Calhoun vs Oriakhi

[mauconnfan]

well, that makes me feel better. the writing is on the wall with tyler. first off, i would bet without actually knowing that tyler's +/- is most likely the worst on the team, by far. i do think that tyler has some skill for a big man. he has a nice mid range jump shot and is a quality passer. but this season showed, and as the season progressed it reaffirmed, that tyler has no lateral speed and simply cant compete with a high major big man. you cant teach that and no matter how hard he works in the offseason, the truth is tyler would have much more impact at a low to mid major than he ever will at uconn. if he plays 20+ mins next year, my guess is we will be in for a very long season.

And this is all different from what we saw from alex how???

 

[Zionn]

AO (and whole team) NEED to watch O'Quinn and understand what it means to play with heart!

 

[mauconnfan]

Right and that's not AO...he can't change who he is....Jeff Adrien never smiled, that's why we loved him....AO has skills that could have been developed better.

Yes by AO himself......they have agreat staff, work constantly to stregthen their weaknesses I promise you........they have the ability to go to Big Mans camps, play basketball all summer, be gym rats.......he didn't get better and that's not at all on the staff. It's a testament to his lack of knowledge of the game (defense/help and boxing out) and lack of skill set (can't catch or pass).....tough to teach those things either you got'em or you don't!!

 

[Dove]

When Alex was taken out the first time I thought I witnessed a disturbing exchange. Calhoun went to 'talk' (trying to be nice here) to Alex, stood in front of him as normal, and THEN Alex appeared to tell Coach to get 'the fruck' out of his face, dismissing him with his hand and rolling his eyes, and saying some other not nice things. He actually ignored coach. Calhoun seemed shocked and continued confronting him, Alex seemed to try to look around him all of the time to watch the game. At that time I didn't expect to see Alex in the game again.

Anyway Alex saw a couple more minutes and didn't see the floor again for the rest of the game and all of the 2nd half. Arguing between player and coach is common, but these two have seemed to become adversaries, and last night it came to a head.

Did anyone else see this or did I see it wrong?

I totally forgot about that Kita. Very alarming to see that. I posted in another thread about hoping he stays. Perhaps he should march out of Storrs if he ain't happy.

 

[caw]

fyi, for people in here saying AO should declare and attend workouts to see where he is with NBA GMs, that doesn't exist anymore thanks to the NCAAs new Replicant deadline. At this point you're either in or your out, you're not going to get the opportunity to work out for GMs and get feedback like in the past.

I completely forgot about that, complete brainfart.

 

[tzznandrew]

What does it tell? That I'm a negative person? Or that I tend to remember things I see over and over again?

Unfortunately for us that wide smile seldom happened while Alex played for us, while that pained expression happened a lot, particularly this season.

No matter what happens, this is the AO we should remember, a photo shot after the Final Four game with UK:

 

[Tenspro2002]

Given Oriakhi's fathers' feelings...I guess we can officially eliminate the chances of Goodluck Okonoboh coming to UConn in 2013!



PS...For those that don't know the name....he is an elite Center recruit from the 2013 class from the Tilton School in MA. He is also the 1st cousin of Alex Oriakhi!

You'll have to forgive me for being skeptical of a Tilton product.

 

[mauconnfan]

Better yet maybe thats the one he should remember?

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Yes by AO himself......they have agreat staff, work constantly to stregthen their weaknesses I promise you........they have the ability to go to Big Mans camps, play basketball all summer, be gym rats.......he didn't get better and that's not at all on the staff. It's a testament to his lack of knowledge of the game (defense/help and boxing out) and lack of skill set (can't catch or pass).....tough to teach those things either you got'em or you don't!!

That is the question with Alex.....can somewhat develop significantly improved eye-hand coordination when he is about 21 years old? Not too likely looking for Alex at this point. Emeka showed pretty amazing progress in his offensive game from soph to junior years, but it's hard to think of many players who have really changed some fundamental ability. Kemba changed his jumpshot some from soph to junior year and showed greatly improved accuracy, especially in the first half of the year before he cooled off. Anyone think of someone with bad hands show great improvement?

I forget what it was exactly, but wasn't there a fad with football players taking ballet lessons to improve their coordination? I could see Alex being helped by getting a personal trainer to work on flexibility and quickness. He seems very stiff, rarely bends down into a defensive position. Maybe he could also take some intensive yoga to help more with the flexibility. I doubt that either would help with his ability to catch and secure the ball cleanly, but I am certainly no expert and I don't even play one on TV!

I think we should let the air settle and hope the players take their time and re-evaluate their situation as late as possible in relation to any possible reversal of the APR situation, as well as when it is known who is entering the draft or not. I doubt that changing schools will actually help increase a player's draft-ability and it might actually hurt it.

 

[gars44]

Maybe I just don't get it but I don't see the appeal for other programs in taking AO for a single season. How many double-doubles did he get this year compared to last?

you're saying, who would want him? Not a terrible question.

 

[John Fryer]

What does it tell? That I'm a negative person? Or that I tend to remember things I see over and over again?

Unfortunately for us that wide smile seldom happened while Alex played for us, while that pained expression happened a lot, particularly this season.

This has been a difficult thread for me.

So many of the thoughts expressed here were very similar to my thoughts throughout most of the season.

For me though, "that pained expression happened a lot, particularly this season" wasn't exclusively reserved for Alex.

The almost complete lack of hustle and energy displayed in the 1st half of Thursday's game was, IMO, just a replay of the way the team performed throughout most of the season.

And as for coach C's reactions to whatever Alex may have said to him, just remember in another thread we discussed coach C using foul language when addressing his team/players.

Perhaps it doesn't feel very good when it comes back at you?

Peace,

John Fryer

 

[NHUConnfan]

Now if I were Oriakhi, I wouldn't feel good about playing with Drummond. Let's be honest. Oriakhi wanted to get to the NBA. And then, here comes a stud recruit--a physical phenomenon--just waltzes right into the program and demands a scholarship. Within a few days, there is discussion about how Drummond has made UConn an instant Final Four contender and chances of a repeat are great. Drummond doesn't start, but over time, becomes the starter for UConn. Even though his offense is raw, what offense there is...is incredibly awesome. Windmill dunks. Alley-oops galore. Oriakhi...yeah, he knows he's not that good. He'll never be that good. He's just not built that way.

Think about it. You think Oriakhi was dejected from the onset of the season. You freaking bet. Add in listening to the wrong people...and you've got a concoction for disaster. And that's what happened.

If Oriakhi knew what was right...it wouldn't be transferring. Regardless of playoff status next year. If the guy wants to get to the NBA, he has one shot, and that's with Jim Calhoun and the UConn Huskies. He's not going to waltz on some team next year and make such an impact that he'll be the man. That kind of chemistry only comes with people you play with for a while. Yeah, maybe he joins Jamal Coombs-McDaniel...but let's be honest...what NBA scouts are going to watch Hofstra play (hint: none.) Instead, he returns to a team where there will be no Drummond, no Lamb. Now Boatright and Bazz will be equally sharing the responsibility of point. Both have no fear of ditching it down low. Oriakhi will be the #1 big. I mean, seriously, like Wolf is going to supplant him (haha!) It would be his time to shine. And to do it with a HoF coach who has put countless people into the NBA.

AO as of now, has zero shot getting in. But honestly, one damn good year (a la FF/Maui last year) would instantly put him into the discussion of the draft. At the very least, he's playing for a good program in Europe. If he transfers, he better have a back up plan.

That is all I'll say on the subject. AO has a decision to make. We will know where he stands in the coming weeks. I think we all hope he makes the right decision. We all know what that decision is. The question is...does he?

 

[uconnfan68]

I think Alex has the physical ability to play in the NBA.
Does he have the mental makeup?

Am I the only one with 90% confidence that the NCAA is going to change the rules and/or approve the waiver in a month or so?

I mean, UConn's case is no different than U Louisiana-X's case. So how do they explain the difference?

One by one... AO doesn't have the physical attributes to play in the NBA. Too slow, bad hands, poor jumper, bad shooter. Remember, he'd have to be a 4, not a 5.
Mentally... not now. I think the NCAA is out to make an example, and regardless of whether a directional school in Louisiana has the same situation, UConn is the name they want on their trophy pelt.

 

[UConnfan8]

alex should have been excited to get drummond.....remember at the beginning of the season when we landed drummond??? we didnt say we had the best big MAN in the country...we believed we could have the best big MEN in the country. alex's name was ALWAYS included when talking about drummond. they BOTH were supposed to be significant big men in the BEast and the country. why couldn't he have just been excited to play with andre instead of chippy and somewhat jealous that he wasnt the only big man getting attention. we saw alex make huge steps in his play in the FF last year and the whole tournament last year for that matter, and we really could have had 2 scary big men if they both gelled correctly, which it seems they did not and i'm not going to blame andre on that one. All andre did was commit to uconn and come here as a freshman. alex should have been in open arms with that one. so what, he was the number one recruit out of high school and alex was not. this is the big east on a blue blood team. this is not a vcu or a sub par division one basketball program. this is uconn. we land espn100 recruits all the time. alex should not have had a sour bone in him over drummond coming onto this basketball team. and at first i thought that maybe with all the highly touted rumors about how good drummond was, that maybe drummond was a headcase and came into the locker room acting like his shit didnt stink. but as the season progressed and i saw andre, i 100% don't think that was the case with him, and heard only good things about his ability to listen to his coaches and work hard. i just wish alex could have accepted the fact that although andre was mr big shot, AO himself could have made both of them big shots.

 

[mauconnfan]

This has been a difficult thread for me.

So many of the thoughts expressed here were very similar to my thoughts throughout most of the season.

For me though, "that pained expression happened a lot, particularly this season" wasn't exclusively reserved for Alex.

The almost complete lack of hustle and energy displayed in the 1st half of Thursday's game was, IMO, just a replay of the way the team performed throughout most of the season.

And as for coach C's reactions to whatever Alex may have said to him, just remember in another thread we discussed coach C using foul language when addressing his team/players.

Perhaps it doesn't feel very good when it comes back at you?

Peace,

John Fryer

While I like your thread and it's intention I cannot agree with the thought it was okay to lash back at the coach. He is the coach, the one you choose, the one you respect. He is who he is, nothing has changed...you may get an ocassional whiff of reality in the verbal sense, accept it...those are the best coaches for players like alex, maybe not mentally but physically for sure. They make you better if you listen and do! I had coaches from Jr Pro to HS to college who were in the face type coachs (certainly not at Husky level but relative) and I took my share of verbal attacks, shirts yanked etc....respected these guys they were teaching me and I loved playing for every one of them.

There's no doubt how JC was when he chose UConn, no doubt how he was when they won the NC and no doubt how he was going to be Thursday night. So JC and his verbal barrage as alex came off the court was NOT the problem. He screwed up and left a shooter wide open, take it like a man......instead the problem is who he has been listening to, whether it be his dad, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, an entourage who knows little about anything other than "you should be playing 35 minutes because you won an NC".......if he at all believes he had a good year he's lost and needs to move on...if he wants to get better and make up for a lost year because he didn't do the things which make him and the team better, welcome him back and let the motor run to it's fullest. They do not need the guy who came off the court and reacted to JC because it wasn't the guy who respected the staff anymore, it was the guy getting fed BS.

It's up to him.......JC doesn't have to change he has to!

 

[990411champs]

That is the question with Alex.....can somewhat develop significantly improved eye-hand coordination when he is about 21 years old? Not too likely looking for Alex at this point.

personally I think AO would struggle to play a game of jacks......the hand eye coordination required would overwhelm him

dropping the ball wouldn't be an issue, but picking up the jacks before the ball comes down would be the challenge