Yakwe Article
- Thread starter paultzman
- Start date
[quote="Room112" post=290976][quote="Mike Zaun" post=290972]Eric, I think most would agree that such students seeking a quiet campus without much going on are in the clear minority. Not saying St. John's is some entertainment destination, but at least we are located in a global city with endless things to do. L,
As others have said, Yakwe had his chance but he just could not compete at this level consistently since his freshman year. If he does well at UConn, it's not a good sign for our staff. I'd rather go for 3 star type bigs with some true skill and less athleticism than raw guys from OSNA despite good athleticism. This is something that has seemed to continue from the Lavin era unfortunately.[/quote]
Having attended UConn, I will say it's not some boring quiet campus. In fact it's generally pretty lively due to the sheer amount of students who live on campus. It's also one of the top party schools. College kids usually don't have much money, so being in the entertainment capital of the world isn't always a benefit. Plus, to get from St John's campus to destinations in Manhattan is well over an hour by subway and bus. You can get to plenty from Storrs in that same amount of time.[/quote]
Thanks Room112. That’s good to know. Kids adjust to their surroundings. And I’m sure tons of students create their own ‘entertainment’ and diversions.
I do think though, it’s closer than ‘over an hour’ to Manhattan by Subway...and some students have cars.
Also, Queens, spots in Nassau, Westchester, and even ‘de Bronx’ provide outlet opportunities.
That said, I wish St. John’s campus were a bit ‘leafier’ but it is what it is...and I doubt major level D1 athletes go to a school for the trees.
As others have said, Yakwe had his chance but he just could not compete at this level consistently since his freshman year. If he does well at UConn, it's not a good sign for our staff. I'd rather go for 3 star type bigs with some true skill and less athleticism than raw guys from OSNA despite good athleticism. This is something that has seemed to continue from the Lavin era unfortunately.[/quote]
Having attended UConn, I will say it's not some boring quiet campus. In fact it's generally pretty lively due to the sheer amount of students who live on campus. It's also one of the top party schools. College kids usually don't have much money, so being in the entertainment capital of the world isn't always a benefit. Plus, to get from St John's campus to destinations in Manhattan is well over an hour by subway and bus. You can get to plenty from Storrs in that same amount of time.[/quote]
Thanks Room112. That’s good to know. Kids adjust to their surroundings. And I’m sure tons of students create their own ‘entertainment’ and diversions.
I do think though, it’s closer than ‘over an hour’ to Manhattan by Subway...and some students have cars.
Also, Queens, spots in Nassau, Westchester, and even ‘de Bronx’ provide outlet opportunities.
That said, I wish St. John’s campus were a bit ‘leafier’ but it is what it is...and I doubt major level D1 athletes go to a school for the trees.
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[quote="Las Vegan" post=291000]Over the last twenty years, SJU has developed quite a few perimeter players, but few post players. The only one who comes to mind is Tyrone Grant. By this, I mean, the player as a senior was far advanced from when he came to St. John's.[/quote]
True. Part of that is the evolution of the game too. So many guys now want to be "Stretch 4" and this ends up being fixated on shooting 3 pointers and general softness that you see in the NBA and college. You don't see many Charles Oakley, Ty Grant or even Dennis Rodman type players any more and the age of the dominating center is long gone.
Most of the guys who were effective in the post for us the past 20 years were tweeners and undersized. Even Grant had good size but he was still going against guys that often had several inches on him. For that matter we've had a lot of guards that had good post skills. Bootsy gets remembered for drilling 3s, but had some real skills inside. Sharif also good around the basket.
True. Part of that is the evolution of the game too. So many guys now want to be "Stretch 4" and this ends up being fixated on shooting 3 pointers and general softness that you see in the NBA and college. You don't see many Charles Oakley, Ty Grant or even Dennis Rodman type players any more and the age of the dominating center is long gone.
Most of the guys who were effective in the post for us the past 20 years were tweeners and undersized. Even Grant had good size but he was still going against guys that often had several inches on him. For that matter we've had a lot of guards that had good post skills. Bootsy gets remembered for drilling 3s, but had some real skills inside. Sharif also good around the basket.
[quote="Room112" post=290976][quote="Mike Zaun" post=290972]Eric, I think most would agree that such students seeking a quiet campus without much going on are in the clear minority. Not saying St. John's is some entertainment destination, but at least we are located in a global city with endless things to do.
As others have said, Yakwe had his chance but he just could not compete at this level consistently since his freshman year. If he does well at UConn, it's not a good sign for our staff. I'd rather go for 3 star type bigs with some true skill and less athleticism than raw guys from OSNA despite good athleticism. This is something that has seemed to continue from the Lavin era unfortunately.[/quote]
Having attended UConn, I will say it's not some boring quiet campus. In fact it's generally pretty lively due to the sheer amount of students who live on campus. It's also one of the top party schools. College kids usually don't have much money, so being in the entertainment capital of the world isn't always a benefit. Plus, to get from St John's campus to destinations in Manhattan is well over an hour by subway and bus. You can get to plenty from Storrs in that same amount of time.[/quote]
112 - Not that anyone will ever mistake it for Times Square, but Storrs has developed a bit of a "Town" feel since you were there. There is even a grocery store now. All without disturbing the cow tipping fields.
As others have said, Yakwe had his chance but he just could not compete at this level consistently since his freshman year. If he does well at UConn, it's not a good sign for our staff. I'd rather go for 3 star type bigs with some true skill and less athleticism than raw guys from OSNA despite good athleticism. This is something that has seemed to continue from the Lavin era unfortunately.[/quote]
Having attended UConn, I will say it's not some boring quiet campus. In fact it's generally pretty lively due to the sheer amount of students who live on campus. It's also one of the top party schools. College kids usually don't have much money, so being in the entertainment capital of the world isn't always a benefit. Plus, to get from St John's campus to destinations in Manhattan is well over an hour by subway and bus. You can get to plenty from Storrs in that same amount of time.[/quote]
112 - Not that anyone will ever mistake it for Times Square, but Storrs has developed a bit of a "Town" feel since you were there. There is even a grocery store now. All without disturbing the cow tipping fields.
JohnnyFever
Active member
[quote="Paul Massell" post=291007][quote="Las Vegan" post=291000]Over the last twenty years, SJU has developed quite a few perimeter players, but few post players. The only one who comes to mind is Tyrone Grant. By this, I mean, the player as a senior was far advanced from when he came to St. John's.[/quote]
True. Part of that is the evolution of the game too. So many guys now want to be "Stretch 4" and this ends up being fixated on shooting 3 pointers and general softness that you see in the NBA and college. You don't see many Charles Oakley, Ty Grant or even Dennis Rodman type players any more and the age of the dominating center is long gone.
Most of the guys who were effective in the post for us the past 20 years were tweeners and undersized. Even Grant had good size but he was still going against guys that often had several inches on him. For that matter we've had a lot of guards that had good post skills. Bootsy gets remembered for drilling 3s, but had some real skills inside. Sharif also good around the basket.[/quote]
Fair point with the game changing, but that's at the macro level. At the micro level from program to program there are different philosophies and teams which are constructed differently. For example, Purdue had giant 7 footers who could dominate the paint. Rutgers had Freeman who could dominate the paint and torched us. Plus how many times over the last 5-6 years have we been torched by mid major big men in the paint? So yes, on one hand you're correct that the game is evolving at the macro level with more shooters and less bullying big men, but at a program level there are still teams who have bangers down low who torch us. Just because it's our philosophy to focus on guards doesn't mean it's the right philosophy or the philosophy of other teams. Even in conference look at Nova with Ochefu and Spellman. Legit big men. Look at Xavier with Wideman and Stainbrook. Legit big men. Creighton had Krampejl dominating. Marquette had Fischer...so there are programs who have success still with bangers. The difference is they can develop the bigs and we cannot at least if you look at the evidence going back to Lavin with Obekpa.
True. Part of that is the evolution of the game too. So many guys now want to be "Stretch 4" and this ends up being fixated on shooting 3 pointers and general softness that you see in the NBA and college. You don't see many Charles Oakley, Ty Grant or even Dennis Rodman type players any more and the age of the dominating center is long gone.
Most of the guys who were effective in the post for us the past 20 years were tweeners and undersized. Even Grant had good size but he was still going against guys that often had several inches on him. For that matter we've had a lot of guards that had good post skills. Bootsy gets remembered for drilling 3s, but had some real skills inside. Sharif also good around the basket.[/quote]
Fair point with the game changing, but that's at the macro level. At the micro level from program to program there are different philosophies and teams which are constructed differently. For example, Purdue had giant 7 footers who could dominate the paint. Rutgers had Freeman who could dominate the paint and torched us. Plus how many times over the last 5-6 years have we been torched by mid major big men in the paint? So yes, on one hand you're correct that the game is evolving at the macro level with more shooters and less bullying big men, but at a program level there are still teams who have bangers down low who torch us. Just because it's our philosophy to focus on guards doesn't mean it's the right philosophy or the philosophy of other teams. Even in conference look at Nova with Ochefu and Spellman. Legit big men. Look at Xavier with Wideman and Stainbrook. Legit big men. Creighton had Krampejl dominating. Marquette had Fischer...so there are programs who have success still with bangers. The difference is they can develop the bigs and we cannot at least if you look at the evidence going back to Lavin with Obekpa.
WillyDilly
Member
[quote="Chicago Days" post=290966][quote="Eric Williamson" post=290886][quote="Mike Zaun" post=290838]Nothing to do at UConn off campus you say? Hey recruits...psssst! Hear that?[/quote]
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.
[quote="Eric Williamson" post=291032][quote="Chicago Days" post=290966][quote="Eric Williamson" post=290886][quote="Mike Zaun" post=290838]Nothing to do at UConn off campus you say? Hey recruits...psssst! Hear that?[/quote]
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.[/quote]
That’s a good point about babes and alcohol, Eric!
No argument there!
I would posit, however, there’s ‘more’ of the above in every color, kind, and venue in a big city than a little town.
But, yeah, I hear you.
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.[/quote]
That’s a good point about babes and alcohol, Eric!
No argument there!
I would posit, however, there’s ‘more’ of the above in every color, kind, and venue in a big city than a little town.
But, yeah, I hear you.
Class of 72
Active member
[quote="Eric Williamson" post=291032][quote="Chicago Days" post=290966][quote="Eric Williamson" post=290886][quote="Mike Zaun" post=290838]Nothing to do at UConn off campus you say? Hey recruits...psssst! Hear that?[/quote]
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.[/quote]
The most popular school in NYC is NYU.
Around 25% of the male students don't care about women. About 25% of the female students do care about women.
Student athletes at all schools should refrain from alcohol and drug use.
Yakwe didn't go to UCONN for women or booze. He went because he didn't want to be the 10th man on the bench.
Did you ever think that some people may enjoyv the simple, quiet lifestyle? Yes, NYC is the most exciting city in the US, but that doesn't mean that that is everyone's cup of tea.[/quote]
You make a reasonable point Eric...for retirees.
But most kids want anything but ‘nothing to do’.
So, while green and bucolic campuses are magnets to many students, ‘things to do on the weekends also rank high—to some, higher.[/quote]
College kids care about women and alcohol. I don't see too many of our players hitting up broadway or going to yankee stadium on a regular business. They can find parties and a social life on any campus in this country. So it wouldn't surprise me that many students prefer a smaller, more low-key campus than one in NYC.[/quote]
The most popular school in NYC is NYU.
Around 25% of the male students don't care about women. About 25% of the female students do care about women.
Student athletes at all schools should refrain from alcohol and drug use.
Yakwe didn't go to UCONN for women or booze. He went because he didn't want to be the 10th man on the bench.
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=291014]
For example, Purdue had giant 7 footers who could dominate the paint. Rutgers had Freeman who could dominate the paint and torched us. Plus how many times over the last 5-6 years have we been torched by mid major big men in the paint? So yes, on one hand you're correct that the game is evolving at the macro level with more shooters and less bullying big men, but at a program level there are still teams who have bangers down low who torch us. Just because it's our philosophy to focus on guards doesn't mean it's the right philosophy or the philosophy of other teams. Even in conference look at Nova with Ochefu and Spellman. Legit big men. Look at Xavier with Wideman and Stainbrook. Legit big men. Creighton had Krampejl dominating. Marquette had Fischer...so there are programs who have success still with bangers. The difference is they can develop the bigs and we cannot at least if you look at the evidence going back to Lavin with Obekpa.[/quote]
You are preaching to the choir re: traditional big men. but some of your examples are not prototypical. Spellman for example is more of a stretch 4. But in his case he is a legitimate stretch 4 with both inside and out game.
On the other hand, you need to give Mullin's teams credit for holding their own being overmatched in terms of size against almost every team. in some cases I didn't see any way we could possibly matchup and in a few of those, we actually won (Duke for example). Even with Keita we'll still be overmatched in this way against most teams. I think with the overall roster balance and skill improvements we'll see a lot more wins this season.
For example, Purdue had giant 7 footers who could dominate the paint. Rutgers had Freeman who could dominate the paint and torched us. Plus how many times over the last 5-6 years have we been torched by mid major big men in the paint? So yes, on one hand you're correct that the game is evolving at the macro level with more shooters and less bullying big men, but at a program level there are still teams who have bangers down low who torch us. Just because it's our philosophy to focus on guards doesn't mean it's the right philosophy or the philosophy of other teams. Even in conference look at Nova with Ochefu and Spellman. Legit big men. Look at Xavier with Wideman and Stainbrook. Legit big men. Creighton had Krampejl dominating. Marquette had Fischer...so there are programs who have success still with bangers. The difference is they can develop the bigs and we cannot at least if you look at the evidence going back to Lavin with Obekpa.[/quote]
You are preaching to the choir re: traditional big men. but some of your examples are not prototypical. Spellman for example is more of a stretch 4. But in his case he is a legitimate stretch 4 with both inside and out game.
On the other hand, you need to give Mullin's teams credit for holding their own being overmatched in terms of size against almost every team. in some cases I didn't see any way we could possibly matchup and in a few of those, we actually won (Duke for example). Even with Keita we'll still be overmatched in this way against most teams. I think with the overall roster balance and skill improvements we'll see a lot more wins this season.
beast of the east
Active member
Before we go on speculating that any potential success of yakwe will be a poor reflection on the coaching staff let me share some FIRST HAND information:
I hope I can accurately articulate what was communicated to me. Apart from teaching fundamentals , the staff liked a lot of little things Yskwe was doing last year on the court that didn't show up in the boxscore. Things like boxing out so that our guards actually got more defensive rebounds, playing hard nosed defense, etc. What they tried to encourage him to do is just play on the offensive end - don't be too mechanical, let the game come to him, don't overthink, and play with the confidence he had shown as a freshman.
This wasn't a guy abandoned and buried by staff as they continued to like his raw ability and potential. It is clear though that we are in the business of winning games, and his poor play just didn't warrant more of a role.
Whether he finds that confidence or reckless abandon he exhibited as a freshman in no way would reflect on the work our staff put into this kid.
As others pointed out, sometimes a change of scenery is good. One thing that likely wont hapoen is yakwe becoming team mvp. Likely at most a role player, but anything he accomplished I'd be happy with and if I had to guess, so would our staff.
I hope I can accurately articulate what was communicated to me. Apart from teaching fundamentals , the staff liked a lot of little things Yskwe was doing last year on the court that didn't show up in the boxscore. Things like boxing out so that our guards actually got more defensive rebounds, playing hard nosed defense, etc. What they tried to encourage him to do is just play on the offensive end - don't be too mechanical, let the game come to him, don't overthink, and play with the confidence he had shown as a freshman.
This wasn't a guy abandoned and buried by staff as they continued to like his raw ability and potential. It is clear though that we are in the business of winning games, and his poor play just didn't warrant more of a role.
Whether he finds that confidence or reckless abandon he exhibited as a freshman in no way would reflect on the work our staff put into this kid.
As others pointed out, sometimes a change of scenery is good. One thing that likely wont hapoen is yakwe becoming team mvp. Likely at most a role player, but anything he accomplished I'd be happy with and if I had to guess, so would our staff.
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