'22 NY PF Tobe Awaka (Tennessee commit)

#177
#177
Per 40 Aidoo 11.4 rebounds, BHH 9.4 rebounds.

To take the stats without factoring in minutes is a pretty poor measurement. Aidoo was clearly the better defender, FT shooter, shot-blocker, rebounder, and transition player. Offense is super raw, but I'll take his lob threat ability over the 5 successful post moves I saw from BHH over an entire season.
 
#178
#178
Voltime123 said:
It’s almost like our fans look at stars rather than on court performance and think because one player was a 5 star that makes him automatically better in comparison…dumb
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The same rankings (Rivals) that had Aidoo as a 5* (#25) and BHH as a 4* (#36)? The fact is that both kids finished ranked very similarly. Trying to glean anything from their respective rankings is a fool's errand, and I seriously doubt anyone in opposition to your opinion is using that as some determining factor in developing and expressing their opinion.
 
#182
#182
Ttucke11 said:
Per 40 Aidoo 11.4 rebounds, BHH 9.4 rebounds.

To take the stats without factoring in minutes is a pretty poor measurement. Aidoo was clearly the better defender, FT shooter, shot-blocker, rebounder, and transition player. Offense is super raw, but I'll take his lob threat ability over the 5 successful post moves I saw from BHH over an entire season.
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What lob threat ability did Aidoo show that BHH didn't? Because to be honest, I didn't see it much from either of them.

Aidoo can barely dribble a basketball and was probably the worst shot creator on the roster. BHH at least had moments where he showed he could bully defenders.
 
#183
#183
Voltime123 said:
Aidoo is an 82% free throw shooter while BHH shot 60%…their numbers from the floor are always skewed due to put back dunks and layups but as far as shooting from 15 feet and out I’d take Aidoo honestly
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Together, they shot a combined 44 FTs. That's really what you're going to base that on? Are you going to ignore that BHH shot 49.1% on 116 2-pt attempts to Aidoo’s 32.5% on 40 attempts? Both guys are going to get the majority of their looks from well inside 15 feet...like in the form putback dunks and layups. How are those numbers skewed for two players standing over 6'10"?
 
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#184
#184
Ttucke11 said:
After watching Aidoo play against UK, Arkansas, and Missouri I was honestly mystified as to why CRB was still playing BHH so much. Give me Aidoo all day long. Also has a much higher ceiling imo.
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Aidoo was a near liability on offense. His NBA ceiling is probably higher but players like BHH will always be more successful in college.
 
#186
#186
johnfnkelly said:
Aidoo was a near liability on offense. His NBA ceiling is probably higher but players like BHH will always be more successful in college.
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The thing is, BHH could be greater if he’d stop listening to people around him who keep giving him bad advice.

Not sure how transferring to another school is going to magically turn him into a stretch 4.
 
#187
#187
The similarities are hard to miss. An undersized and under-recruited prospect. An unsigned senior in New York City who turned a standout AAU performance into a springboard to a Division I scholarship.

A year ago it was point guard Zakai Zeigler. This time around it’s power forward Tobe Awaka, the 6-foot-8, 240 pound big man out of The Bronx who announced his commitment to Tennessee on Tuesday morning.

“There are obviously parallels in terms of the way his recruitment went, with Zakai Zeigler,” 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein told GoVols247, “who was similarly under-recruited in his senior year and then joined New Heights Lightning as an unsigned senior before paying his way into a much higher level recruitment and a subsequent commitment to Tennessee.”

Zeigler was an unrated prospect when he was offered, visited, committed and signed last August, before becoming an All-SEC Freshman Team talent during his debut season with the Vols.

Awaka, who has not yet been rated by either 247Sports or the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, picked up a Tennessee offer three weeks ago and took an official visit to Knoxville over the weekend, before announcing his commitment only a couple days later.

“Awaka is a prospect that I thought was under-recruited throughout most of his seniors season,” Finkelstein said. “He’s an undersized big and so there were questions bout how his game would translate, but he’s powerful, rugged and has a phenomenal motor.”

Awaka was the Gatorade Player of the Year in New York, after averaging 19.2 points and 13.9 rebounds per game at Cardinal Hayes High School. Other programs were taking notice of late, too, with Awaka picking up offers from St. John’s, Maryland and Pitt last month.

He committed to the Vols Tuesday as a class of 2023 prospect, but reclassifying could be an option for Awaka later in the year, should he choose to go that route.
Tennessee currently has three players in its 2022 recruiting class and three scholarship spots open on the 2022-23 roster.

Five-star wing Julian Phillips committed last week and signed on Monday. Four-star Knoxville point guard BJ Edwards committed in August and signed in November, during college basketball’s early signing period. The Vols added Indiana State graduate-transfer shooting guard Tyreke Key, a Celina, Tenn., native, in April.

What the Vols will add in Awaka, whenever he arrives in Knoxville, will be a high-upside prospect and a readymade rebounder.

“His build will remind people of Grant Williams,” Finkelstein said. “He’s not quite as quick off his feet and will need to commit himself to expanding his skill-set the same way Williams did.

“The thing he does at an elite level is rebound the basketball and he used last month’s EYBL to prove that against some of the top competition in the country. He also gets rave reviews for his work ethic and his commitment.”
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-Ramey
 
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#188
#188
cncchris33 said:
Together, they shot a combined 44 FTs. That's really what you're going to base that on? Are you going to ignore that BHH shot 49.1% on 116 2-pt attempts to Aidoo’s 32.5% on 40 attempts? Both guys are going to get the majority of their looks from well inside 15 feet...like in the form putback dunks and layups. How are those numbers skewed for two players standing over 6'10"?
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They are skewed for the simple fact that BHH played more minutes, all I said was I believed Aidoo was a better shooter and rebounder so im going based on 15 feet and out so obviously free throws play a part, because Aidoo rightfully so doesn’t shoot threes unlike BHH
 
#189
#189
johnfnkelly said:
What lob threat ability did Aidoo show that BHH didn't? Because to be honest, I didn't see it much from either of them.

Aidoo can barely dribble a basketball and was probably the worst shot creator on the roster. BHH at least had moments where he showed he could bully defenders.
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I mean neither of them created any offense at all. I admit I'm doing a bit of projecting with Aidoo lob threat ability, but you're right neither showed much. Aidoo doesn't have be a low post threat or dribble if he can hit put back dunks and run in transition. Pop a little shot that he showed glimpses of when left open as well. I saw very very few moments of that from BHH. He also had double the turnover percentage as Aidoo. The guy was just extremely underwhelming. I didn't want to harp on it while he was a Vol, but now he's a quitter.
 
#190
#190
I think Aidoo has the highest ceiling in a vacuum, but knee problems could prevent him from reaching his potential. I'll take him over BHH simply because he knows he's a post player, wants to be a post player, and moat importantly, wants to be a Vol.

I just don't know how you can look at their shooting stats and definitively claim Aidoo is clearly the better shooter.
 
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#191
#191
Chris - what is known of Aidoo’s knee problems beyond he tweaked one early last season? Does he have a long history of chronic knee troubles?
 
#192
#192
johnfnkelly said:
So you're basing his ft% to prove he's a better shooter, but that can't be applied to any other player on the roster. Got it.
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Why would I compare a PF/C to a PG? In what world does that make sense? Our whole convo was based on the comparison of BHH and Aidoo’s rebounding and shooting skills. I would take Aidoo for both
 
#193
#193
VolFreakJosh said:
The thing is, BHH could be greater if he’d stop listening to people around him who keep giving him bad advice.

Not sure how transferring to another school is going to magically turn him into a stretch 4.
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It's not, but to suggest he's suddenly bad at basketball because he had a rough transition from HS to D1 as an 18 year old is comical. The only PF's who were significantly more productive as freshmen this past year were Paolo and Jabari.

He was on par with nearly everybody else, if not better. You can make an argument Diabate had a leg up on him but he also played double the minutes.
 
#194
#194
Voltime123 said:
They are skewed for the simple fact that BHH played more minutes, all I said was I believed Aidoo was a better shooter and rebounder so im going based on 15 feet and out so obviously free throws play a part, because Aidoo rightfully so doesn’t shoot threes unlike BHH
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The minutes make no difference. BHH sustained an incredible advantage in shooting percentage despite attempting 3x as many shots. Aidoo may be a better shooter, but there is not any tangible proof that he is aside from a combined 44 FT attempts. And based on that logic, Aidoo shot better from the FT line than every regular but ZZ. But that isn't anymore proof that he's the second-best shooter on the team anymore than it is proof than he's a better shooter than BHH. I'm fine with it being your opinion. I just take exception to your manner of proof being his FT% on 17 attempts.
 
#195
#195
Voltime123 said:
Why would I compare a PF/C to a PG? In what world does that make sense? Our whole convo was based on the comparison of BHH and Aidoo’s rebounding and shooting skills. I would take Aidoo for both
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ON shoots 70% from the line, are you still taking Aidoo? or are you going to ignore this?
 
#196
#196
johnfnkelly said:
It's not, but to suggest he's suddenly bad at basketball because he had a rough transition from HS to D1 as an 18 year old is comical. The only PF's who were significantly more productive as freshmen this past year were Paolo and Jabari.

He was on par with nearly everybody else, if not better. You can make an argument Diabate had a leg up on him but he also played double the minutes.
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I wanted BHH to stay.

He’s certainly not bad at basketball but there was still plenty of room for improvement.

If he had listened to Barnes and not the negative people around him, he could have been made even a bigger impact next season which makes his decision to transfer seem pointless.
 
#197
#197
walkenvol said:
Chris - what is known of Aidoo’s knee problems beyond he tweaked one early last season? Does he have a long history of chronic knee troubles?
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That was sort of the impression that I got. It just wasn't responding to treatment and was viewed as potentially chronic. Not sure if surgery to clean it out would help, but you'd think if it would, late-March would have been a great time to explore it.
 
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#198
#198
cncchris33 said:
The minutes make no difference. BHH sustained an incredible advantage in shooting percentage despite attempting 3x as many shots. Aidoo may be a better shooter, but there is not any tangible proof that he is aside from a combined 44 FT attempts. And based on that logic, Aidoo shot better from the FT line than every regular but ZZ. But that isn't anymore proof that he's the second-best shooter on the team anymore than it is proof than he's a better shooter than BHH. I'm fine with it being your opinion. I just take exception to your manner of proof being his FT% on 17 attempts.
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You guys can die on the BHH hill, im rolling with the guy who barely was able to practice to start out the year and still managed close to the same amount of scoring average and rebounding in less minutes
 
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