Freshman Amida vs. Freshman Thabeet

[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.

 

[Inyatkin]

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.

I don't know, 19-15-9 against Arizona was a pretty good game.
Talk Thabeet if you want, but let's keep Emeka out of this.

 

[Huskybass]

Did Emeka really have 19, 15, and 9 in a game as a freshman? If so, that is amazing. I thought he was more limited offensively in his freshman year.

 

[tcf15]

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.

Andre Drummond had some good games as a freshman, too:
24-8-5 vs. Holy Cross
20-11-3 vs WVU
17-14-3 vs. Syracuse

 

[Huskybass]

Thanks for the Drummond stats. I had forgotten that he scored 20 or more a few times. Even still, that puts Brimah in some pretty select company to have a performance similar to the best of Okafor and Drummond as freshman.

 

[jleves]

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.

Oaks first game vs Vandy: 11 pts, 12 rbs (the site doesn't have blocks)
other double double games of note
@ UMass: 13 pts, 11 rbs
vs Quin: 18 pts, 14 rbs
@Arizona: 19 pts, 15 rbs
vs Pitt: 10 pts, 10 rbs
Vs Hamp: 12 pts, 15 rbs

He put up some clunkers too, but he showed from the very first game we had something special.

For the season: 7.9 pts, 9 rbs, 4.1 blks per game.

Brimah has a chance to be special, but Oak had the most amazing season from a center not known to anyone in a long time.

 

[Inyatkin]

The Arizona game by every account should have been a triple-double -- there were a handful of blocks he didn't get credit for.

 

[David 76]

Time for a logic lesson. The thread is FRESHMAN AB vs FRESHMAN HT
NOT, how good to you guess AB will be at UCONN compared to HT, How good you think AB would be in the NBA vs what HT has done (first AB has to get there).
The debate is meaningless when people keep switching parameters.

HT exceeds Amida in every category. Hasheem played many more minutes. However HT didn't accumulate PFs like AB. So Amida's lower minutes are largely due to his own weakness. But 4 ppg, 2.9 RBs/game and 2.7 blocks/game, while it might excite us for the future, is not stellar.

So freshman to freshman and apples to apples I can not see a case for Amida. If you feel he will be better than HT, great for UCONN. If he even becomes as good, it gives us a lot to look forward to.

 

[Excalibur]

Did Emeka really have 19, 15, and 9 in a game as a freshman? If so, that is amazing. I thought he was more limited offensively in his freshman year.

Yes, against the #10 ranked team in the country on their floor.

 

[ctchamps]

Time for a logic lesson. The thread is FRESHMAN AB vs FRESHMAN HT
NOT, how good to you guess AB will be at UCONN compared to HT, How good you think AB would be in the NBA vs what HT has done (first AB has to get there).
The debate is meaningless when people keep switching parameters.

HT exceeds Amida in every category. Hasheem played many more minutes. However HT didn't accumulate PFs like AB. So Amida's lower minutes are largely due to his own weakness. But 4 ppg, 2.9 RBs/game and 2.7 blocks/game, while it might excite us for the future, is not stellar.

So freshman to freshman and apples to apples I can not see a case for Amida. If you feel he will be better than HT, great for UCONN. If he even becomes as good, it gives us a lot to look forward to.

Obviously many of us live in the present! Check that, many of us live in the future. Ok maybe some of us want to forget our past!

Up to this point there isn't a comparison. HT has superior numbers and had a much greater intimidation factor on the defensive end. I'm hoping this thread gets revisited at the end of the season, AB comes on strong, and ends up validating the majority.

This thread should be divided into two categories. How do they compare up to this point? And will AB jump ahead of HT before this season ends? As of now there is no comparison, HT had a better freshman year than AB is having. We'll see how this season plays out.