I will admit Brimah is not as far along as I had hoped | Page 2 | The Boneyard

I will admit Brimah is not as far along as I had hoped

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I believe the majority of Amida's deficiencies stem from his lack of physical strength. His rim protection is elite, but he consistently is outmuscled on the low block, both on offense and defense. That, combined with him trying to block every shot, even those he has no chance at, have led to his putrid rebounding numbers for a 7 footer.

It's easy to use last offseason as an excuse, but it may be a legitimate one. That is the time of year where most players work on their bodies, and Brimah is in desperate need of weight. If he can put on 10-15 pounds this offseason, I believe that will tremendously improve some of his weaknesses.

There's still a lot to like with Brimah. He's 7 feet tall, mobile for his size, ranked first in the country in block% and fourth in true shooting%. Considering that he's only been playing basketball for a handful of years, that's impressive. He certainly has his weaknesses, but he's got discernible skills to build around. He just needs to put in the work on his body to be able to bang in the low post.
 
jfuchs91 said:
I believe the majority of Amida's deficiencies stem from his lack of physical strength. His rim protection is elite, but he consistently is outmuscled on the low block, both on offense and defense. That, combined with him trying to block every shot, even those he has no chance at, have led to his putrid rebounding numbers for a 7 footer.

It's easy to use last offseason as an excuse, but it may be a legitimate one. That is the time of year where most players work on their bodies, and Brimah is in desperate need of weight. If he can put on 10-15 pounds this offseason, I believe that will tremendously improve some of his weaknesses.

There's still a lot to like with Brimah. He's 7 feet tall, mobile for his size, ranked first in the country in block% and fourth in true shooting%. Considering that he's only been playing basketball for a handful of years, that's impressive. He certainly has his weaknesses, but he's got discernible skills to build around. He just needs to put in the work on his body to be able to bang in the low post.
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See I think that his biggest deficiency is lack of court awareness. If you put 20 lb of pure muscle and strength on him I still think he makes the same mistakes. I'm hoping in 2 years the combination of strength and experience makes all the difference.
 
I'd rather have a couple PFs a half of a foot shorter that know they have to fight for rebounds than Brimah. Brimah should transfer to a school that needs help on their mens volleyball frontline.
 
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Maybe I am wrong, but the sophomore year for UConn players seems to become a toxic mess. Kemba regressed as a soph, many folks on this board were critical of Bazz after his soph, Omar...nuf said. These are just a few near term examples. The point is that there is a huge difference as a Jr. I am hoping Amida puts the work in and gets to the next level by Fall 2015. We may need to all chip in a few ducketts to send him to Hakeem The Dream camp tho ;)
 
He just needs to make boxing out and rebounding his priority. Team defense has to improve for Brimah to stay home. Our 2 guards get beat off the dribble regularly leaving Brimah to step up and challenge the shot. Brimah needs to get better and our defense needs to get better.
 
UConn990411 said:
Kemba did not regress his sophomore year.
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And neither did Amida.

Yet the fanbase (now w/ Amida, and at the time with Kemba) acted like both guys were wild, unplayable disappointments.
 
UConnWingman said:
I'd rather have a couple PFs a half of a foot shorter that know they have to fight for rebounds than Brimah. Brimah should transfer to a school that needs help on their mens volleyball frontline.
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Troll alert! AB struggled at the end of the year against good big front lines. Give the kid a full off season to get some strength and work on his post moves and positioning. He does have skills including good feet, and decent shot.
 
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Put his dorm bed in the cafe and throw a hoop in there and make that boy eat.... He has to learn to make contact right before he goes up for a shot and not cause him to throw up a fading hook... The coaches see his weaknesses and they will be worked on... I believe Brimah has good work ethic & strives to reach goals and for that reason I have no doubt he will improve greatly in the offseason...
 
Alum86 said:
He is horrific on offense and cannot rebound. Bottom line. We played much better without him tonight. The smooth bigs from ASU ate his lunch
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Dude, we lost. We actually need him at times in games.
 
Elite rim protection but at what cost?

Fouls, rebounding, being out of position?

Blocks are a statistic that everyone eats up and has the implication that high blocks equal a great defender.

Couldn't be further from the truth.

For all the good he does when he protects the rim, a lot of the time that comes at the expense of things that kill us.

Gotta hope he gets better because he's the best big we have.
 
He was a great find. His skills are growing, but his repertoire is small and got solved in conference. He has not got coaches green light to try other moves on game, so far. He gives up rebounding position to protect the rim, but he could be better at offensive rebounding.
We will be back sstrong. Surgeries in theoff-season and in season injuries kept us from doing better, but we were a few close loses away despite that. 10 toes in.
 
jfuchs91 said:
I believe the majority of Amida's deficiencies stem from his lack of physical strength. His rim protection is elite, but he consistently is outmuscled on the low block, both on offense and defense. That, combined with him trying to block every shot, even those he has no chance at, have led to his putrid rebounding numbers for a 7 footer.

It's easy to use last offseason as an excuse, but it may be a legitimate one. That is the time of year where most players work on their bodies, and Brimah is in desperate need of weight. If he can put on 10-15 pounds this offseason, I believe that will tremendously improve some of his weaknesses.

There's still a lot to like with Brimah. He's 7 feet tall, mobile for his size, ranked first in the country in block% and fourth in true shooting%. Considering that he's only been playing basketball for a handful of years, that's impressive. He certainly has his weaknesses, but he's got discernible skills to build around. He just needs to put in the work on his body to be able to bang in the low post.
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I agree and would like to expand further as to why I do.

I would never question Amida's effort level since he always seems to put it all out there, but the moment someone on the opposing team puts a body on him it doesn't matter. How many times have we seen him set up his boxing out position just to have someone put the slightest bodying up on him and bounce him out of the way while they get the rebound? I'm all of 5'9", 180 (wait! I mean 6'5", 250) and I'm pretty sure I could bump him out of the way for a board.

We never seem to see him sky for a board either as it seems any contact makes it hard for him to properly elevate, thusly it seems most of his rebounds are collected at shoulder or even hip level when with his natural height he should be head and shoulders above most guys. The kids base is just too insubstantial to body up with anybody bigger than him banging down low. A lot of people on here say his positioning sucks or that its his instincts, and to a degree I'd agree, but I've also seen him gain position only to lose it the second the opposition sidles up to him and puts their weight into him. In traffic he just can't keep his ground. Hell, half the time its DHam doing just that to beat him to a rebound.

As to solutions: identifying when to commit to the block and when to box out are priority #1, as leaving that weak side rebounding position wide open has been pretty detrimental to the team's ability to rebound (no wonder we haven't seen them run as much as we've all hoped this year), even if it means we lose out on some of that head game impact stuff having a shot blocker back there has for opposing offenses. Second to that is a full off season of eating and strength conditioning until he resembles Lubin more than Slender Man. And lastly they should just make him walk like a crab everywhere he goes until his frame adopts that stance instinctually.
 
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Matrim55 said:
And neither did Amida.

Yet the fanbase (now w/ Amida, and at the time with Kemba) acted like both guys were wild, unplayable disappointments.
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Kemba's 2nd half of his soph season was a transformation into what we were going to see for the year after. He got it big time as the 2nd half of the season turned, and it was obvious. I doubt anyone would ever compare Kemba's soph season to that of AB.
 
BFieldHusky said:
How much he progresses is the key to our season next year IMO. Purvis and Hamilton are going to be studs. Adams will have his moments, and will struggle early in the year. If Amida can become a solid OVERALL big man we will be a great team. If he continues to be who he is, we will struggle to make the tournament.
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This sounds a lot like what was said going into this season. Purvis is talented but low basketball IQ and Dham ill give you has a ton of game and should be our best player next year. Other than Dham everyone else is a question mark. This team is filled with far too many IF players. One thing does give me some hope though. in the last 5 years we missed the tourney as punishment for violations,missed the tourney outright and got bounced out in the first round when pre season expectations were pretty high. In the other two years not much was expected and we one national titles.
 
Matrim55 said:
This thread turned into a dumpster fire.
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Outside of one or two posts that contributed nothing but the posters venom towards AB I thought this was a thread that offered a lot of substantive contributions regarding AB's play and what might be the solutions for him in the future.

Pointing out weaknesses and possible solutions is a valuable endeavor. I felt a lot of posters like the kid and want to see him do well. I would give this thread an A for constructive criticism. @Stairmaster addressed the poster whose post had nothing to contribute other than being offensive.
 
Let's just relax for a while. He's got some obvious weaknesses, but is a game changing defender. He's already pretty damn valuable for a sophomore and he hasn't had an offseason where he can actively train and develop his post game.

No matter how bad your attitude has became this year, it doesn't change the fact that any team in the country would be lucky to have Amida Brimah for his junior or senior year.

The reactionary ____ people spew out in these forums is ridiculous. The result isn't going to be great every year, and when the going gets tough, spoiling on your own kids is flat out pathetic.
 
I thought Brimah was going to be a better offensive player than Thabeet. I have since change my mind. His inability to rebound has really hurt his offensive production. I am still hopeful that will continue to improve both offensively and defensively and be a very important player for us the next two years.
 
Tdaley said:
I thought Brimah was going to be a better offensive player than Thabeet. I have since change my mind. His inability to rebound has really hurt his offensive production. I am still hopeful that will continue to improve both offensively and defensively and be a very important player for us the next two years.
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Has Thabeet ever even attempted a faceup midrange shot before? Let alone a turnaround jumper??? The only thing Thabeet does better than Brimah even now is get position.
 
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Players that are the best rebounders either clear people out, move when the ball is in the air (Hamilton) and/or anticipate where the ball may come off (Hamilton). Brimah does none of these things. If he has the reach and leaping ability to block shots, then he can certainly grab rebounds at or above the rim. Getting stronger may actually help him more on the offensive side of the ball. If you watch him in isolation, he literally stands still when the ball is in the air. Most often he isn't aggressively boxed out out, he simply is standing behind the opponent and does nothing to find a space; he is in bad position over and over again. Strength is less of an issue than his lack of movement.

I acknowledge that you can better your rebounding position with strength, but movement is critical.
 
Look when Kemba did as a junior- enough said amiright? Let's see how he plays. I predict KO has some big plans for the guy. And I know in those plans there's the lesson of "When to block and... When to box out and rebound."
 
HuskyWarrior611 said:
Has Thabeet ever even attempted a faceup midrange shot before? Let alone a turnaround jumper??? The only thing Thabeet does better than Brimah even now is get position.
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You're kidding right? Thabeet was miles ahead of Brimah in so many areas. Physicality in the post, could score on a lay up, putback because he was strong enough. He moved smarter and commanded a rebound when he got his hands on it. Please don't compare the 2 because unless he makes huge strides, which I am rooting for, the difference in these 2 guys will simply be stated by their NBA draft positions after their junior year. And that won't be close without a quantum leap!
 
g_smith said:
Look when Kemba did as a junior- enough said amiright? Let's see how he plays. I predict KO has some big plans for the guy. And I know in those plans there's the lesson of "When to block and... When to box out and rebound."
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Kemba was really good by the 2nd half of his soph year, the TO's went down the good decisions went up. Not so much for our guy - rebounds went down, fouls went up!
 
What were people's actual expectations of Brimah, anyway?

Athletic kid, great shot blocker and he was somewhat of an offensive threat this year and added a mid range jumper to his quiver... Sure - guy isn't going to take that next step until he learns to NOT foul people all the time- but aside from that area - which is a huge area - he improved across the board. Love to see him get bigger this offseason, refine his jumper and get better at getting into position.
 
mauconnfan said:
You're kidding right? Thabeet was miles ahead of Brimah in so many areas. Physicality in the post, could score on a lay up, putback because he was strong enough. He moved smarter and commanded a rebound when he got his hands on it. Please don't compare the 2 because unless he makes huge strides, which I am rooting for, the difference in these 2 guys will simply be stated by their NBA draft positions after their junior year. And that won't be close without a quantum leap!
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THabeet had almost triple the amount of rebounds
 
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