Akok: Does anyone have any true insight into why he was so buried on the bench recently? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Akok: Does anyone have any true insight into why he was so buried on the bench recently?

Huskybass said:
But he looked so good in limited minutes against Xavier, hence the original poster's valid question. He looked very healthy and effective in that game.
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A few days later Hurley mentioned that Akok had told him he wasn't feeling so good before the next game. Maybe the adrenaline kicked in that day vs Xavier and when faced with everyday grind it wasn't feasible.
 
I have no problem with anyone asking what’s up with Akok. He has been fully participating in practices since the late fall and is one of our most talented players.

it is obvious that Hurley doesn’t trust him after the injury and that akok’s mobility, especially on defense, looked pretty bad. Announcing he was good to go and then completely backing away from that was a little strange.
 
ju6381 said:
A few days later Hurley mentioned that Akok had told him he wasn't feeling so good before the next game. Maybe the adrenaline kicked in that day vs Xavier and when faced with everyday grind it wasn't feasible.
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Go watch the highlights from the Xavier game, Akok looked great, actually much better on offense than he ever looked prior to the injury. And he looked very mobile as well. Perhaps he overdid it, but he certainly looked like a guy who could contribute this season.
 
Huskybass said:
Go watch the highlights from the Xavier game, Akok looked great, actually much better on offense than he ever looked prior to the injury. And he looked very mobile as well. Perhaps he overdid it, but he certainly looked like a guy who could contribute this season.
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Everyone remembers the Xavier game. But he's also looked very bad in every other appearance. And Hurley has talked about this many times
 
At this point it’s water under the bridge. Let’s hope is ready for a productive summer and comes back 100% next year.
 
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Maybe just a protection thing for next year. Akok at full strength could be big for us.
 
bendm said:
The last time we saw a healthy akok he was shooting 26% from 3...he wouldn’t have helped our putrid shooting this year which was our Achilles heel and ultimate downfall. Can we expect him to increase his shooting average by 10-15% next year?? I’m not counting on it

We need a legit stretch 4 starting in between aj and sanogo in the front court. A guy in Giffeys mold I don’t care is he can’t block shots. Cole and Hawkins aren’t nearly enough firepower, we need at least 3 shooters in the lineup that can approach 40% from 3.

But a lineup of Cole/hawk/aj/akok/sanogo is not solving our problems
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I wouldn't write someone off from being a good shooter because of freshmen year.

Bazz shot 32% and then was a 40% shooter his junior and senior years.
DeAndre Daniels was 24% as a freshmen and then 41% as a junior.
Giffey shot 32% as a freshmen and then 39% as a junior before his senior year.

I could go on and on. Sometimes it just takes a good shooter time to adjust to a new speed. Kid has a nice stroke so I wouldn't be surprised—if he's healthy—that his shooting would no longer be trash.
 
Huskybass said:
Go watch the highlights from the Xavier game, Akok looked great, actually much better on offense than he ever looked prior to the injury. And he looked very mobile as well. Perhaps he overdid it, but he certainly looked like a guy who could contribute this season.
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So he played a few good minutes vs Xavier, had a negative reaction, tells Hurley his leg is not feeling good, plays little to no minutes the remainder of the season. Akok also only played one minute in the second half of the Xavier game.
 
tzznandrew said:
I could go on and on. Sometimes it just takes a good shooter time to adjust to a new speed. Kid has a nice stroke so I wouldn't be surprised—if he's healthy—that his shooting would no longer be trash.
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those are all fine examples and i'm hopeful for gradual improvement from akok as well, but you are comparing freshman stats to junior and senior stats whereas next season will only be akok's second year of actually playing. i consider him to be a rising redshirt sophomore so i think it's only fair to expect one year's worth of improvement over his freshman year
 
lange10 said:
I still think there’s a lot more to it than we know. It just doesn’t make sense why he was starting to build up his stamina in the middle of conference play, had a huge role in our Xavier comeback win, and then poof. Never played again.

Attaching a picture from yesterday. Seems like a player that is detached.
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Shouldn't he have been closer to the team, whether he was playing or not?
 
navery12 said:
Basically he was never fully recovered from the Achilles and they didn't want to rush him back. Should be at 100% for next season
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Not surprising. Everyone thinking he’d be back to normal when he hurt it at the end of last year were being too optimistic.

This is basically the worst injury for basketball players. Like a labrum injury for a pitcher in baseball
 
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It usually takes a full year of imagery training after a torn Achilles Durant missed a full season.
 
lange10 said:
I still think there’s a lot more to it than we know. It just doesn’t make sense why he was starting to build up his stamina in the middle of conference play, had a huge role in our Xavier comeback win, and then poof. Never played again.

Attaching a picture from yesterday. Seems like a player that is detached.
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It should be obvious to anyone paying attention in the past several weeks that he has been completely detached, he sits alone, looks disinterested, looks depressed. He certainly doesn’t look like he feels like he’s a part of this team. This is so unlike him. Something isn’t right. That’s my straight, unfiltered observation. Something’s definitely not right.
 
Thirty Three said:
It should be obvious to anyone paying attention in the past several weeks that he has been completely detached, he sits alone, looks disinterested, looks depressed. He certainly doesn’t look like he feels like he’s a part of this team. This is so unlike him. Something isn’t right. That’s my straight, unfiltered observation. Something’s definitely not right.
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This is true. He looks sad.
 
Kenny11 said:
This is true. He looks sad.
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Maybe he felt like he was ready, could or should be playing. Maybe a disagreement with Hurley who has the last word. As I have said, the team and coach are pretty closed mouth about this, always have been.
 
Akok is insanely close not just with Hurley, but the Hurley family. Coach Hurley has been clear about what we could expect from Akok for about a month and a half now. We keep asking questions that have been answered. This is the same kid who many said wasn't going to commit because he looked disinterested at the game on his visit. He isn't a ra ra kid, he's always been very much to himself. He's recovering from a rough injury and wants to be able to contribute so of course he isn't happy. But he's the last kid we need to be worried about
 
We’ll need him at 100% to replace the presence Whaley gave us.
 
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HuskyWarrior611 said:
We’ll need him at 100% to replace the presence Whaley gave us.
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He's nowhere near the physical presence Whaley was and he's not exactly built solid which makes him injury prone I fear. Tremendous skills and upside though. We'll see.
 
husky429 said:
Yeah. 88

Definitely not accusing you of that... mayy
be just an fyi for future username decisions, lol.

I belong to a group online that doxxes nazis so I always notice their little secret signs. It's nbd for you though obviously
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This has to be a joke.
 
jibsey said:
He's nowhere near the physical presence Whaley was and he's not exactly built solid which makes him injury prone I fear. Tremendous skills and upside though. We'll see.
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He’s more talented than Whaley and might be 10-15 pounds lighter.

Think you overstated the difference there.
 
Huskybass said:
Go watch the highlights from the Xavier game, Akok looked great, actually much better on offense than he ever looked prior to the injury. And he looked very mobile as well. Perhaps he overdid it, but he certainly looked like a guy who could contribute this season.
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People keep saying this, but in reality we're talking about 3 plays that he made. Two of them were catch and shoot 3s where he was left wide open, and the 3rd one he was wide open again and his defender closed on him so quickly that he had no chance once Akok drove towards the basket.

If you watched him play defense at all this year it's clear that he didn't look anything close to his old self. He consistently got beat at the rim when he was in the game, something that almost never happened last year.
 
Thirty Three said:
It should be obvious to anyone paying attention in the past several weeks that he has been completely detached, he sits alone, looks disinterested, looks depressed. He certainly doesn’t look like he feels like he’s a part of this team. This is so unlike him. Something isn’t right. That’s my straight, unfiltered observation. Something’s definitely not right.
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A few comments to that.

First, Hurley did say that Akok wants to play but Hurley didn't think he was ready and wants him to be able to play next season because that's when he'll be ready. So even if Akok agrees with that, I'm sure he's pretty bummed he's not been able to play because he wanted to.

When Akok got to UConn there was talk about playing 2 seasons and going to the NBA. Anytime you have expectations that aren't met, there has to be disappointment in that. Maybe that realization was starting to set in.

When Akok visited UConn and went to games I remember people commenting that he didn't look like he was having a good time. His coach explained that was just the way Akok was. Very stoic. Although I'll admit he did seem to be more engaged when he was on the bench last season.

Hurley is going to have to give Akok some love this offseason and get him motivated for next season.
 
Fishy said:
This has to be a joke.
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That if you put 88 in usernames it's code for neo-nazis? Nah.

That I belong to a group that doxxes neo nazis? Also nah. I haven't done anything in a while though. I have a couple friends that are still quite active.
 
.-.
Fishy said:
He’s more talented than Whaley and might be 10-15 pounds lighter.

Think you overstated the difference there.
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He broke like a toothpick.
 
jibsey said:
He broke like a toothpick.
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Oh, god, that is stupid.
husky429 said:
That if you put 88 in usernames it's code for neo-nazis? Nah.

That I belong to a group that doxxes neo nazis? Also nah. I haven't done anything in a while though. I have a couple friends that are still quite active.
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Oh, god, that is stupid.
 
Thirty Three said:
It should be obvious to anyone paying attention in the past several weeks that he has been completely detached, he sits alone, looks disinterested, looks depressed. He certainly doesn’t look like he feels like he’s a part of this team. This is so unlike him. Something isn’t right. That’s my straight, unfiltered observation. Something’s definitely not right.
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This sounds exactly like what people were saying when UConn was recruiting him and he would go to our games. "He ain't coming here, he looks depressed."

By the way, he was smiling and laughing his butt off with his teammates at the shoot around before the tournament game.
 
businesslawyer said:
Yes. Let's just leave white supremacists alone to do their thing. What could go wrong?
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Oh, I’m sure a bunch of keyboard warriors looking for 88s is totally handling that for us.

Moronic.
 
.-.
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