Adamec: Geno plans to move her around...uhh...Rio still on the horizon?

[Blakeon18]

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/williams-favorite-time-of-year-arrives/

The link is to Carl's blog on Gabby's dietary choices and on Geno's ponderings on
her versatility going forward.

BTW: has anyone heard her on the possibility of taking a redshirt year from hoops
next year and preparing for the Olympic trials in the high jump? Recall
that she was 5th in the trials in 2012...at 15 years of age...with a jump of 6 feet
and 2 and 1/4 inches. Selfishly...I hope she sticks to basketball...she is so entertaining
to watch....toss in how valuable she is...toss in how high her ceiling is.

 

[NewCorn]

http://snyuconn.com/uconn/williams-favorite-time-of-year-arrives/

The link is to Carl's blog on Gabby's dietary choices and on Geno's ponderings on
her versatility going forward.

BTW: has anyone heard her on the possibility of taking a redshirt year from hoops
next year and preparing for the Olympic trials in the high jump? Recall
that she was 5th in the trials in 2012...at 15 years of age...with a jump of 6 feet
and 2 and 1/4 inches. Selfishly...I hope she sticks to basketball...she is so entertaining
to watch....toss in how valuable she is...toss in how high her ceiling is.

I'm betting that Gabby's Olympic gold metals will come in basketball.

 

[VAMike23]

"If she gets to the point where she can knock in 15- 16- 17-footers, forget it. She is going to be something special."

I think this is the key with Gabby, but it's going to take time and it might not happen at all. She is great at using the glass from short range and on those leaners where she goes around people, but at this point--partly from not playing that much the last couple of years, I'd bet--she doesn't have a shooter's touch. It will be a lot of fun to watch how her offensive skills progress by the end of next year because by and large, Geno's observation about 'knowing what we've got' from a player by the beginning of their junior year holds true. Touch and "hands" can be developed but a lot of it is inborn.

"You have no idea how strong that kid is and she doesn’t need a lot of time. Some kids they catch it, they have to gather themselves. She catches it, and she is up in the air and around the rim immediately."

Actually, after seeing her perform recently, particulary in the Rutgers game, we DO have an idea how strong she is! And she has the scorer's mentality ('score NOW') if not the shooter's touch yet.

Lots of fun times ahead for Gabby at UCONN and I can't wait to see it all unfold.

 

[UcMiami]

The last word, after initially getting permission from recruiting coaches to take a red-shirt year for the high jump, she decided she would concentrate on basketball instead.
Not sure if she might change her mind again, but I don't think anything has happened this year to turn her off basketball. I have been impressed with reported comments after Stanford and a few other games where she fully understood why she wasn't playing more and put the responsibility on herself to provide the coaches with a reason to put her on the floor.

 

[UcMiami]

VAMike - she has good form on her shots and they are generally on line, just long or short, which suggests that the two years away have may have more to do with it than 'touch'. Mariah's summer routine of shooting baskets morning noon and night might get the distance issue fixed.

 

[Wally East]

toss in how high her ceiling is.

Yeah, but she can probably leap and slap the ceiling on a good day

 

[DobbsRover2]

Would always favor a trackster doing track stuff, but it's hard to say how realistic her chances for 2016 would be against older veterans, and the USA had two of the top HJers back in 2012 with Chaunte Lowe and Brigetta Barrett. Gabby's tops was 6'0" scholastically but went to 6'2.25" as the youngest competitor at Olympic trails as a HS sophomore. But that one big leap at 1.89m is well short of he 2.0m you need to get to for competing at the top. With development she may go well higher, but might have a better chance in 2020 as 23 year old if she wants to pursue the track Olympic dream. Also not sure with the knee injuries whether that despite being a fantastic jumper that she can be quite at the level of the best in the world.

 

[meyers7]

Would always favor a trackster doing track stuff, but it's hard to say how realistic her chances for 2016 would be against older veterans, and the USA had two of the top HJers back in 2012 with Chaunte Lowe and Brigetta Barrett. Gabby's tops was 6'0" scholastically but went to 6'2.25" as the youngest competitor at Olympic trails as a HS sophomore. But that one big leap at 1.89m is well short of he 2.0m you need to get to for competing at the top. With development she may go well higher, but might have a better chance in 2020 as 23 year old if she wants to pursue the track Olympic dream. Also not sure with the knee injuries whether that despite being a fantastic jumper that she can be quite at the level of the best in the world.

Just read in USA Today's list of HS AA's for Girls Track and Field another Nevada HS girl Vashti Cunningham jumped a 6-3. I agree, don't think she could be ready for 2016 having missed out so much time training.

 

[geneticrex]

If/when she develops anything resembling a solid mid-range game, she will be too quick and athletic for 4s and too powerful and athletic for 3s.

She is a nightmare in the making.