Did Uconn do enough to this off-season?

[speckle]

I think he's more than capable of playing the 4 just like Karaban did. Karaban was listed at 6'7 190 in high school and McNeeley is listed as 6'7 210. The 3 and the 4 are pretty interchangeable so I feel like he'd be fine at either spot

The problem, or one of the problems besides skill set, is that he projects as a pro 3, not a 4 (probably not even as a combo fwd). If you want to attract and retain 5* talent you don't take them out of their most likely pro role. Can he play some 4 here and there sure, but it opens up a can of worms other than on court stuff. As far as on court, he would get bullyballed on the block by an average 22yr power forward. He's going to likely be expected to score from the get go. Playing him out of position defensively could lead to unnecessary fouls and get counterproductive real fast.

 

[444JR]

legit catch and shoot threat but I think he'll have a big curve to makeup guarding the 4 at the college level as a freshman

 

[444JR]

Ahmad Nowell looks really really good. Gives me Jalen Adams freshman year readiness vibes. The whole team is in for an absolutely grueling summer.

 

[uconnfan68]

No team is going to win a basketball game in the year of our Lord 2024 by having their 4 overpower your 4 for 40 minutes.

People said that about Adama’s game. He overpowered everyone.

 

[bigdog1002]

People said that about Adama’s game. He overpowered everyone.

He also had elite footwork and knew how to use angles. It wasn’t just overpowering guys

 

[navery12]

People said that about Adama’s game. He overpowered everyone.

And he did that playing the 5, not the 4. Besides the fact that our offense took off when we stopped force feeding him the ball in the post and he started shooting 3's

 

[speckle]

He also had elite footwork and knew how to use angles. It wasn’t just overpowering guys

Guy was a total stud. 250+ lbs, 9' standing reach. What else do you want?!

I'm agreeing with you...

 

[JonnyRI]

If AK doesn't come back it might just be Stewart with Abraham backing him up. BIg strong 4s are a dying breed in College and even the pro game. That doesn't win games normally as you need stretch 4s. Not sure who we will get this late in the cycle if Karaban decides to stay in the draft.

The angst of Karaban not being big enough and strong enough at the 4 resulted in 2 Nattys.

I hope we have that angst every year.

 

[ucp990411]

Depends very strongly on whether Karaban comes back.

If he does, yes. We added the starting-caliber center we needed, a starting guard, and a starting-caliber wing. We have depth and talent at all positions.

If not, then we'll be patching over arguably the most important position in our offense and may be more of a rebuilding year (still top 15 or so, but championship contention will be very difficult), towards a 2025-26 led by Nowell, Mahaney, McNeeley, Stewart, Reed, who should all return.

Little premature to say they all should return. It’s May and the new players aren’t even on campus yet

 

[ucp990411]

This is D1 basketball you bring in the best available players. You can't worry about your players getting mad if you bring in another player. If so they need to improve more if they don't want to be replaced. I want to get another title you have to keep recruiting because other top teams are recruiting to beat you ! This is not Kiddy ball !

Let’s see how Kansas does this year. They brought in a bunch of me first type players who all need the ball.

 

[JLW]

Looking forward to seeing how good they’ll be with or without AK. Total faith in Dan Hurley and his staff!

 

[jibsey]

Compare the defense with and without Alex to last years team. It’s what won us back to back.

 

[August_West]

No team is going to win a basketball game in the year of our Lord 2024 by having their 4 overpower your 4 for 40 minutes.

That's not necessarily true, it happens. For example Bryce Hopkins abusing Freshman Karaban in Providence in our loss there in January '23. That mismatch was the biggest key to PC's victory. However, I agree overall that over a season other attributes of a "modern" 4 are enough to win a lot, an example there would be this year that kid Reneau on Indiana really gave us a ton of trouble. We still killed them, but we couldn't handle him at all. As always, there is not one way to get this done. Good teams exploit mismatches on a game to game basis. Different rosters present different mismatch opportunities. If the last two natty squads had any soft spot defensively that showed itself to be consistently exploitable, it was handling skilled, physical 4 men who preferred to bang inside the circle in iso's rather than stretch the floor. Luckily not so many of those people exist.

 

[freescooter]

3 and 4 interchangeable? Didn’t we have lots of angst here about AK not being able to defend big strong 4s? We need a big strong 4 more than ever without DC (and AK).

Talk about misplaced angst. When Clingan was hurt he was defending 5s. And in the championship game, he was defending a 7-4 guy. LOL!

 

[Tenspro2002]

legit catch and shoot threat but I think he'll have a big curve to makeup guarding the 4 at the college level as a freshman

The three and backdoor cut/dunk were good, but seeing him shoot baseline 17-footers just gives me PTSD from having Isaiah Whaley as the 4 in our offense.

 

[Shoulder god]

The critical issue is bringing in talent with high BBIQ who are unselfish. Our offense requires that above all else. Me first 5* kids are not gonna see the floor.

 

[Scottobot]

They got every player they wanted. They could not have done better. However, if Karaban goes pro they will probably at that point look for one more player. There may not be anyone left, but given there is a chance Karaban comes back and he would be better than any possible replacement, Hurley is doing the right thing to wait and see.

Hurley balanced perfectly leaving enough room for Ball, Stewart, and Ross to have an opportunity to make big step forward, with getting additional talent in case they don’t. I wouldn’t change a thing with how off season went.

 

[tower1]

4peat

I think we need a big 4 if Karaban goes to the NBA. We don't have a big body we need.

 

[TheChamps990411]

If you're Scheyer, are you picking up a call from K after losing 9 guys? I'd pay real dollars to listen in on the line lol.

9 kids realized hes an average coach at a big time school living off the legacy of a legend. Until Scheyer shows me he can actually win at a high level i see him as nothing more. Btw the only reason they made a run is because the committee protected dook who shouldve been a 4 seed in the east not the south from getting wrecked in front of the country by Uconn. A committee member was even asked about the unusual Auburn/dook swap and he gave some lame reasoning even the heads at CBS werent buying. It really irked me because i wanted to trounce dook so badly in front of all world burger boy Pooper Flagg.

 

[3rdbass]

I think we need a big 4 if Karaban goes to the NBA. We don't have a big body we need.

As has already been mentioned Power 4s are a dying breed. Yeah it would be nice if the guy has height and decent weight but he also needs a perimeter game as that is how we with 4 out.

 

[FearThePups]

Why? The game isn't played like that anymore.

Because Malone could shoot from 3 point range, run the court, create his own shot, crash the boards. Are you telling me he wouldn’t play on an NBA roster today?

 

[FearThePups]

Because Malone could shoot from 3 point range, run the court, create his own shot, crash the boards. Are you telling me he wouldn’t play on an NBA roster today?

Don’t believe me. Then listen to some all time greats talk about the mailman. He could play in any era.

Because Malone could shoot from 3 point range, run the court, create his own shot, crash the boards. Are you telling me he wouldn’t play on an NBA roster today?

If you don’t believe me, see what some NBA greats said about the mailman. He could play in any era.

 

[3rdbass]

Because Malone could shoot from 3 point range, run the court, create his own shot, crash the boards. Are you telling me he wouldn’t play on an NBA roster today?

But whether he could hit 3 point shots he was not a stretch 4 and scored most of his points 10 Feet and within. We just need another stretch 4 and preferably one built like Alex and maybe a little better rebounder.

 

[FearThePups]

But whether he could hit 3 point shots he was not a stretch 4 and scored most of his points 10 Feet and within. We just need another stretch 4 and preferably one built like Alex and maybe a little better rebounder.

I don’t agree. Malone is number 3 in all time scoring and brought a physical presence Karaban will never have. We don’t know for sure about our rebounding with this team but I am skeptical we have any physical toughness on the boards. Maybe Reed but we won’t have big guards crashing the glass.

 

[uconnfan68]

He also had elite footwork and knew how to use angles. It wasn’t just overpowering guys

Let me rephrase. No one could overpower him.