Phil Nolan's Report Card

[joober jones]

They forgot to give him a grade.
Nolan's Report Card

 

[Kitaman]

It would be interesting to get his feedback on his performance for the season. I'd just like to know what he has to say and perhaps offer some enlightenment.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Not a chance in hell he puts up 7 and 5 next season. He was definitely serviceable over the last month or so. Hopefully he can build on that.

 

[nomar]

Despite his lack of production last year, I think Nolan can step up and be more of a factor next season in the mold of a 2005-06 Hilton Armstrong.

Armstrong's production was similarly modest over his first three years at UConn, but in his senior season he found his way, averaging 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Can Phil Nolan do the same?

No.

 

[joober jones]

Despite his lack of production last year, I think Nolan can step up and be more of a factor next season in the mold of a 2005-06 Hilton Armstrong.

Armstrong's production was similarly modest over his first three years at UConn, but in his senior season he found his way, averaging 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Can Phil Nolan do the same?

For .

For PN to do that, he'd have to increase his scoring from last season by over 6x. That would've had Hilton Armstrong scoring 23ppg as a senior.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Not a chance in hell he puts up 7 and 5 next season. He was definitely serviceable over the last month or so. Hopefully he can build on that.

Maybe 5 rebs and 7 flops?

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

No chance if we land Miller!

 

[Fishy]

Here's a lesson for aspiring journalists....there's no need to try to find the sunny side if it doesn't exist.

Statistically, Nolan is disastrous. His impact on the game is negligible

We're playing four on five offensively with him and he's not in the realm of a good or even solid defender.

He plays because we've been unable to recruit anything better. If he plays next year, it will be because the small gaggle of power forwards either already on the roster or coming in fail to clear even the lowest hurdle Phil presents.

 

[nomar]

For PN to do that, he'd have to increase his scoring from last season by over 6x. That would've had Hilton Armstrong scoring 23ppg as a senior.

He can do that!

Oh wait, you said 23, not 2.3 - my bad.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

All the sunshine in Tahiti wouldn't make me bullish on Nolan.

 

[gioff23]

I have seen nothing to believe he will emerge in his final year, but I felt the same about HA so who knows.

 

[pnow15]

Let' hope he will earn a degree next year and go on to a successful life.

 

[JimHurley]

Let's not forget without Nolan's defense last year, we would still only have three national championships. He does some important things that don't show up on the stat sheet like play defense and take charges. I think he's capable of putting up 6PPG and 4RPG next year.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Let's not forget without Nolan's defense last year, we would still only have three national championships. He does some important things that don't show up on the stat sheet like play defense and take charges. I think he's capable of putting up 6PPG and 4RPG next year.

I have retrograde amnesia so I don't remember anything good about Phil. Even though I don't doubt your conclusions which have been confirmed once by HOF'er 09and04.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The thing is, Phil probably has a better offensive reportoise than Brimah.

 

[champs99and04]

Here's a lesson for aspiring journalists....there's no need to try to find the sunny side if it doesn't exist.

Statistically, Nolan is disastrous. His impact on the game is negligible

We're playing four on five offensively with him and he's not in the realm of a good or even solid defender.

He plays because we've been unable to recruit anything better. If he plays next year, it will be because the small gaggle of power forwards either already on the roster or coming in fail to clear even the lowest hurdle Phil presents.

I guess the fact that he started for a team that won a national championship doesn't count as a sunny side these days.

To say he's "not in the realm of being a solid defender" is just not accurate. Phil's insertion into the starting lineup coincided with the best stretch of defense the team played all season - they held opponents to 50.3 points per game in the AAC Tournament.

He is a player that can come off the bench for 10-15 minutes and fill in without killing you. That is what he's been and what he'll always be, and there is a value in that sort of player which is why Kevin Ollie continues to play him despite the objection of the coaches on the boneyard. I know this because I have seen it.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

I guess the fact that he started for a team that won a national championship doesn't count as a sunny side these days.

To say he's "not in the realm of being a solid defender" is just not accurate. Phil's insertion into the starting lineup coincided with the best stretch of defense the team played all season - they held opponents to 50.3 points per game in the AAC Tournament.

He is a player that can come off the bench for 10-15 minutes and fill in without killing you. That is what he's been and what he'll always be, and there is a value in that sort of player which is why Kevin Ollie continues to play him despite the objection of the coaches on the boneyard. I know this because I have seen it.

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20...ng-his-weight-around-uconn-to-face-georgetown

Champs what are your thoughts on his off season after the title? It seemed to me his mobility regressed around the basket. I don't think his defensive capabilities improved either. An easier argument may be Phil regressed on that end of the court also. In my opinion his time in the off season was not spent as productively as it should have been. That especially holds true for Samuel as well. As low as both of these guys ceilings appear right now...this year really was a true wake up call that both these guys need to take a reduced role for the team to move forward (if one at all). Maybe the kid didn't get the direction he needed? Either way a great recruiting class (more depth) this year may have caused a few more players to ponder their future at UConn. Having said that Phil will always go down as a National Champion. No one can take that away from him. He earned it.

 

[bmo22]

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20...ng-his-weight-around-uconn-to-face-georgetown

Champs what are your thoughts on his off season after the title? It seemed to me his mobility regressed around the basket. I don't think his defensive capabilities improved either. An easier argument may be Phil regressed on that end of the court also. In my opinion his time in the off season was not spent as productively as it should have been. That especially holds true for Samuel as well. As low as both of these guys ceilings appear right now...this year really was a true wake up call that both these guys need to take a reduced role for the team to move forward (if one at all). Maybe the kid didn't get the direction he needed? Either way a great recruiting class (more depth) this year may have caused a few more players to ponder their future at UConn. Having said that Phil will always go down as a National Champion. No one can take that away from him. He earned it.

It's unfair to make the assumption that Phil Nolan didn't spend his time productively last offseason. The main goal was for him to gain muscle, and he did that (15-20 pounds). You just have to accept him for what he his. He's not as athletic or agile as elite big men in college. He has a decent touch on his shot but he'll never develop a back-to-the-basket game. I disagree with some of the things Fishy said, but the thing that's undisputable is that Phil is playing more minutes than he should because of our lack of success recruiting skilled big men in recent years. Phil is a mid-major level talent that should only play 10 minutes a game for a team like UConn. Hard to put that on him.

 

[FartMan69]

I guess the fact that he started for a team that won a national championship doesn't count as a sunny side these days.

To say he's "not in the realm of being a solid defender" is just not accurate. Phil's insertion into the starting lineup coincided with the best stretch of defense the team played all season - they held opponents to 50.3 points per game in the AAC Tournament.

He is a player that can come off the bench for 10-15 minutes and fill in without killing you. That is what he's been and what he'll always be, and there is a value in that sort of player which is why Kevin Ollie continues to play him despite the objection of the coaches on the boneyard. I know this because I have seen it.

Yeah um problem is we are so weak up front that we don't have the luxury to play him in that role. He's a good kid but he is not good.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

It's unfair to make the assumption that Phil Nolan didn't spend his time productively last offseason. The main goal was for him to gain muscle, and he did that (15-20 pounds). You just have to accept him for what he his. He's not as athletic or agile as elite big men in college. He has a decent touch on his shot but he'll never develop a back-to-the-basket game. I disagree with some of the things Fishy said, but the thing that's undisputable is that Phil is playing more minutes than he should because of our lack of success recruiting skilled big men in recent years. Phil is a mid-major level talent that should only play 10 minutes a game for a team like UConn. Hard to put that on him.

Fair points...I suppose recruiting/or lack there of sums it up most succinctly. I am curious though if Champs agrees with you from a player development perspective. In Phil's case just increasing his productivity this year nominally may have helped us get on the bubble.

 

[champs99and04]

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20...ng-his-weight-around-uconn-to-face-georgetown

Champs what are your thoughts on his off season after the title? It seemed to me his mobility regressed around the basket. I don't think his defensive capabilities improved either. An easier argument may be Phil regressed on that end of the court also. In my opinion his time in the off season was not spent as productively as it should have been. That especially holds true for Samuel as well. As low as both of these guys ceilings appear right now...this year really was a true wake up call that both these guys need to take a reduced role for the team to move forward (if one at all). Maybe the kid didn't get the direction he needed? Either way a great recruiting class (more depth) this year may have caused a few more players to ponder their future at UConn. Having said that Phil will always go down as a National Champion. No one can take that away from him. He earned it.

Seems to me that what happened to Phil was the same thing that happened to Olander a couple years ago. He's more naturally suited for the four, but because we didn't really have a backup center, he had to bulk up and play the lion's share of his minutes there.

And, in fairness to Phil, I'm pretty sure he was playing most of last season with an injury. I saw him wearing a walking boot...and that was on the day of a game he actually played and started in. As it is, he's still a good defensive player, IMO. He's obviously not the athlete some of our other big men are, but in terms of positioning I think he's the best.

 

[champs99and04]

Yeah um problem is we are so weak up front that we don't have the luxury to play him in that role. He's a good kid but he is not good.

Never said otherwise. We'll certainly need to get more production up front.

 

[scrappy2.0]

I think Phil's best position is back up 5. We can go big for a few minutes each game but eventually it will wear out if we go to long.

 

[msgordon]

I guess the fact that he started for a team that won a national championship doesn't count as a sunny side these days.

To say he's "not in the realm of being a solid defender" is just not accurate. Phil's insertion into the starting lineup coincided with the best stretch of defense the team played all season - they held opponents to 50.3 points per game in the AAC Tournament.

He is a player that can come off the bench for 10-15 minutes and fill in without killing you. That is what he's been and what he'll always be, and there is a value in that sort of player which is why Kevin Ollie continues to play him despite the objection of the coaches on the boneyard. I know this because I have seen it.

fishys words were harsh but accurate. 'starting for a team that won a national championship' is pretty silly. he scored 12 pts the whole tournament. 1 pt and 2 boards total in the final four, he was getting absolutely abused against kentucky too. not only did he regress this year, he had an almost impossibly bad season statistically. out of players who got 500 minutes, he had 4th worst PER in the ENTIRE COUNTRY.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=per&order_by_asc=Y

only 3 freshmen were worse. he might be the worst rebounding big in the country as well, and its not like hes leaving the paint to stretch the floor very often. his assist, steal and block rates are almost unfathomably low. on the rare occasion he gets the ball, he turns it over at a higher rate than anyone on the team (27%). the only thing he does well is take charges, and lets be honest, the majority of them are gimmicks or flops that we would berate the refs for if they got called against us. when he doesnt get the call, he takes himself completely out of the play. he does seem like a nice kid though

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

fishys words were harsh but accurate. 'starting for a team that won a national championship' is pretty silly. he scored 12 pts the whole tournament. 1 pt and 2 boards total in the final four, he was getting absolutely abused against kentucky too. not only did he regress this year, he had an almost impossibly bad season statistically. out of players who got 500 minutes, he had 4th worst PER in the ENTIRE COUNTRY.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=per&order_by_asc=Y

only 3 freshmen were worse. he might be the worst rebounding big in the country as well, and its not like hes leaving the paint to stretch the floor very often. his assist, steal and block rates are almost unfathomably low. on the rare occasion he gets the ball, he turns it over at a higher rate than anyone on the team (27%). the only thing he does well is take charges, and lets be honest, the majority of them are gimmicks or flops that we would berate the refs for if they got called against us. when he doesnt get the call, he takes himself completely out of the play. he does seem like a nice kid though

well that about wraps up this thread.