Three Takeaways – Iona Edition

[EROCK CONN]

Al was really good tonight ....when his shot is falling, he goes from good to very very good / excellent

 

[JB75]

Our vets carried the day. Carlton cv Ag and polley( who is becoming a very reliable sharpshooter). AG played well- hit some j’s And played within himself. His on the ball defense is impressive and underrated. Akok was a disruptor and solid as always. Bench was blah but hopefully they ll comeback strong for Indiana Game. When bouknight cocked that dunk back i yelled and then I almost jumped off couch. Wifey said “your gonna wake up the baby “. Lol. Sorry that dunk got me excited. We ve missed that over the years. Akok and bouk will be the culture chAngers. - already are. And btw - I know Akok has thrown the ball away a few times this year, but I really like his court awareness and passing. He had another good look tonight.

 

[TheChamps990411]

How do we bottle that version of Josh and get it for 30 nights a year? I'd kill for that recipe.

He did two things people have been saying for him to do
1. Get good positioning both scoring and rebounding. His footwork is excellent. He isnt going to out jump anyone so use your biggest strengths size and footwork to always be in a position to score, rebound or challenge shots.
2. When you get the ball make a move and not give defenders the time to double team.
If he does these two things which he is totally capable of doing night in and night out he should be good for 12-15/10/2 a night.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Remember the recruitment photos of Akok Akok when he was at Cuse and UConn. Stoic. Couldn't read him.

Holy cow, what a poker face that was. He is da zhit !!

View attachment 48853

lol! That face is priceless! it just screams "I dont have a care in the world, come at me bro"

 

[caw]

Our vets carried the day. Carlton cv Ag and polley( who is becoming a very reliable sharpshooter). AG played well- hit some j’s And played within himself. His on the ball defense is impressive and underrated. Akok was a disruptor and solid as always. Bench was blah but hopefully they ll comeback strong for Indiana Game. When bouknight cocked that dunk back i yelled and then I almost jumped off couch. Wifey said “your gonna wake up the baby “. Lol. Sorry that dunk got me excited. We ve missed that over the years. Akok and bouk will be the culture chAngers. - already are. And btw - I know Akok has thrown the ball away a few times this year, but I really like his court awareness and passing. He had another good look tonight.

Polley is at 5 three attempts a game but I still think he should take more, have more plays run for him.

Josh may be the best big in the country at always keeping his hands up. This is probably also why he doesn’t jump as high, he rarely brings the ball down to gather to go up for a dunk attempt (it’s a good/bad thing depending on the defender).

Al is easily the second most talented player on the team after Bouknight and after only playing <50 games the past year he is slowly starting to get his timing/confidence back.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I don't know what I like more about Akok his constant hustle or his unbridled joy. I don't know what he will become, but right now he is the hero we deserve.

 

[Fishy]

What year is Agee,has a nice skilled/tough game. Too bad he has to play the 5.

Agee was killing us in the first half, even when he didn’t have the ball.

They were putting him 25’ from the basket which had Josh suspended in space about 18’ out. Josh can’t defend anything in that kind of space, so they were going four on five on some possessions.

 

[GoDAWGS]

I am personally loving being the team that has the terrifying big man. Josh is starting to own the post and I'm loving every second of it.

 

[CL82]

We really need to learn how to throw a decent lob. Akok can get up there and so can Bouk.

 

[AdamaNation]

What year is Agee,has a nice skilled/tough game. Too bad he has to play the 5.

I foresee a grad transfer from agee since he obviously liked our coach. What a totally classy kid!! I enjoy guys who play hard almost dirty and share love with his opponents. Kevin Garnett was so that personality. Intense but classy!!!

 

[andy34]

We really need to learn how to throw a decent lob. Akok can get up there and so can Bouk.

The lob that Akok didn't finish last night originally looked like his fault.. but on the replay the pass was clearly too low and too close to the rim. AA would have been better catching and re-gathering, but still - that's gotta be a better pass.

 

[August_West]

Yeah that's a weird observation. I love the kid and think he's going to be great - small thing but he SPRINTS the floor after made buckets - but passing is definitely an area of weakness right now.

He’s not so crisp with it yet, but he absolutely has the quick trigger court awareness to make the right reads. There was a quick reversal to polley from corner to elbow for 3 in that early 2nd half barrage that was just a great hoops read. The pass ended up at polleys knees so it wasn’t crisp, but it was quick enough that polley could still gather and drain the shot.

Akok is going to be really really good for us.

 

[Kenny11]

If we are really going to be playing 10 guys, which is fine, we can't expect that all of the guys are going to play well. It is hard to get in a groove sometimes with short minutes. For example, what bouknight did in short minutes in his first few games is awesome, but that isn't going to happen most nights if he's playing below 20 mins. I was glad to see Gilbert get 33 minutes though. When a guy is playing well, keep playing him.

 

[Kenny11]

The lob that Akok didn't finish last night originally looked like his fault.. but on the replay the pass was clearly too low and too close to the rim. AA would have been better catching and re-gathering, but still - that's gotta be a better pass.

We have thrown maybe one good lob the whole season.

 

[August_West]

We have thrown maybe one good lob the whole season.

Yup and it was gaffney to bouk I believe.


Could you imagine Akok and bouk playing with Daniel Hamilton or jalen Adams? Those 2 could lob

 

[Rico444]

Yup and it was gaffney to bouk I believe.


Could you imagine Akok and bouk playing with Daniel Hamilton or jalen Adams? Those 2 could lob

And even on that lob, Bouk caught it below the rim and had to readjust in the air.

 

[UConnStats]

Can't wait for Akok to get stronger because he could absolutely yam on people if he was right now. His potential is crazy. He's already a beast on defense and is way better than I figured he'd be on the boards. And his cheers for his teammates are infectious, as others have said.

The whole team seems to celebrate each other more than any team we've had in a while. That's probably a combination of culture change and simply having more to cheer about.

 

[intlzncster]

No. 1: Hurley has called Akok something to the effect of a "culture builder," talking about his enthusiasm and team-oriented approach to literally everything, and man it was on display tonight during that big run to start the 2nd half:

There was a time when the rumor was Akok was too depressed to be an effectual player.

 

[intlzncster]

How do we bottle that version of Josh and get it for 30 nights a year? I'd kill for that recipe.

As I said in another thread, punch him in the face during pregame warmups.

 

[intlzncster]

You think Akok is our best passer? Are we watching the same game?

Passing might be his biggest weakness right now. Super uncomfortable with the ball on the perimeter.

What he does do right is look for guys. He looks for the outlet. He looks for the cutter. But as you said, he's uncomfortable, and he's got awful touch on the pass. Sometimes just hucks it in to nowhere.

 

[Stainmaster]

There was a time when the rumor was Akok was too depressed to be an effectual player.

How many pages of thread was that? Good lord.

 

[superjohn]

There was a time when the rumor was Akok was too depressed to be an effectual player.

That one was really bizarre. There were actually people saying he wouldn't got to UConn because he wasn't smiling at a UConn game and they didn't like his attitude/looked depressed.

In the chat last night we had a poster saying Bouknight and the whole team didn't play well in last night's first half because Bouknight was being praised too much on the boneyard. The praise was going to Bouk's head and his teammates are jealous.

 

[intlzncster]

In the chat last night we had a poster saying Bouknight and the whole team didn't play well in last night's first half because Bouknight was being praised too much on the boneyard. The praise was going to Bouk's head and his teammates are jealous.

That is...quite a take.

 

[RichZ]

You think Akok is our best passer? Are we watching the same game?

Passing might be his biggest weakness right now. Super uncomfortable with the ball on the perimeter.

He definitely telegraphs every pass from the perimeter when we are in probing mode early in the clock. But his "in the flow" passes seem more instinctive.

 

[UconnU]

Akok changes the game in so many ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Teams see his shadow everywhere they go on the court. They are hesitant to put up anything in the paint while he’s on the floor. PSA won the prep national championship because of this same dynamic.