A little help for Q

[PhillyCoach]

I agree with Geno that Q can be very valuable to this team. Like any player that really cares--sometimes they try too hard. They want to do everything that might help the team.
On other threads many posters suggested that playing good D is the beginning to becoming a better scorer. I agree that playing good D is ALWAYS the best start. Q has a problem that someone has to solve. Watch the film--Q is always looking around because she knows helping out or doubling on D is important. Q is taking that method of D that forgets the foundation of Defense. Q needs to focus on her player 100% and don't be so concerned about helping. Q is looking around to see who she can help. Geno has to tell Q she should stick to her opponent 100%. Don't worry about helping now. Stay face to face. Face guard even. Always be in their grill. Like Nika can. As an example, Ash is guarding, denying and putting hands in their face constantly. Near the basket Ash has her man, but also has one eye on the ball. Q is trying to do both and can can't do it. Less thinking--more focus on one thing--your man. Q has the length, the speed, and the athleticism to be a great defender. Helping out comes later. KISS - do one thing well.

Offensively, again Q tries to do too much. Since Gino and lots of others have seen her 3 pt shooting (and Geno gave Q the red light to encourage her to shoot) she is forcing that shot. A solution is focus on something different than the 'QUICK 3 PT SHOT.". When Q gets the ball she does one thing--drive to the hoop. Of course, right before she drives in, or when driving hard to the hoop it's Important to know where the safety valve passes might have to go if someone impedes her way to the hoop. Q has the speed, agility, and skill to drive/& or dish.
Do this for a game or two and she will forget about relying on her 3 pt shot.

Last, focus. On every shot in the game (her own also) Q should crash the boards. Offense and defense. On defense after the shot, She can run the floor on the possible fast break, or look to help out bringing the ball up. Maybe she crashes at times. ** Keep it simple--Q gets to crash the boards at both ends--on every shot taken. Her momentum will always be towards the rim!! Too many times everyone is running back on the shot and NO ONE is looking t rebound. Of course, certain clear situations would change the crash. Situations LIke a made shot, teammate gets the rebound first, or opponent gets the quick rebound.

Q is a typical frosh who has talent, but needs the guidance to focus on ONE thing at a time and do it well. Multiple tasks come in the future. Unless you are KK or Ash!

 

[Eleven]

…or maybe stop immediately jacking up every shot she can hoist, get in the flow and let the game (and opportunities) come to her.

 

[HuskyNan]

Q is a freshman and it’s January. We’ve seen freshmen hit the wall before. I believe if Q just keeps on working on her game, sh’ll get through this fine.

RAMILO: Beware the freshman wall

College coaches of all sports have come to accept it as a necessary phase in the typical student-athlete’s development. From the blue chips to the […]

yaledailynews.com

 

[BBallF]

Stop with the beauty advice.

Q is a freshman and it’s January. We’ve seen freshmen hit the wall before. I believe if Q just keeps on working on her game, sh’ll get through this fine.

RAMILO: Beware the freshman wall

College coaches of all sports have come to accept it as a necessary phase in the typical student-athlete’s development. From the blue chips to the […]

yaledailynews.com

I do too. I think the work has to be primarily on the defensive end and it's more about learning through coaching and experience than anything else.

 

[oldude]

Stop with the beauty advice.

Q is a freshman and it’s January. We’ve seen freshmen hit the wall before. I believe if Q just keeps on working on her game, sh’ll get through this fine.

RAMILO: Beware the freshman wall

College coaches of all sports have come to accept it as a necessary phase in the typical student-athlete’s development. From the blue chips to the […]

yaledailynews.com

My take as well. While KK and Ashlynn appear to have jumped right over the “freshman wall,” Q’s performance over the past few games has every indication of the slump that plagues many freshmen over the winter break. The good news is that Ice appears to be rounding into form and if Q settles down by the time March rolls around then the Huskies should be in pretty good shape for the Big Dance.

 

[Stinger92860]

She is a freshman and she likes to shoot (which can be a good thing when you have that mentality). It generally is a mixed bad until they figure things out. I believe asking her to play D which is different from the team philosophy (e.g. Switching, etc.) is not something that should be encouraged, nor do I believe that Geno will ever support. I’m nor sure what she looks like in practice. She is likely getting more game time due to the injuries.

Despite her recent struggles, she has a huge upside. She has length, athleticism, and very nice shot mechanics and possesses bball iq. Geno always says you can have a good game and shoot poorly. He wants her to shoot (so do I), which is not always the case. She will figure it out.

 

[Brewski]

Freshmen hump or no hump, my take is that it's her defense that is keeping her minutes down. Uconn runs some pretty involved defensive schemes, but it's nothing new and Q needs to just keep working hard on it. She's the prototype basketball big guard or small fast forward, and when it all comes together, Katie bar the door if you're the other team.

The one part of the game she has perfected is never seeing a bad shot.

 

[donalddoowop]

She seems to get down when she is missing her shot. Geno got on Kia Nurse for that (when she cried because she was missing her shots in a game) saying she is thinking more about her personal stats than her team, or something similar to that. If Q does what her coaches tell her, she will eventually be a very good player.

 

[HopJim]

…or maybe stop immediately jacking up every shot she can hoist, get in the flow and let the game (and opportunities) come to her.

Q has a great role model to help her understand how to build her confidence and skills - i.e. Shade one month ago. Shade started out on offense taking what the defense gave her. After consistently making her midrange shots, she expanded her range and now seems to know where to go to get higher probability shots. The past few games, Q's shots were random and outside of her comfort zone. On defense, similar issues. Guessing in HS Q was such a good athlete she could outrun most of the players she guarded. Now the opposition is just as quick and, in some cases, stronger. Again, Shade is a good example where she focuses on getting position on the quick guards so they can't blow by her. Both on offense and defense these are not overly creative suggestions so suspect Geno is using more description words to help her.

 

[Cuango]

Q seems to have dcided that every time she gets the ball she needs to shoot it! I think the answer to her current mini-slump is to tghten up her shot selection. She is simply taking too many poor shots! If she goes back to squared up, open shots only, they will start falling again.

 

[Stinger92860]

She seems to get down when she is missing her shot. Geno got on Kia Nurse for that (when she cried because she was missing her shots in a game) saying she is thinking more about her personal stats than her team, or something similar to that. If Q does what her coaches tell her, she will eventually be a very good player.

She views herself as a 3 point shooter. When she realizes she can be so much more she will explode! <pure guess on my part>

 

[Galaxyshooter]

…or maybe stop immediately jacking up every shot she can hoist, get in the flow and let the game (and opportunities) come to her.

 

[cgshuskie]

Many of the posts here are right. Q needs to focus on guarding her man primarily. Forget switching. Also, concentrate on crashing the boards, i.e., rebounding. Then only shot open shots or take open opportunities. Focusing on little things will lead to comfort and then consistency.

 

[HuskyNan]

Huh, I thought she was much better today, letting the game come to her.

 

[BBallF]

Huh, I thought she was much better today, letting the game come to her.

View attachment 95130

She absolutely was much better today. She was very energetic on defense and was in the flow of the offense and seemed to be very much comfortably a part of the team. I will take 7 points, 3 boards, no turnovers, an assist and a steal in 15 minutes every game.

 

[and one]

There is no doubt Q has an itchy trigger finger on offense, taking shots when she should pass. This is a very freshman thing to do. It's the converse of another more common freshman behavior, which is to almost always defer to others and refuse to take any but the most uncontested shot. Usually these freshman figure out how the offense is supposed to run, the game slows down and their game improves. The same on defense. It takes time to learn sophisticated college defensive schemes while also defending players who are much better than they ever faced in high school. The good ones work hard and figure it out by their sophomore year.

But look at Ash and KK you may say, they don't play like freshman. True. And you know what, Geno and CD didn't know that either, no less both, would step in and play like veterans. Circumstances inserted them into starting roles and somehow they both exceeded any rational expectations. It was incredible misfortune to have all the injuries the team experienced. It was incredible luck that two freshmen could step in to fill out the lineup so capably. The coaches know they dodged a bullet big time. This could have been a lost year. Instead we can put a very good team on the floor and see how far small ball can take us.

Q will probably get over her freshman ways, whether this year or next. If not she'll remain a reserve. My guess - she will turn into at least a decent defender and a dangerous offensive weapon.

 

[cohenzone]

I think the coaches are coaching her on what they want her to do on O and how they want her to play D. She‘s a freshman who might take a bit more time to feel totally comfortable, but I’d bet the coaching staff isn’t that upset with her shot selection. IMO, the worst thing for her on shooting is to start hesitating or over thinking.

 

[Woof 101]

How is it we now have a player labeled as Q ??? Time after time and no one cares?
This while just a short time ago many were reprimanded for referring to Olivia Nelson Ododa as O?
Another page in the book of things you can't make up. The forum moves on.....
GO HUSKIES.....

 

[hoophuskee]

It generally is a mixed bad until they figure things out. I believe asking her to play D which is different from the team philosophy (e.g. Switching, etc.) is not something that should be encouraged, nor do I believe that Geno will ever support. I’m nor sure what she looks like in practice. She is likely getting more game time due to the injuries.

Despite her recent struggles, she has a huge upside.

There is no way a high level Div 1 Team should do what was proposed on this thread. UCONN is looking to build a team. They are building a team through structure which then helps bring out chemisrty and cohesion. If you as a team are desperate such as you need a pg or a center or outside shooter - okay. But in Q's case she just has to learn. That's how the team will get better. The season is about the name on the front of the jersey and how well they assimlate as a unit. Not go break off the team structure. The very reason blowouts have always been so impoortant is so that players like Q can learn to play within the structure of the unit.

That's why I've always believed that blowouts are not and never have been "garbage time." If they are "garbage time" then why should any player, coach and fan care? Just let them play like they part of a free-for-all circus.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Freshman are like new people at the job, can't reprimand a learner. She is going to make mistakes and those mistakes are okay

 

[AzzisBraids]

…or maybe stop immediately jacking up every shot she can hoist, get in the flow and let the game (and opportunities) come to her.

Yeah she does this alot but if I'm a freshman on this UConn team, I don't blame her. If a healthy roster who knows if she even sees the floor this much. If I'm her, I'm letting it fly so Coach knows I'm not scared to.

 

[PJCLaw]

Based on what I have seen in recent years, I would much rather have Q loving to shoot than reluctant to shoot. We've had Aubrey, Nika, Amari, Ayanna, and even Ice suffer from this issue at various points in their careers, and it often has led to turnovers. Much like with Moriah and, KK to a lesser extent, it's easier to slow a player down than speed her up. Q will be fine in due time She loves to shoot, has confidence to shoot, is generally an accurate shooter, and will eventually learn WHEN to shoot. I agree with many others, that she should concentrate on improving her defense and her offense will become more consistent.

 

[Skeets]

Q has a great role model to help her understand how to build her confidence and skills - i.e. Shade one month ago. Shade started out on offense taking what the defense gave her. After consistently making her midrange shots, she expanded her range and now seems to know where to go to get higher probability shots. The past few games, Q's shots were random and outside of her comfort zone. On defense, similar issues. Guessing in HS Q was such a good athlete she could outrun most of the players she guarded. Now the opposition is just as quick and, in some cases, stronger. Again, Shade is a good example where she focuses on getting position on the quick guards so they can't blow by her. Both on offense and defense these are not overly creative suggestions so suspect Geno is using more description words to help her.

Q has a great upside, but...

I'd like to expand a little on your post. I didn't follow Q in HS, but I bet she was not only the best player on her team but also the best player on any team she faced. Q was probably the lion's share of her team's offense and defense was just something you did between taking shots. If this got ingrained in her BB IQ it may take some time, coaching, and maturity to have her talents come together at the D1 level. But when that happens, watch out. The kid has God given BB gifts.

 

[Geesworld]

Q, looks just fine for a freshman player who comes into the game late, cold and expected to deliver right away. What it looks like to me is that she really doesn't have a rhythm with the starting rotations probably due to lack of practice time with the top 6 players. When given minutes the negatives are balanced out with positive plays. Unfortunately she doesn't get big minutes which then everyone over critiques a few bad plays. I love her grit and aggressiveness.

 

[Geesworld]

Q seems to have dcided that every time she gets the ball she needs to shoot it! I think the answer to her current mini-slump is to tghten up her shot selection. She is simply taking too many poor shots! If she goes back to squared up, open shots only, they will start falling again.

She is taking quality shots.