Tobe Awaka at the FIBA U19 World Cup

#52
#52
CNeagleVolFan said:
Say Tobe’s minutes jump from 22 on the national team to 32 for us. It’s not crazy to think he may average a double double. I could see him averaging 15pts and 12reb if Barnes plays him at least 30 minutes. That’s the high expectation, the low expectation for me is 10pts and 10rbs a game.
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Idk if there’s gonna me 30mpg available for him, we are deep.
 
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#53
#53
GregAmsler said:
How’d he shoot from the FT line in Game 2? I like seeing 4-6 in the first game. If he can get that aspect of his game up to par along with the apparent improvement we see in these clips, he may not be in Knoxville long.
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He'll have to develop an outside shot along the way. Too short for his position in the NBA. I'm confident he can do it, but we'll see. Grant did it.
 
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#55
#55
Tobe will improve. I have no doubt. But I don’t see an All-SEC type player or year yet. I think a lot of fans are letting expectations for him blossom way too early. Then next year they’ll be negative Nancy-ing him based off their own incorrect expectations despite great improvement from him.
 
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#56
#56
JelloPuddinPup said:
Tobe will improve. I have no doubt. But I don’t see an All-SEC type player or year yet. I think a lot of fans are letting expectations for him blossom way too early. Then next year they’ll be negative Nancy-ing him based off their own incorrect expectations despite great improvement from him.
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I dont care if he scores zero points as long as he can pull down close to 10 rebounds a night. We have other scorers this upcoming season. Just need a window cleaner. And Aidoo needs to be close to 10 a night. If they could each have really good rebounding years the sky is the limit for this team. Those two dominating the glass means less second chances for the other team and more opportunities for our guys.
 
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#57
#57
cwbytruckers said:
I dont care if he scores zero points as long as he can pull down close to 10 rebounds a night. We have other scorers this upcoming season. Just need a window cleaner. And Aidoo needs to be close to 10 a night. If they could each have really good rebounding years the sky is the limit for this team. Those two dominating the glass means less second chances for the other team and more opportunities for our guys.
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Good post. Awaka’s role will be limited to setting screens, and getting every missed shot which he can do I think at elite level. Any points he gets may be result of offensive rebounds vs playing through him on post. Nice to see him improve post play but we don’t need him averaging double figures PPG. If he can give us 6 PPG and 10 boards per game that would be fantastic. If we play faster tempo he would be ideal defensive rebounder / outlet passer.
 
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#59
#59
Thanks for posting!

Scanned through the game and watched the parts Tobe played. It really wasn't very fair, it was like a Man playing with boys. Hopefully the work with Team USA this summer will pay big dividends this Fall for Tobe.
 
#61
#61
Awaka is pretty much dominating like half of these games from watching the portions where he plays. Even the games where he’s not dominant, he’s rebounding well
 
#65
#65
I think the guy is a star in the making. Might be our biggest steal since Grant Williams. I liked everything I saw last year except his free throw shooting. And I think that's correctable.
 
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#67
#67
Mark Armstrong - what was the point of him yelling at the France bench and getting a technical? Seemed to be a turning point in the loss. And I did not see today's game against Turkey, but I assume he did not play looking at the box score???
 
#68
#68
Awaka finished as the No. 2 rebounder in the tournament with 10.6 per game and he led in double-doubles (4). He averaged 20.4 rebounds per 40 min, the 3rd-highest average over the past 4 FIBA U19 World Cups, trailing only Purdue's Zach Edey and Auburn's Austin Wiley (among players who averaged at least 10 min of play/game).

Awaka finished 4th in 2FG shooting percentage (60%) and had the 5th-highest efficiency rating out of 186 participants.
 
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#69
#69
TheMookieMonster said:
Not even medaling is pretty embarrassing for Team USA considering what should be a significant talent advantage. Very happy for Tobe making a name for himself though!

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Not really. A lot of the players these guys are playing against have played together for years. Team USA is cobbled together teams year in year out by comparison. Higher talent level but, especially in the lower age brackets thats not always enough.
 
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#70
#70
pimo1 said:
Not really. A lot of the players these guys are playing against have played together for years. Team USA is cobbled together teams year in year out by comparison. Higher talent level but, especially in the lower age brackets thats not always enough.
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Yeah, I think framing the U19 USA team's performance as embarrassing is a bit of a stretch.
 
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#71
#71
Lukusw said:
Yeah, I think framing the U19 USA team's performance as embarrassing is a bit of a stretch.
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People get this mixed up with the summer games.. it totally different...the other teams send the same guys that grow up in the system the US cycles through guys and then puts together our 'best' team for the summer Olympics. Each 4 years we put out the 'Daydream Team' and in between they have whatever was laying around.

Not trying to be a hater but if Tobe Awaka was one of the top 2 players on the team that says a lot...he is no scrub but in the grand scheme he's not a starter for UT anytime soon. Put that same team in the SEC and it does not make the NIT.
 
#72
#72
pimo1 said:
People get this mixed up with the summer games.. it totally different...the other teams send the same guys that grow up in the system the US cycles through guys and then puts together our 'best' team for the summer Olympics. Each 4 years we put out the 'Daydream Team' and in between they have whatever was laying around.

Not trying to be a hater but if Tobe Awaka was one of the top 2 players on the team that says a lot...he is no scrub but in the grand scheme he's not a starter for UT anytime soon. Put that same team in the SEC and it does not make the NIT.
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I'm not sure about that last statement. Freddie Dilione was cut from that team, and he isn't a scrub.

Ian Jackson was a top-5 recruit this cycle.
Cody Williams was a top-10 recruit this cycle.
Omaha Biliew was a top-15 recruit this cycle.
Eric Dailey was a top-40ish recruit this cycle.
Asa Newell is a top-10 recruit next cycle.
Mark Armstrong was a decent player as a freshman for Villanova and a top-50ish kid a year ago.

Awaka was probably the lightest recruited kid on that roster and probably the second most effective player.
 
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#73
#73
cncchris33 said:
I'm not sure about that last statement. Freddie Dilione was cut from that team, and he isn't a scrub.

Ian Jackson was a top-5 recruit this cycle.
Cody Williams was a top-10 recruit this cycle.
Omaha Biliew was a top-15 recruit this cycle.
Eric Dailey was a top-40ish recruit this cycle.
Asa Newell is a top-10 recruit next cycle.
Mark Armstrong was a decent player as a freshman for Villanova and a top-50ish kid a year ago.

Awaka was probably the lightest recruited kid on that roster and probably the second most effective player.
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I specifically said they are not scrubs.. but talent alone especially young talent won't take you far against guys that play together a lot. You're talking about taking guys straight from AAU ball, which is at best slightly organized ball, to playing high-stakes ball against guys that have known each other and played together for years. International ball is a totally different game. Even in the NCAA and NBA it's very rare a super young team does very well no matter how talented. Its one thing if you take a group of NBA veterans out there.. their experience allows them to overcome a lot of that.

I'll put it like this you could take a team in the NBA every single year that get the top 15 draft picks then have to let them all go as free agents.. that team will rarely ever make the playoffs.
 
#74
#74
pimo1 said:
I specifically said they are not scrubs.. but talent alone especially young talent won't take you far against guys that play together a lot. You're talking about taking guys straight from AAU ball, which is at best slightly organized ball, to playing high-stakes ball against guys that have known each other and played together for years. Even in the NCAA and NBA it's very rare a super young team does very well no matter how talented. Its one thing if you take a group of NBA veterans out there.. their experience allows them to overcome a lot of that.

I'll put it like this you could take a team in the NBA every single year that get the top 15 draft picks then have to let them all go as free agents.. that team will rarely ever make the playoffs.
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Saying that team wouldn't make the NIT assumes that they will have been together for at least an entire season. They will have played together over that span of time. Sorry, I just don't agree that a team with that much talent doesn't manage to make a second-rate postseason tournament.

In a vacuum, sure, that team of guys in one game might not beat lesser talented teams, but over an entire season, I'd bet on the talent to at least make the NIT. And that is without factoring who is coaching them. Could help, could hurt.

And you "specifically said" Awaka wasn't a scrub. No mention of the others in that regard, though I didn't intsinuate that you said they were either.
 
#75
#75
cncchris33 said:
Saying that team wouldn't make the NIT assumes that they will have been together for at least an entire season. They will have played together over that span of time. Sorry, I just don't agree that a team with that much talent doesn't manage to make a second-rate postseason tournament.

In a vacuum, sure, that team of guys in one game might not beat lesser talented teams, but over an entire season, I'd bet on the talent to at least make the NIT. And that is without factoring who is coaching them. Could help, could hurt.

And you "specifically said" Awaka wasn't a scrub. No mention of the others in that regard, though I didn't intsinuate that you said they were either.
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You make a good point. It is possible over the course of a season the team could gel and make noise in their conference tourney. I would not bet on it personally. Where does your veteran leadership come from? How do you control the egos of the guys at the end of the bench? Its one thing convincing a 4-5 star freshman he's gotta develop on the bench behind a 3 star senior that put in the work and has a resume at that level. It's totally different when the guy in front of you is the same age and hasn't had any more experience than you. Maturity is a big problem. Look at Duke NC and Kentucky as perfect examples. They have been over the last few decade 1 and done factories but the more one and dones they have the less rings they take home. When those teams were dominating they were doing it with veterans. Super young teams rarely pan out. There have been a few 2003 Syracuse, 2012 Kentucky, 2015 Duke but all those teams also had a few juniors and seniors in their main rotation holding it together.

Kind of a divergence from the original point but my point is if you add in youth with lack of familiarity it's not normally a recipe for success unless you have transcendent talent. Even then it takes a while. Look at the OKC Thunder and Houston Rockets.
 
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