Kentan Has Arrived | The Boneyard

Kentan Has Arrived

huuuuuge
 
Question, when did he become a small forward? I feel like 2 weeks ago, we had never seen him make this strong athletic moves down the baseline, and now he's just suddenly become a much more mobile player.

What once was decent put backs and fights for rebounds down low mixed in with a good enough looking 12 foot jumper is suddenly now a pretty diverse set of offensive skills. I really don't know what the hell Ollie has done this last week or so, but I hope it continues, they look like a completely different team and I think FaceTime is the major reason why
 
Kembacity said:
Question, when did he become a small forward? I feel like 2 weeks ago, we had never seen him make this strong athletic moves down the baseline, and now he's just suddenly become a much more mobile player.

What once was decent put backs and fights for rebounds down low mixed in with a good enough looking 12 foot jumper is suddenly now a pretty diverse set of offensive skills. I really don't know what the hell Ollie has done this last week or so, but I hope it continues, they look like a completely different team and I think FaceTime is the major reason why
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I don't think the coaching staff has done anything differently. It takes different players different amounts of time before they can put it all together. Some players never put it together.
 
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His body positioning on rebounds is remarkable. Seems to always be in the right spot. He bailed Amida out a couple of times where it would have been a turnover, but picked up the loose ball for a quick layup. Been a big Facey fan since day 1, glad to see him finally showing off his talents.
 
Great game, and clear at this point this is not a one off. There is no question this team is getting better, and there is also no question that the team has a cieling well above the relatively easy win of last night.

Man, I wish I could go back to the last championship year and redshirt Facey. Given his lack of basketball experience when he came to us, it was always plausible that he would be a guy who would be much much better in years 4 and 5 if we were patient.
 
Kelis Fisher always has the rebounding instinct. Just being bigger this year he has put himself in spots to make plays.

I think a big contribution he has added this year is his ability to defend smaller guards on the perimeter. UConn typically switches on everything, and Kelis Fisher allows them to play a tight perimeter defense. He has decent lateral quickness for his size, and whatever he gives up in speed is made up for with his length. disrupts a lot of any passing lane. To be able to use him against bigs who shoot threes is a huge plus, keeps AB as a rim protector.
 
spudzj6 said:
Kelis Fisher always has the rebounding instinct. Just being bigger this year he has put himself in spots to make plays.

I think a big contribution he has added this year is his ability to defend smaller guards on the perimeter. UConn typically switches on everything, and Kelis Fisher allows them to play a tight perimeter defense. He has decent lateral quickness for his size, and whatever he gives up in speed is made up for with his length. disrupts a lot of any passing lane. To be able to use him against bigs who shoot threes is a huge plus, keeps AB as a rim protector.
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I felt going back a few games this was an area he needed improvement with. Last two games have been a significant upgrade.
 
This is a completely different team than the one that started the season and no, I'm not just talking about the injuries. It's playing crisp, team basketball. It's playing with a philosophy and a purpose on offense and defense when it wasn't playing that way at the beginning of the year. It is fun to watch.
 
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He's looking a lot more like his highlights from high school. Love to see his light on. Temple's front court is weak and we took big advantage of that like we should. He showed amazing execution and discipline last night. He's always been a fan favorite in waiting. Keep it up Kentan! Speak softly but carry a big stick!
 
Kembacity said:
Question, when did he become a small forward? I feel like 2 weeks ago, we had never seen him make this strong athletic moves down the baseline, and now he's just suddenly become a much more mobile player.

What once was decent put backs and fights for rebounds down low mixed in with a good enough looking 12 foot jumper is suddenly now a pretty diverse set of offensive skills. I really don't know what the hell Ollie has done this last week or so, but I hope it continues, they look like a completely different team and I think FaceTime is the major reason why
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Facey always had the ability, just lacked the confidence to do these types of moves in games. Now Ollie is finally having the team get the ball into the post on a consistent basis.
 
Amazing turnaround. It's like he finally figured out the game. Used to be he'd step onto the court and immediately get two fouls.
 
I just looked up Facey's stats. He has played 423 minutes this year vs 444 all last year and his stats are almost identical with a couple of very important differences.

Similar:
Minutes: 423 this year, 444 last year
FGs: 48/82 this year, 47/82 last year.
FG%: 58.5% this year, 57.3% last year.
Rebounds: 114 this year, 127 last year.
Assists: 11 this year, 10 last year.
FT%: 66.7% this year, 65.2% last year.

Different:
FT shots and and attempted: 24/36 this year, 15/23 last year.
Fouls: 36 this year, 74 last year.
Turnovers: 17 this year, 27 last year.

In other words, Facey is scoring FGs and rebounding like he did last year, but he is getting to the FT line more, fouling less, and turning the ball over less. In other words, he has maintained his positive contributions while cutting back on the negatives. Clearly, positive big man development this year, but I wish he had another year to play at UConn.
 
Jax Husky said:
He's better than Brimah. Won't get the blocks, but he's equal on rebounds and far better with the ball in his hands.
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strange to pit these two vs each other since a) they both share the court at the same time and aren't competing for minutes and b) AB has been excellent recently, he deserves similar praise to facey.
 
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King Husky said:
Facey always had the ability, just lacked the confidence to do these types of moves in games. Now Ollie is finally having the team get the ball into the post on a consistent basis.
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If you show it, it will come (basket ball that is).
Kentan always had a good stroke and rebounding instincts. His problem was not knowing where he should be in the scheme of the play. He made progress on offense last season although not nearly to the degree he is now showing. On defense he still lagged. Much improved this season which is fortunate given the injuries and DHam leaving.
 
James said:
strange to pit these two vs each other since a) they both share the court at the same time and aren't competing for minutes and b) AB has been excellent recently, he deserves similar praise to facey.
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Doubt either of them would even get a cup of coffee in the NBA but if you were an NBA scout you would have to be more impressed with the improvement of Kentan and just keep watching in case. Again, he's not that improved but more of the tools seem to be there. His confidence seems to be parlayed with more time on the court, no rope on shooting the ball and also he's much stronger as noted on many of his finishes, both right and left hand.
 
mauconnfan said:
Doubt either of them would even get a cup of coffee in the NBA but if you were an NBA scout you would have to be more impressed with the improvement of Kentan and just keep watching in case. Again, he's not that improved but more of the tools seem to be there. His confidence seems to be parlayed with more time on the court, no rope on shooting the ball and also he's much stronger as noted on many of his finishes, both right and left hand.
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Sure, if you pay attention to one side of the court. I'm not surprised though, the moment i heap praise on AB you come scurrying out of no where lol. Lets just agree that Facey and AB are both playing very prideful basketball all of a sudden and really changing the way the team looks. Facey is looking like an active rebound who is confident with the ball in and around the paint, brimah has been a terror on defensive and pulling down rbs as well.


One thing i've noticed is we are focusing on posting up facey more than AB, which is lovely. AB is better as a 'slip screener' who is available for vertical spacing, a lob every once in a while. He can't set a screen well but he can sprint and beat his man to the rim on a roll. Brimah is fast. Win these next two games and this team is right in the mix and would most likely be a top 45ish team according to kenpom.
 
James said:
Sure, if you pay attention to one side of the court. I'm not surprised though, the moment i heap praise on AB you come scurrying out of no where lol. Lets just agree that Facey and AB are both playing very prideful basketball all of a sudden and really changing the way the team looks. Facey is looking like an active rebound who is confident with the ball in and around the paint, brimah has been a terror on defensive and pulling down rbs as well.


One thing i've noticed is we are focusing on posting up facey more than AB, which is lovely. AB is better as a 'slip screener' who is available for vertical spacing, a lob every once in a while. He can't set a screen well but he can sprint and beat his man to the rim on a roll. Brimah is fast. Win these next two games and this team is right in the mix and would most likely be a top 45ish team according to kenpom.
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Sorry James I was good to AB c'mon:D. This has little to do with your post or AB at all just they are comparable in the fact neither of them were much to watch overall until their senior year. Both deserve their praise this board gives them. Long way to go though and we know how things change.;)
 
Facey has become #1 option and when he puts it up inside the foul line something good is likely to happen. KO would rather have these 60% inside shooters rather than our 30% 3 point shooting and I think he's right. That's how our roster is.
 
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Was re-watching last year's Georgetown game and I was kind of amazed at how different Facey looked last year. Not only is he a completely different player in terms of skill and confidence, but he is also noticeably much larger this year.

Hoping for another good game from him today!
 
OkaForPrez said:
Not on topic, but I just noticed the username @Okafour rings and I have to tip my hat for the superior Okafor pun.
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Thanks very much. I just joined last month and noticed the bevy of clever usernames, and felt I had to match the ingenuity of those on the board. My original thought was Okafour titles, but it was 1 character too long. Now if someone could let me know how to add a photo, I will gladly get one of Emeka.
UConn Class of '80
 
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