Akok Akok's defensive presents will make us an elite team | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Akok Akok's defensive presents will make us an elite team

glastonbury50 said:
Interesting to me springs hasn't played much. I had heard he was a tenacious rebounder. Thought he would be an impactful addition this year. I had honestly forgotten about him until he went in at the end of the game.
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Springs might very well be an excellent rebounder, but we’re also second in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage right now.
 
navery12 said:
This year, no. Our front court is way too deep already, and that's with Sanogo barely playing and Akok injured.
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He will begin next season with four years of eligibility.. Any PT this year is gravy.. Another year of growth and excellent competition in practice and Coach Mike..
 
I think he will be a nice PF "secret but not so secret weapon on the bench"...."ferrari idling in the garage" we can bring in to change the tempo of the game if the first 10-12 minutes aren't going our way.
 
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UcannUconn said:
We’re already the best defensive team in conference and we don’t even have this defensive freak yet. Scary.
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AND AJX has yet to grasp this level of play. If we get a full season we are scary good defensively come tournament time.
 
I just hope he returns healthy and healed because it's an injury that has a reputation of having issues/reoccurring IF not healed completely
He is an important part of this team and his length can cause all sorts of problems for opponents, plus his motor was and hopefully will be at ultra high
 
husky429 said:
He and Tyrese will provide a lot of versatility at the 4 rotation. Tyrese being comfortable in a 30mpg role will let Akok really work his way back too--I'm sure he'll be on a minutes restriction.
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Clever
 
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Palatine said:
Akok has also logged many minutes at the five. Whaley has gotten minutes at the four and the five. My point is that Sanogo needs to see the floor to get better. Working Akok back in slowly will help Sanogo while protecting Akok. Keep your eyes on March.
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Let’s get it done sooner
 
coachn said:
Hope to see him in uniform at Marquette.
His defensive presents will make us an elite team.
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Please expand your thread title to say what will be discussed.
 
Remember at the beginning of last year teams were afraid to put up anything within 10 feet. The problem is that he is a little bit of liability on offense.
 
calluke said:
I think we need to temper our expectations. He had a serious injury and not a normal rehab with Corona.
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I agree. I am not actually expecting much from him this season, especially given the unusual nature of the season.
 
Looks to me like Dan Hurley is really taking the long view perspective with AA.. With his best interests in mind for his BB career after college. Early in his UConn career (pre-injury/pre-COVID)..AA had expressed an interest in getting to the next level as soon as he could.. Then "stuff" happened..

Getting his body strong.. Getting his confidence back.. Improving his strength and ball skills.. Will pay dividends for him in the future..

The emergence of TM as a viable situational alternative at the 4 takes some of the pressure off of rushing him back..

Would be great for the Program if he is able to give us some productive minutes as we get into the middle of our BE season and as we position ourselves for the BE Tournament and May Madness.
 
Ts5034 said:
I hope we have more blowout wins the rest of the way so guys like Springs and Javonte Brown can see some minutes because we are going to have to depend on them next season. IDK how the roster is going to pan out with the NCAA giving Senior's and extra year of eligibility? But right now we have to assume that Whaley and Carlton will be gone next year and that leaves Akok, Sanogo, Martin, Springs, and Javonte as the big guys on the roster for 21-22. Javonte is a guy that came in with a decent amount of hype, but he essentially has not played at all so far.
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Fair point.
It's a challenge giving guys like JB and Springs minutes when they're probably not ready for Big East level competition.

But with new transfer rules in place (no sit out year), it increases the likelihood of highly rated kids who don't receive early minutes to adopt the "grass is greener elsewhere" mentality. I have no reason to believe that would occur here; just speaking broadly.
 
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I think Marquette is a good game to work him in. Garcia is a stretch 4 and would be a good matchup for him.
 
Is it the beginning or closer to the middle of the season? I have no clue given the unusual nature of this season. Have we developed any chemistry, we would be interrupting?
Let’s also remember Polley’s recovery was understood to be further along on the timeline than Akok’s.
Always open to upside pleasant surprises, but Chief is not forcing things here. Take what the game gives you , don’t force situations.
 
At the very least, he’ll give us a few minutes of rim protection, rebounding, and energy. If he’s playing well or his skill set is a good fit for a particular game, maybe we’ll get more from him. If he struggles or it’s a bad matchup, then he’ll have less of a role. I think we’re a solid team without him and I don’t want him to jeopardize his future by rushing him, so I view anything he gives us as a bonus. I want to see him return for his own sake more than anything. He seems like a great kid who is anxious to play again.
 
mauconnfan said:
Excited to get Akok back because I believe they will need to go bigger to create mismatches more often than not. Plus the depth improves on the baseline. If he can shoot it better it will be a major lift and make Danny play even less of the 3 guard lineups we’ve seen a little too much of.
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Imagining Brendan Adams’ minutes going to Akok...wow
 
Didn't Hurley say that Akok's return was going to be pushed back because of the 2 shutdowns and missed practices? Just curious as to where all the, Marquette game, return to play hope is coming from.
 
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UCSouth said:
Didn't Hurley say that Akok's return was going to be pushed back because of the 2 shutdowns and missed practices? Just curious as to where all the, Marquette game, return to play hope is coming from.
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He said he'll play one of the next few Big East games in January, Marquette game seems overly optimistic though
 
mauconnfan said:
Adam’s and/or Gaffney. Depending on which might be playing well or not.
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Akok could spell Whaley since Whaley so far, seems to be foul prone. Akok has(had) somewhat similar skills to Whaley as far as mobility goes. Will have to see how he plays coming back from an injury and if he has the confidence and fluidity he showed last year.

Not sure it is a quid pro quo, with Akok for Adams or Gaffney. They have different skill sets. Unless Akok suddenly has developed ball handling skills, you need ball handlers who can push the pace. Then again, if Akok shows ability hitting 3's or just in scoring period, he will have to play more.

Cole needs a break when running the point and Gaffney more or less fills that role. Adams more of a 2 or 3 with occasional flashes of offense.
 
Improviser said:
Akok could spell Whaley since Whaley so far, seems to be foul prone. Akok has(had) somewhat similar skills to Whaley as far as mobility goes. Will have to see how he plays coming back from an injury and if he has the confidence and fluidity he showed last year.

Not sure it is a quid pro quo, with Akok for Adams or Gaffney. They have different skill sets. Unless Akok suddenly has developed ball handling skills, you need ball handlers who can push the pace. Then again, if Akok shows ability hitting 3's or just in scoring period, he will have to play more.

Cole needs a break when running the point and Gaffney more or less fills that role. Adams more of a 2 or 3 with occasional flashes of offense.
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Oh I think I do know it's different skill sets by no means do I mean he's coming in to play guard. What it is doing is making us throw a match up issue at the other team with size by taking Gaffney/Adams out of a lineup which has Cole/Bouk/one of them. I don't like our 3 guard lineup with Bouk at the 3 too often I feel he handles it plenty well for the 2 with Cole then you can have Martin/Polley with Akok/Whaley/Calton and get bigger instead of constantly playing with 3 smalls some of which can't make a play. Rather have a big who can't handle it well but can block shots, maybe get put backs and rebound the basketball.

I agree on pushing the pace but only a couple of guys do that - Cole a little, Bouk a lot and even Martin. Adams will run out occasionally also but his decisions are scary like Gaffney. Again, not saying subbing position for position but bringing in a line up that will be more impactful. This cold change in certain match ups, but why not change the match up they way we would like? I do remember Akok was a great finisher when running he beat people down the court even after blocks and rebounds. We can still run with him and Whaley at 4/5 they are athletic.
 
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