This week we will be previewing the 2016-17 men’s basketball season. If you have MBB mailbag questions, let us know.
Oh, hey, remember this?
If Jalen Adams never played another game in a UConn uniform, his spot in Husky history would still be assured. Fortunately for fans — and coach Kevin Ollie — Adams is just getting started. Expectations are sky high for the personable sophomore. This week, he was placed on the watch list for the Cousy Award, given to the nation’s best point guard.
Last season, Adams averaged 7.3 points, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. While those numbers don’t knock your socks off, Adams provided enough glimpses of the supreme talent that landed him a five-star ranking as a recruit to tantalize viewers with his potential for greatness.
Many are expecting that greatness to materialize immediately this season. Adams will be handed the keys to the offense, guiding a unit that will be searching for an identity following the departure of starters Sterling Gibbs, Daniel Hamilton and Shonn Miller. The perception is clear: this is Adams’ team now.
But is that reasonable?
Even for the greatest point guards in UConn history, their progression has been somewhat slow and steady. Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright all improved in each year of their college careers, but it wasn’t until each became an upperclassmen that they truly broke through to reach their potential. Here’s the progression of win shares by season:
| YEAR | K. WALKER | S. NAPIER | R. BOATRIGHT | J. ADAMS |
| Frosh. | 3.6 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Soph. | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.6 | |
| Jun. | 9.7 | 5.2 | 4.5 | |
| Sen. | 7.9 | 6.1 |
You can see the lightbulb clicked for Napier and Boatright during their senior seasons, while Walker became King Of All Earth following his sophomore year.
It’s not easy to improve on your own game as you’re simultaneously responsible for running an offense that can also lift your teammates up to their full potential. For Adams, this could be complicated even more by the significant flaws on display his freshman year that need to be corrected for him to succeed.
Three-point shooting is the biggest concern. Adams’ 27.3 percent performance was the sixth-lowest of any UConn freshman (minimum 20 three-point attempts) since the 1993-94 season. Adams needs the threat of the deep-ball to keep defenders from cheating — sagging off of him, daring him to shoot instead of using his superior athletic ability to get to the rim. If he can progress like Ricky Moore (29.4% freshman year; 35.9% sophomore year), Adams will be very difficult to defend. If he’s Taliek Brown (25% freshman year; 30.3% sophomore year), the team will suffer.
The other prime area of concern is Adams’ ability to get to the free throw line. He attempted only .208 free throws per field goal attempt last season (FTr), the fewest of the regulars on the roster. A player of Adams’ talent and athleticism needs to force the defense to work harder to defend him. This is especially true when you consider that Adams was the team’s best free throw shooter at 86.3 percent.
Fortunately for both Adams and the Huskies, improvement in each area is a reasonable expectation — as is a decline in Adams’ turnover rate as he fully acclimates to a collegiate pace of play. Adams is also a gifted passer. However, expecting him to turn from an exciting-yet-flawed freshman into the savior of this team is unfair and somewhat unrealistic.
Look for Adams to take a big step forward this year. The experience of playing in high stakes tournament games last season, followed by a focused summer in the gym will go a long way towards eliminating his weaknesses and harnessing his talent. But he’s also still a young guard who will need — and deserves — room to grow.
