Yakwe - what's gone wrong ?

RedStormNC

RedStormNC

Well-known member
2023 $upporter
Writing seems to be on the wall, that Yakwe won't be around next year.... Don't know if that's true, but can't help wonder what the root cause is of what went wrong and when.

Coming in, we knew he was young (graduated a year early), raw basketball player but highly athletic. Had flashes of potential in Year 1 with some good rebounds, blocks, steals and dunks.

We heard from staff that he was the nicest, most polite kid, the hardest worker etc. but nothing materialized. Then in went quickly downhill.

Was it ....:

an inability to learn the game?
poor player development/coaching ?
deteriorating practice effort?
playing out of position?
internal lack of confidence?
concern over the players brought in like Clark, Keita (or tried to like Wilson, Brooks, etc) ?

Whatever it is, it's too bad and hope for the kid's sake he makes a good decision academically and athletically.
 
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As RedStorm posted the Yawke situation is a total head scratcher. Could it be growing up in a foreign country he just doesn't like playing basketball?
 
My pre season assessment was he was our most important player this year. Because of our lack of frontcourt depth I felt that he had to return to some of his freshmen promise to make
Or break the season. I felt if he Could revert back to even his freshman level of play that would have made a huge difference for the team.

Given his regression from freshman to sophomore seasons I Wasn’t sure if that would happen but was hoping that last year was just a sophomore slump. Sadly for whatever reason it wasn’t.

If he stays I hope he can give us at least 10 mins a game next year. Hopefully he takes
The next few months to recommit himself to improving. Even so it seems from the rumbles On here that he may not
Be back or that the staff has moved on and will seek other resources.
 
Nice kid, but no sense trying to figure out his dog house status. He’s gone.
 
The other reason is that he is trying his best but he just can not compete on this level. You can practice everyday and as we have seen someone at this level just does not get any better. The coaches mad an assessment when recruited but it just did not pan out. If next yr our teams is a lot better that is upper pert of our league and going to the NCAA Would think,perhaps he progresses more and he can be a part of a team on the rise. BUT that would be his choice when he knows he can go to a school and play maj mins where his confidence inc and who knows becomes a star
WISH HIM THE BEST. If he stays will be behind him 100%
 
You raised several valid questions that we Posters will all speculate on. Some here will express inside knowledge , others will blame Mullin and the Coaching staff or Team turmoil . I have my opinions , which are purely my thoughts . No doubt Yakwe was Athletic but, in today’s College Game , that wasn’t enough . Look at all the Athletes on the floor for last Nights BE Semi finals . Plus , nearly all these Players have played the game since they were little leaguers . Yakwe came from a Society where Basketball wasn’t the go to Sport , Soccer was . As a result , he never developed the necessary fundamentals like Shooting, Boxing out and Rebounding , playing real Defense as opposed to just trying to block every shot . And , as evidenced by the second G Town game , he committed the Sin of fouling the 3 point shooter , with the game in our control . More experienced Players would not have contested that shot 95 percent of the time . After that , for whatever reasons , he saw little PT. A lot of that was Mullin shortening the game to his Core 5 and playing them whatever minutes dictated . We started winning with the Core 5 and , only Trimble got any bench minutes . Amar and Yakwe sat for entire games . As the season wore down Amar got some PT usually if Owens or Clarke got into early foul trouble . So , that is my 2 cents . If there were Attitude or other issues , better they stayed with the team only . I know there are several posters that continued to clamor for more PT for Yakwe right up through the Tournament . Would he have made a impact in either game ? No ! It is a difficult acceptance by any player that their abilities don’t merit more playing time . Yakwe likely thinks differently . Good luck to him . Maybe a College Program not as demanding as the BE .
 
Rings accurate. Probably a combination of not having and not developing the necessary basketball skills to compete at this level. I call him a very poor man’s Zendon Hamilton. Bad hands, no shot, bad D, but a nice kid with great athleticism—hence, the blocks and dunks...and the 4* status out of HS.
It’s too bad it did not work out here.
We wish him the very best, that he succeeds as a student, in hoops somewhere else, and definitely in life.
 
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Completely baffling. He was a 4 star recruit. Couldn’t sniff the floor over Amar and Cole as a junior.. IMO he should have seen the floor. But,I don’t know what happened behind the scene. Some rumblings about not working hard in practice. I wish him the best at his next destination.
 
The blame game goes both ways any time a player regresses. Yakwe was a contibutor his freshman year. He obviously does not have a feel for the game and has extremely poor ball control. As athletic as he is his movement with the ball is awkward and out of sync. His defense against a moving player is also weak. He has virtually no form on his outside shot. I don't know what he brings to practice but it is always a concern when players regress to the point of irrelevancy on a team with two Hall of Fame coaches. That Mullin couldn't find 5 minutes to test the kid is clearly a coaching decision that spells a departure from the team.
 
The kid had a very solid freshman year so the idea that he didn’t come from a place where hoops was the end all be all goes completely out the window because he most definitely had potential his freshman year. Blame goes both ways but in the end it is what it is. Hopefully our big men coming in develop or then I’d be concerned
 
Nice kid. Enormous potential. No fire in the belly. Missed opportunity.
 
[quote="Section9" post=276136]Ever since he committed that foul on Derrickson's 3 point shot he's ridden the pines. Coincidence?[/quote] Amar also fouled the 3 point shooter during the Butler game, which almost cost us the game and still played over a Yakwe.
 
[quote="Knight" post=276139]Nice kid. Enormous potential. No fire in the belly. Missed opportunity.[/quote]
I think that he was too nice a kid. Now we don't see/know enough as to his work habits and all that but I just didn't see any real improvements. One of those guys who despite great athleticism is not a basketball player. At least not at this level.

I do hope the kid gets his education. We love basketball and all but there are many ways to be successful in life. I wish him luck.
 
Good point . Who knows why Amar got PT in the late stages of the season . While we all cringed every time he took the outside 3 , he did play some good defense , scored some rebounds and most importantly , did provide some height and bulk out there . Yakwe was a great , if uncontrolled leaper , but didn’t box out , couldn’t stay with his man and is only 6’7” and while athletic , is not able to throw any weight around the Govsns, Bullocks , Kanter, etc . I disagree with mjmaher on Yakwe’s B.B. background being established back in Mali or wherever he is from , rather than Soccer . But, Mike’s point is a valid one . Personally , whoever graded Yakwe as a 4 Star player from HS , needs remedial work in Basketball 101. It was evident from day 1 here that while he could jump and dunk and run, he didn’t posses a lot of the game’s fundamental skills plus hands of stone . No doubt attributable to not using hands in playing soccer . As for why he wasn’t Coached up , as some have assigned to Mullin , I say if you have a student poor in Math , memorizing the Times table doesn’t help much in Calculus or Trig . BE ball is high level , totally populated by very skilled and even more athletic players than Yakwe . The bottom line being , if Mullin and Richmond couldn’t develop his game , in 3 Years , he wasn’t capable of upgrading his skills . Will Simon ever develop a strong , well stroked jumper? Or, remain a 4 tool player of great play but, not able to become a outside threat . He needs that to play at the next level and more work on Handle and passing into the post . I think he improves over the off season and could be All BE first or 2nd team next season . It’s a given , Mullin and Richmond will be spending a lot of their summer with Justin . Maybe outside at Breezy Point?
 
[quote="SLYFOXX1968" post=276150]Good point . Who knows why Amar got PT in the late stages of the season . While we all cringed every time he took the outside 3 , he did play some good defense , scored some rebounds and most importantly , did provide some height and bulk out there . Yakwe was a great , if uncontrolled leaper , but didn’t box out , couldn’t stay with his man and is only 6’7” and while athletic , is not able to throw any weight around the Govsns, Bullocks , Kanter, etc . I disagree with mjmaher on Yakwe’s B.B. background being established back in Mali or wherever he is from , rather than Soccer . But, Mike’s point is a valid one . Personally , whoever graded Yakwe as a 4 Star player from HS , needs remedial work in Basketball 101. It was evident from day 1 here that while he could jump and dunk and run, he didn’t posses a lot of the game’s fundamental skills plus hands of stone . No doubt attributable to not using hands in playing soccer . As for why he wasn’t Coached up , as some have assigned to Mullin , I say if you have a student poor in Math , memorizing the Times table doesn’t help much in Calculus or Trig . BE ball is high level , totally populated by very skilled and even more athletic players than Yakwe . The bottom line being , if Mullin and Richmond couldn’t develop his game , in 3 Years , he wasn’t capable of upgrading his skills . Will Simon ever develop a strong , well stroked jumper? Or, remain a 4 tool player of great play but, not able to become a outside threat . He needs that to play at the next level and more work on Handle and passing into the post . I think he improves over the off season and could be All BE first or 2nd team next season . It’s a given , Mullin and Richmond will be spending a lot of their summer with Justin . Maybe outside at Breezy Point?[/quote]
Mitch, Greg & to lesser extent Mullin spend summers in Cali not Breezy Point :)
 
As a big, without basketball fundies or a shooting stroke you need to be a rebounder and be able to catch and dunk the ball when open in the post. Tough to do that well when you have really bad hands. If Yakwe could have caught passes and grabbed rebounds and loose balls consistently he would have put up 5-6 points and 5-6 rebounds a game and been productive. But without decent hands he just couldn't put anything on the stat sheet. A nice young man, he has represented St John's well. I wish him the best but high level bball just doesn't appear to be in his future.
 
[quote="Section9" post=276136]Ever since he committed that foul on Derrickson's 3 point shot he's ridden the pines. Coincidence?[/quote]



Can't believe that's the reason, Mullin is not vindictive,just look at the Trimble situation. I wonder if Yakwe had previously announced he would be leaving, henceforth he was relegated to the bench. Let's face it he was not very good but we certainly had times where he would have provided a rest time for Owens and Clark..
 
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