Amari Playing Time

[AmeriConn]

I hope Amari gets more playing time in the Big East games. I think she could help us sooner than later. Is she ready to be worked into the rotation?

 

[Centerstream]

I'm guessing if she was ready to be worked into the rotation, she would have been in the game prior to the final 4 minutes of the game.

 

[sno-cat]

IF Amari was put in in place of Griffin in the second half things might have evolved differently (or not).

 

[Huskie02]

I'm guessing if she was ready to be worked into the rotation, she would have been in the game prior to the final 4 minutes of the game.

At 6’5” she should be playing as a post grabbing rebounds and clogging the Lane not taking 3 point shots beyond the arc.

 

[vtcwbuff]

At 6’5” she should be playing as a post grabbing rebounds and clogging the Lane not taking 3 point shots beyond the arc.

On the other hand she was one of the few UConn players (except LLS) that could score today. The real story was Fudd's injury, rebounding embarrassment and Griffin's inability to put the ball in the basket.

 

[LoboDays]

IF Amari was put in in place of Griffin in the second half things might have evolved differently (or not).

NOT! Comparing those two on any level is insulting.

 

[oldhusky]

I have no idea how Amari is progressing in practice. Her 30 or so game minutes have been ok. When a team loses a 6-5 C and would rather trust a freshmen, and a 6-1 player who previously was helping out the guards instead of a 6-5 player who was ranked #15 in the country, it is not a good sign.

She might be on the cusp of breaking into the rotation for all I know, but if she can't do it with Ice missing the whole season and Dorka currently out, I certainly don't expect her to be there when Dorka returns.

I think she would need multiple games of good limited minutes production in blowouts before her game track record would mean anything. Her best case scenario, short of further injuries, is probably doing well enough in blowouts to warrant a 4 big rotation. Ideally that would be with her backing up Dorka, Ayanna behind Aaliyah, and freeing up Aubrey to help out on the wing. If that could happen before the tournament it would be nice, but I am not holding my breath on that.

 

[CB360]

I have no idea how Amari is progressing in practice. Her 30 or so game minutes have been ok. When a team loses a 6-5 C and would rather trust a freshmen, and a 6-1 player who previously was helping out the guards instead of a 6-5 player who was ranked #15 in the country, it is not a good sign.

She might be on the cusp of breaking into the rotation for all I know, but if she can't do it with Ice missing the whole season and Dorka currently out, I certainly don't expect her to be there when Dorka returns.

I think she would need multiple games of good limited minutes production in blowouts before her game track record would mean anything. Her best case scenario, short of further injuries, is probably doing well enough in blowouts to warrant a 4 big rotation. Ideally that would be with her backing up Dorka, Ayanna behind Aaliyah, and freeing up Aubrey to help out on the wing. If that could happen before the tournament it would be nice, but I am not holding my breath on that.

I don't think Geno has ever given more playing time to a player playing well in "mop up time." I'm pretty sure he bases playing time on how well you Practice, Listen/Learn , Hustle and contribute Positively attitude wise.

 

[BB Dawg]

I'm guessing if she was ready to be worked into the rotation, she would have been in the game prior to the final 4 minutes of the game.

There was a need for another big today. ND bigs killed us in scoring and rebounding. And to add insult, they were rough. AE got worn down. Amari could have helped rebound

 

[Centerstream]

There was a need for another big today. ND bigs killed us in scoring and rebounding. And to add insult, they were rough. AE got worn down. Amari could have helped rebound

And how many rebounds did she get in her 4 minutes, if there were any to grab? I didn't pay attention...

 

[LarryLegend]

to have a 6-5 highly ranked recruit now in her second year that has not ever played more than garbage time minutes is maddening. Contrast that with Ayanna Patterson who is already playing more and more meaningful minutes and appears to be gaining Genos trust

 

[LwrcasefaN]

There was a need for another big today. ND bigs killed us in scoring and rebounding. And to add insult, they were rough. AE got worn down. Amari could have helped rebound

I'm really surprised that after SC beat up UCONN on the boards last year that the rebounding hasn't really been addressed. Even when we get the rebound it isn't always clean and pushed up the floor cleanly. It matters for a player like Aubrey who is a great streaker but had to be a jump shooter in way too many half court sets. That's not her strength. I think a simple pick and roll involving Aubrey would have forced ND to guard her versus packing it in the paint.

 

[Littlemin]

I'm really surprised that after SC beat up UCONN on the boards last year that the rebounding hasn't really been addressed. Even when we get the rebound it isn't always clean and pushed up the floor cleanly. It matters for a player like Aubrey who is a great streaker but had to be a jump shooter in way too many half court sets. That's not her strength. I think a simple pick and roll involving Aubrey would have forced ND to guard her versus packing it in the paint.

For a pick and roll to be effective the player with the ball has to be a threat to shoot from behind the pick to force the switch. ND would have ignored Griffin and just had her defender slide under the pick.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

For a pick and roll to be effective the player with the ball has to be a threat to shoot from behind the pick to force the switch. ND would have ignored Griffin and just had her defender slide under the pick.

So have Griffin back pick for Muhl in the key area and roll to the basket. Anything that gets her moving is to her advantage offensively. It also leaves her near the basket for rebounding. Can't help rebound from the 3-point line.

 

[Littlemin]

So have Griffin back pick for Muhl in the key area and roll to the basket. Anything that gets her moving is to her advantage offensively. It also leaves her near the basket for rebounding. Can't help rebound from the 3-point line.

ND basically did not cover Griffin, which, IMO, confused her, hence her hesitancy when she got the ball. Basically, ND played 5 on 4 defensively and face guarded Fudd and both things worked and that threw Uconn off big time. I agree 100% she should have kept moving and not camped outside.
Ivey took nice advantage of the extra day ND had to prepare to put in a junk defense Uconn was unprepared for, having played Friday night and I assume traveling Saturday. Throw in ND’s good shooting which prevented Uconn from ever running, Fudd getting hurt making a comeback all the harder and it added up to a long day for Uconn.

 

[CocoHusky]

And how many rebounds did she get in her 4 minutes, if there were any to grab? I didn't pay attention...

Amari grabbed the same amount of rebounds in her 4 minutes as you and I did.

 

[Notyetready]

And how many rebounds did she get in her 4 minutes, if there were any to grab? I didn't pay attention...

Amari was tightly guarding Ebo who was out on the perimeter. She made two effective hedges, one resuling in a shot clock violation, the other in a pass to an unguarded player who she rushed to cover and the rebounded shot bounced to the opposite corner. Since she, herself, was left unattended on the perimeter on offense ans since she used that opportunity to sink two shots from there- scoring more than several other players- I think that was a useful place for her at the time. Also Ebo sank off her about 8 feet leaving her wide open. Make no mistake about this, when Geno inserted Amari into the line up, it was not garbage time. There were 4 minutes, 8 seconds left with the score 70-53. For that to be garbage time, Geno would have to have conceded the game to ND. He expected something from Amari and she did perform.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

ND basically did not cover Griffin, which, IMO, confused her, hence her hesitancy when she got the ball. Basically, ND played 5 on 4 defensively and face guarded Fudd and both things worked and that threw Uconn off big time. I agree 100% she should have kept moving and not camped outside.
Ivey took nice advantage of the extra day ND had to prepare to put in a junk defense Uconn was unprepared for, having played Friday night and I assume traveling Saturday. Throw in ND’s good shooting which prevented Uconn from ever running, Fudd getting hurt making a comeback all the harder and it added up to a long day for Uconn.

The first 4 or 5 times she shot I was ok, you have to make them pay for not guarding you. After that, I was expecting something different. She ended up taking 12 shots, mostly jumpers. Either sub in Ducharme, although not 100% you have to guard, or run some play where they had to account for Aubrey. Even after getting it down to five, not much changed and I had this feeling that this was going to be a "trial by fire" outing. The loss doesn't bother me. I just wonder what the objective was after Azzi got hurt. I would not have played her either.

 

[wingsfan055]

Amari is very long & her height alone would probably help against a big team. Geno must have his reasons..

 

[CocoHusky]

ND basically did not cover Griffin, which, IMO, confused her, hence her hesitancy when she got the ball. Basically, ND played 5 on 4 defensively and face guarded Fudd and both things worked and that threw Uconn off big time. I agree 100% she should have kept moving and not camped outside.
Ivey took nice advantage of the extra day ND had to prepare to put in a junk defense Uconn was unprepared for, having played Friday night and I assume traveling Saturday. Throw in ND’s good shooting which prevented Uconn from ever running, Fudd getting hurt making a comeback all the harder and it added up to a long day for Uconn.

The hesitation was the most crippling factor even more so than the missed shot because the hesitation momentarily paralyzed not just Aubrey but all the other UCONN player on the floor. \You could see the strain of the hesitation as in "Aubrey has the ball, do I cut, set a screen, go get the ball from her, get in better rebounding position on get back on defense? " I guess that saying he who hesitates is lost is true because we sure looked lost.

 

[Huskie02]

There was a need for another big today. ND bigs killed us in scoring and rebounding. And to add insult, they were rough. AE got worn down. Amari could have helped rebound

Ive said before, she is in Geno’s doghouse.

 

[my2cents]

I have never seen any reason why Amari doesn't get more minutes. She seems to be an excellent offensive player which I believe we could have used yesterday. ND plays 8 feet away from the people they want to shoot the ball; Griffin, Muhl and it looked like Caroline too.
Muhl actually made some and should have shot more. Griffin is a open court finisher and slasher, but guess what? There is no "slashing" when the defense has a 8 ft head start on you.

 

[TCC Kid]

At 6’5” she should be playing as a post grabbing rebounds and clogging the Lane not taking 3 point shots beyond the arc.

Number 42, DeBerry, is not a Post or she would have played 2 years ago. She did sink that 3 nicely, didn't she!

 

[CocoHusky]

Number 42, DeBerry, is not a Post or she would have played 2 years ago. She did sink that 3 nicely, didn't she!

She did play 2 years ago- in High School.

 

[TCC Kid]

The hesitation was the most crippling factor even more so than the missed shot because the hesitation momentarily paralyzed not just Aubrey but all the other UCONN player on the floor. \You could see the strain of the hesitation as in "Aubrey has the ball, do I cut, set a screen, go get the ball from her, get in better rebounding position on get back on defense? " I guess that saying he who hesitates is lost is true because we sure looked lost.

About hesitating you are correct. My belief has always been --when in doubt, DO SOMETHING, quickly.
Aubrey, injured, sitting, rehabbing now taking an important role, give her time. I'll take those mistakes now, preparing for April.
Ivey, ND coaching PREPARED for this game, it didn't just happen. I hate it, but give them credit.