Akok or Whaley | The Boneyard

Akok or Whaley

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I really think that Sanogo will be our 5 this year, Hurley seems to like guys at the 5 who are more traditional in a sense, hence recruiting and getting Clingan and Sanogo. But who has a better year this year, Akok or Whaley? I think they both start at points and Akok has a higher ceiling but Whaley is coming off a DPOY appearance. BTW I'm not Colin Gillespie
 
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Whaley. Akok is coming off not playing basketball in any serious way for close to two year. He snapped his achilles--that's hard to come back from.

I think a lot of our success really depends on Whaley's (or anyone else who plays the 4) ability to shoot the rock. Without a solid shooter at the 4, things get ugly. How do you play Jackson without a shooter at the 4? Where does our spacing come from?
 
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Whaley. Akok is coming off not playing basketball in any serious way for close to two year. He snapped his achilles--that's hard to come back from.

I think a lot of our success really depends on Whaley's (or anyone else who plays the 4) ability to shoot the rock. Without a solid shooter at the 4, things get ugly. How do you play Jackson without a shooter at the 4? Where does our spacing come from?
I'd agree, but Akok still looked good in the small sample size against Xavier, if he can replicate that with any consistency I could see him really putting some pressure on Whaley
 
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I'd agree, but Akok still looked good in the small sample size against Xavier, if he can replicate that with any consistency I could see him really putting some pressure on Whaley

He may put pressure on him, maybe even start over him by mid-season. There's no way he's starting over him day 1.

Small sample size is just that. And the reality is when Akok was 100% healthy as a freshman at his best, he still wasn't good enough to start over what we saw from Whaley last year.

Regardless, the best shooter out of Rese/Whaley/Akok should and will play the most minutes at the 4.
 

Chin Diesel

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I like them both and one will have to start along Sanogo while the other comes off the bench.

I like the aggressiveness of Akok on offense better than Whaley. I liked the Whaley was able to get open looks from three on the pick and pops and his defense on switching out on pick and rolls on the perimeter is elite for college. I just don't see Whaley being assertive offensively and Akok is always attacking on offense. Whaley is a proven perimeter help defender while Akok is suspect. Both Whaley and Akok can protect the rim against their own or as weakside help. Being that both Sanogo and Akok are works in progress, I really like the option of having a proven commodity in Whaley coming off the bench to provide relief to either Sanogo or Akok.
 
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Whaley. Akok is coming off not playing basketball in any serious way for close to two year. He snapped his achilles--that's hard to come back from.

I think a lot of our success really depends on Whaley's (or anyone else who plays the 4) ability to shoot the rock. Without a solid shooter at the 4, things get ugly. How do you play Jackson without a shooter at the 4? Where does our spacing come from?

Both of these guys are streaky shooters. If they can find consistency this year, watch out. You know they are gonna ball at the defensive end.
 
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Whaley will probably start but Akok isn’t going to not get minutes. They’ll probably split time as the season goes, schemes, big vs small ball and fouls. It ain’t rocket science. Coach knows what he’s doing.
 
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Whaley is an animal on defense with hard hedging, recovering, and blocking shots but Akok will be a lot more important to the UConn offense flowing. I see Whaley starting early on and Akok starting later on.
 
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I like them both and one will have to start along Sanogo while the other comes off the bench.

I like the aggressiveness of Akok on offense better than Whaley. I liked the Whaley was able to get open looks from three on the pick and pops and his defense on switching out on pick and rolls on the perimeter is elite for college. I just don't see Whaley being assertive offensively and Akok is always attacking on offense. Whaley is a proven perimeter help defender while Akok is suspect. Both Whaley and Akok can protect the rim against their own or as weakside help. Being that both Sanogo and Akok are works in progress, I really like the option of having a proven commodity in Whaley coming off the bench to provide relief to either Sanogo or Akok.

I think guys are making a lot more of that Xavier game than they should. Sure, he was more aggressive, but Akok was abysmal as a freshman on offense. 41% from the floor, 26% from 3 is really, really bad. I mean he doesn't have much offensive skill at all. If that has changed, watch out, but I don't think you can make that assumption yet.
 

McLovin

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I think Sanogo, Whaley and Akok all see significant minutes at the 4/5. Who starts may not matter as much as who finishes. If Sanogo can’t stay out of foul trouble, then I’d imagine Whaley & Akok will get plenty of run on the floor together.

Either way, our front court depth is awesome. Shouldn’t be a concern for us this season.
 

Incursio007

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I think a lot of the rotation will be matchup dependent on a night by night basis. Having a deep roster is a luxury we haven't had in a long time, especially in the frontcourt.
 

Dream Jobbed 2.0

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Akok is going to be brought along very slowly. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows enough to get drafted off 15 mpg though
 
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Small sample size is just that. And the reality is when Akok was 100% healthy as a freshman at his best, he still wasn't good enough to start over what we saw from Whaley last year.
Speaking of, guess who ? .... with about the same amount of games, PT and starts:

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IMO. Matchups-Game flow-Foul situations will dictate who is on the floor. To me its more about who is finishing games rather than who is starting games.

The only wildcard scenario is if Whaley or AA are clearly dominating from Day 1 of the season so that the other can't get into the lineup for significant minutes early in the season.

Although not a popular opinion on the Yard. I would not be surprised to see Samson and/or Springs messing with rotations by mid-year. A good thing for the future.
 
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Whaley is an animal on defense with hard hedging, recovering, and blocking shots but Akok will be a lot more important to the UConn offense flowing. I see Whaley starting early on and Akok starting later on.
What makes you think Akok is the better offensive player?
 

Huskyforlife

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Although not a popular opinion on the Yard. I would not be surprised to see Samson and/or Springs messing with rotations by mid-year. A good thing for the future.
The thing about a prediction like this, it either means Akok or Whaley or Sanogo has disappointed.

Or we have the best frontcourt in CBB.

It's quite a claim either way.
 
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What makes you think Akok is the better offensive player?
Because I think he's much more fluid than Whaley. We've only seen a little of it from Akok because he's been injured most of his career but I expect him to be a floor spacer, being a good enough wing three ball shooter where he'll be able to pump fake and get to the rim. I don't see that ability in Whaley but would love to be surprised, he's surprised me his whole UConn career.
 
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Because I think he's much more fluid than Whaley. We've only seen a little of it from Akok because he's been injured most of his career but I expect him to be a floor spacer, being a good enough wing three ball shooter where he'll be able to pump fake and get to the rim. I don't see that ability in Whaley but would love to be surprised, he's surprised me his whole UConn career.
I hope this is happens for Akok but there's very little actual evidence this will be the case, in both the shooting and putting the ball on the floor to dribble. If he's doing what you describe on offense, with his defense and length, then he's a lock for a top 5 pick and one of the best players in college basketball. I think he'll be very good by the end of the year but I think the expectations have to be reigned in a bit
 

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