
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They aren't asked to do much except rebound and defend, but if they foul as much as they did last year, they won't be able to stay on the court.
 
Got other things going on - and don't have the time or given it the thought yet - but I will indeed break down this year's front court in September.
 
Chief00 said:
Got other things going on - and don't have the time or given it the thought yet - but I will indeed break down this year's front court in September.
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I'm counting the days.
 
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