Three Man Weave Twitter Preview Thread - #8

[Waquoit]

It's really hard to repeat and it appears to be impossible to repeat without having your top guys come back. So I'm going to take this season game by game, looking for a continuation of team ball. The rest will take care of itself.

 

[NJHusky]

Who is coming off of a lingering injury, hasn't played competitive basketball in years, and was a raw prospect to begin with. He's definitely one of our biggest question marks.

You've been riding his jock for years now, and the fact remains that he has yet to play meaningful minutes of college basketball.

Don’t have a dog in this debate but Wouldn’t you expect more from a third year player (with wall potential….), even with limited PT than u did from DC before last season.

 

[Captbluefin]

The biggest question is how many quality minutes from DC.

How durable he is?
How’s he going to deal with teams focusing on getting him in foul trouble?
Deal with double teams?
Teams are going to have most of their game plan revolving around stopping DC and let the others beat you

He is a sophomore who got in when the opponents were beat up by Sanago.

He will adjust but it’s going to be ups and downs

 

[husky429]

Don’t have a dog in this debate but Wouldn’t you expect more from a third year player (with wall potential….), even with limited PT than u did from DC before last season.

Wall potential was coach-speak. Didn't care about it at all. And I wouldn't say being a junior who hasn't played a meaningful minute is a good thing. It means he's rusty.

I expected Clingan to be our backup center from day 1. I was surprised by just how ready he was. The kid is a worker.

Johnson is a hell of an athlete, but the 6'10 200lb freak athletes are high ceiling and low LOW floor. Between injuries and no really playing for 2 years, it's hard to expect much IMO.

Believe me, I would love to be wrong, but I am not seeing it yet.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Who is coming off of a lingering injury, hasn't played competitive basketball in years, and was a raw prospect to begin with. He's definitely one of our biggest question marks.

You've been riding his jock for years now, and the fact remains that he has yet to play meaningful minutes of college basketball.

To be fair, the same way he loves to hype up Samson, you love to remind us you think he won’t cut it.

Just based on the fact Hurley begged him to stay, instead of pursuing a solid/high floor option in the portal, I think we can raise our expectations for Samson to at least solid backup level.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

The biggest question is how many quality minutes from DC.

How durable he is?
How’s he going to deal with teams focusing on getting him in foul trouble?
Deal with double teams?
Teams are going to have most of their game plan revolving around stopping DC and let the others beat you

He is a sophomore who got in when the opponents were beat up by Sanago.

He will adjust but it’s going to be ups and downs

With DC’s passing ability I don’t think we should be worried about the double teams. He should feast on those.

Everything else is very valid though, especially the foul trouble.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I think on paper this team is better offensively, which is a bit blasphemous considering last year's team finished #3 in offensive efficiency, and the adjusted figure was the best mark in our KenPom-era team history (since '97). And it was the best by far (like 3 points per 100 pos over '04 and '06, which is generally the difference between an okay offense and a good offense like 2013 to 2014).

So everything is telling me 1) regression, especially shooting and 2) I'm underrating last season.

But man. The more I look at this team, the more I love it on paper.

The only thing that gives me pause is that while Castle is going to be awesome, he may process the game a little slower than Jackson. Jackson got himself in trouble at times by doing things too fast, but his immediate unselfish play set the tone for the team.

That and we have a bunch of scorers and shooters, but do we have the guys who will get the tough out-of-area rebound due to sheer hustle/will?

The biggest thing that’ll be missed with Andre is his motor, leadership, and athleticism.

It’s a great point that he was unselfish, to a fault, which was contagious with everyone else too. We’ve seen the opposite effect in the past.

I don’t think there’s any replacing Andre’s motor but from the summer games I think his athleticism and passing ability can be made up for by a combination of Castle and Ball. Ball especially looked like a much better passer than the board seemed to give him credit for overseas.

If there’s one thing that seems to need to be addressed is the rebounding part for sure. Overall, I agree the team looks a lot better and well rounded on paper. Which is a scary thought.

 

[mauconnfan]

I agree with the point that our big ??? is the center position. 1-4 we have a couple of bodies at each position that we know have talent, basically.

When Clingan sits, what happens? Can Johnson or Singare hold down the fort? Or is it going to be a guaranteed 10-point run when our starter sits like a few years ago?

We aren't going to have a 1-2 punch like last year--that was an anomaly. But we need servicable. And we really know if servicable is sitting on the bench or not right now.

Yeah the point on Sanogo/Clingan for 40 jumped out to me as well versus Clingan???. The thing in last years 40 there were arguably times and matchups that Clingans minutes were better. That won’t happen this season. Major question mark there especially if foul trouble occurs.

 

[husky429]

Yeah the point on Sanogo/Clingan for 40 jumped out to me as well versus Clingan???. The thing in last years 40 there were arguably times and matchups that Clingans minutes were better. That won’t happen this season. Major question mark there especially if foul trouble occurs.

If Clingan can play 30mpg without getting winded (and the subsequent foul trouble), I'd think we are an exceptionally dangerous team. A lot of our success will be on how much work he has put into his conditioning this summer.

A Singare/Johnson at their best is going to be a fraction of Clingan's impact. He's just too big to not be a factor in every play. He needs to be on the floor.

 

[dennismenace]

I actually think Clingan can turn out better than Sanogo, Cam can be more consistent than Hawkins, and there’s a lot of things Castle can do that Andre couldn’t.

And that’s no shade to them either as they were all obviously amazing players. Which makes this team so interesting because we may have a more well rounded and talented group of players this year coming off how talented last year was.

I like this analysis. Having both Samson and Singare as backups to Clingan gives Danny a lot of options. Samson has the capacity to be inside/outside and he has great athleticism. Singare just needs to hold down the defensive end with shot blocking and rebounds and an occasional put back.
I have confidence in the staff and Danny to put together the right options to get wins and instill confidence in these guys. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at what the rest of that team can do; especially Cam and Castle. Man do we have talent although some of the bench is young. Can't wait! It should be a banner year for Boneyard posting too!

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Believe me, I would love to be wrong

You'd never guess from reading your posts.

 

[BlueMAB]

If Clingan can play 30mpg without getting winded (and the subsequent foul trouble), I'd think we are an exceptionally dangerous team. A lot of our success will be on how much work he has put into his conditioning this summer.

A Singare/Johnson at their best is going to be a fraction of Clingan's impact. He's just too big to not be a factor in every play. He needs to be on the floor.

I think Hurley said he is hoping for 26-28 minutes from Clingan.

 

[husky429]

I think Hurley said he is hoping for 26-28 minutes from Clingan.

I imagine he'd average maybe 25mpg just because he'll play less vs cupcakes and when we inevitably blow out 90% of our high-major opponents.

28 versus good teams seems like a solid goal.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I like this analysis. Having both Samson and Singare as backups to Clingan gives Danny a lot of options. Samson has the capacity to be inside/outside and he has great athleticism. Singare just needs to hold down the defensive end with shot blocking and rebounds and an occasional put back.
I have confidence in the staff and Danny to put together the right options to get wins and instill confidence in these guys. I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at what the rest of that team can do; especially Cam and Castle. Man do we have talent although some of the bench is young. Can't wait! It should be a banner year for Boneyard posting too!

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

 

[EZPass]

Think Castle is the guy who might hold the key to the whole thing.

 

[Tiamat7]

I am bullish on this year's team, for sure. However, I think Sanogo's easy buckets down low are being overlooked. You could always count on those high percentage shots in tight games.

Clingan, hopefully, can replace much of it. But it also depends on getting him the ball in the right place, and a myriad of other factors.

I also don't expect three freshmen to contribute meaningfully in January. If we can get 2 of the 5 to perform at a high level, that will be sufficient. Castle plus one more.

 

[mauconnfan]

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

Yeah Spencer is not Hawkins in many ways but in some he is a better overall ingredient. Maybe even more so this year than he would’ve been last. The steady, consistent, savvy vet added to what overall is a young squad is a wonderful addition.

 

[NJHusky]

I expected Clingan to be our backup center from day 1. I was surprised by just how ready he was. The kid is a worker.

Johnson is a hell of an athlete, but the 6'10 200lb freak athletes are high ceiling and low LOW floor. Between injuries and no really playing for 2 years, it's hard to expect much IMO.

Believe me, I would love to be wrong, but I am not seeing it yet.

You know a lot more bball than I’ll ever understand. I guess I think being in the system for 2 years and that Hurley worked hard for him not to portal leads me to expect more from him as the backup than I expected from frosh Dc. Obviously I underestimated DC significantly and doubt he will have the anywhere near the impact DC did. He just needs to be competent

 

[Ricker]

I am repeating myself, but still wish we would find an additional 6'9+ big with the last scholarship. Several teams found such players in the last 2 weeks from overseas. Foot injuries with bigs have a way of becoming chronic a la Freemantle. I wish we had hedged our bet.

 

[Scrutiner]

I played around with some pre-season rankings and returning minutes/used possessions.

Over the last 2 seasons, there were 4 teams that finished in KenPom's top 3 the year before, returned similar-to-us less than 50% of their usage, and yet were still ranked in the top 10 pre-season by AP going into the next year. All 4 got 1-seeds the next year.

Glad that's settled so I can relax........

 

[August_West]

The thing in last years 40 there were arguably times and matchups that Clingans minutes were better.

Not arguably, but definitively. And that is talking about backing up the potential BE POY ( if we came higher than 4th). His minutes off the bench and efficiency and especially change of look behind Sanogo were priceless. No one salivated sending Sanogo to bench, in fact it hurt other teams in certain spots. Now obviously Donovan is a stud and is going to kill people this year, but our 5 spot minutes were a unicorn last year and absolutely scary. Nobody on our roster is backing up the 5 the way Clingan did last year. Not even close.

 

[Scrutiner]

I think on paper this team is better offensively, which is a bit blasphemous considering last year's team finished #3 in offensive efficiency, and the adjusted figure was the best mark in our KenPom-era team history (since '97). And it was the best by far (like 3 points per 100 pos over '04 and '06, which is generally the difference between an okay offense and a good offense like 2013 to 2014).

So everything is telling me 1) regression, especially shooting and 2) I'm underrating last season.

But man. The more I look at this team, the more I love it on paper.

The only thing that gives me pause is that while Castle is going to be awesome, he may process the game a little slower than Jackson. Jackson got himself in trouble at times by doing things too fast, but his immediate unselfish play set the tone for the team.

That and we have a bunch of scorers and shooters, but do we have the guys who will get the tough out-of-area rebound due to sheer hustle/will?

Paper is fun preseason but as much as I want us to be as good as we appear on paper I can't recall any teams (not just us) recently who performed on the court as well as they did on paper preseason.
Just a gut feeling as I haven't gone back to look at preseason polls and how the highly ranked teams ranked fared, but more teams seem to over achieve as we can certainly attest.......

 

[Scrutiner]

I’m usually not as big on transfers, but Cam is such a great fit and is perfect for this roster. Happy we got him over Timberlake.

He’s not as talented as Hawkins and shouldn’t be the #1 option like you’d want Hawkins to be, but I expect him to be a lot more efficient and consistent in his role while being able to do more on the court.

I’m not too worried about bigs. That’s probably the best position Hurley and staff has developed since he’s been here.

I agree on Spencer having talent but the big thing with Hawkins was his ability to come off a screen, at high speed, turn, and make a shot when we really needed to make one. And they were most often deep three's.

 

[HuskyHawk]

One of the reasons being a college basketball fan is so much fun is that there are always questions. You never know how freshman will perform or when a guy who was merely good, like Kemba, will put a team on his back the following year. Yet it happens every year, some guys come out of nowhere. Others disappoint.

Last year we were really fortunate. DC and Alex were better than we had any right to expect. Joey was better than expected. Newton was as advertised. Hawkins made the jump we hoped he'd make. Andre found ways to contribute. Adama was even better than the year before. I'm just planning to enjoy the ride and hope we are fortunate again.

 

[pj]

For us to be elite Castle’s rebounding is key.

Interesting observation. I would have guessed that for Castle the keys would be defensive intensity and his decision-making on offense, since he'll have the ball in his hands a lot. What makes you think his rebounding may be the difference-maker?