UConn's Depth: Discussion

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

According to Borges the UConn bench may get deeper this week with Samson Johnson's return from injury:

UConn men's basketball team’s deep bench has been greatest strength. Will Dan Hurley alter his rotation?

Depth is the UConn men's basketball team's greatest strength, but will Dan Hurley have to...

www.nhregister.com

 

[the Blades]

According to Borges the UConn bench may get deeper this week with Samson Johnson's return from injury:

UConn men's basketball team’s deep bench has been greatest strength. Will Dan Hurley alter his rotation?

Depth is the UConn men's basketball team's greatest strength, but will Dan Hurley have to...

www.nhregister.com

“The depth is the key to who we are,” coach Dan Hurley said. “We’re a very skilled team, and we can play any type of game because of the depth. We can play a slowdown game, we can play an uptempo game, we can play big, we can play small. The depth is what makes this whole thing work, and playing to our identity.”

Yep, it's been playing out probably better than expected, even without Sampson so far. Just as we discussed in the pre-season thread .......... Even vs. G-town last game when the team needed a jump start in the 2nd half and DH went small. The versatility and depth has probably been his greatest weapon.

Here it is in post #98 .
"Not complicated. This team will be fluid and should have no problem being "multiple" with starting/ line-ups. Go small vs alot of the mid majors and those who play it smaller like Nova has. Then bigger vs. teams like Xavier who will be starting Nunge at 7-0 and Freemantle at 6-9. "

 

[CaNOLEE]

Samson started over Karaban in the opener. Think he regains his job? Karajan has been excellent and a Giffey like glue guy.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Samson will not start at least initially but as has been discussed elsewhere, who starts and who comes off bench is not really important. Samson would likely have seen more minutes than Karaban against Alabama and Oregon, and he will be an important player getting minutes against teams like Xavier and Marquette and perhaps Providence and St. John's as well. It's going to be matchups that dictate minutes.

 

[the Blades]

It's going to be matchups that dictate minutes.

I'm glad this TEAM accepts it's roles and also the way they play, sharing the ball. All these portal guys had bigger #'s at the schools they came from, but have to credit them and DH at the way they've gelled with each other.

From DH . “Listen, the group accepts the fact that, on different nights, minutes will fluctuate based on which lineup and which individuals are best affecting that game and our ability to win it,” he said. “That’s really a roster that suits me.”

Also kind of prophetic from AJ back in April: “It definitely hurts seeing some guys go. But I know at the end of the day we’re going to bring in some really good guys. We’ve got a lot of good recruits, and coach Hurley and the rest of the coaching staff are going to do their job of bringing in the right guys and the right type of people,” Jackson said.

“I think our core is really good right now,” AJ said. “A lot of guys left and I respect their decision of leaving, but I feel like the strongest people survive, in a sense. It’s always good to know that everybody that is here wants to be here. Everybody is locked in and committed to bringing UConn back and breaking that barrier.”

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The more I think about it the more I believe that Hurley's use of the transfer portal was brilliant. He got good veteran players, who have either 1 or 2 years of eligibility, and each of them brings a different skill set that can be used in different situations and against different lineups. They are all team players and understand that their roles are to provide juice off the bench. All of them have been good at different times, but the true surprise of the bunch has been Joey C. He was advertised as a 3 point shooter but he is more than that. He is a crafty shot maker and clever passer. He also has hit some crazy off balance shots. But all of these transfer portal guys have given the team a lift at different times.

There has also been an intangible element in UConn's success, which is that all of the pieces work together. The team seems to have remarkable connectedness on both ends of the floor. Usually it takes time for transfer players to adapt to a new system and new teammates, but it seems like each guy had a well defined role from day 1 and came in and executed that role. They work well with their teammates and seem to understand what they need to do to help them. You don't always see this with transfer players. Hurley picked his guys really, really well.