Ashlynn

[HuskyNan]

Her motor and conditioning are impressive. Before it's all over, I predict she will be amongst the top rebounding guards at UCONN. She loves contact. And despite her height...she's a paint bully.

The Huskies have had several undersized players in the paint that didn’t mind contact- Jamelle, Barb Turner, Stacey Hansmeyer, Gabby Williams…

 

[oldhusky]

I was watching Ashlynn 100% to see what she could do. As the posters above pointed out--she has something special to contribute. Not counting Page, Ashlynn moved without the ball better than the rest of the team. She was fearless, but not reckless (Q is fearless, but not as thoughtful as Ashlynn.) Ashlynn kept moving and she picked her spots to shoot. She was relentless on D and she has good feet (not as good as KK.) She is tough as nails (equal to Nika) however, I see an overall BASKET BALL PLAYER. KK & Ashlynn are street smart and have an overall high IQ. Q does remind me of Aubrey as an athlete, but Q has the offense.
Many of us bone yarders have always wanted to see more subs and more time for the new kids (every year.) Ashlynn is a solid sub and if she gets 15+ minutes each game I think everyone will be happy. That girl is hungry and knows what she can do!

Agree, it is getting very interesting regarding the potential for a very deep rotation, particularly due to Ashlynn and Q looking like they are rotation ready now. Heading into the season I expected KK to find a way to make the rotation, but I thought Ashlynn and Q most likely face a learning year gaining experience at the end of safe wins.

We still have Ayanna out of course, and who knows about Azzi's knee, or Caroline's ongoing concussion issues, but if the players are healthy it seems like Geno could contemplate using up to 11 in a contested game. I am leaving Amari and Ines out of that projection, and also note it is lopsided towards the perimeter (7 players including caroline as a 3) vs a limited number of bigs (4 even counting Aubrey as a 4).

Because of the excess of perimter players that appear to be ready for prime-time, it might be hard to incorporate all of them in every game on occasions where matchups and team situational needs will dictate who plays. The four out that some prefer (not me) will contine to be the norm for sure until Ayanna returns and/or Ice starts playing closer to 30 minutes a game. But even if those two bigs start consuming far more minutes, the small ball option will still be there in part because Ashlynn and Q have apparently earned Geno's trust more than Amari.

 

[Bone Dog]

In HS, if you earned a D1 scholarship you were likely the best kid on your team and most of the others were not going on to play D1 ball. This would also be true of most of the best opponents you might face: one maybe two best players would earn D1 scholarships.

Now you’re in college and every kid on every team is that “best player” from HS. It’s a really different set of challenges. They’ll all have strengths and weaknesses, but they’ll all be comparable to the best kids you saw. And to top it off, they’ll be grown women, not 14-17 year olds.

You show up at a school like UConn and it’s like you’re that precocious 8th grader who somehow made the HS varsity team. Everyone seems smarter and more mature than you. They’ve seen more and know more and can trick you into mistakes in ways you haven’t seen before. It can be a shock. And it all happens again if you get to the W.

The only advantage you have is some small talent that isn’t fully developed yet. But you’ll keep growing and getting better and eventually you catch up to the older players and even surpass them.

This is where Ashlynn KK Qadence Ice and Jana (and to some extent Inês and Amari) are right now. There will be disappointments along the way, but the future looks bright for them if they stick with it and can avoid injury.

 

[Conndog]

One thing I see Caroline doing is cutting to basket but not stopping & trying to post up- instead, she continues to opposite corner where too often she becomes not involved. I’d love to see her spend more time inside and around basket, maybe Geno can design some plays to isolate her. She’s 6’2 and could set up around basket more often.

 

[Zarathustra]

Nice video clip... Ashlynn, KK, and the bunch on the bench!

 

[Zarathustra]

Ashlynn Geno quotes " She's a workout freak" " Reminds me of Shea"...... Geno's comments remind me
of the old commercial: " (she) does it the old fashion way...... she earns it!" (an old EF HUTTON advertisement)

 

[Zarathustra]

Agree, it is getting very interesting regarding the potential for a very deep rotation, particularly due to Ashlynn and Q looking like they are rotation ready now. Heading into the season I expected KK to find a way to make the rotation, but I thought Ashlynn and Q most likely face a learning year gaining experience at the end of safe wins.

We still have Ayanna out of course, and who knows about Azzi's knee, or Caroline's ongoing concussion issues, but if the players are healthy it seems like Geno could contemplate using up to 11 in a contested game. I am leaving Amari and Ines out of that projection, and also note it is lopsided towards the perimeter (7 players including caroline as a 3) vs a limited number of bigs (4 even counting Aubrey as a 4).

Because of the excess of perimter players that appear to be ready for prime-time, it might be hard to incorporate all of them in every game on occasions where matchups and team situational needs will dictate who plays. The four out that some prefer (not me) will contine to be the norm for sure until Ayanna returns and/or Ice starts playing closer to 30 minutes a game. But even if those two bigs start consuming far more minutes, the small ball option will still be there in part because Ashlynn and Q have apparently earned Geno's trust more than Amari.

Also Ms. "ICE" Brady will be a game changer for years to come. Go "ICE". Work off that "rust".. GO GIRL, GO!!

 

[Jaml]

I love her game. I'm pretty sure Geno regrets not playing her against NC State. His decision to go with her against Maryland might have been a combination of Azzi not playing (so extra minutes for guards) and he couldn't have been happy when Q got the ball with 2 seconds on the shot clock and didn't go straight up with a foul line jumper.

Overall, the freshman are certainly not playing like freshman.

 

[AmeriConn]

Because speed was an issue, and Shade, for all her upside, isn't particularly quick, or at least doesn't appear to be.

The thing that I think about with Shade, KK and Q is that they are only going to improve. Think about it all three of them look dramatically better every game. As they get more comfortable with their defensive assignments and the speed and physicality of the college game, they're only going to be better. We need Azzi back, but the ability to have more minutes to give to these amazing freshmen is a bit of a silver lining to that dark cloud.

Ash looks quick to me.

 

[Bone Dog]

Ash looks quick to me.

Agree. She’s basketball quick. She never stops moving her feet. As she runs the length of the floor at full energy every time up and down the court. There are kids with quicker first steps — like KK — but the quickness that matters most is the one where you don’t stop moving your feet. That’s Ashlynn.

 

[CL82]

Agree. She’s basketball quick. She never stops moving her feet. As she runs the length of the floor at full energy every time up and down the court. There are kids with quicker first steps — like KK — but the quickness that matters most is the one where you don’t stop moving your feet. That’s Ashlynn.

Let me be clear, I'm a fan of hers, but she's not necessarily the answer if we're looking for speed.

 

[DEpup]

For me, Ashley reminds me of a slightly shorter Kia Nurse. She moves laterally on defense like Kia and she is solid like Kia. The MD players couldn't push her off her line.

 

[Bone Dog]

Let me be clear, I'm a fan of hers, but she's not necessarily the answer if we're looking for speed.

This is what I was trying to get at. MoJeff she isn’t. Kia Nurse she isn’t. But, as others have mentioned, Kelly Faris was very much like her, and we could really use someone like Kelly. Not going to beat you off the dribble with a twitchy-fast first step and a dazzling crossover but very likely to beat you down the floor more often than not. Why? Because she doesn’t seem to get tired. Opposing players may beat her down the floor in the first quarter. But by the second half she’s still running just as fast and very few opponents will be. It’s one thing to be dazzlingly quick. It’s another to be relentlessly fast. And the player who never stops moving her feet on defense seems to have a head start on everyone else even if they’re not super quick.

We need both types. But not everyone on the team needs to be both. KK can supply the one sort of quickness and Ashlynn can supply the other. What I like about both of them is they each use their relentless speed on D and to get rebounds and loose balls. It’s not just about scoring.

I also look forward to the sort of example Ashlynn will set for Allie and Morgan when they get here. Neither of them is KK-quick, but they can be Ashlynn-quick.

 

[Bone Dog]

Now I’m a hopeless Caroline supporter, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I think we need her to be in top form by February to make our NC run. To me that means she needs PT now to recover her freshman form.

I think there’s a ceiling on the minutes for most of the team — except Paige and Aaliyah — at around 20 minutes. The freshmen are almost there now. There may be a few exceptional games in which on or another of them plays so well that they get more minutes. But those will not be the norm.

One last thought about Caroline (and concussion after effects) — once you’ve had a couple of them, as she did, you can suffer from all sorts of contact for some time, not just blows to the head. If you get bumped in the lane that might shake you enough to produce concussion-like effects. It takes a little longer to get over even this. But she’ll get there in time.

 

[Zarathustra]

Now I’m a hopeless Caroline supporter, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I think we need her to be in top form by February to make our NC run. To me that means she needs PT now to recover her freshman form.

I think there’s a ceiling on the minutes for most of the team — except Paige and Aaliyah — at around 20 minutes. The freshmen are almost there now. There may be a few exceptional games in which on or another of them plays so well that they get more minutes. But those will not be the norm.

One last thought about Caroline (and concussion after effects) — once you’ve had a couple of them, as she did, you can suffer from all sorts of contact for some time, not just blows to the head. If you get bumped in the lane that might shake you enough to produce concussion-like effects. It takes a little longer to get over even this. But she’ll get there in time.

I am also a "hopeful" Caroline fan! I see a repeat of her freshman year; " soon coming to hardcourt in your area!" Go Carol!!

 

[msf22b]

I've said this before...I hope everyone is not too tired of my carping.

Caroline is a huge talent, super competitive, intelligent, the type of player that can turn a game, even a team around. And I love her game.

She is also a wounded sparrow.
I don't care that the doctors have cleared her;
she is clearly not right.

[ ]

In my heart of hearts, I think she should stop playing right now!
If that's not possible...She, her family and doctors are willing to let her go on for a bit longer...I wouldn't
if it was my child...

Then watch her like a hawk...

I suppose they think they are...but when she speaks about still having symptoms and we all see the ice pack; something is really, really wrong here. And I fret for her future.

Tough crap that some think we need her...
We need her to have a wonderful and fruitful life

Sorry
MSF

 

[BRS24]

I love the fact that Ashlynn came to play vs MD. You always have to be ready to contribute, no matter what happened in the last game.

 

[AmeriConn]

I love the fact that Ashlynn came to play vs MD. You always have to be ready to contribute, no matter what happened in the last game.

I still wonder how she would have performed in the NCS game.

 

[Skeets]

I've said this before...I hope everyone is not too tired of my carping.

Caroline is a huge talent, super competitive, intelligent, the type of player that can turn a game, even a team around. And I love her game.

She is also a wounded sparrow.
I don't care that the doctors have cleared her;
she is clearly not right.

[ ]

In my heart of hearts, I think she should stop playing right now!
If that's not possible...She, her family and doctors are willing to let her go on for a bit longer...I wouldn't
if it was my child...

Then watch her like a hawk...

I suppose they think they are...but when she speaks about still having symptoms and we all see the ice pack; something is really, really wrong here. And I fret for her future.

Tough crap that some think we need her...
We need her to have a wonderful and fruitful life

Sorry
MSF

I hate to say it, but you could be right. To continue playing risks PERMANENT damage, if it's not there already. Think about that...

 

[Staven]

Nothing more I can add than what has already been said! I love the freshmen and Ashlynn has proved that she can make a difference. I'm really excited to see what this team will become around tournament time being that they are still trying to figure out how to play with one another. One thing I would love to see is for Azzi to stay healthy. Every time she shoots I believe the shot will go down.

 

[oldhusky]

The discussion of Ashlynn potentially replacing Caroline in the starting lineup has been high level with many good points on both sides. My take is we probably do need Caroline at freshmen level to have a good chance at #12. On the other hand I don't think she deserves entitlement minutes based on what she once was.

If she looks like the better player in practice, I say stick with her as a starter, but if Ashlynn is playing better there, it is time for a change. Regardless of who starts, it looks like both will be in the rotation and whether it is 30 minutes a game or 10, both will have significant minutes over a long stretch of games to establish their level of play, so who starts now, or a few weeks later, doesn't mean that will be who we go with at the end. Caroline's condition could improve too, but my eye test says it is still a big issue right now.

 

[FormerCTrez]

Very Happy for the Kid and YES, she played well! Please remember all these Positive comments when she starts the Freshman slump that almost all Freshman go through before we start asking what is she doing here.......
Good game young Lady!!!

Haha! Have you forgotten who you’re speaking to on this forum? The best fans in the Basketball Capital of the World, aka the Boneyarders. Of course we’ll remember!!
All kidding aside, I’m elated that the freshmen are stepping up and trying to help the team succeed.

 

[Bald Husky]

I don't think Caroline should start, not because of a lack of talent, but I think Geno can better keep track of her minutes. Last year she played very well off the bench and having a 3 point threat off the bench is valuable. Apparently, she is not right now, but a few minutes here and a few minutes there may be the best scenario for her and the team. I'm not saying who should start in her place, but I think it would be the best for all involved if she was coming off the bench.

 

[Scud49]

Agree. She’s basketball quick. She never stops moving her feet. As she runs the length of the floor at full energy every time up and down the court. There are kids with quicker first steps — like KK — but the quickness that matters most is the one where you don’t stop moving your feet. That’s Ashlynn.

Yes. She's constantly in motion, reminds me of John Havlicek's style of play - always on the move.