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

[ctchamps]

This thread turned into a dumpster fire.

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.

 

[RipCity]

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.

 

[Tdaley]

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.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

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.

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.

 

[tennmike]

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.

 

[g_smith]

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."

 

[mauconnfan]

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.

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!

 

[mauconnfan]

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."

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!

 

[Towney007]

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.

 

[sdhusky]

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!

THabeet had almost triple the amount of rebounds

 

[mauconnfan]

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.

Across the board? really? I apologize then because for some reason I thought rebounding counted and thought it helped win. So those 5 rebounds in the last 4 games were much better than I thought, my bad!

 

[Kitaman]

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.

I fell into the UConn 7 footer automatic NBA camp. I also was gullible reading our posters pre-season reports and even worse everyone else's high expectations. Even Superjohn said he may be gone after his sophomore year.

Quite honestly I now only expect him to become a contributing collegiate player (whatever that means) and not an NBA draft or lottery pick. I'm protected cuz if he proves me wrong I'm ecstatic but if he proves me right I'm still feeling good about what he did for our program.

I said in another thread that I have a "prove it to me mindset" right now and will take even a 'little' improvement next season which for me is duplicating his best game performances (minus the 40 point game) of this season by at least 10 games.

Lastly I really don't think he's being challenged enough in practice so he may not be getting good reps. In fact he probably looks like an AA in practice which of course is misleading for him.

 

[Towney007]

Across the board? really? I apologize then because for some reason I thought rebounding counted and thought it helped win. So those 5 rebounds in the last 4 games were much better than I thought, my bad!

Someone needs to shoot you w/a tranq gun. Chill out.

Improving your FT% 8%, adding a block per game more, doubling your scoring and cutting down your foul rate help contribute to winning, too.

 

[huskyniner]

I'm protected cuz if he proves me wrong I'm ecstatic but if he proves me right I'm still feeling good about what he did for our program.

So that makes it okay to completely dump on a college kid playing for your own team?

 

[Towney007]

I fell into the UConn 7 footer automatic NBA camp. I also was gullible reading our posters pre-season reports and even worse everyone else's high expectations. Even Superjohn said he may be gone after his sophomore year.

Quite honestly I now only expect him to become a contributing collegiate player (whatever that means) and not an NBA draft or lottery pick. I'm protected cuz if he proves me wrong I'm ecstatic but if he proves me right I'm still feeling good about what he did for our program.

I said in another thread that I have a "prove it to me mindset" right now and will take even a 'little' improvement next season which for me is duplicating his best game performances (minus the 40 point game) of this season by at least 10 games.

Lastly I really don't think he's being challenged enough in practice so he may not be getting good reps. In fact he probably looks like an AA in practice which of course is misleading for him.

Yeah I guess. I just don't get what reasonable expectations anyone can have for a guy who's basically been playing the game only a few years. What kind of comps are we really even dealing with, here? I mean it's obvious he was a super-athletic wild card they hoped for the best on and all things considered, is a really nice piece to have and still has some upside. I'm just not sure it's reasonable to be comparing him to Thabeet at all.

 

[Kitaman]

So that makes it okay to completely dump on a college kid playing for your own team?

No I was referring to lofty expectations, which I got caught up in. I said nothing about dumping on him, for the record that is not cool, ever.

 

[Towney007]

I mean I keep reading this whole 'he needs to add bulk and muscle.'

He's 230 freaking lbs.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah I guess. I just don't get what reasonable expectations anyone can have for a guy who's basically been playing the game only a few years. What kind of comps are we really even dealing with, here? I mean it's obvious he was a super-athletic wild card they hoped for the best on and all things considered, is a really nice piece to have and still has some upside. I'm just not sure it's reasonable to be comparing him to Thabeet at all.

And I'm good with not comparing him to Thabeet, but shouldn't we expect him to be close by now, I mean close enough to be excited rather than concerned? That was the same as a frosh and jumped up each year nicely.Hey the kid can shoot it a little no doubt, problem is he can't get the shot off enough. Also he makes FT's decently for his soph year - not bad. We knew he could block shots and he makes a difference there no doubt. After that it's really really raw everywhere else. Passing out of the block or anywhere is a chore, rebounding is a chore, defensive footwork has not gotten better except when he is going to block the shot. And understanding when to help is close to clueless. It's only natural to compare these 2 and I'm afraid this is what scares many of us. I would be happy with reasonable improvement but the lack of understanding while making the same mistakes game after game says to me there was little if any improvement.

Maybe it's the soph-to-junior year for him - let's hope so!

 

[mauconnfan]

So that makes it okay to completely dump on a college kid playing for your own team?

Not too many dumping on the kid. Some just stating facts and others wondering why he can't improve in areas which he should. Nothing wrong with that, he's the captain of a high profile program with high expectations.

 

[Towney007]

All i'm saying is that anytime you just plunk chips down on raw athleticism over refined skill, it's a wildcard. I'll readily admit i'm more of a baseball guy than a basketball guy - but gambling on athleticism gives you consistent results 0% of the time. There just isn't much of a comp for him - so saying he's ahead or behind schedule in his development is - I dunno... Just seems presumptuous.

Their development is also inconsistent. I've seen athletic baseball players suck hose for two years and show up in year 3 and all of a sudden be world beaters. You never know. I'm not saying that's the case with Brimah, but again - my point is that you just don't know. That's the risk in those guys...

He made some key improvements - and looks like he's on pace to become a good, solid college player. The rebounding thing is concerning a bit - as it's unusual for a guy in his position, but the shot blocking presence almost makes up for it and if Lubin and Enoch can be what we think they can be and DHam's natural nose for finding the ball - Brimah might not HAVE to be a big rebounder. More than one way to skin the proverbial cat.

 

[Kitaman]

Not too many dumping on the kid. Some just stating facts and others wondering why he can't improve in areas which he should. Nothing wrong with that, he's the captain of a high profile program with high expectations.

Agree 100%. He's too loveable to dump on; the grin, the fun he displays, he does has leadership skills, he's more cheerleader than many posters here, he encourages his teammates, etc,. When he leaves he will certainly be missed and perhaps under appreciated, mainly because of the lofty expectations placed on him.

My question is who is to blame for him appearing so lost out there after two years; particularly in rebounding and offensive production (i.e. assists, picks, points etc.)?

He's a raw diamond but still yet polished. If there was someone that could work with this diamond exclusively he could really shine in the next two years. Practicing with Nolan, Facey, and Lubin doesn't help and we have a bunch of guards on our coaching staff (don't know if that matters but I think it does). He could be a sad story after four years of unrealized potential or maybe he's just too raw and inexperienced to polish in just 4 years. I hope that is not the case.

The kid needs help but he can't do it alone. His ceiling may just be a good college ball player and that's okay if we fans can accept it.

 

[champs99and04]

@Towney007 personally speaking, I'm still a huge Brimah fan and excited to see what he can accomplish over the next 1-2 years. This thread wasn't intended to diminish his improvements as much as it was a commentary on the current state of his game, and whether we expected him to be further along by this juncture.

Overall, he posted a promising sophomore season and made a major jump from where he was as a freshman. My one concern is that he tailed off towards the end of the season, particularly as a rebounder. He does a lot of great things for us, but a lot of the time we're operating at a significant rebounding deficit with him on the court against strong front lines, and that's just not conducive to winning basketball. Everything else - from sharpening his post defense, to fine-tuning his footwork in the post, to eliminating all of the unnecessary fouls - is fixable. But sometimes you watch him play and wonder if he'll ever be a competent rebounder.

 

[Towney007]

Freshman/Sophomore performance dips at the end of a season is a pretty normal thing.

Outside of his rebounding, he made progress virtually everywhere. I think if he can hit the boards better, he could be a really, really good college player - but given some pieces he might not have to be. Of course that's not ideal, but just because one area of his game is lacking doesn't mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater is all i'm saying.

 

[The Funster]

Nolan was crappy on the boards too, worse than Brimah. Nolan should get more heat than Brimah, IMO. Brimah tailed off while Nolan had some kind of resurgence towards the end so he ends up looking better. Yes, Brimah needs to get better, he needs more awareness: when to stay home and when to go for the block but he also needs some help on the blocks. I have more faith that Facey or Lubin can be that guy than I do Nolan. Nolan was the biggest disappointment for me.

 

[jdb50]

Amida has athleticism, that is a great place to start. He needs to develop core and leg strength. When Jake showed up and he was in the post and other teams could not move him for the first time I thought we had a shot to win it all. KAE also helped as he was a winner. AB has to stop trying to block every shot and start to become a rebounding machine. We have a rebounder on staff named Kevin Freeman who hopefully can help him learn positioning, anticipation and the hunger it takes to get 9 to 11 boards a game. AB can shoot free throws , has a jump shot if needed, sets picks, it is the lack of rebounds and leaving his guy to try and block every shot, who then gets a put back that is making him a liability.