OT: Juwan Durham update

[pj]

They r not athletes, you don't see geno's girls poping out babies during the seasons

It's very important for female athletes to fit their pregnancies into the 3 month summer break.

 

[CL82]

There use to be urinal cakes with JC's likeness that some dude would drop into a few urinals at the Dunk each year before the UConn games so UConn fans traveling to the game would have to p on JC if they had to go. Hehe, I mean zero offense with this, just good natured fun, but honestly shouldn't our schools play? Seems ridiculous to me beyond belief that they don't.

Lol, quality move. Tip of the hat to the guy that put that together.

 

[HuskyHawk]

A lot goes into becoming a success. Enoch I fear is too slow on D to ever get minutes. What coach is going to trust him on the floor? Durham is just to rail thin to go low, and he is not going to be effective from the outside (if work ethic is a problem as rumored, then that is a big strike against him). Vance has a lot of moves in his arsenal, and I believe we only saw the beginnings of it. I didn't say anything about the NBA. I was talking about college success, and I think he will improve on D quite a bit. He's only a freshman. The only concern I have about Vance is that he will eventually need to alter that jumpshot. It is a little bit hinky.

I think you are minimizing these players. Not sure why.

Enoch has an impressive offensive arsenal. He's got the body. Is he slow? Yes. So are most centers. If you run a defense that doesn't allow him to be pulled too far from the rim, he'll be ok. I think he's going to score 15 a game for Lousiville eventually and play adequate D.

Durham now has another year to heal and put on muscle. David Robinson was skinny too once, and Hakeem. I think Durham has atheticism, size except weight, and loads of skill. I think he's going to be a devastating college player in two years. He's the most likely NBA player of the three.

Vance is pretty good now. Main issue is desire to play D. Defense is less about skill and more about effort. He can score in lots of ways and will.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I was happy to read that Durham was finishing up his exams. Everything else is speculation & opinion, and we'll have more clarity about JD, SE, and VJ in about 20 months. Then again, I could be wrong.

 

[pj]

Durham has the Ajou Deng skill set and mentality. Maybe he'll grow the intensity and commitment he needs, hope so, but don't mind that he's going to try to do it elsewhere. That might be good for all parties.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah Enoch sucks so bad that HOFer Rick Pitino decided to tie up a scholarship for 3 years with him. He must be unequivocally awful. And Durham is so clearly horrible that Mike Brey and other ACC coaches are interested. Cleary he is completely lazy and will never get better.

Everyone else always finds a way to defend KO and rip the players so at least I'm trying to add balance! And I wasn't blaming the coaches mau. I fully acknowledged Durhams flaws.

So we have Enoch, Durham, and VJ leaving because they don't see this as a great place to develop. And you could add Brimah and Facey as two guys who showed potential but never really came close to maximizing it. And you and so many posters are so quick to just blame them. Durham, Enoch, Jackson, Brimah. They all stink right? Nobody was raving about the Durham signing and excited Enoch's potential.

That's 5 guys. 5 different players. 3 different classes.

What is the only constant in all of this? KO and the coaches. But no, they certainly couldn't have anything to do with it. come on.

Clearly both parties deserve blame in all of this. But so far all I see on this board is people ripping these kids and calling them lazy, soft etc.

Well that seems to be a theme with our players. Wonder whose job it is to correct that?

We are really going to revisit the Brimah and face thing, 2 guys who were unable to learn anything because of having no natural basketball ability? Again if you watched you would know they clearly were unable to grasp anything taught to them but hey people see what they want to see. Not saying it's not on the coaches because some is I'm sure but you jump on a thread where the kid clearly states his reasoning was the coaches didn't use him right. Do you believe they should have used him more, did he do anything to deserve more time? Did Enoch ? Vance got plenty and he still insists he needs to be the guy. Kids "suck" statement was their minds not their games sorry it wasn't clearer but that was what I was pointing at. Their decisions show evidence they think they are better than what they showed us and that's a shame. To each their own, they didn't leave in great standing so I really could care less what they do. If you walk away head held high like others have I will follow them and wish them well, these 3 not so much. Time for some of these kids to lay some blame on themselves for not working hard enough to be who they think they are, because none of them are!

 

[Chief00]

But cheif with all those mistakes they were still 20 times better tgan Durham

He may have much more upside, if a light bulb goes off and he starts working on his game and body. Small sample but Durham had 7 assists to 7 turnovers. Brimah had 8 assists and 50 turnovers. He mentally processes the game better than Brimah and has a concept of a team offense.
Bottomline, under normal circumstances Juwan would have red shirted last season.

 

[CL82]

It is possible that it's neither, i.e., it ain't why, it just is.

That seems to be the false binary choice floating around the board, right? Either KO is an incompetent coach, the staff is a wreck, etc. or these kids are somehow defective (e.g, ungrateful, untalented, etc.)

I don't have insider info and won't pretend to make vague allusions to "what's going on" but my completely unsubstantiated guess is that in the middle of tough season filled with multiple personal (working through injury or slump) and team (w/l record, fatigue and injury caused by increased workload) it would not take much to poison the well, particularly among young players who had unrealistic expectations of what college basketball would be like (full buy in for the "glory" of being in major program televised games etc. without fully appreciating how much work it takes to compete and be successful and how how much of a grind the travel really is.) Under that circumstance it becomes easily to imagine one voice talking about how being mismanaged was the real reason for the lack of success. For kids especially, that's a more palatable explanation than "I've got stuff that I need to work on."

So I think a "KO's fault" vs. "Vance/Durham/Enoch fault" is a false choice. Regardless though, it's on KO to fix it.

 

[businesslawyer]

"Short leash" - I get it, Brimah and Purvis made repeated errors and seemed to keep on playing. However, good thing Juwan never got introduced to what a short leash is really like from James Calhoun.

Purvis and Brimah played as much as they did because there were no competent bodies to replace them with. Go back to the first two games. Purvis was not going to play the minutes he played if Larrier and Gilbert stayed healthy. Durham and Enoch barley played because, for all their faults, both Facey and Brimah were at a totally different level of effectiveness. Period.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That seems to be a false binary choice floating around the board, right. Either KO is an incompetent coach, the staff is a wreck, etc. or these kids are somehow defective (e.g, ungrateful, untalented, etc.)

I don't have insider info and won't pretend to my vague allusions to "what's going on" but my completely unsubstantiated guess is that in the middle of tough season filled with multiple personal (working through injury or slump) and team (w/l record, fatigue and injury caused by increased workload) it would not take much to poison the well, particularly among young players who had unrealistic expectations of what college basketball would be like (full buy in for the "glory" of being in major program televised games etc.) without fully appreciating how much work it takes to compete and be successful and how how much of grind the travel really is. Under that circumstance it becomes easily to imagine one voice talking about how being mismanaged was the real reason for the lack of success. For kids especially, that's a more palatable explanation than I got stuff I need to work on.

So I think a "KO's fault" vs. "Vance/Durham/Enoch" fault is a false choice. Regardless though, it's on KO to fix it.

Hey! Knock off the common sense man! Don't bring that stuff in here!

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

We are really going to revisit the Brimah and face thing, 2 guys who were unable to learn anything because of having no natural basketball ability? Again if you watched you would know they clearly were unable to grasp anything taught to them but hey people see what they want to see. Not saying it's not on the coaches because some is I'm sure but you jump on a thread where the kid clearly states his reasoning was the coaches didn't use him right. Do you believe they should have used him more, did he do anything to deserve more time? Did Enoch ? Vance got plenty and he still insists he needs to be the guy. Kids "suck" statement was their minds not their games sorry it wasn't clearer but that was what I was pointing at. Their decisions show evidence they think they are better than what they showed us and that's a shame. To each their own, they didn't leave in great standing so I really could care less what they do. If you walk away head held high like others have I will follow them and wish them well, these 3 not so much. Time for some of these kids to lay some blame on themselves for not working hard enough to be who they think they are, because none of them are!

Look, I agree with you that they are all flawed. As I said the blame clearly lies on the players and coaches.

But there are plenty of flawed players out there that coaches still find a way to get solid production/ over-performance out of. Our coaches haven't been able to do that. Or at least not consistently.

What exactly is the point of having coaches if its all left up to the players? One of the main jobs of the coach is to identify players skill-sets and then figure out ways to maximize that.

Enoch, Durham, Brimah, and Facey are not big stiffs or empty cupboards. Each has a few strengths to go with their flaws. But we barely got anything out of their strengths and got killed by their their flaws.

its the coaches job to flip that around.

 

[8893]

That seems to be a false binary choice floating around the board, right. Either KO is an incompetent coach, the staff is a wreck, etc. or these kids are somehow defective (e.g, ungrateful, untalented, etc.)

I don't have insider info and won't pretend to my vague allusions to "what's going on" but my completely unsubstantiated guess is that in the middle of tough season filled with multiple personal (working through injury or slump) and team (w/l record, fatigue and injury caused by increased workload) it would not take much to poison the well, particularly among young players who had unrealistic expectations of what college basketball would be like (full buy in for the "glory" of being in major program televised games etc.) without fully appreciating how much work it takes to compete and be successful and how how much of grind the travel really is. Under that circumstance it becomes easily to imagine one voice talking about how being mismanaged was the real reason for the lack of success. For kids especially, that's a more palatable explanation than I got stuff I need to work on.

So I think a "KO's fault" vs. "Vance/Durham/Enoch" fault is a false choice. Regardless though, it's on KO to fix it.

Hey! Knock off the common sense man! Don't bring that stuff in here!

Shocker: The Boneyard lawyers see gray in a world where most see black or white.

 

[upstater]

I think you are minimizing these players. Not sure why.

Enoch has an impressive offensive arsenal. He's got the body. Is he slow? Yes. So are most centers. If you run a defense that doesn't allow him to be pulled too far from the rim, he'll be ok. I think he's going to score 15 a game for Lousiville eventually and play adequate D.

Durham now has another year to heal and put on muscle. David Robinson was skinny too once, and Hakeem. I think Durham has atheticism, size except weight, and loads of skill. I think he's going to be a devastating college player in two years. He's the most likely NBA player of the three.

Vance is pretty good now. Main issue is desire to play D. Defense is less about skill and more about effort. He can score in lots of ways and will.

As I wrote about Durham, there seem to be questions about his willingness to work. Those may be unfair or untrue. (I am not bothered by his comments on how he was used given the other public comments about him). But I do think he avoids contact and getting there down and dirty. I just don't see enough in him; he's miscast down low. Not strong enough, and not fast enough for the perimeter.

I do not see Enoch seeing much of the floor at Louisville. It's a question of his defense.

 

[aceboon]

Late as hell to this thread so I'm sure its already been gone over, but Durham was coming off two torn ACLs, injured his ankle in the preseason, missed 2 games with the "flu" weeks apart, then injured his foot and missed more games. Between coming back from the ACLs and the injuries/illness during the season, how many minutes was he expecting to play? If he stays healthy I think he's going to be a good player but it was beyond obvious watching him that he didn't even fully trust his legs yet, KO couldn't play him that many minutes over Kelis Fisher/AB/VJ.

 

[Wordbomar]

Late as hell to this thread so I'm sure its already been gone over, but Durham was coming off two torn ACLs, injured his ankle in the preseason, missed 2 games with the "flu" weeks apart, then injured his foot and missed more games. Between coming back from the ACLs and the injuries/illness during the season, how many minutes was he expecting to play? If he stays healthy I think he's going to be a good player but it was beyond obvious watching him that he didn't even fully trust his legs yet, KO couldn't play him that many minutes over Kelis Fisher/AB/VJ.

Agree

 

[Chief00]

Purvis and Brimah played as much as they did because there were no competent bodies to replace them with. Go back to the first two games. Purvis was not going to play the minutes he played if Larrier and Gilbert stayed healthy. Durham and Enoch barley played because, for all their faults, both Facey and Brimah were at a totally different level of effectiveness. Period.

So Brimah's assists to turnover ratio of 0.2, is a different level of effectiveness.

Given everything that has gone down post season, do you really think KO (leaving his ego in check for a moment) would have played Enoch and Durham the minutes he did?

 

[gtcam]

Yeah Enoch sucks so bad that HOFer Rick Pitino decided to tie up a scholarship for 3 years with him. He must be unequivocally awful. And Durham is so clearly horrible that Mike Brey and other ACC coaches are interested. Cleary he is completely lazy and will never get better.

Everyone else always finds a way to defend KO and rip the players so at least I'm trying to add balance! And I wasn't blaming the coaches mau. I fully acknowledged Durhams flaws.

So we have Enoch, Durham, and VJ leaving because they don't see this as a great place to develop. And you could add Brimah and Facey as two guys who showed potential but never really came close to maximizing it. And you and so many posters are so quick to just blame them. Durham, Enoch, Jackson, Brimah. They all stink right? Nobody was raving about the Durham signing and excited Enoch's potential.

That's 5 guys. 5 different players. 3 different classes.

What is the only constant in all of this? KO and the coaches. But no, they certainly couldn't have anything to do with it. come on.

Clearly both parties deserve blame in all of this. But so far all I see on this board is people ripping these kids and calling them lazy, soft etc.

Well that seems to be a theme with our players. Wonder whose job it is to correct that?

I appreciate your view but I have one question - are/were you able to be with the team at all the practices and attend all their 1 on 1 sessions with the coaches? Do you know their practice attitude, level of participation and their ability to accept critique and work on their weaknesses? I haven't and wasn't but I have coached athletes for 30 years and you can tell a lot from body language and other character traits and all 5 you mentioned have displayed (in fairness to Kelis Fisher, not his senior year) a somewhat lackadaisical and emotionless attitude.

In the case of Brimah - I am convinced the guy just didn't work on the basics and without that, based on his limited playing experience, he never improved. He needed to want to work on the footwork, hand strength, leg strength - this is stuff an individual needs to set up as a regiment - it doesn't look like he did. He needed to go beyond shot blocking. If you think that the coaches didn't try to work on these areas - you are wrong. AB was a project to start. He showed more emotion and hunger on the sidelines than on the court

VJ received more playing time than he would ever have dreamed about. He has slow feet and is soft on man to man D. He has shown the ability to have a good outside shooting game but a shooter can't be afraid to shoot. I know for a fact, from my season ticket seats, that KO, R Moore and Killings would plead with the kid to take the open shot and we all saw VJ opt out too many times. Someone who wants a more viable presence/role on the floor doesn't do that. His handle was/is very suspect to have the ball in his hands as a primary handler. I can't say he didn't show emotion because at times he was very much into it but other times he appeared unattached. I think this a case where he and/or his father are thinking he is something that he may not be.

SE has the offensive skills but is the typical big guy who was the biggest guy in high school and didn't play a speck of defense. He never learned the basics and the needs footwork and bodywork to gain an edge. To be blunt - the guy has cement boots. Quickness is nearly impossible to teach and nearly every time that he came out for lack of D, I witnessed KO, KFree and GMiller talking to him and demonstrating movements and blocking out - it never sunk in. Again, he looks good at times on the offensive end but his defensive skill set is dismal at best. He appeared detached while sitting on the bench and one of the last to join the huddle. It's hard to play a kid who can score sporadically but gives up more due to his defense inabilities.

Durham is a completely different case - he was/is damaged goods but KO stuck to his commitment. He rarely practiced due to injuries and illness. He displayed glimpses of brilliance and a high skill set but was very tentative. Probably should have been redshirt but the lack of numbers and persistence on JD's part - it didn't happen. IMHO he owed much more to KO and the team than to turn his back and run away - that hurts

Kelis Fisher got lost in the numbers game his 1st three years and reports of not being a good practice player. He woke up over the summer and we all saw what could have been. Unfortunately he wasn't able to handle all the switching and double teaming that teams threw at him in the last part of the season and he somewhat regressed but he did show he could play a solid game. This is one case where I think the coaching staff, perhaps, could have done more.

No one likes to lose players. I don't think KO and the staff want to lose players. I have been to several practices and I can tell you that KO and the coaches are very involved and work on a number of things. If it's a case of personality conflict - I have no clue.
Sometimes kids, while they are the BMOC in high school, confront opposing players in D1 who are bigger/stronger/more physical, they become timid and that turns into soft. It's hard to gauge that in recruitment because these kids play in the same age groups growing up. I do think that KO and staff need to look for some players who have a physical presence vs the skilled only so it doesn't always seem to look like it boys vs men.

I think Pitino took SE because he wants a big body for his quality big men to go against in practice and with hopes that he just might develop as a role player in future years. Brey is looking at JD as a future project and would not surprise if he redshirts down the road.

 

[intlzncster]

Something tells me I'm going to enjoy much more having Diarra at the four far more than I would've this guy. Provided he stays healthy.

Give me more Jeff Adrien's. Less of these kids.

 

[intlzncster]

It's quotes like these that make me wonder why people twist themselves into pretzels trying to somehow prove that Kevin Ollie is Frankenstein's monster and locking his team in the basement of Gampel without food and water for days at a time.

The reason the roster is this thin is because three kids wanted much larger roles right off the bat as true freshmen, and Ollie wasn't willing to give them to them. Or when he did (Vance), even that wasn't good enough.

Not gonna lie, while stairmaster can be a pain in the ass at times (youthful 'exuberance'-not like the millenials we are talking about), he was spot on defending Ollie with a few of these kids.

I blame Ollie for MAL, first and foremost. He let the program down there, especially because it happened before w Ali.

But these kids...I'm unimpressed. Attitudinaly speaking

 

[businesslawyer]

So Brimah's assists to turnover ratio of 0.2, is a different level of effectiveness.

Given everything that has gone down post season, do you really think KO (leaving his ego in check for a moment) would have played Enoch and Durham the minutes he did?

Brimah could have literally stood at halfcourt on offense and done nothing and still, compared to the choices, made us a far better team because of his defense. I don't remember you on JC's butt in '06-'07 when Thabeet started, and Brimah's offensive skills this year were literally light years advanced compared to Thabeet's. KO -- like JC -- looked for rim protection first and foremost in a Center.

Are you asking whether, if in hindsight he knew that we were going to have a losing season and he would then lose Durham and Enoch at the end of it, would he have played them more and won less to build for next year? We'll never know. But I will never, never criticize a coach for wanting to give himself the best chance to win any game he comes into. And if you really think JC was o.k. "playing for the future" and not desperately wanting to maximize chances of winning each and every game, you don't know the man nearly as well as you claim to.

 

[mauconnfan]

Look, I agree with you that they are all flawed. As I said the blame clearly lies on the players and coaches.

But there are plenty of flawed players out there that coaches still find a way to get solid production/ over-performance out of. Our coaches haven't been able to do that. Or at least not consistently.

What exactly is the point of having coaches if its all left up to the players? One of the main jobs of the coach is to identify players skill-sets and then figure out ways to maximize that.

Enoch, Durham, Brimah, and Facey are not big stiffs or empty cupboards. Each has a few strengths to go with their flaws. But we barely got anything out of their strengths and got killed by their their flaws.

its the coaches job to flip that around.

Agree and disagree again. I get some of your points but don't agree on the flaws. Many players have flaws that never leave them and never get better in their areas of weakness and it's not just at UConn. But agree they need to get the job done more consistently and it starts by recruiting smarter better players than those mentioned.

 

[HuskiesAllDay]

I appreciate your view but I have one question - are/were you able to be with the team at all the practices and attend all their 1 on 1 sessions with the coaches? Do you know their practice attitude, level of participation and their ability to accept critique and work on their weaknesses? I haven't and wasn't but I have coached athletes for 30 years and you can tell a lot from body language and other character traits and all 5 you mentioned have displayed (in fairness to Kelis Fisher, not his senior year) a somewhat lackadaisical and emotionless attitude.

In the case of Brimah - I am convinced the guy just didn't work on the basics and without that, based on his limited playing experience, he never improved. He needed to want to work on the footwork, hand strength, leg strength - this is stuff an individual needs to set up as a regiment - it doesn't look like he did. He needed to go beyond shot blocking. If you think that the coaches didn't try to work on these areas - you are wrong. AB was a project to start. He showed more emotion and hunger on the sidelines than on the court

VJ received more playing time than he would ever have dreamed about. He has slow feet and is soft on man to man D. He has shown the ability to have a good outside shooting game but a shooter can't be afraid to shoot. I know for a fact, from my season ticket seats, that KO, R Moore and Killings would plead with the kid to take the open shot and we all saw VJ opt out too many times. Someone who wants a more viable presence/role on the floor doesn't do that. His handle was/is very suspect to have the ball in his hands as a primary handler. I can't say he didn't show emotion because at times he was very much into it but other times he appeared unattached. I think this a case where he and/or his father are thinking he is something that he may not be.

SE has the offensive skills but is the typical big guy who was the biggest guy in high school and didn't play a speck of defense. He never learned the basics and the needs footwork and bodywork to gain an edge. To be blunt - the guy has cement boots. Quickness is nearly impossible to teach and nearly every time that he came out for lack of D, I witnessed KO, KFree and GMiller talking to him and demonstrating movements and blocking out - it never sunk in. Again, he looks good at times on the offensive end but his defensive skill set is dismal at best. He appeared detached while sitting on the bench and one of the last to join the huddle. It's hard to play a kid who can score sporadically but gives up more due to his defense inabilities.

Durham is a completely different case - he was/is damaged goods but KO stuck to his commitment. He rarely practiced due to injuries and illness. He displayed glimpses of brilliance and a high skill set but was very tentative. Probably should have been redshirt but the lack of numbers and persistence on JD's part - it didn't happen. IMHO he owed much more to KO and the team than to turn his back and run away - that hurts

Kelis Fisher got lost in the numbers game his 1st three years and reports of not being a good practice player. He woke up over the summer and we all saw what could have been. Unfortunately he wasn't able to handle all the switching and double teaming that teams threw at him in the last part of the season and he somewhat regressed but he did show he could play a solid game. This is one case where I think the coaching staff, perhaps, could have done more.

No one likes to lose players. I don't think KO and the staff want to lose players. I have been to several practices and I can tell you that KO and the coaches are very involved and work on a number of things. If it's a case of personality conflict - I have no clue.
Sometimes kids, while they are the BMOC in high school, confront opposing players in D1 who are bigger/stronger/more physical, they become timid and that turns into soft. It's hard to gauge that in recruitment because these kids play in the same age groups growing up. I do think that KO and staff need to look for some players who have a physical presence vs the skilled only so it doesn't always seem to look like it boys vs men.

I think Pitino took SE because he wants a big body for his quality big men to go against in practice and with hopes that he just might develop as a role player in future years. Brey is looking at JD as a future project and would not surprise if he redshirts down the road.

Obviously my points are speculative as I am not part of the program and have no access beyond watching on tv, going to games, and reading on here and tos.

If its one player then its more likely to be player specific. But when it becomes a trend then you have to ask yourself if maybe its not just the players.

I was responding to the overwhelming majority of posts which tend to blame/ rip on JD, SE, and VJ without ever considering another explanation. As I said, I'm sure its a little of both and both parties need to share in the "blame". But the fan reaction here is not nearly as balanced and almost everyone is blaming the players for being lazy, soft, or just plain bad.

I completely agree with your analysis on every player and I have never stated otherwise. I said as much before and acknowledged all of their strengths and flaws.

My entire point was that despite these flaws, it doesn't seem like we've been able to maximize the strengths of these players. And every one of them had at least a few strengths/ skills that could have been better utilized in my opinion.

Every coach in America deals with players who are flawed. Is everyone on SMU and Cinci flawless? Do they somehow manage to only find players who are strong mentally and want to work hard? I have no idea, but it seems way too lazy to just blame this all on the players. Seems to me that their coaches have done a much better job of taking less heralded, less skilled players and getting more out of them than we do with more prized acquisitions.

Maybe all 3 of them are lazy and unwilling to put the work in. I have no idea. But its becoming too common around here and over too many classes for me to think that this is all on them.

I think all 3 of them are completely justified in wanting to transfer and can understand if all 3 of them are either unhappy with the coaches and/or doubtful of their ability to maximize their potential here.

And I don't enjoy seeing them get completely ripped on this board and dont agree with that assessment. That is all I'm trying to say.

 

[intlzncster]

All you need to know about him is that he miss two regular season games n one week of practice with the flu or viral infection. This is so weak, no one that takes pride in their job takes that much time off. Definitely not a 19 year old college athlete if they r truly dedicated.

Not sure if sarcasm, but that's not right. You don't want the kid around other players at all, because you don't want them getting sick too.

Also, if you don't rest these things, they tend to linger or relapse. Just the way of the world.

Feel a little icky defending the kid this point, but I'm betting the flu thing wasn't his call.

 

[intlzncster]

Agreed, as a millenial, I am disgusted by millenials. It is going to be impossible to elect a president in 30 years who didn't make a complete a__ out himself during his middle school/early high school years.

Dude, have you seen our current President? Spends more time on twitter than doing actual policy.

(not a comment on politics in general, just a sign of the times statement)

 

[Chief00]

Brimah could have literally stood at halfcourt on offense and done nothing and still, compared to the choices, made us a far better team because of his defense. I don't remember you on JC's butt in '06-'07 when Thabeet started, and Brimah's offensive skills this year were literally light years advanced compared to Thabeet's. KO -- like JC -- looked for rim protection first and foremost in a Center.

Are you asking whether, if in hindsight he knew that we were going to have a losing season and he would then lose Durham and Enoch at the end of it, would he have played them more and won less to build for next year? We'll never know. But I will never, never criticize a coach for wanting to give himself the best chance to win any game he comes into. And if you really think JC was o.k. "playing for the future" and not desperately wanting to maximize chances of winning each and every game, you don't know the man nearly as well as you claim to.

LOL - Thabeet was the second over-all pick of the NBA draft and you are comparing Brimah favorably to him? Additionally, his team won a huge number of games.
I think last season Enoch could have definitely been a much player than Brimah. Many times he fought for position in the post and never got the ball. The kid had good hands, wide shoulders and a nice soft touch. There is a reason Pitino signed him, he saw those things too.

 

[intlzncster]

Funny thing is Durham "liked" the tweet with that video in it. So... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

LMAO Can't make this up.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Shocker: The Boneyard lawyers see gray in a world where most see black or white.

 

[intlzncster]

You don't know why they left.

The kids (some through fathers) have said this themselves. And since it's not the type of thing that makes the program look good, or take the high road, it's probably pretty spot on.

Also, lack of development, I get that. But that's as much on the kids as KO. If they are this soft RE playing time and 'utilization', I'm guessing they don't put the all around work in that's necessary to be great. Now I know I'm speculating there, but I'd be willing to bet on it if that were possible.

 

[intlzncster]

Old millenials and new millenials are just as different as Gen X and millenials. My coworker was ragging on millenials one time so I asked how old he was. Turns out he was a millenial and had no idea.

Not to mention most kids in HS now are Gen Z

It just occurred to me. What do we do after this? Go back to Gen A and start over? Or perhaps go numerical and start with the #27. Or maybe go symbols. Gen # makes total sense. I think I just coined a phrase.

 

[Stainmaster]

It just occurred to me. What do we do after this? Go back to Gen A and start over? Or perhaps go numerical and start with the #27. Or maybe go symbols. Gen # makes total sense. I think I just coined a phrase.

Emojis.