Where was Awaka?

#26
#26
I actually think playing Awaka made since in this game. We were outrebounded by 4 by a team who was smaller and quicker. Awaka has shown his rebounding abilities at times, and he is fairly quicker, probably even stronger than Plavsic or Aidoo. Pairing him with ON on the front line, may have helped with FA's quickness. If nothing else, ON did nothing on offense, so you're not losing anything by putting in Awaka for ON to see if he has success.
 
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#27
#27
SGidds said:
I may have missed some announcement about his status, but we could‘ve used our rebounding machine tonight. We weren’t hitting anything (not surprising), but we got also got killed on the glass by a smaller team . FAU flat out-hustled us to the ball most of the night.

I would’ve thought playing in New York would also be a big motivator for Awaka, too. Was he injured? Suspended?
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We def missed his rebounds. But he’s also not a threat to score. Once he improves offensively, he’ll start.
 
#28
#28
berryvol said:
This was a pretty bad matchup for him. He doesn’t have the quickness to play defense on the perimeter and he doesn’t have the size to bother either of FAUs bigs down low. Idk why anyone would be surprised he didn’t play much.
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He would have been effective at guarding there second big, and his nose for the long rebounds would have been a huge plus.

However, they quit feeding the post. Buckets seemed easy early there and we went away from it?
 
#30
#30
berryvol said:
This was a pretty bad matchup for him. He doesn’t have the quickness to play defense on the perimeter and he doesn’t have the size to bother either of FAUs bigs down low. Idk why anyone would be surprised he didn’t play much.
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Disagree. Given the disaster in rebounding we witnessed last night, inserting our rebounding machine wouldn't have hurt. He should've played more. If he got minutes vs. Kentucky, Mizzou, Bama, there's no reason he couldn't get it done against FAU. It was a big mistake not to play him more. It was a big mistake not to stem the momentum with a timeout. It was a big mistake not to go zone defense 2nd half. It was a big mistake not to adjust in the 2nd half. I only played ball through high school but even my high school coach would've done some or all of the above. Not to mention the Vols shoot free throws at the success rate of a good junior high team. It's all baffling.
 
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#32
#32
SmokeyLives said:
Disagree. Given the disaster in rebounding we witnessed last night, inserting our rebounding machine wouldn't have hurt. He should've played more. If he got minutes vs. Kentucky, Mizzou, Bama, there's no reason he couldn't get it done against FAU. It was a big mistake not to play him more. It was a big mistake not to stem the momentum with a timeout. It was a big mistake not to go zone defense 2nd half. It was a big mistake not to adjust in the 2nd half. I only played ball through high school but even my high school coach would've done some or all of the above. Not to mention the Vols shoot free throws at the success rate of a good junior high team. It's all baffling.
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Several awful takes in this post. First, I agree that Awaka should’ve been tried more given our rebounding issues, but it’s a fact that he is the worst perimeter defenders out of our 4/5 group. They would’ve attacked him every possession and gotten open looks, just like they did when he played in the first half. Next, a 2-3 zone? Are you serious? Zone is VERY hard to rebound out of and is easily beaten by quick ball movement and good 3 point shooting. Guess what FAU is very good at? More to that point, instead of calling a timeout in the midst of the 17-2 run, did you see what Barnes did? He went to a zone. That promptly gave up the most wide open 3 FAU had all night. Yes, we could’ve adjusted in the 2H. But I thank God that Barnes didn’t use the adjustments you’re suggesting - we may have lost by 20.
 
#33
#33
SGidds said:
I may have missed some announcement about his status, but we could‘ve used our rebounding machine tonight. We weren’t hitting anything (not surprising), but we got also got killed on the glass by a smaller team . FAU flat out-hustled us to the ball most of the night.

I would’ve thought playing in New York would also be a big motivator for Awaka, too. Was he injured? Suspended?
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On a milk carton
 
#34
#34
berryvol said:
Several awful takes in this post. First, I agree that Awaka should’ve been tried more given our rebounding issues, but it’s a fact that he is the worst perimeter defenders out of our 4/5 group. They would’ve attacked him every possession and gotten open looks, just like they did when he played in the first half. Next, a 2-3 zone? Are you serious? Zone is VERY hard to rebound out of and is easily beaten by quick ball movement and good 3 point shooting. Guess what FAU is very good at? More to that point, instead of calling a timeout in the midst of the 17-2 run, did you see what Barnes did? He went to a zone. That promptly gave up the most wide open 3 FAU had all night. Yes, we could’ve adjusted in the 2H. But I thank God that Barnes didn’t use the adjustments you’re suggesting - we may have lost by 20.
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Ask Jim Boeheim about the zone defense and look up how many national championships they've won under him at Syracuse. Just because your argument is arrogant doesn't make it right. The zone worked against Duke at times. When you have athletic solid rebounding bigs you can kill the opposition with zone defense. But sure play man to man and watch a team that whips the ball around the perimeter to the open guy for three, and if he misses... all that open paint avails those smaller guys to easy rebounds because they spread your defense to the perimeter. Or ask Jay Wright because how many natty's did he win at Nova? But you go because you know. Give me a flippin break. Talk some ball man.
 
#36
#36
SmokeyLives said:
Ask Jim Boeheim about the zone defense and look up how many national championships they've won under him at Syracuse. Just because your argument is arrogant doesn't make it right. The zone worked against Duke at times. When you have athletic solid rebounding bigs you can kill the opposition with zone defense. But sure play man to man and watch a team that whips the ball around the perimeter to the open guy for three, and if he misses... all that open paint avails those smaller guys to easy rebounds because they spread your defense to the perimeter. Or ask Jay Wright because how many natty's did he win at Nova? But you go because you know. Give me a flippin break. Talk some ball man.
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If your plea for more zone consists of arguing it will enhance rebounding, we are at a nonstarter. You simply don’t know what you’re talking about. Our zone has been absolutely butchered this season, outside of the Bama and Duke games - both of which we played it very limited and got out of it as soon as a timeout was called to adjust. One last thing - Jimmy won one national championship. Take the “s” off. Have a good one.
 
#37
#37
berryvol said:
If your plea for more zone consists of arguing it will enhance rebounding, we are at a nonstarter. You simply don’t know what you’re talking about. Our zone has been absolutely butchered this season, outside of the Bama and Duke games - both of which we played it very limited and got out of it as soon as a timeout was called to adjust. One last thing - Jimmy won one national championship. Take the “s” off. Have a good one.
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That's one more than Ricky. And ignore the fact 'cuse was in the finals 3 times, and the final 4 five times under Boeheim. But hey, you know more. Good touché on your part, not. Good night.
 
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