Akok on NBA plans

[navery12]

Then there's Deandre Daniels and Daniel Hamilton.
We'll never know if another year would have better prepared them for the NBA or if they would have improved much with Ollie as coach, but Calhoun used to get great reads from his NBA contacts on who was ready and who was not and the players were better for it.

As a UConn fan sure I selfishly wish they would have come back. But Deandre's hype was not going to get higher than it was coming off his performance in the post season. And Daniel Hamilton clearly had no interest in college, don't think there's much you can do there.

In hindsight it might have been worth it to come back, but I didn't question either decision at the time so I can't look back and change that now

 

[Edward Sargent]

Someone really needs to smack this kid with the reality stick. He is not an elite NBA level talent. If he leaves for the NBA he will be a 2nd rounder and likely never heard from again. The road to the NBA is littered with guys like him who never made it. He needs to build his body and develop his skill for at least a year to have any hope of being even a first rounder. If he's not sure he wants to be in college next year he really should just stay home and workout in prep for the draft. Why waste your time coming here at all?

I think you need to relax a bit. In the future the NBA may be littered with guys like him who are taking a different road than that taken by others. This is not just basketball - it is life.

 

[CTBasketball]

Why wouldn’t he test the waters if he’s old enough? Feedback is very valuable and will make him a better player for us in 2019-2020.

 

[businesslawyer]

That's a straw man argument, and not at all relevant. Nobody is talking about the impact of Akok vs Kofi/Precius. I'm not even really talking about the people who question the level of impact he'll have here, as much as I disagree with them.

I'm talking about people who want us to avoid recruits who flirt with the NBA and view that as a bad thing. If we're going to return to bring a prominent program we're going to have recruits/players considering that every year. And that's a good thing

I want recruits flirting with the NBA because they are immediate impact players in college. Not recruits flirting with the NBA because of what they will be 3 years after leaving Uconn. You need to be better at understanding straw

 

[intlzncster]

I'm talking about people who want us to avoid recruits who flirt with the NBA and view that as a bad thing. If we're going to return to bring a prominent program we're going to have recruits/players considering that every year. And that's a good thing

Even recruits at Vital's level 'flirt with the NBA' nowadays. It's just part of the deal in an instagram world. Everybody thinks they're gonna play in the league. Hype life.

 

[Lynyrd]

This is nothing but a win-win for both sides even if the young man never plays a minute here. Obviously his handlers felt that his time was better spent training at UCONN as opposed to PSA (he’s already a known commodity) and his commitment shows that UCONN is back at the talent table where it belongs. There’s no downside to this recruitment whatsoever.

 

[intlzncster]

Then there's Deandre Daniels and Daniel Hamilton.
We'll never know if another year would have better prepared them for the NBA or if they would have improved much with Ollie as coach, but Calhoun used to get great reads from his NBA contacts on who was ready and who was not and the players were better for it.

Both of those guys were hindered greatly by two things which would have hurt them, not helped them by staying in college. Physical limitations (lack of athleticism) and age. The second would really have been a negative if they stayed another year.

 

[intlzncster]

This is nothing but a win-win for both sides even if the young man never plays a minute here. Obviously his handlers felt that his time was better spent training at UCONN as opposed to PSA (he’s already a known commodity) and his commitment shows that UCONN is back at the talent table where it belongs. There’s no downside to this recruitment whatsoever.

This. In the immediate term, it makes both our bigs and our guards better by practicing against such an athletic big who excels at outside shooting and blocking shots.

Just as, if not more importantly, it shows the country (recruits, AAU, coaches, and the media) that Hurley can land big time recruits, and that UCONN is back to being a player on the national scene.

And if he does make it to the NBA, UCONN is still putting players in the league.

 

[navery12]

I want recruits flirting with the NBA because they are immediate impact players in college. Not recruits flirting with the NBA because of what they will be 3 years after leaving Uconn. You need to be better at understanding straw

And unless you think we should completely avoid recruiting those types of players I'm not talking about you. There's a difference between saying I disagree with him and he's not ready (you), and we need to avoid the drama (the people I'm talking about)

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is nothing but a win-win for both sides even if the young man never plays a minute here. Obviously his handlers felt that his time was better spent training at UCONN as opposed to PSA (he’s already a known commodity) and his commitment shows that UCONN is back at the talent table where it belongs. There’s no downside to this recruitment whatsoever.

Now this I don't agree with. PF is the weakest position on the team (so much so that we have a wing playing PF). If Akok committing prevents us from bringing in somebody else, and then he never plays, that will hurt this team.

That said, I fully expect that he will play next year. He will then find out whether he should declare or not or just test the waters. Look at what NBA power forwards and even small forwards look like. He needs 30 pounds of muscle and I think he knows it. That's why he is here an not at PSA. We might want to thank Eric Cobb.

Think about a guy like Jaylen Brown, top 5 recruit at Cal. 6'7" and 222 coming out of high school. He's playing shooting guard and some small forward. Akok is 6'10" and 195. He isn't ready for the NBA and would get abused even in the D league. There are some "grown assed" men in there.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I swear some of this board wants a 13 man roster made up of Chritian Vital's. I've seen people post about us being too deep and worried players like Whaley will be upset about a lack of playing time. I've seen posts saying we can't get Kofi because we got Akok even though they play different positions and their games perfectly compliment each others.

There has been a lot of these types of posts, I get that we haven't had much talent the last couple of years but it's like a segment of the fanbase forget we used to be awesome and had a bunch of bigtime players.

Well just as someone made the comment about recruit perceptions of their required time to spend in college (suggesting Ray and Rip would’ve been one and done) has changed over the last 20 years, so too has come a change in recruits’ desire for playing time immediately to show out and get to the league ASAP. There’s no more taking your time under the upperclassmen and work your way into the rotation as you mature. Look at how Kemba, now our biggest NBA star, started his playing career here as a top 15 recruit. That doesn’t happen anymore too; kids transfer regularly these days (the rules for which have also changed substantially over the last 10 years) for this exact reason. And then the recruiting and coaching effort is flushed down the toilet. You can count on one hand the number of programs for which top recruits will stick around with limited minutes, but even then, look at Jeter who IIRC transferred from Duke to AZ

So yeah, log jams with players and PT is much more a concern these days. Nobody has forgotten our absurdly talented teams; the times have changed.

 

[TheChamps990411]

This is not just basketball - it is life.

Which is my point. The kid needs to put himself in the best position to succeed and sure that position may be different for one kid compared to the next but imho he is best served by taking full advantage of the rest of this season to practice under DH and his staff and playing one season here which will help him be more prepared and be able to make a better more informed decision on his future. That is all.