Rob Lewis on Aidoo

[Savannahbayvol]

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.

 

[Volumnus 2011]

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

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I heard Kesling suggest that Aidoo caught the bug that knocked Vescovi out. But that wasn’t as bad as it was when JJJ and ZZ and Alexander were out with injuries in prior NCAATs. Awaka and Estrella were pretty good dealing with a near impossible situation in Edey.

 

[LittleCat]

Gordon Dickinson?

 

[MEDVOL]

Seems like we’d be set with Awaka and Estrella next year.

 

[BleedOrange16]

I agree. I was pleading for him to be benched both against Creighton and Purdue.

Great kid but his play killed us in both games.

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

Bingo, OP. Since Grant Williams left, we have had a glaring piece of the puzzle missing.

 

[VolTull]

 

[wrangler]

I thought Aidoo looked tentative on his shots in the SEC tournament and the NCAA tournament. Some shots were well short, on some others he looked afraid to extend his arms up fully to normal shooting position; just looked like a guy afraid to get his shot blocked, or get fouled, even where he had room to get a clean shot off.

 

[EasternVol]

Gordon Dickinson?

Gordon Lightfoot and Emily Dickinson's love child.

 

[Savannahbayvol]

Gordon Dickinson?

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

 

[Rocky Top T]

Seems like we’d be set with Awaka and Estrella next year.

Agree, let Aidoo go

 

[Dougie_D]

I think the foul trouble instead of 0-3 was the main issue.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I think the foul trouble instead of 0-3 was the main issue.

Still speaks volumes he was never put back in.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

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

 

[Voljayton]

I'm really liking Estrella. I thought he played phenomenal against Edey and he has fire in him. Awaka did really well too. You really couldn't ask for much better from either one of those guys against the monster.

 

[Savannahbayvol]

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

Hunter Dickinson, my bad

 

[TAF]

I'm really liking Estrella. I thought he played phenomenal against Edey and he has fire in him. Awaka did really well too. You really couldn't ask for much better from either one of those guys against the monster.

Estrella & Awaka > Aidoo

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

Barnes said all that needed to be said when he benched Aidoo against Creighton very early in the second half and again today. He was a complete liability on both ends of the court.

I want him to succeed but he completely wilted under the pressure of the last two games on offense and, even worse, on defense.

 

[VOLtaism]

I don't understand why he took so many shots early in this huge game. He is a low percentage jump shot shooter. His job in this game was just to keep LURCH from getting to his spot and get some rebounds. He didn't return because he was playing soft.

 

[Vols All Day]

Barnes said all that needed to be said when he benched Aidoo against Creighton very early in the second half and again today. He was a complete liability on both ends of the court.

I want him to succeed but he completely wilted under the pressure of the last two games on offense and, even worse, on defense.

He struggled against Texas also.

 

[VAVol85]

I was impressed with the progress Aidoo made from last year to this year’s regular season. But he regressed at the end of the season/tournament. Hopefully he takes the disappointing end of season as motivation to make another leap. If not, Estrella and Awaka are going to pass him.

 

[jeff1vol]

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.

EXACTLY 1000% CORRECT!! BARNES HATES big men that can actually play! We've NEVER had one under his tenure.

 

[Putbacks]

He was definitely fragile today….

 

[1Big_Orange_Fan]

Defense against Edey is all about strength and weight. Ya'll all need to consider that Aidoo has little of both and is more a finesse player. He's been great most of the year but simply didn't match up well against the oak tree. The others did better but still got abused by him. I'm proud of how hard Awaka and especially Estrella played, but some of you are acting like Edey didn't go for a career high today. He's just impossible to stop without double teaming (or triple if you include the stripes).