Developing talent...
- Thread starter CaNOLEE
- Start date
Blades, remember when guys like Hilton, Josh Boone, Gavin Edwards, Okafor, not even big time recruits, always seemed to get drastically better by the time they left?
I think this is a big offseason, Jalen has great talent, but he has to clean up his game . Larrier is skilled and athletic kid with a year in the system. Enoch has loads of potential. Hopefully Hamilton comes back as well and grows as a player. Etc... But they all need to be developed.
I think this is a big offseason, Jalen has great talent, but he has to clean up his game . Larrier is skilled and athletic kid with a year in the system. Enoch has loads of potential. Hopefully Hamilton comes back as well and grows as a player. Etc... But they all need to be developed.
The championship might be a curse because we did it with Nolan and Brimah. Ollie thinks he is just fine but we are TERRIBLE in recruiting muscle. Not just tall but Cinci/Kansas type muscle players who can bruise it up.
We are a RAIL THIN team and have been for some time.
We are a RAIL THIN team and have been for some time.
As I watched the Maryland-Kansas game last night I was thinking the same thing- muscle inside is what is needed to combat these teams. Kansas did not have as easy a game against Maryland as they did against UConn, even though they punished Maryland inside at times.
Enoch has to be developed. He has the kind of body needed to physically combat with those type teams. It really isn't hard to find banger type big guys and UConn did not have any on the team last year who got meaningful minutes. UConn was a smallish finesse team and that just doesn't cut it against big, physical teams. But it can be fixed- develop Enoch and bring in another big body.
Enoch has to be developed. He has the kind of body needed to physically combat with those type teams. It really isn't hard to find banger type big guys and UConn did not have any on the team last year who got meaningful minutes. UConn was a smallish finesse team and that just doesn't cut it against big, physical teams. But it can be fixed- develop Enoch and bring in another big body.
Posted this recently in another thread but Brimah, Facey & Nolan were guys we recruited during our sanctions period where we took a hit on the recruiting trail. See the most recent big men that he has landed in Enoch, Diarra & Brown. I think those guys show that he knows you can't have all tall lanky guys and need some muscle in there.
Our bigs were exposed badly vs Kansas with Enoch being the only one physically who could have matched up with them, but he wasn't ready to contribute in that type of game. It made me feel a little better seeing the Jayhawks dominate Maryland's big frontcourt as well - we ran into a beast.
It's as clear as day that our bigs need more work but KO is obviously aware of this and he's now recruiting his type of players
Another thing regarding some of those Bigs then and now is the gains they made physically and in the weight room at Uconn / from HS to the NBA
Hilton Armstrong 6-10/210 in Highschool left as 6-11/240
Emeka Okafor 6-8/225 left at 6-10/257
Josh Boone 6-8/205 left at 6-10/237
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I watched some of the game in the first half.... but I see Uconn (73-61) gave a Kansas a closer game, in the end, than Maryland who lost by 16....and I guess size does not matter:
CBS Observations: Kansas dominated massive Maryland on the boards
Stone had foul trouble which hurt Maryland substantially, because he beat them for scores inside with his very good post moves. Maryland made a game of it for a half but in the end, they just didn't have enough weapons. Their offense was kind of sporadic.
I soured on Melo Trimble a bit watching this game. He made a lot of bad decisions. The guy on the Maryland team who impressed me was Layman, who is long and athletic and plays aggressively.
In the other game Villanova was very impressive offensively and I will be interested if they can run offense that consistently against Kansas. Villanova played one of the best games I have seen this year against Miami. They were aggressive and shot lights out.
I soured on Melo Trimble a bit watching this game. He made a lot of bad decisions. The guy on the Maryland team who impressed me was Layman, who is long and athletic and plays aggressively.
In the other game Villanova was very impressive offensively and I will be interested if they can run offense that consistently against Kansas. Villanova played one of the best games I have seen this year against Miami. They were aggressive and shot lights out.
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Dom and Khalid, Lubin wasn't a big time recruit or very tall, but we could have used his bulk to carve out space.
Silk, Facey was a top 60 kid with offers from Florida, ucla, Louisville, etc...).
Good point Blades about our Bigs putting on size while they were on campus. Enoch has already put on 25/30 lbs in a year, but I heard that started before he got here.
I thought we made Kansas look good last weekend, but maybe I'm selling them short. I wasn't a big fan of Maryland. We played basketball against them and allowed them a 20 point margin that they had to hang on to.
At this point, I wouldn't mind Nova winning it all. Or Gonzaga. Anyone but Syracuse.
Silk, Facey was a top 60 kid with offers from Florida, ucla, Louisville, etc...).
Good point Blades about our Bigs putting on size while they were on campus. Enoch has already put on 25/30 lbs in a year, but I heard that started before he got here.
I thought we made Kansas look good last weekend, but maybe I'm selling them short. I wasn't a big fan of Maryland. We played basketball against them and allowed them a 20 point margin that they had to hang on to.
At this point, I wouldn't mind Nova winning it all. Or Gonzaga. Anyone but Syracuse.
For there to be development of talent, there has to be some talent to develop, and the kid being developed also has to want it. If a kid is not getting bigger since he has been on campus, it's not all on the coaches. Is it the coaches' fault that Facey weighs 205 pounds and that Brimah gets pushed around by large, strong big men like a kewpie doll? As Silk mentioned recruiting took a hit for a few years and Ollie had to settle for what he could get. Enoch is the first TRUE developmental test. He has to make progress next year. He is too big and too good and the issues he has are all correctable with coaching.
Canolee,
Yea I wasn't degrading Facey, just speaking more to the lanky and thin big man issue - and Facey was the best recruit we landed during that period (not exactly the jewel of any recruiting class). I would like to see what he can do as what should be an unquestioned starting role as a senior this coming season. He has shown a lot of flashes but lacks consistency and maybe even confidence.
If KO and staff are unable to develop Big Steve then I will be upset because all the tools are there to mold him into a beast
Facey needs to get stronger. I think he will be handed the starting 4 position based on experience level but if he is starting at 4 and Brimah at the 5, you have two guys who while good defenders, are almost zeroes offensively, except for converting lob dunks against weak teams that are overmatched. Neither Facey nor Brimah have any comfort level creating their own offense inside. What offense they get are on rare offensive boards and lobs in transition or against overmatched teams like Coppin State.
I saw Facey in high school and he played the 5 and was a dominant rebounder, defender and shot blocker. He is one of a few guys who were dominant 5s in high school whose game didn't translate that well on the college level. I can think of one other guy like him, Marvin Saddler, who was an inch shorter but bigger than Facey, played 5 for St. Joseph's in Trumbull and was the difference in the State Championship game against Chris Smith and Kolbe. Smith, who was a 6'2" point guard, was by 2 inches the tallest starting player on the Kolbe team. They did the best they could with Saddler but in the end you can't cover a 6'8" guy with two 6'0" guys. At Providence College Saddler played 4 and he was too mechanical with his moves to play facing the basket. He wasn't a good college player but in high school he was one of the better centers I saw go through the Connecticut prep ranks. I also saw Charlie Smith when he played at Harding. I saw Harding beat Fairfield Prep by 60 at the Fairfield U gym some time in the early 1980s (I think), when Smith was on their team. He later played for the NY Knicks.
I saw Facey in high school and he played the 5 and was a dominant rebounder, defender and shot blocker. He is one of a few guys who were dominant 5s in high school whose game didn't translate that well on the college level. I can think of one other guy like him, Marvin Saddler, who was an inch shorter but bigger than Facey, played 5 for St. Joseph's in Trumbull and was the difference in the State Championship game against Chris Smith and Kolbe. Smith, who was a 6'2" point guard, was by 2 inches the tallest starting player on the Kolbe team. They did the best they could with Saddler but in the end you can't cover a 6'8" guy with two 6'0" guys. At Providence College Saddler played 4 and he was too mechanical with his moves to play facing the basket. He wasn't a good college player but in high school he was one of the better centers I saw go through the Connecticut prep ranks. I also saw Charlie Smith when he played at Harding. I saw Harding beat Fairfield Prep by 60 at the Fairfield U gym some time in the early 1980s (I think), when Smith was on their team. He later played for the NY Knicks.
Good post Silk. I think you can say that about a lot of our players, that they lack consistency. Every time it's seems the light is coming on for someone, they take two steps backwards. That's part of developing them.
This upcoming year is going to be pivotal in the future of the program Imo. No more Mulligans.
This upcoming year is going to be pivotal in the future of the program Imo. No more Mulligans.
No it is not the fault of the coaches our bigs are small, its their fault they are on the team/court. I can buy the recruiting taking a hit thing, lets hope we get some muscle and fast. We have not seen a big get better while wearing a UCONN uni in a long time. Hilton comes to mind as the last.
Come on Dom...Hilton as the last big man to develop and improve at UConn???
Both Jeff Adrien & Hasheem Thabeet are easy ones. Neither of them were NBA level talents coming in and they both made it to the league with Thabeet as the #2 pick over Harden & Curry.
It's been a down turn for the big men every since the APR sanctions came down. I mean look at what our frontcourt was the year before all this mess hit - Drummond, Oriakhi & Roscoe. I agree that we need to add some beef up front but you can certainly see KO placing a precedent on getting some more rugged bigs in the mix
My understanding on Jackson is he is a 3 point shooting wing best suited as a 3. Ditto with Larrier, although both players are long and theoretically could be candidates for stretch 4. Larrier because of experience level a more likely candidate for time at the stretch 4. Jackson averaged 7 boards a game as a junior, and shot 55% from 3 ball land last summer circuit. He reportedly can shoot a deep 3.
The playing time of both depends on Hamilton and whether he comes back. I can also see Hamilton sliding to 4 if Facey cannot provide adequate offense, and Larrier and Jackson splitting time at 3. There are many options, also including Diarra at the 4.
The playing time of both depends on Hamilton and whether he comes back. I can also see Hamilton sliding to 4 if Facey cannot provide adequate offense, and Larrier and Jackson splitting time at 3. There are many options, also including Diarra at the 4.
They clearly had the dedication and personal drive for self-improvement to make it happen.