Enoch...it' just never came together

[Candyman]

If you watched him he gets good post position but since he was a frosh they weren't really looking for him in the post. He was probably our 2nd best post player. Yes his defense kept him off the court but I see him playing a lot next year as our back up center.

Facey is undersized and gets bullied by bigger guys. He doesnt have a low post game either. He can stroke it from 15 feet and rebounds fairly well but thats it. With that being said I seem him starting at the 4 next year because we have no other options unless we go small with Larrier or Dham at the 4.

 

[RabidHusky]

If he puts the work in he can be a contributor on offense next year. He seems to have a nice shot from 6' - 10'. This is something we will need.

Defense may take longer as A) it normally takes kids longer to learn and B) he is extremely raw (especially when compared to his offense)

Could we play Brima and Enoch together with AB the 5 on D and SE the 5 on O?

 

[dogpause]

It makes me nervous that brimah is the starting center for next year. I hope he spends the entire summer working on offense and doesn't try to block a single shot. Otherwise our front court is back to being a black hole on offense again without miller.

Enoch has the makings of a good offensive center, but he's got to learn how to stay on the court first

I agree, Brimah just hasn't progressed offensively. I don't understand why he hasn't attended a Big Man Camp yet either.

 

[FASTEDDY]

Isn't there a famous "Big Man" Camp down in Texas put on by Pete Newell or some one?

This seems like it would be ideal for Enoch.

I agree that he needs to play and play and play. Needs to work on his game and iron out the kinks and get physically stronger.

UCONN needs a rebounder. With solid rebounding will come minutes and with minutes comes confidence and experience.

 

[intlzncster]

Agree, but Facey's career makes me concerned about Enoch. Facey has not made the strides one might expect over 3 years. He is essentially the same player skill-wise with more experience. Enoch has much bigger upside but absolutely need to do something very different to tap into that.

They're not the same guy though. That would be like looking at Josh Boone's career (not much real development) and being worried Jeff Adrien (or whoever) wasn't going to develop. They are just not related.

 

[intlzncster]

Isn't there a famous "Big Man" Camp down in Texas put on by Pete Newell or some one?

This seems like it would be ideal for Enoch.

I agree that he needs to play and play and play. Needs to work on his game and iron out the kinks and get physically stronger.

UCONN needs a rebounder. With solid rebounding will come minutes and with minutes comes confidence and experience.

Just a minor correction. There is a Pete Newell Big Mans camp. But Newell himself passed away in 2008. The camp itself is still very good and well attended.

 

[mdkhusky]

enoch didnt play because he got turned around on defense and didnt play great help defense. his on ball defense on some of the bigger guys we played against was solid and he is clearly skilled in the post. he will be a good ot very good player whether it be next year or the year after once brimah is gone

 

[Palatine]

In numerous games including Kansas, Enoch got great post position and the ball never came to him. We preferred to play 4 on 5 offense rather than trust Enoch with the ball. The other players saw him every day ion practice, so there was probably a reason they never threw him the ball. We'll see how it goes.

Slightly OT: Josh Boone was a great rebounder especially on the offensive end his freshman year. An immediate contributor.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Anyone who follows recruiting knew he was going to take some time. Is he even 18 yet? Incredible young for his class. Upside is still there. Not worried about him at all, did exactly what I thought as a freshman. Spect him to be very good as a junior and senior.

 

[tzznandrew]

What do you think Josh Scott of Colorado looked like Frosh year? Guaranteed he saw more minutes.

Enoch is a crucial development project going forward. IMHO ... He's got the raw ability. His minutes & advancement was promising. And NO ... The track record of bigs at UConn was not seeing them play well by the end of their first year. Our history is all kinds of development.

If Enoch learns good solid defense, I see no reason not to have him play 15-22 minutes next year. And then he's on his way. He has more presence than Facey and a better skill set. If he can grab offensive rebounds & run inside plays for him, he could be a solid star.

Sure, Josh Scott played more minutes. On a team that had only two other players taller than 6-7, who, combined, averaged 2.3 points and 3.3 rebounds in 12 mpg. He needed to play. Meanwhile, we had Brimah, Facey, and Nolan who had experience, and brought in Miller.

Scott also came as around a Top 50 player (55 composite on 24/7). Enoch was composite 87.

Different scenario.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Our big men development has regressed since about 2010. We have gotten away with that though winning 2 national championships during a time where to win, you needed elite guard play and defense. Now I think we are coming back to a time where you need a big physical presence around the rim as well. Perhaps it's the shorter shot clock, in which you need guys who can post up and rebound.

 

[Matrim55]

In numerous games including Kansas, Enoch got great post position and the ball never came to him. We preferred to play 4 on 5 offense rather than trust Enoch with the ball. The other players saw him every day ion practice, so there was probably a reason they never threw him the ball. We'll see how it goes.

Agree that we struggled to get him the ball when he established good, deep post position. Disagree that it was a trust issue - it was a skill issue IMO. Throwing a good post pass is not easy, and nobody on the team is particularly good at it.

AJ needs to come in this summer and teach some classes. Easily the best entry passer we've ever had.

 

[Waquoit]

Slightly OT: Josh Boone was a great rebounder especially on the offensive end his freshman year. An immediate contributor.

But he was also a year older than Enoch. playing next to the player of the year.

 

[tdrink]

When I read the title I thought it was a quote from Enoch about the team's season.

 

[tzznandrew]

But he was also a year older than Enoch. playing next to the player of the year.

People want to pretend context doesn't matter.

Okafor's defensive prowess also allowed Boone to play strong on the ball defense without worrying as much about the help. Enoch's on the ball defense wasn't his issue: he was weak as a help defender in particular.

 

[Tenspro2002]

They're not the same guy though. That would be like looking at Josh Boone's career (not much real development) and being worried Jeff Adrien (or whoever) wasn't going to develop. They are just not related.

That's a fair point, but JC also earned the benefit of the doubt after developing guys like Okafor, Villenueva, and Armstrong. Boone may have been disappointing as a junior, but JC had a pretty good "batting average" on developing bigs. Boone was the exception, not the rule.

So far, KO is below the Mendoza line. Now, I'm not ready to render judgment until we see all 4 years of Facey and Brimah, as well as a few years of more highly-rated guys like Enoch and Brown, but it's not unreasonable to be concerned at this point about this staff's ability to develop bigs.

 

[Kitaman]

Enoch needs to approach this summer as if the 5 spot is open and look to take minutes and the starting position from Amida. There is vulnerability there and if Enoch was a mean SOB he would make every attempt to exploit and overtake Amida.

At the very least he needs to put some fear into Amida who is approaching his last season of college basketball. Amida needs to be pushed out of his comfort zone (i.e. only blocking/altering shots) and into a 'legitimate' NBA prospect.

 

[7774]

Our big men development has regressed since about 2010. We have gotten away with that though winning 2 national championships during a time where to win, you needed elite guard play and defense. Now I think we are coming back to a time where you need a big physical presence around the rim as well. Perhaps it's the shorter shot clock, in which you need guys who can post up and rebound.

I feel like this is another "This Day in Boneyard Revisionist History". Aside from a couple of outliers, like Okafor, I don't remember many big men improving that much. Boone didn't really improve over his 3 years, Hilton didn't improve over his first 3 years, then made a giant leap out of nowhere. Adrien's PPG, RPG, FG%, FT% were basically the same his last 3 years. Oriakhi didn't really improve in his 3 years.

We had guys who came in as better players prior to 2010, because we didn't have the recruiting anchors of: Calhoun's health problems/impending retirement, scholarship restrictions, recruiting restrictions, tournament ban. It doesn't seem like those players improved that much to me though, nor did they need to. We just need big men who can play consistent half court defense and get rebounds in order to be successful as a team. Our guards and wings always carry us.

 

[intlzncster]

That's a fair point, but JC also earned the benefit of the doubt after developing guys like Okafor, Villenueva, and Armstrong. Boone may have been disappointing as a junior, but JC had a pretty good "batting average" on developing bigs. Boone was the exception, not the rule.

So far, KO is below the Mendoza line. Now, I'm not ready to render judgment until we see all 4 years of Facey and Brimah, as well as a few years of more highly-rated guys like Enoch and Brown, but it's not unreasonable to be concerned at this point about this staff's ability to develop bigs.

I don't think Amida had as much to work with as people thought. He's closer to a Chuck than he is to a Hasheem. Facey, the jury is out. He could very easily have a Gavin Edwards type senior year.

For me, Enoch will be a bellwether. He has a lot to work with, physically and skill wise. The question is whether or not he can be taught to be a basketball player. That's on KO.

 

[FartMan69]

IDK how anyone was expecting him to be a solid contributer from day one. Every single scouting report had him pegged as a young raw big man. Plus he was 17 when he got here and didn't really start playing top competition until his last couple years of HS. He has the size and athleticism clearly but it will take some time until he's the monster we all believe he can be.

 

[FartMan69]

I feel like this is another "This Day in Boneyard Revisionist History". Aside from a couple of outliers, like Okafor, I don't remember many big men improving that much. Boone didn't really improve over his 3 years, Hilton didn't improve over his first 3 years, then made a giant leap out of nowhere. Adrien's PPG, RPG, FG%, FT% were basically the same his last 3 years. Oriakhi didn't really improve in his 3 years.

We had guys who came in as better players prior to 2010, because we didn't have the recruiting anchors of: Calhoun's health problems/impending retirement, scholarship restrictions, recruiting restrictions, tournament ban. It doesn't seem like those players improved that much to me though, nor did they need to. We just need big men who can play consistent half court defense and get rebounds in order to be successful as a team. Our guards and wings always carry us.

I mean I'd say Thabeet improved a tad. His post game was never great but it improved to the point he become a threat on the block, same with his hands. Brimah has not seen that type of improvement and I personally think he just has a much lower ceiling rather than a coaching problem.

 

[7774]

I mean I'd say Thabeet improved a tad. His post game was never great but it improved to the point he become a threat on the block, same with his hands. Brimah has not seen that type of improvement and I personally think he just has a much lower ceiling rather than a coaching problem.

Agreed, I would put Thabeet in the category of guys who definitely showed improvement. But again, there are just a handful of guys in that category, and people are acting like we had consistently amazing big man development when Calhoun was here.

 

[7774]

That's a fair point, but JC also earned the benefit of the doubt after developing guys like Okafor, Villenueva, and Armstrong. Boone may have been disappointing as a junior, but JC had a pretty good "batting average" on developing bigs. Boone was the exception, not the rule.

So far, KO is below the Mendoza line. Now, I'm not ready to render judgment until we see all 4 years of Facey and Brimah, as well as a few years of more highly-rated guys like Enoch and Brown, but it's not unreasonable to be concerned at this point about this staff's ability to develop bigs.

Completely disagree with most of this. In my mind, guys who developed a lot were the exception, not the rule.

 

[Drumguy]

That has pretty well been shot down by now. That was what he was going for but it didn't come together and he's going to stay in 2017.

AH, must have missed that. Thanks for clarifying. We need a big body out there. It was almost embarrassing how thin and gangly we were comparatively!

 

[CL82]

Slightly OT: Josh Boone was a great rebounder especially on the offensive end his freshman year. An immediate contributor.

I suspect that Enoch would look much better playing along side Emeka. If you have a skilled big to play beside, freshman mistakes have less impact and are less noticeable.