Will Akok ever be as good as his freshman year?

[Tiamat7]

Studies show that 20-30% of players never return to pre-Achilles tear form. It's a rougher injury than an ACL tear. 10-15% of those who tear their ACL don't return to former performance.

Interesting data. Can you provide the citation?

 

[Palatine]

I got your citation right here.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Nah. Not really. I think Polley is possibly the worst defender I’ve seen in 35+ years of watching UConn basketball, among guys who actually played. Also the worst rebounder relative to height. As for passing, he had the lowest assist per 40 of anybody but Johnson. I don’t think either are good ball handlers. Akok out rebounded Polley by 20 in under half the minutes.

My complaint this year was mostly about Whaley, who I do like a lot, playing with Sanogo and the problems that caused. The metrics show that Akok was a + defender not a liability. I would also have liked to see Samson play more at the 4. I bring up Polley only because he was played at the 4 and yet people said Akok didn’t play due to his defense, which was much better than Polley’s. I recall Akok blocking 3 shots in like two minutes and then never getting in again. It was irrational. Hurley has some blind spots as a coach.

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I highly recommend you go back and watch some of Akok’s minutes from this season. The weak side blocks are nice but focus on his actual man-defense and how he played through screens. It was bad, there’s no way around it. That doesn’t mean he can’t improve but he got abused on defense and that is absolutely the reason he got so few minutes.

 

[jdb50]

Holy moly I completely forget that St. Joes ran them out of Gampel.

I was there. We had a big second half comeback but of course fell short. After that loss I had real doubts about the rest of the season.

 

[jdb50]

Agree about Hurley having blind spots on playing his players. He will profess his innocence but Akok did some good things and then was forgotten the bench.

 

[Huskyforlife]

We’re all rooting for Akok to succeed after what happened his freshman year. But idk what his fans were watching this year that have them so convinced he was shafted for minutes. He didn’t look good at all when he was out there.

With that being said, I won’t be shocked if Akok, 2 years removed from surgery, and very knowledgeable with what we do on defense, has the edge over Samson and Karaban to start the season. If he keeps shooting around 40%, and plays good(not even elite) defense, I think he’ll hold down the spot. We shouldn’t need our 4 to play make, unless our perimeter guys are bad.

 

[Greg]

I hate to say it, but I can't envision it happening.

I see a potential portal if he can't earn more minutes. A shame about the injury. He and Jackson together and healthy would have been fun to watch.

 

[willie99]

Hopefully, it happens, we've seen it before. He's going to get his chance, and he doesn't have to be the best player on the court

10-12 plus 4-5 would be awesome. OK, maybe only 3-4 boards