Amari Playing Time

[CocoHusky]

Maybe others can refresh my memory on this, but it seems to me we have recruited more players that saw their rating increase over their last year or two in HS. Amari was the other way around. She may have been higher when she was younger, but I know at one time she was as high as #5, but then dropped off as a senior.

That could mean many things, but regardless I think it might have been somewhat of a red flag, because I can't think offhand of another player we recruited that dropped that far after we got her. Some think a player Uconn is known to be recruiting gets "The Uconn bump" in her ratings, and I would like to think that on occasion Uconn's evaluation of a player is better than the rating consensus, and that we can spot underrated and/or rapidly improving prospects with potential etc.

It has been a mixed bag, Caroline saw a rise in her ranking but that was during COVID and based on a couple notable show case events where she balled out. Both KK & Ashlynn Shade saw ranking drop after committing to UCONN.
Specific to Amari her rating drop had nothing to do with her committing to UCONN. Her class simply caught up to and some surpassed her by the time she was a HS senior. You can see the down ward slide in her ESPN evaluations where she went from being tracked as an "elite" prospect (#2) as a freshman to a "P5 prospect" (#15) in the class, by the time she was a senior. Also keep in mind that there were many post/ Big Forward options available in that 2021 HS class.

 

[HuskyNan]

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 an open court finisher and slasher, but guess what? There is no "slashing" when the defense has a 8 ft head start on you.

Because offense is only half of the game

 

[hoophuskee]

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?

I think the other players getting more playing time can help us sooner rather than later too (Dorka and eventualy Ducharme).

And I think what would help us sooner rather than later is for Azzi to not get hurt.

 

[my2cents]

Because offense is only half of the game

ND shot 50-60% for most of the game, the defense by the players not named Deberry were failing in both categories.

 

[Zarathustra]

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 rooting for Amari to partake in "everybody eats". GO BIG GIRL!

 

[Huskie02]

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.

She is still in Geno’s doghouse. He didn’t recruit her to be a guard.

 

[Rb335]

I don’t know the answer to this question. But this game reminded me of Georgia Tech last year. She was thrown into the game in somewhat of a desperate situation, and hit one or two shots. The board was calling for her to get playing time, and she didn’t really do anything in her limited action the rest of the season.

What I saw was her hit two field goals, and get scored on once in the post. Not sure there’s much data to draw any conclusion from. The only takeaway for me is that she has the potential to shoot the ball.

 

[Bajan Best]

I don’t know the answer to this question. But this game reminded me of Georgia Tech last year. She was thrown into the game in somewhat of a desperate situation, and hit one or two shots. The board was calling for her to get playing time, and she didn’t really do anything in her limited action the rest of the season.

What I saw was her hit two field goals, and get scored on once in the post. Not sure there’s much data to draw any conclusion from. The only takeaway for me is that she has the potential to shoot the ball.

If I remember correctly Geno joked with a ton of Sarcasm that Amari in that game was trying to prove you dont have to practice well to play well...

 

[sun]

IMO given time, Amari has a higher ceiling than Dorka, particularly playing offense.

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

Ice Brady was recruited to be our BIG in the paint, learning from Edwards and Dorka. Sadly, she was lost for the year in a pre-season injury at practice.

 

[Bajan Best]

She is still in Geno’s doghouse. He didn’t recruit her to be a guard.

Perhaps God is trying to tell Geno something with all the team players who are currently no longer 100%, will he wait until he has absolutely no choice? 3-5 mins of meaningful play might just motivate the person to perform better, since obviously 2 years of no , minutes haven't so far.... but who am I? just a parent with more than one kid..

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

Aubrey has been away ( injury ) a long time. In the interim, she tried to extend her game skills. She is transitioning from a slasher, defender, rebounder and fast break player, to one who can also shoot with accuracy. Mentally, she is still more the former than the latter. We have seen some production from her shooting the three and the mid range shot. But that "hesitancy to shoot when open " still is there. If yo recall...in her freshman year...you could not pay her to take a shot that was not a lay-up. When she was open, but hesitated to shoot, early in the ND game, and then missed the shot, she was done in, mentally. She spent the rest of the game trying to prove to herself that all of her off season work was not in vain. At the core, she is not a shooter and that is really hard to change. But she is 100% better when she can. Now, the challenge will be there until she turns things around. Teams will " dare" her to shoot from deep by doing exactly what ND did.

 

[Shenandoah]

There will come times/games where Amari's 6'5" height will be irrelevant. Against ND, where we were getting beaten off of the boards consistently, and they were driving to the hoop unmolested, a legit "big" would have been helpful. Let's face it; all roads to the NC this year, run through SC and Stanford; both possessing quality frontcourts in both ability and size.

 

[donalddoowop]

She is still in Geno’s doghouse. He didn’t recruit her to be a guard.

Geno wants his post players to be able to step out and hit outside shots. It helps bring the other team's post player to come out and guard them which opens up the low post. Show me a successful UConn post player who did not shoot from outside on many occasions. For those of you who complain about DeBerry shooting from outside, maybe she is doing what her coaches instructed her to do.

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

Coach is trying to teach her something she isn't learning. I guess. But it was painfully obvious that ND was " beating the crap" out of Edwards, with their 280 pounder and others. Edwards went the full 40 and needed a break. Amari was not used. I think Amari plays a style of BB that coach doesn't see as " working hard." But if Edwards has to do all the work, by herself, she is going to break down physically. Dorka won't be back for at least another couple of games, and probably won't be very good when she first steps on the court. Amari is really important. But coach is coach. We'll see.

 

[Rixxx]

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

I noticed that Amari has a difficult time grabbing a rebound or a pass in traffic. Don't know the issue.

 

[oldhusky]

Ice Brady was recruited to be our BIG in the paint, learning from Edwards and Dorka. Sadly, she was lost for the year in a pre-season injury at practice.

Based on Geno's mostly positive comments about Ice, until her injury she was probably ahead of Amari in his plans too. If everyone was healthy this season Amari was likely the 6th option for the bigs, behind Dorka and Ice at the 5, and behind Aaliyah, Aubrey and Ayanna for the 4.

Next year we are probably loaded at every position except the 5. That is one reason why many fans, while critical of what we have seen thus far from Amari, are still very much hoping to see something that indicates she could be an answer to those needs. There is talent in the prospects for that position in Ice, Jana and Amari, but no proven experience in any of them.

We could have the C position handled by two freshmen, one recovering from injury. Yes we could play Aaliyah there quite a bit like we are now with Dorka out, but obviously that is far from ideal, for Aaliyah and the team. I think Ice and Jana will be the real deal and way above average players from day one, but we can't expect them to be as great in their first year as they will be later in their careers.

If there was an immediate fit, with a very good experienced true C in the portal, I think it would be worth a look, but if it wasn't an ideal situation, I think I would go with the youngsters and live with the downside of their inexperience.

 

[CocoHusky]

Geno wants his post players to be able to step out and hit outside shots. It helps bring the other team's post player to come out and guard them which opens up the low post. Show me a successful UConn post player who did not shoot from outside on many occasions. For those of you who complain about DeBerry shooting from outside, maybe she is doing what her coaches instructed her to do.

Tina Charles count?
The issue with Amari taking the three ball is that it is not an occasional 3 and she is not very good at shooting from deep. Therefore she SHOULD NOT be shooting it that often. Last season 40% (14 of 35) of her FGA were from behind the arc and she shot 21%. For this season she has shot the ball 8 times 2 of which was from deep and here the part that should really convince you Amari is shooting 83% (5 of 6) inside the arc.

 

[CocoHusky]

I noticed that Amari has a difficult time grabbing a rebound or a pass in traffic. Don't know the issue.

The issue is lack of upper body strength.

 

[Notyetready]

Amari is 6 games into her Sophomore year.

Her stats for her entire Freshman year were:
16 games played: 9/35 fg, 3/14 3pt, 4/6 ft, 10 rb, 12 asst, 7 blk, 7 st, 25 pts.

Her cumulative stats for this year:
5 games played: 6/8 fg, 1/2 3pt, 4/8 ft, 9 rb, 1 asst, 2 blks, 1 st, 17 pts.

Clearly she is showing some improvements. She played man to man in the ND game, whereas in the past she has played a lot of zone. She played Ebo tight with her forearm on Ebo's back but did allow one basket by her. But then who did not allow a basket. She also jumped out on hedges, effectively I might add. She was very active. My guess is we will see more of her, and we will see more improvement, and Geno will play her more.

 

[JellyBean]

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

Amari has a decent touch in the high post and 3-point areas.

 

[HuskyNan]

Amari can’t just be thrown into games. Geno needs to give her gradually increasing time against a variety of opponents, pull her out, coach her up, and put her back in. It’s a process.

i think it’s unreasonable to expect her to have gotten a lot of time yesterday. Tossing an improving, but relatively inexperienced player into an away game against ND is like throwing a beginning swimmer into the deep end of the pool. Those first few strokes may look good but inexperience and fatigue (it was a very physical game) could spell disaster. We don’t want her confidence smashed

 

[HuskyNan]

What Amari is is a scholarship holder that is not taking advantage of her opportunities. Azura Stevens? Please!!! If Amari played like Azura she would play 35 MPG for UCONN instead of leading the 3 point celebrations.

Amari is more Iciss Tillis than Azura

@CamrnCrz1974

 

[CocoHusky]

Amari can’t just be thrown into games. Geno needs to give her gradually increasing time against a variety of opponents, pull her out, coach her up, and put her back in. It’s a process.
i think it’s unreasonable to expect her to have gotten a lot of time yesterday. Tossing an improving, but relatively inexperienced player into an away game against ND is like throwing a beginning swimmer into the deep end of the pool. Those first few strokes may look good but inexperience and fatigue (it was a very physical game) could spell disaster. We don’t want her confidence smashed

The alternative to Amari was Patterson. Patterson treaded water just fine.

 

[HuskyNan]

The alternative to Amari was Patterson. Patterson treaded water just fine.

Ayanna and Aaliyah are physically mature and won’t shy from contact. There was one play where Aaliyah and an ND post, Ebo?, locked arms and it looked like they were both trying to wrestle the other to the ground. Amari would have either backed away or have gotten hurt. Either way, a defensive liability.

The ND posts got a little more leery of trying to physically intimidate Aaliyah after that. She did so much that never shows up on a box score

 

[CocoHusky]

Ayanna and Aaliyah are physically mature and won’t shy from contact. There was one play where Aaliyah and an ND post, Ebo?, locked arms and it looked like they were both trying to wrestle the other to the ground. Amari would have either backed away or have gotten hurt. Either way, a defensive liability.
The ND posts got a little more leery of trying to physically intimidate Aaliyah after that. She did so much that never shows up on a box score

That tie up was with Westbeld on the baseline but I agree with what you are saying. Amari is not build for that kind of rugged play. BTW Ebo was a major problem and scored like 5 baskets from the same damn ND play. A hard message sending foul by UCONN would have been most appropriate after Ebo's second basket.

 

[CL82]

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

True, but she got five more points than we did in those four minutes.

I feel as if a lightbulb has come on for Amari. Hopefully it will continue to shine brighter.

 

[Rixxx]

The issue is lack of upper body strength.

Could be. Maybe lack of soft/strong hands.

 

[Cheddie]

Amari can’t just be thrown into games. Geno needs to give her gradually increasing time against a variety of opponents, pull her out, coach her up, and put her back in. It’s a process.

i think it’s unreasonable to expect her to have gotten a lot of time yesterday. Tossing an improving, but relatively inexperienced player into an away game against ND is like throwing a beginning swimmer into the deep end of the pool. Those first few strokes may look good but inexperience and fatigue (it was a very physical game) could spell disaster. We don’t want her confidence smashed

"Tossing an improving, but relatively inexperienced player into an away game against ND is like throwing a beginning swimmer into the deep end of the pool."

That's exactly what Geno did with Ayanna, though. Both Amari and Ayanna have the athleticism and physical skill to be successful players. The game needs to slow down for both. You can see both "thinking" on the court (where should I be?) rather than just reacting. As she gets more comfortable, Ayanna's strength and rebounding are going to be real assets for Geno.

 

[CocoHusky]

IMO given time, Amari has a higher ceiling than Dorka, particularly playing offense.