Univerity of
Connecticut
(25)
by Joshua Riddell
Projected Starters
G
6-2
PT%
78.71
G
PTE
18.81
6-4
PT%
67.64
PT%
78.57
6-9
PT%
47.50
C
7-0
PT%
65.71
HS100 AC/AA
2-AC
Rodney Purvis
PTE
18.81
G-F 6-7
F
Sterling Gibbs
HS100 AC/AA
17
Daniel Hamilton
SR
NBA
JR
NBA
SO
PTE
10.84
HS100 AC/AA
17
HMAC
NBA
PTE
7.14
HS100 AC/AA
90
NBA
PTE
20.52
HS100 AC/AA
HMAC
NBA
62
Kentan Facey
Amida Brimah
JR
JR
Bench Rotation
F
6-7
PT%
78.33
G
PTE
23.13
6-2
PT%
0.00
G
F
HS100 AC/AA
1-AC
Jalen Adams
PTE
0.00
6-5
PT%
34.57
Shonn Miller
HS100 AC/AA
20
Omar Calhoun
PTE
0.25
HS100 AC/AA
39
6-10 Phillip Nolan
PT%
36.86
PTE
-9.02
HS100 AC/AA
SR
NBA
FR
NBA
SR
NBA
SR
NBA
It was neve r going to be easy
following in the footsteps of the
legendary Jim Calhoun, but Kevin
Ollie quickly gave Connecticut
fans a reason to be optimistic.
After an incredible run in 2014 that
ended with the Huskies holding
the NCAA championship trophy,
expectations were high for 2015
despite the graduation of Shabazz
Napier.
Many thought Ryan Boatright
could fit in as the leader in his
absence, and while he played
admirably, the loss of Napier posed
too great an obstacle to overcome
as the Huskies lost in the first
round of the NIT.
Ollie will need to rely on the
triumvirate of Rodney Purvis,
Daniel Hamilton and Amida
Brimah to lead a more balanced
attack this season. They won’t
have a Kemba Walker, Napier,
or Boatright to score on every
possession down the stretch, so
the team will need to become a
cohesive unit and trust in their
system to generate offense. It isn’t a
large sample (just 139 possessions
recorded by Hoop-Lens), but with
Boatright off the floor and Purvis/
Hamilton/Brimah on the court,
the offense scored a miniscule 0.91
points per possession. That won’t
cut it this year.
Purvis, an NC State transfer,
was an integral part of the offense
last year, using 27 percent of his
team’s possessions, according to
KenPom. However, he needs to
become more efficient with his
usage with an offensive rating that
was only 94.9. His decision-making
in the half-court has lacked focus
at times, and he needs to improve
quickly to be trusted with the
offense. His athletic gifts are superb,
but he needs to learn to translate
them to making smart basketball
plays.
Hamilton will also need to
ramp up his production and earn
Ollie’s trust as an offensive weapon.
While he was a solid shooter from
beyond the arc at 34 percent, he
wasn’t great when he stepped into
2-point territory, converting only
40.1 percent of such attempts. He
contributes in other ways as well,
adding in 7.6 rebounds and 3.7
assists per game. Similar to Purvis,
he had a poor offensive rating at
96.1 points per 100 possessions.
That won’t cut it for the top two
options on a top-25 team, so they’ll
BBALLBREAKDOWN | 52