Whose Afraid of Enosch Wolf?

In each and every one of UConn’s losses the frontcourt has been nearly non-existent, relying heavily on the combination of Oriakhi, Drummond, and Olander for the bulk of the rebounding and post play. But the rotation, which looked to be a strength on this team, has turned into its glaring weakness.

While it is explainable that Drummond, though talented, is a freshman and is learning to play against comparable size. There is no doubt that he will become a big time player and has shown the spectacular in stretches, the half court sets are taking his strength out of the equation and he has yet to show a double move on the block nor play the pick and roll with effectiveness.

Olander has shown drastic improvement and is in somewhat of a slump since injuring his heal. He isn’t the banger inside nor a bulk rebounder, but has the best looking jumper out of the group and is an invaluable asset to this team against the zone where he can find that soft middle and knock down shots, but he isn’t ready to become that double-double machine.

Oriakhi’s struggles are a mystery. He is a junior, has the experience and he is undersized as a big man and would be more of a power forward at the next level, but he has never looked comfortable with his back to the basket . He also hasn’t developed a consistent fifteen foot jumper, nor a hook shot, and is limited to a quick turnaround as his go to move. He might never turn into that post threat, but the most frustrating part of his game is that he isn’t a great rebounder. He tends to ball watch, not block out, or fumbles with the ball when he gets it.

With the recent slump the front court has gone through, it is a wonder why Calhoun hasn’t utilized Enosch Wolf. Sure it is like asking for the back up quarterback to come in when the starter isn’t performing, but he has size, has shown that he can produce, and it isn’t working now so why not? He has basically wasted two of his four eligible years on warming the bench. Is there another motive? Was he asked to transfer and didn’t, is he so horrible in practice that Calhoun doesn’t trust him, or is it something else? It would be nice to see what he could do on the court to help this team instead of filling out garbage time and he never has had that opportunity. With the season on the brink, it is all hands on deck and it might be time to see what the giant German can do.