Sporting News Ranks Best CBB Centers: #8 Amida Brimah

[Leebo]

No one would ever deny that Brimah is efficient. No one would ever make the case that he doesn't play above the rim with great athleticism and agility.

But it's okay to say that one of his weaknesses is creating his own shot and playing with his back to the basket.

There are other centers who can do these things, and Brimah is surely working on it.

 

[CallMeBruce]

No one would ever deny that Brimah is efficient. No one would ever make the case that he doesn't play above the rim with great athleticism and agility.

But it's okay to say that one of his weaknesses is creating his own shot and playing with his back to the basket.

There are other centers who can do these things, and Brimah is surely working on it.

I agree. But that doesn't mean that an assessment of his overall offensive value should ignore the things at which excels while focusing only on his areas of weakness. He's a good offensive center because of how good he is at finishing around the basket, how well he runs the floor, and how good he is at catching a lob pass (which you'd think would translate to rebounding, so wtf?). He would obviously be much better if could also roll defenders like Olajuwon, but that he can't doesn't make him bad.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

But that's not the logic he was using. Thus the missed point. No need to get angrily sarcastic.

"Even if he was the best, he'd never get credit here at uconn". Spot on there.

 

[jibsey]

There's a new Brimah model out this year. It rebounds, makes 15 footers, and even has a baby hook shot. Buy or lease.

 

[Rocktheworld]

You've missed the point of basketball, which is to score baskets. Brimah is an efficient scorer on offense, in large part because of how good he is at finishing on lobs near the rim. You're acting like this is something that anyone can do, and that Brimah isn't very good because he only scores on some made-up percentage of other shots.

He is efficient at finishing wide open lobs from a great passer. I'm going to see his efficiency with layups and jump shots.

I never used the word "bad" or "isn't very good." I said it may be revealed that he has limitations (in a particular aspect of a Center's game) or at least a significant disparity. And again, I'm not making stats or percentages up. The numbers do that for me.

I'm done with this

 

[Rocktheworld]

I can't understand why he isn't a better rebounder. Confounding.

Doesn't have great hands, often already/forced out of position when the ball hits the iron

 

[Rocktheworld]

Stand corrected. Brimah on the season was good for 48.7% from layups, jumpers, and "two point tip ins." And was quite consistent at that mark throughout the year. Still fairly efficient.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Is Stone really that good? This is not bitterness talking, because I was never that excited about him when we were in on him, because I think guards and wings are much more important and you can (obviously) win with serviceable bigs. I won't quibble with Skal (although it's bananas to me that he might actually play college basketball) but I guess I just haven't seen enough of Diamond Stone because from what I've seen he doesn't look like an instant impact guy to me.

And yes, I will eat it if he gets 20-15 against Brimah in NYC.

 

[aceboon]

Is Stone really that good? This is not bitterness talking, because I was never that excited about him when we were in on him, because I think guards and wings are much more important and you can (obviously) win with serviceable bigs. I won't quibble with Skal (although it's bananas to me that he might actually play college basketball) but I guess I just haven't seen enough of Diamond Stone because from what I've seen he doesn't look like an instant impact guy to me.

And yes, I will eat it if he gets 20-15 against Brimah in NYC.

Early reports are he will either come off the bench or his time will probably be limited because of his defense, which is what a lot of us were arguing when it was discussed how a possible Brimah/Stone frontcourt would work.

 

[Palatine]

I'm not missing anything; I'm the one making the point. I can't miss my own point.

And I didn't say any of those quotes. i'm not making any guesses. I did say I'm going to calculate his non-dunk FG percentage to see what kind of production he is getting without getting easy alley-oops set up by his team mates. I did predict earlier that there is a big disparity between the overall and non-dunn FG% and that's why some may say he is limited offensively.

You have betrayed your bias.

Is it "easy alley-oops set up by his teammates" or is it Brimah working his butt off to get great position inside to make the alley-oop easy for his teammates?

My guess is there was good work by both Brimah and his teammates.

 

[Rocktheworld]

You have betrayed your bias.

Is it "easy alley-oops set up by his teammates" or is it Brimah working his butt off to get great position inside to make the alley-oop easy for his teammates?

My guess is there was good work by both Brimah and his teammates.

C'mon man. Did you watch any games? Brimah sits on the baseline/low post. His man is baited up by DHam penetration. Brimah takes two steps and he's at the basket untouched.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Thabeet was pretty damn good on offense as a junior. He's still one of the best I've ever seen at getting good positioning on offense. He almost always seemed to have two feet in the lane when he caught it, I just think he has way more lower body strength than Brimah.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Thabeet was pretty damn good on offense as a junior. He's still one of the best I've ever seen at getting good positioning on offense. He almost always seemed to have two feet in the lane when he caught it, I just think he has way more lower body strength than Brimah.

I'm sure if Brimah weighed as much as Thabeet (probably another 40ish lbs) he'd have an easier time getting positioning.

But of course he wouldn't be able to run the floor like he can.

 

[80shusky]

It has always been amazing to me how many threads get derailed by Amida Brimah discussions about how good he is, or how not good. Arguments about his offensive prowess or lack thereof, about his lack of rebounding, about the fact that he gets into foul trouble have gone back and forth for months without end. Without his play against St Joseph's leading up to our last National Championship we don't even play in the Final Four let alone win the championship. This thread started with a discussion about him being rated a top 10 center in college basketball. Ahead of him on that list are at least three players who have never gotten a single rebound, point or block in college basketball. Yet still, being ranked as a top 10 center for this upcoming season, the debate continues. How many players on that list have won a National Championship? Some of them may end up being considered better college basketball players this upcoming season or for their careers than Brimah. Comparing him to Thabeet or any other previous college center is a waste of time. Because he is not Thabeet or any other college center. He is Amida Brimah. He may still not rebound well this season. He may still get into foul trouble. But he is a champion. He is a Husky. He is our champion and I love him for that. Go Amida and go Huskies!

 

[mauconnfan]

It has always been amazing to me how many threads get derailed by Amida Brimah discussions about how good he is, or how not good. Arguments about his offensive prowess or lack thereof, about his lack of rebounding, about the fact that he gets into foul trouble have gone back and forth for months without end. Without his play against St Joseph's leading up to our last National Championship we don't even play in the Final Four let alone win the championship. This thread started with a discussion about him being rated a top 10 center in college basketball. Ahead of him on that list are at least three players who have never gotten a single rebound, point or block in college basketball. Yet still, being ranked as a top 10 center for this upcoming season, the debate continues. How many players on that list have won a National Championship? Some of them may end up being considered better college basketball players this upcoming season or for their careers than Brimah. Comparing him to Thabeet or any other previous college center is a waste of time. Because he is not Thabeet or any other college center. He is Amida Brimah. He may still not rebound well this season. He may still get into foul trouble. But he is a champion. He is a Husky. He is our champion and I love him for that. Go Amida and go Huskies!

Yeah ok let's only talk about basketball when it comes to completely positive stuff I get it. Let's not compare people to anyone or discuss what they may need to do in order to be better that sounds good. Hell I have a better idea, let's close the BY down.

 

[80shusky]

Yeah ok let's only talk about basketball when it comes to completely positive stuff I get it. Let's not compare people to anyone or discuss what they may need to do in order to be better that sounds good. Hell I have a better idea, let's close the BY down.

Not suggesting that, just spreadin' a little love!

 

[Rocktheworld]

It has always been amazing to me how many threads get derailed by Amida Brimah discussions about how good he is, or how not good. Arguments about his offensive prowess or lack thereof, about his lack of rebounding, about the fact that he gets into foul trouble have gone back and forth for months without end.

If there were any thread where it were appropriate to discuss Brimah's strengths/weaknesses as a player, it is this thread, in which we are discussing his ranking as a center, which involved the ranker's weighing of said conglomerate of strengths and weaknesses and comparing them to those of other ranked players.

 

[David 76]

8th best sounds pretty good to me. By their ranking, we lost very little in not getting Stone. Personally, I think AB will be better than DS this year and DS may not have another year.

I'm a fan of AB but I see his weaknesses. To me, it is his rebounding, probably followed by his man-to-man defense that most need improvement. If he improved those areas (and I think he will) he will be an outstanding player with last year's offensive numbers

Short of that, we have a center that most teams would die for and who is considered 8th best in the nation (by someone). That's a good thing.

 

[Leebo]

By their ranking, we lost very little in not getting Stone.

I'm over us not getting Stone, but this doesn't make any sense... we'd have the #8 and the #7 if we had both of them...

 

[Rico444]

C'mon man. Did you watch any games? Brimah sits on the baseline/low post. His man is baited up by DHam penetration. Brimah takes two steps and he's at the basket untouched.

If it were that easy, why weren't there anywhere close to as many Hamilton to Nolan alleyoops last year? It's not as easy as you claim.

 

[DogMania]

The arguments back and forth are close to insufferable in this thread. Half the time, the counter points are based off of incorrect assumptions of what the original poster was trying to say.

Can we all agree that Amida needs to improve his rebounding, post game, and strength?

One thing that no one has mentioned, is how good a passer he is.

Brimah has pretty good hands, demonstrated by his ability to catch the ball in traffic and dunk. His struggles with rebounding are the result of a few factors. He goes after the dunk too often, resulting in him being out of rebounding position. He simply needs to get stronger to battle for better position. Rebounding is also a lot about technique, something that he needs to improve in as well. There's also a team aspect to rebounding. His teammates need to be better at boxing out their players and clearing space to improve Brimah's odds at getting his hands on the rebound. I also wonder how much his rebounding had to do with his role of stopping penetration when perimeter players drove into the lane, resulting in him being out of rebounding position. I'm sure that accounted for just a small fraction of what took place, but it might be somewhat of a factor. If the perimeter players do a better job at keeping their men in front of them, I expect his rebounding numbers to improve a little bit as a result as well.

I'm hoping that a full off season to work on these things will make a world of difference. He's a very good athlete for his size. There is no reason why he can't improve in many of these areas. A lot of players show their greatest improvement between their sophomore and junior seasons, so I expect a big year from him.

You also have to keep in mind the contribution of players around him. Some teams might rely on their center to score a lot more than UConn will. The average points per game is not only based on how effective the player is, but also is impacted by the shot distribution. With that said, I do expect Amida to get more shots as his offense improves.

 

[mauconnfan]

The arguments back and forth are close to insufferable in this thread. Half the time, the counter points are based off of incorrect assumptions of what the original poster was trying to say.

Can we all agree that Amida needs to improve his rebounding, post game, and strength?

One thing that no one has mentioned, is how good a passer he is.

Brimah has pretty good hands, demonstrated by his ability to catch the ball in traffic and dunk. His struggles with rebounding are the result of a few factors. He goes after the dunk too often, resulting in him being out of rebounding position. He simply needs to get stronger to battle for better position. Rebounding is also a lot about technique, something that he needs to improve in as well. There's also a team aspect to rebounding. His teammates need to be better at boxing out their players and clearing space to improve Brimah's odds at getting his hands on the rebound. I also wonder how much bis rebounding had to do with his role of stopping penetration when perimeter players drove into the lane, resulting in him being out of rebounding position. I'm sure that accounted for just a small fraction of what took place, but it might be somewhat of a factor. If the perimeter players do a better job at keeping their men in front of them, I expect his rebounding numbers to improve a little bit as a result as well.

I'm hoping that a full off season to work on these things will make a world of difference. He's a very good athlete for his size. There is no reason why he can't improve in many of these areas. A lot of players show their greatest improvement between their sophomore and junior seasons, so I expect a big year from him.

You also have to keep in mind the contribution of players around him. Some teams might rely on their center to score a lot more than UConn will. The average points per game is not only based on how effective the player is, but also is impacted by the shot distribution. With that said, I do expect Amida to get more shots off his offense improves.

DHam was a pretty weak freshman too. He's 6'10" has long arms and needs to rebound better, no excuses required. Just have your hands more ready for rebounds and get yourself ready to rebound by being more aware of the shots going up. It's simple really.

 

[JSM1970]

Huh? What, in the Coppin State game getting lobs against 6-7 kids. I would recommend watching the SMU and ASU games again. Rankings aside I really have no clue what type of player he'll be this year. He is definitely the biggest question mark of the starting five.

Hopefully with a full offseason of workouts he'll come back stronger. A lot of how far this team can go is dependent upon his development and play.

I thought Brimah made a lot of strides on his game last year especially on offense. His biggest weakness is he's a very poor rebounder so hopefully that's something he can improve on.

 

[UCbcm]

I agree. But that doesn't mean that an assessment of his overall offensive value should ignore the things at which excels while focusing only on his areas of weakness. He's a good offensive center because of how good he is at finishing around the basket, how well he runs the floor, and how good he is at catching a lob pass (which you'd think would translate to rebounding, so wtf?). He would obviously be much better if could also roll defenders like Olajuwon, but that he can't doesn't make him bad.

I really don't know where you're getting the idea that anyone is saying Brimah is bad or is ignoring his strengths. Like I said in an earlier post-- I have no problem with how he plays but I wish he would improve his post game. That's a very different point than the one you are claiming we are making.

I don't think anyone would disagree that Brimah has a lot to improve upon and that improvement in general is a positive.