I get that his fallout with Jim Calhoun really taints his reputation and that he wasn't the best offensive big we've ever had - but people would absolutely love to have a player like 2010-2011 Oriakhi as our starting 5 this year.
Haha he just listed him as a front court member? How is that giving him a bad rep? FWIW I liked 2011 (pre-mumu) Oriaki quite a bit.
To some degree I think that comes under "toughness" only in a different manner. No substitute for practice when it comes to a weakness like shooting. Have to want it that bad. I remember Kemba after the summer when he toured with the team that was amateur/pro and he said going up against Rondo made him realize all the weaknesses he actually had and how it inspired him to work on them. I am very hopeful and actually pretty confident that Hurley will bring out the best in him. If he does, watch out.
Yeah, people are just writing off AO bc of the way his dad acted. AO was a beast his sophomore year for us. He rebounded, blocked shots, and scored when needed. He was a big body that was needed. Roscoe same thing, even with his wiry frame. We need the same types of players as AO and Roscoe
Then you're a wonderful fan.
Negative? That would, indeed, be bad. Basketball wise and math wise.
Yeah, he listed him as a front court member but implied that Oriakhi (9.6 pts 8.7 reb) was equal to Okwandu (2.9 pts 2.8 reb), Olander (1.5 pts 1.8 reb), and Wolf (1.2 pts, 1.0 reb) and that UConn won that championship in spite of him. Which isn't true at all.
We’ve haven’t had two many 5’s average in double figures in 40 years.
2012 Oriakhi, and some social psychology principle with a name like "recency effect."
More grit from Jalen is great news. I would just add that he must get more consistent from mid range. I remember an announcer in one of their games last year said "As a guard on a high level D1 team, if you can't knock down an elbow jumper consistently, you have no business being out there." The comment was in reference to UCONN's poor shooting. Granted, Jalen has an uncanny ability to finish at the rim but he can be one dimensional at times. I'm hoping this changes for him this year. If so , he will be a top 10 guard nationally.
Yeah, you may have inferred that, but I doubt he intended it.
We had Kemba Walker in 2011. Do you see a Kemba on this team? There’s nothing I would like better than to be surprised by our front court also but we have had many years where we never saw the development and improvement expected. Everone wants the so called experts to be wrong but I haven’t seen any analysis of our frontcourt that says it’s good enough.
