X factors for a 3 peat

[SeaDr]

Hi, first time poster, 30 year UConn fan that is powered to defy limitations that were given by cerebral palsy/extremely sharp memory by lessons from UConn and college basketball.

Our three peat chances and a chance to do something only wooden has done but in an exponentially more difficult situation to do it in ride on the following 3 X factors:

1) singares development we need a little more depth inside especially if karaban doesn't return. Give me 5 min per game average. Have to protect against foul trouble of reed and Johnson

2) Jayden Ross' development. Yes we have great forwards stewie and mcneely on this team but injuries and if we play faster him producing will make the scouting reports a nightmare

3) the superstar power of Jaylin Stewart

Jaylin Stewart has limitless potential. His frame, abilities and mobility remind me of Hawkins and Jackson combined into one.

Why can't Stewart be the next Michael Jordan?

You can't tell me the frame and height and coaching will be the reason

Bonus: AK coming back

If I get these three things

Well.....

Despite every other factor known to man and every obstacle we will face (this will be exponentially harder than the repeat) maybe it's Devine that Luke Murray's dad starred in a movie that his son could be the star of the sequel

Groundhog Day: championship Monday

We could have one of the scariest fast break attacks in history with mahaney/diarra feeding stewie, mcneeley, Ross and Johnson (acting like a forward)

Everyone, coaches, players and UConn fans will need to be all in

The mission and rewards would both be epic

 

[EZPass]

Hmm…3 X Factors for a 3 Peat

1. Culture
2. Ahmad Nowell
3. This man

 

[HuskylnSC]

1: Red
2: Dragon
3: Underwear

 

[Jaydumo20]

Great 1st post.
Your first 3 are my personal "must watch" factors of next year. Moreso 1 and 2.
Nobody talks about singare and Ross, but if the staff makes them contributors then any talk of Hurley as a developer of talent would sound laughably trite.

 

[Samoo]

Avoid injuries, which our S&T team seems to be good at...

 

[Huskybass]

I think Samson, Solo, and Jaylen all need to really step up and Mahaney and McNeely have to be as good as advertised. Diarra will need to adjust to a bigger role. If AK returns, watch out!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I believe the first item will be team chemistry. In 2022-2023, due to the leadership of the three (which DH empowered them with shortly after the NM St loss), we were able to seamlessly integrate a number of new pieces and adopt an entirely new approach while taking a quantum leap forward in overall performance. In 2023-2024 there were fewer new pieces (but arguably more important than the prior year's additions) but once again, we seamlessly became a team who, due to an additional year in the offensive system, performed even better than the prior national champions. We will be adding quite a few pieces for the 2024-2025 season but fortunately, much of it will be merely existing players taking on larger roles. How well and how quickly we reach a point where the chemistry is where it is needed to be competitive at the highest level will play a major role in our success.

I believe overall team health is the second item. While we did have some nagging issues during both title runs, the SJ injury in 2022-2023 was the only one that led to any severe missed time and fortunately for us, the only big impact that had was the number of minutes AK played as a freshman (and the debates here as to whether we should have tried to play Sanogo and Clingan together). A couple players getting a little banged up here and there won't hurt us. Something more severe will be a different story. Samoo credited our S&T team in an above post. They deserve quite a bit of credit but we need this to continue.

Finally I believe on court leadership will be critical. I also believe that this is why DH has been making such a point to praise Stewart and Ball. We went from Sanogo, Hawkins and AJAX, all returning players with a lot of minutes and practices with this staff under their belts to Newton, Karaban and Clingan as returning players with a lot of minutes and practices with this staff under their belts. The value of this cannot be understated. We will need this to fall in place if we want to reach the lofty heights we have recently gotten used to.

 

[UChusky916]

• Karaban needs to return
• Solo and Stewart make a jump
• Nowell and McNeely are as advertised

 

[UConnSwag11]

I don’t think we realize how big of a loss losing Clingan to the league will be. Having that rim protection and drive discouragement was the difference maker. We won’t be able to replicate it but hopefully we can come close

 

[pj]

I would think:

• Reed's development, Samson taking a jump, and Reed-Samson being another star tandem at center
• McNeeley playing like an upperclassman by March
• Diarra-Nowell handling the PG duties ... Diarra stepping up to the starting role, Nowell figuring the role out as a freshman.
• Mahaney-Ball excelling at the other guard spot.
• Team chemistry, team defense. We've taken a step down in size at PG and in rim protection at C. Hurley always gets solid defense but will it be elite?

I guess I'm not too worried about Stewart or Stewart+Karaban being solid at forward. Stewart showed tremendous promise and he's got film, experience, and a summer to work on his game. We'll be solid. Ross will be adequate depth.

 

[Umami Zen]

Xfactors- How far are the Sophomores going to progress? Are the freshmen going to contribute Year1?I think Danny thinks all of the above with our portal adds.Young and talented this year

 

[Palatine]

The path through the tourney is the biggest X-factor.

 

[UconnFanDC]

I think Samson, Solo, and Jaylen all need to really step up and Mahaney and McNeely have to be as good as advertised. Diarra will need to adjust to a bigger role. If AK returns, watch out!

Here's the best response! Enough said!

 

[nomar]

Hi, first time poster, 30 year UConn fan that is powered to defy limitations that were given by cerebral palsy/extremely sharp memory by lessons from UConn and college basketball.

Our three peat chances and a chance to do something only wooden has done but in an exponentially more difficult situation to do it in ride on the following 3 X factors:

1) singares development we need a little more depth inside especially if karaban doesn't return. Give me 5 min per game average. Have to protect against foul trouble of reed and Johnson

2) Jayden Ross' development. Yes we have great forwards stewie and mcneely on this team but injuries and if we play faster him producing will make the scouting reports a nightmare

3) the superstar power of Jaylin Stewart

Jaylin Stewart has limitless potential. His frame, abilities and mobility remind me of Hawkins and Jackson combined into one.

Why can't Stewart be the next Michael Jordan?

You can't tell me the frame and height and coaching will be the reason

Bonus: AK coming back

If I get these three things

Well.....

Despite every other factor known to man and every obstacle we will face (this will be exponentially harder than the repeat) maybe it's Devine that Luke Murray's dad starred in a movie that his son could be the star of the sequel

Groundhog Day: championship Monday

We could have one of the scariest fast break attacks in history with mahaney/diarra feeding stewie, mcneeley, Ross and Johnson (acting like a forward)

Everyone, coaches, players and UConn fans will need to be all in

The mission and rewards would both be epic

Not much talk of Singare but presumably he wouldn't still be here if the staff didn't expect him to contribute

 

[CL82]

Hi, first time poster, 30 year UConn fan that is powered to defy limitations that were given by cerebral palsy/extremely sharp memory by lessons from UConn and college basketball.

Our three peat chances and a chance to do something only wooden has done but in an exponentially more difficult situation to do it in ride on the following 3 X factors:

1) singares development we need a little more depth inside especially if karaban doesn't return. Give me 5 min per game average. Have to protect against foul trouble of reed and Johnson

2) Jayden Ross' development. Yes we have great forwards stewie and mcneely on this team but injuries and if we play faster him producing will make the scouting reports a nightmare

3) the superstar power of Jaylin Stewart

Jaylin Stewart has limitless potential. His frame, abilities and mobility remind me of Hawkins and Jackson combined into one.

Why can't Stewart be the next Michael Jordan?

You can't tell me the frame and height and coaching will be the reason

Bonus: AK coming back

If I get these three things

Well.....

Despite every other factor known to man and every obstacle we will face (this will be exponentially harder than the repeat) maybe it's Devine that Luke Murray's dad starred in a movie that his son could be the star of the sequel

Groundhog Day: championship Monday

We could have one of the scariest fast break attacks in history with mahaney/diarra feeding stewie, mcneeley, Ross and Johnson (acting like a forward)

Everyone, coaches, players and UConn fans will need to be all in

The mission and rewards would both be epic

Welcome to the board. This is a nice first post. Keep posting.

With the potential loss of all five starters we need a ton of things to go right for us to repeat. Yeah we need last year's freshman to continue to improve. We need Hass to make better decisions and be able to stay on the floor longer. We need this year's freshman to materially contribute and we need Reed, and Mahaney to learn and adapt to Hurleys complex system so that they can play very significant roles. As @FfldCntyFan points out we need all of that to happen while all these new pieces and players in new rules gel together to form the incredible chemistry that we've seen over the last two years. That is a huge mountain to climb pretty much everything needs to go right in order for lightning strike a third time.

That said, I would not bet against this staff. They've made a jump in their approach to the game and teambuilding, and the rest of college basketball is struggling to catch up.

(We're still doomed though.)

 

[Scot-e]

Hi, first time poster, 30 year UConn fan that is powered to defy limitations that were given by cerebral palsy/extremely sharp memory by lessons from UConn and college basketball.

Our three peat chances and a chance to do something only wooden has done but in an exponentially more difficult situation to do it in ride on the following 3 X factors:

1) singares development we need a little more depth inside especially if karaban doesn't return. Give me 5 min per game average. Have to protect against foul trouble of reed and Johnson

2) Jayden Ross' development. Yes we have great forwards stewie and mcneely on this team but injuries and if we play faster him producing will make the scouting reports a nightmare

3) the superstar power of Jaylin Stewart

Jaylin Stewart has limitless potential. His frame, abilities and mobility remind me of Hawkins and Jackson combined into one.

Why can't Stewart be the next Michael Jordan?

You can't tell me the frame and height and coaching will be the reason

Bonus: AK coming back

If I get these three things

Well.....

Despite every other factor known to man and every obstacle we will face (this will be exponentially harder than the repeat) maybe it's Devine that Luke Murray's dad starred in a movie that his son could be the star of the sequel

Groundhog Day: championship Monday

We could have one of the scariest fast break attacks in history with mahaney/diarra feeding stewie, mcneeley, Ross and Johnson (acting like a forward)

Everyone, coaches, players and UConn fans will need to be all in

The mission and rewards would both be epic

Because it’s ur first post- you are forgiven. Next you post about anything positive in the future- a “ DOOMED “ would be appreciated. : )

 

[CONN78SEJ]

The path through the tourney is the biggest X-factor.

If ESPN could they would force the tournament committee to make us play the NBA all-stars in the final 8.

 

[Drame]

I don’t think we realize how big of a loss losing Clingan to the league will be. Having that rim protection and drive discouragement was the difference maker. We won’t be able to replicate it but hopefully we can come close

Most national champions dont have a Clingan type player. We're just going to be a different team. What we lose in rim protection we can gain in perimeter defense..

 

[HuskyInfinity]

I think Karaban returning and how he can adjust to being the man of the team

 

[Staven]

Welcome to the board!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Most national champions dont have a Clingan type player. We're just going to be a different team. What we lose in rim protection we can gain in perimeter defense..

This.

We've had quite a few posts recently lamenting that DC is moving on and we will be stuck with centers who are only ~6'10".

Yes, DC was a ridiculous luxury, especially as a weapon coming in to spell Sanogo, but if this is the requirement to win a title, there would have been many years where nodoby won one as the requirement was not met by any school.

 

[FlippinCrazy!]

1) Avoid injuries
2) Pay me $1000 for good luck
3) Bigs need to be better at playing without fouling

 

[bendm]

AK returning is the biggest X factor. If 3peating comes down to singare and Ross then it’s not a realistic goal.

 

[amishboy]

Hi, first time poster, 30 year UConn fan that is powered to defy limitations that were given by cerebral palsy/extremely sharp memory by lessons from UConn and college basketball.

Our three peat chances and a chance to do something only wooden has done but in an exponentially more difficult situation to do it in ride on the following 3 X factors:

1) singares development we need a little more depth inside especially if karaban doesn't return. Give me 5 min per game average. Have to protect against foul trouble of reed and Johnson

2) Jayden Ross' development. Yes we have great forwards stewie and mcneely on this team but injuries and if we play faster him producing will make the scouting reports a nightmare

3) the superstar power of Jaylin Stewart

Jaylin Stewart has limitless potential. His frame, abilities and mobility remind me of Hawkins and Jackson combined into one.

Why can't Stewart be the next Michael Jordan?

You can't tell me the frame and height and coaching will be the reason

Bonus: AK coming back

If I get these three things

Well.....

Despite every other factor known to man and every obstacle we will face (this will be exponentially harder than the repeat) maybe it's Devine that Luke Murray's dad starred in a movie that his son could be the star of the sequel

Groundhog Day: championship Monday

We could have one of the scariest fast break attacks in history with mahaney/diarra feeding stewie, mcneeley, Ross and Johnson (acting like a forward)

Everyone, coaches, players and UConn fans will need to be all in

The mission and rewards would both be epic

Agreed, but while I wish him nothing but the best, regardless of his decision, I still suspect that it will be better for AK (and us) if he returns for another year.

 

[Scrutiner]

Games will be closer for sure. There are many nuances that add up over a season and those nuances contributed to the runs that broke open close games. A tough, contested shot as the clock is running out, rebounds that kept the offense alive or killed the other team's offense, excellent interior passing leading to easy baskets, etc.

I'm an optimist, believe we can go undefeated every year and, while every season has new challenges, those challenges can be overcome if the current roster develops like HD did last Summer and the new additions learn the offense and defense and play Hurley Ball.

On the minus side:
-CS won't be there to make the tough fall-a-way shots in the lane as the clock is expiring;
-TN won't be there to make 26 foot end of clock three pointers, all the while staying cool and calm and under control;
-SC won't be there to shut down the best guard/wing;
-DC won't be there to control the lane, clean up shots by the guards who often beat our guards on drives in the lane, and block shots only a 7'2" guy can reach;

On the plus side:
-HD showed he could play nearly as effectively as our other guards this year and DH readily played him in crunch time;
-Mahaney and Nowell (and HD) may be more effective guarding the perimeter with their quickness and reduce the need to rely on TR to block or alter as many shots as DC;
-JS and Ball showed flashes of good shooting and with McNeeley and possibly others may bring as much scoring from all levels as we're losing;
-If AK doesn't return there may be a hole to fill on defense at the 4 but we won't know until we see JS, McNeeley and Abraham and what the staff feels is the best option;

All in all, we don't know who will improve and how much, who will handle the pressure of meaningful minutes, nor who can be trusted to make the right choices at the important times.

DH said in a recent interview the coaches weren't sure they had what was needed to repeat until they saw SC in preseason workouts and how well CS fit the team and how effective and competitive he would be.

Same this year. When everyone is here, the staff is back full time and they get to evaluate who's developed and grown they'll try to put together another juggernaut and make the Boneyard delirious again.........MBDA for 2025!