One month away

[mauconnfan]

1st Husky practice October 3rd. It's one of those years where there's an air of confidence from us here that this will be a very good team yet a lot of questions to be answered. Let's see how everyone feels about the questions and where the Huskies will end up:

Will KO and the staff be able to blend the experience of the new players with the talent of the returnees and incoming frosh in order to create a chemistry required to dance?

Will Daniel Hamilton and Rodney Purvis both find a consistency to their games which they lacked in their first Husky campaign?

Will Amida Brimah become more than a shot blocker, an occasional alley oop dunker? Will he rebound the ball better and become more dominant on the block offensively?

Can Shonn Miller transition his Ivy League numbers to the big time and be that all around 4 we missed last year on both ends?

Can Sterling Gibbs be the leader at point we need and replace the gutty Boat hence becoming the next great UConn PG to help elevate this program to the dance?

Will Jalen Adams be something special as the 6th man, bringing his tremendous skills off the bench to spark the team on both ends when called upon?

Will the bench be improved with the likes of Facey, Calhoun, Enoch, Nolan, Cassell Jr all playing signifcant roles at some point of the season when needed?

While we believe we have a very strong 6 for sure, this bench will be a significant factor in how far we go. If Facey has improved (even if he hasn't) this is a really nice piece coming off the bench to fill minutes. Not a lot of teams outside of UK, Duke, UNC have this type of athlete being the 7-8th guy. Omar has experience but can he translate that into part time confidence shooting the ball when needed? Phil Nolan has worked on his quickness, explosiveness can he be even more than the "5 foul, go out and guard someone and take charge guy." Is Sam Jr better than the injured kid last year and can Enoch play a few minutes and rebound the ball while making a couple shots?

I seriously can't wait for these to be answered and they will be somewhat rather quickly in Atlantis. They may go 2-1, 1-2, 3-0 or heck even 0-3 but will we know enough about who they are then? We should have a pretty good idea but going back to I believe Alaska in 89-90 where they went 1-2 things do change with a new blend of characters.

Baseball playoffs will be underway, football into week 3-4 or whatever but who cares - it's all about our Huskies come October 3rd.

 

[huskyharry]

I think the abilities of this year's team players are well suited to playing team ball and having excellent chemistry.

DHam will be more consistent and will make fewer turnovers and improve his shooting %. Rodney will have some exceptional games and others where he disappears a bit...hopefully, he will play within himself and avoid the mental mistakes...like stepping out of bounds.

Amida will be a little bit better at rebounding, be a little bit better at avoiding silly fouls and will occasionally hit the 10-15 footer, but will excel at finishing 'oops to the rim and blocking shots. He will not be a dominant low post force on offense.

Shonn will be a pleasure to watch...he will bring help defense, consistent rebounding, hustle, heart and all the intangibles.

Sterling will be a solid leader and play within himself. The team will play much more unselfishly, so he will have many catch and shoot jumpers.

Jalen will bring special energy and some spectacular plays but will also make some freshman mistakes.

The bench will be strong and the top performers...I.e. The cream will rise to the top. There may be some minor grumbling from those who don't get the PT they want.
This team will be very fun to watch!

 

[ctchamps]

DHam will be more consistent and will make fewer turnovers and improve his shooting %. Rodney will have some exceptional games and others where he disappears a bit...hopefully, he will play within himself and avoid the mental mistakes...like stepping out of bounds.
This team will be very fun to watch!

Agree with you and mau! Excited about this team's potential and they should be fun to watch.
I want Rodney to play like a monster and DHam to play within himself.
Stepping out of bounds is annoying but leaving your player at the end of games and missing three free throws in a row were killers last season.

Not sure how you know one way or another which of the players will fix things or not.

 

[David 76]

It will be fun!

Good job illuminating the issues Mau.
Less urgent, but I would add: Will Jr. make enough progress to give us an adequate 3rd point guard.

 

[joober jones]

I see Enoch with a Lubin-esque role on this team, at least to begin with. When it comes to the bench rotation, usually there's an initial nod to the guys with seniority.

 

[Scottzer]

I'm so bored that I tried to come up with one word answers to these, with the hopes of forming an anagram style sentence. That has nothing to do with your post, more a sad state of me! - of course they dance.
- I expect DHAM and Purvis to both be more consistent due to having more talented players around them.
- I think brimah's rebounding is more a factor of foul trouble than anything. If that doesn't change, I don't project an improvement of better than a rebound per game. As bad as that sounds, we won a title, so it's hard to knock him too bad. Also think Enoch might be a great back up for him.
-miller- can't imagine he doesn't work. Just needed a guy like this. We just don't need him shooting 3's, but, he's going to know that coming in.
-Gibbs - and/or Adams = yes.
- Adams isn't really a freshman. He'll be 20 by December, I think. And played top notch hs competition.
- yes. My gut says the Miller/Enoch additions can't be overstated.
Failed to take notes on last question or two.