Calhoun recruited Oriakhi from the Tilton "lack of fundamental school" as referred to here. So ultimately if Alex did not have the skill set to develop why would Calhoun have wasted a ship on him? Was this a misjudgment on the part of JC? Is talent evaluating part of the recruiting process? Is developing a players skill set out of high school the sole responsibility of the player or does coaching also play a part in development? It seems reasonable to structure the blame around the high school coach several years after a player has departed to college. Right? Of course it does!! LOL It seems like AO has enjoyed his summer in Europe with his new Missouri team (CBS blog entries by Pressey and Alex). Change is healthy. No different than going to a better job with good benefits. I think several here expect him and this Missouri team to fail miserably. After all Alex has no ability and Missouri just chokes every year. Right? It will be interesting to see if all the prognosticators here are correct when March rolls around regarding Missouri and AO. That at least gives the season meaning from a more tangible perspective.
Coaches play a part no doubt, they work on things continuously off season because once the season starts it's time for hard work to be in the best of shape and plays, defenses multiple usually. Nowadays kids play 50-70 game s a summer and then when in college get to go to "Big Men's" camps and such........that's for the guys lucky enough to be on a team who has the impact to send them which UConn does........also the real good players are taught what to work on over the summer to get stronger in every aspect whether it be ball handling, hands, rebounding, jumping, back-to-the basket moves, shooting...name it time to man up and figure out how good you want to be by the time your 20 years old......right? Only a certain amount of hours allowed once you get to the big time and the good one's have already learned the game..........easy to blame the coaches but they give them the tools, the resources and the time to be able to push them into making themselves better...up to them.....not many have left UConn without being a lot better have they? LOL...... Oh but I should answer the first question and you are correct....JC did recruit these guys and obviously will not do too much more of that at 15 years old will he? That's on him no doubt.....
You did a pretty good job trying to defend your position making the counter arguement. Maybe I will respond again later when I have the time. It is an interesting subject. I do agree AO could have done more and he should take some responsibility (no doubt). There is fault on all fronts though. It is best for both sides in the long run looking at it objectively without bias.
I'm not sure what this really has to do with Oriakhi as a junior at UConn, let alone a sophomore, him leaving or his current play at Missouri. The initial statement was that "Not sure about Selden but the 2 guys we had at Storrs from Tilton barely had any fundamental skills......not sure about the coaching there." Looking at Oriakhi's, Coleman's and JCM's freshman years, it's pretty clear all three lacked fundamental skills. I found this to be a condemnation of the Tilton coaching staff moreso than any pettiness toward Oriakhi, JCM leaving. Even looking at Noel, there have been plenty around the country saying how poor his offensive game is, and how it hasn't really gotten better over the years. We shall see when he suits up for UK. Selden/Noel may or may not fit into the mold, but the three everyone has seen in college were all disappointing as freshmen.
Interesting; no BE schools. I think the BABC ship has sailed for a bit with both the Huskies and the Friars.
Coombs played like his feet were cemented to the ground but yes, he was fundamentally sound. No question. And he knew the game. His attitude left something to be desired but he knew how to play. And, honestly, you're a grown man, no? You're hysterical about a 20 year old kid who left months ago, who also happened to win a national championship. "Your support for the coward ...." Move on already, psycho.
Who the f**k are you? Hysterical? Can you read or are you as stupid as it seems..............Coombs had no fundamentals so we see where you're knowledge is - zero........and calling me a psycho? You're kidding right? Funny
A reasonable person should be able to come to the conclusion that a Senior (regardless of who it is) who decides he wants to be tournament eligible is just protecting his interests as a collegiate athlete. Protecting the college experience that is. This is a UConn message board so we have to expect biases. That is normal and what makes a fan a fan at times.
Is it Tilton or BABC though? It will be interesting to see what happens down the road. 2014 is mostly about Brewster/Expressions with Terrell and Abu and of course Rivals with Vonleh. I guess Goodluck switching to 2014 makes him a good case study for PC if he sticks with BABC (as he left Tilton). UConn is out on him already (most likely).
I guess we will see, it's hard to separate them. Selden apparently has left BABC also but has he signed on with another AAU squad? Either way we have both been burned by the Tilton/BABC kids and their "advisers" I am surprised though that there is not one BE school on his list. I really expected to see UConn on his list but as I'm quickly figuring out both of us are in a damaged relationship with Tilton and BABC. I never expected to see us on the list, Cooley tried to get in with Selden but he had some bad blood with the school going back to some fighting with Marshon Brooks about something or other, girl, ipod, and other bs... Terrel, Abu, and Vonleh are the focus now but Vonleh while having an amazing relationship with Cooley is the longest of shots unless we start winning. That's why the status of Ledo is so important, with him we have a shot at winning. There is a new video circulating YouTube where he just schools John Wall. After watching the video I suspect he won't clear the clearinghouse. We never have that kind of good fortune.
No offense, I doubt PC has a shot with Vonleh. Assuming nothing sketchy (grades, etc.) is going on, the blue bloods will be all over him and I don't see him going to PC over UK, UNC. Terrell and Abu depends on how much exposure they get in the next year+. Both are going to be good players with a lot of big names going after them. I don't mean to be a jerk but how is PC's APR looking for next year (2013-2014)? I know PC had scores of 896, 904 and 917 the last three years single season scores (not including the 2011-2012 data which isn't out yet). That would put PC pretty close to the threshold for not being NCAAT eligible. With the transfers you just had, how is this looking? Any word on the estimate for the 2011-2012 single season? If PC is not eligible, that can have a pretty bad effect on recruiting.
We are close but Cooley said we will be ok, all transfers left in good academic standing, one slip up though and I think we would be in trouble. I agree on Vonleh but Cooley is still charging full steam ahead anyway. He is very close to Vonleh's folks as well. I think we will be in it till the end on Terrell and Abu but as you guys know anything can change in an instant.
I hope so (regarding the APR) it's such a joke of a score I wouldn't want any school, aside from maybe BC, to have to miss anything due to it. I don't know a ton about those three's recruitment besides what I've read, so I'll take your word for it.
I would be "reasonable" as you say if indeed that was this Senior's intent.......but we know full well it wasn't......any reasonable person at least knows full well.......but you are correct as far as "what makes a fan a fan..."!!
I'd have to disagree with the idea that JCM was fundamentally sound. That's a term that usually indicates playing within yourself. JCM always thought he was better than he was and forced all sorts of bad shots in an effort to get his, and didn't have one good pass in two years (I exaggerate for effect, but I don't remember ever thinking 'nice pass Jamal'). In fairness, he did have a very heady timeout. That was his biggest contribution to our 2011 run. He was a fundamental timeout caller. I'm not even joking - that really was an awesome timeout. I wish that could be my lasting JCM memory, but instead I remember him turning the ball over against Kentucky and not even trying to give up a foul as they sped past him at midcourt for a fast break lay-up. Because, you know, in his world he was too important to get into foul trouble. But oh well, we overcame it. I actually thought early in his career that AO was going to be a pretty fundamentally sound rebounder, at least on the defensive end, but that came and went. His hands weren't always there, and his reaction time was slow - even if he did the hard part well and earned position, he didn't always finish the job. Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk
