Yakwe

Big men who make a strong impact as freshmen and Sophomores are few and far between. They take time. I suggest we be patient and supportive. We're not going anywhere this year and we already knew that going in.

Considering that he has two more full years of eligibility, Tariq Owens is an exciting asset.

Yakwe is athletic and will get stronger. He too has two more years and will regain his confidence.

Zach Brown is bigger and stronger than a typical freshman, but he too might have hands of stone and poor instincts when he finally plays in a game with men who are just as big and maybe stronger.

What I am saying is that you have to pay your dues with big men. You hang in there with them and reap the benefits when they are juniors and seniors. If you look at the players who have beat up on our front line this year, they are all (with the exception of Amir Coffee) upperclassmen.
 
Big men who make a strong impact as freshmen and Sophomores are few and far between. They take time. I suggest we be patient and supportive. We're not going anywhere this year and we already knew that going in.

Considering that he has two more full years of eligibility, Tariq Owens is an exciting asset.

Yakwe is athletic and will get stronger. He too has two more years and will regain his confidence.

Zach Brown is bigger and stronger than a typical freshman, but he too might have hands of stone and poor instincts when he finally plays in a game with men who are just as big and maybe stronger.

What I am saying is that you have to pay your dues with big men. You hang in there with them and reap the benefits when they are juniors and seniors. If you look at the players who have beat up on our front line this year, they are all (with the exception of Amir Coffee) upperclassmen.
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Well said. Although the Mich State kid who beat us up good is also a frosh
 
He called a good final play. It's just that Ponds didn't make the open shot.

The answer isn't necessarily for players to transfer. It's to develop them especially the big men because maybe Chris and Mitch are having more of a positive influence on the guards.

And more importantly is to get them playing defense
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We need to replace St Jean with someone who can develop bigs and coach defense
It looks like St Jean usually is the master strategist during the timeout discussions
But whatever he says in the huddle doesn't often seem to translate to the floor
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First of all that was not supposed to be the final play. Without Marcus Lovett in the game the ball was in the hands of Malik Ellison. Bone headed Mullin had Yakwe in the offensive set. Mind boggling to say the least! More mind boggling is that Ellison gives the ball to Yakwe. You can't make this chit up! That final line up and possession lost the game.
Mullin should have pulled Yakwe after he shot that air ball. That shot showed how unfocused he is and is playing under pressure. He started the game then was pulled for a defensive lapse and sat the rest of the first half. Just had no business being in there in the final minute. Not sure he sticks around.
 
Move Richmond back to special assistant and hire an ex head coach in an assistant role.
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I'd be surprised to see them put any more $ into coaching staff salary...
 
Johnny Fan Wrote:
Big men who make a strong impact as freshmen and Sophomores are few and far between. They take time. I suggest we be patient and supportive. We're not going anywhere this year and we already knew that going in.

Considering that he has two more full years of eligibility, Tariq Owens is an exciting asset.

Yakwe is athletic and will get stronger. He too has two more years and will regain his confidence.

Zach Brown is bigger and stronger than a typical freshman, but he too might have hands of stone and poor instincts when he finally plays in a game with men who are just as big and maybe stronger.

What I am saying is that you have to pay your dues with big men. You hang in there with them and reap the benefits when they are juniors and seniors. If you look at the players who have beat up on our front line this year, they are all (with the exception of Amir Coffee) upperclassmen.

I agree with Johnny Fan here!

Patience is a valuable commodity when you are developing basketball talent. This is especially true of big men. Kassoum Yakwe had some great moments last year including a phenomenal effort in a win against subsequent final four participant Syracuse. He led the conference in blocked shots (66) and did this despite having moved up a class right at the beginning of the season.

I grant you that he has started slowly this season, but it is not time to write an epitaph to his career. I agree that in order for players to develop they need to be coached well but I don't know how many people that are offering opinions are close enough to the program to accurately assess how well our inside players are being coached. I feel it is important to have a long bell curve approach to see how Yakwe and others develop over time.

For perspective's sake I have attached a link to the career college stats below of two Big East Big Men who started out pretty slowly and developed into college forces as well as NBA players.

Maybe none of our players will be the next Daniel Ochefu or Roy Hibbert but it would be prudent to give our guys time and support them as fans as they go through the predictable growing pains associated with young talent.

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/daniel-ochefu-1.html

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/roy-hibbert-1.html
 
We are the second youngest team in the country. We played our last two games without our best player and we could have used Alibegovic's bulk today. He played 18 minutes last game with no fouls. Freudenberg has hit a 3 in each of the last two games. He's getting more comfortable. We bringing in 3 top 50 kids next year in Clark, Simon and Brown. As far as Yakwe , I think it's all mental.
 
Besides his deficient production this season, what worries me most is Yakwe's body language. He just looks so miserable all the time, like he would rather be somewhere else. That may mean nothing. I don't want him to transfer, since he is so young and has the kind of athleticism that is hard to find.
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Yakwe is a tweener
His game doesn't fit playing small forward because he can't shoot at all
But he's not bulky enough to bang inside and guard true power forwards
He's a very athletic kid who, at 6'7", could dominate in HS but not in college
I was hoping that he would develop a mid range game this summer
Apparently that was not on his bucket list
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We have had 6'7" guys who had or developed post moves...if he is going to play in the post (even some of the time) he should have been working on something including using his right hand..he also should have been working on a foul line jumper as he plays there at times as well.

Seems like the only move he has worked on is a jump hook which seems to come up short more often than not
 
If all these guys were to transfer, with the way staff seemed to only want a one man class this year (concentrating on 2018) we will be scrambling to sign scraps in late signing ala Lavin.
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Don't forget that Simon and Clark are here. Clark I imagine is secretly giddy that Yakwe hasn't been performing.
 
If all these guys were to transfer, with the way staff seemed to only want a one man class this year (concentrating on 2018) we will be scrambling to sign scraps in late signing ala Lavin.
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Don't forget that Simon and Clark are here. Clark I imagine is secretly giddy that Yakwe hasn't been performing.
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And Simon will take all of Ellison's minutes and some of Ahmed's. Next years starting line up: Lovett, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Brown. Then Owens, Ahmed, Yakwe, Freudenberg , Mussini and Williams off the bench. Ali and Ellison don't really play.
 
i don't know why there is a lack of commitment from any of these guys. Go to any other high major and your sitting, period! Your here, your on a big stage with the media capital of the world watching. Play HARD! Play with effort! Stop all the crying and go WIN!! Don't blame the school, the fans, or even the coaches, you guys are playing. Lack of effort is the reason why you guys lost to Del State and LIU. We clearly have more talent ( even w/o 3 players). Stop the crying , stop the excuses and go win! Im done. Its so painful being a longtime johnnie fan. Its seems we can never catch a break
 
If all these guys were to transfer, with the way staff seemed to only want a one man class this year (concentrating on 2018) we will be scrambling to sign scraps in late signing ala Lavin.
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Don't forget that Simon and Clark are here. Clark I imagine is secretly giddy that Yakwe hasn't been performing.
Click to expand...

And Simon will take all of Ellison's minutes and some of Ahmed's. Next years starting line up: Lovett, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Brown. Then Owens, Ahmed, Yakwe, Freudenberg , Mussini and Williams off the bench. Ali and Ellison don't really play.
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Brown is 50/50. No Sima, no center and you better be lucky with 5th year big should one become available. The good news is two of those players were coached by very good coaches. The bad news is they bring barnacles with the lay off.
 
enough of the Yakwe transferring talk. I love the way the kid plays. Did you guys forget the crucial block giving us a chance to win? He needs to develop , yes but he is still a young thin forward with a huge defensive upside. I would t want him to go anywhere. I love how everyone is counting on our transfers next year to have huge impacts. I hope they do, but I think your all overestimating their production. The season has just begun, turn this ship around....NOW!
 
The answer isn't necessarily for players to transfer. It's to develop them especially the big men because maybe Chris and Mitch are having more of a positive influence on the guards.

And more importantly is to get them playing defense
Click to expand...


We need to replace St Jean with someone who can develop bigs and coach defense
It looks like St Jean usually is the master strategist during the timeout discussions
But whatever he says in the huddle doesn't often seem to translate to the floor
Click to expand...

I can only speak for the Tulane game when I was behind the bench but I can say with 100% certainty when Mullin spoke during huddles all eyes were fixated on him and when St Jean spoke I saw eyes wandering from a couple of players and these weren't bench players who see no action
 
If all these guys were to transfer, with the way staff seemed to only want a one man class this year (concentrating on 2018) we will be scrambling to sign scraps in late signing ala Lavin.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that Simon and Clark are here. Clark I imagine is secretly giddy that Yakwe hasn't been performing.
Click to expand...

And Simon will take all of Ellison's minutes and some of Ahmed's. Next years starting line up: Lovett, Ponds, Simon, Clark and Brown. Then Owens, Ahmed, Yakwe, Freudenberg , Mussini and Williams off the bench. Ali and Ellison don't really play.
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Brown is 50/50. No Sima, no center and you better be lucky with 5th year big should one become available. The good news is two of those players were coached by very good coaches. The bad news is they bring barnacles with the lay off.
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At SJU, 50-50 means 90-10 against. No Brown,no center. Mullin will feel like he is back at Golden State, where they had a lot of scorers but no center for years.
 
Really wish we'd stopping touting kids who are not here yet, and who 99.9% of the board has never seen play in High School, as some sort of saviors. I don't expect anyone coming in next year to be a savior. More like a another building block.
 
enough of the Yakwe transferring talk. I love the way the kid plays. Did you guys forget the crucial block giving us a chance to win? He needs to develop , yes but he is still a young thin forward with a huge defensive upside. I would t want him to go anywhere. I love how everyone is counting on our transfers next year to have huge impacts. I hope they do, but I think your all overestimating their production. The season has just begun, turn this ship around....NOW!
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Forget his defensive upside he blocks shots and that's that. Big men take him in low and score with ease.
 
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