KO's strategy worked and he will continue to do more of it

[AfgHusky15]

I was listening to the pregame radio show on the way to the game with Joe D, and KO talked about how he wanted the offense to run through the bigs more. My initial reaction was envisioning a sequence of a guard passing the ball to Amida and Amida fumbling the ball or falling over and thinking this is going to be a disaster. However after watching the game and reviewing the stats (both game and season) it is clear that our most efficient offense runs through our bigs.

As we all know last night was an abysmal shooting performance. UConn shot 32% from the field as a team. However Amida, Facey, and Enoch combined to shoot 8/15 from the field, that is 53%, while the rest of the team shot a combined 9/38, which is 24% from the field. The bigs were twice as efficient as the rest of the team.

Yes it was not pretty. Every time Amida touches the ball in the paint its an adventure. Anytime he touches the ball I am thinking "oh he is going to lose the ball, he's going to lose the ball, he's goi....OH he made the shot!" or "boy that was one ugly post move but hey he drew the foul and got to the line." There is no question that Amida has one of the ugliest post games I have ever witnessed. It is a combination of him having butter fingers, inability to maintain good position or stand his ground even against smaller defenders, and his soccer background that makes him think that it is better to flail his arms in the air and yell "ehhhh!" and jerk his head back as though he got decked by a linebacker as opposed to fighting through contact and trying his best to actually put the ball through the rim even on contact.

But having said all that he is still very efficient on offense (somehow). He is shooting at 62% overall and a lot of his shots are not coming on lob dunks like last year. And he gets to the line quite a bit which is something our guards have failed miserably at.

Its not just this one game but 7 games into the season this how the bigs' shooting compares to the rest of the team:

Season Field Goal %:
Amida: 63%
Kentan: 53%
Enoch: 41%

Rest of the team:

Adams: 50%
Purvis: 36%
Vital: 36%
Jackson: 32%

I thought all 3 bigs played well, especially Facey. The bigs, particularly Amida, did a really good job in getting to the line. They shot 13 free throws while Vital was the only other player on the entire team who got to the line that was not an end of the game run out the clock situation foul.

Hence KO's strategy worked, and going forward the offense needs to feed the bigs even more. In the long run it will get the guards better shots as well.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Is it just me or does Steves foul situation seem to be getting better? He got 3 quick ones last night in the 2nd half which landed him on the bench, but last year he would have gotten 3 in the first half.

 

[tower1]

I was listening to the pregame radio show on the way to the game with Joe D, and KO talked about how he wanted the offense to run through the bigs more. My initial reaction was envisioning a sequence of a guard passing the ball to Amida and Amida fumbling the ball or falling over and thinking this is going to be a disaster. However after watching the game and reviewing the stats (both game and season) it is clear that our most efficient offense runs through our bigs.

As we all know last night was an abysmal shooting performance. UConn shot 32% from the field as a team. However Amida, Facey, and Enoch combined to shoot 8/15 from the field, that is 53%, while the rest of the team shot a combined 9/38, which is 24% from the field. The bigs were twice as efficient as the rest of the team.

Yes it was not pretty. Every time Amida touches the ball in the paint its an adventure. Anytime he touches the ball I am thinking "oh he is going to lose the ball, he's going to lose the ball, he's goi....OH he made the shot!" or "boy that was one ugly post move but hey he drew the foul and got to the line." There is no question that Amida has one of the ugliest post games I have ever witnessed. It is a combination of him having butter fingers, inability to maintain good position or stand his ground even against smaller defenders, and his soccer background that makes him think that it is better to flail his arms in the air and yell "ehhhh!" and jerk his head back as though he got decked by a linebacker as opposed to fighting through contact and trying his best to actually put the ball through the rim even on contact.

But having said all that he is still very efficient on offense (somehow). He is shooting at 62% overall and a lot of his shots are not coming on lob dunks like last year. And he gets to the line quite a bit which is something our guards have failed miserably at.

Its not just this one game but 7 games into the season this how the bigs' shooting compares to the rest of the team:

Season Field Goal %:
Amida: 63%
Kentan: 53%
Enoch: 41%

Rest of the team:

Adams: 50%
Purvis: 36%
Vital: 36%
Jackson: 32%

I thought all 3 bigs played well, especially Facey. The bigs, particularly Amida, did a really good job in getting to the line. They shot 13 free throws while Vital was the only other player on the entire team who got to the line that was not an end of the game run out the clock situation foul.

Hence KO's strategy worked, and going forward the offense needs to feed the bigs even more. In the long run it will get the guards better shots as well.

 

[pnow15]

Ah..... I would hate to burst your bubble. But we weren't exactly playing North Carolina.

 

[husky429]

Bigs are not our best offense. We scored what 51 points?

Our best offense is our guards running in transition. We didn't rebound enough to have those opportunities.

 

[tower1]

I really don't know how you could say there were positives from this game. The team played awful, And can not praise Coach Ollie at all. Our upperclassmen have not improved at all. We need some coaching changes whether you want to admit it or not. I have said it before our Bigs have not improved since they arrived here. And Pervis keeps making the same mistakes. Nothing to praise about this game, look at our opponent and score. Shameful !

 

[7774]

I really don't know how you could say there were positives from this game. The team played awful, And can not praise Coach Ollie at all. Our upperclassmen have not improved at all. We need some coaching changes whether you want to admit it or not. I have said it before our Bigs have not improved since they arrived here. And Pervis keeps making the same mistakes. Nothing to praise about this game, look at our opponent and score. Shameful !

Riveting take.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I was listening to the pregame radio show on the way to the game with Joe D, and KO talked about how he wanted the offense to run through the bigs more. My initial reaction was envisioning a sequence of a guard passing the ball to Amida and Amida fumbling the ball or falling over and thinking this is going to be a disaster. However after watching the game and reviewing the stats (both game and season) it is clear that our most efficient offense runs through our bigs.

As we all know last night was an abysmal shooting performance. UConn shot 32% from the field as a team. However Amida, Facey, and Enoch combined to shoot 8/15 from the field, that is 53%, while the rest of the team shot a combined 9/38, which is 24% from the field. The bigs were twice as efficient as the rest of the team.

Yes it was not pretty. Every time Amida touches the ball in the paint its an adventure. Anytime he touches the ball I am thinking "oh he is going to lose the ball, he's going to lose the ball, he's goi....OH he made the shot!" or "boy that was one ugly post move but hey he drew the foul and got to the line." There is no question that Amida has one of the ugliest post games I have ever witnessed. It is a combination of him having butter fingers, inability to maintain good position or stand his ground even against smaller defenders, and his soccer background that makes him think that it is better to flail his arms in the air and yell "ehhhh!" and jerk his head back as though he got decked by a linebacker as opposed to fighting through contact and trying his best to actually put the ball through the rim even on contact.

But having said all that he is still very efficient on offense (somehow). He is shooting at 62% overall and a lot of his shots are not coming on lob dunks like last year. And he gets to the line quite a bit which is something our guards have failed miserably at.

Its not just this one game but 7 games into the season this how the bigs' shooting compares to the rest of the team:

Season Field Goal %:
Amida: 63%
Kentan: 53%
Enoch: 41%

Rest of the team:

Adams: 50%
Purvis: 36%
Vital: 36%
Jackson: 32%

I thought all 3 bigs played well, especially Facey. The bigs, particularly Amida, did a really good job in getting to the line. They shot 13 free throws while Vital was the only other player on the entire team who got to the line that was not an end of the game run out the clock situation foul.

Hence KO's strategy worked, and going forward the offense needs to feed the bigs even more. In the long run it will get the guards better shots as well.

Brimah got to the line, and then missed way too many. His form looks terrible. Very flat. Much worse than last year.
The team also committed way too many turnovers, often by trying to force the ball inside.

I'm all for getting inside shots, but there is no flow to the offense. Those baskets occur best in transition, or where our guards penetrate, draw defenders and dish. But our bigs routinely (a) drop the pass (b) get stripped or (c) can't finish (whether fouled or not). It's embarrassing. I see lesser players on opposing teams who seem to have no problem catching the ball and dunking, whether fouled or not. Our guys shy away from contact like I've never seen (including Purvis). If they catch the ball in the post I want them to power to the rim through anything that is in their way. Enoch sometimes does.

 

[upstater]

Before we go to Amida for offense, can we try having our bigs learn how to set some screens on the perimeter?

Drive and kick.

This is what these players excel at.

 

[AfgHusky15]

Ah..... I would hate to burst your bubble. But we weren't exactly playing North Carolina.

The guards were not playing UNC either....Bigs were more efficient on offense and have been for the first 7 games of the season.

 

[Jimdish255]

Yes it was not pretty. Every time Amida touches the ball in the paint its an adventure. Anytime he touches the ball I am thinking "oh he is going to lose the ball, he's going to lose the ball, he's goi....OH he made the shot!" or "boy that was one ugly post move but hey he drew the foul and got to the line." There is no question that Amida has one of the ugliest post games I have ever witnessed.

I used to think it was a good idea to go through the "Big Man" and with Shonn Miller that wasn't such a bad idea. But Brimah has zero instincts, poor hands poor footwork. Otherwise it would be a great idea. Facey comes the closest to having an inside game and Enoch still hasn't developed it consistently. Still I'd rather ride those 2 and give Amida more rest given his D hasn't been much better watching guys just blow by him. Feel bad but it is what it is.

 

[willie99]

Our bigs are offensive on offense, but running some offense, any offense, is a good idea. So I guess I'll take something over nothing

I want our bigs to rebound. After they start rebounding we should worry about them scoring more

 

[dennismenace]

Is it just me or does Steves foul situation seem to be getting better? He got 3 quick ones last night in the 2nd half which landed him on the bench, but last year he would have gotten 3 in the first half.

Yes and did you notice that he made some smooth moves to the rim and shot with both the left and right hands like he was ambidextrous.

 

[gtcam]

I really don't know how you could say there were positives from this game. The team played awful, And can not praise Coach Ollie at all. Our upperclassmen have not improved at all. We need some coaching changes whether you want to admit it or not. I have said it before our Bigs have not improved since they arrived here. And Pervis keeps making the same mistakes. Nothing to praise about this game, look at our opponent and score. Shameful !

Good Evening Mary Sunshine
Ever consider the bigs just aren't that good? Or is it every coach's duty to make every player an All American candidate. HCJC had a ton of big guys that plain sucked.
Realize this my friend - this is a team who lost its 3 best player from last year, lost 2 important players this year before game 4, has only 8 scholarship players and of those are 4 unproven freshmen and 2 inconsistent senior big men and 1 fifth year guy who could be a real contributor who remains an enigma - oh yeah it has JA who can be a world beater but still hasn't figured out how to beat a zone (I remember both Bazz and Kemba having the same sophomore issue) but no upper classman to work with.
Not saying you or anyone needs to praise last nights game but a win is a win and a team in this fragile form needs wins - and while he wasn't perfect, Vital did some nice things but shame on me to find something positive
The KO bashers are in rare form
I am looking forward to the kids growing as they play more and together

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Yes and did you notice that he made some smooth moves to the rim and shot with both the left and right hands like he was ambidextrous.

Yeah, he was actually rebounding with aggression too!

 

[James]

How Efficient Is a Post-up Play?

Tl dr; post ups are good when you have skilled passers and shooters. Not with players like ab/facey/Enoch, these guys are quintessential 'screen+lob' threat kind of bigs. Kos inability to grasp this is alarming but not surprising, he use to try to feed Nolan! He sorta played inside out with Daniels but dd set exceptional screens and so did giffey.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yes and did you notice that he made some smooth moves to the rim and shot with both the left and right hands like he was ambidextrous.

They through him (Enoch) the ball a couple times in the beginning of the 2nd half and he made to very good moves. They never threw it to him again, why?

 

[Stinger92860]

i thought they did a good job passing into the middle of the zone. They just did not finish. Hopefully as they do more of this that next pass or shot will improve also. It was much better passing around the perimeter.

 

[UC313]

I thought that the first three and a half minutes, where we played through our bigs, was the best looking stretch of minutes we played. Dont get me wrong, we didnt score much, but the opportunities were there. i think we caused 3 fouls as well. If we can get teams in early foul trouble we can use adams and purvis to drive more and get to the line. 60% from the stripe aint gonna cut it but thats gotta be easier to coach than our getting our 5 to play smart hoops.

 

[Chief00]

As a general rule if Bigs get touches early and consistently they will rebound better and run harder. I am though skeptical of Brimah doing this cuz he has such bad hands and he doesn't pass well. Facey, Enoch and Jackson - yes!

 

[UConnStats]

They through him (Enoch) the ball a couple times in the beginning of the 2nd half and he made to very good moves. They never threw it to him again, why?

And why did we do that to Shonn Miller all season last year?

 

[husky429]

I really think Enoch's offense could become really good... Not Emeka good, but a real and consistent contribution. By his senior year.

He is creating space and getting to the spot, he just hasn't been getting the roll so far this season. He's just a little off. He's also our only big with enough beef that he's not getting knocked around. When he went to post up in the BU game is looked like he knocked the wind out of a BU guy with his glutes. It was something I've missed seeing on this team.

Luckily he is still very young, really the age of your average freshman playing basketball. He could come around if his D picks up.

 

[MexicoHusky]

I take issue with the phrase, "offense runs through the bigs"...or whatever was said. That would suggest Brimah and Facey are part of the offense. I'm not trying to be funny. As bad as they are at scoring, they may be even worse at passing, kicking out...playing basketball in general. They are complete black holes. If they could score effectively, that's one thing. Needless to say, they cannot. I'm not sure if Brimah has the coordination to do something as simple as catch the ball in the post and immediately pass it back to the guard.

 

[Stainmaster]

Needless to say, they cannot. I'm not sure if Brimah has the coordination to do something as simple as catch the ball in the post and immediately pass it back to the guard.

Have you watched any games recently? This is foolish hyperbole.

 

[uconnbill]

You get the bigs touches to keep them involved with the game and that is what Ollie is thinking. You don't have the depth in the backcourt or the frontcourt for that matter. Whatever works is good with me

 

[pnow15]

And why did we do that to Shonn Miller all season last year?

We fed Miller the ball consecutive times against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament in the first half and he bricked them all.

 

[mauconnfan]

Have you watched any games recently? This is foolish hyperbole.

Well he's had foolish hyperbole this wasn't can't though. While he's completed a couple passes back out if you're not cringing when he gets it and then when he does throw it back out you're not watching stair. There is nothing positive throwing it in to our bigs unless it's to Enoch to turn and score. None can pass it with impact or a positive gain in offense which is what the inside out game is supposed to be. We do need that again to gain space for our playmakers, but for now it' nonexistent.

 

[mauconnfan]

We fed Miller the ball consecutive times against Kansas in the NCAA Tournament in the first half and he bricked them all.

He gave us planty of positive plays for a year not to remember his worst game - they had bigs to guard him and at 6'6" he had a rough time. But you'd love him right now I know that's for sure!

 

[James]

Well he's had foolish hyperbole this wasn't can't though. While he's completed a couple passes back out if you're not cringing when he gets it and then when he does throw it back out you're not watching stair. There is nothing positive throwing it in to our bigs unless it's to Enoch to turn and score. None can pass it with impact or a positive gain in offense which is what the inside out game is supposed to be. We do need that again to gain space for our playmakers, but for now it' nonexistent.

you should have the same zeal in criticizing enoch that you do AB, enoch is not close to what AB was as a sophomore. he clueless at pretty much every aspect of basketball. if you say otherwise you are just biased and ignoring his performance.

 

[mauconnfan]

you should have the same zeal in criticizing enoch that you do AB, enoch is not close to what AB was as a sophomore. he clueless at pretty much every aspect of basketball. if you say otherwise you are just biased and ignoring his performance.

I don't see threads that say "AB is playing good" for enoch, let me know if I missed one. I have had plenty of critical things to say about Steve please don't go there. He's had a year and 7 games and I know I sure as HELL would rather throw the ball into him than AB after 3 years and 7 games. Other than that I doubt you will find a reply from me this year that states he should be playing ahead or knows what he's dong on defense at all. I also know he can catch the ball and if given the same minutes would at least rebound as well. I mean you guys getting giddy over 4 rebounds against BU in 27 minutes by a 7 footer is rather lame!