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JC on Oriakhi

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I agree with the article- Oriakhi may not see much time on the floor tomorrow because of UA's up-tempo 3 guard line-up. UConn has got to take care of the ball. Even though Calhoun acknowledges that AO had a good game in a losing effort against UCF, it was a combination of turnovers, and panic that lost that game, not Alex. Arkansas has a depleted line-up, but they still press and run. If we don't take care of the ball and cut down on turnovers, we could be in for a long night. This is where our 3-guard line-up really has to step up. RB really can take some pressure off of 'Bazz by assuming the point, and having SN and JL at the 2 and three. 16 turnovers a game isn't going to cut it!
 

UConnSwag11

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Yeah Last 2 years AO was the only big man. Now we have two and we can't have them both together against certain teams
 
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The funny thing is he seemed to be all for Drummond committing here. He announced Drummond's announcement, lol.
 

nomar

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In a million years AO didn't see Olander beating him out for playing time.

Frankly, as happy as I am with Tyler's development, I don't understand why he was playing instead of Alext against FSU. If Alex was injured, that's one thing. But Tyler couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
 
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In a million years AO didn't see Olander beating him out for playing time.

Frankly, as happy as I am with Tyler's development, I don't understand why he was playing instead of Alext against FSU. If Alex was injured, that's one thing. But Tyler couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

I think the one thing that TO brings when Drummond is manning the center position is that he is much more fluid in his movement, whether it's showing at the top of the key or drawing the defender out when he's facing the basket from about 15 feet out.

Alex is still having trouble making shots consistently when close to the basket and breaking his man down from 15 feet away.

We all saw what AO brings to a team, a NC team. And I agree that AO just needs more time out there (i.e. the FSU game).
 
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Yeah Last 2 years AO was the only big man. Now we have two and we can't have them both together against certain teams

Charles Okwandu?

On many ocassions, I felt a lot of AO's success was a direct result of Okwandu softening up opponet's bigs that allowed AO to put up numbers that were not commensurate of his talent at that particular juncture.

Think Butler game.
 
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the fact is what time AO has had in there he has looked terrible for the most part. he has not improved offensively at all,his defense isnt the greatest and his rebounding has digressed. i can live with AD,TO,DD,JL,SN as the starting lineup when the big east play starts.
 
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No matter what we won't go far without a productive AO. He's got to find his way back to the court, I have faith in him. Too much experience, talent and strength to be sitting on the bench for long periods of time. He also needs to play better with AD as the PF. With those two playing well down low we easily become a repeat contender.
 
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No matter what we won't go far without a productive AO. He's got to find his way back to the court, I have faith in him. Too much experience, talent and strength to be sitting on the bench for long periods of time. He also needs to play better with AD as the PF. With those two playing well down low we easily become a repeat contender.

i can not agree more with this. if AO dedicates himself to playing solid D,rebounding and accepts being the second option in the post and looks for his points on the offensive boards he`ll be terrific. i think he sees himself as the #1 option in the post but his offensive game just isnt good enough and he needs to accept that and do the things he does best.
 
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In a million years AO didn't see Olander beating him out for playing time.

Frankly, as happy as I am with Tyler's development, I don't understand why he was playing instead of Alext against FSU. If Alex was injured, that's one thing. But Tyler couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
I get where you're coming from, but at the same time TO has been really nice moving the ball in the half-court this year. AO is a bit of a black hole.
 

TRest

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i can not agree more with this. if AO dedicates himself to playing solid D,rebounding and accepts being the second option in the post and looks for his points on the offensive boards he`ll be terrific. i think he sees himself as the #1 option in the post but his offensive game just isnt good enough and he needs to accept that and do the things he does best.
He has the only hook shot I have ever seen with no arc on it.
 
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Charles Okwandu?

On many ocassions, I felt a lot of AO's success was a direct result of Okwandu softening up opponet's bigs that allowed AO to put up numbers that were not commensurate of his talent at that particular juncture.

Think Butler game.

I've read a lot of crazy things on the Boneyard - heck, I've posted some crazy things. But this takes the cake. I was a huge Chuck fan, but tell me you're joking here.

AO's success was a direct result of AO being a beast against a lot of tough teams.
 

jleves

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I've read a lot of crazy things on the Boneyard - heck, I've posted some crazy things. But this takes the cake. I was a huge Chuck fan, but tell me you're joking here.

AO's success was a direct result of AO being a beast against a lot of tough teams.
Considering Chuck averaged 15 minutes, can you imagine the softening that would have occured if he could play 20 or 25 minutes? The other team would look like this:
BonelessChickenFarm.jpg
 
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How many pts has TO cost us with those foul line air-balls ??????????
 
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Every time I read criticisms about AO, constructive or baseless, I just keep thinking Butler! We all saw his ability and intensity illustrated in that championship game when he took over the game in the trenches. Just keep up the solid encouragement; the Butler AO will return.
 
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AMEN TO THE FACT THAT AO IS AN IMPORTANT COG TO OUR SUCCESS THIS YEAR. WHEN AO ACCEPTS HIS ROLE WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN LAST YEAR, THE HUSKIES WILL ROLL.
 
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Every time I read criticisms about AO, constructive or baseless, I just keep thinking Butler! We all saw his ability and intensity illustrated in that championship game when he took over the game in the trenches. Just keep up the solid encouragement; the Butler AO will return.

True he was beastly in that game but Butler players are chumps. The media was talking about how the Butler front court had an advantge on the UConn front court and I was laughing so hard because I knew Butler was awful. I don't know if we'll see AO be that good this year because Drummond has the ball in the post now, and Alex doesn't know how to play at the 4, and doesn't know how to move without the ball like Olander. Hopefully, I am proven wrong, but Roscoe and Olander are better suited for this team I believe. They are more mobile and fluid in their games, and can play off the ball.
 
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In a million years AO didn't see Olander beating him out for playing time.

Frankly, as happy as I am with Tyler's development, I don't understand why he was playing instead of Alext against FSU. If Alex was injured, that's one thing. But Tyler couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

TO works his but off all the time. JC loves that work ethic and will reward, but with a quick hook if needed. With JC you earn time in practice.
 

ctchamps

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In the FSU game, TO had his worst outing this season. He missed most of his shots and uncharacteristically he had two errant passes. But he always was in the position on the floor that JC expected from his four. This was not the case for AO.

Twice, I observed AO being lost on the floor and in both cases, when he went to the bench, JC spent time describing to Alex, where he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to be doing.

Tyler knew what he was doing but didn't execute it well. AO struggled with both execution and understanding his role. There wasn't a lack of effort on the part of AO, as far as I could determine. Just an absolute screw up. And the game was too tight and important to let AO work himself out of it.
 
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The best way to improve any player's confidence is to have him play meaningful minutes. Giving AO only 10 minutes will not improve his confidence. As much as TO has improved, I think he still has a long way to go in order to match the toughness, rebounding and D that AO brings.To state the obvious here, IMO. JC needs to get AO more court time starting today and AO needs to step up and show he deserves that time.
 

ctchamps

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The best way to improve any player's confidence is to have him play meaningful minutes. Giving AO only 10 minutes will not improve his confidence. As much as TO has improved, I think he still has a long way to go in order to match the toughness, rebounding and D that AO brings.To state the obvious here, IMO. JC needs to get AO more court time starting today and AO needs to step up and show he deserves that time.
The dilemma is that JC has to divide his focus between developing the team long term and winning current games. It's easy for us to sit after the game and bandy about ideas that we believe will benefit the team. It's different over the course of a real game, where, if we were the coach and implementing our ideas, we would experience whether our ideas are correct or not and held accountable if we failed.

With that said, I believe AO's development gives this team a better chance of doing well in the future. And I agree with you. AO performing at maximum is a much better player than TO performing at maximum.

I believe JC is correct, AO's confidence is his problem. It's a lot of players problems. It explains why a kid can hit free throws in practice and not in games. But most players can be active on the court when they struggle with particular skills. AO almost becomes catatonic. There is a reason why people say he disappears. And JC does not always have the luxury of nursing AO through it. He didn't have that opportunity in the FSU game imo, a game that could be very important for UConn come NCAA time.
 

ctchamps

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The best way to improve any player's confidence is to have him play meaningful minutes. Giving AO only 10 minutes will not improve his confidence. As much as TO has improved, I think he still has a long way to go in order to match the toughness, rebounding and D that AO brings.To state the obvious here, IMO. JC needs to get AO more court time starting today and AO needs to step up and show he deserves that time.
As an aside, I saw the movie Hugo yesterday. It certainly isn't a movie for everyone. But as a fan of silent movies, George Melies, and one who loves visual effects, I thought the 3D version of this movie was terrific.
 
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I meant to post this the other day but forgot. Remember during the summer Alex chose to stay in Storrs instead playing for one of the summer (USA teams?) teams? Well I wonder if that experience would have been better for his development compared to whatever he did during that time. Seems whenever our best players play for these types of summer teams they improve dramatically. Kemba and lamb are two such examples.

There's little argument that this team will be at their best if Alex and Roscoe can rediscover their 2012 post season form. The two brought it, especially during that Butler game. All three (adding Tyler here) bring different things to our front court, giving JC a lot of flexibility to match-up and keep the energy and level of play high. That can only happen if they're each doing what they can do best.

OA - What he does: Physical play on both ends of the floor. What he needs to do: Get back to doing what he does best. He also needs to work on squaring his body to the basket when shooting the ball. He still has the bad habit of throwing it up there off balance and with his body at bad angles to the hoop. You'll notice that when he's square, he's finishes more often. He seemed to do that early this season, but has gotten away from it again.

RS - What he does: Adds energy and length on D, some jump shooting and attacking the rim from the baseline. What he needs to do: Like OA, he needs to get back to doing what he does best at the level he did late last season. He's a better jump shooter than he's shown this season. He was very good in HS but seems to have lost confidence in his J. I wonder if he's a rhythm shooter who struggles now that his role doesn't give him the green light to fire away all game long. I'd like to see him improve his handle and be more aggressive catching the ball near the baseline and attacking the rim from there. He's a lot stronger now, but seems to have the guts or skill to catch the ball and if the space is there, drive it right to the basket, without running someone over or traveling along the way. He seems to get at least one bad traveling call each game that gets him a quick trip back to the bench. He and Alex need to do whatever it takes to improve their play around the basket. Both should be cleaning up the glass a lot better than they are. If they can add just a 2 to 3 more clean-up type baskets a game, this team will be all the more dangerous.

TO - What he does: Not as athletic as the other two, but makes up for it with how hard he works. He's not a bad athlete. He runs the floor well and is very good at finding the open space on the floor, catching the ball and shooting it. He's also the better passer of the 3. What he needs to do: He's shot the ball well most of the season. FSU game was clearly his worst game. Tyler needs to continue to work on his midrange shooting. IMO, AO and RS at their best can be more dominating players, but Tyler brings plenty to the court that deserves PT.

Having all 3 sharing time at the 4, plus Alex sliding over to the 5 and playing well there, is what this team needs to repeat at NCs. They need at least 2 of these 3 playing at a high level. Right now we're getting a lot of Tyler, but not much from the other two.
 
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