Awaka to Arizona

#53
#53
It's no secret that CRB works his players really hard. You have to think some have weighed the pros and cons and moved on to a lighter workload.
DJ Burns springs to mind..
Of all the players who have left, Tobe would be at the bottom of my list for who left because of a hard workload - dude is intense. I ascribe to the theory which was floated and had some smoke that he didn't fit in with the team/culture and was a bit of a loner while here.
 
#54
#54
Of all the players who have left, Tobe would be at the bottom of my list for who left because of a hard workload - dude is intense. I ascribe to the theory which was floated and had some smoke that he didn't fit in with the team/culture and was a bit of a loner while here.
Hope the best for the guy if that’s true. I’m sure he was expecting a big role this season but with transfers coming in and taking his minutes he chose to move out.
 
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#55
#55
Hope the best for the guy if that’s true. I’m sure he was expecting a big role this season but with transfers coming in and taking his minutes he chose to move out.
I think Tobe was a hard worker and cared, his biggest hurdle was he couldn't defend without fouling. That put the coaching behind the 8 ball, when you have to put one you've game planned with on the bench until half time. This happened way too much IMO.
 
#56
#56
He starts at forward, averages 20 minutes a game and a double/double, so might be a good career move for him. Plays Duke on friday. Be interesting to see how he does.

I'm thinking his excellence in Fiba U 19 over the summer got him noticed.
 
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#57
#57
I think Tobe was a hard worker and cared, his biggest hurdle was he couldn't defend without fouling. That put the coaching behind the 8 ball, when you have to put one you've game planned with on the bench until half time. This happened way too much IMO.
He’s a power forward. He shouldn’t have had to play center as much as he was forced to. Rotating with Aidoo was a terrible fit for Tobe.

I always wanted to see Awaka paired with a true center, like Ben Wallace with Rasheed Wallace. Let him crash the boards like 6’ 9” Ben Wallace or 6’ 8” Dennis Rodman.
 
#58
#58
He’s a power forward. He shouldn’t have had to play center as much as he was forced to. Rotating with Aidoo was a terrible fit for Tobe.

I always wanted to see Awaka paired with a true center, like Ben Wallace with Rasheed Wallace. Let him crash the boards like 6’ 9” Ben Wallace or 6’ 8” Dennis Rodman.
I wish him well, I don't know the makeup of their team he may do better there at a different position. To me he seemed like a player that was easy to call a foul on for some unknown reason, just the opposite of say former UK player Oscar Tshiebwe seemed to get away with push offs and all through out the games. Its just weird some players are foul magnets for refs and some get away with murder ala Zach Edey.
 
#60
#60
I wish him well, I don't know the makeup of their team he may do better there at a different position. To me he seemed like a player that was easy to call a foul on for some unknown reason, just the opposite of say former UK player Oscar Tshiebwe seemed to get away with push offs and all through out the games. It’s just weird some players are foul magnets for refs and some get away with murder ala Zach Edey.
It’s like there’s a double standard where foreign players get a pass for sloppy play. If Awaka could have claimed a different nationality, he might get the diplomatic immunity.

As fun as that sounds, it probably has more to do with marketing value.
 
#63
#63
He starts at forward, averages 20 minutes a game and a double/double, so might be a good career move for him. Plays Duke on friday. Be interesting to see how he does.

I'm thinking his excellence in Fiba U 19 over the summer got him noticed.
Cant remember his name white guy but we got a transfer from Auburn a few years back and he was averaging a double/double at this time of year @ Auburn. He got hurt and sat out rest of year redshirted transferred to UT and was basically a no show @ UT. I say that to say numbers this early mean little vs OOC light weights. Hope he does well its still early.
 
#64
#64
Justin Powell

Transferred from Auburn to Tennessee to Washington State. Think he is in the G-League now
 
#65
#65
Awaka got 9 pts in 20 min. in a 103-88 loss to Wisconsin the other night. He fouled out - no surprise.

We arguably should've made the F4 last year. At best he made a lateral move. Apparently the change of scenery hasn't fixed his PF issues.
 
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#66
#66
Awaka got 9 pts in 20 min. in a 103-88 loss to Wisconsin the other night. He fouled out - no surprise.

We arguably should've made the F4 last year. At best he made a lateral move. Apparently the change of scenery hasn't fixed his PF issues.
And 13 boards...he dominated the boards in that game. No player on the opposing team had more than 6 boards. One of his teammates had 7. Awaka had 6 offensive and 7 defensive boards. Arizona is chuckling with glee to have him. He's giving them 10 and 12 and 20 mins of great defense. Last year when he was averaging less than half the points and rebounds and fouling out in 13 mins you'd have a point. He has basically doubled his positive output.

Note: its not like he was a standout in fouls. 3 players fouled out of that game and another 5 had 4 fouls. That game was a rugby scrum, 63 fouls total (32 AZ 31 WU). It was basically sponsored by the WWE.

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#67
#67
Cant remember his name white guy but we got a transfer from Auburn a few years back and he was averaging a double/double at this time of year @ Auburn. He got hurt and sat out rest of year redshirted transferred to UT and was basically a no show @ UT. I say that to say numbers this early mean little vs OOC light weights. Hope he does well its still early.
FYI Wisconsin is not a lightweight (they are 5-0 and ranked 19th currently)...and they play Duke Friday...you're mixing up our OOC schedule with theirs bro. AZ's OOC schedule is significantly tougher than ours. Their overall schedule is also tougher. Glass house and stones don't mix.. also Powell and Awaka are terrible comparisons. Powell was a shooter who didn't fit work out at UT.. he did fine at WSU (started 34 games there and averaged 10 points shooting 42% from 3 and for some reason decided to declare after his junior year? Arizona is also playing him out of position at Center but he does play minutes at the 4 as they have two young 7 footers they rotate in for decent minutes 16 and 13 mins a game. Glad to see him doing well.
 
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#68
#68
FYI Wisconsin is not a lightweight (they are 5-0 and ranked 19th currently)...and they play Duke Friday...you're mixing up our OOC schedule with theirs bro. AZ's OOC schedule is significantly tougher than ours. Their overall schedule is also tougher. Glass house and stones don't mix.. also Powell and Awaka are terrible comparisons. Powell was a shooter who didn't fit work out at UT.. he did fine at WSU (started 34 games there and averaged 10 points shooting 42% from 3 and for some reason decided to declare after his junior year? Arizona is also playing him out of position at Center but he does play minutes at the 4 as they have two young 7 footers they rotate in for decent minutes 16 and 13 mins a game. Glad to see him doing well.
I'm a Vol fan don't follow Arizona sorry, not sorry.
 
#75
#75
I'm watching what's left of this Duke game and Awaka seems like he's not really in their game plan.

No idea why he left Tennessee
 

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