'15 Italian SF - Nicola Akele (URI Commit)

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

Rhody15 wrote:I wonder what Iverson thinks of Akele committing. Seems to be the same type of player, a long, athletic wing.

Different players, different tools at their respective disposals…….

Actually, they complement each other very, very nicely…….

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Iverson has already played and adjusted to college ball,
and he's also done well in the classroom.
For Akele, he has to make that adjustment, which is easier for some than others.
I'd imagine there may also be a language barrier to at least some extent.
Iverson's game is probably more advance at this stage, also.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Yeah let's not go searching for controversies where there aren't any. Iverson and Akele aren't the same class and Akele won't be pushing anybody for a starting spot in Iverson's time here it would seem.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Dan said Iverson is an "amazing player".
He's also been practicing in the system since January.
That's significant for a new player.
I don't see Akele as an instant contributor, but
a player, who they can bring along without force
feeding.
I think we've gotten to that point as a program,
where everyone whose coming in, doesn't have to
carry the load, like Hassan and EC did, or Gilvydas,
Biggie and Reischel before them.
Only a big man would be immediately pressed into
action, but as of today, that doesn't seem to be
in the cards.
However, after this cloak and dagger stealth recruitment of
Akele, anything seems possible.

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 9 years ago

Oh yea I'm not trying to start a controversy. Just saying I see a similarity between the two, just based off looks alone. Long, tall, athletic forwards. Iverson obviously has the advantage for playing time.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

FWIW, Rhody Hall of Famer, John Fultz, who
lives in Naples, and is plugged into the Euro
basketball scene, is telling me Akele is a
"fantastic addition" to our team.
So far, we've not heard a discouraging word, and the
skies are not cloudy all day......

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Dan said Iverson is an "amazing player".
He's also been practicing in the system since January.
That's significant for a new player.
I don't see Akele as an instant contributor, but
a player, who they can bring along without force
feeding.
I think we've gotten to that point as a program,
where everyone whose coming in, doesn't have to
carry the load, like Hassan and EC did, or Gilvydas,
Biggie and Reischel before them.
Only a big man would be immediately pressed into
action, but as of today, that doesn't seem to be
in the cards.
However, after this cloak and dagger stealth recruitment of
Akele, anything seems possible.

Remember: There's The Invisible Greek Kid out there…..

URI_IEP · Unread post by **URI_IEP** » 9 years ago

I wish all "highlight" videos were like that. They show whole offensive sets, his movement without the ball, and transition to defense. It's much easier to get a sense of his movement as a player.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

I'm sure he's thinking - great another shooter. Iverson was a top 30 prospect with 1.5 years left to realize his dream, I am sure he will have the opportunity to show his talent and is happy the team is adding talent around him.

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 9 years ago

Yeah, as much as I like Akele in that video, I don't think he's even close to the talent that Iverson supposedly is. Koch saw him play last night. He thinks he's more of a prospect than an immediate contributor.......
Bill Koch ‏@BillKoch25 · 15h15 hours ago
Headed to Rhode Island College. New #URI commit Nicola Akele will be in action at 9:10 with IMG Academy at the Providence #HGJamFest. #Rams

Bradford Boisvert ‏@USARev · 15h15 hours ago
@BillKoch25 Let us know what you think..

Bill Koch
‏@BillKoch25 .@USARev Long athlete. Shoots it and puts in on the floor a little. Competes. Recruited mostly on potential, should improve in URI system.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Again, Iverson told me he's very confident
his appeal will go well and he'll begin the season with the team.
I don't care what Koch thinks off one game.
Now, if Chris Disano said that.......
URI_IEP is right. Game videos are the best to see what a player
does in all areas.
Of course, there's always the level of competition to take into account.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

The thing I was most impressed with was his hustle and defense. Loved the way he was picking guys up full court right after the ball went through the hoop. And that kind of stuff shows up no matter who the competition is I think.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

This bodes well for the future.
Guys like Akele, Thompson and maybe Butts, give
depth for now, and significant players in the future.
With the exception of the endless lack of a big man,
Dan and company have done a great job of building
the roster, balancing the classes, and stocking up for
the future.
This is what good programs do.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Agree.

PeterRamTime · Unread post by **PeterRamTime** » 9 years ago

We really got some depth now. We should be seeing the full court press stuff Dan said we'd do. Get these athletes put and runnin on offense as well. Hopefully we won't tire at the end of the year next year like we did last year.

Brian · Unread post by **Brian** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Ugh! The clearing house.
Iffy couldn't play when he got here.
Back in the day, Zach Marbury couldn't play.
They're very spotty in their decision making.

Keith Cothran & Delroy were also stuck in clearinghouse purgatory....and possibly Brian Woodward but I can't remember the specific circumstances with him. For foreign players, there was Frank Monge and that point guard Lisando.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Woodward blew his knee out and didn't
play in his first year here.
Yes, the foreign kids seem to bear the brunt of the clearing house's
negative rulings.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Tall. Shoot the ball guy. Wonder if he is like the Japanese guy at GW.

Tom98 · Unread post by **Tom98** » 9 years ago

So now it's possible he will have issues getting cleared??

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 9 years ago

No. RF1 brought it up, but as baseless speculation. There has been nothing reported to indicate he'd have any trouble.

neil · Unread post by **neil** » 9 years ago

Any news whether the new recruits will be on campus over the summer? Good way to meet team mates and start learning the 'system'.

rhodylaw · Unread post by **rhodylaw** » 9 years ago

He looks like a little more polished version of malesevic coming into college, the type of deep threat wing we have been missing in our offense.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

I think the first name is all they have in common, looks defensively ready to play at this level. Nik was nowhere near ready as a FR.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Nice article here, on Akele!

http://t.co/YLSZJS6y66

ABC 6 interview:

http://ww.abc6.com/story/29026961/itali ... ll-for-uri

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

neil wrote:Any news whether the new recruits will be on campus over the summer? Good way to meet team mates and start learning the 'system'.

I could be wrong, but I think its pretty standard for most recruits to come in during the summer now so I would guess yes.

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 9 years ago

Welcome aboard, Nicola! Expecting a focus on D and rebounding early on, hopefully he can give us some valuable minutes.

ElmCityRhody · Unread post by **ElmCityRhody** » 9 years ago

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

ElmCityRhody wrote:http://youtu.be/0uz_dehG2M8

This is something I would expect from that effin' idiot, you know, what's his name….

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

http://zagsblog.com/articles/rhode-isla ... ola-akele/

And yes, I know that he doesn't quite have the Iverson addition described accurately.

This article was linked earlier but, at that time, did not include quotes from Akele and his coach.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Wow! Butts grew and inch according to Zags.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Wow! Butts grew and inch according to Zags.

Well, if Butts keeps growing another 3 inches from now until October, and gets in on the weight-lifting/conditioning program, well, that takes care of the Big Man Question!

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

Big Butts are the thing I guess. I blame the Kardashians. Damn Lamar....

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

We have quite a few players in the 6'7"-6'8' range.

We won't be a small team, just a little small in the post.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

http://www.coxhub.com/articles/nicola-a ... ce=twitter

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

You know, even though Dan loathes zone defenses,
think of the length of a zone with Akele and Iverson,
with their 7' wingspans destroying passing lanes.
Thompson is long, too.

adam914 · Unread post by **adam914** » 9 years ago

Loving this kid more and more with everything I see. Seems like a pretty personable kid to, will be easy to root for. Like the look of that shot for a 6'7" guy.

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

it's gonna be a fun year.....

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

We haven't had a 6'7"-6'8" guy who could shoot the 3 since Will Daniels.
I see these types when watching other teams and always wished we could
have a bomber like that.
Now, we may have two such players in Iverson and Akele.
Zone defenses will have a much harder time against us.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:We haven't had a 6'7"-6'8" guy who could shoot the 3 since Will Daniels.
I see these types when watching other teams and always wished we could
have a bomber like that.
Now, we may have two such players in Iverson and Akele.
Zone defenses will have a much harder time against us.

And don't forget the Four at the Two who'll be in his Fifth.

theblueram · Unread post by **theblueram** » 9 years ago

Kingston RI is going to be a busy place this summer. But a happy place for sure.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Thompson can shoot it, too, but
I was thinking of the long, limber outside shooter,
like John Fultz was.
The guy for UMass a couple of years ago, Putney, was a tall guy
who could kill it from long range.
In the NBA, Bird, Dirk, Durant were tall guys who filled it up from deep.

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 9 years ago

Did somebody say Will Daniels

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

The days of the grind it out offense is gone in Kingston.

More uptempo, more scoring, more fun.

Dan should be able to ease off on the "wrestling match" type of defense too. Less fouls should result.

The new director of officials has stated that they will be cracking down on that type of defense in the future, as if they didn't already on us late last season.

The team will still play aggressively on D, but that will be a welcome change.

More quality depth, which we finally have, will do that for you....

sf2010 · Unread post by **sf2010** » 9 years ago

adam914 wrote:Loving this kid more and more with everything I see.

Yep. Only been in the states for about 4 months - perhaps under the radar a bit. It's great having players who are capable of defending multiple positions, makes Hurley's switch-on-almost-everything defense effective. If he can stand in the corner and hit some 3s/get some offensve rebounds, all the better.

ace · Unread post by **ace** » 9 years ago

Rhody74 · Unread post by **Rhody74** » 8 years ago

Chris DiSano says Akele's been cleared to play. I didn't realize there might be an issue but it's good to hear anyway.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 8 years ago

Rhody74 wrote:Chris DiSano he's been cleared to play. I didn't realize there might be an issue but good to hear anyway.

I had been chastised by a poster above for merely pointing out that foreign players sometimes have issues being cleared. You never know how or when the clearing house process will work out. Glad this was resolved before the semester even starts.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 8 years ago

Why would anyone doubt that we could have problems with
the clearing house?
It's happened before, as recently as three years ago.

ramster · Unread post by **ramster** » 8 years ago

Rhody74 wrote:Chris DiSano he's been cleared to play. I didn't realize there might be an issue but good to hear anyway.

Great news.

Unread post by **TruePoint** » 8 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:Why would anyone doubt that we could have problems with
the clearing house?
It's happened before, as recently as three years ago.

If he was talking about me, I did think it was unfair to suggest that clearing this guy in particular was an issue when there was nothing specific with respect to this particular guy to indicate it might be an issue. Obviously clearing foreign players is a little more difficult that kids that have been in U.S. schools their whole lives, I was just saying nothing about this particular kid raised any red flags that I know of.

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