Connecticut

[LeftyRose]

Good game, but best defense I've seen in the last decade is UK versus Kansas this year, considering the level of competition. Best half: UK versus UCLA (first half). Virginia also held Rutgers, Harvard, and G. Tech to <30.

Glad we are winning, but these are not tournament teams. Just being realistic. With that said, the coaching staff is absolutely making the right adjustments, based on the data. Defensively, we are fourth in Opponent's PPG--VA and UK are 1-2. So, that's something.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Agreed. You can't rotate five guards, especially when four are upper-classmen. Troy's the all-conference starter. Cobb's the senior back-up. Jenifer is not Tyler Ulis. He should redshirt.

If Jenifer can play defense, I could see him passing Cobb as backup PG. And with Sanders gone, Morman and Evans can competee for minutes at the 3. We're in great shape no matter what happens, but I could see Cobb and Shaq being the odd men out of the 1-3 guys. And by that, I mean 15 minutes per game or less.

Which 4 guards will be upperclassmen? Caupain, Cobb, KJ...?

 

[LeftyRose]

If Jenifer can play defense, I could see him passing Cobb as backup PG. And with Sanders gone, Morman and Evans can competee for minutes at the 3. We're in great shape no matter what happens, but I could see Cobb and Shaq being the odd men out of the 1-3 guys. And by that, I mean 15 minutes per game or less.

Which 4 guards will be upperclassmen? Caupain, Cobb, KJ...?

Was referring to Morman since it's his third-yr in program, although you are right that he's SOPH in eligibility.

One thing, in my view, redshirting is not a knock on the player but rather a complement. You are getting a five-year scholoarship--guys can pursue a masters, etc. It's sort of like trading a first round draft pick this year to jump twenty spots next year. Would you rather have a year of Quadri this year or an extra year of Quadri in four years? In my view, it's investments like this that we need to make as a program to keep-up with the Joneses. I think Mick understands this concept, but the hardest part is getting the 18-yr old to buy-in. Everyone comes into the program as a star, and no one wants to sit for a year. That's what I mean by selling the kid that it's in his best interests.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Was referring to Morman since it's his third-yr in program, although you are right that he's SOPH in eligibility.

One thing, in my view, redshirting is not a knock on the player but rather a complement. You are getting a five-year scholoarship--guys can pursue a masters, etc. It's sort of like trading a first round draft pick this year to jump twenty spots next year. Would you rather have a year of Quadri this year or an extra year of Quadri in four years? In my view, it's investments like this that we need to make as a program to keep-up with the Joneses. I think Mick understands this concept, but the hardest part is getting the 18-yr old to buy-in. Everyone comes into the program as a star, and no one wants to sit for a year. That's what I mean by selling the kid that it's in his best interests.

I'm more concerned about the best interest of the team over an individual player. The fact is, we need a 6'8" 235 kid on our bench this year. In a perfect world, Quadri would be able to wait to use his eligibility when it would best suit his indivudual game. But in the real life grind of college basketball, you can't redshirt guys like Moore. For our team to be at its best this year, we need to continue to bring guys like him, DeBerry and Morman along imo.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

LeftyRose, last thing bc we're getting off topic...but I think Tre Scott could be a good redshirt candidate. We will have depth AND experience next year, so he might want to wait a year for guys like Ellis, DeBerry, and Shaq to move on. If Clark is a monster rebounder as an upperclassman, Quadri could potentially play some stretch 5. Scott would have a lot better path using his eligibility that way, and it might not affect the team next year.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Just got done watching the game again. I never have rewatched a game, but this was a very good game and I really wanted to hear what Knight had to say and I wanted to see some of the replays of the fouls. I was pretty heated during and after the game about the officiating. After watching the game again, I take back what I said about the refs being biased. Saw the plays in question and they weren't as bad as they seemed live and with emotions running and no replay to look at. I do think Caupain's second technical didn't need to be called, but it is what it is. The foul on Shaq wasn't too bad. Could've gone either way. The jump ball at the end still looked like crap but they never really replayed it. I actually had a better view from my upper deck seats for that than the TV gave us.