Onuorah

[Wordbomar]

Onuorah will be nice to have because if we're getting beat up inside, he can come in and change the defensive tone with his physicality.

The flip side of this is that he has been foul prone throughout his career, and is a complete liability on offense. The people on this board that lose their $#!# when bigs miss bunnies are going to lose their patience with Onuorah very quickly.

That being said, he's the ideal 13th man. A defensive big who gives you another five fouls to burn. UConn missed that last year.

What you mean? We had Enoch

 

[Chief00]

I can't see Onuorah getting any more than 7 or 8 minutes a game. Big physical presence but not a great rebounder or scoring threat. I see Cobb starting and getting about 20 minutes a night. Onuorah/Carlton both getting 7-8 minutes a piece with a few minutes of super small lineups, such as Mamadou or Kwintin at the 5.

Onuorah is a big body, which has its advantages but quite frankly he isn't a basketball player. Cobb has more skills - just got to keep him getting better and staying out of trouble. From a basketball perspective he had a lost summer - not a good thing. But, he does have skills and sort of a feel for the game.

 

[mauconnfan]

Onuorah is a big body, which has its advantages but quite frankly he isn't a basketball player. Cobb has more skills - just got to keep him getting better and staying out of trouble. From a basketball perspective he had a lost summer - not good at a good thing. But, he does have skills and sort of a feel for the game.

Is the staying out of "foul" trouble or just trouble? I mean the BB gun incident hardly sounded like a trouble maker type of incident what else do you have?

 

[MadDogRevival]

From a basketball perspective he had a lost summer - not good at a good thing.

Chiefspeak. We'll have to add this gem to the ever-growing library of Chiefisms.
Nice!

 

[Son of Robert]

Cobb seems very mobile with good coordinated movement. Has good footwork and IQ around the post especially. His full court awareness at this JUCO level is really good with his ability to throw sharp passes in transition. He's got good hands, size that he uses, and a good handle for a big man. I am real optimistic about Cobb's upside. I think he is going to be the post presence/scorer that we have not had on the roster for years. Not a shot blocker but a space eater on offense and defense with hands that function like hands should giving us inside/outside passing, rebounding on both ends, and low post scoring as a 5 man should. 15-20 minutes a game I'm betting depending on the opponent. Jeez, I almost forgot the pick setting possibilities.

 

[B1GEast]

I think he will be a great teammate but having watched him in a few games at Cornell and at the Pro Am, I'm just not sure how many minutes he will get at this level.

If the guy couldnt play, I don't think KO would have wasted a ship on him.

Regardless of how he played in a pro am, he'll play significant minutes early for UConn.

You know more about a 4 year guy than a 18 year old.

KO will teach Onu how to play the UConn way.

 

[donyell34]

Big O is a wild card. Agree with most that Cobb can give us some good BB in a number of ways but it'll be about conditioning and stamina. Can he go 20 solid minutes ? Also nice to hear he is down to 270 and still going.

 

[Chief00]

Chiefspeak. We'll have to add this gem to the ever-growing library of Chiefisms.
Nice!

Thanks - I corrected. I changed that line a couple of times to be diplomatic about the issues - - and it ended like that! LOL

 

[Chief00]

Is the staying out of "foul" trouble or just trouble? I mean the BB gun incident hardly sounded like a trouble maker type of incident what else do you have?

Just trouble in general - but yeah you can add foul trouble to that bucket but that's not what I was thinking.

 

[CL82]

We are going to greatly enjoy have some beef on this team. I LOVE his outlet pass.

This. I think the ability to rebound and start the fast break will go a long way toward defining the ceiling of this team. If we are not giving teams second chances and force them into a track meet, I like our chances.

 

[Austin316]

A big that can pass outlets is huuuuge. If we can stretch the flooor with the outlet passes from Cobb I will be pleased

 

[Chief00]

A big that can pass outlets is huuuuge. If we can stretch the flooor with the outlet passes from a Cobb I will be pleased

True, he is a good passer and can handle the ball pretty decent for his size.

 

[Chief00]

If the guy couldnt play, I don't think KO would have wasted a ship on him.

Regardless of how he played in a pro am, he'll play significant minutes early for UConn.

You know more about a 4 year guy than a 18 year old.

KO will teach Onu how to play the UConn way.

That's on DK.

 

[intlzncster]

Significantly more than none, Frank.

Conf_rm_d?

 

[intlzncster]

The flip side of this is that he has been foul prone throughout his career, and is a complete liability on offense. The people on this board that lose their $#!# when bigs miss bunnies are going to lose their patience with Onuorah very quickly.

That being said, he's the ideal 13th man. A defensive big who gives you another five fouls to burn. UConn missed that last year.

Idk I think it's totally fine to have a guy with this role. I mean, the problem with Amida is that he had to play all the time, so his fouls and offensive limitations were a huge liability. People won't freak as much, cause if it's a huge issue, we just put in someone else. Last year, that wasn't really an option.

Having a physical presence inside is going to feel like a godsend. That Kansas tourney game a few years ago still gives me nightmares. Felt like David vs Goliath without the stone.

 

[UC313]

Chiefspeak. We'll have to add this gem to the ever-growing library of Chiefisms.
Nice!

I request a locked thread of nothing but Chiefisms. They need to be cataloged.

 

[AdamaNation]

Agree but if need be it's nice he can throw a couple power dribbles to to clear and maybe even see someone getting a long pass down the court for a Sheffer-like dime. When's the last time we had a big capable of doing either of those things?

Jake

 

[joober jones]

Jake

Hilton Armstrong would pull off a pretty decent feed every now and then.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm not expecting much, to be honest. Even putting aside the fact that he averaged 5 points and 7 rebounds in the Ivy League, I've struggled to find anything encouraging through my digging; his advanced numbers across the board are terrible and he has struggled to replicate his block and rebound rate against high major competition (6.9 rebounds and 0.99 blocks per 40 against p5 schools in his sophomore and junior seasons).

In essence, he's one of the worst offensive players in D-1 ball (50% career shooter on 3 attempts per game, 41% career foul shooter, and 28 total career assists) who isn't good enough at the things he does well to justify more than maybe a couple token minutes to start each half.

He's probably a helpful player to practice against, though, especially for young guards like Gilbert who are learning how to finish at the college level. It's possible that he'll be useful in pinches against certain opponents, particularly if we're going offense/defense late in games and we need his rim protection. I sort of have always believed two things to be true: 1.) He's worth spending a scholarship on, and 2.) If he's our best option at the five we're screwed.

 

[JimHurley]

I'm not expecting much, to be honest. Even putting aside the fact that he averaged 5 points and 7 rebounds in the Ivy League, I've struggled to find anything encouraging through my digging; his advanced numbers across the board are terrible and he has struggled to replicate his block and rebound rate against high major competition (6.9 rebounds and 0.99 blocks per 40 against p5 schools in his sophomore and junior seasons).

In essence, he's one of the worst offensive players in D-1 ball (50% career shooter on 3 attempts per game, 41% career foul shooter, and 28 total career assists) who isn't good enough at the things he does well to justify more than maybe a couple token minutes to start each half.

He's probably a helpful player to practice against, though, especially for young guards like Gilbert who are learning how to finish at the college level. It's possible that he'll be useful in pinches against certain opponents, particularly if we're going offense/defense late in games and we need his rim protection. I sort of have always believed two things to be true: 1.) He's worth spending a scholarship on, and 2.) If he's our best option at the five we're screwed.

Completely agree with all of this. Don't see him getting much time. He'll give the guys some trouble in practice but other than that, I think he'll mainly be in when other bigs are in foul trouble.