Question about Brimah

[Chief00]

On our four Final 4 teams we had 3 NBA centers and Alex O who had double/double ability and was a solid college center during 2011.

 

[Chief00]

OK. #2 team in the country and currently undefeated Syracuse has been playing 3 centers this year, all between 13 and 20 minutes. Coleman was hurt last week but the point remains the same. They will now have 2 centers by committee instead of 3. Please don't make the argument that Cuse has not played enough games for the point to be significant because that's a bad one.

A "season of work" includes conference championships and March Madness when vulnerabilities get exploited the most.

 

[ctchamps]

Of our four Final 4 teams we had 3 NBA centers and Alex O who had double/double ability and was a solid college center during 2011.

He was a solid rebounder, but he had a lot of flaws in his game that I would not consider him a solid center that season. He also had RS, another great rebounder and lock down big defender to contribute and TO, who played decently alongside AO. CO was a decent player who JC used when opposing players were getting the upper hand on AO.

Obviously AO did more than enough during that run to acknowledge that his contributions were significant in getting a NC. But I would never say his performance was good enough to call him a solid center based on my criteria of what a solid center should be able to do.

 

[Chief00]

Roscoe was not a center; Tyler contribution can be seen in box score, not worthy of discussion.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Obviously AO did more than enough during that run to acknowledge that his contributions were significant in getting a NC. But I would never say his performance was good enough to call him a solid center based on my criteria of what a solid center should be able to do.

Alex was basically a 10 points / 9 rebounds guy in 2011. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the national championship game. He had 8 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky in the semi-final.

At UNLV Roscoe is averaging more than double the rebounds he averaged at UConn in 2011 and basically four times the number of rebounds he got his last year at UConn, so the notion that he was a "great rebounder" (or lock down defender) while at UConn is a bit overstated.

I'm curious, if basically averaging a bit under a double double on a national championship team does not make one at least a "solid center," what the hell does? I have to say, most of the time you seem entirely too reasonable to take such a ridiculous stance when it comes to Oriakhi.

 

[ctchamps]

Alex was basically a 10 points / 9 rebounds guy in 2011. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the national championship game. He had 8 points and 10 rebounds against Kentucky in the semi-final.

At UNLV Roscoe is averaging more than double the rebounds he averaged at UConn in 2011 and basically four times the number of rebounds he got his last year at UConn, so the notion that he was a "great rebounder" (or lock down defender) while at UConn is a bit overstated.

I'm curious, if basically averaging a bit under a double double on a national championship team does not make one at least a "solid center," what the hell does? I have to say, most of the time you seem entirely too reasonable to take such a ridiculous stance when it comes to Oriakhi.

There are other aspects to a center's game besides rebounding. Alex was horrible at the pick and roll on defense. When his player set a screen he often didn't set himself in a position to prevent the opposing guards from getting an easy drive to the basket. If a guard penetrated and he moved to stop the play he was unable to turn quickly enough when the pass was made to his man. He was a decent enough weak side blocker but struggled to block shots against his own player. Taller player shot over him easily, and he was lost when he defended against players who had decent perimeter shooting and could drive. He'd often play halfway between these guys and the basket and would frequently be beaten by them.

In all these aspects Chuck was a better player. The problem was Chuck was an abysmal rebounder. And even though he had better hands than Alex, Alex at least did enough with his back to the basket to force teams to guard him. He was a very good offensive rebounder whereas Chuck was MIA. Put the best aspects of these two guys and you would have a solid center.

One more point. There were times when RS was guarding the other teams best big man. So he was boxing that guy out while AO was free to rebound.

I'm not knocking AO'a numbers. They were important obviously. But he was a center with big flaws. Flaws, imo, that I don't consider a solid center should have.