Amida Brimah's Legacy

[Stainmaster]

I would love he see his fouls per minutes played stat. I see a very limited, and short professional career in his future.

We have had players (and big men) far worse than Brimah carve out very long careers in Europe.

 

[mauconnfan]

We have had players (and big men) far worse than Brimah carve out very long careers in Europe.

Who? Most just got recruited over like AB should have but never happened.

 

[upstater]

I would love he see his fouls per minutes played stat. I see a very limited, and short professional career in his future.

They don't call touch fouls for people fighting for position down low overseas. They allow players to battle it out.

 

[Stainmaster]

Who? Most just got recruited over like AB should have but never happened.

Eaves spent a few years overseas, Tyler Olander was on pace for a long European career were it not for injuries, hell Okwandu made it to the D-League. Phil Nolan is currently putting up 8 and 5 off the bench in Denmark. There are spots for guys like that in the professional world, so I don't see why AB (who is better than everyone in that cohort) can't find one himself.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Conversely, it's also fair to wonder if he's the worst type of player to have on your team - good enough that he has to be depended on, but not actually, you know, dependable.

This is an apt summary.

I've also said that his development arc has been a worst-case scenario as far as our recruiting post-2014: because we had no other option he was entrenched at the 5. And his getting that consistent PT (whether earned or not) helped to scare off better recruits.

But then he failed to develop, leaving us without a reliable 5, and without a reliable understudy who could have taken his place.

He was thought to be just good enough that he wasn't recruited over, but he was always enough of a liability that it limited our success.

 

[uchusky32]

Great kid, great enthusiasm, very good defender, unfortunate basketball mind which lead to a much lower ceiling than most (if not all) anticipated.

Author of one of the most important plays in UCONN history. Key cog in winning a program-righting championship.

Was it a program righting championship? Not much good has come sincentives but I agree with everything else.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

My understanding of recruiting - although I don't follow it any more - is that this whole notion of not "recruiting over" someone that people on the Boneyard talk about is a myth. You recruit for need, but if there is a great player that's available to you, you recruit him, no matter what you have at his position. How many times do Calhoun and Ollie have to observe that Calhoun recruited over Ollie every year he was at UConn for this to resonate? I mean, part of Ollie's legacy is that he was tough and dedicated enough to overcome the fact that Calhoun was bringing in people to take his job.

 

[intlzncster]

Was it a program righting championship? Not much good has come sincentives but I agree with everything else.

Do you have any idea where we'd be without it? It validated Ollie nationally. That's one of the big reasons we've recruited well the past few years while still remaining in the AAC.

Perhaps a better word would be "program-saving". UCONN might be dead otherwise.

 

[Huskybass]

A pro setting?

Boo Willingham played professionally and he did virtually nothing while at UConn. If I recall correctly, he scored something like 110 points in his entire college career. Brimah definitely has a pro career somewhere.

 

[uchusky32]

Do you have any idea where we'd be without it? It validated Ollie nationally. That's one of the big reasons we've recruited well the past few years while still remaining in the AAC.

Perhaps a better word would be "program-saving". UCONN might be dead otherwise.

Yeah, what you said isn't righting the ship. But I understand what your saying.

 

[sledog]

Legacy: I coulda / shoulda had a V8 - ugh, I mean a BBC!!!!

 

[joober jones]

Hell, even Mandeldove played professionally, with stints in Peru and Romania.

 

[JSM1970]

Yes, and making the FT

Last 3 years fairly inconsistent and listless

Legacy is summed up in 1 play



That'll do for me.

 

[NielsisGood]

The legacy of the contributions in the championship run of course. He'll be the player nobody wanted, but most will miss when he's gone. Like next year, when other teams are taking it to the rim anytime they want and there's nobody there to block the shot.

His defensive impact is overstated, and these guys are used to playing without him anyways with how often he manages to foul out within 15 minutes.

 

[intlzncster]

Yes, and making the FT

Last 3 years fairly inconsistent and listless

Inconsistent, absolutely. Listless? The exact opposite. Who on the team has more energy and enthusiasm than Brimah?

 

[jibsey]

He'll likely be among the most misunderstood players in UConn history, for better or worse. The consensus - that he's great defensively and terrible offensively - is not supported, to my knowledge, by any factual data. By my count, he's occasionally great defensively - but sometimes a liability - and generally useful offensively depending on the match-up.

It's important to consider that his on/off splits are very much colored by what we've had behind him (which hasn't been much). That we crater with him off the court is less a credit to him than it is an indictment on how sanctions, injuries, etc. have compromised our depth.

Still: there is nothing to suggest that he's not a player who has consistently helped us win when he is out there. The same has not always been true of our other seniors. Conversely, it's also fair to wonder if he's the worst type of player to have on your team - good enough that he has to be depended on, but not actually, you know, dependable.

The project is still a huge success at large. It looked like it was going to be a monumental success at times, though, and when what you think is your greatest asset isn't, maybe it turns out to be your greatest handicap.

I won't have anything but warm feelings for him, though. He helped us win a championship, and these last three years fell on his shoulders only because he was our best option. I'll take him on my team every time. I can't say that about a senior Purvis or an early-season Facey. I don't even care if it's one of our vintage teams, I'll take him on my team because he has a skill set that better players can't replicate.

Great defensive centers get rebounds, a lot of them.

 

[dennismenace]

Boo Willingham played professionally and he did virtually nothing while at UConn. If I recall correctly, he scored something like 110 points in his entire college career. Brimah definitely has a pro career somewhere.

Agreed. You can't teach 7 feet.

 

[mauconnfan]

Pretty simple career. Made a play that will forever play in to our legacy as a program. Timing is everything to many, that one had just that.

Great kid, enthusiastic, not very coachable and not someone with the natural instincts to be able to comprehend. Blocked shots, not great shot blocker as some believe but he did block shots. Great one's keep a few in play, but he still had some impact games blocking shots in runs where we needed him to do so, I applaud him for that. The insinuation that he was a great defender because he blocked shots will always be amusing to me because besides the blocked shots, he was only decent at best and that is pushing it. Also had many games when 6'7 centers abused him in the lane but many forget those, sorry I find it difficult. Never got better on offense, and never got better rebounding the ball or staying in the game. He will find a place in Euro ball or something alike, but the game won't change for him he just doesn't get it.

"It is what it is and soon to be was what it was"

 

[Kitaman]

I can't go back in time on the Boneyard (or just too lazy). But when he came in as a freshman and a Yarder watched one of the pre-season practices he referred to Brimah as looking like a 'praying mantis' on the court.

For the next 4 years I always remembered that post when watching him play, thinking he looks just like a praying mantis (thin frame, long limbs).

That was his first impression and for me a lasting impression. LOL

 

[Onions]

I was just asking for clarification really. Brimah can certainly find a role in an overseas league if he so chooses to,I am confident in that, but if the post was in reference to the NBA then he must be out of his mind.

I can easily see Brimah being a free agent signing or, less likely, a second round pick, spending a year or two in the D league and then having a career as a back-up defensive center. He fills a defined niche, backup defensive center; he has the height, the athleticism to go with that height and a great attitude - the qualities that kept KO around the league for 13 years.

 

[Palatine]

A Brimah apologista. Love it coming from you.

I'm not apologizing for Brimah. I wrote exactly his legacy.

And Brimah doesn't owe you any apology because he didn't live up to your expectations.

 

[Onions]

Pretty simple career. Made a play that will forever play in to our legacy as a program. Timing is everything to many, that one had just that.

Great kid, enthusiastic, not very coachable and not someone with the natural instincts to be able to comprehend. Blocked shots, not great shot blocker as some believe but he did block shots. Great one's keep a few in play, but he still had some impact games blocking shots in runs where we needed him to do so, I applaud him for that. The insinuation that he was a great defender because he blocked shots will always be amusing to me because besides the blocked shots, he was only decent at best and that is pushing it. Also had many games when 6'7 centers abused him in the lane but many forget those, sorry I find it difficult. Never got better on offense, and never got better rebounding the ball or staying in the game. He will find a place in Euro ball or something alike, but the game won't change for him he just doesn't get it.

"It is what it is and soon to be was what it was"

We will have to agree to disagree on this.

He is the best defensive player in the AAC and one of the best in D1. We are a good defensive team with him on the floor and atrocious when he's off, and not all of that is attributable to Enoch's shortcomings.

As for where he blocks his shots too -- if a shot is blocked and kept in play it's likely to be picked up by the offensive team and put back for a score - better to put it in the stands and get ready to play some D. The only shot blocker I ever saw who could direct his block to his own team's players was Bill Russel -- it's a myth that this is some problem with Brimah.

He has become a better rebounder, the facts on that are clear, and his offense will not keep him from the NBA because they won't ever want him to touch the ball on that side of the court.

His biggest problem as a player is staying on the floor, I am very disappointed with that aspect of his play this year, but that only emphasizes how valuable he is when he's out there.

His legacy is that he gave it his all, every game, even when he was just cheering from the bench, and he was a big contributor on a championship team. That's a better legacy than most. And I fully agree with the poster who said you'll first miss him next year -- you don't miss your water ...

 

[BUConn10]

I can easily see Brimah being a free agent signing or, less likely, a second round pick, spending a year or two in the D league and then having a career as a back-up defensive center. He fills a defined niche, backup defensive center; he has the height, the athleticism to go with that height and a great attitude - the qualities that kept KO around the league for 13 years.

No, it's the NBA not a Disney channel original movie.

 

[ctchamps]

I'm not apologizing for Brimah. I wrote exactly his legacy.

And Brimah doesn't owe you any apology because he didn't live up to your expectations.

I was being sarcastic Pal.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

As a soph, 40 points against Coppin State (getting everyone excited about his development). Coppin State!!!! One whole point a couple nights later against Duke. Not 15 points. Not 10 points. But a single point against a big boy program.