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Nwoko development

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gordonsolie said:
Watching Nwoko in his time against North Florida was shockingly bad.

The guy has bad footwork, bad feet and terrible hands.

For a highly ranked recruit, he looks entirely out of place.

Don't know if all of that is fixable.
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Wonder what his "evaluation" consisted of? He flashed big time playing for the Canadian team in that U-18 tourney. But ... that coulda been an anomaly. I agree with your evaluation and would add to it the fact that he (like everyone else except Omier) plays with very little physicality.
 
If he’s even a minor locker room/attitude issue, L will be done with him. He doesn’t want to come off the bench and bust his a s s on defense, he isn’t going to play, that simple.

For all our offensive gripes about Casey, he commits on defense.
 
CanesHoopsman said:
If he’s even a minor locker room/attitude issue, L will be done with him. He doesn’t want to come off the bench and bust his a s s on defense, he isn’t going to play, that simple.

For all our offensive gripes about Casey, he commits on defense.
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I have watched every minute of Casey and while there are some better moments and perhaps some improvement, his defense is still slow-lazy and inadequate. Combined with Nwoko's (lack of) talents, we are in for a rough stretch unless superman Omier rules the roost for 30+ minutes and ACC refs dont ticky-tack him with fouls. (Hope I am wrong and fortunately Watson and George have been developing nicely of late.)
 
jkdood said:
I have watched every minute of Casey and while there are some better moments and perhaps some improvement, his defense is still slow-lazy and inadequate. Combined with Nwoko's (lack of) talents, we are in for a rough stretch unless superman Omier rules the roost for 30+ minutes and ACC refs dont ticky-tack him with fouls. (Hope I am wrong and fortunately Watson and George have been developing nicely of late.)
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Somebody mentioned his body language and laziness.

He was playing and improving ever so slightly and was even the first sub for Omier ahead of Casey then .... bam.

He didn't play at all in one or two games and thought he might be hurt.

Then in the next blowout game Casey is the next up and Nwoko mops up at the end.

Ever since then, something is terribly off.

And yes, their appears that his mind isn't into the game, he's not hustling like he was and it just looks like he's not interested.

There is no reason for his sudden disappearance in a couple of games than discipline. Then what to me appears, in his reemergence, an attitude problem, we've got serious problems up front off the bench (as if we didn't have enough already).

If Nwoko transfers out after this year, L better get his big boy portal hat on, because we are going to need at least three big men, one that is a serviceable starter next year.

While we have a top recruiting class coming in, I am very very concerned about the front line next year. It looks as barren as an empty refrigerator.
 
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jkdood said:
I have watched every minute of Casey and while there are some better moments and perhaps some improvement, his defense is still slow-lazy and inadequate. Combined with Nwoko's (lack of) talents, we are in for a rough stretch unless superman Omier rules the roost for 30+ minutes and ACC refs dont ticky-tack him with fouls. (Hope I am wrong and fortunately Watson and George have been developing nicely of late.)
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Exact same situation in the post as we were in last season. Walker was Norchad's prime substitute then, Casey now. Not much to choose between them.

I was hoping, if nothing else, Nwoko would be very physical, provide some rim protection, and rebound. I expected his offense (like most bigs) would take at least a year to come around. So far, though, he hasn't shown much of anything. And basic tools, like strong hands, aren't really coachable.
 
King of Allapattah said:
Usually, with big guys it's a hand/eye coordination issue. Nwoko has good feet so that's half the battle in his overall development. Just have to see the ball better and not cough it up once in his grasps. I'm hoping his touch around the basket and basket making ability will improve with time. Again, with bigs, particularly young ones (like Nwoko) they need to do three things well in order to play early -- rebound, contest shots & run the floor (basket to basket under 4 secs). Anything else would be icing. These are three things Nwoko should be able to do before the season is over.
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Hmmm ...
 
hotshot said:
Exact same situation in the post as we were in last season. Walker was Norchad's prime substitute then, Casey now. Not much to choose between them.

I was hoping, if nothing else, Nwoko would be very physical, provide some rim protection, and rebound. I expected his offense (like most bigs) would take at least a year to come around. So far, though, he hasn't shown much of anything. And basic tools, like strong hands, aren't really coachable.
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Right now, he's not that guy.
 
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hotshot said:
Wonder what his "evaluation" consisted of? He flashed big time playing for the Canadian team in that U-18 tourney. But ... that coulda been an anomaly. I agree with your evaluation and would add to it the fact that he (like everyone else except Omier) plays with very little physicality.
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It's actually astonishing. He's so bad that he makes barely functional bigs like Julian Gamble look like Nikola Jokic.
 
Gables Canes said:
I said the same in the game thread. It’s been painfully obvious the last few games that he’s in the doghouse and not taking it well as a result.
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Oh well, either dude is going to toughen up or he's going to ship out. This is the difference between a guy like Wooga and other guys. Wooga got frustrated about his PT freshman year and went and talked to L. L told him what he needed to do to see the floor, and he went out and did it. Being able to take criticism and working to improve is what separates winning players from JAGs.
 
CiSgenderedCane said:
It's actually astonishing. He's so bad that he makes barely functional bigs like Julian Gamble look like Nikola Jokic.
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Julian Gamble, barely functional? Julian was a guy that had to grow into his role, and was criminally misused by Haith. Once L got here, you saw him grow into a **** good role player. We'd kill for a guy like Julian on this roster right now. A rim protector that rebounds and is a locker room leader. Every dude isn't going to be the second coming of Shaq, you need some guys that can play their role.
 
Canedude08 said:
Julian Gamble, barely functional? Julian was a guy that had to grow into his role, and was criminally misused by Haith. Once L got here, you saw him grow into a **** good role player. We'd kill for a guy like Julian on this roster right now. A rim protector that rebounds and is a locker room leader. Every dude isn't going to be the second coming of Shaq, you need some guys that can play their role.
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Gamble could barely walk and chew gum when he got here and turned into a solid backup by the time he left. A decent depth piece but let's not pretend he was Joel Embiid.

Nwonkwo is years away from Gamble.
 
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CiSgenderedCane said:
Gamble could barely walk and chew gum when he got here and turned into a solid backup by the time he left. A decent depth piece but let's not pretend he was Joel Embiid.

Nwonkwo is years away from Gamble.
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No one said JG was Embiid, but he was a valuable piece on a historic Miami team. Amazing what development can do, especially with a competent staff. He had a role and he maximized it as an upperclassman, JG got starters minutes as a senior became a bit of an enforcer and tough guy. You need those guys if you want to win.
 
Can Norchad come back? If so that’s one person you throw NIL money at.
 
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Canedude08 said:
Julian Gamble, barely functional? Julian was a guy that had to grow into his role, and was criminally misused by Haith. Once L got here, you saw him grow into a **** good role player. We'd kill for a guy like Julian on this roster right now. A rim protector that rebounds and is a locker room leader. Every dude isn't going to be the second coming of Shaq, you need some guys that can play their role.
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Julian was a big contributor toward the end of his UM career. Once he added that consistent medium range jump shot, his game improved exponentially. He's a great example of a player who actually developed a lot while at UM. He and Tonye Jekiri.
 
hotshot said:
Julian was a big contributor toward the end of his UM career. Once he added that consistent medium range jump shot, his game improved exponentially. He's a great example of a player who actually developed a lot while at UM. He and Tonye Jekiri.
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It’s been a few years since we’ve developed a big man out of high school, the last one being Izundu.

I guess Sam, too, although he wasn’t a traditional big.

The jury is still out on Casey and Nwoko, but recent guys like Gak and Rodney Miller never developed.

Overall, we’ve had a much higher success rate developing guards than bigs.
 
Unfortunately, prospects/parents bar is the NBA when they're talking about development. And the only big I can think of in Coach L's tenure here who made the NBA was Dewan H. Guys who've sat for 3-4 years to be a solid contributor their senior year is not what people want to refer to when discussing development. As a Canes fan, I could appreciate that Ikundu, Jekiri, Gamble, Sam W, etc. improved over the course of their careers here but that's not what highly regarded prospects or their parents are looking at when our coaches are trying to convince them to come to Miami.

Not sure what's going on with Nwoko. His body language has deteriorated to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if he left at any point during the season. It's just bad compared to how he was early on. If, in fact he's got the wrong attitude as some here have alluded to then Nwoko is the problem. Nwoko must realize he has a tremendous opportunity here to not only play, but to play a lot. Worrying about how many touches you get or how many sets are ran for you shouldn't be the focus. Nwoko must focus on learning his assignments. Playing hard, with energy & effort. And doing everything asked of him. Pretty simple, if you ask me.
 
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