OT: Enoch visiting Louisville

[intlzncster]

Free sex is free sex.

Can't refute this.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

You are wrong

Fast strong hands. Big body. And he could move ... Not lumbering. He did have one impressive game blocking out & rebounding against Meier of Houston. His offense looked promising.

But ... you have to lean towards the explanation that he wasn't responding to Coaching. Because he looked awful a lot.

Redshirt program was made for him. Like Gonzaga has done repeatedly. But from the stands ... you'd have to say that there was a simple disconnect. There is a good possibility that he never will get it.

So the guy didn't contribute for 2 full seasons, but Pudge says he has strong hands and notes he is tall so may as well throw the on court performance out the window.

Simply put, the kid looked absolutely lost on the court. Maybe that's some coaching (and I've been very critical of Ollie and co.) but there is just a certain innate basketball IQ that some guys either have or don't.

If Enoch showed 1 "plus" characteristic besides his frame I think he could amount to something, but I just don't see it.

 

[UConnNick]

Somehow I have a visual image in my head of Enoch trying to execute on D in Tricky Ricky's full court press. It's not a pretty picture.

This guy had trouble trying to guard fairly stationary bigs in the paint, and the lane was an open freeway to the hoop every time he entered a game. Attempting to play in Pitino's pressing D will make his head explode.

 

[djct1999]

Somehow I have a visual image in my head of Enoch trying to execute on D in Tricky Ricky's full court press. It's not a pretty picture.

This guy had trouble trying to guard fairly stationary bigs in the paint, and the lane was an open freeway to the hoop every time he entered a game. Attempting to play in Pitino's pressing D will make his head explode.

He didn't have trouble guarding bigs, he was worse than that. Enoch may go to Louisville, but unless something miraculous happens over the year he sits out, his role there won't be any different than here.

 

[Fishy]

Rick Pitino seems to think he's good enough to take up a scholarship for the next three years - Pitino's pretty good at this sort of thing, so perhaps we're wrong and Enoch actually has potential.

 

[auror]

Rick Pitino seems to think he's good enough to take up a scholarship for the next three years - Pitino's pretty good at this sort of thing, so perhaps we're wrong and Enoch actually has potential.

Enoch shot 29.7% in the toughest games of the season (A+B games in KenPom, 17 games) and rebounded less of available defensive rebounds while he was in those game than Christian Vital. He also turned the ball over literally 1 out of every 3 times he touched the ball in those games.

 

[Walker11]

We need to wait and see. He may never develop anywhere and the staff will look just fine. I think he will end up as a good player, and he would have here, but I don't think Louisville giving him an offer means much more than taking a flyer on a huge guy who was highly ranked in HS. Those rankings tend to carry some weight even after the player enrolls.

 

[80shusky]

Enoch shot 29.7% in the toughest games of the season (A+B games in KenPom) and rebounded less of available defensive rebounds while he was in those game than Christian Vital.

But Louisville likes him!...so... it's Oregon!

 

[CL82]

Pitino: "Look Steve, for the last time, we can't do the stripper thing anymore."

Enoch: "Wait, you were serious about that?"

 

[djct1999]

We need to wait and see. He may never develop anywhere and the staff will look just fine. I think he will end up as a good player, and he would have here, but I don't think Louisville giving him an offer means much more than taking a flyer on a huge guy who was highly ranked in HS. Those rankings tend to carry some weight even after the player enrolls.

It doesn't really matter what Pitino thinks. We saw him for two years and not once did he show he can play impactful minutes on both sides of the floor.

 

[Walker11]

It doesn't really matter what Pitino thinks. We saw him for two years and not once did he show he can play impactful minutes on both sides of the floor.

I am a lot more high on Steve than you. He was terrible this year and wouldn't have been playable for a good team. I don't think he was managed/handled well but I think he will be good in the future. But he needs to pick a good system and Louisville seems like a pretty bad fit.

 

[UConnNick]

It doesn't really matter what Pitino thinks. We saw him for two years and not once did he show he can play impactful minutes on both sides of the floor.

^^^^^This, plus Pitino's judgment on recruiting matters hasn't exactly been state of the art in recent years, to say the least. It all depends upon what he didn't know, and when he didn't know it.

 

[EBonz30]

Never cared, he's brutal, throw this board in the garbage...,,

 

[Chief00]

Yeah, but...
1. could he play D? Which is the more important question.
2. that's comparing him to Brimah. lol not the highest of bars there.
3. Didn't seem to be able to translate practice play to game play.

I think he can be a better post defender than Brimah because he can hold position. Brimah always was a better help defender than a post defender.

 

[Chief00]

So either you're saying you really don't know what refute means, or you are saying that you know how to coach basketball better than. Jimmy C?

LOL - You just don't get it. Jim is a loyal man and doesn't agree with me that Glen couldn't coach Bigs. Agree to disagree on that as they say.

 

[pj]

I can assure you Calhoun would refute my assessment of Glen Miller's Bigs Coaching.

If Calhoun would refute you, then I'm going to have to side against you on this one Chief.

I'll grant you that there seems to have been something wrong in the connection between Glen and Enoch. He certainly didn't develop, and he and his family seemed to think different coaches would have enabled him to develop.

 

[intlzncster]

Brimah did nothing to continue starting at center over someone with talent. We're going to pay in the long run for it.

He gave us a better chance to win games this year. That's the only reason you play is to try and win the game. Otherwise, why bother?

 

[UConnNick]

He gave us a better chance to win games this year. That's the only reason you play is to try and win the game. Otherwise, why bother?

That's right. If you're not playing to win, you're Diacoing, and we all know how that turns out.

 

[PAHusky]

Rick Pitino seems to think he's good enough to take up a scholarship for the next three years - Pitino's pretty good at this sort of thing, so perhaps we're wrong and Enoch actually has potential.

I think Enoch does have potential, and I think with the right coaching he will turn out to be a decent to good player. The issue I have with the coaching staff is:

1. they don't seem to be able to develop bigs
2. they keep bringing in projects at that position

Something has to change to reconcile those two points. It's definitely a little too convenient of me to say "oh well gee this staff needs to really just start bringing in one or two of those high school kids who come in with a polished game at that position", but the point still stands. I'd like to see the issue addressed. I know we've gotten away with average production from that spot in the last few years, but we shouldn't and can't always rely on otherworldly guard play to carry us to the promised land.

 

[LoveMeSomeUC]

I feel like many never played on a team. Enoch got minutes and opportunity. And UConn - with Brimah and Facey - had opportunities through mid February to exceed where they actually ended up. I AM a big proponent of Steve Enoch's potential. Unfortunately, that kid showed that he couldn't sustain a winning post effort in the last 6 weeks of the season. And I am going to bet that paralleled what he did in practice. I back Ollie in what was a key 2016-2017 development. You nudge Enoch ... but you are not doing your Program nor Steven Enoch any good giving him minutes beyond what he has proven is his. A 20 minute Enoch allotment only should have come with better performance on defense/rebounding and in practice daily. Calhoun would have eaten that kid up.

Calhoun would have turned that kid into a lottery pick!

 

[UConnStats]

Enoch has a high ceiling, and I can see him being a good player, but the chances of him ever coming close to reaching his ceiling is pretty low.

He flashes pretty post moves, but with his defense he needs to be at around 60% TS to be a stud center. So far in college he's at 48.8%. It's hard to project someone to improve that much, though it has been done.

Enoch is a weak rebounder, he's turnover prone, foul prone, and has shot at a low percentage thus far. That is a laundry list of problems to ask a kid to solve.

As a CT kid, I will root for him, even if he is at Louisville, but I'm not too worried about him making us look bad.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Most pints here are valid.

I still would have liked to see Enoch get more minutes last year.

Painful to watch minutes as a fan and most likely infuriating to watch as a coach.

But I would have liked him to get all those minutes. Even if he fouled out in 14 minutes.

I wanted to see him get reps.

 

[CTBasketball]

Most pints here are valid.

I still would have liked to see Enoch get more minutes last year.

Painful to watch minutes as a fan and most likely infuriating to watch as a coach.

But I would have liked him to get all those minutes. Even if he fouled out in 14 minutes.

I wanted to see him get reps.

We realized we needed to win the AACT to go dancing in January/February. Why he didn't get reps despite fouls and poor defense is beyond me. Even when we were up in games by 15+ he was still on the pine in favor of Brimah.

 

[HuskyCLT]

The notion that he is a terrible player is ridiculous. The narrative even before his freshman year was that he was young and raw - but would become a beast his junior and senior year. He obviously had a lot of work to do, especially defensively, but you could see glimpses of his offensive talent and I was excited for that to grow here. He certainly could have used more minutes, but he's gone - he'll probably benefit from a year off and be productive wherever he goes.

It seems some people forget that you get better at doing things with more experience. The kid was a young sophomore.

 

[Lefty2one]

Simply put, the kid looked absolutely lost on the court. Maybe that's some coaching (and I've been very critical of Ollie and co.) but there is just a certain innate basketball IQ that some guys either have or don't.

If Enoch showed 1 "plus" characteristic besides his frame I think he could amount to something, but I just don't see it.

Agreed, not sure what some fans saw over the last two years other than looking through rose-colored glasses because he's from CT. I still wish he stayed so we could try to develop him further especially given the current state of our front court. You never know with bigs.

That being said, Enoch has shown virtually nothing in two years. His offensive potential has been overstated by some folks around here more than any element of any player in recent history. The kid shot 7/24 against Power 5 and Big East teams this year. You take out the Auburn game and he shot 3/17. Yet some of our fans swear he was on the verge of being our best post scorer since Emeka. He looked lost for two years and looked bothered by the speed and physicality of the game in the friggin AAC, even against the bottom-feeders. He completely whiffed on box outs far too often. His offensive game is below average, he's a poor rebounder and his defense is as bad as it gets for a big. And as you mentioned, his IQ and feel for the game simply isn't there.

Despite all that, programs will always take a shot on a 6'10 250 kid who isn't a complete stiff. Maybe as a 5th year senior he could crack the rotation at a school like Louisville. Still, I will be surprised if he ever amounts to anything at a Top 20 program.