Who comes back next year?

[caw]

Lamb could leave, but I think a lot may depend on how this season plays out.

Drummond, ditto Lamb

Oriakhi, I could see him leave, if only because of the question with the NCAAT, which I think is a mistake. He still has a lot of potential and will have a better shot of growing at UConn then in the d-league or Europe. Am I the only one who remembers him both moving better and jumping higher last year? Maybe my brain is just not remembering things that well.

Shabazz, I don't think he would leave, but who knows. I look around and there are not many good/great college PG's out there this year, let alone NBA quality ones. Last year was stacked though. I could easily see Shabazz as a future Derek Fisher with his defense and shooting ability. I don't think Shabazz is a J-Kidd type at all. I could see him being a really solid backup in the NBA or a starter on the right team.

I don't see anyone else leaving unless Boatright is declared as "Kantor'd", which I hope doesn't happen. I am not going to even go into transfers.

BTW I love Omar Calhoun without him even playing at UConn yet. He stuck by his commitment even with the question about the BE and the question about the NCAAT during his freshman year. That is fantastic.

Defensively if the following are back the team will be OK:

Napier, Boatright, Giffey, Roscoe, Olander, Oriakhi.

I think Daniels will get better defensively after getting in the weight room and having a summer at UConn.

Wolf and Bradley are question marks.

The problem next year will be the same as this year. Where is the offense coming from aside from Boat and Napier the rest of the players will need to step up or Omar is going to have to score a lot as a freshman.

I would love to have everyone back and have a real 4 guard rotation with the 2 SF's and 3 PF/C and Roscoe at the 3/4. That would just be a team with crazy potential. Not to mention if Bradley or Wolf blossom some.

 

[huskymagic]

I'm an admin here in case you hadn't figured that out. I can see your IP address.

Beyond that, back as MarkT, you had several threads about Harkless being better than DD. You continue the same theme. It's not hard to pick out. Not saying your argument (Harkless better than DD) isn't correct, but it's a dead give away - along with the IP address....

In addition, somehow your writing style flares up on my radar (which is weird, cause I don't recognize the styles of 10+ year posters, I sometimes have to scroll up to see who is posting) which has prompted me to say - wait a second, this is MarkT and sure enough, I check the IP (which I almost never do) and holy crap - it's still you.

So Mark, there's no doubt it's you. You offer just enough not to be banned, but at least live up to who you are. And there's no way AO is leaving for the NBA after this year no matter how badly you want him off our team.

You believe whatever makes you feel better at night. A lot of UConn fan realized that Harkless was a big loss and now almost everyone on here realizes that Moe Harkless was a huge loss for us considering how well Daniels has played. In case you haven't been reading you would know that Alex is one of my favorite guys on the team and dont want to see him leave but its almost a foregone conclusion that he will leave.

 

[TopDog18]

Alex is one of my favorite guys on the team and dont want to see him leave but its almost a foregone conclusion that he will leave.

We get your point. How many times you going to state that AO is a first round pick? By March you will be on here saying he will be an NBA All Star next year. Fortunately, your basketball knowledge is extremely limited and its a foregone conclusion that he will be back next year.

 

[HuskyFan32]

What planet are you from? There is NO chance of AO getting drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft. NONE. Even guys that dominate on the college level sometimes fall to the late 2nd round or out of the draft entirely. I really like AO and root like crazy for him to do well, but guys who average 6.6 points and 4.9 rebounds don't leave early for the NBA.

Sure they do. Daniel Orton on KY averaged like 3 and 3 and he left and got drafted in the first round. NBA GM's are collectively the dumbest group of people in any profession.

I completely agree that AO SHOULDNT leave and shouldnt be drafted but that doesnt mean he wont.

 

[SJ]

I'm an admin here in case you hadn't figured that out. I can see your IP address.

Beyond that, back as MarkT, you had several threads about Harkless being better than DD. You continue the same theme. It's not hard to pick out. Not saying your argument (Harkless better than DD) isn't correct, but it's a dead give away - along with the IP address....

In addition, somehow your writing style flares up on my radar (which is weird, cause I don't recognize the styles of 10+ year posters, I sometimes have to scroll up to see who is posting) which has prompted me to say - wait a second, this is MarkT and sure enough, I check the IP (which I almost never do) and holy crap - it's still you.

So Mark, there's no doubt it's you. You offer just enough not to be banned, but at least live up to who you are. And there's no way AO is leaving for the NBA after this year no matter how badly you want him off our team.

hahahahahahahaha. caught!

 

[Danzz]

I think everyone.....including Lamb. Im thinking Ollie convinces him he needs 1 more year.
No one else is ready to leave....

What Rico said.

 

[Huskybass]

Sure they do. Daniel Orton on KY averaged like 3 and 3 and he left and got drafted in the first round. NBA GM's are collectively the dumbest group of people in any profession.

I completely agree that AO SHOULDNT leave and shouldnt be drafted but that doesnt mean he wont.

Orton was a 6'10" freshman with lots of upside potential, thats different than a Junior whos numbers have fallen off. But you are correct, Orton did get drafted in the late first round after averaging 3 and 3.

 

[NOTaDIME]

I guess we can't be concerned about our current and future state of the program at the same time?

 

[huskymagic]

We get your point. How many times you going to state that AO is a first round pick? By March you will be on here saying he will be an NBA All Star next year. Fortunately, your basketball knowledge is extremely limited and its a foregone conclusion that he will be back next year.

There isn't anything that I have said that isn't true or wont turn out to be true.. I was right about Daniels from the beginning who you guys were calling a stud. I said Roscoe should be starting over that guy since the beginning over Daniels because he would lose confidence and his game has suffered because of it. Shabazz has also proved my criticism correct as well so my basketball knowledge is just fine but thanks for caring.

 

[huskymagic]

Lamb could leave, but I think a lot may depend on how this season plays out.

Drummond, ditto Lamb


I could easily see Shabazz as a future Derek Fisher with his defense. I could see him being a really solid backup in the NBA or a starter on the right team.

Since when does Shabazz play great defense? The only thing he does is try to reach around and poke the ball free from a guy which almost never works, and or let the guy drive right past him. He will get drafted somewhere in the second round based on his shooting ability and some savvy that he has, but not for his defense. He needs to have major improvements in his defense and work on his speed and quickness to be a good role player on an NBA team.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

There isn't anything that I have said that isn't true or wont turn out to be true..

Other than every word you've ever typed on Alex Oriakhi.

 

[huskymagic]

Other than every word you've ever typed on Alex Oriakhi.

Jury is still out on Alex. Everyone should just wait and see as long as the right changes are made everyone will take note of Oriakhi's play including NBA scouts.

 

[Dougsts]

As far as I have seen this year, I don't think anybody on this team is quite ready to make the jump to the NBA

 

[caw]

Since when does Shabazz play great defense? The only thing he does is try to reach around and poke the ball free from a guy which almost never works, and or let the guy drive right past him. He will get drafted somewhere in the second round based on his shooting ability and some savvy that he has, but not for his defense. He needs to have major improvements in his defense and work on his speed and quickness to be a good role player on an NBA team.

Shabazz may not play great defense all the time but it's not due to lack of ability in the area.

In terms of on the ball defense he has good defensive footwork and great hands. He also has good lateral speed. He has three issues that are slowing him down on defense. On the ball, he gambles too much. Off the ball, he helps too much and ball watches too much. Those are all things that can be worked on.

 

[sledog]

Is there anyone displaying PROFESSIONAL characteristics this year ???

 

[HuskyFan32]

Orton was a 6'10" freshman with lots of upside potential, thats different than a Junior whos numbers have fallen off. But you are correct, Orton did get drafted in the late first round after averaging 3 and 3.

Completely agree. I was gonna say he was a bigger freshman, but the point still stands. The NBA sometimes doesnt care at all about college production. I cant see how any GM would want to draft Alex after the year hes had and especially when you consider how his game doesnt translate at all to the NBA.

 

[HuskyFan32]

If AO and Napier are early entry first rounders then I must know little about basketball or the talent level in the NBA is poor. BTW, what highlight real of AO will they show on draft day?? No freakin' way is AO an NBA caliber player. Bazz maybe in a couple of years to evolve into a Jason Kidd type.

The talent in the NBA right now is a disgrace. I was just going through some of the stats yesterday and was blown away at how pathetica majority of the teams are. For instance: Tyreke Evans, Gerald Henderson, Andrea Bargiani, Louis Williams, Greg Monroe, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Martin, and Marcin Gortat, all lead their teams in scoring. I mean how bad is that? The Nuggets are one of the top teams in the league and their top 3 players are Danilo Galinari, Ty Lawson, and Al Harrington. Needless to say the league could do without at least 5 or 6 teams. Any chance the Raptors or Nets wanna boost the Big East??

 

[sparky]

Bazz & JL, have NBA skill sets, but both need to get stronger and probably will and should return. AD has nice size, speed, defensive timing, and is a quick second jumper. That being said his offensive skill set is lacking, and I don't see him leaving. Where is AO going? He has done very little this year and if it's attitude, who wants that? He has really bad footwork especially defending the pick and roll, and he doesn't consistently knock down the open shot.
I surely hope they all stay.

 

[caw]

The talent in the NBA right now is a disgrace. I was just going through some of the stats yesterday and was blown away at how pathetica majority of the teams are. For instance: Tyreke Evans, Gerald Henderson, Andrea Bargiani, Louis Williams, Greg Monroe, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Martin, and Marcin Gortat, all lead their teams in scoring. I mean how bad is that? The Nuggets are one of the top teams in the league and their top 3 players are Danilo Galinari, Ty Lawson, and Al Harrington. Needless to say the league could do without at least 5 or 6 teams. Any chance the Raptors or Nets wanna boost the Big East??

I agree it's pretty bad. I wouldn't mind seeing any of the following teams taken away: Bobcats, Wizards, Detroit (I guess keep them for historical reasons), NO, and Toronto. Those 5 teams have a total of 17 wins and 71 losses this year. The best team (Chicago) is 16 and 3.

I wouldn't mind taking the Bobcats, Wizards, NO and Toronto and having a league-wide draft of their players.

There is some talent on those teams, but it's hard to combine those rosters to form a really good squad. They are still pretty weak at the SF position. This is who I would take:

PG's
John Wall (Wizards)
Jose Calderon (Toronto)
Kemba Walker (Charlotte)
DJ Augustin (Charlotte)
Jarrett Jack (NO)

SG's
Eric Gordon (NO)
DeMar DeRozan (Toronto)
Nick Young (Wizards)
Gerald Henderson (Charlotte)


SF's
Trevor Ariza (NO)
Al-Farouq Aminu (NO)
Rashard Lewis (Wizards)

PF's
Bismark Biyombo (Charlotte)
Andrea Bargnani (Toronto)
Carl Landry (NO)
Ed Davis (Toronto)
Andray Blatche (Wizards)

C's
Emeka Okafor (NO)
Chris Kaman (NO)
JaVale McGee (Wizards)
Byron Mullens (Charlotte)
Amir Johnson (Toronto)

I feel sorry for anyone who has to watch the Bobcats vs. Wizards game tonight.

 

[3rdbass]

Jury is still out on Alex. Everyone should just wait and see as long as the right changes are made everyone will take note of Oriakhi's play including NBA scouts.

Guys that are under 6'9" with no low post skills or no great hops don't make it in the NBA. Now if he wants to leave to go to Europe or the NBDL maybe I can see that happening as I'm sure he isn't enamored with Calhoun at times. I will say with 100% conviction he won't be a first round NBA pick next year and 95% sure he won't sniff the 2nd round either. Not sure why he would leave when he has no skill that can benefit him at the next level. Maybe at the end of his Sr. year he might be a 2nd round pick if he improves his game. The guy can barely jump over a telephone book. He is not AD who even without a post game can get by on athletic talent alone.

 

[mets1090]

Contracting certain teams would certainly help competitiveness but it would cause the NBA to lose money which as always is the most important thing in this discussion. Their goal is to hit as many markets as they possibly can. Having more teams allows them to do that more easily and consistently. Contracting teams would also probably force them to let less teams into the playoffs which would cause losses in ticket and TV revenue.

 

[HuskyFan32]

I agree it's pretty bad. I wouldn't mind seeing any of the following teams taken away: Bobcats, Wizards, Detroit (I guess keep them for historical reasons), NO, and Toronto. Those 5 teams have a total of 17 wins and 71 losses this year. The best team (Chicago) is 16 and 3.

I wouldn't mind taking the Bobcats, Wizards, NO and Toronto and having a league-wide draft of their players.

There is some talent on those teams, but it's hard to combine those rosters to form a really good squad. They are still pretty weak at the SF position. This is who I would take:

PG's
John Wall (Wizards)
Jose Calderon (Toronto)
Kemba Walker (Charlotte)
DJ Augustin (Charlotte)
Jarrett Jack (NO)

SG's
Eric Gordon (NO)
DeMar DeRozan (Toronto)
Nick Young (Wizards)
Gerald Henderson (Charlotte)


SF's
Trevor Ariza (NO)
Al-Farouq Aminu (NO)
Rashard Lewis (Wizards)

PF's
Bismark Biyombo (Charlotte)
Andrea Bargnani (Toronto)
Carl Landry (NO)
Ed Davis (Toronto)
Andray Blatche (Wizards)

C's
Emeka Okafor (NO)
Chris Kaman (NO)
JaVale McGee (Wizards)
Byron Mullens (Charlotte)
Amir Johnson (Toronto)

I feel sorry for anyone who has to watch the Bobcats vs. Wizards game tonight.

Agreed. Even a lot of those players you listed as options are pretty bad. Amir Johnson, BJ Mullens, Aminu, Jarret Jack. Its pretty bad that those guys are part of the select group from those teams. Even Demar Derozen. Is he actually any good or he just scores because he plays on the worst team ever assembled.

 

[caw]

Agreed. Even a lot of those players you listed as options are pretty bad. Amir Johnson, BJ Mullens, Aminu, Jarret Jack. Its pretty bad that those guys are part of the select group from those teams. Even Demar Derozen. Is he actually any good or he just scores because he plays on the worst team ever assembled.

I am not sure on DeRozan, but I think he would be a decent backup to Eric Gordon at the least.

 

[huskymagic]

I agree it's pretty bad. I wouldn't mind seeing any of the following teams taken away: Bobcats, Wizards, Detroit (I guess keep them for historical reasons), NO, and Toronto. Those 5 teams have a total of 17 wins and 71 losses this year. The best team (Chicago) is 16 and 3.

I wouldn't mind taking the Bobcats, Wizards, NO and Toronto and having a league-wide draft of their players.

There is some talent on those teams, but it's hard to combine those rosters to form a really good squad. They are still pretty weak at the SF position. This is who I would take:

PG's
John Wall (Wizards)
Jose Calderon (Toronto)
Kemba Walker (Charlotte)
DJ Augustin (Charlotte)
Jarrett Jack (NO)

SG's
Eric Gordon (NO)
DeMar DeRozan (Toronto)
Nick Young (Wizards)
Gerald Henderson (Charlotte)


SF's
Trevor Ariza (NO)
Al-Farouq Aminu (NO)
Rashard Lewis (Wizards)

PF's
Bismark Biyombo (Charlotte)
Andrea Bargnani (Toronto)
Carl Landry (NO)
Ed Davis (Toronto)
Andray Blatche (Wizards)

C's
Emeka Okafor (NO)
Chris Kaman (NO)
JaVale McGee (Wizards)
Byron Mullens (Charlotte)
Amir Johnson (Toronto)

I feel sorry for anyone who has to watch the Bobcats vs. Wizards game tonight.

You do realize that you are making my point and I actually said this in a thread like a week ago that the talent level is weak on a lot of teams in the NBA which is why Alex will definitely get drafted this year. Also, Bargnani and Gerald Henderson that somebody mentioned up above are very good players. They are definitely NBA worthy all you have to do is watch them play.

 

[HuskyFan32]

I am not sure on DeRozan, but I think he would be a decent backup to Eric Gordon at the least.

Again, I agree. Im sure hes decent, but he exemplifies a lot of the NBA right now. Athletic guy with one year of college experience who was ok in college but nothing special, starting for an awful team, and getting to shoot it 15 -20 times a game because the team has no alternative. The majority of the league is just playing young guys who were top draft picks and hoping they will pan out.

 

[HuskyFan32]

You do realize that you are making my point and I actually said this in a thread like a week ago that the talent level is weak on a lot of teams in the NBA which is why Alex will definitely get drafted this year. Also, Bargnani and Gerald Henderson that somebody mentioned up above are very good players. They are definitely NBA worthy all you have to do is watch them play.

The talent in the league may be awful, but that doesnt mean its bad enough for Alex Oriakhi to be a first round pick. You are crazy if you think that. As Ive said before, NBA GM's are idiots, but surely none of them will waste a first round pick on a 6'8 guy who cant catch, cant shoot, cant finish, and only seems interested in boxing out a few times a game. Alex is a nice kid, but his effort has been awful this year. A lot of that has to do with Drummond, but he can certainly show a little more enthusiasm.

 

[caw]

You do realize that you are making my point and I actually said this in a thread like a week ago that the talent level is weak on a lot of teams in the NBA which is why Alex will definitely get drafted this year. Also, Bargnani and Gerald Henderson that somebody mentioned up above are very good players. They are definitely NBA worthy all you have to do is watch them play.

Could he get drafted? Yes. He is talented and heck Majok got drafted. I think the odds are against him right now. I can think of 20 players in the NCAA's that look like better prospects off the top of my head.

Will he leave? No, clue. He hasn't said anything.

Could he play in the NBA? Yes, he has talent but he needs a ton of work.

 

[3rdbass]

The only guys that might not be back next year are JL(draft), AD(draft), RB(maybe not with the team anymore due to NCAA issues) and Wolfe(back to Europe). Otherwise the rest of the team will be the same. I will check with my source who actually help coach JL and his brother on the AAU circuit as we get closer to the time if he will come back or not.

 

[jibsey]

To me if Alex starts doin 18 and 10 every start, with great defense we can start talking NBA and if the NBA is that weak why would anyone watch it?

 

[ctchamps]

Orton was a 6'10" freshman with lots of upside potential, thats different than a Junior whos numbers have fallen off. But you are correct, Orton did get drafted in the late first round after averaging 3 and 3.

I think Orton is more of a case to describe AD than AO.