Who will be the most disappointing college basketball team this year? (The Athletic)

[Drew]

College basketball experts predict: Who will be the most disappointing team this season?

Illinois, Memphis, Texas and UCLA are among the teams our panel could see failing to meet expectations this season.

theathletic.com

“UConn. It’s less a matter of the Huskies being outright bad than not as good as everyone thinks. James Bouknight scored more points than anyone on the team last year in half as many games. James Bouknight is no longer in college, and I don’t know who steps in.” — Brian Hamilton

 

[husky429]

College basketball experts predict: Who will be the most disappointing team this season?

Illinois, Memphis, Texas and UCLA are among the teams our panel could see failing to meet expectations this season.

theathletic.com

“UConn. It’s less a matter of the Huskies being outright bad than not as good as everyone thinks. James Bouknight scored more points than anyone on the team last year in half as many games. James Bouknight is no longer in college, and I don’t know who steps in.” — Brian Hamilton

This is fair IMO. Our defense will get us a tourney bid IMO, but the offense is what will get us to the second weekend and a top-25 ranking throughout the year. If we stagnate in the half-court, can't shoot, and if Jackson/Hawkins/Johnson/Akok don't contribute how we hope, we might be a top-50 team, but not much more.

We really just need to be in wait-and-see mode. No one knows if Hurley is going to trust the freshman, let the guys run, and prioritize 3-point shooting more. We HOPE for it, and I think Luke will be putting the right notions in Hurley's head... but a lot of this is going to come down to our coach changing what he's comfortable with. He's gotten better and better so far, so I have faith it will happen.

I think 2022-2023 and on is the years that a slower tempo could work for us. We're bringing in a lot more skill and size with guys like Karaban and Clingan. With as little shooting as we have, we have GOT to run the ball.

 

[Ts5034]

It’s a legit concern. This team/season has a lot of similarities to 2002-2003 In my opinion. It was the year after we lost Caron Butler, who was obviously the #1 guy, and although we still had a lot of talent, It took a little while for that team to find their Identity. I can see that being the case for this season, especially early on.

 

[aburks41]

Bulletin board material. This team is going to be much better than people think. Good luck stopping a front court of Whaley and Sanogo. Go ahead and double down on them, leave Cole, Polley, or Hawkins open for 3 and see how that works out for you.

And then we have another entire starting squad with Jackson, Gaffney, Martin, Akok, and Johnson. This team is insanely deep and talented. We could literally be running the 2015 UK platoon if we wanted to

 

[QDOG5]

I'll take even money that we have a better overall record, a better conference record and advance farther in the NCAA tourney this year.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Bulletin board material. This team is going to be much better than people think. Good luck stopping a front court of Whaley and Sanogo. Go ahead and double down on them, leave Cole, Polley, or Hawkins open for 3 and see how that works out for you.

And then we have another entire starting squad with Jackson, Gaffney, Martin, Akok, and Johnson. This team is insanely deep and talented. We could literally be running the 2015 UK platoon if we wanted to

And this is exactly why it is going to be a disappointing season for some

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Let see we won 50% of our games W/O Bouk
Cole with an additional year should be better more confident
Gaffney is due to breakout
Akok is healthy and another great shot blocker
Jackson with a shot has all-league potential
Sonogo could be real special
Polley is another year removed from ACL
Whaley is Whaley
Martin is a glue guy
Plus we have a great freshman class
This team will easily win 20 plus
especially if Hurley speeds up the tempo . If you have the horses you let them run.

 

[businesslawyer]

It’s a legit concern. This team/season has a lot of similarities to 2002-2003 In my opinion. It was the year after we lost Caron Butler, who was obviously the #1 guy, and although we still had a lot of talent, It took a little while for that team to find their Identity. I can see that being the case for this season, especially early on.

That team went to the Sweet 16. For this year’s team, that would hardly make us one of the bigger disappointments.

 

[Dogdeacon]

A weird anomaly of college hoops is the preseason rankings are where everyone is predicted to be at the END of the year. But the season starts and those are the initial rankings AND initial expectations. UConn is currently not top 25 even in the most optimistic UConn fan's eye. But most think we'll get there. So its actually low hanging fruit to pick them as under-achiever b/c you can be right thru January and then say well now they jelled & developed.

I think most UConn fans and more importantly the coach/team are judging this season by how much is built from last years, so we all expect to compete in and win an NCAA tournament game.

 

[UofCT]

We are returning two guys who averaged double digit scoring (Cole + Martin), three guys who averaged over 7ppg (Sanogo, Polley and and Whaley), we have a top 10 recruiting class and let's not forget we have Akok coming back who was our best player for stretches in 2019 and Gaffney who was our best player in the last game we played.

I'm FIRED UP

 

[Dean Wormer]

We are returning two guys who averaged double digit scoring (Cole + Martin), three guys who averaged over 7ppg (Sanogo, Polley and and Whaley), we have a top 10 recruiting class and let's not forget we have Akok coming back who was our best player for stretches in 2019 and Gaffney who was our best player in the last game we played.

I'm FIRED UP

I still think Gaff will be a pleasant surprise. Not really sold on Dre making the jump yet. Hope I’m wrong.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

i'm not even sure that last years squad was better than the season before, as that peaking team got hosed by the shutdown. we didn't get to see peak cv playing on the big stage, with a gelling gang around him.
other than 'every single one of the current group will be drafted, and they're all future nba hof'ers', i will consider the current season a great success iffn they're able to shorten our offseason. threads get weird around here when the gap is soo long.
on the udder hand, with donovan and karaban on the horizon, well,

 

[Husky Alien]

We really just need to be in wait-and-see mode. No one knows if Hurley is going to trust the freshman, let the guys run, and prioritize 3-point shooting more. We HOPE for it, and I think Luke will be putting the right notions in Hurley's head... but a lot of this is going to come down to our coach changing what he's comfortable with. He's gotten better and better so far, so I have faith it will happen.

Hurley's lack of offense sets were suspect. Hoping he will adjust just like his players. Luke should add some valuable offensive sets for Hurley to assess during games. He has gotten better though.

 

[husky429]

Hurley's lack of offense sets were suspect. Hoping he will adjust just like his players. Luke should add some valuable offensive sets for Hurley to assess during games. He has gotten better though.

I'm worried about philosophy more than sets.. We have some decent BOB and SOB plays. Any coach can come up with plays--there's 1000s that can work at this level. If we're just filling lanes in transition and letting our athletes make plays themselves, I'm okay with that too IF we are playing fast and utilizing our shooters. No more iso. No more overreliance on less talented upperclassmen. Without a transcendent scorer in Bouk, we would have been BAD last year on offense.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I'll take even money that we have a better overall record, a better conference record and advance farther in the NCAA tourney this year.

I think this team wins at least 25 games this season.

 

[August_West]

Posting in thread to save predictions.

 

[Improviser]

i'm not even sure that last years squad was better than the season before, as that peaking team got hosed by the shutdown. we didn't get to see peak cv playing on the big stage, with a gelling gang around him.
other than 'every single one of the current group will be drafted, and they're all future nba hof'ers', i will consider the current season a great success iffn they're able to shorten our offseason. threads get weird around here when the gap is soo long.
on the udder hand, with donovan and karaban on the horizon, well,

Cool song and video. Never heard it before. Donkey enjoying a bit of freedom too.
I will send it to my pessimist friends to cheer them up.
Maybe the depressed ones, will need more than the song.
That is is above my pay grade though.

 

[freescooter]

I think this is one possible outcome to be sure. If a couple of the fresh are really good, we will be fine, but nobody is saying we have a starting point guard or even shooting guard in that group. Akok is returning from a really devastating injury. Again, who knows? Basically, we have last year’s team when Bouknight was injured. The back court is average, the front court is solid defensively but in the current game front court talent is like having a great running back in football..it helps but if you can’t throw the ball around you won’t keep up. If you can’t shoot 3s consistently, you are limited. Until a couple of guys can we will be limited.

The opposite is also possible. Akok comes back and shows an improved game, Hawkins, maybe steps in and dominates, Jackson shows good ability to shoot and we are really good.

My hunch is we are a solid team, 25-30ish type. Capable of making really good teams sweat. But we don’t have the b@ckcourt necessary to be really good.

 

[HooperScooper]

We are returning two guys who averaged double digit scoring (Cole + Martin), three guys who averaged over 7ppg (Sanogo, Polley and and Whaley), we have a top 10 recruiting class and let's not forget we have Akok coming back who was our best player for stretches in 2019 and Gaffney who was our best player in the last game we played.

I'm FIRED UP

I can't believe I'm posting this but it made me lol.

 

[Husky Alien]

I think this is one possible outcome to be sure. If a couple of the fresh are really good, we will be fine, but nobody is saying we have a starting point guard or even shooting guard in that group. Akok is returning from a really devastating injury. Again, who knows? Basically, we have last year’s team when Bouknight was injured. The back court is average, the front court is solid defensively but in the current game front court talent is like having a great running back in football..it helps but if you can’t throw the ball around you won’t keep up. If you can’t shoot 3s consistently, you are limited. Until a couple of guys can we will be limited.

The opposite is also possible. Akok comes back and shows an improved game, Hawkins, maybe steps in and dominates, Jackson shows good ability to shoot and we are really good.

My hunch is we are a solid team, 25-30ish type. Capable of making really good teams sweat. But we don’t have the b@ckcourt necessary to be really good.

You are correct in one way based of of last year and losing Bouk. However we really won't or don't know where we stand in the back court until B4A tournament IMO. Gafney, Hawkins, Sool, RJ, Floyd (RS?) and AJax by committee can be a formidable back court to get it done. As the season progresses Hawkins will be a force to recon with on offense. RJ you know what your getting (tough player) AJax other than his jump shot is going to be a tough match for many man defenses. Sool (crafty) and Floyd (who knows, sure looked better than I thought during the scrimmage, looked pretty confident if he does not RS). Let's not really base things from last year when we had Bouk who took control and the others in a sense watched. So different dynamics this year in the back court. We can be good enough though.

 

[NJHoops]

This one from The Athletic might be more worth your time-

Attack! Get ready for a faster UConn team, one that looks like a Dan Hurley-era Rhode Island squad

In his last season at Rhode Island, coach Dan Hurley's Rams played with a speed he hopes the Huskies can implement.

theathletic.com

 

[Kenny11]

We will be much better.

 

[freescooter]

You are correct in one way based of of last year and losing Bouk. However we really won't or don't know where we stand in the back court until B4A tournament IMO. Gafney, Hawkins, Sool, RJ, Floyd (RS?) and AJax by committee can be a formidable back court to get it done. As the season progresses Hawkins will be a force to recon with on offense. RJ you know what your getting (tough player) AJax other than his jump shot is going to be a tough match for many man defenses. Sool (crafty) and Floyd (who knows, sure looked better than I thought during the scrimmage, looked pretty confident if he does not RS). Let's not really base things from last year when we had Bouk who took control and the others in a sense watched. So different dynamics this year in the back court. We can be good enough though.

Good enough for what? To get to the Dance? Sure. Sweet 16? Final Four? Win the New Big East? I kind of doubt it. I guess it depends on your expectations. As I said I think 25-30 ish, which translates to a tournament win in the first round. Anything else is gravy. Anything less is a disappointment. Not getting a bid is a big disappointment.

 

[NJHoops]

This one from The Athletic might be more worth your time-

Attack! Get ready for a faster UConn team, one that looks like a Dan Hurley-era Rhode Island squad

In his last season at Rhode Island, coach Dan Hurley's Rams played with a speed he hopes the Huskies can implement.

theathletic.com

Coaches are going to run what they think will win. Some fans might disagree with what they go with. The debate is the fun part of sports to some. Coaches make the wrong decisions from time to time. Fans have the advantage of never having to actually do it and thus remain undefeated in their minds. May we all have the confidence of an internet coach!

 

[CL82]

Without a transcendent scorer in Bouk, we would have been BAD last year on offense.

To a certain extent, it was because we had a transcendent scorer that we were so stagnant on offense. I think scoring may be a little better distributed this year out of necessity. That’s really what I want to see in addition to up-tempo play is our being opportunistic and looking for mismatches.