Amari? Did we forget about her? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Amari? Did we forget about her?

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DeBerry seems to be the head cheerleader, mascot and center of the teams social activities and camera shoots. Getting serious about basketball might be in order, unless that is what she is satisfied doing the next 3 years at U Conn. The 15th ranked player last year, who didn't play a minute in Hungary last summer may be on thin ice with Auriemma. Her passive aggression may be wearing on him, where like some others he admits his mistake recruiting her. Hope I am wrong .
 
Stymie puts the right question on the table. Does she want it badly enough? BBallF is right too! There is a lot of upside for her! I hope Geno understands that today Big's see a different game, more like Joel Embid of Philly. They shoot 3's, bring the ball up. Like the Jocker they dribble out at the foul line and shoot hook shots off of drives. I expect Amari to be a different kind of big never seen at Uconn before. Let's give her a chance.
 
cgshuskie said:
Stymie puts the right question on the table. Does she want it badly enough? BBallF is right too! There is a lot of upside for her! I hope Geno understands that today Big's see a different game, more like Joel Embid of Philly. They shoot 3's, bring the ball up. Like the Jocker they dribble out at the foul line and shoot hook shots off of drives. I expect Amari to be a different kind of big never seen at Uconn before. Let's give her a chance.
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We are all in her corner and want her to do well. Everything changes if she plays well.
 
GEAinAustin said:
DeBerry seems to be the head cheerleader, mascot and center of the teams social activities and camera shoots. Getting serious about basketball might be in order, unless that is what she is satisfied doing the next 3 years at U Conn. The 15th ranked player last year, who didn't play a minute in Hungary last summer may be on thin ice with Auriemma. Her passive aggression may be wearing on him, where like some others he admits his mistake recruiting her. Hope I am wrong .
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Are you saying that you think that she is going to bust? And you don't think by her staying at UCONN over the summer won't have much of an impact and she is destined to be a bust?

If she couldn't break into the Hungary lineup, why would we have expected much from her as a frosh? Because she is tall? If she couldn't break into the Hungary lineup it maybe means the recruiting services were wrong (not unusual), and/or that they took future ceiling projections more into account (not unusual) than 1st year level of play.
 
The way she led the cheers makes me think she will be a leader and confident on the court. She knows what she has to do to play more this season.
 
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I am saying that her career could go either way. Staying at UConn during the summer,. doesn't mean anything if she is not putting in the work. You answered your own question with the last paragraph, as many schools saw the lack of talent, UConn chose to offer. Auriemma needs her to be a player, as in 2023 he will have no depth behind Brady.
 
cgshuskie said:
Stymie puts the right question on the table. Does she want it badly enough? BBallF is right too! There is a lot of upside for her! I hope Geno understands that today Big's see a different game, more like Joel Embid of Philly. They shoot 3's, bring the ball up. Like the Jocker they dribble out at the foul line and shoot hook shots off of drives. I expect Amari to be a different kind of big never seen at Uconn before. Let's give her a chance.
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The Joker would be better off if there was a guard ot bring the ball up.

As far as Embiid, Geno was fine with Dolson taking 3's. He said he would've played Griner different and had her hang on the outside more.

My Knicks won titles with Reed and Lucas as centers. They were competing against bigger centers so they had to have an outside game. Ewing was a bit of a jump shooting center. Parish was more of a jump shooter.
 
GEAinAustin said:
I am saying that her career could go either way. Staying at UConn during the summer,. doesn't mean anything if she is not putting in the work. You answered your own question with the last paragraph, as many schools saw the lack of talent, UConn chose to offer. Auriemma needs her to be a player, as in 2023 he will have no depth behind Brady.
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Your posts are coming across way too harsh imo. When you say “Many schools saw the lack of talent," - ohh man that is harsh. I think many schools wanted her. It's just the expectations of fans I think sometimes gets extreme when a player is tall.

But yes I agree her career could go either way which is why I mentioned the last paragraph. Last year during the summer some fans had expectations she would play when the threads come up about projecting minutes. Then when she doesn't live up to the rankings some posters either go after her a bit or go after Geno for not playing her.

I only replied to your post because of your last sentence prior when you said "I hope I'm wrong." So it seems then your expectations is that she is going to be a bust, correct? Otherwise what were you "wrong" about?

And in 2023, UCONN still has Edwards who also plays center.
 
Amari is only a sophomore. She kinda reminds me of Katie Lou. Katie Lou had Geno in fits about her lack of defense and "mixing it up" her first couple years. Amari Will be alright, just give her a chance.
 
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Bone Dog said:
I have an irrational confidence in Amari. Don’t even bother trying to talk me out of it.
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I know what you mean
Amari seems to have all the tools, but not the maturity and dedication required to put it all together on the floor in critical moments.
Geno, who is the person most responsible for bringing her to UCONN, showed little inclination to allow her to play the kinks and flaws out of her game.
I still very much want to see her succeed and be a big part of the front court equation this season.
Amari is, after all, just entering her sophomore year.
They ( yeah, they) say bigs take longer to acclimate themselves to this level of play.
Let’s see if she is the real deal or just another great idea that didn’t pan out.
 
It may be as simple as quickness and mobility. A whole lot of tall players don't make it in the NBA because they can't defend the pick and roll. She hasn't had enough playing time for any of us to even see what the problem is. It's not like she knocked down a bunch of 3 pointers last year either. I love her personality but I think she's already behind Ayanna and Ice on the depth chart. I'm still hoping for the best.
 
I believe Geno’s statement on her so far this year in practice is that “she comes and goes”.
Is this a lack of concentration? or commitment?
Sounds like sometimes she brings it , then not so much.
Not sure this inconsistency will translate to playing time for Amari.
I don’t think Ice and Ayanna are the types to “wait their turn”.
 
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In my opinion, I think that Amari has a lot of self confidence as we saw her taking the 3 when she was in the game. However, based upon Geno's comments, she is lazy. So, here she is with the greatest basketball coach and she sits. If she does not dig down and start to become extremely determined, she will sit. And, she will not like it. Gotta stop being lazy and start learning from the chief.
 
Bone Dog said:
I watched the video again and one thing stands out, namely that she knows how to shoot quickly without bringing the ball down. That's just instinctive for her I suppose. How many times did we see Olivia and Aaliyah bring the ball down and then get caught by smaller players stripping it or forcing a jump ball? That's not going to be Amari's problem. The question for her, I think, is can she play energetic, ball-hawking defense? I hope so.

I think of someone like Monika Czinano, a bit undersized, but if she gets the ball in the low post, she turns and shoots so quickly that larger players often don't have time to react. Brink does something similar.
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Caroline is like this too- she doesn’t hesitate when she gets the ball near the basket
 
Amari made a commitment. A commitment to stay in Storrs and get better. That tells me she's got the "want to" and wants it. She has the skills and from what I was told in HS she was a very good back to the basket player. With Dorka coming back from her injury Amari at 6'5 and long arms could be the answer and could be the biggest surprise this season. She doesnt hesitate and can shoot. We will wait and see how she performs this season . Again we have a lot of talent and alot of height. We have some great shooters and scorers. Our only lack is at the point with Nika being the most experienced PG. Get healthy, Play hard, and Get going.
 
Tonyc said:
Amari made a commitment. A commitment to stay in Storrs and get better. That tells me she's got the "want to" and wants it. She has the skills and from what I was told in HS she was a very good back to the basket player. With Dorka coming back from her injury Amari at 6'5 and long arms could be the answer and could be the biggest surprise this season. She doesnt hesitate and can shoot. We will wait and see how she performs this season . Again we have a lot of talent and alot of height. We have some great shooters and scorers. Our only lack is at the point with Nika being the most experienced PG. Get healthy, Play hard, and Get going.
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Don’t need her to shoot.
Need her to intimidate on defense in close, block shots and rebound.
 
I suspect we’ll get most of our blocks from the smaller bigs — Ayanna Aubrey Ice Caroline. I don’t care for pushing Dorka and Amari to get blocks just because that’s a path to foul trouble. They can intimidate players with only a few blocks and drive them to the other bigs who will do the actual blocking.
 
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Bone Dog said:
I have never forgotten about Amari. Folks have mocked me for my optimism about her. She’s got excellent skills. But she’s yet to show the sort of energy we need to see. I can hardly wait to see what her decision to spend the summer in Storrs means for next season.

In the video, she says she wasn’t used to playing against kids her size in high school. I think that says a lot about why her first year at UConn unfolded the way it did.
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I could never forget about Amari. She’s like the moon, a glowing effervescent presence, striking every time you see her, as comforting as your favorite pizza.

Yep, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s Amari.
 
I just said this in another post. I believe that Amari will shut the pie holes of all the naysayers and perform at least on a BE all conference player level. Clearly skill wise she's at that level, and last year showed her the benefits of a proper mindset and the folly of poor conditioning, poor preparation, poor application, and poor decision making. IMO Amari is going to be the seasons biggest surprise.
 
I don’t believe that saying “show me” qualifies one as being a naysayer.
S-H-O-W U-S.
Better yet—S-H-O-W G-E-N-O
 
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