That's better

[caw]

yeah yeah we all get what AB did vs St Joes with a certain play
Does that mean he gets a free pass?
The guy is usually the tallest guy on the court yet least likely to grab a rebound
Unless its a perfect ally-oop pass, his offense is zero - I don't care how many pts he scored last December vs a crap team
He plays a position where rebounding is vital yet he grabs less than 3 a game
Most big guys set some nice screens, AB has no idea how to
Most big guys battle for position underneath, AB is usually no where near the scrum
So yes, he most likely won that 1st round match but his performances in many big conference and non conference match-ups may have cost games.
He is, at this point, in my opinion, an under achieving center.

Less than 3 a game? Or in this game. This is literally his worst rebounding game this year, and the first under 4. While not good he was around 6 per game prior to this game.

 

[Danzz]

Thank you Fishy for beginning the truth on AB. I didn't get into it because everyone think mau's the only one who sees these things. He got a couple dunks late, made a jumper and stuff but he was killed on the boards. He dropped 3 passes, actually one went by him without a finger, hands are never ready. He can't shoot a jump hook from anywhere other than the ground while his knees are bent - physically awful. He had a very stupid goal tend on a play the guy was going to miss the shot. There is little doubt in my mind Facey should get some of his minutes if for nothing other than he actually jumps and gets his hands on rebounds. Love blocked shots, but there aren't enough there for me to want to see 25 minutes of this guy anymore.

Didn't see the game today (last golf round of the year) but as far as his rebounding is concerned Brimah just isn't very wide and gets moved by opponents. Saw Barkley play his rookie year against the Celtics and I couldn't figure out how that short and squatty player could rebound so well. Then I noticed how wide his rear end was and how he used it to move players out of the way. Brimah doesn't have any girth.

 

[Stainmaster]

Less than 3 a game? Or in this game. This is literally his worst rebounding game this year, and the first under 4. While not good he was around 6 per game prior to this game.

He's a UConn center, so he should be averaging Thabeet-level numbers. Am I right, folks?

 

[David 76]

yeah yeah we all get what AB did vs St Joes with a certain play
Does that mean he gets a free pass?
The guy is usually the tallest guy on the court yet least likely to grab a rebound
Unless its a perfect ally-oop pass, his offense is zero - I don't care how many pts he scored last December vs a crap team
He plays a position where rebounding is vital yet he grabs less than 3 a game
Most big guys set some nice screens, AB has no idea how to
Most big guys battle for position underneath, AB is usually no where near the scrum
So yes, he most likely won that 1st round match but his performances in many big conference and non conference match-ups may have cost games.
He is, at this point, in my opinion, an under achieving center.

If he left the team, wrote you an apology and then committed suicide, would you be satisfied?

 

[Stainmaster]

So yes, he most likely won that 1st round match but his performances in many big conference and non conference match-ups may have cost games.

"I don't like how he smiles and wags his finger, so I'm going to put the entire blame for multiple losses on him."

Cute.

 

[Mrs. Fleud]

Ollie probably could have crowd-sourced today's game plan after the Bahamas' trip - shorter bench, more Adams.

The substitutions were much less hectic and much less by rote.

I think Jalen Adams has arrived. He got 29 minutes today after getting 26 against Maryland - I think he's 28-32 going forward. He's just too good to keep off the floor and his minutes should mirror Sterling/Rodney.

He helps push Hamilton off the ball which is good for both players. Hamilton didn't bring the ball up nearly as often today and everything clicked nicely. They shot 60% - not sure what else they could have done.

The shorter rotation is addition by subtraction. I'd like to see Enoch get more time when he can simply because he needs it and I think there's a place for him given the cluster f--- that so often describes our rebounding efforts. But if he doesn't, he doesn't.

Cassell and Nolan are good players at some level, but things move too fast for both of them to be constant contributors. Bringing Adams in for 30 minutes a game and then getting Omar and Kentan on the court as needed is a better idea than putting in players just because they're on the roster. If Ollie has settled on a top eight, so be it.

I thought Omar's first basket was just what I wanted to see out of him - an athletic move to to the rim. And then he spent the rest of the game turning the ball over on drives and hitting threes from wherever he wanted. The threes were nice, (not going to get used to them), but the best part was how hard he played on D and how active he was in general - Omar's good.

In a nutshell, lots of stuff was good.

One thing, in particular, was frustrating.

Ah, Amida.

I've given up worrying about his rebounding.

He was handled so easily by whichever freshman or sophomore Ohio State put near him. He wasn't pushed around so much as he just doesn't know he needs to be and doesn't have the instinct to fight to get to wherever that might be - he tends to put on some histrionic display to make it look like he was beaten for a rebound, but too often, he just doesn't even contest them.

If you watch today's game, watch how often there are three or four Buckeyes closer to defensive rebound than Amida is to an offensive rebound. On one Shonn Miller offensive rebound in the second half, Amida actually runs past him on his way downcourt - UConn retains the possession with Amida a good 30' down the court sprinting for the other end.

On another, he was dutifully standing on the wrong side of the defense on an offensive rebound attempt...so he stood flat-footed and stone-still with his arm outstretched towards the rim...palm up. He looked like Juliet reaching towards the moonlight in a bad Shakespeare revival.

He scored 11 points, but fumbled another six points out of bounds or off his feet.

He's still so raw - the only thing I'm hoping is that the typical improvement some kids start showing in their sophomore year eventually catch up to him later in his junior year.

In summary - short rotation...good. Jalen, good. Omar, good.

We'll see what Zymurg's recipe is for this game.

So nice to see Omar having success again.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

If he left the team, wrote you an apology and then committed suicide, would you be satisfied?

This is why I'm grateful for Ignore. I don't know what was written or who wrote it, but if this was the Reply, then I'm glad I didn't read what inspired it.

 

[Towney007]

This team is a top 5 team in certain halves. Barely to 100 in others. Work in progress. love everything we've seen today and losses to Gonzaga and Maryland hardly kill you. Wins over OSU and Michigan probably help you.... a bit.

Stay tuned. Love the talent, need to see them jell

 

[dogpause]

Anyone notice that Brimah did not jump center at the start of the game. Miller did, and we got the possession. Hilton took 4 years to blossom, so maybe AB will too.

He is just not improving in the areas where he's weak -- rebounding; can't handle low passes, etc. And I'm surprised he doesn't get called for more moving screens. However, he can hit shots from 10-12' but we're not utilizing that ability. I'd love to see KO put him on the high post occasionally. It would open the lane, and I think he would score from there, and even get more rebounds.

 

[Pudge]

I'm not sure why you expect a 7 footer with bad hands would catch low passes.

This basic theme ignores the basic strategy of our defensive philosophy. We curb the path to the rim at Brimah. And usually, teams never try to encroach. I do believe AB looked the best all year in the second half of Maryland. I guess you had to be watching; many of you were probably watching the bearded guy.

Also ... Our brief moments with a Zone looked promising.

Many asked for a shorter bench. We now see what that means.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm not sure why you expect a 7 footer with bad hands would catch low passes.

This basic theme ignores the basic strategy of our defensive philosophy. We curb the path to the rim at Brimah. And usually, teams never try to encroach. I do believe AB looked the best all year in the second half of Maryland. I guess you had to be watching; many of you were probably watching the bearded guy.

Also ... Our brief moments with a Zone looked promising.

Many asked for a shorter bench. We now see what that means.

Liked the look of the zone, thought we may see more of it as OSU looked befuddled.

His 2nd half against UM was pretty good he was fine. I was watching yep I was!

 

[Rico444]

If he left the team, wrote you an apology and then committed suicide, would you be satisfied?

Boy, that escalated quickly.

 

[8893]

Gibbs through 3 or 4 skip passes that completely changed the game - he's the one who got Omar two of those looks.

Fine, his shot was off. But I don't know how people can watch that game and think it was the same Gibbs we saw down in the Bahamas. Dude played with purpose once he created a little separation, and Ohio State paid for it.

The assists were nice to see, but I'm just going by what I saw on Tuesday at MSG and yesterday at Gampel. I almost always come away with a better perspective after watching in person than on TV because I try to focus on certain players. He's been the biggest mystery to me of late so I made it a point to focus on him even more yesterday. To my eyes, he frequently looked lost on defense, and I guess I would leave it that I disagree strongly that he was anything remotely close to what I would label the game changer offensively for us yesterday.

Like many others, I've clung to the belief that he's too talented not to figure prominently on this team. I am just trying to see where. The prevailing wisdom was that he is a quality shooter and would perform better in that capacity if moved off the ball. I'm just not seeing that...yet.

 

[djct1999]

A little bit of coincidence, perhaps, but we made 12 shots in a row after we gave up on the small lineup and put Brimah back in after probably going 0-5 playing small ball.

Not a big enough sample size to draw conclusions from, but not the right day to make the point.

Pure coincidence vs. inferior competition. The point still stands, Brimah stagnates the offense.

 

[djct1999]

A little bit of coincidence, perhaps, but we made 12 shots in a row after we gave up on the small lineup and put Brimah back in after probably going 0-5 playing small ball.

Not a big enough sample size to draw conclusions from, but not the right day to make the point.

and when? I went back to look at the tape of that first half run and Brimah was not a catalyst nor in for the majority of that run.

 

[David 76]

Maybe you didn't see it because it was in the second half.

 

[David 76]

Boy, that escalated quickly.

Actually escalated over 2.5 years. It is now required that AB get bashed every day in every thread. I was a little strong.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

The assists were nice to see, but I'm just going by what I saw on Tuesday at MSG and yesterday at Gampel. I almost always come away with a better perspective after watching in person than on TV because I try to focus on certain players. He's been the biggest mystery to me of late so I made it a point to focus on him even more yesterday. To my eyes, he frequently looked lost on defense, and I guess I would leave it that I disagree strongly that he was anything remotely close to what I would label the game changer offensively for us yesterday.

Like many others, I've clung to the belief that he's too talented not to figure prominently on this team. I am just trying to see where. The prevailing wisdom was that he is a quality shooter and would perform better in that capacity if moved off the ball. I'm just not seeing that...yet.

We agree on this, in addition to much about food. I hope those who are claiming to see more are better attuned than I. I'd certainly appreciate other posters' recommendations on which portions of which games for me to (re-)watch. Or a tcf15 highlights clip.

 

[selles]

The assists were nice to see, but I'm just going by what I saw on Tuesday at MSG and yesterday at Gampel. I almost always come away with a better perspective after watching in person than on TV because I try to focus on certain players. He's been the biggest mystery to me of late so I made it a point to focus on him even more yesterday. To my eyes, he frequently looked lost on defense, and I guess I would leave it that I disagree strongly that he was anything remotely close to what I would label the game changer offensively for us yesterday.

Like many others, I've clung to the belief that he's too talented not to figure prominently on this team. I am just trying to see where. The prevailing wisdom was that he is a quality shooter and would perform better in that capacity if moved off the ball. I'm just not seeing that...yet.

Gibbs' D was putrid in the Bahamas, but I thought it was better against Md and significantly better yesterday. He's not ever going to be Ricky Moore, but he showed a lot more hustle.

"Game changer" on offense is too strong but he did a good job with game management - Amore's article says both KO and Matta complimented him on that.

 

[pnow15]

Unfortunately, there is not a stat on shots rushed or a stat on drives not taken all the way to the rim or a stat on weak jumper shooters pulling up and bricking a shot at the sight of BRIMAH.
There is also not a stat on guys boxing out Brimah instead of going after DHam as he enters the lane. DHam leads the world on six foot bunnies not taken.
Brimah should never, ever, ever ever be posted. He needs to be in constant motion looking for a rim charge or that little jumper.
It is also clear that Brimah has a hard time handling a pass down below chest level. Passes to Brimah need to be high.

 

[intlzncster]

This team is a top 5 team in certain halves. Barely to 100 in others. Work in progress. love everything we've seen today and losses to Gonzaga and Maryland hardly kill you. Wins over OSU and Michigan probably help you.... a bit.

Given so many new moving parts and it's early in the season, this is a good problem to have, as it's something that can be addressed/fixed. Remains to be seen if they do it or not, but I'm optimistic.

 

[Matrim55]

Unfortunately, there is not a stat on shots rushed or a stat on drives not taken all the way to the rim or a stat on weak jumper shooters pulling up and bricking a shot at the sight of BRIMAH.

There are advanced stats, though - in particular Box +/-, which can be broken down on both sides of the ball.

Amida's current defensive box +/- is +9.7. As a freshman it was +9.6, and last year it was +7.4.

For reference:

Skal Labissiere, the presumptive first center off the board next year, has defensive box +/- of +5.4
Karl Anthony Towns's last year was +10.8, as was Anthony Davis's in his lone college season
Jahlil Okafor's was +4.1
Octavius Ellis's is +6.5
Markus Kennedy's is +6.9

Of the other bigs on UConn, Face is +6.0, Miller is +4.1, Nolan is +1.1 and Enoch is -0.3.

BPM isn't a perfect metric (I think RAPM is better, but can't find it for college) but it's really, really good. Amida has some very obvious flaws, but for the past three years we've pretty clearly been a much better team when he's out there. Let's hope he continues to improve.

(And for those of you who think he hasn't improved: His defensive rebound rate his first year was 11.1, last year was 10.8 and this year is 15.9%. That's far from elite, but he's getting better)

 

[Stainmaster]

(And for those of you who think he hasn't improved: His defensive rebound rate his first year was 11.1, last year was 10.8 and this year is 15.9%. That's far from elite, but he's getting better)

Of course, none of them care. They want to see him averaging a double-double with a dazzling array of post moves that even Emeka didn't have.

 

[intlzncster]

There are advanced stats, though - in particular Box +/-, which can be broken down on both sides of the ball.

Amida's current defensive box +/- is +9.7. As a freshman it was +9.6, and last year it was +7.4.

For reference:

Skal Labissiere, the presumptive first center off the board next year, has defensive box +/- of +5.4
Karl Anthony Towns's last year was +10.8, as was Anthony Davis's in his lone college season
Jahlil Okafor's was +4.1
Octavius Ellis's is +6.5
Markus Kennedy's is +6.9

Of the other bigs on UConn, Face is +6.0, Miller is +4.1, Nolan is +1.1 and Enoch is -0.3.

BPM isn't a perfect metric (I think RAPM is better, but can't find it for college) but it's really, really good. Amida has some very obvious flaws, but for the past three years we've pretty clearly been a much better team when he's out there. Let's hope he continues to improve.

(And for those of you who think he hasn't improved: His defensive rebound rate his first year was 11.1, last year was 10.8 and this year is 15.9%. That's far from elite, but he's getting better)

Excellent post. Amida also suffers on here, because his last year play was underwhelming, a direct consequence of not having an offseason to develop due to shoulder surgery (imo). A raw player just cannot have the offseason taken from him and expect to make any ground; he could even lose ground.

 

[Matrim55]

Excellent post. Amida also suffers on here, because his last year play was underwhelming, a direct consequence of not having an offseason to develop due to shoulder surgery (imo). A raw player just cannot have the offseason taken from him and expect to make any ground; he could even lose ground.

Very true.

Plus it's hard to ignore that he has hooves for hands. *sigh*