Open Practice Discussion

[mauconnfan]

He rebounds. Came down with a one handed offensive rebound at one point. Trying to stay level headed with expectations but could help but feel excited finally watching someone grab boards like that.

Cassell's game is polished. He's going to look real mature out there. His athleticism obviously isn't there but he can ball.

Amida's offensive game is impressive. As i left my buddy texted me saying he had a couple hook shots posting up against Phil. Seems like everyone is looking to get him lobs too.

Danny Hamilton can ball.

Rodney is fast as lightning.

I'd add more but im walking around campus so i'll probably get hit by a car

When you are grounded let me know if you think DHam is a starter for sure as well as the others you mention. How was Phil Nolan overall too? Thanks again this is great stuff and I'm jealous with the new place not allowing me the early views this fall......but you guys are exceptional

 

[6xChamps]

My biggest takeaway from the practice is that Amida Brimah is not human. (Yes, he blocked that shot)

 

[scrappy2.0]

He has none. His Lubin obsession is bizarre, to say the least.

I watched him play a full game against tough competition and he was by far the best player on the court. You can say a few times where he takes the ball from the three pt line and makes moves into the basket. He's got game beyond being a really big dude. He physically is overwhelming--hes simply going to overwhelm guys because he's 6-7 265. When you are an athletic 6-7 265 and you can play--just do the math--you have few peers of your own size. I'm not being a rocket scientist or going out on a limb saying a guy that big and athletic will be good.

 

[FeedTheDove]

When you are grounded let me know if you think DHam is a starter for sure as well as the others you mention. How was Phil Nolan overall too? Thanks again this is great stuff and I'm jealous with the new place not allowing me the early views this fall.but you guys are exceptional

Like I said I only stayed about 45 minutes so I didn't see too much of Phil. He definitely got bigger as you probably saw at first night and it didn't seem like he lost any athleticism/quickness.

My starters stay the same as I had a little while ago:
Boat
Purvis
DHam
Facey
Amida

As good as Cassell looks I can't see him taking Rodney's starting spot. DHam is good enough to start and I'd be surprised if he didn't start the exhibition games.

I didn't see Facey play defense much but his offensive game looks nice. He was finishing lobs, and hitting some shots. I know people always talk about how fast Amida can run, but Facey is pretty damn fast too.

Wish I could've stayed for the scrimmage, can't wait for the season to start.

 

[UconnU]

I do worry that this team will struggle offensively(early on atleast) as they find their identity.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I watched him play a full game against tough competition and he was by far the best player on the court. You can say a few times where he takes the ball from the three pt line and makes moves into the basket. He's got game beyond being a really big dude. He physically is overwhelming--hes simply going to overwhelm guys because he's 6-7 265. When you are an athletic 6-7 265 and you can play--just do the math--you have few peers of your own size. I'm not being a rocket scientist or going out on a limb saying a guy that big and athletic will be good.

You can basically plug Ed Nelson's name in that paragraph, except Nelson had more of a track record when he got to UConn. It's really, really silly to watch a kid play a high school game, look at his dimensions, and say it's all going to translate to a much, much higher level of basketball. You keep talking about this kid like he's Lebron James with his overwhelming size, skill, and athleticism.

 

[FeedTheDove]

A couple of final things I noticed:

Amida is extremely vocal. He talks constantly. Whether he is calling out screens/switches, or he is making random sounds/grunts during warm ups the guy loves to talk. It's pretty fun to watch.

When Boat's team wasn't involved in the drill, Boat wasn't on the baseline with the rest of the 5 on his team. He was on the sideline with KO intensely watching the other team. He was yelling out directions if someone did something wrong. Sometimes it seemed like he was glued to KO. All I could think about was how KO said that Boat was going to be "an extension of himself." As a huge Boat fan since the second he stepped on the floor my freshman year, it made me proud to see that he was being a real leader. I'm really hoping he can keep that up and show just how mature he's gotten during his 4 years here.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Nope, this is still ridiculous.

This is starting to remind me of the guy last year who wanted to have Kromah's baby ands predicted he'd average 16 ppg.

 

[aburks41]

This is starting to remind me of the guy last year who wanted to have Kromah's baby ands predicted he'd average 16 ppg.

lubin needs work. His body is way better than his skill set right now. From what i saw today, and i dont mean to knock him, but he definitely needs some polishing up. Rebounds are easy for him, but the missed layups were a little bit much to ignore..

 

[UconnU]

This is starting to remind me of the guy last year who wanted to have Kromah's baby ands predicted he'd average 16 ppg.

Someone said he would average 16 a game!? lol

 

[tentoes4rings]

Someone said he would average 16 a game!? lol

Yes, a dude named Hyperthink was in love with Kromah and predicted he'd average 16 ppg. Can we change scrappy2.0's handle to hyperthink2.0?

 

[7774]

Yes, a dude named Hyperthink was in love with Kromah and predicted he'd average 16 ppg. Can we change scrappy2.0's handle to hyperthink2.0?

The funny thing is Hyperthink was correct about how good Kromah was as a player (he was really good), he just had no concept of how much playing time it would take for Kromah to put up the stats he was predicting, and no grasp of the fact that we had many other talented players that would prevent him from ever playing the minutes necessary to put up those predicted stats.

 

[tentoes4rings]

The funny thing is Hyperthink was correct about how good Kromah was as a player (he was really good), he just had no concept of how much playing time it would take for Kromah to put up the stats he was predicting, and no grasp of the fact that we had many other talented players that would prevent him from ever playing the minutes necessary to put up those predicted stats.

I don't disagree. If Lasan was the go to guy on a mediocre team he could have averaged 16 ppg. With Bazz, Boat and Deandre there was no way he'd get the touches and minutes to average that. He also was pretty inconsistent with his shooting. A great glue guy though and a very valuable member of a championship squad. If the Rock contributes to the level of Kromah I think we'd all be very happy.

 

[champs99and04]

Hyperthink was a prodigy and enormous contributor to the mojo. Let's not lump him in with Scrappy.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yes, a dude named Hyperthink was in love with Kromah and predicted he'd average 16 ppg. Can we change scrappy2.0's handle to hyperthink2.0?

hyperthink was very close to being right and I think we can all agree Lasan was better and had more impact than we can all imagine. For that reason I am hoping scrappy is hyper think II

 

[UconnU]

Chap seems to be pretty big on The Rock as well. Yesterday he made a post about how Rock was a "HUGE Get" and then went on to talk about how overrated burger boys were as he always does.

 

[Walker11]

Chap seems to be pretty big on The Rock as well. Yesterday he made a post about how Rock was a "HUGE Get" and then went on to talk about how overrated burger boys were as he always does.

So the 3 people highest on Rock right now are Chap, Scrappy, and Chief. Yikes

 

[tentoes4rings]

hyperthink was very close to being right and I think we can all agree Lasan was better and had more impact than we can all imagine. For that reason I am hoping scrappy is hyper think II

Sure, he was very close. That is if you want to overlook the 10 points per game he was off when he predicted 16

 

[UconnU]

So the 3 people highest on Rock right now are Chap, Scrappy, and Chief. Yikes

Yea... My thinking was always that we're brining this kid in to bang around our bigs in practice, toughen them up a little, force them to learn to box out. Then maybe down the line he's a contributor. People need to temper their expectations a little, he was a 2 star prospect without any other d1 offers.

 

[UConnSwag11]

And hes hobbling around

clutch, responding to your own post, i like it

 

[BearJWS]

Yea... My thinking was always that we're brining this kid in to bang around our bigs in practice, toughen them up a little, force them to learn to box out. Then maybe down the line he's a contributor. People need to temper their expectations a little, he was a 2 star prospect without any other d1 offers.

Lubin was a 3 Star prospect, but he missed 2013 AAU summer season because of a back injury. I believe he was a 4 Star at some point prior. Basically it's Lubin & Facey @ PF this season, with a few minutes scattered in Nolan & maybe Hamilton. I can see Facey & Lubin both getting 15 or so minutes a game. Time is available.

 

[Walker11]

Yea... My thinking was always that we're brining this kid in to bang around our bigs in practice, toughen them up a little, force them to learn to box out. Then maybe down the line he's a contributor. People need to temper their expectations a little, he was a 2 star prospect without any other d1 offers.

I didn't mean what I said in a negative way. I trust KO and the staff and Rock seems like he has an awesome work ethic. I just thought those 3 were an interesting combination.

 

[scrappy2.0]

You can basically plug Ed Nelson's name in that paragraph, except Nelson had more of a track record when he got to UConn. It's really, really silly to watch a kid play a high school game, look at his dimensions, and say it's all going to translate to a much, much higher level of basketball. You keep talking about this kid like he's Lebron James with his overwhelming size, skill, and athleticism.

No I don't--I talk about him being a type of Dejuan Blair type(as in double double with 1.5 blocks) when he is a finished product--a guy that at an athletic 6-7 265 will be able to put his will on the game. I think people who keep saying 2 star player/wasnt recruited are much farther of than me. It sounds like Lubin is ALREADY our best potential rebounder and he has not played one game. He's going to play and contribute right away-- and hes the type of player other teams will come to fear. It's hard to match up with a guy at that size--thats what made Blair so tough. In a year or two he will be one of the top players on this team and will help contribute this year right away.

 

[UconnU]

No I don't--I talk about him being a type of Dejuan Blair type(as in double double with 1.5 blocks) when he is a finished product--a guy that at an athletic 6-7 265 will be able to put his will on the game. I think people who keep saying 2 star player/wasnt recruited are much farther of than me. It sounds like Lubin is ALREADY our best potential rebounder and he has not played one game. He's going to play and contribute right away-- and hes the type of player other teams will come to fear. It's hard to match up with a guy at that size--thats what made Blair so tough. In a year or two he will be one of the top players on this team and will help contribute this year right away.

Dejuan Blair had the reach of a 7 footer though. I think Glen Davis is a better comparison.

 

[David 76]

Kromah, for a small stretch, was the 2nd best player on the team and everybody was apologizing to hyperthink. People forget because Kromah pretty much shrank in the tourney