College Hoops Around The Country [TN opponents, RPI, others]

[Bigorangefan 98]

No. 24 Arizona gets beat in OT by West Virginia, putting Arizona at 3-4 to start the season.

Sometimes the grass ain’t always greener. We would’ve utilized Awaka much more effectively if he stayed but it is what it is.

Who knows , be honest. Barnes May told
Him it’s his best interest to take his game some where else ….

 

[StoneokeyVol]

The rankings are certainly going to see some changes after this week.

 

[Lefteye]

Agreed on the rebound merchant. And yeah, the fouling was the biggest drawback, but Awaka is a better finisher around the rim than Felix is at this point which would’ve helped us in his limited minutes, especially with Estrella out.

Curious how you come to this??

Felix is 62% rt now and
Awaka is 55

 

[chuckiepoo]

Curious how you come to this??

Felix is 62% rt now and
Awaka is 55

Don’t be bringing stats up in here… especially if they challenge my narrative…

 

[StarRaider]

Don’t be bringing stats up in here… especially if they challenge my narrative…

feelz>>>> stats

 

[tev.sm]

Curious how you come to this??

Felix is 62% rt now and
Awaka is 55

Awaka was 59% in both seasons at TN… I don’t think FG% across 7 gms given our lighter non-conference schedule is a proper comparison.

Felix does well when he doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s averaging 2 TO/game. It should be more but some of the TO’s get put on the passer when the passes or lobs get bobbled.

He sometimes takes too long to make a decision, or brings the ball down once he catches it.

I think his FG% doesn’t take away from the fact that he got room to improve when catching the ball inside.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Awaka was 59% in both seasons at TN… I don’t think FG% across 7 gms given our lighter non-conference schedule is a proper comparison.

Felix does well when he doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s averaging 2 TO/game. It should be more but some of the TO’s get put on the passer when the passes or lobs get bobbled.

He sometimes takes too long to make a decision, or brings the ball down once he catches it.

I think his FG% doesn’t take away from the fact that he got room to improve when catching the ball inside.

Ok then look at both guys first 2 whole seasons, Okpara had the better 2pt% and on higher volume.

 

[tev.sm]

Ok then look at both guys first 2 whole seasons, Okpara had the better 2pt% and on higher volume.

I’ll agree on that. That doesn’t take away from the struggles to hold on to the ball when we try to play inside.

Maybe it’s just me but bobbling passes and not being able to hold on to the ball when we’re playing inferior opponents is concerning.

Awaka didn’t have this issue. Thats the point I was trying to make when I said “finishing around the rim.” FG% is only part of the whole picture imo.

 

[walkenvol]

I don’t understand why folks feel the need to put down Tobe’s play. Nobody is saying he’s an all American. He’s a hard worker trying to maximize his abilities. He appears to be a high character guy also. I for one would be happy if he returned next season as his intense play was usually fun to watch. JMO

 

[CAVPUT]

1 minute? Maybe the story is we dodged a bullet..

Kinda remember the name but not the position. Was he a 2 guard? Pretty sure Lanier was our priority there.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I’ll agree on that. That doesn’t take away from the struggles to hold on to the ball when we try to play inside.

Maybe it’s just me but bobbling passes and not being able to hold on to the ball when we’re playing inferior opponents is concerning.

Awaka didn’t have this issue. Thats the point I was trying to make when I said “finishing around the rim.” FG% is only part of the whole picture imo.

Okpara’s per 40 turnover numbers were better than Awaka’s as both a freshman and sophomore, this is the only year so far that they are worse (and it’s barely) and you yourself just said a 7 game sample size isn’t fair to judge off of.

 

[tev.sm]

Okpara’s per 40 turnover numbers were better than Awaka’s as both a freshman and sophomore, this is the only year so far that they are worse (and it’s barely) and you yourself just said a 7 game sample size isn’t fair to judge off of.

Okay, maybe it’s just me then. I still think it’s a concern, we can agree to disagree on that. Hopefully it improves once we get into SEC play and he can be dominant against SEC bigs.

Edit: Just noting that Okpara averaging 3.5 TO per 40 min against inferior competition is still bad regardless of the comparison.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Okay, maybe it’s just me then. I still think it’s a concern, we can agree to disagree on that. Hopefully it improves once we get into SEC play and he can be dominant against SEC bigs.

Edit: Just noting that Okpara averaging 3.5 TO per 40 min against inferior competition is still bad regardless of the comparison.

Sure, but in your own words 7 games isn’t a fair sample size to make judgment…if you look at a full 2 years worth of data instead it tells you that Awaka turns it over at a higher rate.

So he shoots a worse % from 2 and turns it over more, curious how else it can be spun that over 2 full seasons one can think Awaka finishes better around the rim than Okpara?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

There was nothing wrong with Awaka’s offense. He even turned into a dependable free throw shooter. His single issue was that he couldn’t play excellent, team defense without getting into foul trouble.

 

[tev.sm]

Sure, but in your own words 7 games isn’t a fair sample size to make judgment…if you look at a full 2 years worth of data instead it tells you that Awaka turns it over at a higher rate.

So he shoots a worse % from 2 and turns it over more, curious how else it can be spun that over 2 full seasons one can think Awaka finishes better around the rim than Okpara?

Okay. I’ll concede and say that I’m wrong and you’re completely correct, but let’s break it down.

Awaka, his freshman and sophomore season averaged 1.5 TO & 2 TO per 40 mins while averaging 59.1% and 59.2% 2PT% respectively.

Okpara, his freshman and sophomore season averaged 1.3 TO and 1.7 TO per 40 mins while averaging 60.6% and 60.7% 2PT% respectively.

I’ll say that I’m wrong when comparing Awaka to Okpara with historical stats. The differences, however, are very small.

Either way, Okpara is still turning the ball over twice as much this season based on per 40 min stats.

If his turnover rate goes down to 1.3-1.7 TO by the end of the season then great. But he’s currently averaging 3.5 TO per 40 against teams like Montana, UT-Martin, Gardner Webb and Austin Peay.

I’ll admit, my initial comment was based on watching him play and not stats so maybe I was quick to make an assertion there.

But, I still think Awaka would’ve been able to help us if he stayed. Maybe he’s not a better finisher at the rim than Okpara but he’s also not far off.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

I think the 2pt% numbers are also a little misleading, or at least not apples-to-apples. A large percentage of okpara’s shot attempts are lobs/dunks. Awaka isn’t really that type of player so his 2pt attempts consist of a lot more hooks. Now it’s probably fair to just look at the % when thinking about what’s best for the team, but that difference probably contributes to the difference in eye test that @tev.sm is talking about. Okpara might be the more effective offensive player but I don’t feel as confident when he catches it on the block as I did with Awaka .

Just pointing out that the roles are different so the comparison gets messy.

 

[VolArmy74]

Okpara replaced Aidoo. Cade Phillips is playing the role that Awaka would be playing on the team.

That said, the biggest stat is that Awaka is averaging 6.6 fouls per 40 minutes and Okpara is averaging 3.5. Meaning Awaka isn't available because he's on the bench in foul trouble every game. Okpara is averaging 3.5 blocks per 40. Awaka 0.9. Awaka's ft percentage is back down to 55 percent this year, which is behind Okpara. Awaka is the best rebounder of the bunch. He lacks in most other categories, especially the most important one, availability.

 

[Lefteye]

Awaka was 59% in both seasons at TN… I don’t think FG% across 7 gms given our lighter non-conference schedule is a proper comparison.

Felix does well when he doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s averaging 2 TO/game. It should be more but some of the TO’s get put on the passer when the passes or lobs get bobbled.

He sometimes takes too long to make a decision, or brings the ball down once he catches it.

I think his FG% doesn’t take away from the fact that he got room to improve when catching the ball inside.

I’ll agree on that. That doesn’t take away from the struggles to hold on to the ball when we try to play inside.

Maybe it’s just me but bobbling passes and not being able to hold on to the ball when we’re playing inferior opponents is concerning.

Awaka didn’t have this issue. Thats the point I was trying to make when I said “finishing around the rim.” FG% is only part of the whole picture imo.

Neither are traditional post up players. Awaka didn’t have what issue? You say 7 games isn’t enough to prove anything but sticking FO w a few miss handles convinces you his hands are garbage.? Breaking news here… Awaka doesn’t have hands much if any better than Felix. The real difference is dunking the basketball will offset undersized “bigs” squeezing in a layup.

 

[tev.sm]

Neither are traditional post up players. Awaka didn’t have what issue? You say 7 games isn’t enough to prove anything but sticking FO w a few miss handles convinces you his hands are garbage.? Breaking news here… Awaka doesn’t have hands much if any better than Felix. The real difference is dunking the basketball will offset undersized “bigs” squeezing in a layup.

Awaka helped us maintain an inside presence offensively in the limited minutes he gave us.

I’m not 100% confident that we can consistently play through Okpara if shots are not falling from the perimeter. That’s the concern, especially going into SEC play. Again, hoping he’s able to give us efficient offense on that front.

If you don’t think Awaka would’ve helped us then that’s cool with me, doesn’t really matter at this point. I’m still subject to expressing an opinion and open to changing it if I’m presented with evidence / stats that proves otherwise.

 

[Volfan1000]

Agreed on the rebound merchant. And yeah, the fouling was the biggest drawback, but Awaka is a better finisher around the rim than Felix is at this point which would’ve helped us in his limited minutes, especially with Estrella out.

Awaka would have been a depth piece on this team.

 

[fear]

Oregon beats the gumps 83-81

 

[SGMVols]

I just don’t take Bama as a serious title contender until they start guarding somebody. You aren’t going to score 100 on everybody no matter how good your offense is.

 

[cncchris33]

San Diego St beats Houston in OT 73-70

 

[orangemadam]

Time to wrap up the Awaka talk and move on, please.

 

[Willy14]

Wow Miami lost at home to Charleston Southern who was previously 1-7 with their only win to Morris who I believe is an NAIA school.

Miami drops to 3-4 with what is almost certainly a Q4 loss. That game we have against them is shaping up to more of a potential bad loss than a good win and resume builder like it was believed to be at the start of the season.

Here’s to hoping we dominate that game and don’t have to worry about it.