u/jpviolette

For those who don't want to watch:

Parrish	Norlander
UConn	UConn
St John's	St John's
Villanova	Marquette
Marquette	Villanova
Providence	Providence
Xavier	Creighton
Creighton	Georgetown
Depaul	Depaul
Seton Hall	Xavier
Georgetown	Seton Hall
Butler	Butler

Yet another MBB Big East preview. Probably a reasonable analysis, but lengthy (1:43).

Alex Karaban is adjusting to his post-college life.

I have to admit I'm a little too old for the He-Man cartoons (I was more of a Herculoids generation) but it's good to hear that Giltay seems to be better than (most fans) expected. As the last line of defense, 5s can pick of fouls in a hurry, and having a reasonable backup is pretty important.

Most of the predictions I've heard agree about the top of the conference, though things get fuzzier after that.

Note

This video covers both MBB and WBB; if you only care about 1, the 1st 18 minutes is virtually entirely about WBB while the 18 minutes after that is virtually entirely about MBB.

WBB

The good news:

• Both El Alfy and Vukosa looked good. My guess is that Vukosa has a bit more upside but El Alfy's much more experienced; these could balance out with both playing quite a bit.
• Heckel was impressive and started alongside Arnold in a 2 PG lineup. Fisher and Popovic continued that 2 PG theme as substitutions happened. UConn could look quicker/faster with more playmakers this season, at least part of the time.

The bad news:

• Part of the reason the PGs got a lot of playing time is that most of the natural 3s and 4s (Ziebell, Cheli, Quinonez) are injured. In theory they'll all be ready by the start of the season, but history is awash in theories that didn't hold up. Had this been a game instead of a practice, Shade would be the starting 3, and she's a little small for that role. (Admittedly she did defend 3s as a freshman on an extremely injured team.)
• It's unclear that the PGs will be able to provide the perimeter shooting that's pretty important these days. Heckel and Arnold have been effective as opportunistic 3-pt shooters but it hasn't really been a strength. And we don't know which version of Shade we'll get either; she showed a lot of promise as a sophomore shooter but shooting was the weakest part of her game as a junior.

Overall UConn might be able to win even if Strong is the only healthy 3/4 in the rotation, but they'll have to get creative to do it.

MBB

The bad news:

• Apparently Mullins is currently injured. Although they don't seem to think it's serious, you never know.
• It's unclear how the coaching losses of Murray and Moore will affect things this season.
• While Demary and Ross are seniors, the rest of the top 8 players are likely to be underclassmen. This will generally be a young team.

Most of the rest sounded like good news:

• All signs point to Colben Landrew being the real deal. If Ross wasn't the heir apparent at the 3 spot, Landrew would probably have a wide open opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Stephon Castle. Even if he doesn't start, expect him to play quite a bit, possibly seeing time at the 4 and 2 spots in addition to the 3.
• Oskar Giltay also sounds like he's exceeding expectations. After a nondescript freshman season at Stanford, he was expected to be a competent reserve behind Hines. But he appears to be stronger this season, and may be 1 of the game's better backup 5s.
• Nik Khamenia sounds like he'll be a pretty good replacement for Karaban. Even though his perimeter shooting probably won't be as strong, he might give them a little more athleticism and rebounding.

Overall the team appears to have both talent and depth. With so many underclassmen and transfers, a slow start is possible but they could also see a lot of player growth as the season progresses.

It always seems incongruous to me to be thinking about 2027-28 before 2026-27 has even started, even though it's always been like that to 1 extent or another.

While I like that they felt like Awaka resembles what Sanogo looked like in HS, Sanogo developed a lot over his 3 years in Storrs. As a freshman he was more of an energetic wrecking ball on the boards who got in foul trouble defensively and who was pretty limited offensively. Awaka may have similar potential, but reaching it won't be a slam dunk.

It's hard to say what his impact will be this season, but he'll certainly be important. He probably has the potential to be in the same conversation as Sanogo/Reed, though even if he gets there, he may not be that player right away.

If everything else clicks, I could see UConn being successful even if Hines isn't a polished low-post scorer this coming season. But if he gets up-to-speed quickly it'll make everything else easier.

Speculation

Trying to evaluate players based on video of preseason scrimmages that the team released to the public isn't exactly hard science. UConn could be using this as a tool to build the confidence of some players and to motivate others. Heck, it could even be disinformation that's intended to give their opponents an incorrect understanding of who the players are that they'll need to game-plan against.

Speculation can be fun, but I'd caution against taking it too seriously.

County and Landrew

Both players seem to be getting highlighted quite a bit more than you'd expect given 1) the rest of the roster, and 2) their relative inexperience. It won't be until 4-5 games into the season that we're likely to know if this is more reality than hype.

But just for fun, let's suppose they're very ready to contribute, that they're close to as prepared when the season starts as Castle was as a freshman in 2023-24. I'm not saying they'll be as good as Castle was at the end of 2023-24, just that they're approximately as good as Castle was at the start of 2023-24.

Of the 2, Landrew probably has the easier path to the starting lineup. As good a reserve as Ross was last season, UConn is expected to have 1 of the nation's best PG/SG tandems in basketball next season.

But even if County/Landrew are really good, it's still possible they play off the bench this season. The main consequence might be that they end up taking most of the 1-4 bench minutes. And even if Demary/Mullins/Ross/Khamenia average 30 mpg apiece, there's still 40 minutes to split between the 2 freshmen.

Freshmen excellence at the start of the season probably won't happen, but if it does then UConn's rotation at the 1-4 spots would be among the best in college MBB.

Hines

This video also discusses whether it means something that the footage of Hines seems to mostly consist of uncontested dunks. I also recall a previous video where Hurley kinda-sorta hinted that Hines still needed to get in better shape. Taken together, maybe it means that the coaches still view Hines as a work in progress, or (more positively) maybe his defense/rebounding are ahead of his offensive game. More likely, we're reading too much into a very small sample size.

In a worst-case scenario, maybe Hines's offensive game is a little like Samson Johnson in 2024-25. As long as Hines defends and rebounds well, I think UConn could live with that, especially since this year's team should be stronger at other positions (especially PG).

This is a question I've also wondered about.

With the 2022-24 seasons in mind, we all know what injuries can do to a lineup. Both those teams would have benefited from having even 1 more starter-quality sub on them. And UConn's "wingiest" players (Strong, Quinonez, Cheli) all had some degree of injury last season, and injuries to this group could require UConn to use as many as 4 of their 1s and 2s at the same time (similar to 2023-24).

Having said that, UConn's arguably got 4 1s and 3 2s on the roster, and 4 of them have shown they can play prime time minutes. That doesn't leave a lot of minutes for Fisher and the freshmen.

Switching back in the other direction, UConn did lose a lot of perimeter shooting/scoring with Fudd leaving, and while Ziebell and Heckel shot well last season, if their shooting doesn't carry over (and if Shade's shooting struggles continue) UConn may need another shot maker to space the floor. Could that be Dursus's role?

UConn fans like me have nothing to complain about with this prediction.

Jayden Ross takes over for Alex Karaban as the liaison to the Connecticut Scoreboard Podcast.

Hines

One concern from this video is about Hurley implying that they have to get Hines in better shape despite many reports that he's already in much better shape than last season. I'm not sure what this reflects:

• Maybe it's Hurley's way of encouraging Hines to work a little harder.
• Maybe it's Hurley's way of reminding Hines not to backslide on the progress he's made.
• Maybe outside observers are more impressed with Hines' progress than Hurley is.

Sophomores

There's a good chance that UConn will start 3 sophomores this coming season: Mullins, Hines, and Khamenia, and only Mullins played for UConn last season. UConn's chances of being in the national title hunt is very reliant on all 3 of them to adjust smoothly to expanded roles.

Big East

Although there's hope for improvement, I'd skeptical that the Big East (at least in its current configuration) will be a 6-bid conference for the foreseeable future. Letting 8 more teams in next season probably helps, but my guess is that they'll mostly go to mediocre P4 teams. (Time will tell.)

A former Husky, an experienced Husky, and a freshman Husky on a golf course.

Note: Although this video is new to YouTube, it covers the 2023-24 season. The only current relevance it has is that it shows how devastatingly effective the UConn offense can be when it has the right players.

While it was easy to suspect that the 2024-25 loss to Tennessee was the catalyst for turning their season around, I didn't know that it severely strained the relationship between Auriemma and Buckers.

Focusing on next season's lineup ...

When evaluating the team at this stage of the season, it's easy to envision important roles for players that we probably won't see much of once the season starts. (Furphy might have been the best example last season.) Exactly how to minutes get divided up will be interesting.

One thing we've been hearing more lately is the possibility that, with the new rules allowing players a 5th year, we could see Ball return late in the season. He probably wouldn't be playing this season if his last chance to show the NBA his skills consisted of him getting into shape, regaining confidence in his wrist and shot, and trying to find a place on an established team. But if he's got next season to do that, and assuming his wrist is 100%, a return sometime next season is presumably feasible.

No big surprises:

• Demary and Mullins will need to be very good for UConn to contend nationally.
• How well Hines/Khamenia can fill the Reed/Karaban roles will also be very important.
• The freshmen (Landrew/County) will probably need to contribute to the rotation.

Minor surprise:

• They dismissed Machowski and Amosov almost completely. I don't expect them to contend for starting roles but think 1 or both could be rotational players depending on how the season unfolds.

I don't expect Hines to be their best player but I do suspect he will be the most indispensable. I expect Giltay to give them 10-12 competent minutes per game, but Hines has quite a bit more size with a higher ceiling. Compared to other positions:

• Demary should be 1 of the top PGs in the nation next season, but there are indications that County could be an above average replacement pretty quickly.
• Mullins should be 1 of the top SGs in the nation next season, but Machowski, Ross the Elder, and Landrew could all prove to be capable of playing that role.
• While I expect Ross and Khamenia to start, Landrew, Machowski, and Amosov could surprise me.