Who was this year's MVP?

[Deepster]

When I really thought about it, and using most valuable as the defining point, I went with Diarra.

When Liam was out, we were able to spread that production around a little. Same with Alex. When Diarra was not on the floor, for the most part we were not a competent team. His running of the offense and pesky defense was the motor that made us run all year.

 

[husky429]

Has to be AK or Hass. Even without a slump like AK had, I still gotta give it to Hass. Just 1000% heart every time he stepped on the floor, even when he could barely walk.

 

[RuffRuff]

Wow, this is a tough one. Give the overall lack of dependable ball handling guards and defenders, I'd have to agree it's Hass. With most of the other guys we could provide some configuration that filled the gaps, there was no one to replace what Hass does.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I can't think of a more fearless husky than Hass. I really can't. We've had some tough guys but nobody tougher.
I want to gush about how much I love him but I'd be gushing to the choir.

 

[uchusky32]

Hass without a doubt. When he wasn't on the floor most of the time we struggled.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

We would’ve won like 12 games without Hass. Our best perimeter defender and passer by a mile. No one else could really handle ball pressure either. 100% Hass, love the kid.

 

[Connecticut13]

Hassan for sure was the most "valuable." Without him, we wouldn't have had any true ball handling guard to initiate the offense.

 

[6in25]

 

[BPT2Storrs]

Hassan for sure. Going to miss him.

 

[superjohn]

I'll go Solo Ball.

We couldn't score the ball for much of the Big East season. Liam was out 5 weeks and outside of the Creighton game when he came back and was otherworldly singlehandedly winning the game he struggled a lot after the injury...

AK shot under 13% from three for a 9 game stretch of the Big East season...

Solo's second game of the Big East season he scored 4 points against Butler, he was double figures every single other game of the Big East and averaged 16 ppg for the Big East season on great shooting, he averaged 19 ppg for the 5 weeks Liam was out. You need to score the ball to win games and Solo's scoring kept us afloat with no Liam/Liam struggling and AK struggling. We don't make the tournament without Solo keeping us afloat scoring the ball.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Diarra

Solo is in second place, and his last couple weeks have been very encouraging for next season.

 

[stpeteuc]

It has to be Hass and him only. AK was extremely inconsistent and terrible in his shooting this year. Maybe second in MVP voting is Ball, he was great as a shooter this year.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Not even a question. It's Diarra.

 

[B1GEast]

Hassan had the mental toughness that you would expect from a Husky. Character guy

 

[3rdbass]

When I really thought about it, and using most valuable as the defining point, I went with Diarra.

When Liam was out, we were able to spread that production around a little. Same with Alex. When Diarra was not on the floor, for the most part we were not a competent team. His running of the offense and pesky defense was the motor that made us run all year.

Diarra was huge and kept on playing great D with his hands even if his feet let him down due to his injury. I loved him as a player and he will be sorely missed. I wish he could of had a final year without that injury as he was a fun player to watch.

 

[Greedo]

It’s Hass and not particularly close for me. They wouldn’t have been a tournament team without him.

 

[uconngb]

When I voted for Diarra i was thinking I'd be one of the few. The fact that he is overwhelmingly the #1 choice says a lot about him and what he brought to the table this year. Too bad he wasn't healthy for a good part of the season.

 

[Mets1432]

The answer is Hassan. Without him, I don't think this team goes .500. We had no other ball handlers once we figured out Mahaney and Nowell weren't reliable.

 

[UConnDad]

Hass by a wide margin for me. Going to miss him.

 

[Deepster]

When I voted for Diarra i was thinking I'd be one of the few. The fact that he is overwhelmingly the #1 choice says a lot about him and what he brought to the table this year. Too bad he wasn't healthy for a good part of the season.

Agreed. I cannot believe the voting is 115-13 for him over Alex.

 

[REB1094]

I'm actually going to go with Solo here. Very tough to choose for me because Hassan gave 100% in the role we needed him to step up in, but Solo was a shooting machine. I get that his defense isn't good, but his shooting kept us above water when we needed scoring.

In 20 BE games, he scored 20+ points 6 times. He scored 15+ points 14 times. It will get lost because of the disappointing season, but Solo just tied for #4 most three pointers made in a season in UConn history (tied with Cam and Rip Hamilton)

Without his shooting, we lose a LOT more games

 

[his dudeness]

According to Evan Miya's analytics, the MVP was Diarra, followed in order by Karaban, Tarris, Liam, Samson, then Solo.

Biggest surprise is that Tarris had the best defensive analytics on the team, when it appeared to me (a novice) that he lost track of the ball and gave up too many uncontested layups when caught out of position. His defensive rebounding dominance and solid post defense must have more than made up for any mistakes. His defensive analytics were significantly better than Sanogo's final year, surprising to me.

My novice take away from this season is that Clingan's drop coverage rim protection was the defensive key to the back to back championships. It cannot be overlooked. Even though he didn't play a ton of minutes as a freshman, he was defensively dominant and erased so many of the blow by's that our 3 point-denial-focused defense allows.

If the staff wants to compete for another championship, they should develop Reibe to play a drop coverage rim protector role. I don't think Reibe is considered a dominant rim protector prospect but he does have good size. The staff has done an incredible job with bigs overall but they did miscast Josh Carlton - who was great in his final year at Houston - because they wanted him to hedge. The high hedge is a great tool but can be picked apart by elite opposing staffs/point guards. If Reibe is not right for drop coverage, they should looking for someone to play that role. Clingan's rim protection was the key to back to back championships IMO.

EvanMiya CBB Analytics

Advanced college basketball analytics used widely by coaches, journalists, and fans.

evanmiya.com

 

[NHUConnfan]

How can you argue against someone who gave literally everything he had? Hass with one functional knee was better than the rest of our point play all season long. He's the MVP of this season easily. It's not close at all.

 

[mjmoney23]

Diarra's improvment from last year is not discussed enough. He was a max effort change of pace point guard who made the most of his minutes. Even with the loaded roster, it was evident when Hass was in the game running point it was a noticeable downgrade over Newton. There were many groans on here at times. Fast forward to this year. Hass not only was the leader of the offense, it sputtered when he wasn't in the game! This is on top of a roster nowhere near as strong as last year's. Hass under the radar had one of the biggest jumps in UCONN history imo.

 

[huskyinfl]

Hass because he bowed up after the Creighton dunk.