James Akinjo

[justsaying]

Jan 19, 2019 12:48:47 GMT -5 michaelgrahmstylie said:

You know, I have had several days--almost a week--to step back and reflect on the game. I am fine with the outcome. Mac, himself said that when he made the incredible shot in the previous game, he looked down court, saw Govan, and probably should have passed it to Govan. He went on to say that he shot the ball with confidence, and that Coach always said he like that in a player. Ewing, himself has said that both freshmen think that they can leap over tall buildings. Quite frankly, I like that in a player myself. It's the Michael Grahm in me. The long and short of it is when you try to leap over tall buildings, sometimes you are going to fall flat on your face. The other thing that I feel may have played into it somewhat was that Akinjo wasn't having a spectacular game, and may have wanted to be a hero and save the day. I am not not trying to be an apologist at all for Akinjo, especially if he has a thing of making decisions on his own. What I am saying is let's not even try to stifle, or harness, that confidence that we see in Mac and Akinjo. You win some, you lose some. Sometimes, you wish you could take it back. However, I get the feeling that over the course of these two guys' careers, this incident will be just a blip on what promises to be without a doubt, stellar careers by both players. Teachable moment! That's all.

teachable moment, agreed.

Over confidence vs low confidence, go with the over confidence.

Coach Ew is a teacher.

[hoya95]

Looks like Akinjo and Pickett aren’t starting.

[bostonfan]

Jan 21, 2019 20:22:39 GMT -5 hoya95 said:

Looks like Akinjo and Pickett aren’t starting.

If Ewing did not start Akinjo because he would not run the final play at the end of the Marquette game the way it was designed, then I am Ok with that. At some point the only thing players understand is playing time, and that the coach is going to play the guys who execute what he wants. Hopefully it is a lesson that James takes to heart. He played well last night, even though he did not shoot well, and when he is a pass first PG, the entire team is better.

[x-centercourt400s]

It seemed obvious to me that James was really deliberate once he got on the court in the first half, even overthinking his plays on offense. I think it was likely a reaction to the benching and the coaching he must have received about making good decisions. Yes, he played a good game despite early shooting problems but to be most effective he has to be a dual threat to pass or to score. The team is going to be handicapped if he fully retreats to being a pass first PG because that is not his true nature, and they need the scoring. I'm ok with him pulling back a bit on the shooting if that is what it takes to better develop his passing game and if it makes him a better PG in the long term. I don't necessarily believe that is going to yield wins in the short term but I guess you gotta do what is necessary to get young PGs to where they need to be.
I was encouraged by the one successful PNR that he had with Govan that led to a dunk but they need a better percentage on PNRs because they run a lot of them per game and many don't lead to a good shot. Keep working on it, it should be a real weapon between them.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Scoring will come. I liked the way he distributed last night.

[blueandgray]

Despite Akinjo shot not falling....I think he played the best half of basketball we’ve seen from him all year. I really respect how the kid bounced back from a benching. This kid possesses mental toughness.

[SirSaxa]

Though James did not start, he played 30 minutes, second only to Jesse's 31

His numbers in BE play are revealing
In his last two games, James shot 3-21
Since the start of BE play, he is shooting 24% overall
On 2 Pt FGs, he's only at 13% -- all those failed drives into the trees are costly

Good news in Big East play?
At 3 pt range 39%
FTs? 83%

Also, James is averaging 7 APG and only 2.7 TOs
Over his last 3 BE games, he had 9, 8 and 11 assists

I think Pat made a good move sitting James to start last night -- good for James, and for the entire team. An important message:
"Do what coach wants, or sit down."  No matter who you are.

At the same time, Pat put him in and kept him in most of the game.
James responded with a career best assist total, and shot 2/5 from deep.
He took 11 shots total, so it would not appear Pat told him not to shoot.

All these close losses are really frustrating for us fans.
Just imagine how much more frustrating they are for team and staff.
I just pray things will improve sooner than later.

[professorhoya]

Jan 22, 2019 11:04:02 GMT -5 larrylegend33 said:

Jan 22, 2019 10:32:52 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

Despite Akinjo shot not falling....I think he played the best half of basketball we’ve seen from him all year. I really respect how the kid bounced back from a benching. This kid possesses mental toughness.

I don't think it's a matter of his shot "not falling." He's been shooting well from 3 point range. It's that he can't produce good opportunities for himself or his teammates off of the bounce and in the paint.

Akinjo from within the arc in conference play

0-5 Butler
0-5 St Johns
0-2 Xavier
4-11 Providence
1-10 Marquette
0-6 Creighton

total 5-39 (12.8%)

Million dollar move, five cent finish.

He needs to make adjustments to this level of play on his finishes. Right now teams have enough footage on him to know what his weaknesses are.
Until he can consistently finish we aren't going to win since he's so ball dominant.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Very crafty, but not much elevation to finish against rotating bigs. Iverson and Mac have the extra hang time which makes a big difference. Mac also has a great opposite hand to shield the ball and finish.

[HometownHoya]

He needs to work with Jonathan Wallace and his broom close to the hoop. Part of his problem is that he beats his first man so soundly that he gets sucked into the hoop. He needs to pull up for a jumper or floater as soon as he beats the first guy. Then when he gets the C committing on closing out, he can put another move down to get to the rim.

[Bigs"R"Us]

His pass to Mac for the corner three was beautiful. Also, some quick no look feeds to Jessie underneath. Oop to LaBlanc. Future is in good hands. Patience is hard.

[NCHoya]

Honestly, if Akinjo can clean up his 2pt shot selection, there is no one else I want to see at the pg position for the Hoyas. He seems a little stubborn/too confident in his finishing ability. I hope he embraces that short pull-up shot available to him after beating the initial defender versus trying to finish against all the length.

Once he realizes what it takes to finish in this league, even at a 40% clip, he will be an All-BE player.

[vv83]

Jan 22, 2019 12:06:50 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

His pass to Mac for the corner three was beautiful. Also, some quick no look feeds to Jessie underneath. Oop to LaBlanc. Future is in good hands. Patience is hard.

He also found Mourning in the corner for a wide open 3 in the closing segment of the game. This kick out to the open corner 3 shooter is the big play he has not been making often this season. It as encouraging to see James nail this pass twice last night.

As others have said, he needs to shoot some pull-up jumpers and floaters. He is simply too small and somewhat ground-bound to finish against Big East level size consistently. With time, study, and practice - he could potentially develop his finishing ability. But at his size, it is that 5-10 foot lane game that is going to have to be his go-to stuff when he gets into the paint.

[RockawayHoya]

Jan 22, 2019 11:04:02 GMT -5 larrylegend33 said:

Jan 22, 2019 10:32:52 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

Despite Akinjo shot not falling....I think he played the best half of basketball we’ve seen from him all year. I really respect how the kid bounced back from a benching. This kid possesses mental toughness.

I don't think it's a matter of his shot "not falling." He's been shooting well from 3 point range. It's that he can't produce good opportunities for himself or his teammates off of the bounce and in the paint.

Akinjo from within the arc in conference play

0-5 Butler
0-5 St Johns
0-2 Xavier
4-11 Providence
1-10 Marquette
0-6 Creighton

total 5-39 (12.8%)

So outside of Providence, that's 1-28 (3.6%) from 2 in conference play?

Going to need to work on using that mid-range J or floater a little bit more until he gets stronger. Right now, he has a tendency to get lost amongst the trees when he gets too deep into the paint.

[the_way]

Jan 22, 2019 11:58:32 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

Very crafty, but not much elevation to finish against rotating bigs. Iverson and Mac have the extra hang time which makes a big difference. Mac also has a great opposite hand to shield the ball and finish.

Iverson and Mac are tough comparison's for just about anybody. Most guards that size are on the distributing end of the alley-oops, not the receiving end.


But yeah, most guards can effectively finish at the rim in traffic.


Akinjo is pretty much stuck to the ground. Him being short, doesn't help either. It is shame, because he definitely can shake defenders with his handles.


Don't know how much of that can improve given his height and lack of elevation.

[s4hoyas]

Great bounce back game for James with 11 assists and only 1 turnover...many of his shots were short, off the front of the rim, and oddly, more so early than late...suggests to me that he just needs a tad more lift and that should remedy things...I was concerned how he and Mac were losing their man defensively...especially Alexander...they need to stick with the known shooters throughout, and not get lost in switches...stay right in their grills...

[Bigs"R"Us]

He just needs to distribute and pick his spots. A pull up jumper would do wonders. The kid can shake his man to get open at will. Also, doesn’t ever get his pocket picked. Great for end of game- he hits foul shots. We have to live this season with the freshman backcourt and know it will pay dividends.

[bostonfan]

Jan 22, 2019 14:34:49 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

He just needs to distribute and pick his spots. A pull up jumper would do wonders. The kid can shake his man to get open at will. Also, doesn’t ever get his pocket picked. Great for end of game- he hits foul shots. We have to live this season with the freshman backcourt and know it will pay dividends.

Akinjo is going to fine, he is the least of the problems with the Hoyas at this point. I think he may have become a little predictable and other teams scouted him and knew that when he beat his man and got into the paint that he wanted to score at the rim. A game like last night where he mixed it up with drop offs, kick outs and a few pull ups will make defenders hesitate before they leave their man to come try to block his shot. A natural learning curve for a player who probably could always finish at the rim in high school and AAU. 

The more he, and all the players, diversify their games the better the team will be.

[seaweed]

Wouldn't hurt if he got a foul call every now and then either - zero trips to the line last night despite a fair bit of contact both while dribbling and while driving. Sooner or later, Pat's got to take the T to protect his players.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Jan 22, 2019 15:04:08 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

Akinjo is going to fine, he is the least of the problems with the Hoyas at this point. I think he may have become a little predictable and other teams scouted him and knew that when he beat his man and got into the paint that he wanted to score at the rim. A game like last night where he mixed it up with drop offs, kick outs and a few pull ups will make defenders hesitate before they leave their man to come try to block his shot. A natural learning curve for a player who probably could always finish at the rim in high school and AAU. 

The more he, and all the players, diversify their games the better the team will be.

I agree it's not the biggest problem (defense is), but as someone above wrote, Akinjo is 1-28 from two without the Providence game, and even with it he's at 12%. Given that Akinjo takes so many twos each game, these missed shots are essentially turnovers to the opposition (unless there's an offensive rebound). That's a pretty big problem when you're trying to win close games.

On the issue of Akinjo not getting foul calls it's because he's getting stuffed so far away from the rim. McClung gets more calls because he actually gets to the rim.