Durham

[jibsey]

In order to be a difference maker at this level you have to be able to score/shoot. He has showed he can shoot and has a nice touch. He will be stronger next season and I'm sure his playing time will go up and you'll see him "hopefully" be one of their best options on offense. He has a very high upside. Much higher than Jackson. Jackson has not shown me anything yet. If he can hit 40% of his 3's then he will be an asset. If he doesn't hit his outside shot, he is not adding much to the team because he is very slow footed and not a good defender. Just my 2 cents if anyone cares.

He's not assertive, Jackson that is, when he catches at the 3 pt line covered he should drive if he can. Don't know if he can do that without getting stripped but I think he has touch for midrange shots and good hands inside.

 

[champs99and04]

Thats why all these injuries make me sick to my stomach. Can you imagine Durham,Gil and Larrier healthy and running at 100%?!!! All 3 of those guys a stud talents and its a shame that theyve been held back by injury. Diarra i havent seen but ive read hes a talented rebounder.

I think the one blessing of the Larrier injury is that Durham, and to a lesser extent Enoch, are now going to come along more quickly than they would have otherwise.

 

[Rocktheworld]

No doubt Durham will be a great player for us before his time here is up. Keep in mind the kid went from not playing ball for 1.5 years to playing at a high Division 1 level. I expected him to not be fully ready. His time will come.

I'm not sure how long he has been playing, but I am 99% confident that he is a perfect manifestation of the difference between starting playing ball when you are in elementary school vs whenyouhitpubertyandgrowsupertallsowhelpmightaswellgivebasketballatry.

His smoothness, passing ability, not being a liability in man-man D, and BBall IQ is stunningly better than Brimah's and Facey's. But besides that, although it is a little slow even for a big man, his shot has been looking pure. I don't really get how he has only taken 7 shots all year and has not taken a single free throw. Kid gets touches and turns it over the least, maybe he hasn't quite worked up the strength to try to bang down low yet. He should be feeling confident in his shot. Looking forward to him getting a lot more minutes as the year goes on; besides last night and Chaminade, dude has played 7 minutes or fewer in all other games.

 

[upstater]

I don't really get how he has only taken 7 shots all year and has not taken a single free throw.

It's because when he shoots, he goes straight up and has a high release, and he is tall. I don't think anyone is going to block his shot. He doesn't drive so... how are you going to foul him?

 

[Rocktheworld]

It's because when he shoots, he goes straight up and has a high release, and he is tall. I don't think anyone is going to block his shot. He doesn't drive so... how are you going to foul him?

He's averaging 0.11 shots per minute, which is by far the lowest on the team. So he really is just taking fewer shots in the first place.

I think averaging 9 minutes per game is a factor. I also believe that his being more face-up oriented has something to do with it. Even when he is the biggest guy out there he's really still the 4; not seeing him trying to post up much. I really just figured that 64 minutes in, kid would have done something to get fouled by now

 

[Pudge]

Just want to say re: Enoch... someone's clearly gotten into him about the importance of boxing out. I think we actually rebound better with him on the floor now because he just immediately puts a body on the guy nearest him.

It's a subtle thing, and honestly it's a thing you shouldn't have to teach a sophomore in college... but it is what it is. And for us it's been a positive step in his long road to development.

When you are 6 foot 1 in High School ball, that is all it ever is about. Using your body and leverage to get position, and good technique to rebound as a TEAM. My bet is that Steven Enoch got away through Norwalk HS and into Prep with being less than fundamental. Reach and there is the ball and I am 5 inches above everyone else. I am not denigrating Saint Thomas More or early UConn, it just took this kid some time. But ... OMG ... when his hands are up after a ball, they are quick and sure. Unfortunately, two things having to do with confidence are still not quite there.

 

[eireman]

When you are 6 foot 1 in High School ball, that is all it ever is about. Using your body and leverage to get position, and good technique to rebound as a TEAM. My bet is that Steven Enoch got away through Norwalk HS and into Prep with being less than fundamental. Reach and there is the ball and I am 5 inches above everyone else. I am not denigrating Saint Thomas More or early UConn, it just took this kid some time. But ... OMG ... when his hands are up after a ball, they are quick and sure. Unfortunately, two things having to do with confidence are still not quite there.

Pudge.....he spent a lot of time on the pines at stm because he didn't understand most facets of defense.......a lot of it was swept aside because of how young he was...but my god the time spent on fundamentals was exorbitant.....expectected more and then he gets the gatorade poy.....i was just very puzzled......it's starting to get through but any consistency of performance i don't see until next year....having cv close will mean a lot to him...also in the prep league most of the time he was up against guys as tall and large as he was.

 

[UConnfan8]

jeesh. there are a lot of people here trying to come up with excuses for why Enoch isn't good- and then trying to find areas where he is good and has "improved."

that is such a stretch. the kid has just shown zero skill so far. zero. none. he's not a D1 player right now.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

jeesh. there are a lot of people here trying to come up with excuses for why Enoch isn't good- and then trying to find areas where he is good and has "improved."

that is such a stretch. the kid has just shown zero skill so far. zero. none. he's not a D1 player right now.

Has the best post moves on the team , but whatever he has no skill.

 

[ctchamps]

Sometimes I wish we could put a second brain in the tails of our bigs. The larger dinosaurs needed it and they managed to survive millions of years.

Except Brimah. Watching him is like watching Randy in Christmas Story running around in his winter coat. I'm wondering if Ritalin would help.

I noticed the boxing out as @Matrim55 pointed out. Mixed feelings about it. Noticed times where Kentan and Steve moved toward their player who could be 7 -10 feet from the basket instead of spotting them and moving toward basket for a rebound if they realized they had the floor advantage. This goes along with what @Rocktheworld has stated.

Kentan, Steve and Amida just lack the bb IQ to anticipate plays on the defensive end. They're more reactive than proactive other than Amida's blocking instincts but even these can be easily neutralized by players going into his body or his player moving away from the basket. He's really bad against other players pick and roll plays or a 5 with decent shooting and ball handling skills. It's why Kentan played Lydon.

At least Kentan has shown me in the last two games he's decent at reacting when playing the 5 and the team is playing zone. And he's decent against the zone on offense. For me the jury is out when playing man to man or going against that type of defense. His play against Lydon gives me the most hope.

Steve is way ahead with his offensive mind set compared to his defensive mind set. Really decent foot work and a nice touch when shooting. Had a bad game against Syracuse. Defense is another story. He often is watching the game instead of his player or what the ball is going to do on the defensive end. At least with Amida it's 4 1/2 against 5 when UConn is on offense. With Steve it's 5/4 when he's playing defense.

Durham is a skilled player. Hard to tell what the impact of the history with his knees will have on his development.

Kentan, Steve and Amida are players that UConn was forced to consider because of CR, Calhoun retiring and the APR sanctions. (My blood still boils over the APR and watching the delay this year with North Carolina)

Durham was the first legit big and unfortunately for UConn he suffered that second injury. It's why I still can't determine if the coaching is the problem for bigs or circumstances that are still playing out which the coaches have no control over.

 

[ctchamps]

Has the best post moves on the team , but whatever he has no skill.

He has no fan skill!

 

[champs99and04]

Has the best post moves on the team , but whatever he has no skill.

Enoch is great at sealing and getting deep position, but Facey has the best post moves on the team.

 

[Palatine]

I don't want Durham mixing it up or getting too much contact. He will play the 4 or even the 5 eventually but he is really a stretch 3 at this point. He simply isn't physically where he needs to be to succeed inside. And given his injury history, the less contact the better. With a little seasoning, he could be very effective against the zone. Get some good minutes out of him. Put him in hte middle of the zone, shot or pass, as long as he doesn't turn it over, he's an asset.

 

[RipCity]

jeesh. there are a lot of people here trying to come up with excuses for why Enoch isn't good- and then trying to find areas where he is good and has "improved."

that is such a stretch. the kid has just shown zero skill so far. zero. none. he's not a D1 player right now.

Impressive hyperbole.

Enoch definitely has skill, but lacks the awareness to keep up the pace and probably doesn't have much confidence yet. He's also only 1 year into his career and the age of most freshman.

 

[Mr. French]

I haven't read every post, but I agree with much of what I read, Durham's development may be a bit slow, as in this year, but I think he's going to be REALLY good.

It's one of the reasons I haven't written off this program and even this year, as shockingly horrific as we've played.

I think a ton of our issues are things that young players just don't get immediately. Maybe our young guys are even taking longer than others, but so many of our pieces this year AND the future look so promising.

It's not crazy to see a leap in 5-6 guys and watch a team mature in front of our eyes. Then add in next year's recruits, and start to get excited.

 

[UConnfan8]

Impressive hyperbole.

Enoch definitely has skill, but lacks the awareness to keep up the pace and probably doesn't have much confidence yet. He's also only 1 year into his career and the age of most freshman.

He's also a sophomore and looks like he's going to have to make MAJOR leaps to be relevant next season, his junior year. Like major, major improvement. I'm encouraged by his size, but that's about it.

 

[Pudge]

jeesh. there are a lot of people here trying to come up with excuses for why Enoch isn't good- and then trying to find areas where he is good and has "improved."

that is such a stretch. the kid has just shown zero skill so far. zero. none. he's not a D1 player right now.

You don't know what to look for.

 

[UConnStats]

He's also a sophomore and looks like he's going to have to make MAJOR leaps to be relevant next season, his junior year. Like major, major improvement. I'm encouraged by his size, but that's about it.

He's not going to be the same player he is today in March either, though. By the end of this year, maybe the jump to "relevancy" won't be that far at all. We're only one week into December.

 

[Rocktheworld]

He's not going to be the same player he is today in March either, though. By the end of this year, maybe the jump to "relevancy" won't be that far at all. We're only one week into December.

You'd think this was a Cuse board considering how obsessed some of us are with December.

 

[David 76]

Sometimes I wish we could put a second brain in the tails of our bigs. The larger dinosaurs needed it and they managed to survive millions of years.

Except Brimah. Watching him is like watching Randy in Christmas Story running around in his winter coat. I'm wondering if Ritalin would help.

I just loved those two paragraphs!

 

[Hungryhusky99]

Enoch is great at sealing and getting deep position, but Facey has the best post moves on the team.

Against new haven maybe.

 

[TampaHusky78]

Enoch is great at sealing and getting deep position, but Facey has the best post moves on the team.

Not saying much when Facey who we never want getting the ball in the low post having the best post moves

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Kid can straight ball. Love that he seems to be feeling more comfortable out there

 

[James]

Against new haven maybe.

enoch is shooting 9/27 from the field, almost entirely on his 'great post moves'. he's not the 'best' at anything on the team.

 

[Rocktheworld]

enoch is shooting 9/27 from the field, almost entirely on his 'great post moves'. he's not the 'best' at anything on the team.

He definitely leads the team in getting lost on defense

 

[Hungryhusky99]

enoch is shooting 9/27 from the field, almost entirely on his 'great post moves'. he's not the 'best' at anything on the team.

He's not the best at sealing his man?

 

[selles]

He's not going to be the same player he is today in March either, though. By the end of this year, maybe the jump to "relevancy" won't be that far at all. We're only one week into December.

The conventional wisdom on Enoch when he came in was that he was very, very raw but had the potential to be outstanding. I haven't seen anything to suggest that the conventional wisdom was wrong. He still needs work on his defense, but it's clearly improved from last year. His rebounding is improved. The potential for his offensive game is leaps and bounds beyond anything our other bigs can provide. He just needs to hit a few shots and get confidence. The past board narrative that Enoch has 'slow feet' is ridiculous. He's very athletic.

It's been posted that the benefit of only having 8 guys is that they'll all get PT. I agree. The only real consistent issue I've had with KO over the last few years is that he doesn't play his young bigs enough. I understand the concern about their defense, but the only way to really improve is to get PT in games. This was an issue with Facey, Lubin and Enoch last year. But it's not going to be an issue this year.

I think we'll be very pleased with Enoch by March.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Vance Jackson cut all his hair off...

 

[mauconnfan]

He definitely leads the team in getting lost on defense

Which is exactly where Brimah and Facey were as soph's. You can tell me all about the blocks and DPOY on Brimah but besides the blocks he had no clue where to be on defense and lost his man often, actually still does. So does Facey, but they are doing other things sometimes to make some of you believe they are now excellent. Up to Steve to do the same in the next 2 1/3 years we will see.

Hey Steve's lost, no doubt, can't block shots to make up for his shortcomings I agree so less of an impact than either Brimah and Facey were at this point. But he still has time I know I won't give up on him. He can catch, he can make a move and a strong one so that's something to start with.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]