Seeking Your Thoughts On Akok

[jibsey]

He has length, blocking ability and shooting skills, and he's coming back from injury but...
Of all our players he was not up to it physically for this tournament. For his position he doesn't have the strength on either end of the floor. When wide open he can make a 3 but he doesn't attack the rim and in general is a weak player. Disappointing for sure so far and I'm not blaming the injury.

 

[krinklecut]

He has length, blocking ability and shooting skills, and he's coming back from injury but...
Of all our players he was not up to it physically for this tournament. For his position he doesn't have the strength on either end of the floor. When wide open he can make a 3 but he doesn't attack the rim and in general is a weak player. Disappointing for sure so far and I'm not blaming the injury.

Why would you not blame the injury? He's coming back from an injury almost no one has come back from.

What are you blaming? I swear, some of you guys expect our players to be machines.

 

[GHSWolverines]

He is lost right now

 

[Kenny11]

He played very well in the cupcake games. Guys don’t seem to really look for him on offense and we don’t run anything for him. Definitely seemed a little lost in Atlantis.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Why would you not blame the injury? He's coming back from an injury almost no one has come back from.

What are you blaming? I swear, some of you guys expect our players to be machines.

Crap! He himself has said hes back fully and he looked it against the cupcakes. Sure i expect he needs time to get the rust off but his issues in this tourney had little to nothing to do with the injury and more to do with the speed and physicality of the gameplay he faced.

 

[Candyman]

Akok needs confidence early in a game and if he doesn’t get is lost. If he hit a three or blocked a big shot. He would have played more aggressive. Will be tough for him to get time if he is off from three and Whaley is balling.

 

[Pudge]

Yes he needs confidence

But I am gonna say the same thing about Akok as I said about Carlton. At this moment, there are teams/styles of play that he just is overmatched. Physical. Scrambling. This game just is not a fit for him today.

 

[jdb50]

Just keep playing him. Each opponent is different and he will be able to help the team but it is not going to be without struggles.

 

[Leebo]

His legs are healthy but he has been out of action for a long time. The game speed recovery starts now.

 

[Chin Diesel]

He has no idea what his role is supposed to be right now.

I did think both his 3's were good looks and he should keep firing them.

 

[businesslawyer]

I don’t think anyone knew what their role was supposed to be on a day when Sanogo only made two baskets. Luckily Cole scored just enough to let IW hit the two big late 3s and our defense and rebounding to win the game.

 

[UConnSwag11]

He needs to work on his footwork and lateral movements. He's lost a lot from his injury. Wouldn't hurt if he went to the men's soccer team and did a training session during the week and just work with them to increase his footwork and agility

 

[UCfor3]

He struggles with strength amd physicality. Our first two opponents had really strong front lines. Also seems like Hurley's circle of trust really shrunk in these close games against quality opponents.

 

[spudzj6]

When healthy as a freshman, his bread and butter was blocking/changing shots at the rim and energy (often feeding off each other). Also hit the occasional 3. He was promising as a freshman, with tools to develop his NBA skills. Go back and watch tcf's freshman highlights.

Since returning, you can see the timing on his defense is way off. The help D at the rim is late, not even affecting shots at the rate he was. His energy hasn't been the same. Get his timing back, maybe the rest of his game comes back. But you can ask for much more from a guy returning from that kind of energy. Maybe he coulda bulked up a bit to compete with the big guys?

 

[Spaceman213J]

Sanogo is the bread & butter underneath the basket, but when Akok is out there with him he has to let Akok post every now and then.

Am I remembering wrong, or did Akok show some ability with a baby hook with either hand as a freshmen. His touch with it isn't as soft as Sanogo, but you have to get him engaged in the offense and not standing still out at the 3 point line.

He has to move on offense, as most of them do, when Sanogo gets the ball deep. I've already said it in another post, but while Sanogo does get into a must shoot mindset at times, he has had his head up on a few occasions. Players have to move and get open, especially when the double comes.

The fact is if Sanogo keeps playing like he has and Whaley plays like he did today, there may be less minutes for the time being with Akok. He going to have to go out and produce and make Hurley put him out there for longer periods.

 

[superjohn]

Why would you not blame the injury? He's coming back from an injury almost no one has come back from.

What are you blaming? I swear, some of you guys expect our players to be machines.

He looks totally healthy to me, he says he's 100% back and feels like he did before. He's flying up and down the court.

 

[mauconnfan]

Sanogo is the bread & butter underneath the basket, but when Akok is out there with him he has to let Akok post every now and then.

Am I remembering wrong, or did Akok show some ability with a baby hook with either hand as a freshmen. His touch with it isn't as soft as Sanogo, but you have to get him engaged in the offense and not standing still out at the 3 point line.

He has to move on offense, as most of them do, when Sanogo gets the ball deep. I've already said it in another post, but while Sanogo does get into a must shoot mindset at times, he has had his head up on a few occasions. Players have to move and get open, especially when the double comes.

The fact is if Sanogo keeps playing like he has and Whaley plays like he did today, there may be less minutes for the time being with Akok. He going to have to go out and produce and make Hurley put him out there for longer periods.

If Whaley plays like he did today? How about for the last 2 years? Akok isn’t taking his minutes IW is just too important to our overall D and Akok is lost on D for now. Hope the kid finds his way but in this tourney he unfortunately went a little backwards. He needs to find his role and get some confidence back, get a lot tougher.

 

[Giddyup5]

My thoughts on Akok?

Great kid. Tremendous off ball defender who showed glimpse of other high level skills.

But honestly, he had a few week stretch in high school that rocketed him up rankings into the low 30s. Other than that 2-3 week stretch and brief glimpses his freshmen year I think the fan base overrates him considerably.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Glad he had this tournament to see how far along he really is. This is why taking anything away from blowouts against low majors is dumb, half the board was calling for him to start. Him and the team can set a realistic plan for themselves moving forward now.

 

[Apollo]

I’m still buying. From what I’ve seen he just hasn’t hit his stride back from a major injury yet. It’ll happen as he knocks it around a bit and tests it’s limits. Once he realizes, with confidence, it’s healed and gets back into form I think his game will be more consistent.

 

[jibsey]

Why doesn’t he put the ball on the floor and take a jump shot? He has that skill supposedly.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Why would you not blame the injury? He's coming back from an injury almost no one has come back from.

What are you blaming? I swear, some of you guys expect our players to be machines.

Was there something special or different about his achilles injury? There are plenty of basketball players and players in other sports who recover from it. He's almost 20+ months from that injury. Is it possible he never will recover? Sure.

A little nugget dropped by Hurley some time in the Aug/Sep time frame was Akok had to realize the talent level on the roster is much higher than it was when he got injured. Reading that at face value meant the benefits and skill level Akok displayed before he was hurt wasn't going to get a lot of run on the 2021-2022 Huskies.

 

[djct1999]

The next time Akok makes an impact on the floor in a competitive game will also be his first time.

 

[McLovin]

He blew way too many defensive assignments against MSU. Times he just stood there and watched his man walk by for a layup. I don’t think it was a physical issues. It appeared mental. More practice time should help. Not ready to sound the alarms.

 

[Husky Alien]

A little nugget dropped by Hurley some time in the Aug/Sep time frame was Akok had to realize the talent level on the roster is much higher than it was when he got injured. Reading that at face value meant the benefits and skill level Akok displayed before he was hurt wasn't going to get a lot of run on the 2021-2022 Huskies.

With that being said who has displayed that. Whaley is the wrench of the team. Polly? Samson? Ect...?
This just might be he is not conditioned enough yet for the GRIND of these types of games we just played. With Hurley cautiously bringing him into these games?