Your biggest concern(s) with this year's team?

[dogpause]

Not many concerns with this team, nor ever again with any Hurley-coached team, so I need to reach a bit. Perhaps my biggest concern is that we're lacking muscle. Without a Donovan or Adama in the post, interior defense and rebounding could be our achilles. Reed may prove my concerns to be unfounded, but need to see more of him.

Also, and this is probably a great problem to have, is that we have so much talent that getting adequate minutes for development could be a challenge. Again I'm reaching and this will probably play out as it generally does each year. The cream always tends to rise.

 

[Sibeerian]

Depth of big men, and adjusting to life without Clingan's defensive presence and rebounding.

 

[WallStreetHusky]

Rebounding.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

1. Centers- they don’t have to be Clingan/sanogo. But they must be competent.
2. How good is the second team? If they are as good as we think, it’s game over. That’s the secret recipe, when your rotation starts getting heavy legs, we are fresh as daisies.
3. The IT factor: do we have a Cam mentality on this team. A guy who will not allow us to lose?

 

[Kembacity]

only concern for me is big man play. I dont think any of us expect Samson to be a guy who will play 33 mins a game, stay out of foul trouble and anchor our frontcourt, and personally im worried about Tarris. I know he’s got skill and shown flashes but we need him to be the man down there for us.

Aside from that, only mild concern is Aiden dealing with the physicality of the big east. He may find that his slight frame has him drawing tons of fouls on grabby guards, but I have fears the refs let him get mugged

 

[Lambeau]

So DH tells Jared Kotler he's not worried about the 5; he's repeatedly expressed confidence in Reed and Samson--hard to accept, but...
With Alex and a plethora of wings, hard to worry there.
So it's PG that seems to perplex him; perhaps Mahaney is still getting the hang of the offense, and he's not sure about Hass' shooting.
I guess my concern is how you keep everybody happy, motivated, and out of the portal.
I love the depth, but even sitting Nowell and Abraham, it's a nine-man rotation. Huh?

 

[businesslawyer]

only concern for me is big man play. I dont think any of us expect Samson to be a guy who will play 33 mins a game, stay out of foul trouble and anchor our frontcourt, and personally im worried about Tarris. I know he’s got skill and shown flashes but we need him to be the man down there for us.

Aside from that, only mild concern is Aiden dealing with the physicality of the big east. He may find that his slight frame has him drawing tons of fouls on grabby guards, but I have fears the refs let him get mugged

This. Clearly.

Johnson hasn’t proven he can stay on the court, and from all metrics I’ve seen on Reid he hasn’t proven he can help a team by being on the court. And we don’t know that Singare is ready to contribute on any level. We don’t need to be as good in the middle as we were the last two years to compete for a championship, but I am concerned we aren’t good enough at the Center position to compete at that level.

We’ll see.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There aren't enough minutes in a game to allow everyone the playing time they deserve.

 

[bazzdog]

So DH tells Jared Kotler he's not worried about the 5; he's repeatedly expressed confidence in Reed and Samson--hard to accept, but...
With Alex and a plethora of wings, hard to worry there.
So it's PG that seems to perplex him; perhaps Mahaney is still getting the hang of the offense, and he's not sure about Hass' shooting.
I guess my concern is how you keep everybody happy, motivated, and out of the portal.
I love the depth, but even sitting Nowell and Abraham, it's a nine-man rotation. Huh?

Put Nowell at the 5

 

[temery]

Team chemistry.

 

[RuffRuff]

So DH tells Jared Kotler he's not worried about the 5; he's repeatedly expressed confidence in Reed and Samson--hard to accept, but...
With Alex and a plethora of wings, hard to worry there.
So it's PG that seems to perplex him; perhaps Mahaney is still getting the hang of the offense, and he's not sure about Hass' shooting.
I guess my concern is how you keep everybody happy, motivated, and out of the portal.
I love the depth, but even sitting Nowell and Abraham, it's a nine-man rotation. Huh?

Concern with Mahaney is likely because he’s asking him to play a role he never has, which is to run a sophisticated offense. I’d have to think a large part of why he came is to play the PG role, as if he has any professional aspiration it’s really the only role for him due to his size.

Feel like DH is lowering his expectations for the 5, as I believe he said he’s hoping for a very reasonable cumulative number of points and rebounds. Those two will just not be asked to do too much. He can say whatever he wants, biggest concern I have is the post Cling adjustment defensively and on boards.

 

[Lambeau]

Oddly, DH specifically assured Jared that the 5 position will not prevent a championship.
Mahaney played point as a freshman at St. Mary's, but of course it wasn't Luke's offense.

 

[Dove]

I'm sad to write this, but, I have a big concern that they won't threepeat. The hype is real. As are my expectations.

 

[JerseyAlum]

I have no concerns at this time. We have seen a couple practices, and one exhibition game. Even the opener vs Sacred Heart will be less telling and more celebratory. Still analysts will dive into every play by Samson, Reed Jr, Haas, Mahaney, etc.

My concerns only arise when we have a 2-4 Big East game sample and tendencies can be seen and discussed, and hopefully dealt with.

 

[cullaville]

Not many concerns with this team, nor ever again with any Hurley-coached team, so I need to reach a bit. Perhaps my biggest concern is that we're lacking muscle. Without a Donovan or Adama in the post, interior defense and rebounding could be our achilles. Reed may prove my concerns to be unfounded, but need to see more of him.

Also, and this is probably a great problem to have, is that we have so much talent that getting adequate minutes for development could be a challenge. Again I'm reaching and this will probably play out as it generally does each year. The cream always tends to rise.

Not being able to get reasonably priced tickets

 

[gtcam]

Major injuries
UConn has been rather fortunate the past 2 seasons to have not experience any major injuries (season ending type).
While the roster is loaded, losing a starter is losing a starter.
The 5 is not a major concern because Hurley's teams always rebound well at all positions.

 

[navery12]

I'm not concerned about the 5 spot because expectations are already very low for those guys. Unlike the last 2 years this year's team is good enough to make a Final Four run even if all we get from Samson and Reed is 20 minutes each of them playing defense and not fouling out. I think we can and will get more than that, and we'll need it to win a championship, but even if it doesn't happen this team will be very very good.

 

[dogpause]

So DH tells Jared Kotler he's not worried about the 5; he's repeatedly expressed confidence in Reed and Samson--hard to accept, but...
With Alex and a plethora of wings, hard to worry there.
So it's PG that seems to perplex him; perhaps Mahaney is still getting the hang of the offense, and he's not sure about Hass' shooting.
I guess my concern is how you keep everybody happy, motivated, and out of the portal.
I love the depth, but even sitting Nowell and Abraham, it's a nine-man rotation. Huh?

I think Mahaney is going to be a fan favorite and hero for this team. I just think he's got something special.

 

[uh-no]

interior defense and rebounding.

 

[Ricker]

I'll be real impressed if we can win against top tier teams in a game where we are cold from 3. Last year's great team even won big shooting 3 for 17 from 3. Can we do that in an ncaa tourney game this year and advance?

 

[Peacefrog]

I understand the angst, but I find myself oddly sanguine about the center position. Make no mistake, it won't be what we've been accustomed to the last few years but I think between Reed and Johnson we'll be OK. I'm not sure it will be a position of strength relative to opponents but I think those two can be solid and serviceable. This may seem contradictory after saying I think we'll be OK at center, but I'm a little concerned about rebounding. We'll almost certainly give up something compared to Clingan and I don't think there is any way our guards will rebound as well as Newton, Spencer, and Castle. Also, the perimeter defense worries me a bit. Castle was excellent while Newton and Spencer had size. Diarra is good but short-ish and it seems Ball should be good but needs to prove it. Nowell is a bit short, Mahaney is on the slight side and McNeely/Karaban aren't known for their lockdown defense. Perhaps our best defense will be a good offense.

 

[Deepster]

I'm sad to write this, but, I have a big concern that they won't threepeat. The hype is real. As are my expectations.

Maybe you can bet on Duke like you did in 1999.

The Yard never forgets.

 

[6in25]

1. Interior Defense

2. Where I'm going to come up with the money for the championship gear I'll be buying in April

I think our offensive production will make up for any defensive struggles, and Danny & Co. are just so damn good.

 

[Excalibur]

Finding a new defensive scheme that works for this roster. Running off the three point line and funneling to the middle won't be as effective.

Defensive rebounding.

If we can find solutions for both, we're a championship contender again. If we can't we're still really good but will struggle in conference.

 

[TheShot1990]

As with others, no Cling in the middle but also, the notion that we can simply and easily replace Newton, Steph, and Cam feels like overconfidence. All were total studs.