Felix Okpara commits to Vols!

#76
#76
I am excited for Felix

He will give Estrella the time to grow up and fill out without pressure to be 25 minute per game this year

Barnes doing work where the team has needs
 
#78
#78
That's her. She's already beloved in Columbus (a town that's not inclined to embrace new people on the sports beat).

I would put her up with some of the best I've worked with. Clay Hall, Rick Russo, Daryl Hobby and Justin Kropf. All class acts.
She's wonderful, speaking as someone who worked with her while she was here in Knoxville! Glad y'all love her work!
 
#80
#80
I view Felix as Uros 2.0. A guy that will rough some people up and make some shot unexpected down the stretch
 
#81
#81
I view Felix as Uros 2.0. A guy that will rough some people up and make some shot unexpected down the stretch
This is a horrible comparison. As a sophomore this past year he averaged numbers Uros never got to, and he averaged nearly 2.5 blocks per game. Which is absolutely incredible for just playing like 24 minutes. Hes athletic and has a super high ceiling whereas Uros was unathletic and he just liked to rough people up. Okpara can be as good or better than Aidoo.
 
#87
#87
I think the comment had less to do with Aidoo turning it over (which, as you pointed out, he didn't do a ton) and more to do with him fumbling the initial entry pass and having to regather it, which eliminated the moment for easy scoring. Definitely recall Aidoo's mishandling of passes leading to shots that shouldn't have been as contested as they were multiple times this season. Not every one of them was his fault, but a lot were.

No big will ever have perfect hands. Aidoo had pretty soft hands and was a 15-20pt scorer with a couple blocks and around 5 rebounds a game most of the year. He also had several double doubles and quite a few offensive putbacks, especially on drives by DK.

I wish that Aidoo had not lost confidence and/or gotten injured late in the season. He was our best big by far.... especially when he was using the glass with either hand, making off hand baby hooks or hitting mid range jumpers. We would not have been a 2 seed without him.
 
#91
#91
He’s not going to have to face Edey again here lol

He’s not going to be a 15 point scorer, but that’s not why we recruited him. Aidoo leaving means we need help with rim protection. Felix is very good at that. He blocked 83 shots at OSU this year. That would break the UT school record if he does that here next year.
Very good take. I have watched enough of Okpara's film to realize that he is exactly what we needed. He doesn't seem to have the mid range jumper that Aidoo has but is good around the rim offensively and defensively. Additionally, he appears to be a tad more athletic than Jonas. He is scrappy when battling for rebounds as well. Who knows, Barnes and staff may be able to develop this guy into a 10 pt and 7 reb type of player. Great addition to this squad.
 
#93
#93
Aidoo had a TOV% of 8.6 this year, the second lowest on the team. Just the facts here.
Thats a point where facts can be misleading. 70% of his touches were at the point outside the 3 line as part of the catch, pass and screen offense. I would love to see his stats when catching a pass, or getting a rebound, in the low post position while being guarded by another big.
 
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#94
#94
Thats a point where facts can be misleading. 70% of his touches were at the point outside the 3 line as part of the catch, pass and screen offense. I would love to see his stats when catching a pass, or getting a rebound, in the low post position while being guarded by another big.
I believe TO% only accounts for possessions that end with a player, so the scenarios you’re referring to wouldn’t make a difference.
 
#97
#97
I believe TO% only accounts for possessions that end with a player, so the scenarios you’re referring to wouldn’t make a difference.
Thats a very complicated stat, I don't get it. It must be magic if it can make Aidoo not look like a turnover machine in the post. Maybe this is what Arkansas was looking at?

TOV% is 100 * TOV / (FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV), where:
  • TO: The number of turnovers
  • FGA: The number of field goal attempts
  • FTA: The number of free throw attempts
  • 0.44: An estimation of possessions ending in two free throws



 

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#98
#98
Thats a very complicated stat, I don't get it. It must be magic if it can make Aidoo not look like a turnover machine in the post. Maybe this is what Arkansas was looking at?

TOV% is 100 * TOV / (FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV), where:
  • TO: The number of turnovers
  • FGA: The number of field goal attempts
  • FTA: The number of free throw attempts
  • 0.44: An estimation of possessions ending in two free throws



You can look at his raw stats. He had one game with 4 TOs last year, two games with 3 TOs, more games with 0 TOs than any other number.

 
#99
#99
This is a horrible comparison. As a sophomore this past year he averaged numbers Uros never got to, and he averaged nearly 2.5 blocks per game. Which is absolutely incredible for just playing like 24 minutes. Hes athletic and has a super high ceiling whereas Uros was unathletic and he just liked to rough people up. Okpara can be as good or better than Aidoo.
At the beginning of last yard's play, I thought Aidoo was progressing well and then we something happened. He was stuffed a couple of times and it seemed that he went into a shell. He became less aggressive, missed most of his shots from 10 feet out, and his defense in the paint disappeared and resulted in fouls. I view this as a change in his attitude and became much less aggressive. Then I think he dec9ded that his worth in $$$ was not being met and he failed to put the effort in o up his worth. The potential is still there but he thought the grass was greener ($$$) somewhere, else.
 
I think something that mucks up the turnover numbers for Aidoo, or any post player for that matter, is I bet that the guard can get slapped with the turnover in the stat sheet if the big man fumbles a pass inside, even if it was a good pass. Not always, but I do bet there are a few turnovers credited to Zakai, Santi, Mashack, and others that should probably be credited to Aidoo or our other posts.
 
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