James Akinjo and Emmitt Mathews | Page 4 | The Boneyard

James Akinjo and Emmitt Mathews

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JimOllie said:
We do NOT want Larrier back. He's not a winning player, turnover machine, awful decision making. Sid Wilson will be twice the player Larrier will ever be.
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He's by far the best shooter on this year's roster and in the roster previously cited for next year, would be again and that's with poor offensive strategy at the moemnt.

He is a great spot of up shooter who is automatic when in rhythm. He and the coach need to get on the same page so that he stops trying to force the issue and does more work off ball to get open since his weakness is ballhandling when trying to separate with the ball in hand.
 
Storrs South said:
his weakness is ballhandling when trying to separate with the ball in hand.
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That's putting it mildly. He's pretty much automatic for separating himself from the ball in that situation.
 
Storrs South said:
He's by far the best shooter on this year's roster and in the roster previously cited for next year, would be again and that's with poor offensive strategy at the moemnt.

He is a great spot of up shooter who is automatic when in rhythm. He and the coach need to get on the same page so that he stops trying to force the issue and does more work off ball to get open since his weakness is ballhandling when trying to separate with the ball in hand.
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He needs to dribble far less than DD did, and DD really shouldn't have been doing much handling at all.

He's a guy you have stand in the corner on offense. And literally just stay there while Adams and Akinjo run pick and rolls with the big guys. Ideally you put Vital on the other side. that's really hard to defend.

Can't guard Jalen or Akinjo (who is going to need a nickname btw) 4 on 1 anymore.
 
PAHusky said:
96
Jaelin Llewellyn
Video | Scouts Report

PG Lynchburg, VA
Virginia Episcopal School 6'2'' 160 81

PRINCETON
COMMITTED
07/24/2017
97
James Akinjo
Video | Scouts Report

PG Richmond, CA
Salesian High School 6'0'' 170 81

CONNECTICUT
SIGNED


The ranking Akinjo has on espn is 97 - coincidentally one rank lower than the Princeton recruit. I guess I could have said "ranked forty spots lower than a BC recruit" but really I was just going off of the first logo I saw in proximity. Like I said at the beginning of my last post that you cherry picked the Princeton comment from, I like Akinjo and I think he's underrated, but let's not make him out to be some can't miss prospect worthy of keeping a floundering coach around. On to your next specious argument I guess.....
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Who was Scott Hazleton ranked ahead of?
 
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Storrs South said:
He's by far the best shooter on this year's roster and in the roster previously cited for next year, would be again and that's with poor offensive strategy at the moemnt.

He is a great spot of up shooter who is automatic when in rhythm. He and the coach need to get on the same page so that he stops trying to force the issue and does more work off ball to get open since his weakness is ballhandling when trying to separate with the ball in hand.
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The one thing he is good at is spot up shooting. But he doesn't take many spot up shots. They're always contested, fade aways in traffic. I honestly believe we're 100% better of without Larrier next year. He has a bad attitude (said he feels lethargic for the first 10 minutes), plays zero defense (was kicked out of practice for it), can't dribble, can't pass, and has awful shot selection. Give me Sid Wilson all day at the 3 next year.
 
JimOllie said:
The one thing he is good at is spot up shooting. But he doesn't take many spot up shots. They're always contested, fade aways in traffic. I honestly believe we're 100% better of without Larrier next year. He has a bad attitude (said he feels lethargic for the first 10 minutes), plays zero defense (was kicked out of practice for it), can't dribble, can't pass, and has awful shot selection. Give me Sid Wilson all day at the 3 next year.
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I agree he brings other liabilities that at the moment offset his shooting prowess, but if he somehow through coaching or just personal willingness to be better on defense, you could have a poor man's Giffey: someone to spread the floor with the threat of a shooter (which this team has none outside him at the moment).

He is shooting 39% from 3 on the year. The next closest who shoots enough 3s to be worth mentioning is Vital at 32%. UConn needs him unless Vital/Adams miraculously start shooting close to 40% than 30% from 3. His defense is frustrating as are the turnovers, but in the right offense (or more talented team) you don't ask him to create on ball, rather off ball and benefit from efficient shooting without the turnover liability.

UConn will have losing records in back to back seasons. We don't have the luxury of just wishing away talented players in hopes new ones will be as good or better than those currently in the fold instead trying to make both the new and old work would be the best option (if presented).
 
Storrs South said:
but if he somehow through coaching or just personal willingness to be better on defense.
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His defense is abysmal, and at this point in his career I'd have a hard time believing he is going to flip a switch one day and commit to being better at it.
 
Chief00 said:
Using the Blaze profile - he is our guy.
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Chief honestly, no one cares about the Blaze strategy. If the Blaze strategy is to recruit good basketball players who can shoot and play D, please explain why it took KO four years to figure that out? Have KO and Chill shown enough to trust their talent evaluations over those of the recruiting services and, perhaps more damning, those of the other coaches? Please stop waiving away our failures in recruiting by imploring us to recruit a "strategy" that's as opaque as Andre Drummond's travel plans.

Blaze is a cute little moniker. It's a way for KO to save face after going after the blue chip recruits and failing to land any of them to the detriment of us taking lower ranked kids who actually wanted to come here. Again, this isn't to denigrate any of our recruits - I like them all and think they'll be good college players, but a team with this dearth of talent needs more than role players year after year, especially since the last few recruiting classes haven't panned out, to put it mildly
 
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PAHusky said:
96
Jaelin Llewellyn
Video | Scouts Report

PG Lynchburg, VA
Virginia Episcopal School 6'2'' 160 81

PRINCETON
COMMITTED
07/24/2017
97
James Akinjo
Video | Scouts Report

PG Richmond, CA
Salesian High School 6'0'' 170 81

CONNECTICUT
SIGNED


The ranking Akinjo has on espn is 97 - coincidentally one rank lower than the Princeton recruit. I guess I could have said "ranked forty spots lower than a BC recruit" but really I was just going off of the first logo I saw in proximity. Like I said at the beginning of my last post that you cherry picked the Princeton comment from, I like Akinjo and I think he's underrated, but let's not make him out to be some can't miss prospect worthy of keeping a floundering coach around. On to your next specious argument I guess.....
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I never debated the factuality of your statement. But you’ve made it clear that you want to frame said facts to make Akinjo as undesirable as possible.
 
Stairmaster said:
I never debated the factuality of your statement. But you’ve made it clear that you want to frame said facts to make Akinjo as undesirable as possible.
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He's ranked higher on ESPN than he is on rivals (112) and 247 (106), so my choosing ESPN actually paints him in a good light. Again, I'm not arguing that he's not a good player and that I'd love to see him running the point for us next year. But to act like we have to entertain the idea of keeping KO around so we don't lose a recruiting class of this caliber is laughable. The princeton recruit mention was a fact I thought warranted mention as, a few years ago, it would be almost unfathomable that an ivy league school was pulling in kids ranked higher than anyone in UConn's class.
 
I guess the question is if KO goes then these recruits will definitely go elsewhere? That leaves us in purgatory until we can climb our way back but aren't we there already? We are 300+ ranked in 3 point shooting and assists and we are constantly getting blown out. So without those recruits we will be worse next year?
 
PAHusky said:
He's ranked higher on ESPN than he is on rivals (112) and 247 (106), so my choosing ESPN actually paints him in a good light. Again, I'm not arguing that he's not a good player and that I'd love to see him running the point for us next year. But to act like we have to entertain the idea of keeping KO around so we don't lose a recruiting class of this caliber is laughable. The princeton recruit mention was a fact I thought warranted mention as, a few years ago, it would be almost unfathomable that an ivy league school was pulling in kids ranked higher than anyone in UConn's class.
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Didn’t Princeton just beat out ALABAMA football for a qb recruit?
 
PAHusky said:
He's ranked higher on ESPN than he is on rivals (112) and 247 (106), so my choosing ESPN actually paints him in a good light. Again, I'm not arguing that he's not a good player and that I'd love to see him running the point for us next year. But to act like we have to entertain the idea of keeping KO around so we don't lose a recruiting class of this caliber is laughable. The princeton recruit mention was a fact I thought warranted mention as, a few years ago, it would be almost unfathomable that an ivy league school was pulling in kids ranked higher than anyone in UConn's class.
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Princeton will pull in a kid who wants to be a doctor over Uconn every day. Akinjo was offered scholarships by Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, California, among many others. Rivals rankings are one guide....look at Polley who was rated over Carlton for example...the guy is going to be a very good PG at this level.
 
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For me, the sad part of this is that a couple of quotes from 17/18 year olds who aren't even part of the team have given the fan base a more positive outlook than the coach or AD
 
Storrs South said:
I agree he brings other liabilities that at the moment offset his shooting prowess, but if he somehow through coaching or just personal willingness to be better on defense, you could have a poor man's Giffey: someone to spread the floor with the threat of a shooter (which this team has none outside him at the moment).

He is shooting 39% from 3 on the year. The next closest who shoots enough 3s to be worth mentioning is Vital at 32%. UConn needs him unless Vital/Adams miraculously start shooting close to 40% than 30% from 3. His defense is frustrating as are the turnovers, but in the right offense (or more talented team) you don't ask him to create on ball, rather off ball and benefit from efficient shooting without the turnover liability.

UConn will have losing records in back to back seasons. We don't have the luxury of just wishing away talented players in hopes new ones will be as good or better than those currently in the fold instead trying to make both the new and old work would be the best option (if presented).
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I like your post but I think he wouldn't play that role willingly. The only positive about him is he can spot up and make open shots. One rotten apple will spoil the others.
 
the Q said:
Didn’t Princeton just beat out ALABAMA football for a qb recruit?
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Yeah, and who would want to be the basketball equivalent of Alabama football?
 
Chief00 said:
I hope we keep these two Blaze certified recruits.
I think people are making a mistake if they don’t understand how Blaze changed everything and regardless of what happens at the end of the season, we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
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That means Ollie has to stay correct? If Ollie goes so do Chill and Kill or am I mistaken on that?
 
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Madmannsucks said:
Exactly. Look at who these guys have offers from to see how good they really are.
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1. rankings are no the be all, end all, but it's tough to deny that players that are more highly ranked tend to pan out at a better rate than those who aren't
2. Has KO shown that he has a good eye for talent?
3. Has KO shown that he can develop unheralded talent?
 
PAHusky said:
He's ranked higher on ESPN than he is on rivals (112) and 247 (106), so my choosing ESPN actually paints him in a good light. Again, I'm not arguing that he's not a good player and that I'd love to see him running the point for us next year. But to act like we have to entertain the idea of keeping KO around so we don't lose a recruiting class of this caliber is laughable. The princeton recruit mention was a fact I thought warranted mention as, a few years ago, it would be almost unfathomable that an ivy league school was pulling in kids ranked higher than anyone in UConn's class.
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He's 95 on the 247 composite.

Princeton by the way just beat Alabama for a top QB recruit.

The Friars grabbed Gerard Coleman 40+ spots before Shabazz and Jeremy Lamb.

Or Iona grabbing a guy 7 spots before Boatright.
 
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I went back 4 years on espn rankings and the top 30 mostly turn out to be good college players. After 30 it's much more of a crap shoot. I'm in the camp that says we don't have keep KO because these two recruits are too valuable to lose. His recruiting might be part of the reason to fire him. Lastly, I see so many lineups for next year that have Gilbert starting. I would write that in pencil. I hope for the best but we need to prepare for alternatives.
 
QDOG5 said:
That means Ollie has to stay correct? If Ollie goes so do Chill and Kill or am I mistaken on that?
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Ollie goes, everybody goes.
 
QDOG5 said:
I went back 4 years on espn rankings and the top 30 mostly turn out to be good college players. After 30 it's much more of a crap shoot. I'm in the camp that says we don't have keep KO because these two recruits are too valuable to lose. His recruiting might be part of the reason to fire him. Lastly, I see so many lineups for next year that have Gilbert starting. I would write that in pencil. I hope for the best but we need to prepare for alternatives.
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Coincidentally, most of the top projection metrics use top 30 freshman as the cutoff for freshman year production relevance.
 
Matthews judging by the article seems committed to UCONN and not strictly to Kevin Ollie which is good because I like Matthews game.

Akinjo is more 50/50 but can be persuaded by a good incoming hire to stay.

Whatever their decision, these guys are not can't miss prospects that are worth keeping Ollie around for.

PS: One of the main requirements for our next head coach will be ability to bring in good players right away and recruit well.
 
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