Rob Lewis on Aidoo

[cncchris33]

Aidoo seems like a great kid he just can’t handle centers his size or bigger

To me, he just never seems to play with an edge. Lots of off-court footage of him being goofy that UT Sports likes to promote. You can be non-chalant and cut up off the court and have fun, but if you don't play with an edge on the court, then when you don't show up, expect people to criticize you for not taking the sport seriously enough. I feel like that kind of criticism for Aidon't is warranted for what he gave us in the postseason.

 

[Hoggervol]

The guy who played for Michigan 2 years ago and transferred to Kansas. Or maybe he was a golfer.

Hunter?

 

[NighthawkVol]

He completely disappeared against Creighton too. Not getting good minutes from him today was a killer.

It’s between the ears with him.

 

[Rockytop10nessee]

no one expected him to out play Edey but OTOH no one expected him to completely disappear either.

"I don’t ever delight in being critical of college athletes, but man, Tennessee needed more from Jonas Aidoo than the Vols got today.

His development this season has been a huge key to Tennessee’s success, and the Vols were going to need him to be a factor today against Edey.

Aidoo was scoreless going 0-for-3 from the floor. He grabbed three rebounds in 10 minutes of play and after he picked up third foul with 16:59 left. Barnes had apparently seen enough. He didn’t play Aidoo the rest of the way, opting to go with Estrella.

The fact that Barnes sat Aidoo, the team’s third leading scorer, for 16:59 in the second half of an Elite Eight game is significant."

3 out of the last 4 years we have been destroyed by the other teams big man in the Tourney; Roman Silva of Oregon State , Gordon Dickinson of Michigan and Edey this year. Barnes has done a great job of recrruitiing wings and PGs but has never gotten the aircraft carrier in the middle.

Rob is a first class chode, but he’s right. If I were to speculate, I’d speculate that Aidoo won’t be back. But then again, he might be our leading scorer next year lol.

 

[Hoggervol]

It’s between the ears with him.

I think he wants to be a point guard but he is trapped in a 7 foot body. Too weak to play against the big boys.

 

[volfaninpa]

I know Aidoo struggled against good bigs this season. He didn't look the same after a couple of those hard falls against Texas in the 2nd round. Maybe some residual effects from that?

No making excuses for his play, just pondering it.

 

[TennEddie]

We would have won today with D.J. Burns.

 

[barney]

I miss Uros. I think we go all the way if he had stayed.

 

[CAVPUT]

It’s between the ears with him.

I'm thinking it's in his chest. Some guys are dogs and others not so much.

 

[brockytop]

Aidoo pretty much always struggles against quality big men so what happened against Edey is no surprise. We just needed him to mediocre and he couldn’t even provide that.

It’s a darn shame Awaka isn’t two inches taller.

 

[volfeeva]

I'm not excusing his missed shots, but otherwise he seemed undersized and outmanned by Edey. The players Barnes put in to take his place didn't have any better luck controlling Lurch or stopping their game plan. . IMHo we can't hang this loss on our undersized big man

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Aidoo seems like a great kid he just can’t handle centers his size or bigger

That’s accurate. And we all love the giraffe but he should be the backup 5 that comes in and gives great minutes and is a fan favorite. He’s not THE dude though.

 

[Caz]

I'm not excusing his missed shots, but otherwise he seemed undersized and outmanned by Edey. The players Barnes put in to take his place didn't have any better luck controlling Lurch or stopping their game plan. . IMHo we can't hang this loss on our undersized big man

But when you miss the entire goal from 3Ft something just don’t add up. He had his chances, but played tentative if not scared of the stage he was on. None the less, I hope for him to bounce back next season if still here.

 

[Dougie_D]

I think it’s more mental with Aidoo. I think his first role was just rebound and protect the rim. This year he was asked to shoot more. When he misses shots he gets more hesitant and he forgets to be aggressive.

 

[Bryan1]

I know Aidoo struggled against good bigs this season. He didn't look the same after a couple of those hard falls against Texas in the 2nd round. Maybe some residual effects from that?

No making excuses for his play, just pondering it.

I keep saying I think he is injured or at least not 100% He was limping going into the locke room after the Creighton game.

 

[Just a VolinTears]

Several options for Jonas. He'll obviously test the NBA waters, but he will return to college. I like him and he's developed a lot here, but in the last two tourney games he was not on the court in the final stretch (played poorly both games). Does he transfer? Does he stay? Do we even push for him to stay?

 

[OrngeJuiceJones]

Several options for Jonas. He'll obviously test the NBA waters, but he will return to college. I like him and he's developed a lot here, but in the last two tourney games he was not on the court in the final stretch (played poorly both games). Does he transfer? Does he stay? Do we even push for him to stay?

He'll stay, and he'll start. Awaka may be in the games alongside him as the 4. We'll see

 

[Go47]

I think he’s a good guy. He will never match up well against physical big guys. My guess is he returns.

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

Don't care. These last 2 games have shown me all I need to see. The freshman is already better.

 

[LeannaVol]

I think Aidoo was just trying too hard and tried to play too fast against Purdue. He missed a couple of shots and fumbled a couple of passes and Barnes could tell he wasn’t ready for the moment. He showed a lot of promise this year and I think he will be a big part of our success next year. With Estrella and Awaka we have a nice group of bigs on campus.

 

[BisonVol]

Aidoo isn’t going anywhere. Rick is a big believer in Jonas Aidoo, despite how bad he was down the stretch of the season. RB would fight to keep Aidoo around for another season.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

He completely disappeared against Creighton too. Not getting good minutes from him today was a killer.

Hell, he was disappointing against Texas until he made those two critical free throws down the stretch. Seemed nervous the whole tournament. Short armed lots of wide open shots

 

[knox73]

Jonas made incredible improvement this season over last. With the development of Estrella, Rick has 3 quality bigs to rotate and may pick up a fourth. Don't rule out significant improvement for Jonas again - don't kick the man while he is down. If he stays to compete - he will be better next season and overall he had a strong season for the Vols.

 

[Creeker]

Aidoo is good and at times very good against smaller or weaker bigs. He struggled against anyone with similar size and strength. He desperately needs to add some good weight, he seems to have the yips against some of the more physical bigs, he air balled one from about 8 feet today. I’m not sure any of that is going to change with another year here, however, I do think with another off season Estrella can help deal with the type of players that Aidoo struggles with. Assuming Aidoo stays we will have a good rotation with him Awaka and Estrella.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I miss Uros. I think we go all the way if he had stayed.

Yeah........no. There's no way I'm giving Uros that much weight.