Akok and Hawkins

[HuskyHawk]

I clicked on this thread pretty much just to see if you would say that Akok was the player of the game. It's a bit at this point.

Obviously he was not. He had two minutes, but he certainly didn't look lifeless in those two minutes. I think he was a solution to the way they defended Whaley/Sanogo and would have forced McDermott's hand and made it hard to double Sanogo. Dan must have felt otherwise. I think that it was a bad matchup for Jackson yesterday. No space to work/pass inside and they dared him to shoot outside.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

For example, Whaley is an awful screener. He never sets his feet, never holds through the screen and takes off before it is set.

That's a slip. It's done on purpose depending on the situation, to confuse the defense and open a quick cut to the basket. It isn't a poorly set screen.

The player has the option to set the screen, or slip it depending on what the defender is doing. The idea is to move toward the basket quickly while the defense is expecting (bracing/angling his body) to be screened, leaving 2 men on the ball, and no one on the roller (the guy who slipped the screen).

 

[bendm]

Hurley made a series of choices that has severely limited his depth after bragging how deep the team would be in the off season and as recently as the Georgetown game. Started with not filling the 13th scholarship. Redshirted Floyd. Fine. Makes sense. Springs is apparently not good enough. K. I get it. Down to 11. Neither diggins or Samson can help us this year?? Really?? No playing time against cupcakes? Ok. Down to 9. And now akok akok mins are going down by choice. Hawkins plays like a frosh and is not providing a spark we need. And gaffney clearly hasn’t improved. Ok now we have a problem. And that’s not including the super streaky players we have (polley Martin Jackson). There is a series of choices that put us in this depth bind.

this is more or less fair but the main takeaway should be that 6 top 150 recruits turned out to be borderline worthless this season. what were the odds of that???

sure using the last scholly would've been nice right about now, but hurley not wanting 14 players on the roster was 100% defensible at the time given that we supposedly had this great depth. hell half this board even thought springs would get PT this year.

so the decisions/choices did not put us in the depth bind, the lack of depth forced the decisions/choices. and so here we are.

PS- no matter how many people keep saying it, playing digg and samson for 10 mins more against the cupcakes wouldnt have miraculously enabled them to contribute last night against creighton

 

[HuskyHawk]

That's a slip. It's done on purpose depending on the situation, to confuse the defense and open a quick cut to the basket. It isn't a poorly set screen.

The player has the option to set the screen, or slip it depending on what the defender is doing. The idea is to move toward the basket quickly while the defense is expecting (bracing/angling his body) to be screened, leaving 2 men on the ball, and no one on the roller (the guy who slipped the screen).

Is so then he never confuses the D because it he does it every time, and he does confuse his teammates, because too often they get swallowed up by a double team, especially Cole.

 

[Watchdog]

I think Hawkins needs more of a leash than he’s been given. He had a couple good looks that just didn’t fall and when they don’t fall he has it ingrained in his head he’s going to sit on the bench for the remainder of the game. Hurley has created this scenario and has killed his confidence

When his shots fall you can see him with more confidence cause he’s not afraid of being castaway to the bench

Maybe we could find some video of RIP missing all seven of his shots in the first half of a game and then making six out of eight in the second half and queue it up for DH and Hawkins........

 

[Burnsbros23]

When this team looks good depth is a strength to give him 2 mins is wild to me. 6 mins against DePaul. Akok should be able to give us active 15 mins.

I dk what you do with Hawkins now. I think the fact he isn’t further along is on Hurley.

We play too many non shooters. Hopefully Whaley can start making a 3 a game to stretch ppl out.

 

[Chin Diesel]

When this team looks good depth is a strength to give him 2 mins is wild to me. 6 mins against DePaul. Akok should be able to give us active 15 mins.

I dk what you do with Hawkins now. I think the fact he isn’t further along is on Hurley.

We play too many non shooters. Hopefully Whaley can start making a 3 a game to stretch ppl out.

The game playing strategy for opposing coaches is if Whaley makes one or two 3's it keeps Whaley on the court and Polley off the court. You take your chances of Whaley making one or two vice Polley making three or four.

 

[auror]

I watch. He came in, fought hard for a rebound. Set two good screens, and blocked a shot and recovered it. That's his 2 minutes. Probably as good a two minute stretch as anybody had.

Hurley has blinders. He seems to have some vision he wants but doesn't accept what players do well. For example, Whaley is an awful screener. He never sets his feet, never holds through the screen and takes off before it is set. Akok is really the only guy on the team that sets good screens (Jackson at times). He's an aggressive and good rebounder on both ends. He shoots efficiently. Blocks shots. I really do not know what he's expecting...Donyell Marhsall?

Who was Akok going to guard? The guy who spends 100% of the time on the perimeter and you have to chase around screens or the 6'7 guy who catches on the perimeter, faces up, and attacks the basket off the dribble?

Whaley guards both better and was 4/8 from 3. So there's no reason you would pick Akok over Whaley in 2 big lineups and then if you're going to play Akok and Whaley together you're forcing Akok to guard 1 of those guys AND are then benching Sanogo. And he's never going to play in 1 big lineups over either of those 2.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Who was Akok going to guard? The guy who spends 100% of the time on the perimeter and you have to chase around screens or the 6'7 guy who catches on the perimeter, faces up, and attacks the basket off the dribble?

Whaley guards both better and was 4/8 from 3. So there's no reason you would pick Akok over Whaley in 2 big lineups and then if you're going to play Akok and Whaley together you're forcing Akok to guard 1 of those guys AND are then benching Sanogo. And he's never going to play in 1 big lineups over either of those 2.

Polley played the 4 a lot the last two games and Akok can guard anyone better than Polley can . Akok's D isn't bad at all. His interior shot blocking and help D is very good. It's critical when we keep hedging.

 

[polycom]

6 guys played…. The other 3 players logged Hawkins (6 min), Gaffney (6 min), Akok (2 min)

You can’t be playing 6 man rotations you are going to run the main players into the ground. Just bad roster management

They did the same thing... our starters just weren't good enough.

 

[imno1]

Akok is just not that good. Even with his setbacks from injury he should have more game by now. Hawkins Is a mystery because I hear he shoots lights out in practice and has shown some glimpses of being productive but he‘s having a very average freshman year. From the early hype I thought he’d be a weapon by February.
About last night’s game and maybe it was brought up in another thread but Raf mentioned the team had about a 2 hour shoot around. I think that may have had a mental fatiguing affect on the players. Whatever it was they weren’t sharp

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I suggest watching closely. Hurley can't be more clear about Akok. He isn't contributing on either end of the floor in games or in practice. He hasn't earned minutes.

I am a huge believer in Hawkins. He was brutal yesterday in the first half. he played himself off the court. In a close game, late in the game, he belonged on the bench.

This is sadly correct.

Hawkins got open looks and was badly missing. He's also subpar on defense right now. He's a freshman and has time to develop.

 

[auror]

Polley played the 4 a lot the last two games and Akok can guard anyone better than Polley can . Akok's D isn't bad at all. His interior shot blocking and help D is very good. It's critical when we keep hedging.

But that's my point. He wouldn't have played on the interior at all and would not have been near the play to help, since Hawkins and Kaluma both play on the perimeter. On those 2, I'm not sure Akok's D would have been all that much better and Polley is a much more threatening offensive player.

 

[UconnFanDC]

6 guys played…. The other 3 players logged Hawkins (6 min), Gaffney (6 min), Akok (2 min)

You can’t be playing 6 man rotations you are going to run the main players into the ground. Just bad roster management

I hear you but I am not sure that would have changed the outcome of this game or the other 4 point losses. We're just a fairly good team. Not top 10 as many of us would like it to be.

 

[Burnsbros23]

View attachment 72920 They did the same thing... our starters just weren't good enough.

We are supposed to have depth they dont.

 

[Burnsbros23]

When we look good we have great front court depth. Now we just bury akok. Analytics love him.

 

[businesslawyer]

We had a much stronger second half.

Do you really believe throwing facts into the conversation is going to impact anyone's rantings?

 

[businesslawyer]

this is more or less fair but the main takeaway should be that 6 top 150 recruits turned out to be borderline worthless this season. what were the odds of that???

sure using the last scholly would've been nice right about now, but hurley not wanting 14 players on the roster was 100% defensible at the time given that we supposedly had this great depth. hell half this board even thought springs would get PT this year.

so the decisions/choices did not put us in the depth bind, the lack of depth forced the decisions/choices. and so here we are.

PS- no matter how many people keep saying it, playing digg and samson for 10 mins more against the cupcakes wouldnt have miraculously enabled them to contribute last night against creighton

The other ridiculous criticism is he didn't see Gaffney regressing. I mean, please. As a frosh Gaffney pushed Gilbert to the bench, as a Sophomore many here were arguing he was better than Cole and he started the season fine against cupcakes. What happened then? I have no clue. But the staff had to have believed that there were hundreds of things to worry about more pressing than Gaffney regressing the way he has.

 

[methodology]

Do you really believe throwing facts into the conversation is going to impact anyone's rantings?

And they fell flat in the last 6 minutes due to overusage

 

[methodology]

This is sadly correct.

Hawkins got open looks and was badly missing. He's also subpar on defense right now. He's a freshman and has time to develop.

He absolutely did not miss badly last night and his defense isn’t as bad as people have been suggesting

 

[businesslawyer]

And they fell flat in the last 6 minutes due to overusage

As someone showed in one of these threads, both teams played six players with three others making cameos. There was no material different in the minutes played by the players on the two teams. But thanks for your non-fact.

 

[methodology]

As someone showed in one of these threads, both teams played six players with three others making cameos. There was no material different in the minutes played by the players on the two teams. But thanks for your non-fact.

Creighton didn’t have a 2 hour shoot around either care to put that in your facts

They should have an 8 man rotation not 6

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

He absolutely did not miss badly last night and his defense isn’t as bad as people have been suggesting

His first shot hit the backboard but not the rim.

 

[methodology]

His first shot hit the backboard but not the rim.

He had 2 shots rim out that were halfway down

 

[CardiacAndre7]

He had 2 shots rim out that were halfway down

He absolutely bricked like 3 shots