Brimah

[yukonyc212]

Your post is the perfect example of what I've been talking about.

Ranting about how many fouls he picked up which removed him from games where he could have made a difference, and at the same time, saying that he doesn't make a difference. Great stuff. So which is it? Is he worthless? Or is he not on the court enough because of foul trouble?

You can't have it both ways. If he sucks, why would you care that he's on the court less?? Yeah, I know...

Sigh... he's not capable of making a difference because he is a foul machine that does not understand footwork and is weak . Our starting center, over 7 feet tall, averaging 4 rebounds a game. That is an amazing statistic. And I'm not "ranting." I provided facts from the box scores.

 

[UConnDan97]

Sigh... he's not capable of making a difference because he is a foul machine that does not understand footwork and is weak . Our starting center, over 7 feet tall, averaging 4 rebounds a game. That is an amazing statistic. And I'm not "ranting." I provided facts from the box scores.

Yeah, you're bringing facts, huh? Then how come espn has Brimah averaging 6 rebounds per game, not the 4 rebounds you claim? Could it be because it doesn't fit your narrative? You also failed to mention that he is averaging almost 8 points a game. Once again...doesn't fit your narrative?

Next time you argue with facts, don't forget to actually bring facts...

 

[yukonyc212]

Yeah, you're bringing facts, huh? Then how come espn has Brimah averaging 6 rebounds per game, not the 4 rebounds you claim? Could it be because it doesn't fit your narrative? You also failed to mention that he is averaging almost 8 points a game. Once again...doesn't fit your narrative?

Next time you argue with facts, don't forget to actually bring facts...

Not sure if you need new glasses or maybe you just can't read... or maybe ur not the brightest bulb?? Either way let me help you out..

NCAAM #35 Amida Brimah - ESPN

 

[UConnDan97]

Not sure if you need new glasses or maybe you just can't read... or maybe ur not the brightest bulb?? Either way let me help you out..

NCAAM #35 Amida Brimah - ESPN

Well, one of us is being lied to by espn. And believe me, I am the brightest bulb...

NCAAM #35 Amida Brimah - ESPN

Edit: I just confirmed that my numbers are correct from a different source. I suspect you only got his numbers from the month of February, which makes it hilarious that you tried to call me out for being dumb...

 

[yukonyc212]

Well, one of us is being lied to by espn. And believe me, I am the brightest bulb...

Lol ur prob some small town local attorney that thinks he's the king of the universe because he belongs to the local golf club lol. Get a clue bro. If you only knew...

 

[yukonyc212]

Well, one of us is being lied to by espn. And believe me, I am the brightest bulb...

NCAAM #35 Amida Brimah - ESPN

Edit: I just confirmed that my numbers are correct from a different source. I suspect you only got his numbers from the month of February, which makes it hilarious that you tried to call me out for being dumb...

Also you don't even realize that you're proving my point. 4 - 6 rebounds from a 7 foot + senior captain who fouls out every other game and can't score and somehow you think we're better off with him on the floor this season. Talk about

 

[King Husky]

My business partner and I joke that if we had his height, even with our marginal basketball skills, that we would be scoring 15 ppg and grabbing at least 10 rebounds per game and would play in the NBA. He just has no feel for the game and terrible hands. You'd think the coaches would have had him perform drills that would have helped his hand-eye coordination.

Can't think of a recent player who I'm as anxious to see graduate than Amidah...perhaps Phil Nolan.

Hand-eye coordination is one of those things that can't really be taught. You can't blame Brimah for this.

 

[UConnDan97]

Also you don't even realize that you're proving my point. 4 - 6 rebounds from a 7 foot + senior captain who fouls out every other game and can't score and somehow you think we're better off with him on the floor this season. Talk about

Yup. You're a clown. Now you're mad because you realize that you had your facts wrong. And yes, we are better with him on the floor.

And no, I'm not an attorney and I hate golf. Neither is relevant to you not knowing your facts or your basketball...

 

[UCfor3]

Brimah lacks reactionary quickness to be a good rebounder. He is stiff, and slow to change direction if the ball changes directiion off the rim. Any ball that doesnt drop directly to him when he is in position is not going to be his. He is a terrible rebounder if the ball is slightly out of his area and he has no explosion off his second jump which is a huge factor in good rebounders. He is good on the lob and he has his moments protecting the rim against certain teams/players. He tries but is limited by his lack of ability. He is always gonna be raw. When he has the ball in traffic he either gets stripped or travels. He lacks the footwork and basketball insticts to yield a positive result the majority of the time. His motions are so mechanical, like he is trying to do what is taught, but he just lacks that natural feel that the better players possess. Throw in the constant foul trouble and the bad hands and you have a divisive and frustrating player that can win you some games but doesnt show up for the majority of them. My biggest beef with him is since his first year it seem the bigger the game the smaller he plays. He gets some bad whistles bet geez he almost asks out of some of these games with his dumb fouls. We may miss him next year in some respects more than we think in our present frustration. I do however think we will be better off in the long run, especially offensively with a center with a better feel for the game.

 

[UCfor3]

I might also add that none of this is Amida's fault. He has had some good moments but he is what he is. People are freaking out like he is Andre Drummond who spent 4 years here but he is dissappointing us all. He was a recruit who most people had rated outside the top 200. He has probably had a better college showing than most of the guys in his company back then. Just because he is tall and plays for us, it doesnt guarantee greatness or even marginal improvement. The real issue is in 4 years we have not found someone capable enough to supplant him and give us better and more consistent play from the 5 position. It is as if he was annointed as something more than he was after a promising freshman year but that mistake was never recognized or corrected over the next 3 years when his limitations were obvious.

 

[yukonyc212]

Yup. You're a clown. Now you're mad because you realize that you had your facts wrong. And yes, we are better with him on the floor.

And no, I'm not an attorney and I hate golf. Neither is relevant to you not knowing your facts or your basketball...

And your a self righteous bag. You're probably the only guy on this entire board that would rather Brimah play out the string here than have Enoch get more playing time and more confidence for the future... since you know... the year is lost and all. Some people are just completely lost to reality.

 

[yukonyc212]

Yup. You're a clown. Now you're mad because you realize that you had your facts wrong. And yes, we are better with him on the floor.

And no, I'm not an attorney and I hate golf. Neither is relevant to you not knowing your facts or your basketball...

Also there is no option to sort by monthly statistics on espn.com. I typed in Amida Brimah and that's what it told me. FYI it also told me Facey was averaging 3 points and 3 boards per game.

NCAAM #12 Kentan Facey - ESPN

Note the hyperlink there.... there is no syntax for changing or sorting timeframes or retrieving data from a different field. It grabs the player ID... which in this case is Facey (66680) and returns the applicable data. It's not my fault the site is either back-linked wrong or pointing to the wrong college basketball statistics database. And let's be real here.... 4.6 or 5.9. GIGANTIC difference.... I know that extra 1 rebound per game is really the difference maker! And even if that was by "monthly stats" as you say, (which it's not) than it proves my point even more as his production has nosedived the past month. I'm fully confident some combination of Durham & Enoch can give us 5 points and 5 boards if they were given Brimah's minutes. We only have 1 out from here and it's a long shot. Why not give the freshman more PT. We're not playing for seeding. Maybe if Facey had gotten more burn the past few years he would have developed much quicker than he did. He only played 12 mpg last season. I would love to have him back for another year at this point.

 

[Hankster]

"no plays run for him"???? What the k do you watch the game with your hands over your eyes? He caught the ball at least 7-8 times on the low block and only threw up one jump hoof from 2 feet which he missed. He threw one pass over Purvis's head and did little to nothing with any of the others. The "bullet passes" you speak of were one hands high and a bounce pass from Facey which was waist high he bobbled to the Houston defender. He was atrocious, only you could see anything else. But it must be Adams fault because he's so out of shape? Please just give it up!

Not to mention a couple of bounce passes to him where he wasn't paying attention. It is (difficult (in a way) to comment on his performances' because he is a great kid. However...

 

[huskymagic]

Who won the game for Houston the guards or their big men? Last I checked Rob Gray and Dotson are guards and they lit us up from the perimeter. Who is responsible for guarding them: Jalen Adams, Purvis, Vance, and Vital. Did our guards play offensively well to negate their hot second half: NO. This is a guards game and Houston's guard won it for them while our guards didn't do anything when it mattered in the second half. When Duke loses nobody blame Amile Jefferson or Harry Giles because they are what they are. This isn't Tim Duncan or Anthony Davis that you can play through.

PS: Kelvin Sampson strategy was to take Amida out of the game which he did. Why would he do that if he thought he wasn't a good player?

 

[mauconnfan]

Who won the game for Houston the guards or their big men? Last I checked Rob Gray and Dotson are guards and they lit us up from the perimeter. Who is responsible for guarding them: Jalen Adams, Purvis, Vance, and Vital. Did our guards play offensively well to negate their hot second half: NO. This is a guards game and Houston's guard won it for them while our guards didn't do anything when it mattered in the second half. When Duke loses nobody blame Amile Jefferson or Harry Giles because they are what they are. This isn't Tim Duncan or Anthony Davis that you can play through.

PS: Kelvin Sampson strategy was to take Amida out of the game which he did. Why would he do that if he thought he wasn't a good player?

His strategy in the 2nd half was to take Purvis out, he did. Amida took himself out Sampson needed no help in that strategy. Dotson isn't a guard, he's a wing and a damn good one we can't match up with. Gray averages 20 a game so in case you can't figure it out we're not the first one's he's scored on you dope. We didn't make shots in the 2nd half and we played 4 on 5 on offense a lot of times down the court which doesn't help the likes of our guards and helps them cover Purvis from all angles. Why care about a guy who catches it 5 feet from the rim 8 times and does zero with it? Not easy to run offense with that happening. But you keep thinking you have all the answers.

 

[Okafour rings]

Hand-eye coordination is one of those things that can't really be taught. You can't blame Brimah for this.

I beg to differ. Just Google "How to improve hand-eye coordination" and you get all sorts of hits regarding drills that can be performed to improve that skill, such as:

4 Easy Drills to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination | Outside Online
4 Easy Drills to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination

How to Improve Hand Eye Coordination - Bodyomics
www.bodyomics.com/articles/hand_eye_coordination.html

Exercises to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination | LIVESTRONG.COM
www.livestrong.com › Diseases and Condition

We're talking big-time college basketball here. Improving his skillset could have meant millions of dollars to Brimah. The lack of improvement over 4 years is striking.

 

[yukonyc212]

I beg to differ. Just Google "How to improve hand-eye coordination" and you get all sorts of hits regarding drills that can be performed to improve that skill, such as:

4 Easy Drills to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination | Outside Online
4 Easy Drills to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination

How to Improve Hand Eye Coordination - Bodyomics
www.bodyomics.com/articles/hand_eye_coordination.html

Exercises to Improve Hand-Eye Coordination | LIVESTRONG.COM
www.livestrong.com › Diseases and Condition

We're talking big-time college basketball here. Improving his skillset could have meant millions of dollars to Brimah. The lack of improvement over 4 years is striking.

I hate banging on the kid because he's been a good ambassador for the program... a good student...never been in trouble etc... but how do you do something every single day for 4 years and not get better at it? It's not like he had any physical setbacks. I just don't understand. Have we ever had a player that gets as much PT as he does not improve 1 iota from freshman year to senior year.... unfortunately the only other parallel I can see is in the starting lineup right next to him.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hand-eye coordination is one of those things that can't really be taught. You can't blame Brimah for this.

I'd dispute that. There are drills and exercises you can do to improve hand-eye coordination. Some people are already blessed with that but you can definitely improve those skills if you're not already good at it.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'd dispute that. There are drills and exercises you can do to improve hand-eye coordination. Some people are already blessed with that but you can definitely improve those skills if you're not already good at it.

I'm going to say this is a 50-50 "argument"...guys who naturally have good hands (hand eye coordination) have a tremendous gift and needed for so many sports. Those who don't have really good hands may be taught to be "better" but rarely will someone suddenly have great hands. Those with atrocious hands will never have good hands no matter how much they work on it. Maybe the Allie Sherman treatment on Rocky Thompson kick returner where he had him go to Mexico in the off season and jump off cliffs into the ocean with the football in his hands LOL

 

[Pudge]

I just thank god the Brimah era is winding down. I'll always be greatful for his season saving and1 in 14, but that's pretty much been it for him in the highlight department in 4 years. It's frightening that 2 of our 3 seniors are exactly the same player they were when they stepped foot on campus for the first time. I just hope that isn't the norm going forward for player development or else we are screwed.

This is short-sighted.

And ... a lesson for many fans. Rodney Purvis is a far better fuller player than when he arrived; but, as I have said many times, his physicality dominance probably waned after about 10th grade. He must have been a wonder as a Soph in HS. At this level, he knows the game better and is a better shooter and a more accomplished mature person. As a UConn hoop player, there hasn't been that steep a upswing in his development. There ... that is the point. Like they say about Asperger's kids, you see one Asperger's kid ... you have seen one Asperger's kid. EACH is different. Brimah is limited. That is the story. We all should have seen that SO, JR years as well. He is a very good rim protector (yet still hasn't learned the Bill Russell subtleties of retaining the ball for his Team); he is not a great rebounder even when he has position. And he doesn't naturally turn to get position. That is infuriating at the high Major level. But that is Brimah. He has no post moves ... except one that might work on instinct. You are not going to find him 5 years out playing in Israel or Spain ... and far better. This is it. He is damn good in some games as he is a energy driver. Facey can progress to a far higher level IMHO. He can grow into his skill set well into his mid 20s. That is why this crap about the NBA ONLY drafts at this younger age is true ... but stupid. Lots of guys are on NBA rosters after developing through their 20s in some foreign or minor pro league. And I think Facey is going to get better.

YES ... Kevin Ollie, Miller et all watch lots of film. They think all this. That is what we should expect. Thinking that they haven't tried all the Thabeet methods or talked to JC or others on how to improve every darn kid is just not in my thoughts. KO is living this HC assignment and has a large stakeholder group that he talks to.

This year has been a good one for development. And saying that, I reiterate my thoughts of the other night: Kelvin Sampson has a good Houston team. They could be a good MM team in the brackets if they ever made it. YES ... I think they are wildly better than Syracuse or Wake or GA Tech. It is nuts to just believe the national press on some of this ACC dominance.

 

[polycom]

Of the people who are saying the coaches never worked with Brimah exactly how many UConn practices have you been to where Brimah was present? How much time have you spent around the time? Watching the game on tv or in the stands is much different than being around practice. There are players who are great free throw shooters in practice and just can't figure it out during the game. (Watch tape on Dwight Howard) AB has put in a ton of work he just isn't a very good basketball player, it happens. He isn't the first and won't be the last player to not improve...

 

[yukonyc212]

This is short-sighted.

And ... a lesson for many fans. Rodney Purvis is a far better fuller player than when he arrived; but, as I have said many times, his physicality dominance probably waned after about 10th grade. He must have been a wonder as a Soph in HS. At this level, he knows the game better and is a better shooter and a more accomplished mature person. As a UConn hoop player, there hasn't been that steep a upswing in his development. There ... that is the point. Like they say about Asperger's kids, you see one Asperger's kid ... you have seen one Asperger's kid. EACH is different. Brimah is limited. That is the story. We all should have seen that SO, JR years as well. He is a very good rim protector (yet still hasn't learned the Bill Russell subtleties of retaining the ball for his Team); he is not a great rebounder even when he has position. And he doesn't naturally turn to get position. That is infuriating at the high Major level. But that is Brimah. He has no post moves ... except one that might work on instinct. You are not going to find him 5 years out playing in Israel or Spain ... and far better. This is it. He is damn good in some games as he is a energy driver. Facey can progress to a far higher level IMHO. He can grow into his skill set well into his mid 20s. That is why this crap about the NBA ONLY drafts at this younger age is true ... but stupid. Lots of guys are on NBA rosters after developing through their 20s in some foreign or minor pro league. And I think Facey is going to get better.

YES ... Kevin Ollie, Miller et all watch lots of film. They think all this. That is what we should expect. Thinking that they haven't tried all the Thabeet methods or talked to JC or others on how to improve every darn kid is just not in my thoughts. KO is living this HC assignment and has a large stakeholder group that he talks to.

This year has been a good one for development. And saying that, I reiterate my thoughts of the other night: Kelvin Sampson has a good Houston team. They could be a good MM team in the brackets if they ever made it. YES ... I think they are wildly better than Syracuse or Wake or GA Tech. It is nuts to just believe the national press on some of this ACC dominance.

Rodney is a better shooter? He's shooting 38% fg on the year, down from 44% last year and 43% his soph year. 3 pt % is also down.

 

[HooperScooper]

AB has put in a ton of work he just isn't a very good basketball player, it happens. He isn't the first and won't be the last player to not improve...

So you have been to practice and at AB's individual workouts to see first hand the hard work AB has put in to improve his game? Besides being a participant at practices, let us know what he's done because I would be interested to know.

I'm not saying he didn't put in the work but just found it ironic you said we don't know what he's done and then proceed to tell us he's "put in a ton of work..." So how do you know that?

 

[Jaker]

Brimah is awkward.

 

[Pudge]

Rodney is a better shooter? He's shooting 38% fg on the year, down from 44% last year and 43% his soph year. 3 pt % is also down.

We all can play this game ...

Recently, he went 15 of his last 22. That is a better percentage.

The truth - unless you want to argue until the cows come back to Storrs - is that Rodney Purvis is a very streaky rhythm shooter and shoots best when the TEAM is in sync and the offense gets him shots where he is comfortable. For about 4 games that happened.

My point remains ... these kids develop under Kevin Ollie as well as they ever have at UConn. Each Player is different. Brimah is what he is. I did not enter 2016-2017 thinking that Brimah improvement was going to be a key factor. We had three primary guys that needed to be good - Adams, Larrier, Gilbert. Two of them were gone for the year within the first 20 days. Secondarily, Enoch, Durham, Vital, Jackson, Facey would have to climb up from their evident potential to solid college players. Facey has. Jackson and Vital have been better and contributed more than expected. And I am reasonably hopeful on Durham and Enoch. Can we make a big leap - LEAP - up in 2017-2018. YES.

Gilbert, with a suitable medical recovery, with Adams and a really improved Vital with Langford grafted on may be amongst the BEST guard bunch we see next year. I don't think we saw anyone we played this year with better.

Larrier CAN be a key scorer/defender at 3 & 4. I am excited about Jackson and think he can be a smoother floor player on offense and will know his ability to defend.

The big IF ... is what we get from Enoch or Durham or Carlton or maybe someone else.

 

[polycom]

So you have been to practice and at AB's individual workouts to see first hand the hard work AB has put in to improve his game? Besides being a participant at practices, let us know what he's done because I would be interested to know.

I'm not saying he didn't put in the work but just found it ironic you said we don't know what he's done and then proceed to tell us he's "put in a ton of work..." So how do you know that?

Yes, I've been to practice this was two years ago, but AB was took drop step layups, hundreds of them. Also the coaches worked with tennis balls a lot. I don't remember exactly, but AB works incredibly hard.

 

[jibsey]

I couldn't disagree more. This season is a lost cause. About 10 games ago Brimah should have been glued to the bench the entire game so we could get Enoch 30 min of burn per night.

Also to your point about the games we won because of him.... I think the bigger question is how many games were lost "because of him." I would venture to guess that he contributed to far more losses than victories this season. In a season where we desperately needed him to step up. I'll just look at the non blowout losses. Houston 24 min 3 fouls 4 points 8 rebounds. Georgetown 6 min 5 fouls 3 points 3 rebounds. Auburn 27 min 3 fouls 6 points 2 rebounds. Ohio St 18 min 5 fouls 8 points 6 rebounds. Tulsa 37 min 3 fouls 8 points 9 rebounds. Oregon 26 min 3 fouls 11 points 5 rebounds. Oklahoma St 22 min 4 fouls 4 points 6 rebounds. North Eastern 26 min 3 fouls 5 points 7 rebounds. Wagner 26 min 4 fouls 4 points 5 rebounds. In looking over the box scores of all of these games if Brimah has a decent game and is grabbing boards like he did against Memphis we have a shot, but that has been an outlier this year, not the norm. If he has his usual game of 25 min 4 fouls 6 points and 5 rebounds we lose to any halfway decent team. Several things pop out here that everyone here already knows. He's a fouls machine that can't stay on the court, can't grab rebounds and can't score??? Outside of an occasional highlight reel block, I'd much rather see Enoch in there the entire game at this point.

Thanks for supplying the stats and it's amazing but it's our big games where it always seems he plays the worst. Just when you want to see him banned to the bench he will come up with a good game. I agree with many on this board that his hands have been such a huge factor both rebounding and offense. No cure for that.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Your post is the perfect example of what I've been talking about.

Ranting about how many fouls he picked up which removed him from games where he could have made a difference, and at the same time, saying that he doesn't make a difference. Great stuff. So which is it? Is he worthless? Or is he not on the court enough because of foul trouble?

You can't have it both ways. If he sucks, why would you care that he's on the court less?? Yeah, I know...

This is a fair criticism of his argument. Here's my attempt to cut through the apparent contradiction.

1) Brimah is not a great player, and we should be getting more out of the center position. Relative to an "average" center, he is a net liability and very frustrating.
2) That said, because of poor frontcourt recruiting and development, despite these weaknesses, he's still occasionally the best option we have, and his propensity for foul trouble does hurt the team.

Some of this is an indictment of Brimah himself, some of it is on the coaching staff.

 

[yukonyc212]

This is a fair criticism of his argument. Here's my attempt to cut through the apparent contradiction.

1) Brimah is not a great player, and we should be getting more out of the center position. Relative to an "average" center, he is a net liability and very frustrating.
2) That said, because of poor frontcourt recruiting and development, despite these weaknesses, he's still occasionally the best option we have, and his propensity for foul trouble does hurt the team.

Some of this is an indictment of Brimah himself, some of it is on the coaching staff.

At this point, with the season lost... wouldn't it be better to get the freshman more PT than another night of 6 points 5 boards 4 fouls?? I know everyone here is optimistic about the AAC tournament, but we just aren't winning 3 - 4 games in a row against SMU / Cincy / Houston home or not.

 

[HooperScooper]

Yes, I've been to practice this was two years ago, but AB was took drop step layups, hundreds of them. Also the coaches worked with tennis balls a lot. I don't remember exactly, but AB works incredibly hard.

Thanks. It's good to know he's put in the work. If someone puts in the work and doesn't see full results you can't fault them at all.

Using tennis balls is probably a hand/eye coordination drill.