Amari DeBerry gets her 1st career start | The Boneyard

Amari DeBerry gets her 1st career start

oldude

oldude

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Yes, former 6’6” UConn player, Amari DeBerry, gets her 1st career start in college today as MD faces #1 UCLA and Lauren Betts at home in College Park. Evidently, Brenda figured, what does she have to lose in matching DeBerry with Betts.

Five minutes into the game, Betts had 6 pts, after bullying her way into good low post position repeatedly, and DeBerry was back on the bench….:(
 
Amari returned in the first quarter, but Betts ended up scoring 14 in the first quarter, making 7 of 8.
Waiting for Mir and Saylor to start scoring. :):rolleyes:
Not really, switching channels.
 
Glad to see Amari getting a start. Unfortunately she still seems too passive to have a big impact on the game. I wish her well.
 
MD hanging around at the end of the 1st half, with former Huskies Poffenbarger & McClean playing well. But as for containing Betts, the UCLA center has 24 pts and counting.
 
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Betts has been ahead of DeBerry for years dating back to their FIBA days. If she was able to earn the starter role over her then, it's not surprising that she'd have the upper hand today.
 
Did we use Amari against Betts in that Caribbean tournament? I feel like we did. I feel like there was one time we used her against one of the better bigs in college basketball and she did an okay job. Don’t remember who that was against. I am thinking maybe it was Betts though.
 
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Stagnant said:
Did we use Amari against Betts in that Caribbean tournament? I feel like we did. I feel like there was one time we used her against one of the better bigs in college basketball and she did an okay job. Don’t remember who that was against. I am thinking maybe it was Betts though.
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Amari did play about 9 minutes against UCLA last season. Her stat line was only 1 foul & 2 turnovers. Betts played 35 minutes with 13 pts & 7 rebounds. The key players for UCLA were Rice & Osborne.
 
Stagnant said:
Did we use Amari against Betts in that Caribbean tournament? I feel like we did. I feel like there was one time we used her against one of the better bigs in college basketball and she did an okay job. Don’t remember who that was against. I am thinking maybe it was Betts though.
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Amari also played in the most important game in Paige's second season. The national championship game, against South Caeolina, Boston and their imposing front line. We pretty much just used a three big rotation that year with Liv, Aaliyah and Dorka swinging between the 4 and 5. We usually went small ball with Evina instead of using Amari even against Big East teams.

Of course we lost Dorka in the classic NC State game, and didn't know Liv had a groin issue (or Azzi's illness for that matter) before the championship game. As soon as Amari entered the game, I knew something was wrong with Liv, and hope for that game was pretty much lost as we were already way behind, and with Dorka out and Liv injured, we were simply overmatched by a huge margin upfront.

She didn't get game minutes here, but had the opportunity to play against good bigs everyday in practice and apparently never developed.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
You have to hit Betts as hard as she's hitting you and that's not Amari's style.
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Yes. Betts repeatedly buried Amari in the low post, forcing her deep under the basket. Should UConn match up with UCLA in the Big Dance, it will be interesting to see how Jana handles the matchup with Betts. Jana has more of an edge than Amari, and might not be as accommodating in letting Betts establish low post position.
 
oldude said:
Yes. Betts repeatedly buried Amari in the low post, forcing her deep under the basket. Should UConn match up with UCLA in the Big Dance, it will be interesting to see how Jana handles the matchup with Betts. Jana has more of an edge than Amari, and might not be as accommodating in letting Betts establish low post position.
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Geno would most certainly give Jana the task. Jana is developing her "take no prisoners" style and would do everything she could not to let Betts get the better of her. Easier said than done. I don't think Ice has that killer in her to take on Betts, but right now her defense is better, and so is her outside shot.
 
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oldude said:
Yes. Betts repeatedly buried Amari in the low post, forcing her deep under the basket. Should UConn match up with UCLA in the Big Dance, it will be interesting to see how Jana handles the matchup with Betts. Jana has more of an edge than Amari, and might not be as accommodating in letting Betts establish low post position.
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I don’t remember ever seeing a player spend as much time in the lane without being whistled for a three-second violation. After I noticed it, I timed Betts to at least five seconds over half the times before she received a pass.
 
Bigboote said:
I don’t remember ever seeing a player spend as much time in the lane without being whistled for a three-second violation. After I noticed it, I timed Betts to at least five seconds over half the times before she received a pass.
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That’s where an opposing coach needs to get on the officials to make a 3-second call. I don’t know if Brenda Freeze was calling on the refs to do something about Betts camping out in the lane or not. If she didn’t, shame on her. If she did, and they ignored her, shame on them.
 
I don’t think it’s a question of just shoving Betts, or anyone for that matter, out of the low post. Yes, Jana has more of an “edge” and is probably stronger than Amari (who suffers from back issues), but these battles are won or lost more in terms of how well each player moves their feet. Jana has to be quick about switching between fronting her and backing her. And she’ll need lots of weak side help. If UCLA didn’t have three other kids 6’4” and over, that would be enough. Focus too much on Betts and Dugalic will have a field day, or Barker might finally live up to her reputation.

The refs won’t whistle hip checking one’s way into position, but using two hands to shove someone out will get a whistle every time. ‘Pulling the chair out from under an opponent’ can also work, sometimes, but also occasionally draws a whistle.

The other problem is Betts takes opposing teams out of their offense. USC beat them last year by challenging her in the lane repeatedly. You could conceivably win by shooting well from 3, but this a pretty thin path forward.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
Geno would most certainly give Jana the task. Jana is developing her "take no prisoners" style and would do everything she could not to let Betts get the better of her. Easier said than done. I don't think Ice has that killer in her to take on Betts, but right now her defense is better, and so is her outside shot.
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How often has Jana taken an outside shot for you to compare? She has one but has not been shooting it. I will be glad when she starts taking that shot.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
Geno would most certainly give Jana the task. Jana is developing her "take no prisoners" style and would do everything she could not to let Betts get the better of her. Easier said than done. I don't think Ice has that killer in her to take on Betts, but right now her defense is better, and so is her outside shot.
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You folks may be shocked, but what if our frontcourt against UCLA would be Sarah, Aubrey, Morgan, Paige and Azzi. Leaving both Jana and Ice on the bench.

Height is not always the answer.
 
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packwrap said:
You folks may be shocked, but what if our frontcourt against UCLA would be Sarah, Aubrey, Morgan, Paige and Azzi. Leaving both Jana and Ice on the bench.

Height is not always the answer.
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I wasn't talking about height. I was talking about an ability to body up and not let someone get position under the basket. I trust, if it ever should happen that Geno will pick the lineup he feels most comfortable with. And, I don't second guess him. Geez..
 
UCLA was just a one-off for size: DeBerry back to 2 minutes tonight.
 
Reypl21 said:
You want Betts to go 14-15 again?
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:D She went 14-15 against a 6' 6" senior. My thought is that a group of smaller 6' to 6'2" players, with quick feet and hands, who can actually jump, and box out, may be the alternative to tall and slow.
 
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