Brimah.....

[mdkhusky]

you realize he was out just about the entire offseason, one of his biggest problems is strength- when he grabs a rebound in traffic and tries to make a move hes not strong enough and loses the ball, on defense he cant hold position without grabbing and fouling, and alot of times he cant back his man down in the post without hooking with his elbow- which would have been hard to improve greatly with his injury

 

[jleves]

Did you see the finish yesterday? A good ol' fashioned DIII circus shot and a court stormin'

That is awesome!

 

[Woof 101]

the staff looks bad in his development? thats a completely erroneous statement. look at his numbers this year and last compared to his hs ranking

Were you at todays game or even watch it ??? I am not out to bash the man or hate but facts are facts. He had 1 point 1 assist and 3 turnovers. Yes he had 5 blocks but this was against the bottom of a bottom conference team with their starting center not available! Every time he got the ball in the low post he goes to the floor with it you do the math on that.
How does someone this size get the ball time and again under the basket and only get fouled twice? He has to be taught to take it to the hole or kick it back out. Call my statement erroneous but what I witnessed today has me firm in my original statement.

 

[Gurleyman]

Were you at todays game or even watch it ??? I am not out to bash the man or hate but facts are facts. He had 1 point 1 assist and 3 turnovers. Yes he had 5 blocks but this was against the bottom of a bottom conference team with their starting center not available! Every time he got the ball in the low post he goes to the floor with it you do the math on that. How does someone this size get the ball time and again under the basket and only get fouled twice? He has to be taught to take it to the hole or kick it back out. Call my statement erroneous but what I witnessed today has me firm in my original statement.

He looked terrible on offense today (Phil looked even worse). But he dominated the game late on defense - and grabbed a bunch of defensive rebounds down the stretch too. Grabbing rebounds in traffic is an area he's gotten significantly better - as is reading help and presenting himself for lobs (as I alluded to above, that helps create space). He can do other simple things that he couldn't last year - spot up from 15, shoot over a defender laying off him, make a simple jump hook, etc., but his offense is still early in the growth curve,

Raw 7-footers who haven't been playing long are going to have bad days. He's not exactly a Kevin Garnett who has fluidity of movement at his size - his offensive moves are very much plodding and mechanical, the type that don't get you to the line very easily because they don't fool anybody. He is a very good athlete when you don't include the ball (running and jumping for blocks), but when you enter hand-eye coordination and ball possession into the picture, everything slows down for him. He's not the first or the last to have those issues, but if he was polished and fluid offensively at his size and with his defensive ability, he wouldn't have been ranked #300 or whatever, and he wouldn't be here now. Guys who have a complete athletic skillset at 7-0 don't become sophomores.

 

[PradaMane]

He looked terrible on offense today (Phil looked even worse). But he dominated the game late on defense - and grabbed a bunch of defensive rebounds down the stretch too. Grabbing rebounds in traffic is an area he's gotten significantly better - as is reading help and presenting himself for lobs (as I alluded to above, that helps create space). He can do other simple things that he couldn't last year - spot up from 15, shoot over a defender laying off him, make a simple jump hook, etc., but his offense is still early in the growth curve,

Raw 7-footers who haven't been playing long are going to have bad days. He's not exactly a Kevin Garnett who has fluidity of movement at his size - his offensive moves are very much plodding and mechanical, the type that don't get you to the line very easily because they don't fool anybody. He is a very good athlete when you don't include the ball (running and jumping for blocks), but when you enter hand-eye coordination and ball possession into the picture, everything slows down for him. He's not the first or the last to have those issues, but if he was polished and fluid offensively at his size and with his defensive ability, he wouldn't have been ranked #300 or whatever, and he wouldn't be here now. Guys who have a complete athletic skillset at 7-0 don't become sophomores.

Great quote

 

[nomar]

Well it's certainly not a negative ratio on his overall performance. He was really good protecting the rim today that's for sure. But on offense, he's taken a couple steps back for sure. Just so unsure with all he's not too far away from Phil at this point.

I'm going to call the Massachusetts State Police and report that a crazy person has stolen Mau's identity and laptop.

He's about as far away from Phil as the Sun is from Pluto. Phil makes Amida look like Kareem.

 

[BlueMAB]

Sometimes guys have bad games. Crazy, right?

Last year in 40 games (starting 17) he played 16 minutes/game, averaged 4 points, 3 rebounds, shot 57% from the free throw line, 64% from the field, and 2.3 blocks per game.

This year in 18 games (starting 18) he plays 26 minutes/game, averages 10 points, 5 rebounds, shooting 64.8% from the free throw line, and 69% from the field, and he's averaging 2.7 blocks per game.

His numbers are up across the board. Literally every aspect of his game has improved. And if you want to complain about fouls, last year he averaged 2.9 fouls per game, this year 3.0 (and he's playing 10 more minutes/game). So he's improved there too.

And he's improved all of that after missing just about the entire off-season.

On top of all that, he's one of the biggest cheerleaders on the team (literally and figuratively), always has a positive attitude, and goes 100% every game no matter how he plays.

He's got a lot of work to do, we all see that. But he's put in a lot of work, and it's showing. Complaining about lob dunks when it means a guy can average 10 points/game shooting damn near 70% from the field is fahking idiotic. We're lucky to have him, and anyone who argues the staff isn't helping him improve should be be banned from posting for the remainder of his career at UConn.

 

[3rdbass]

Well like other posters have said at least he is good getting open for the lobs. Something PN could only dream about without any ups at all. One thing he has been approving upon is his rebounding(Both offensive and defensive). He will be here for 4 years but we are definitely a better team when he is on the court. He needs to get stronger in his legs and arms so bad to improve his positioning on both offense and defense.

 

[James]

"He will be here for 4 years " hahaha

 

[pnow15]

Watching Detroit Pistons. Andre does not get a post up anywhere. Surprisingly neither does Monroe.
Both set high picks and then roll to the hoop looking for a lob. Both continue to drift in and out of the painted area, setting picks and looking for lobs. When the ball goes up both try to get position for offensive rebound by sliding into the empty spots around the rim.
Again, neither Andre or Monroe has posted up anyone for the entire second half.
If the Pistons refuse to post a guy with the strength of Andre and the skills of Monroe, why are we posting
Brimah. Andre and Brimah, minus the weight, have similar games. But, Andre is not forced to try to make plays that
he is not equipped to do. Hence Andre is not turning the ball over five times a game.

 

[Gurleyman]

Watching Detroit Pistons. Andre does not get a post up anywhere. Surprisingly neither does Monroe. Both set high picks and then roll to the hoop looking for a lob. Both continue to drift in and out of the painted area, setting picks and looking for lobs. When the ball goes up both try to get position for offensive rebound by sliding into the empty spots around the rim. Again, neither Andre or Monroe has posted up anyone for the entire second half. If the Pistons refuse to post a guy with the strength of Andre and the skills of Monroe, why are we posting Brimah. Andre and Brimah, minus the weight, have similar games. But, Andre is not forced to try to make plays that he is not equipped to do. Hence Andre is not turning the ball over five times a game.

I was kinda with you until the last line. Brimah now has 18 turnovers in 18 games this year after three today (a number which includes offensive fouls and moving screens). I'd certainly give some leeway for statistical exaggeration/hyperbole to make a point, but Brimah's turnovers have not been an issue this season, so the underlying point is based on an overreaction to one game.

 

[BlueMAB]

Wait, is Brimah getting too many lobs, or not enough lobs? And when did 1 TO/game become 5?

This kid is one of our bright spots. Think about where this team would be without Brimah's 10/5/3 and presence at the defensive end.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm going to call the Massachusetts State Police and report that a crazy person has stolen Mau's identity and laptop.

He's about as far away from Phil as the Sun is from Pluto. Phil makes Amida look like Kareem.

Not on offense he's not the last couple games, catching it on the block. He's not getting any shots off all that often either, sorry you're wrong on this one nomar. And the lobs haven't happened against teas capable of playing good defense, I mean like "good" teams that aren't Coppin, USF and UCF. I love the kid, but take those away and his offense on the low block is closing in on Phil's, like it or not.

On the defensive end he's fine and I did say that. His protection today was one of his finest.

 

[husky91]

not when he plays legit front lines, then he plays 10-12 minutes max like last year's FF or Duke and is totally ineffective.

On the defensive end he's fine and I did say that. His protection today was one of his finest.

 

[nomar]

Not on offense he's not the last couple games, catching it on the block. He's not getting any shots off all that often either, sorry you're wrong on this one nomar. And the lobs haven't happened against teas capable of playing good defense, I mean like "good" teams that aren't Coppin, USF and UCF. I love the kid, but take those away and his offense on the low block is closing in on Phil's, like it or not.

On the defensive end he's fine and I did say that. His protection today was one of his finest.

I'm not saying he's playing well on offense -- he's incredibly reliant on lobs -- but you're comparing him to a guy who turns the ball over or gets blocked every time he touches the ball on offense. He's averaging 11 ppg on 70% shooting. Phil is averaging 1 ppg on 33% shooting in a little under half of AB's minutes. It's night and day.

If you want to say AB isn't impressing you on offense, go ahead and say it. He scored 1 point today, so this is the day to do it. But you're making a ridiculous, ridiculous statement. Phil Nolan literally cannot finish inside if a defender is in the paint. He gets blocked by guys 6" shorter than him. You're comparing him to a guy who scored FORTY points in a game. I don't care who it was against; Phil won't score 40 all season.

Gurley explained well what AB's offensive strengths and weaknesses are.

I noticed now you're limiting it to the "low block." I still disagree, but that's moving the goalposts.

 

[Gurleyman]

Not on offense he's not the last couple games, catching it on the block. He's not getting any shots off all that often either, sorry you're wrong on this one nomar. And the lobs haven't happened against teas capable of playing good defense, I mean like "good" teams that aren't Coppin, USF and UCF. I love the kid, but take those away and his offense on the low block is closing in on Phil's, like it or not. On the defensive end he's fine and I did say that. His protection today was one of his finest.

Brimah has made 76 shots this year and Phil has made 7.

He was terrible on offense today, but you're overreacting.

 

[BlueMAB]

Not on offense he's not the last couple games, catching it on the block. He's not getting any shots off all that often either, sorry you're wrong on this one nomar. And the lobs haven't happened against teas capable of playing good defense, I mean like "good" teams that aren't Coppin, USF and UCF. I love the kid, but take those away and his offense on the low block is closing in on Phil's, like it or not.

On the defensive end he's fine and I did say that. His protection today was one of his finest.

These are my favorite arguments. I got one. Let's just take away the games where he didn't score double digits. In those games he's averaging 15.6 ppg. See how easy it is? (by the way, he's scored double digits in 1o/18 games.)

In the last 5 games Brimah has: 37 points, 22 rebounds, and 11 blocks.

Phil Nolan has 17 points, 16 rebounds, and 6 blocks ON THE SEASON.

Brimah is maybe our 4th or 5th option on offense after Boatright, Hamilton, and Purvis/Calhoun depending on who is on the court. Complaining about his offensive repertoire is like complaining about Kate Upton's toenails.

Deandre Jordan is making pretty good money doing nothing but catching lobs.

 

[pnow15]

I was kinda with you until the last line. Brimah now has 18 turnovers in 18 games this year after three today (a number which includes offensive fouls and moving screens). I'd certainly give some leeway for statistical exaggeration/hyperbole to make a point, but Brimah's turnovers have not been an issue this season, so the underlying point is based on an overreaction to one game.

No, it's not. I consider pathetic fall away baby hooks or toss ups that no have chance of going in as a turnovers. Then there are the wrap around passes and bounce passes that Brimah never seems to catch that a player like Okafor would turn into a slam dunk. Or the elbow offensive foul. So, what I am saying is that count the number of times that the ball is fed to Brimah excluding the lob and count how many times that feed leads to a score. I would be shocked if were as high as 4 to 1, which would be worse than Sam Jr hitting 25% of his threes.
But, I don't have game film. Again this is not criticizing Brimah. He should be in constant motion, taking more of those jumpers and hunting out slam duck opportunities, not posting up like Kareem.

 

[johnhuskies95]

No, it's not. I consider pathetic fall away baby hooks or toss ups that no have chance of going in as a turnovers. Then there are the wrap around passes and bounce passes that Brimah never seems to catch that a player like Okafor would turn into a slam dunk. Or the elbow offensive foul. So, what I am saying is that count the number of times that the ball is fed to Brimah excluding the lob and count how many times that feed leads to a score. I would be shocked if were as high as 4 to 1, which would be worse than Sam Jr hitting 25% of his threes.
But, I don't have game film. Again this is not criticizing Brimah. He should be in constant motion, taking more of those jumpers and hunting out slam duck opportunities, not posting up like Kareem.

Oh damn, you're saying he's not as good as a #1 overall pick quality talent(be it Jahlil or Emeka)? We should cut him then.

 

[Gurleyman]

No, it's not. I consider pathetic fall away baby hooks or toss ups that no have chance of going in as a turnovers. Then there are the wrap around passes and bounce passes that Brimah never seems to catch that a player like Okafor would turn into a slam dunk. Or the elbow offensive foul. So, what I am saying is that count the number of times that the ball is fed to Brimah excluding the lob and count how many times that feed leads to a score. I would be shocked if were as high as 4 to 1, which would be worse than Sam Jr hitting 25% of his threes. But, I don't have game film. Again this is not criticizing Brimah. He should be in constant motion, taking more of those jumpers and hunting out slam duck opportunities, not posting up like Kareem.

A bad shot is reflected in the stats as a FGA, and Brimah is shooting 69 percent this year, so he hasn't had many of those either. In fact, he's only missed 34 shots all season. There just aren't that many bad possessions he's been a part of - missed shots and turnovers combined are less than 3 per game. He only posts up once in a while - enough to keep the defense honest and to let him continue to work on stuff he works on in practice and see if maybe he can convert on some of them in game situations. The Pistons actually handle Drummond the same way - they give him a few post feeds. Typically he doesn't do much with them, and they go back to letting him just get lobs and put backs. But they're thinking long term - if he doesn't get a few low block touches, his game won't progress.

An offensive foul (which actually was off a baseline inbounds pass and not even an example of a post up play that went awry) counts as a turnover, so that elbow is included in his 18 turnovers this season.

 

[BlueMAB]

An offensive foul (which actually was off a baseline inbounds pass and not even an example of a post up play that went awry) counts as a turnover, so that elbow is included in his 18 turnovers this season.

And that was his only turnover. A move that isn't called an offensive foul 9 times out of 10. In fact, the center from USF got away with the same thing later in the game against Nolan who ended up being called for a foul.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Husky 91 you are one negative dude. You come on here with bad karma man.Change your attitude now.

put the d!cks on "ignore" and the board becomes infinitely more enjoyable.

 

[Gurleyman]

And that was his only turnover. A move that isn't called an offensive foul 9 times out of 10. In fact, the center from USF got away with the same thing later in the game against Nolan who ended up being called for a foul.

And that was a quality finish, too, once he passed the guy - a nice reverse dunk where he looked fluid. Without the call, we'd have been impressed at the assertive finish.

He did have 3 turnovers yesterday - threw the ball out of a double team into press row for one of them. The other was when it was 2-2 - I think a pass through his hands, if I remember right. He was close to another one, but dove on the floor for it, and almost threw away an outlet pass, but it was deflected out of bounds (and his missed shot missed badly), I'm not pretending he was good - or even adequate- yesterday, because he clearly wasn't. But it isn't a year-long problem.

If every game was like yesterday, I'd be all for giving up and taking those sets out of the play book, but he's had games where he's scored on his limited post feeds. It isn't anything we should bail completely on now since he had a bad night. Depending on the match up, give him a couple touches and if he looks comfortable, go to it a couple more times. Otherwise, go back to our other options. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe you get the other big to pick up a dumb foul or two fighting him for position or gambling on a steal, but it keeps him engaged and working hard in practice if he knows he's going to have the chance to earn some touches.

 

[BlueMAB]

Let's also not forget that of the guys that actually get minutes (Sorry Dan Guest), he's a better free-throw shooter than everyone but Boatright, Cassell, and TSam.

We're better off with Brimah at the line than Rodney Purvis, Omar Calhoun, and Daniel Hamilton, let that sink in.

 

[pnow15]

Let's also not forget that of the guys that actually get minutes (Sorry Dan Guest), he's a better free-throw shooter than everyone but Boatright, Cassell, and TSam.

We're better off with Brimah at the line than Rodney Purvis, Omar Calhoun, and Daniel Hamilton, let that sink in.

This discussion is about how to keep Brimah in the game as long as possible and making him more effective. So, you have apparently missed the entire point. Let that sink in.