Russ is watching high schoolers twice his size at the Peach Jam, Peter is vacationing (rude) and Meghan had to write her mailbag answer without the inspirational ingestion of Dairy Bar fudge ripple ice cream. Despite this adversity (/Rothstein’d), the mail never stops. We’ve even brought in our podcast producer Alex for a bonus fourth bag.
Remember: If your question wasn’t answered or you’ve been living under a rock and are just hearing about this, you can submit your questions here or on Twitter (@ADimeBack).
Jeff asks: Here’s a serious one. What’s the ceiling for UConn football under Diaco? Does Houston going 13-0 help predict?
15-0 and national title with two-sport standout and QB Ish El-Amin running off the field at the final whistle because fuck it, we can do anything. “We’re all made of stars,” to quote Bob Diaco.
As for the serious answer, 13-win Houston isn’t a great comp given their advantage in recruiting. The two controlling factors here for UConn are recruiting/scheme (relatively decent/quite good so far, respectively) and time (limited because a P5 program would fly a dirigible full of money to Diaco’s backyard if UConn ever approached an undefeated record); given that, the answer is probably something closer to “10-3, a conference title, and a respectable loss in the worst CFP bowl.”
UConn won’t be a regular contender in the AmeriCon until they can match the recruiting level of teams like Cincinnati, USF, Houston, et al, but past UConn teams have proven you don’t need top recruits to win a bad conference in a weird year (shoutout 2007). I’d bet Diaco has a season like that in him.
Edward asks: is Mamadou Diarra the greatest Husky name ever?
No, and Shabazz Napier is side-eyeing you real hard right now. Monquencio Hardnett is sad that you forgot about him. Kemba Walker is a little salty, too, frankly. But I will give you that Mamadou Diarra and Hamidou Diallo has the potential to be the greatest name combo since the time of the Ds Marshall, but we’re going to have to wait and see on that one.
The (mostly) complete list of dope UConn men’s basketball names:
Sami Ameziane
Nnamdi Amilo
Uri Cohen-Mintz
Covington Cormier
Marcus Cox (tee hee)
Ajou Ajou Deng
Mamadou Diarra
Niels Giffey
Alterique Gilbert
Kwasi Gyambibi
Santos L. Halper
Ruslan Inyatkin
Antric Klaiber
Ater Majok
Jonathan Mandeldove
Dick Marinacclo
Predrag Materic
Karl Niederwerfer
Osazee Omokaro
Purv
Taurus Preikstas
David Storrs
Corny Thompson
Shamon Tooles
Souleymane Wane
Ace Watanasuparp
Nantambu Willingham
Enosch Wolf
Vincent Yokabaskas
Tor Watts
The @NoEscalators who doesn’t work here asks:
@ADimeBack Shouldn’t this make a comeback pic.twitter.com/ItnL1t6JfW
— We take the stairs (@NoEscalators) July 7, 2016
I am generally in favor of all UConn nostalgia. I am firmly on team Goofy Jonathan (though I’d love a season of Derpy Jonathan, immediately followed by a season of Musket Jonathan). There is only one thing from the past I’d rather not bring back…
…I may never sleep again.
All that being said? Sure! The script is great, and doesn’t look like it wants to cause me harm.
Ben asks via email: A question in response to the Summer League post from Tyler: In the professional opinion of the ADB staff what is the likelihood of the former UConn stars that are participating in summer league actually making an NBA Roster?
Cool question. Unfortunately, at this moment before the Vegas league has begun, I’m not that hopeful for any of them. With Kevin Durant off to work at Google (is this right? I haven’t heard much about his decision), a theoretical opening should exist for Daniel Hamilton. However, as you can see in our Summer League stat tracker, he didn’t exactly shine in Orlando this week. Considering they own his rights regardless, I’d wager they start him in the D-League.
Shonn Miller has been virtually ignored by the Jazz. Sterling Gibbs seems a long shot to stick with the Wizards, who have several point guards behind John Wall on the roster already. DeAndre Daniels has a theoretical shot to stick with the Raptors, but after a year abroad and some injuries, I’d expect Toronto to stash him in the D-League to monitor his health and his development.
The former Husky I think will play the best is Ryan Boatright. He joined the Pelicans’ roster this summer after a productive year in Italy. If you remember, Boat also played very well in the Summer League last year. The problem for him at the moment is a lack of roster space in New Orleans. To make a team, Boat would need injuries to hit some of the veterans above him on the depth chart (not something you should root for in general) or to impress enough to earn a 10-day contract with another franchise and go from there.
