Brimah

[Stainmaster]

He scored 10 points and altered their offense. Other than that he totally sucked.

Even after a good win people line up to throw stones at AB. The excuse used to be that they had to because of those talking about AB being a first round pick. Now it's the freedom to criticise players. Over and over and over and over again. I can't wait until tomorrow's version.

People feel like to be good fans, they have to be hyper-critical. Someone posted last year that they needed to "stay vigilant".

 

[Gurleyman]

At 51-37, Brimah cuts off baseline and draws a charge.
At the other end, Purvis comes off an AB screen and both defenders overcommit to Brimah's roll (sensing a lob). Purvis gets a basically uncontested 15 footer (a flat-footed big put his hands up five feet away, but had no bearing on shot). 53-37.
Then OSU misses a 3, AB lays his body on his guy crashing the boards hard, neutralizing him, and Purvis gets the rebound
Back on the offensive end, Brimah sets a high screen for Gibbs and rolls hard to the basket - Omar is in the opposite corner and his man sinks all the way into the restricted area right under the basket to take away the lob. Gibbs reads it nicely and throws a cross court pass to Omar, who hits the open three. 56-37
Back at the other end, OSU looks like they will get a good look at a 3 in the corner, but AB flies out to contest. Announcers said he got a hand on the three, but ball hit rim and he doesn't get credit for a block, so announcers might have been seeing things. But he forced a rushed shot.
OSU keeps the ball on a rebound after a held ball - after deterring a couple dribble drives, AB ends the possession with a block, UConn ball.
After a media TO, Adams gets an and one with AB sitting. 59-37.
Miller fouls, Brimah comes back in
At 59-41, AB hands off to Gibbs on the perimeter and rolls. Gibbs beats his man and AB's man stays at home, keeping a body on him the whole way to deny the lob. Gibbs gets a red carpet to the rim for a layup line level shot. 61-41
On defense, AB gets a defensive rebound, draws foul, makes 1 of 2.
Next possession, AB gets a friendly roll for 2
At other end , he boxes out effectively on weak side and taps the rebound to Miller. Miller gets credit for it.
Back on offense, AB comes up to set another high screen, Purvis rejects the screen and goes opposite, AB's man stays on him, instead of sagging, Purvis uses that open lane to whip a pass to Miller for a dunk (a pass AB doesn't catch).

Next possession, AB fumbles a pass from Omar out on bounds. Boneyard screams that he's useless out there and we need Facey since we are playing 4 on 5. Stats show in that 6-minute stretch when we put it away, AB had 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 block.

 

[mauconnfan]

What can I say, he's so much better than I thought. Hey he's on the team I like too, I just can't find the gold at the end of the rainbow you guys are dreaming about. Good for you, hope he continues to be that impact guy all of you believe because I want us to win another NC. He's ok, just wished he was as good as you guys think, we'd be in nice shape already. I can't answer the Gurley post (it s a good one) with one that would describe the other end of the spectrum because after all we all see what we want to. They are all our Huskies so I will let it be. Obviously you know I disagree, but who cares - just win!

 

[mauconnfan]

People feel like to be good fans, they have to be hyper-critical. Someone posted last year that they needed to "stay vigilant".

It's funny there's a difference between "hyper critical" and what Fishy posted on this thoughts. It's the truth, some see it some don't. If the guy deserves criticism after 2 1/2 years it's not hyper, it's on him. I know we hate to compare but Thabeet was still getting some criticism in his 3rd year not half as much probably, and he was 3X the impact. People like to critique the "big guys" after all they are in the middle of the action right. Well, sometimes. This is a basketball discussion board and everyone has an opinion.

 

[baldinghusky]

Kinda seems like it depends on what you thought AB is. If you are looking at him as a future NBA player (and it's hard to blame anyone for thinking of him that way with his physical gifts), then his current deficiencies are glaring and frustrating.

If you are looking at him as what he curently is -- a role player with nice shot blocking, limited offense, and who, when not shot-blocking, helps the team by being a legitimate threat to score from the lobs or by boxing up bigs on rebounds, he's not great, but he's serviceable, and we as a team are better with him in there than without.

 

[Palatine]

Kinda seems like it depends on what you thought AB is. If you are looking at him as a future NBA player (and it's hard to blame anyone for thinking of him that way with his physical gifts), then his current deficiencies are glaring and frustrating.

If you are looking at him as what he curently is -- a role player with nice shot blocking, limited offense, and who, when not shot-blocking, helps the team by being a legitimate threat to score from the lobs or by boxing up bigs on rebounds, he's not great, but he's serviceable, and we as a team are better with him in there than without.

Brimah is not a role player. He is the conference's defensive player of the year.

He changes the game when he is on the floor. He erases defensive mistakes by the entire team. For every shot he blocks, he changes numerous others and discourages players from driving the lane. The offense is aware of his presence. If he was on the opponent team, the Boneyard would gush about what a problem he caused our offense. Judge him by hat he does not what he doesn't do.

The Boneyard would rag on Maury Wills for not hitting home runs.

 

[mauconnfan]

Kinda seems like it depends on what you thought AB is. If you are looking at him as a future NBA player (and it's hard to blame anyone for thinking of him that way with his physical gifts), then his current deficiencies are glaring and frustrating.

If you are looking at him as what he curently is -- a role player with nice shot blocking, limited offense, and who, when not shot-blocking, helps the team by being a legitimate threat to score from the lobs or by boxing up bigs on rebounds, he's not great, but he's serviceable, and we as a team are better with him in there than without.

This is a fair proposal, one of the best, I accept!

 

[baldinghusky]

Brimah is not a role player. He is the conference's defensive player of the year.

He changes the game when he is on the floor. He erases defensive mistakes by the entire team. For every shot he blocks, he changes numerous others and discourages players from driving the lane. The offense is aware of his presence. If he was on the opponent team, the Boneyard would gush about what a problem he caused our offense. Judge him by hat he does not what he doesn't do.

The Boneyard would rag on Maury Wills for not hitting home runs.

Yes, calling him a nice shot blocker is a bit of an understatement. That doesn't change the substance of my post: those expecting the future NBA Emeka Okafor type player have what are, right now, expectations that don't match the current player.

 

[David 76]

What can I say, he's so much better than I thought. Hey he's on the team I like too, I just can't find the gold at the end of the rainbow you guys are dreaming about. Good for you, hope he continues to be that impact guy all of you believe because I want us to win another NC. He's ok, just wished he was as good as you guys think, we'd be in nice shape already. I can't answer the Gurley post (it s a good one) with one that would describe the other end of the spectrum because after all we all see what we want to. They are all our Huskies so I will let it be. Obviously you know I disagree, but who cares - just win!

No rainbow here. He is not a big impact player except for his rim protection. There was nothing objectionable about Fishy's post either. Except that all the pile-on-ers felt they had permission to restate every negative thing they said in every other thread.
Look at it this way. Brimah is not the worst player ever on the team. He has value within his limitations. People don't do this to Nolan who hasn't improved in 3 1/2 years and is less effective. You could add Cassel, Facey and, except for yesterday, Omar to that list People do not rag them nearly the way they get on AB.In fact, people are very protective of Nolan and OC wnen someone takes a shot at them (as they should).

Why is that? Why does the third or fourth or fifth least effective player on the team draw 90% of the "feedback"(which is primarily insults outside of you and Fishy)?
It is not what happens with any player on this team and reminds me of what Taliek went through. Taliek was finally exonerated with a NC. That hasn't helped AB

I think it is because he is lacking in some fundamentals, which makes people crazier. Also, there is a desire to blame someone when things are going bad. AB and Gibbs have been the dogs UConn fans are kicking. Maybe people expected more progress quicker and are frustrated (yes, he has made progress). Whatever the reason, people passionately jump on AB. And it's a little weird.

BTW, I don't think he is going to the NBA, or deserved the DPOY award. I don't think he is among the elite college centers. I also think he is not among the worst D1 centers and that he is certainly better than PN and Facey or Enoch (at this stage in his career. He is a Husky who is passionate and works his butt off. So I'm 100% behind him.

 

[Jaker]

for a soccer player, he is not half bad

 

[champs99and04]

Yes, calling him a nice shot blocker is a bit of an understatement. That doesn't change the substance of my post: those expecting the future NBA Emeka Okafor type player have what are, right now, expectations that don't match the current player.

Of course not, but Brimah is the only guy on the team who seems to be graded on that scale. We could go through every other player on the roster and submit equally valid reasons for why, at this current juncture, they are not NBA players.

And look, I don't have a problem with the Brimah criticism. That's what this board is for, and even as one of Brimah's biggest supporters, I could probably write a lot of words on some of the things he doesn't do so well. How many people on this board would have signed up for Skal Labissiere this season? Well, Brimah's a better player than him, and he's arguably better than Stone as well.

If you look through college basketball, there just aren't a lot of big men who do everything well. Our roster personifies this as well as any other - Facey is a terrific rebounder and a surprisingly polished scorer from under the basket, Enoch is a physical specimen who could be a star in time, and Brimah is a transformative shot blocker who adds a ton of subliminal value as a rim-runner and has worked hard to improve as a rebounder. If we could combine the three of them, we'd have a fully realized Joel Embiid. But we don't and nobody else really does, either, so at that point it becomes about leveraging what each individual player can do within the systems on both ends of the floor...and I still have a lot of confidence that Ollie will have that figured out by March.

 

[champs99and04]

At 51-37, Brimah cuts off baseline and draws a charge.
At the other end, Purvis comes off an AB screen and both defenders overcommit to Brimah's roll (sensing a lob). Purvis gets a basically uncontested 15 footer (a flat-footed big put his hands up five feet away, but had no bearing on shot). 53-37.
Then OSU misses a 3, AB lays his body on his guy crashing the boards hard, neutralizing him, and Purvis gets the rebound
Back on the offensive end, Brimah sets a high screen for Gibbs and rolls hard to the basket - Omar is in the opposite corner and his man sinks all the way into the restricted area right under the basket to take away the lob. Gibbs reads it nicely and throws a cross court pass to Omar, who hits the open three. 56-37
Back at the other end, OSU looks like they will get a good look at a 3 in the corner, but AB flies out to contest. Announcers said he got a hand on the three, but ball hit rim and he doesn't get credit for a block, so announcers might have been seeing things. But he forced a rushed shot.
OSU keeps the ball on a rebound after a held ball - after deterring a couple dribble drives, AB ends the possession with a block, UConn ball.
After a media TO, Adams gets an and one with AB sitting. 59-37.
Miller fouls, Brimah comes back in
At 59-41, AB hands off to Gibbs on the perimeter and rolls. Gibbs beats his man and AB's man stays at home, keeping a body on him the whole way to deny the lob. Gibbs gets a red carpet to the rim for a layup line level shot. 61-41
On defense, AB gets a defensive rebound, draws foul, makes 1 of 2.
Next possession, AB gets a friendly roll for 2
At other end , he boxes out effectively on weak side and taps the rebound to Miller. Miller gets credit for it.
Back on offense, AB comes up to set another high screen, Purvis rejects the screen and goes opposite, AB's man stays on him, instead of sagging, Purvis uses that open lane to whip a pass to Miller for a dunk (a pass AB doesn't catch).

Next possession, AB fumbles a pass from Omar out on bounds. Boneyard screams that he's useless out there and we need Facey since we are playing 4 on 5. Stats show in that 6-minute stretch when we put it away, AB had 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 block.

Thank you for this post. The idea that we play 4 0n 5 offensively with Brimah on the court is one of the great myths we have going here on the Boneyard.

 

[intlzncster]

What can I say, he's so much better than I thought. Hey he's on the team I like too, I just can't find the gold at the end of the rainbow you guys are dreaming about. Good for you, hope he continues to be that impact guy all of you believe because I want us to win another NC. He's ok, just wished he was as good as you guys think, we'd be in nice shape already. I can't answer the Gurley post (it s a good one) with one that would describe the other end of the spectrum because after all we all see what we want to. They are all our Huskies so I will let it be. Obviously you know I disagree, but who cares - just win!

We know you don't like his game, but our chances of winning the NC without Brimah are slim at best.

 

[baldinghusky]

Of course not, but Brimah is the only guy on the team who seems to be graded on that scale. We could go through every other player on the roster and submit equally valid reasons for why, at this current juncture, they are not NBA players.

I don't mean to imply that everyone possible future NBA player gets the same treatment that Brimah gets here. Quite the opposite (which I did not express very well): expectations for his current performance are much higher than where he is. Most of the other future-NBAers are performing fairly well (though I suspect DHam's status will plummet if he doesn't start to take over some games).

 

[Matrim55]

At 51-37, Brimah cuts off baseline and draws a charge.
At the other end, Purvis comes off an AB screen and both defenders overcommit to Brimah's roll (sensing a lob). Purvis gets a basically uncontested 15 footer (a flat-footed big put his hands up five feet away, but had no bearing on shot). 53-37.
Then OSU misses a 3, AB lays his body on his guy crashing the boards hard, neutralizing him, and Purvis gets the rebound
Back on the offensive end, Brimah sets a high screen for Gibbs and rolls hard to the basket - Omar is in the opposite corner and his man sinks all the way into the restricted area right under the basket to take away the lob. Gibbs reads it nicely and throws a cross court pass to Omar, who hits the open three. 56-37
Back at the other end, OSU looks like they will get a good look at a 3 in the corner, but AB flies out to contest. Announcers said he got a hand on the three, but ball hit rim and he doesn't get credit for a block, so announcers might have been seeing things. But he forced a rushed shot.
OSU keeps the ball on a rebound after a held ball - after deterring a couple dribble drives, AB ends the possession with a block, UConn ball.
After a media TO, Adams gets an and one with AB sitting. 59-37.
Miller fouls, Brimah comes back in
At 59-41, AB hands off to Gibbs on the perimeter and rolls. Gibbs beats his man and AB's man stays at home, keeping a body on him the whole way to deny the lob. Gibbs gets a red carpet to the rim for a layup line level shot. 61-41
On defense, AB gets a defensive rebound, draws foul, makes 1 of 2.
Next possession, AB gets a friendly roll for 2
At other end , he boxes out effectively on weak side and taps the rebound to Miller. Miller gets credit for it.
Back on offense, AB comes up to set another high screen, Purvis rejects the screen and goes opposite, AB's man stays on him, instead of sagging, Purvis uses that open lane to whip a pass to Miller for a dunk (a pass AB doesn't catch).

Next possession, AB fumbles a pass from Omar out on bounds. Boneyard screams that he's useless out there and we need Facey since we are playing 4 on 5. Stats show in that 6-minute stretch when we put it away, AB had 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 block.

This is an exceptional post.

 

[intlzncster]

This is an exceptional post.

Seconded. I, for one, would be completely unwilling to put in this kind of effort. I'm glad someone (@Gurleyman ) is.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Missed game today, how was he? Was he pushed around? Better rebounding?

AB is who he is and appears to have peaked as a player. I see no reason to believe he`ll be any more than a shot blocker who doesnt score much and isnt much of a rebounder. I think we can let go of the fantasy of him turning into Hasheem or Ok4.

 

[intlzncster]

AB is who he is and appears to have peaked as a player. I see no reason to believe he`ll be any more than a shot blocker who doesnt score much and isnt much of a rebounder. I think we can let go of the fantasy of him turning into Hasheem or Ok4.

If he's peaked as a player, why do his statistics show a measured improvement over the last 3 years? He just doesn't have as high a ceilings as everyone on here wants.

 

[CTBasketball]

@Gurleyman I agree that is a great point - he does the dirty things that make the team better. But he also goes thru stretches where he is lost and needs a map. And these kill the team. People realize Brimah's intangibles, but his lack of awareness sometimes cripples this team.

 

[BUConn10]

I think Thabeet has left the league pretty jaded on UConn shot-blocking bigs.

It hurt Drummond's stock as well in my opinion.

 

[intlzncster]

It hurt Drummond's stock as well in my opinion.

Not so sure, I think it was more his relative 'lack of production' at UCONN. He came in as one of the top 2 prospects, so people expected 20/10/4 without much trouble.

 

[Tenspro2002]

@Gurleyman I agree that is a great point - he does the dirty things that make the team better. But he also goes thru stretches where he is lost and needs a map. And these kill the team. People realize Brimah's intangibles, but his lack of awareness sometimes cripples this team.

That's the thing. When someone doesn't make a play because of a physical limitation, it's disappointing, but you can live with it. When Brimah fails to anticipate a pass and lets a potential dunk slip through his hands, or mistimes a jump and lets an opponent get an easy putback, or goaltends a ball that had no chance of going in, those aren't just a loss of points, they're utterly deflating.

The mental errors kill a team's morale a lot more than the physical ones.

 

[intlzncster]

That's the thing. When someone doesn't make a play because of a physical limitation, it's disappointing, but you can live with it. When Brimah fails to anticipate a pass and lets a potential dunk slip through his hands, or mistimes a jump and lets an opponent get an easy putback, or goaltends a ball that had no chance of going in, those aren't just a loss of points, they're utterly deflating.

The mental errors kill a team's morale a lot more than the physical ones.

He's got hockey sticks for hands. What are you gonna do? Some Jerry Rice stickum maybe.

 

[BUConn10]

Not so sure, I think it was more his relative 'lack of production' at UCONN. He came in as one of the top 2 prospects, so people expected 20/10/4 without much trouble.

Embiid's production was quite literally the same, and had a major back injury going into draft. We have had this debate a few times on the Yard so I'm not gonna get it going again, let's just be glad Drummond is literally making the NBA's bigs, and more importantly the GMs who passed on him for bs reason, his figurative and literal "bit**".

 

[Stainmaster]

Embiid's production was quite literally the same, and had a major back injury going into draft. We have had this debate a few times on the Yard so I'm not gonna get it going again, let's just be glad Drummond is literally making the NBA's bigs, and more importantly the GMs who passed on him for bs reason, his figurative and literal "bit**".

Embiid may have had identical numbers, but his production relative to expectations was greater. Who thought that he was going to put those numbers up his freshman year?

 

[David 76]

I don't mean to imply that everyone possible future NBA player gets the same treatment that Brimah gets here. Quite the opposite (which I did not express very well): expectations for his current performance are much higher than where he is. Most of the other future-NBAers are performing fairly well (though I suspect DHam's status will plummet if he doesn't start to take over some games).

He was not/is not one of our NBA prospects. He is a total surprise. After his freshman year, some of us began to project to much into his development. That is what makes the attacks hard to understand. It would be like people getting all over Lubin.

 

[3rdbass]

This is a funny thread. I'm one of AB's biggest critics and I thought he actually had a decent game. I mean he did post down low and even scored once. He held his position pretty well even though he didn't get many rebounds. He played great D. He is what he is. These guys thinking he is going to dominate are just setting their selves up for a letdown. I personally would rather see SE getting more minutes but this was decent game for AB and definitely not one to call him out on.

 

[David 76]

That's the thing. When someone doesn't make a play because of a physical limitation, it's disappointing, but you can live with it. When Brimah fails to anticipate a pass and lets a potential dunk slip through his hands, or mistimes a jump and lets an opponent get an easy putback, or goaltends a ball that had no chance of going in, those aren't just a loss of points, they're utterly deflating.

The mental errors kill a team's morale a lot more than the physical ones.

I think AB is physically limited by his lack of instinct. It is definitely not lack of effort.

 

[Chief00]

Ridiculous. AB is one of the better free throw shooters on the team this year. Whatever technique he is using keep it up

Agree the coaches time would be better spent working with Purvis, who is under 50% from the line. Nevertheless, that's why I pointed it out - his mechanics have changed - and you usually don't mess with FT shooting unless you need to. So kind of strange.

 

[BUConn10]

Embiid may have had identical numbers, but his production relative to expectations was greater. Who thought that he was going to put those numbers up his freshman year?

I don't see what expectations have to do with it, both were highly recruited players at big programs. You either perform or you don't.