Good update on j. Durham
- Thread starter Dr.O1
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He could be a big help at the 4 position................... and gives UConn the option to go big in tandem with one of Brimah or Enoch. My thinking is that Larrier will get a lot of minutes at the 4 if he can board, as Ollie likes a stretch 4, but against some teams matchups might require more size and another shotblocker.
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He has always been thin, same as the other UConn bigs excepting Enoch. Durham would be ranked much higher based on his skill set if he had a stronger body. Hopefully the UConn strength and conditioning coaches will do a better job getting him bigger than has been done with Brimah and Facey. Facey trying to play the 5 last year at 205 pounds after Brimah got hurt was a bit of a joke. Durham doesn't look much more than 205 to be honest.
http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...icles/bhsn/2016/6/3/juwan_durham_back_on.html
Durham had surgery soon after, and says he's back to about 75 percent after going through three days a week of intense rehabilitation work over the past seven months.
The future UConn big man will meet with his surgeon Tuesday for a full evaluation of his knee.
Durham hopes to get further clearance to participate in more basketball activities.
On June 19, he'll leave for college in Connecticut, where he'll complete his rehab work with Huskies head coach Kevin Ollie and his staff.
“It’s just going to be a little relief because I waited so long," Durham said. "I just really can't wait."
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He could be the steal of the entire class. Top 5/10 type talent although it may take some time.
May take time, but he has talent and seemingly a tremendous attitude. I like that he is working out with Teddy Dupay, a former Florida Player of The Year and veteran of big time college hoops, who knows what it's like to play at this level.
I think he will be better than Jonathan Mandledove.
I think he will be better than Jonathan Mandledove.
Jon Mandeldove had a similar body to JD, but he really had no talent or desire. He sucked monkey balls, to be frank. He played at UConn 3 years and then he left the team under mysterious circumstances his senior year. He wasn't a contributor, was more like a body. Think Phil Nolan Lite.
Khalid, Mandledove was 240+ and 7'0 and a true Center. Durham, is a stretch 4 that potentially could play some 3 and 5. We are hoping he develops as a very poor mans Kevin Garnett type player. But Garnett's greatest strength was his mental make up. He was nasty and competitive as they come. That's not always the case with young Bigs, especially skinny ones.
Mandeldove was all of 7 ft. He was definitely 2" taller than Phil having seen and met both in person
Next season hinges on this kid's health. If he plays, we are very very good. If not, it will be another marginal season. I expect good things from Adams and Purvis will be his usual very good and very solid self. Brimah will be Brimah and that is ok. Unlike most people, I think Gilbert will struggle for a year or two before making his NBA run. We have gaping holes at the 3 and 4. One of the other guys might step up but odds are against two of them doing so. We need this kid to play.
Saying we have a "gaping hole" at the 3 is selling terry Larrier short. Based on KO's reviews and the fact TL is considered a potential future draft pick, TL could be one of our best players on the team, and TL will be spending most of his playing time as a small forward. I'm not saying we have a future lottery pick here with TL but I'm pretty confident his level of play will be far better than a "gaping hole."
But I do agree that Durham, if fully recovered, will be a stud for us. Before his injuries he was ranked ~ top 15 and rising in his class. He has good height, good shooting mechanics, and good feel for the game. He just needs to start eating ALOT to fill out his frame.
But I do agree that Durham, if fully recovered, will be a stud for us. Before his injuries he was ranked ~ top 15 and rising in his class. He has good height, good shooting mechanics, and good feel for the game. He just needs to start eating ALOT to fill out his frame.
It's actually Larrier who is the wild card on this team. He has a lot of talent, but as Blades has mentioned if you watch his tape from VCU he takes a ton of bad shots. How he has grown since then is what we will have to wait and see. If we get the guy hoisting all those bad shots at VCU there could be a hole at the position. If he has matured and learned how to play maybe not. This is why we play the games. So we can see what happens.
This ^^^^^^
How Larrier has evolved and what he's learned in his off time will be the key at the 3( but KO did give a nice shout out to Vance Jackson the other day)...As we saw with Purvis he was still making some bad decisions after his sit out year, but he played alot more under control this past season so ....as KSTW said above...This is why we play the games...since it's a slow time of year, here's the full clip TCF15 put together on Larrier's FR year at VCU...the good, the bad and the ugly >>>
How Larrier has evolved and what he's learned in his off time will be the key at the 3( but KO did give a nice shout out to Vance Jackson the other day)...As we saw with Purvis he was still making some bad decisions after his sit out year, but he played alot more under control this past season so ....as KSTW said above...This is why we play the games...since it's a slow time of year, here's the full clip TCF15 put together on Larrier's FR year at VCU...the good, the bad and the ugly >>>
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Also don't know if it's motivational talk for TL ..... but KO mentions both the 6-8 wings a few days ago in a different tone:
Well that's nice but hopefully they both can play and Ollie has a problem finding them minutes. More likely is that one is more ready than the other.
No fear......that's what I see from a skinny frosh. I'm excited about TL. Knows how to use his body inside. Bad shots, sure...but he's 2 years older with more talent to play with. I'm anxiously excited.
I don't know. We have seen hype like this before. What we know is that Larrier was good, but not great, coming out of high school. And that is what he was in his first year of college too. He could start contributing next year but he is the kind of kid that I don't expect much from until his third year. The same with Jackson. I would be shocked if the kid was a contributor next year. Hamilton leaving left us with question marks at two positions instead of one. That could hurt us because two is one too many. Our golden year could be the year after if everyone who can stay, stays and we add Diallo.
Do you think the two of them combined will equal Hamilton's 8.8 boards and 5 assists per game?
Good point on the Rebs, someone will have to board up with more PT ( Enoch , Facey ??) But I'd take Larrier improving on his shot selection at VCU and Vance stroking it as advertised as a 3pt shooter. If together they can cut down on D-Ham's team leading TO totals and his forced shots at the SF, which lead him to shoot a woeful team low 38% on FG's , while also taking the most shots per game of any of the top 10 rotation guys..... it might be a push. Even if they they just do a fraction of those stats above. I also expect some better open court decisions with Jalen in the lead now that D-Ham isn't dominating the ball and making those WTF plays in transition. Roles are bound to change from year to year....sometimes you end up with addition by subtraction.........see Kemba leading... with no Dyson in 2010-11.
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