Three-Peat: Mainly a bet on the coaching staff

[Sphinx]

If you give CBS Sports any credence, UConn has "reloaded" for next season by acquiring the 45th and 80th best available players in the portal. To this they have added the #9 best freshman.

There's an argument that an awful lot of of teams have "reloaded" with higher-rated personnel. Yet the euphoria in this forum is such that it's been suggested that our second five would probably rank in the Top 25.

The truth, I believe, is that we have not come close to replacing the loss of Clingan, Castle, Newton, Spencer and probably Karaban, either individually or collectively. If you told me that we could have any one of these players back, there is no one on next year's roster I would not trade for him.

But here's the good news -- and the hope. We probably have the team our coaching staff wants. No doubt we could have recruited higher from the portal. Instead we recruited the pieces we wanted to build the team we wanted. Now it's up to the coaching staff to mold that team.

We're not going to three-peat by out-talenting the rest of the field one-on-one. We'll do it by piecing together the best team -- and that is mainly a bet on the coaching staff,

 

[HooperScooper]

CBS Sports likes UConn. The Huskies get the benefit of the doubt. Can't believe they update these ranking every time a team makes a personnel move. Gary Parrish needs something else to do during the off season.

UConn is going to lose at least four starters from the team that blasted everybody on its way to winning the 2024 NCAA Tournament. That's obviously not ideal. But, as you likely know, UConn previously lost three starters from the team that blasted everybody on its way to winning the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

And that turned out OK.

So if any program in the sport deserves the benefit of the doubt these days, it's probably the Huskies — especially with the way Dan Hurley and his staff have remade the roster in the three weeks since they cut nets in Arizona following a 75-60 victory over Purdue in the national championship game. Aidan Mahaney is the latest addition. The 6-foot-3 transfer from Saint Mary's announced a commitment to UConn on Monday just three days after five-star wing Liam McNeeley did the same, which came just nine days after Michigan transfer Tarris Reed did the same. As a result, the Huskies are up to No. 4 in Version 16.0 of the 2024-25 CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings.

College basketball rankings: UConn moves up in Top 25 And 1 after landing Saint Mary's star Aidan Mahaney

The reigning national champions move up to No. 4 with the addition of Mahaney through the transfer portal

www.cbssports.com

 

[Uconn77Duke74]

Uconn is "returning 5 of their top 9 scorers" is a really generous way of saying we are trying to recover after losing our 4 of our top 5 scorers. lol

 

[mets1090]

As it turns out, having an elite coaching staff means you can and will win with lower ranked players that fit the archetypes the staff wants.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Uconn is "returning 5 of their top 9 scorers" is a really generous way of saying we are trying to recover after losing our 4 of our top 5 scorers. lol

Yeah, I mean, most accurately, we played like 7.5 guys, and are returning arguably #4, #6, #7, and #8 (I assume Karaban ultimately comes back).

To be fair, the previous year we played like 8.5 guys and returned #3, #5, #6, and #9, and that worked out OK.

 

[navery12]

If you give CBS Sports any credence, UConn has "reloaded" for next season by acquiring the 45th and 80th best available players in the portal. To this they have added the #9 best freshman.

There's an argument that an awful lot of of teams have "reloaded" with higher-rated personnel. Yet the euphoria in this forum is such that it's been suggested that our second five would probably rank in the Top 25.

The truth, I believe, is that we have not come close to replacing the loss of Clingan, Castle, Newton, Spencer and probably Karaban, either individually or collectively. If you told me that we could have any one of these players back, there is no one on next year's roster I would not trade for him.

But here's the good news -- and the hope. We probably have the team our coaching staff wants. No doubt we could have recruited higher from the portal. Instead we recruited the pieces we wanted to build the team we wanted. Now it's up to the coaching staff to mold that team.

We're not going to three-peat by out-talenting the rest of the field one-on-one. We'll do it by piecing together the best team -- and that is mainly a bet on the coaching staff,

We didn't need to recruit the top guys in the portal because we only needed to fill holes in. The leaders of the team are going to be guys like Stewart and Ball making big sophomore leaps

 

[metsfan2323]

I agree it is mostly about the coaches, and we have the best in the business.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I know this situation well as a Tampa bay Rays fan:
Granted, the Rays haven't won a world series, but their roster building, through trades and farm system has been at the top of mlb for 2 decades.
They would trade for guys that would have you scratching your head only for those guys to become stars (Randy Arozerena, glasnow, ben zobrist etc.)
It became a thing where people said "if the Rays want one of your guys, hold onto them"

 

[Horatio]

You can argue that Castle replaced Andre. Who replaced Castle? I was hoping for another tall athletic Pg / Cg but what was done by Castle will probably come from our 4-5 6’7” athletic small forwards.

 

[UC0NN]

When you win a chip, they always overrate you the next season. And the fact that Dan is the coach they will overrate you even more.

What would this team be ranked preseason minus Karaban if these players were on Rutgers? #15 to 20?

With Dan at the helm, it's possible to turn any top 25 team into a championship contender by March.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

We're not going to three-peat by out-talenting the rest of the field one-on-one. We'll do it by piecing together the best team -- and that is mainly a bet on the coaching staff,

This is the key and this is why I've been nothing but cool and calm as a cucumber during the last two offseasons:

This staff is amazing. They know how to recruit. They know how to develop. They know how to strategize. They know how to adjust in game.

I'm just sitting back and enjoying this beautiful time of UConn basketball.

 

[UC0NN]

Great offensive talents don't always translate to deep runs.

KY last year with Reeves, Shep, Dilingham - doesn't get more loaded than those 3.

Suns with KD, Booker, Beal - team is loaded.

It's effort, defense, team defense, team offense. That wins championships. Look at the Lakers, 2 of the top 10 guys in the NBA yet they get destroyed. More than just scoring.

 

[auror]

When you win a chip, they always overrate you the next season. And the fact that Dan is the coach they will overrate you even more.

They underranked us last season.

 

[jibsey]

CBS Sports likes UConn. The Huskies get the benefit of the doubt. Can't believe they update these ranking every time a team makes a personnel move. Gary Parrish needs something else to do during the off season.

UConn is going to lose at least four starters from the team that blasted everybody on its way to winning the 2024 NCAA Tournament. That's obviously not ideal. But, as you likely know, UConn previously lost three starters from the team that blasted everybody on its way to winning the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

And that turned out OK.

So if any program in the sport deserves the benefit of the doubt these days, it's probably the Huskies — especially with the way Dan Hurley and his staff have remade the roster in the three weeks since they cut nets in Arizona following a 75-60 victory over Purdue in the national championship game. Aidan Mahaney is the latest addition. The 6-foot-3 transfer from Saint Mary's announced a commitment to UConn on Monday just three days after five-star wing Liam McNeeley did the same, which came just nine days after Michigan transfer Tarris Reed did the same. As a result, the Huskies are up to No. 4 in Version 16.0 of the 2024-25 CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings.

College basketball rankings: UConn moves up in Top 25 And 1 after landing Saint Mary's star Aidan Mahaney

The reigning national champions move up to No. 4 with the addition of Mahaney through the transfer portal

www.cbssports.com

Gary Parrish is a piece of crap. He picked Purdue as a better team than us in the Final Four. And we are picked 4th in the rankings for next year. To that I say good.

 

[gtcam]

I'll wait until the pre-draft situation is completed and after the fall 2024 practice season ends.
I have zero doubt that the UConn team that is on the floor next season will be the best that the staff can assemble and hopefully the staff will remain as is and they will figure it out.
Too early for all the speculative feedback.

One thought - Rutgers will be ranked much higher - their top 2 incoming freshmen are absolute beasts.

 

[NotADime89]

They underranked us last season.

Coaches even picked us to finish third in the big east....

 

[Scottobot]

If you give CBS Sports any credence, UConn has "reloaded" for next season by acquiring the 45th and 80th best available players in the portal. To this they have added the #9 best freshman.

There's an argument that an awful lot of of teams have "reloaded" with higher-rated personnel. Yet the euphoria in this forum is such that it's been suggested that our second five would probably rank in the Top 25.

The truth, I believe, is that we have not come close to replacing the loss of Clingan, Castle, Newton, Spencer and probably Karaban, either individually or collectively. If you told me that we could have any one of these players back, there is no one on next year's roster I would not trade for him.

But here's the good news -- and the hope. We probably have the team our coaching staff wants. No doubt we could have recruited higher from the portal. Instead we recruited the pieces we wanted to build the team we wanted. Now it's up to the coaching staff to mold that team.

We're not going to three-peat by out-talenting the rest of the field one-on-one. We'll do it by piecing together the best team -- and that is mainly a bet on the coaching staff,

UConn has 3 really highly rated recruits from last year that didn’t get a chance to,play, but practiced all year with elite talent and coaching. Ball, Stewart and Ross are talented, will be ready to contribute l next year. Diarra often outplayed one or more of the starters. We add a top 15 freshman and a top 40 freshman. Reed was a top 40 prospect 2 years ago, and Maheny was a good point guard for a very good and well coached St Mary’s team. That is a boat load of talent. If Karaban comes back the team is loaded. There is every reason to be optimistic. Last years team was perhaps the best college basketball team ever in the history of the game. So of course that will be impossible to replicate. Despite that we should have enough talent to compete for title. As always it is very difficult to win 6 games in a row in the tournament. To that point, I think the last 2 years dominance has made people forget how easy it is for one game where a hot shooting team knocks out a good team. Eg 2006 George Mason beating loading UConn team.

 

[nomar]

When you win a chip, they always overrate you the next season. And the fact that Dan is the coach they will overrate you even more.

What would this team be ranked preseason minus Karaban if these players were on Rutgers? #15 to 20?

With Dan at the helm, it's possible to turn any top 25 team into a championship contender by March.

Not always

MBB Ranked No. 6 In Preseason AP Top 25 - University of Connecticut Athletics

STORRS – The defending national champion UConn men's basketball team will open the 2023-24 season ranked No. 6 in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25. The mark

uconnhuskies.com

 

[bendm]

You can argue that Castle replaced Andre. Who replaced Castle? I was hoping for another tall athletic Pg / Cg but what was done by Castle will probably come from our 4-5 6’7” athletic small forwards.

Mahaney for Spencer is the best like-for-like replacement we could have dreamed of. replacing a 5* frosh SF with another 5* frosh SF is a close second. the big drop-off is replacing Clingan and potentially Karaban.

 

[McLovin]

If you give CBS Sports any credence, UConn has "reloaded" for next season by acquiring the 45th and 80th best available players in the portal. To this they have added the #9 best freshman.

There's an argument that an awful lot of of teams have "reloaded" with higher-rated personnel. Yet the euphoria in this forum is such that it's been suggested that our second five would probably rank in the Top 25.

The truth, I believe, is that we have not come close to replacing the loss of Clingan, Castle, Newton, Spencer and probably Karaban, either individually or collectively. If you told me that we could have any one of these players back, there is no one on next year's roster I would not trade for him.

But here's the good news -- and the hope. We probably have the team our coaching staff wants. No doubt we could have recruited higher from the portal. Instead we recruited the pieces we wanted to build the team we wanted. Now it's up to the coaching staff to mold that team.

We're not going to three-peat by out-talenting the rest of the field one-on-one. We'll do it by piecing together the best team -- and that is mainly a bet on the coaching staff,

While it’s true we lost a lot of key pieces and other teams may have reloaded with higher rated portal guys, one thing many (if any) other teams don’t have is stock pile of homegrown talent waiting in the wings to step into large roles, including returning 4 of 5 players from last years top 5 recruiting class.

With or without Karaban, next years squad has at least 2 future NBA players on it, possibly as many as 5. We are deep and loaded even though we didn’t get the splash portal additions.

 

[gsmooth]

I know this situation well as a Tampa bay Rays fan:
Granted, the Rays haven't won a world series, but their roster building, through trades and farm system has been at the top of mlb for 2 decades.
They would trade for guys that would have you scratching your head only for those guys to become stars (Randy Arozerena, glasnow, ben zobrist etc.)
It became a thing where people said "if the Rays want one of your guys, hold onto them"

As a Yankees fan, I can say the Rays certainly have a innovative approach to roster building. The Yanks and Sox have way more money and resources and yet the Rays are right there competing with them.

 

[JohnnyJr]

While it’s true we lost a lot of key pieces and other teams may have reloaded with higher rated portal guys, one thing many (if any) other teams don’t have is stock pile of homegrown talent waiting in the wings to step into large roles, including returning 4 of 5 players from last years top 5 recruiting class.

With or without Karaban, next years squad has at least 2 future NBA players on it, possibly as many as 5. We are deep and loaded even though we didn’t get the splash portal additions.

We don’t have the proven returning players that we did last year. Clingan Karaban and Newton all were big players their first year. If Karaban doesn’t return we’re banking on a big jump out of Stewart, Ball and Diarra.

 

[HooperScooper]

Gary Parrish is a piece of crap. He picked Purdue as a better team than us in the Final Four. And we are picked 4th in the rankings for next year. To that I say good.

You're right, he did pick Purdue.

March Madness 2024 picks: Experts predict winners of NCAA Tournament championship game

Our experts have filled out their brackets, so check who they predict will be cutting down the nets

www.cbssports.com

 

[Huskybass]

I was wondering earlier today if we have enough to do it again. My conclusion: no idea.

IF Karaban returns, the 4 spot is better next year. On the flip side, we are objectively not as strong at the 1, 2, 3, or 5 given the departures of Newton, Spencer, Castle and Clingan.

Nevertheless, there still may be enough talent for the staff to put together another great team if guys like Stewart, Ball and McNeely really step up. Plenty of talent and depth for the best coaching staff in the country to work with. I just don't expect double digit wins constantly like we had with the 23-24 team.

 

[Waquoit]

This new team doesn't have to be as good as last year's to win the whole thing. Get to the Dance in one piece and let their precision take it from there. We've got guys.