Brimah's defense

[James]

Sorry James, he's not a "great" defensive player he's a great shot blocker. He's a decent overall defender I guess considering how young he is to the game but he certainly makes the same rotation mistakes night in-night out. Hopefully he will love up to your billing at some point and move his feet better when people are driving by him, but for now while I'm happy he's ours, there's a lot of work to do for him as well as Facey if our program is to get back where it expects to be.

Mau maybe you did some ayahuasca earlier in the day, but brimah is one of the best defensive centers in college hoops and will be a lottery picked in 2016 based on that. these are facts. look at his defensive rating ( which isn't just BLOCKING SHOTS) . your falling into the group of posters here who have no freaking clue how good he is. he's better than a ton of centers we've had here ALREADY. have you seen his jump in production this season on BOTH ENDS? please don't give any gruff to the kid, he's a captain and does most things exceptionally well. but thats your opinion fine, consider him a project who isn't a main cog in the success of the team. thats cool too.

 

[James]

I hate to say this James. But he barks more orders from the sidelines. Great defensive players know how to stay on the floor. Great defensive players know when to go or stay home. Great shot blockers are Brimah.

go watch more basketball

 

[James]

second on our team in win shares. but apparently he is so raw and a novice to the game. open your eyes idiots . trajectory is what you need to look at , check his trajectory from year 1 to YEAR 2. enough. he's our best defensive player by far.

 

[jibsey]

If he's going to the NBA as more than a benchwarmer, he needs to rebound and post up. He has time to develop his body and skills but I don't know if he's capable of getting the kind of strength and muscle he needs to make this happen. Next year I'm hopeful.

 

[James]

i'm irate dudes are on here talking about brimah like he is freaking mandeldove. he is one of the best center prospects in the world for 2016. our issues in winning games have minimal to do with him

 

[Jluc]

i'm irate dudes are on here talking about brimah like he is freaking mandeldove. he is one of the best center prospects in the world for 2016. our issues in winning games have minimal to do with him

Nobody is saying anything like that. I believe what most of the posters here are trying to say is that Brimah is a great shot blocker but not a great defender which I absolutely agree with. He's a solid defender with a chance to be great with an added 20-30 pounds of muscle. Nobody on here thinks he is Mandeldove, but at the same time nobody else thinks he's Bill Russel like you do.

 

[David 76]

AB is still learning and a bit green, but to call his play "unacceptable" is wrong. Do people realize how many good programs would be happy to "accept" him? Same with KO.

 

[husky91]

I don't follow. He's very far away. How can people go crazy after a game like Tulane, a team with RPI over 170. Who cares. He was terrible against Duke and Stanford.

He has some promise with a solid offseason and gaining weight. Same with Facey, but right now that's a lousy starting 4-5 stats wise and what doesn't show up is how bad their combined defense is when you add goal tends, out of position leading to off rebounds, scores, etc.

Facey would never see the floor for any other top 25 program, the fact he starts at Uconn is depressing coming off a NC. Thanks Warde!

AB is still learning and a bit green, but to call his play "unacceptable" is wrong. Do people realize how many good programs would be happy to "accept" him? Same with KO.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

James stop going nuts and putting words in people's mouths.

Nobody has said any of the nonsense you've have posted.

 

[mauconnfan]

i'm irate dudes are on here talking about brimah like he is freaking mandeldove. he is one of the best center prospects in the world for 2016. our issues in winning games have minimal to do with him

He's not Mandeldove james, but he's not Emeka either nor close. Defense entails these requirements: shot blocking, moving your feet to guard, positioning, hedging, helping and recovering, denying, occasionally fronting and of course rebounding. Would you please explain to me which one's he's been really really good at?

You're using terms like "exceptionally well" and "lottery pick 2016" then he needs to be a lot better at most of the above mentioned skills. How many of the those skills does he do "exceptionally well"? I know you know your stuff and respect that but the blinders need to come off. I love the kid and yeah, you're right he's improved. But not enough to be in the discussion with Emeka, Hasheem and so many others. Let's watch him get better before we proclaim him UConns next superstar. Superstars do it all mostly every game and between him and Facey, they have a long way to go for that status. Sorry it's the truth.

 

[StingLykOllie]

Brimah's BLK/PF ratio is a 1.00, and it's only breaking even because of his ridiculous 8 blocks against Tulane (still had 4 fouls). Upshaw from UW has a 2.18 ratio and Nichols from Memphis has a 1.79 ratio. It's great he can alter so many shots and deter would be drivers from the lane, but for every shot he blocks, he literally gets a foul.

 

[CTBasketball]

Brimah is a terrible rebounder, an average shot blocker, and in general a bad defender. People try to candy-coat his defensive skills with an 8-block game vs. Tulane. Brimah can't block anything other than weakside help blocks and trailing defenders with his right hand. He has a very hard time reacting to one-on-one post defense and blocking the shot. Most of this is inexperience, but still hurts him.

Look at all his games vs. good frontcourts: ie Stanford, Duke, Texas. All games he got exposed by smarter players. He needs to stay on the floor more to have a larger impact.

 

[Matt1010]

Brimah is a terrible rebounder, an average shot blocker, and in general a bad defender. People try to candy-coat his defensive skills with an 8-block game vs. Tulane. Brimah can't block anything other than weakside help blocks and trailing defenders with his right hand. He has a very hard time reacting to one-on-one post defense and blocking the shot. Most of this is inexperience, but still hurts him.

Look at all his games vs. good frontcourts: ie Stanford, Duke, Texas. All games he got exposed by smarter players. He needs to stay on the floor more to have a larger impact.

Everything you just said seems to be a bit extreme IMO. Brimah is a mediocre rebounder, a good shot blocker, and in general an average defender. He is averaging 5 boards and 3 blocks (also top 10 in the country) in 26 minutes a game so calling him an average shot blocker just doesn't add up. He has a TON of work to do, specifically revolving around bulking up which will help him gain strength/avoid fouls. Besides that, he needs to improve his basketball IQ and recognize ways in which he can use his height and length to his advantage.

It's important to realize that this kid was a relatively unknown 3 star recruit who has not played a ton of basketball. I look forward to seeing him improve over the next two years.

 

[CTBasketball]

Everything you just said seems to be a bit extreme IMO. Brimah is a mediocre rebounder, a good shot blocker, and in general an average defender. He is averaging 5 boards and 3 blocks (also top 10 in the country) in 26 minutes a game so calling him an average shot blocker just doesn't add up. He has a TON of work to do, specifically revolving around bulking up which will help him gain strength/avoid fouls. Besides that, he needs to improve his basketball IQ and recognize ways in which he can use his height and length to his advantage.

It's important to realize that this kid was a relatively unknown 3 star recruit who has not played a ton of basketball. I look forward to seeing him improve over the next two years.

Possibly, but I don't think so. We've played garbage teams all year and he's put up those numbers. If we were in the ACC or Big10 he'd have those cut down by a great amount. I think it is extreme to overreact over one game vs. 13-10 Tulane. I've seen enough of Brimah to know he hasn't improved much in his 1.5 years here and that he fouls all the time, most of them stupid fouls.

 

[Matt1010]

Possibly, but I don't think so. We've played garbage teams all year and he's put up those numbers. If we were in the ACC or Big10 he'd have those cut down by a great amount. I think it is extreme to overreact over one game vs. 13-10 Tulane. I've seen enough of Brimah to know he hasn't improved much in his 1.5 years here and that he fouls all the time, most of them stupid fouls.

He certainly does foul all the time, no question about that. But even in that scope he is averaging the same amount of PF a game in 26 minutes this year as he did in 16 minutes last year. I think that people's expectations of AB are a bit unrealistic. It is very unlikely he is ever a stud big man but he is the best we have right now and does have a lot of potential.

 

[Gurleyman]

Brimah is a terrible rebounder, an average shot blocker, and in general a bad defender. People try to candy-coat his defensive skills with an 8-block game vs. Tulane. Brimah can't block anything other than weakside help blocks and trailing defenders with his right hand. He has a very hard time reacting to one-on-one post defense and blocking the shot. Most of this is inexperience, but still hurts him. Look at all his games vs. good frontcourts: ie Stanford, Duke, Texas. All games he got exposed by smarter players. He needs to stay on the floor more to have a larger impact.

Only if you consider foul trouble being exposed. Okafor didn't score on him, he neutralized the Texas front court, and against Stanford he played eight minutes. He was probably our MVP against Florida just based on his defense in the second half (although Purvis hit some big threes, so you'd probably go "co"). He's been a difference maker for a lot of games.

He's definitely not on a level of Emeka, and you can fill a chalkboard with areas he can still improve, but he's a big step up from what we would have had here if we didn't sign him.

 

[Danzz]

Only if you consider foul trouble being exposed. Okafor didn't score on him, he neutralized the Texas front court, and against Stanford he played eight minutes. He was probably our MVP against Florida just based on his defense in the second half (although Purvis hit some big threes, so you'd probably go "co"). He's been a difference maker for a lot of games.

He's definitely not on a level of Emeka, and you can fill a chalkboard with areas he can still improve, but he's a big step up from what we would have had here if we didn't sign him.

Nobody has said that we shouldn't have signed him or that he is a poor player. The reality is he needs to rebound more and go for the block less. He leaves his man to help, goes for the block and his man is getting way too many uncontested offensive rebounds that lead to easy points for the competition. Some of this is as the result of poor D by his teammates and some of it is just his lack of experience.
His surgery precluded him from attending big man camps last off season which probably would have helped a great deal. Brimah has the heart, skills and desire to improve and we will see a much more refined player next season. His game and instincts just need some work.

 

[husky91]

I agree, we give him a pass rightfully because of the great play against St Joe's. Outside of that if you want to be honest, at best he's an average defender and overall he's a terrible offensive player if you don't include alley oops against 6-7 defenders.

Possibly, but I don't think so. We've played garbage teams all year and he's put up those numbers. If we were in the ACC or Big10 he'd have those cut down by a great amount. I think it is extreme to overreact over one game vs. 13-10 Tulane. I've seen enough of Brimah to know he hasn't improved much in his 1.5 years here and that he fouls all the time, most of them stupid fouls.

 

[Rico444]

Brimah is a terrible rebounder, an average shot blocker, and in general a bad defender. People try to candy-coat his defensive skills with an 8-block game vs. Tulane. Brimah can't block anything other than weakside help blocks and trailing defenders with his right hand. He has a very hard time reacting to one-on-one post defense and blocking the shot. Most of this is inexperience, but still hurts him.

Look at all his games vs. good frontcourts: ie Stanford, Duke, Texas. All games he got exposed by smarter players. He needs to stay on the floor more to have a larger impact.

Show me how many players in the history of college basketball have had 8 blocks in 15 minutes of a game. Amida's got his flaws, but saying he's an average shot blocker is just purposefully distorting the facts.

 

[Rico444]

BTW, I love when people take the best part of a guy's game away and say he's not very good without it. Yeah, just take away Amida's alleyoops and blocks and he stinks. Just like if you take away Mariano Rivera's cutter, he was an average at best pitcher.

 

[husky91]

He doesn't get alley oops, rebounds or blocks against good front courts is the point. If we could just play teams with RPIs greater than 150 Brimah could be a consistent force.

BTW, I love when people take the best part of a guy's game away and say he's not very good without it. Yeah, just take away Amida's alleyoops and blocks and he stinks. Just like if you take away Mariano Rivera's cutter, he was an average at best pitcher.

 

[Pudge]

We are cursed. This cuts both ways for Brimah and Facey.

They are inexperienced. And while you can praise his incredible timing and block shots, Brimah simply does not play the postion all that well ... YET. Both Brimah and Facey allow interior position often. Both lack the peripheral vision and awareness to understand the flow of their teammates losing cutters. This is far from Okafor who played with intelligence and then got smarter on the court through coaching and experience. I think both Brimah and Facey are here another couple years; AB isn't going to the NBA anytime soon.

Another dividing line on this Boneyard. I will say this - RE upstater - I saw two fouls against Tulane that were totally crazy. One time we had a guy who fell and the Big Tulane white center fell over him. Foul. Brimah gets turns into the lane - without hooking and without impacting the defender - called. I just think we aren't in Kansas anymore. No more BE refs with a mindset to let some physical play.

 

[mauconnfan]

We are cursed. This cuts both ways for Brimah and Facey.

They are inexperienced. And while you can praise his incredible timing and block shots, Brimah simply does not play the postion all that well ... YET. Both Brimah and Facey allow interior position often. Both lack the peripheral vision and awareness to understand the flow of their teammates losing cutters. This is far from Okafor who played with intelligence and then got smarter on the court through coaching and experience. I think both Brimah and Facey are here another couple years; AB isn't going to the NBA anytime soon.

Another dividing line on this Boneyard. I will say this - RE upstater - I saw two fouls against Tulane that were totally crazy. One time we had a guy who fell and the Big Tulane white center fell over him. Foul. Brimah gets turns into the lane - without hooking and without impacting the defender - called. I just think we aren't in Kansas anymore. No more BE refs with a mindset to let some physical play.

This, the kid does get the touch fouls way too often, makes you wonder what refs see, hear and think prior to stepping on the court.

 

[Gurleyman]

Nobody has said that we shouldn't have signed him or that he is a poor player. The reality is he needs to rebound more and go for the block less. He leaves his man to help, goes for the block and his man is getting way too many uncontested offensive rebounds that lead to easy points for the competition. Some of this is as the result of poor D by his teammates and some of it is just his lack of experience.
His surgery precluded him from attending big man camps last off season which probably would have helped a great deal. Brimah has the heart, skills and desire to improve and we will see a much more refined player next season. His game and instincts just need some work.

Well, that's always the issue with shot blockers. If you stay at home and don't contest and the other team scores on an easy short runner with nobody in the way, everyone wonders why the supposed shot blocker isn't protecting the basket. You leave to contest a shot you have no chance at, and don't even really alter, you leave a guy unguarded for a putback. It's a very nuanced line of when to stay and when to go that just takes a certain instinct that takes time to develop. Emeka was one of the best I've ever seen at it.

 

[Rico444]

Another dividing line on this Boneyard. I will say this - RE upstater - I saw two fouls against Tulane that were totally crazy. One time we had a guy who fell and the Big Tulane white center fell over him. Foul. Brimah gets turns into the lane - without hooking and without impacting the defender - called. I just think we aren't in Kansas anymore. No more BE refs with a mindset to let some physical play.

Not to mention the quality of refs we see now is substandard. I think I know the play you're talking about (bolded), Nolan was set up perfectly to take a charge and got run over, then while he was on the ground a defender tripped over him and Nolan got called for a foul when he didn't even do anything.