Brimah

[Hurleyman216]

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse, but Brimah needs to be our starting center and get as many minutes as possible. TO as proven for 4 years that he doesn't have what it takes to play the 5 at this level, nothing is going to change now. Brimah does have to work on his footwork and going up strong with the ball, but the guy is oozing potential. I hope KO can stomach sticking him out there for 25-30 minutes a game. If he fouls out, so be it. We are going to have a few more hiccups with such a raw center in there but we'll be a better team for it come March.

 

[Greathusky]

I know this topic has been beaten like a dead horse, but Brimah needs to be our starting center and get as many minutes as possible. TO as proven for 4 years that he doesn't have what it takes to play the 5 at this level, nothing is going to change now. Brimah does have to work on his footwork and going up strong with the ball, but the guy is oozing potential. I hope KO can stomach sticking him out there for 25-30 minutes a game. If he fouls out, so be it. We are going to have a few more hiccups with such a raw center in there but we'll be a better team for it come March.

I would have Kevin throw 500 balls at him from the top of the key. If he drops one, he does laps outside around Gampel.

 

[joober jones]

Brimah is a great shot blocker, one of the best I've ever seen. Aside from that he's a liability at this point.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

He was the worst player on the floor today. He had the ball passed to him 78 times and caught 0 passes. He had 59 rebounds hit his hands and then bounce into the hands of an SMU player. Another 48 times he went for the block and was out of position for the rebound leaving the SMU player in perfect position to get the offensive rebound and lay it in. But, other than those concerns, you're right.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I honestly don't want to see Olander anymore. He does NOTHING. He doesn't rebound, he can't score, he gets abused by defenders, he's just out there. I shook my head anytime they took out Brimah for him. Brimah at least denies anything at the rim and plays hard. I'd rather keep him out there and develop. Phil needs to get over his flu because he is has good position on defense and is a big body that can at least adequately finish when inside and some of his post moves look good they just have to fall. I just don't want to see much of Tyler anymore.

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

OK its becoming clear that we are really really scewed at the 5 position. The next guy riding the bench is just as bad as the guy getting playing time. I know you all have been saying that a while, but it's finally crystal clear to me.

 

[joober jones]

Olander doesn't stuff the stat sheets but he has the best ability out of any of our bigs to keep guys out of the lane. But yeah, I want PN healthy and back in game shape as soon as possible.

 

[Deleted at users request]

This season is a lost cause on the big man front. I'm excited to see the development of Nolan and Brimah over the years though in becoming an NBA sized 4/5 combo that we are used to seeing in the past. If Phil develops a little post game next year and Brimah learns to rebound, catch, and finish then we can really be in for a title run next year with how the roster seems to be shaping up. Have to imagine we're getting Deandre and Boatright back at this point.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Brimah, costs us a ton of possessions on offense and let his man get multiple lay ups and rebounds. He really was unbearably bad today. I was a big advocate for having him play more minutes but he's just too much of a liability. A few blocked shots don't overcome his other weaknesses.

 

[David 76]

I was thinking the opposite. If they must put Brimah in for shot blocking then they must agree never, ever to allow him to be involved in offense. They picked him up as a project and not as a staring center. I was glad to see TO working his butt off in the last game and would really like to see him get his jump shot back. Nolan is the way to go but I hope TO finds his game. He is better than this.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Brimah, costs us a ton of possessions, lay ups and rebounds. He really was unbearably bad today. I was a big advocate for having him play more minutes but he's just too much of a liability. A few blocked shots don't overcome his other weaknesses.

He did but he still did more than Tyler who did nothing himself. Not 1 field goal and 1 rebound. I'd rather at least have somebody who can deny shots at the basket.

 

[CAHUSKY]

He did but he still did more than Tyler who did nothing himself. Not 1 field goal and 1 rebound. I'd rather at least have somebody who can deny shots at the basket.

That's our problem, both have serious shortcomings

 

[ZackB05]

I really think Nolan is our best option at this point. Brimah can only block shots and most of the time when he does someone else on the opposite team gets the rebound and an easy put back. Olander is just unathletic. I thought we would miss Wolf but never thought we would miss him this much.

 

[joober jones]

Even on the play where Brimah blocked 2 shots, SMU still retained a possession and hit from 3. We'd have been better off if he hadn't blocked anything. I'm not saying he shouldn't have blocked the shots, but a block doesn't do a whole hell of a lot if the offensive team maintains possession of the ball.

 

[Strummer]

I would have Kevin throw 500 balls at him from the top of the key. If he drops one, he does laps outside around Gampel.

How would doing laps outside around Gampel help him catch balls? It's not a motivation or concentration thing, it's simply the # of hours he's played ball, which isn't many.

 

[huskyharry]

The points about Brimah's blocks not making a difference and his need to continue to work on his game are valid but many of the other comments are hyperbolically exaggerated. His hands are not got but neither are anyone else's other than Bazz and Boat. OC and DD both tipped a bunch of rebounds to SMU players that should have been caught. PN was also ineffective in this regard but gets a pass because of his illness.
I share concerns that we don't have an answer inside but as we saw in the Houston game going small with DD at the 5 is not an answer...frankly even though he is thin, he also lacks whatever it takes intrinsically to be a scrappy enough player to move up to the 5 (perhaps analgous to saying he is too soft) and as we have seen his handle is too weak to play the 3 on offense and he lacks the lateral quickness to cover most good college 3s.
Brimah could be a good five, if we had a Jeff Adrien type at the four to snatch rebounds and play position defense but we have no one else who can fill that role.
I don't know what the answer is to this problem.
I think Coach Ollie has tried to make this team a ball control, slower tempo on offense team, which is generally what is required for championship level basketball (pressing and fast breaking teams generally flame out when they meet a poised opponent with good ball handlers, even more so with the rules against hand checking). If we had even one effective interior player, things might be different but we may need to change tacks and start pressing and pushing for the fast break because we have multiple players who have the athleticism to press and can be good finishers on the break but are clearly highly challenged when attempting to score against a defense that is already set and our half court defense is now getting regularly exploited as opposing coaches have had enough time to fully scout us and plan their attack.

 

[mauconnfan]

Our problems are so much more than Brimah, Nolan or Tyler……Deandre is soft as a baby's a** and that's a HUGE issue considering his match ups. He doesn't box out during game time or during FT's (awful) and his offense going to the hole is no better. He's been the biggest pit fall mostly every game and the fact our 2/3 in Omar isn't half the player he was as a last year, this is also a monstrous problem.

 

[joober jones]

Our problems are so much more than Brimah, Nolan or Tyler……Deandre is soft as a baby's a* and that's a HUGE issue considering his match ups. He doesn't box out during game time or during FT's (awful) and his offense going to the hole is no better. He's been the biggest pit fall mostly every game and the fact our 2/3 in Omar isn't half the player he was as a last year, this is also a monstrous problem.

I think overall the team chemistry is poor as well. They don't look like they enjoy playing with each other and most of the time look they don't want to be out there on the court. It's too bad Shabazz doesn't have a Beverly-esque guy with him for the yin-yang kind of leadership he provided with Kemba Walker.

 

[huskyharry]

Our problems are so much more than Brimah, Nolan or Tyler……Deandre is soft as a baby's a* and that's a HUGE issue considering his match ups. He doesn't box out during game time or during FT's (awful) and his offense going to the hole is no better. He's been the biggest pit fall mostly every game and the fact our 2/3 in Omar isn't half the player he was as a last year, this is also a monstrous problem.

Very true...it is very tough to have an effective team when the players who,should be performing effectively at 3,4 and 5 are all out if the game mentally and physically. DD and OC are both playing soft and are mentally checking out by traveling, taking it to the hole very very weak etc.

 

[TerryA88]

Brimah has had 2 of his fingers taped on his right hand since the first Oboma administration....was a finger severed ?

 

[Hurleyman216]

Even on the play where Brimah blocked 2 shots, SMU still retained a possession and hit from 3. We'd have been better off if he hadn't blocked anything. I'm not saying he shouldn't have blocked the shots, but a block doesn't do a whole hell of a lot if the offensive team maintains possession of the ball.

Brimah blocking shot when the other team is up by 12 with 5 minutes to go doesn't have much impact, but he SHOULD be starting. Let him block a few in the beginning and get in their heads and rattle the opponent. Okafor was the man when it came to doing that. Can't even count how many layups the other teams missed with his presence in there. For those saying Brimah was the worst player on the floor today, I'm not sure what game you were watching. I saw Olander get blown by AT LEAST 5 times by his defender leading to 5 wide open dunks or layups. TO just does not have the athleticism to compete at this level. I agree that Nolan could be a good option, but with his current frame he gets pushed around too much.

 

[David 76]

I saw TO as the only one putting a body on their PF to slow him down. Brimah has the worst footwork I've ever seen.
Then there are all the offensive possessions Brimah ended

 

[dtrumpet]

this center situation is sad and I don't see it getting better during the season. Until Nolan is well, TO starts and plays more minutes. As bad as he is, if he got those passes that Brimah patty caked he probably finishes at least a couple. But any rotation thats used will be shifted with foul trouble anyway.

 

[ctchamps]

I think overall the team chemistry is poor as well. They don't look like they enjoy playing with each other and most of the time look they don't want to be out there on the court. It's too bad Shabazz doesn't have a Beverly-esque guy with him for the yin-yang kind of leadership he provided with Kemba Walker.

Rah rah's don't work when losing. Players start questioning themselves and others when the team starts performing badly, the same as fans in this forum. Winning and losing are infectious. Same with good play and bad play.

DD, PN and OC had decent seasons last year with DD and PN playing their best ball at the end of the season. So there was hope if they could further develop this team could be special. But that hasn't happened so far, and it won't be the first time players have a dip in development from a previous season. It happens all the time.

I feel bad for Ryan and Bazz whose play is at a level ahead of the rest of the team outside of Giffey. I can only imagine what numbers Bazz would have if he was playing on the Okafor - Gordon team.

Edit: LK is on par with Giffey and both are a couple of steps below the play of RB whose a couple of steps below Bazz.

 

[CTKIDD]

Sadly, I gotta agree with the op and agree that Brimah is the best option and go to war with him. His potential would outweigh what anyone else is doing and it might be time keep in mind there is no plug for the hole in the near future. You can teach a hook shot, boxing out, footwork ect but you can't teach his size. When he learns the other stuff he has the potential to be good. Even if Nolan or Facey got it, they are still a stretch 4 and we are in the same spot next year.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think this is a terrific idea, if games were 7 minutes long.

 

[Kitaman]

Brimah our best option? Hell some high school teams have better options. Sad state for a Div 1, elite team. Ollie really needs tissues.