Obekpa NBA Skill Needs

Poison, do you recall Cook's one season here?  He was not very impressive.  He acted like he did want to play here and led the team to a losing record.  They won big the year before him and won 20 the after he left.  He shot the ball a lot and he only made 35% of them count.  Maybe it was just a bad year.  Maybe it was Jarvis.  But maybe it really was a case of a kid on the way down from peaking at the age of 16.

How can you say that Cook wasn't impressive? He averaged over 8 assists a game. He tore Kentucky a new one by himself. There was very little around him. He had no one who could finish, and he still put up over 8 assists.

When was the last time we had a more impressive freshman? Chris Mullin?

Quote from: Tiznow on February 08, 2013, 05:06:22 PM

Poison, do you recall Cook's one season here?  He was not very impressive.  He acted like he did want to play here and led the team to a losing record.  They won big the year before him and won 20 the after he left.  He shot the ball a lot and he only made 35% of them count.  Maybe it was just a bad year.  Maybe it was Jarvis.  But maybe it really was a case of a kid on the way down from peaking at the age of 16.

How can you say that Cook wasn't impressive? He averaged over 8 assists a game. He tore Kentucky a new one by himself. There was very little around him. He had no one who could finish, and he still put up over 8 assists.

When was the last time we had a more impressive freshman? Chris Mullin?

That Range Rover he drove around school was impressive

Say what you will about Cook's demeanor, his jump shot, and ultimately bad decision to jump to the league after only one year.  But he was one of the most gifted passers in college basketball that year. 

Omar was one of the best passers starting a break I ever saw. At Riverside, I saw him hit constantly guys with pinpoint accuracy thirty feet ahead of him.

It's amazing how much taller he seems when you watch him play. Feels like you're watching a 6'10 or 11' kid.  He has a gift.

He always looks very short to me.  He looked like a little kid against Baylor.  It wasn't even just Ike either, it was also Jefferson that towered over him with the same listed height.

If he was 6'10 or taller he would be worth a gamble, but he has way too much to work on to be worth the risk at 6'7.5, including rebounding.  I think he will be a three year player. 

Omar was one of the best passers starting a break I ever saw. At Riverside, I saw him hit constantly guys with pinpoint accuracy thirty feet ahead of him.

Paultzman, he had 27 turnovers in his last three games of his one season - all of them bad losses.  It was hard to watch.  The season thankfully came to an end.  When I looked up his stats it brought back the bad memories.

Now if you want to see a guy run a break watch Sir Dom fly down the court in that big dump on Sunday.

Cook was a tremendous passer who played with guys who couldn't even catch his passes or his assists would have been off the charts instead of going on the turnover side of the ledger.

Cook was a tremendous passer who played with guys who couldn't even catch his passes or his assists would have been off the charts instead of going on the turnover side of the ledger.

And still put up 2 to 1 ratio shockingly.

Celtic, there were good players on that team.  You can't blame them for his poor shooting.  They were not the reason for his poor games.  The bottom line for him was his losing record here.

He was rated as a top twenty player coming in and lost with the same players that Hattan led to the NCAA.

Celtic, there were good players on that team.  You can't blame them for his poor shooting.  They were not the reason for his poor games.  The bottom line for him was his losing record here.

He was rated as a top twenty player coming in and lost with the same players that Hattan led to the NCAA.

Hatten did not have the same players. That's not accurate. Eric King was a freshman w Hatten.

 Cook's one season here was filled with lousy basketball. He had skill and saw the court tremendously.  That being said, I never got the impression that he cared or was interested in anything other than himself.  A great PG makes those around him better. Omar one season was a total disappointment.

 Hatten > Cook  all day, everyday.

Quote from: Tiznow on February 09, 2013, 10:41:46 AM

Celtic, there were good players on that team.  You can't blame them for his poor shooting.  They were not the reason for his poor games.  The bottom line for him was his losing record here.

He was rated as a top twenty player coming in and lost with the same players that Hattan led to the NCAA.

Hatten did not have the same players. That's not accurate. Eric King was a freshman w Hatten.

OK..the one new guy, Eric King, made the difference...All the other guys were the same.  If you think the other players (Glover, Cuffe, Shaw, Fordham...) made him ineffective I disagree.  I could buy the thinking that the coaching staff stunk at correcting his poor play.

Now...let's hope Obekpa blocks the crap out of Syracuse tomorrow and restarts the NBA chatter.

Obekpa could be with us for 4 years.  He needs to develop his offense, learn to shoots FTs, and beef up.  He could lead the NCAA in blocks for 3 years straight and still not be ready for the NBA.