Akok enters the portal

[Bomber36]

The transfer portal has turned the NCAA to the NBA without contracts.

 

[Sonofabeach]

Yup, this was the last shoe I was waiting for. Not that I expected Floyd to leave, I didn’t.

I think The Boneyard should send over some practice players. I believe most of us have our eligibility intact.

In any event, I wish AA the very, very best. Great guy who got dealt a really bad hand with his injury.

I'll be the player on the bench that high fives everyone when we make 3's oh wait! "making 3's" that's the UConn women's team.

 

[MJKI]

What exactly did playing Whaley and Polley get us?

You don’t actually believe Akok was more valuable than Polley? Was Polley one-dimensional? Yes. But he did that one thing much better than Akok. Spare me with Akok shot 45% from 3. Polley had more 3s attempted in the first 4 weeks of December. Akok could not create separation for his shot and instead relied on a pristine pass to an open corner. Polley could at least pump fake and get a shot up. And Whaley is one of the best defenders weve had in years, an amazing and unselfish team player that was light years ahead of Akok.

What did this get us? A 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, question hurley all you want but saying Whaley and Polley didn’t give us anything is a weird hill to die on

 

[CTBasketball]

You don’t actually believe Akok was more valuable than Polley? Was Polley one-dimensional? Yes. But he did that one thing much better than Akok. Spare me with Akok shot 45% from 3. Polley had more 3s attempted in the first 4 weeks of December. Akok could not create separation for his shot and instead relied on a pristine pass to an open corner. Polley could at least pump fake and get a shot up. And Whaley is one of the best defenders weve had in years, an amazing and unselfish team player that was light years ahead of Akok.

What did this get us? A 5 seed in the NCAA tournament, question hurley all you want but saying Whaley and Polley didn’t give us anything is a weird hill to die on

Prioritizing on Polley and Whaley’s minutes helped lead us to the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

Was it worth it?

 

[MJKI]

Prioritizing on Polley and Whaley’s minutes helped lead us to the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

Was it worth it?

Yes, it was. Taking minutes from our only floor spacing shooter and our best defender would have been malpractice. I feel like I’m taking looney pills. We lost 4 players so far who are not high big east level performers. None of these guys are even Roscoe Smith sized transfer losses…

 

[Hankster]

Now this is a kid I will root for at his next stop. He's going to do great things. Didn't get a chance. This one is on Hurley for sure. I'm still boggled how Akok came in, blocked 3 shots in two minutes, got sent out and never came back again. What's the message there? Really likable young man with a bright future.

Along with blocks he made some nice threes. Hard to understand.

 

[navery12]

Prioritizing on Polley and Whaley’s minutes helped lead us to the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

Was it worth it?

Yes

 

[B1GEast]

I think the portal and NIL rules are good for college kids. If a guy doesn't fit an offense and he has a few years left and can help another program, why hold him hostage. We benefitted by the additions of Cole and Martin.

Best of luck to Akok, and all the rest of the guys that wore the uniform. I hope, like Carlton, they all help their new teams and remain prideful of being a husky at one time.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Akok never got the chance to get his game legs back.

Sure he was rusty at times but he was still an effective shooter and was running the court. The lateral quickness and awareness on D were going to he a work on progress.

Hurley has never been a one step back to get two steps forward coach when it comes to managing minutes and getting players time on the court.

That is why many of us wanted more burn for some of these players in the December cupcake games.

Out of all the transfers Gaffney was the only who got enough game time minutes where you could honestly assess him being over his head.

You glue Akok to the bench and them put him in for a minute before pulling him because he is rusty is short sighted.

This isn't MLB where they go to assignment in the minors to get back their timing. Live games acclimation has to happen.

 

[Chin Diesel]

With all this being said I'm done pondering g the how's and why's of the transfers.
Wish no ill will towards them and hope they use whatever elicited have left to maximize their education opportunities.

 

[8893]

Hurley has never been a one step back to get two steps forward coach when it comes to managing minutes and getting players time on the court.

The one exception to this is Andre, who has been given a far longer leash than any other Hurley player imo.

I love his story, I love his skills and I love his attitude, but I am curious to see if he will fulfill his potential now that Hurley has cleared the path for him to be the captain and leader of the team going forward. I think there will be a lot more pressure on him next season and I hope he can handle it, while still trying to develop and put together his package of skills in the most effective way.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The one exception to this is Andre, who has been given a far longer leash than any other Hurley player imo.

I love his story, I love his skills and I love his attitude, but I am curious to see if he will fulfill his potential now that Hurley has cleared the path for him to be the captain and leader of the team going forward. I think there will be a lot more pressure on him next season and I hope he can handle it, while still trying to develop and put together his package of skills in the most effective way.

Agree with you. It's ironic in some ways that he's the guy throwing shade. Tantalizing athlete for sure, but nobody was allowed to play through more mistakes. He lead the team in boneheaded plays by a wide margin. I'm glad, because that's the kind of investment a coach needs to make in a player with high potential. Hurley should have taken that approach with Johnson as well. Especially when the combination of Jackson and Whaley at spots was killing us on offense.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Hurley should have taken that approach with Johnson as well.

It's always tough to Monday morning quarterback when you're removed from the in the moment pressure to win games but, yes, I would feel a lot better about potential starting lineups if Johnson had gotten some meaningful reps last year. At least next year he's going to have to let him play through his growing pains.

 

[DayDayTFS]

Along with blocks he made some nice threes. Hard to understand.

He had sooo many chances to take minutes but his entire game has been non existent since his injury. 1 or 2 games with a couple threes, only to usually go back to playing no D after. Wished he’d recovered but he’s nowhere close

 

[Tonyf629]

 

[TerryBoyz]

Like many here I wish him the best of luck and I hope he grows into the star that we envisioned him becoming.
I do have to ask… am I the only juvenile fan here that will miss saying “Akok block!”

 

[Fishy]

Prioritizing on Polley and Whaley’s minutes helped lead us to the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

Was it worth it?

If you think results matter, no.

The over reliance on Whaley was a multi-year mistake; he was never a 28 mpg player

 

[BGesus4]

Like many here I wish him the best of luck and I hope he grows into the star that we envisioned him becoming.
I do have to ask… am I the only juvenile fan here that will miss saying “Akok block!”

For the last time, it’s pronounced blook

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

If you think results matter, no.

The over reliance on Whaley was a multi-year mistake; he was never a 28 mpg player

Whaley is great when he can play the 5. We may have been better off without him this year though if we were going to ask him to be a stretch 4 for most of the time.

 

[businesslawyer]

In a vacuum I really don't care about any of these 4 guys leaving; sad about Akok but he just isn't the same player he was. Anywhere he goes he'll run into the same problem he had here. He's a good spark plug off the bench. Floyd could have been good, could have been meh but he wasnt some stud prospect we're missing out on.
But this didn't all happen in a vacuum and we're now down EIGHT players from last year. EIGHT. And maybe more to come (won't be surprised at all if it is another freshman from last year that didn't get a lot of blow). Regardless of if we bring in Newton, Young, Castle we are still going to be replacing around 65% of minutes from last year, getting guys to learn and buy into a new offensive system, and learn to trust each other. Expectations for next year have to go down, regardless if the influx in talent is actually more than we lose, because we are just losing so many players that know the system and know each other

It is going to be hard to put the pieces together. But the guys who left weren't a major part of this year's rotation anyway, so that was coming regardless.

 

[businesslawyer]

If you think results matter, no.

The over reliance on Whaley was a multi-year mistake; he was never a 28 mpg player

What a strange take. When he first joined the lineup in winter of 2020, he was the third best player on a team that was incredibly hot. He was asked to change his role in 2021, and became the best defensive player in the conference. And last year, while I think he took a step back, there was no one else who came anywhere near taking his starting spot away, unless you want to argue Tyler should have started, but if that happened there were still 28 minutes a game for each of them anyway.

 

[businesslawyer]

It's pretty clear players feel like they weren't being treated fairly or that something similar is going on

Why is that clear? Why isn't that they didn't think they were good enough to be in the rotation not plausible as an alternative. Since, at least last year, two of the four weren't and two of the four barely were because of lack of alternatives?

I'm not even saying you might not be right. I'm just saying that it's not clear at all.

 

[Exit 4]

Lots of heavies here now...lots of divergent views.

On Akok Akok, seems to me Sanogo is the man, and Clingan is set to be the next man with Johnson inbetween. Akok decided he need to find a place where he is clearly the man and not competing to be the mop up guy. In a world were four guard play is common, he might not have seen much time next season with this roster. Sanogo + Johnson as the primaries and Springs and Clingan for mop ups.

I'm looking forward to Richie Springs. Sad things didn't work out for Akok, he was a big deal when Hurley landed him. Its not wrong to thing thinks could have been different at this moment had Whaley and Polley not stuck around. He probably would have logged a little more court time and maybe had a better chance to develop. Someplace is likely to have more minutes for him than us at this point.

 

[3rdbass]

Lots of heavies here now...lots of divergent views.

On Akok Akok, seems to me Sanogo is the man, and Clingan is set to be the next man with Johnson inbetween. Akok decided he need to find a place where he is clearly the man and not competing to be the mop up guy. In a world were four guard play is common, he might not have seen much time next season with this roster. Sanogo + Johnson as the primaries and Springs and Clingan for mop ups.

I'm looking forward to Richie Springs. Sad things didn't work out for Akok, he was a big deal when Hurley landed him. Its not wrong to thing thinks could have been different at this moment had Whaley and Polley not stuck around. He probably would have logged a little more court time and maybe had a better chance to develop. Someplace is likely to have more minutes for him than us at this point.

I would think we would see Karaban and even Jackson at the 4 before Akok Akok too.

 

[Exit 4]

I would think we would see Karaban and even Jackson at the 4 before Akok Akok too.

Indeed, hence why I mentioned the likelihood of four guard play.