Freshman Amida vs. Freshman Thabeet

[James]

He does have a body like dalembert , struggled to think of a comp. honestly I'm perplexed by brimah, he put up 10 / 8 and 2 blocks vs Rutgers effortlessly. Also a nice jump shot, dunks everything. I can't tell if he's anatomically an NBA player or not, then you see his absurd speed for a 7 footer ...

 

[Deleted member 3149]

very cool topic for a thread. Not sure that i'm ready to choose one over the other yet, but I must say I like what Amida is becoming.

 

[Rico444]

All I know is, I love that this guy who we figured would play only in garbage time this year, and hopefully become a solid center as a junior and senior, is being compared to the guy who got drafted as high as anyone else in our program's history less than one season into his career. I just hope he stays healthy, because he's going to be a big-time contributor for the next few years.

 

[Henry]

Brimah. Thabeet was tall and could block shots but he had terrible hands and couldn't shoot free throws to save his life. Brimah has good hands and has been able to execute the alley oop. Also, he has shown some ability with the short jumper and putbacks around the basket.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I was never sold on Thabeet and couldnt believe he went #2. I figured he`d be a servicable back up or a starter on a bad team but that never really happened. I think his motivation was his biggest problem.

 

[nomar]

Thabeet was better defensively by a very wide margin. Thabeet was a game-changing defensive presence from the time he first stepped on the court. Guards just wouldn't try to score in the paint when he was in the game. He was also a better one on one post defender. Brimah blocks shots, but even average bigs are able to score on him in the post and guards seem more willing to attack him -- probably because he's just not as physically imposing as Thabeet was.

However, Brimah has better hands, touch, and offense footwork than Thabeet did as a freshman. If he gets stronger and continues to develop, I could picture him being Sam Dalembert with a better offensive game.

I agree. I'd also say that Brimah looks more fluid than Hasheem (and Emeka) looked as a freshman. The way he brings the ball straight up and dunks it, as well as his smooth stroke from the FT line, give me some hope. I really thought Emeka could break through in the NBA, but while he became competent offensively, he never could shake free of that mechanical form.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I kind of don't get the free throw argument.

AB: 16/26 - 62%
HT: 59/115 - 51%

So, even if AB shot as " bad" as freshman HT it would've cost us a whopping 3 points over 20 games so far. That's basically negligible.

HT was a force defensively. Most teams could come nowhere near the lane when he was in the game.

 

[nomar]

I kind of don't get the free throw argument.

AB: 16/26 - 62%
HT: 59/115 - 51%

So, even if AB shot as " bad" as freshman HT it would've cost us a whopping 3 points over 20 games so far. That's basically negligible.

HT was a force defensively. Most teams could come nowhere near the lane when he was in the game.

Form. Free throw form. Frankly I'm shocked Hasheem hit 50% as a freshman. At the FT line he looked like a blind man having an epileptic fit.

 

[BearJWS]

Wait, this past summer everyone was saying Kentan Facey was our starting Center or Nolan is much better than Brimah will ever be. Then I said, I thought Amida Brimah would end up being our Center of the Future by end of season because of his length, athletic abilities & desire, which are unteachable... Then I was mocked with statements like "Brimah wouldn't contribute til his Junior/Senior seasons" or "Brimah only looked good because he played in a horrible High School league and wasn't that athletic" and even someone telling me "Brimah would be a Redshirt candidate in normal years"... now Brimah is up for debate with Thabeet based on potential... Nice!

That said, Thabeet was much more massive than Brimah as a freshman. Thabeet got his blocks & rebounds on sheer size. Thabeet's feet were & still are very slow (plus he keeps his hands low on defense, Grrr). Brimah is much more fluid & much better athletically. Brimah's thirst for the game is apparent. Yeah, Brimah makes mistakes, but his mistakes are because he's always playing hard & trying hard, not because he's laid back, which Thabeet was. I think Brimah leaves UConn as a Top 5-10 pick when leaves. Yeah, call me out again... But size, athletic abilities & desire are what NBA drafts players on.

 

[Huskybass]

I like Brimah's upside much better. He is going to be an absolute beast in a couple years.

 

[Pmurph678]

Wow, people forget how great Thabeet was for us. Might be the most underrated player we've ever had.

Best player on one of our best teams ever. Brimah's ceiling IS Thabeet!

 

[David 76]

Never mind potential. You put freshman Thabeet on this team and we are ranked.

 

[DOZE860]

AB has better touch around the basket, along with better hands..HT was a better defender and shot blocker and rebounder early on , so right now i say its a wash, with AB with a higher ceiling. AB def needs to put on 15 lbs of muscle and get stronger, where HT had a better body, but needed to work on his touch around the basket

 

[ConnHuskBask]

To everyone saying AB has a higher ceiling than HT, just so you know what your saying:

2009 HT: National defensive player of the year, co-Big East player of the year, 2nd team all American and the defensive anchor on a final four team.

Just saying.

 

[Excalibur]

To everyone saying AB has a higher ceiling than HT, just so you know what your saying:

2009 HT: National defensive player of the year, co-Big East player of the year, 2nd team all American and the defensive anchor on a final four team.

Just saying.

I don't think that Brimah will ever be the defensive presence that Thabeet was. He certainly could end up being a better player offensively.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don't think that Brimah will ever be the defensive presence that Thabeet was. He certainly could end up being a better player offensively.

He may develop better post moves, but don't forget HT averaged nearly 14 points a game his junior season on 64% FGs. The majority of these were dunks or garbage buckets but the point being, you're going to have a hard time matching that efficiency.

I also want to say I love AB and think he'll be a great player for UConn. Just think people are so quick to forget just how awesome and what a game changer HT was here.

 

[Dmike]

Love the debate. Thabeet was the better freshman thus far in the season because AB has been very inconsistent, but that being said AB is stepping up his game. This is a better team than the '07/'08 team that had no upperclassmen leadership (Adrien was a soph.) and didn't even make the NIT. That being said, I think that next year will be the true comparison. HT was a monster his Sophomore year and Brimah will have a summer to digest this season. We'll know then whether he will challenge to be one of the greats at UCONN, like HT, or simply a solid contributor. Its simply too early to tell.

 

[ctchamps]

And here I thought this was going to be a statement by the op about how both players are prone to falling a lot. You just can't take the soccer out of guys!

AB has put together two great games in the last five games. That's not enough to consider his freshman resume close to HT's freshman resume. But it will be interesting to see how he develops over the remainder of this season and in the future. If he starts having the majority of the remaining games like UCF and Temple, then the comparison gets closer.

As players go, I'm with those who put HT as the superior defender and AB with better hands, keeps the ball over his head where the munchkins can't get the ball, and has more offensive repertoire to his game. And the latter two things were not there at the beginning of this season so he's probably a quicker learner than HT. Doesn't have the build that HT had but he could end up with a better game.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Can someone point me to this jump shot that Brimah made? I have no recollection of that. It sounds wonderful. I think he's thrown in a couple awkward looking jump hooks.

The one bad habit Hasheem had to be cured of was putting the ball down on the floor before going up with it, Brimah doesn't have that issue. I seem to recall Hasheem being a rim protector from day one though. Brimah shows a knack for blocking shots, but Hasheem got to everything.

 

[Gringo]

Can someone point me to this jump shot that Brimah made? I have no recollection of that. It sounds wonderful. I think he's thrown in a couple awkward looking jump hooks.

The one bad habit Hasheem had to be cured of was putting the ball down on the floor before going up with it, Brimah doesn't have that issue. I seem to recall Hasheem being a rim protector from day one though. Brimah shows a knack for blocking shots, but Hasheem got to everything.

I agree that Thabeet is a better defender as Brimah gets pushed around a lot and needs to rebound better, but if you look at their blocks divided by minutes played Brimah actually has a better ratio.

Thabeet's freshman year he had 118 blocks in 762.6 minutes.....Blocks / minutes = .15
Brimah has 52 blocks in 298 minutes.....Blocks / minutes =.17

Brimah blocks a higher percentage of shots on a per minute basis.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I agree that Thabeet is a better defender as Brimah gets pushed around a lot and needs to rebound better, but if you look at their blocks divided by minutes played Brimah actually has a better ratio.

Thabeet's freshman year he had 118 blocks in 762.6 minutes.....Blocks / minutes = .15
Brimah has 52 blocks in 298 minutes.....Blocks / minutes =.17

Brimah blocks a higher percentage of shots on a per minute basis.

The difference you pointed out is basically negligible. I also recall that after a certain point in the season teams basically stopped trying to get in the lane.

 

[Gringo]

The difference you pointed out is basically negligible. I also recall that after a certain point in the season teams basically stopped trying to get in the lane.

Agreed it's not a huge difference. If Brimah played Thabeet's minutes at the same block rate he currently has he would end up with 133 blocks or 15 more than Thabeet.

 

[Brochacho]

Thabeet junior year team brings home a banner in many other years. Better squad than 2010 Duke, 2011 UConn, 2012 Kentucky (kind of close), and 2013 Louisville. Eye-ball test wise Thabeet was better as a freshman. Statistically I'd take Brimah, however.

So I guess as a secondary question to this thread: how far do you think a Brimah team will make it in the tournament? If everybody is around his junior year, I think we are talking about the championship.

 

[Huskybass]

I like watching Brimah play far more than I liked watching Thabeet play. He is just more athletic and plays with great passion. Thabeet was very good at UConn by his junior year, but has done virtually nothing in the NBA. I think Brimah will blossom and have a nice NBA career. He will also be a beast at UConn a year or two from now.

 

[Hoophound]

I'm with the Brimah group. I think Hash was a little more effective at this point but Brimah has better instincts and fundamentals. Primarily, Brimah can actually shoot the ball. I can see him blossoming into a guy that not only blocks shots, rebounds and disrupts to a guy that also shoots 75% from the line and consistently makes short jump shots. He has a lot of tools. With a guy like him, it is all about playing minutes and going to big man camp. Nothing can stop him if he is committed to being great. Really excited to have him.

On another note, Nolan isn't half bad either and he's only a sophomore. Lots of potential in our young front court. We just have to remember that they are, in fact, young.

 

[Huskybass]

Wow, people forget how great Thabeet was for us. Might be the most underrated player we've ever had.

Best player on one of our best teams ever. Brimah's ceiling IS Thabeet!

If you think Brimah's ceiling is being a complete bust in the NBA, you are sadly mistaken. He has the potential to be so much better than that if he works hard and stays healthy.

 

[Pmurph678]

If you think Brimah's ceiling is being a complete bust in the NBA, you are sadly mistaken. He has the potential to be so much better than that if he works hard and stays healthy.

I was referring to his Uconn career. As for the NBA I think Brimah's ceiling is a backup NBA center.

 

[Huskybass]

I was referring to his Uconn career. As for the NBA I think Brimah's ceiling is a backup NBA center.

Fair enough. Thabeet was pretty dominant at the college level. I would be very happy with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks per game from Brimah in a couple of years. I do think, however, that Brimah will be a far better Pro than Thabeet based on his athleticism, motor, and passion for the game.

 

[Inyatkin]

The difference you pointed out is basically negligible. I also recall that after a certain point in the season teams basically stopped trying to get in the lane.

This was huge. You'd see guards turn the corner at the top of the key and stop in their tracks once they caught sight of him in there.
To the bigger point, I'd take Thabeet as a freshman, and if people think Brimah will be better in the long run you're betting that he turns into a truly special player. He's a long way from that.

 

[Huskybass]

This was huge. You'd see guards turn the corner at the top of the key and stop in their tracks once they caught sight of him in there.
To the bigger point, I'd take Thabeet as a freshman, and if people think Brimah will be better in the long run you're betting that he turns into a truly special player. He's a long way from that.

I think Brimah can be a very special player. I doubt any other Freshman center to play for UConn has ever had a game like Brimah's 20 point, 8 rebound, 5 block effort. As great as Okafor was as a junior, I doubt he ever had a stat line like that as a freshman.