AO

[minidarren]

Should stick to Twitter

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[babysheep]

You'd think with all the tweeting he does he'd have stronger fingers/hands.

 

[Ricky1Moore]

Yeah if he just finished the bunnies it's a 6 point lead... Really awful in traffic... Hands are awful.

Drummond looks better without the mask, seems far more comfortable out there, great news

 

[buckley503]

he looks shell shocked.
worried that he doesn't have the mental toughness to get out of this slump and he may mope more and more which will put him in the doghouse which is okay since Olander definitely can fill the void.

 

[minidarren]

he looks shell shocked.
worried that he doesn't have the mental toughness to get out of this slump and he may mope more and more which will put him in the doghouse which is okay since Olander definitely can fill the void.

I think you hit the nail on the head. The kid has talent but his mind has him shook.

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[joober jones]

At least he showed up for the 2nd half.

 

[UChusky916]

Call me crazy... but this could be good to get this out of his system. He can accept his role and start playing like he knows how to (Maui, Texas, the BET, and vs Butler) and the minutes will find their way back to him.

He needs to start playing mean anyways.

 

[high-post]

You'd think with all the tweeting he does he'd have stronger fingers/hands.

 

[sammydabiz]

He needs to start playing mean anyways.

He needs to start playing mean?!?!.....as in not playing "soft"

But to be fair, after watching tonight, his problem is more with his hands compared to his softness....

 

[UCHuskies08]

The adversarial attitude you all take to a kid who was a huge part of a championship run is continually disappointing.

If I didn't know better, I'd think this "AO" character was on Syracuse with the way he's talked about on here.

 

[Dove]

Alex came up big when the Huskies really needed the lift. Hahrvuhd had some kick left and Alex stiff-armed them a bit.

Props to him. He isn't a superstar. He's a lunchpail guy like some of faves from the past. You haters think its easy out there?

 

[champs99and04]

I still think he'll break out of this funk. He showed some promise in the second half, getting deep post position, and dunking the ball. Shabazz and Boatright just have to keep finding him.

 

[RuffRuff]

Was at the game tonight - what kills me about AO is all the sulking/whining he does on the floor. He's constantly throwing his arms up, slumping his shoulders, always demonstrative in a negative way, seems to physically whine about every call or non call. Very different from his on camera personality, where he seems like a happy go lucky guy. The kid needs to just focus on working hard out there - he seems distracted.

 

[UChusky916]

He needs to start playing mean?!?!.....as in not playing "soft"

But to be fair, after watching tonight, his problem is more with his hands compared to his softness....

I never said he was soft. I love Alex. I think he has gotten way way too much hate. But you cant ignore the fact that he's playing with something else in the back of his mind (whatever that may be) and that it is clearly affecting his game. He needs to figure it out, work it out, and move on and improve.

I think by mean I meant like not letting other guys take the ball from you on a rebound. Its clearly in his head now... big confidence issue.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

AO was fine tonight. The message board fans are the problem.

 

[TheChamps990411]

AO is just awful! he did some nice things late which reminded you of the type of player he can be but for the first 35 minutes of the game he was awful. TO has been great and AD is really starting to come on so if AO wants to see more than 20 minutes a game he needs to go back to doing what he did his first 2 years and did at the end of tonights game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be mean, but when people refer to Alex getting back to the kind of player he was his first two years, what in the hell are they talking about? It's like they've forgotten all the maddening moments and only remember that he happened to be there when we went on an incredible run in March (during which he didn't have a multi-field-goal scoring game until Butler).

Yes, Alex has had some outstanding games for us. But his UConn career has been defined by only one thing: inconsistency. He hasn't really been a hard-nosed, no-nonsense guy in the way we like to remember (and romanticize, albeit justifiably so) guys like Jeff Adrien, Kevin Freeman, and Donny Marshall.

I'm not bashing the kid; I'm just asking some posters here to really be objective and make sure their assessments are borne out of facts and not out of some fantasy-land.

 

[caw]

when we went on an incredible run in March (during which he didn't have a multi-field-goal scoring game until Butler).

Ummm, huh?

DePaul 5 of 9, 13 points/19 rebounds/1 block
Gtown 1 of 4, 5 points/5 rebounds/0 blocks
Pitt 5 of 8, 13 points/7 rebounds/ 0 blocks
Cuse 5 of 10, 15 points/11 rebounds/ 0 blocks
UL 4 of 7, 10 points/ 8 rebounds/ 0 blocks
Bucknell 4 of 9, 9 points/12 rebounds/ 2 blocks
Cincy 0 of 6, 4 points/ 11 rebounds/ 0 blocks
SDSU 2 of 7, 5 points/ 9 rebounds/ 1 block
Zona 3 of 4, 7 points/ 6 rebounds/ 1 block
UK 4 of 6, 8 points/ 10 rebounds/ 1 block
Butler 5 of 6, 11 points / 11 rebounds/ 4 blocks

In those 11 games he averaged 9.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and .99 blocks per game and shot 50% from the field.

I see two games in the March run that were not multi-field-goal scoring games. Perhaps you meant double digit scoring games or double-double games (which would still both be wrong).

That being said, statistically he is inconsistent. Last year though his hustle and defense were almost always outstanding. This year he has been up and down, I think he has had two solid games in a row now. Sure he could finish stronger and grab rebounds better, but I liked what I saw these past two games a lot more than some previous games.

 

[bballgrda]

His biggest problem is that he has absolutely no hands what so ever.

 

[Giddyup5]

I still think he'll break out of this funk. He showed some promise in the second half, getting deep post position, and dunking the ball. Shabazz and Boatright just have to keep finding him.

I think he is going to continue to come around as the season rolls on. He did have 6 boards in 22 minutes today. People need to give this kid a break.

 

[Rico444]

I was frustrated at Alex tonight, but on one play when he was fed in the post, he lost the ball. He then quickly got back on defense, altered one of their big mans' shots, and got the rebound. As long as he defends and rebounds, I can live with the offensive struggles.

 

[buckley503]

The adversarial attitude you all take to a kid who was a huge part of a championship run is continually disappointing.

If I didn't know better, I'd think this "AO" character was on Syracuse with the way he's talked about on here.

I don't recall anyone criticizing AO's character or as a person. Speaking for myself and the post I see, it is his play that is discussed. If you think he is playing well, great, I don't and since God or Al Gore, I forget, created message boards for just this purpose, his play is fair game. As I've said before, if he played with the same _________ (fill in the blank) as he did against Texas and MSU last year he would be an All American. Gottleib mentioned it several times for UConn to be successful AO needs to contribute or he will be dropping further in the rotation.

 

[babysheep]

I was frustrated at Alex tonight, but on one play when he was fed in the post, he lost the ball. He then quickly got back on defense, altered one of their big mans' shots, and got the rebound. As long as he defends and rebounds, I can live with the offensive struggles.

You can only live with it until we start playing better teams. We're very lucky that ND and WVU are having down years so we don't pay a ranked team until we go to G'town on Feb. 1 but who knows if they'll even be ranked at that point. But after that, it's at Loserville 5 days later (a team with talented guards which may limit the effectiveness of our back court, meaning the front has to be on their game), at Cuse another 5 days later, then Marquette, Cuse again, and Pitt.

 

[UCHuskies08]

I don't recall anyone criticizing AO's character or as a person.

You should read the board more often then

 

[Wolferowski]

I love AO, but he needs to man up!