Tobe doing Tobe things

#10
#10
This deal will be so valuable for him and his confidence and experience. Tobe, Aidoo, JJJ, Santi, ZZ with what appears to be a very deep rotation. Being old and deep is valuable come tourney time. If we get more consistency on perimeter like it appears, it's going to be an exciting season

...meanwhile, LOVING that Quinerly transferring from Bama. Only one starter back I think. Not that they won't have some talent, but Bama not used to having a Kentucky type roster that rotates virtually every year, expecting that every single year "one and done" guys are going to gel and be what you think they are going to be.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Volfan1000 and tmack50
#12
#12
Ghost of Archvol said:
If the returns on Dilione are remotely close to as expected, this will probably be Barnes' best team at UT.
Click to expand...
It'll be hard to top the 2018-2019 team. The starting 5 was just unreal. The chemistry, the ability to score, and their defense was insane. They should have went to the Final 4 that year.

Any given night Grant, Admiral, Bone, Bowden, or Turner could have dropped 20-30 points on a team. The team averaged 82 ppg... pretty much 10 more points ppg than any of Barnes other teams. Coach Barnes has to have a post scorer that can be relied on like Grant, if not we live and die by the 3. I think in 2-3 years JP will be that guy.
 
#14
#14
Col_Cathcart said:
I thought the 2 of them played well together last year. Barnes seemed to like ON/Plav and Awaka/Aidoo as pairs last season too
Click to expand...
Agreed. Aidoo likes to play from the high post and Awaka prefers the low post which makes them a solid partnership and doesn’t ruin the spacing. What we really need is for Awaka to become a high level defender as he tended to get a bit unsure last year at times when switching. As he becomes completely comfortable with the assignments in the team defense then look out!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Just a VolinTears
#15
#15
walkenvol said:
Agreed. Aidoo likes to play from the high post and Awaka prefers the low post which makes them a solid partnership and doesn’t ruin the spacing. What we really need is for Awaka to become a high level defender as he tended to get a bit unsure last year at times when switching. As he becomes completely comfortable with the assignments in the team defense then look out!
Click to expand...
I’m really optimistic. Barnes has an excellent track record of coaching up defense and Awaka is a smart kid with a great work ethic from everything I’ve heard. Plus that’s the sort of thing that you expect to improve a lot in year 2 anyway. I’m getting really excited for next year!
 
  • Like
Reactions: walkenvol and Just a VolinTears
#21
#21
RockyTopTexas said:
dude am literally sitting here watching this

I love Tobe aka young grant

Click to expand...

Tobe is much more Tshiebwe than he is Grant, IMO. Grant was more athletic, believe it or not, and had a much more refined face-up game. He could also take his man to the hole, and developed a jumper. Tobe could become that and be a nice blend of the two, but I've been high on him from day 1 as a potential Tshiebwe-esque player. OT lacked athleticism, but won with hustle and the benefit of a quiet whistle. Awaka has all of Oscar's traits in a slightly smaller frame, but all the potential in the world. He's going to be an all-SEC player before he leaves. At one point, last year, his per-40 numbers had him a more effective rebounder than Tshiebwe, and it wasn't a fluke stat because he actually saw legit playing time, just not 30 mpg.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lankykong, MinisterofDef#92, Namorto1 and 2 others
#22
#22
cncchris33 said:
Tobe is much more Tshiebwe than he is Grant, IMO. Grant was more athletic, believe it or not, and had a much more refined face-up game. He could also take his man to the hole, and developed a jumper. Tobe could become that and be a nice blend of the two, but I've been high on him from day 1 as a potential Tshiebwe-esque player. OT lacked athleticism, but won with hustle and the benefit of a quiet whistle. Awaka has all of Oscar's traits in a slightly smaller frame, but all the potential in the world. He's going to be an all-SEC player before he leaves. At one point, last year, his per-40 numbers had him a more effective rebounder than Tshiebwe, and it wasn't a fluke stat because he actually saw legit playing time, just not 30 mpg.
Click to expand...
Pretty crazy him and Timme went undrafted...

I was also on Tobe Train very early

Ball is gonna be so much fun this year
 
  • Like
Reactions: cncchris33
#23
#23
cncchris33 said:
Tobe is much more Tshiebwe than he is Grant, IMO. Grant was more athletic, believe it or not, and had a much more refined face-up game. He could also take his man to the hole, and developed a jumper. Tobe could become that and be a nice blend of the two, but I've been high on him from day 1 as a potential Tshiebwe-esque player. OT lacked athleticism, but won with hustle and the benefit of a quiet whistle. Awaka has all of Oscar's traits in a slightly smaller frame, but all the potential in the world. He's going to be an all-SEC player before he leaves. At one point, last year, his per-40 numbers had him a more effective rebounder than Tshiebwe, and it wasn't a fluke stat because he actually saw legit playing time, just not 30 mpg.
Click to expand...
It was always fun watching Grant take a guy from the free throw line down the to the block like he could. Very rare skill set for a big these days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cncchris33 and RockyTopTexas
#25
#25
RockyTopTexas said:
Sucks they don’t let him do it on the Celtics
Click to expand...

What he did in college isn’t translatable to the NBA. I’ve watched a lot of his games in the NBA.

IMO, in a contract year, Grant tried to show more of a bag in regular season games with pump fakes taking the ball to the rim or post.

It went so poorly he got benched and a few DNP for it. When he got minutes again, he quit the shenanigans and went back to just shooting 3’s, where he is effective.

Post Defenders are much taller and better in the NBA. And Grant is short.

Team defense is better in the NBA. So if you take your time trying to post up you can get doubled real fast, trapped and a turnover forced. So you gotta either be able to shoot the fadeaway in the moment (he isn’t tall enough) or pass out of it (he has never demonstrated that skill)
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top