Amari Playing Time

[LuvBball]

In my Allen Iverson voice Practice? We're talking about practice? Not a game. Practice.

In all seriousness though, despite a heap of expectations and a seemingly frustrating start to her sophomore campaign, Amari always seems upbeat and engaged and like one hell of a teammate.

I'd love to see her take that next step and get consistent minutes on the floor

 

[Plebe]

Here is what everyone was thinking by the time Amari entered into the game.

• Basketball Heads: Garbage time sure started early in this one
• The Trainers: Do we have enough healthy players for mop up duty
• Assistant Coaches: Do we have to put w 5 player on the floor just to run the clock out
• ND fans: There are putting Amari in the game that's the same as waving a white flag
• The bougie fans: Isn't that fat lady singing like her third aria?
• The most optimistic UCONN fans including @Tonyc : We'll get then next time.
• The officials: We haven't called the obvious fouls all game so no chance we are going to start now
• End of bench players including Amari: I can still get my name in box score and make my parents proud by just committing a foul but a rebound would be much better.
• Fans in attendance : If I leave right now I can get out of parking garage in less than 1/2 hour
• Geno to CD : We don 't have any walkons on the rosters this year right?
• The caterer: UCONN is not going to enjoy their post game meal. I bet they are going to give is a bad review although this is the exact same food we fed then last time they were here.
• Geno: Bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose instead....

You are hereby declared the winner of the thread.

 

[donalddoowop]

Posters complained about Aubrey her first two seasons as if she would not improve and as soon as she showed improvement this season some of those same posters changed their opinions. Some said the same thing about Muhl. Give the young lady some time. Some players need more time than others. She has not played enough to form a true judgment of her talent or how good she will be.

 

[Majorthreat]

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.

True. Amari has a better outside shot than Griffin. Griffin is good in short stints when speeded up she rushes her shot. Amari plays at her own pace which I think is why Geno hasn't played her a lot. He mistakes lack intensity with effort.

 

[sun]

The stats show that Amari's presence had a positive impact on the game in UConn's favor.
Folks can continue to scapegoat her if they want to but her +3 along with her 5 points scored proves that she didn't waste her opportunity when Geno put her in the game.
Along with her other game performances, it shows that she's improving her ability to score.

 

[jazz]

Amari deserves more minutes...even when she does well scoring, she just lacks awareness on defence and positioning which may mitigate her scoring to a large extent...and that is if she continues to shoot at a high percentage.

On the other hand, she is may be good at protecting the rim.

 

[sun]

Could be. Maybe lack of soft/strong hands.

Whatever gave you that idea?
She's majoring in sign language and could probably talk for many hours by using her hands.
As you can see Amari can palm the basketball.

 

[sun]

#9 Amari DeBerry (USA) - USA v Australia 2021 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup

 

[freshler40]

Could be. Maybe lack of soft/strong hands.

Well, when we lost key parts of our outside game, Amari might have given us some decent replacement shooting, drawn out a ND big and opened up the inside for more drives. Three bigs with Edwards, Patterson and Amari might work for some good minutes against the big front lines of the top teams like Stamford, ND, SC etc. Who would sit is the question and what defense would you give up?

 

[BB Dawg]

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.

I too saw this as Uconn's biggest weakness that had to be addressed this year. Although, no one foresees the injury of Ice Brady & Dorka in the short term.

 

[BB Dawg]

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.

At that point of the game against ND. Shooting a 3 was the only option for Uconn. She made the correct move.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Posters complained about Aubrey her first two seasons as if she would not improve and as soon as she showed improvement this season some of those same posters changed their opinions. Some said the same thing about Muhl. Give the young lady some time. Some players need more time than others. She has not played enough to form a true judgment of her talent or how good she will be.

Have you checked their opinions after the ND game?

 

[Bald Husky]

Look, what's the point? Posts about Amari are never ending. True, she looks slow, she looks not engaged at times, but when she is in the last couple of games she has gotten rebounds and has made a few shots. Right now, she is a bench warmer. I know Geno knows what he is doing, but gee whiz, just give the girl a shot in the game with the other starters. Mop up time does little to help the team. If she does suck, she will show it, but until she gets to play with the other good players we will never know. Screw practice, sometimes you have to take a chance, especially when things are not going well on the court.
I think he needs to insert Amari in the line up early, sometime in the first half. We all know, only game experience will give the player confidence going forward, and no matter what is happening in practice, this team needs to know if she can help us or remain on the bench and be a cheerleader without the uniform.
I just say, let's find out, it is clear we could really use her.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

You are posting the box score to support your contention that Amari should have been "given" more minutes. The outcome was decided by the time Amari came into the game and if Amari could have made a difference in the outcome of this game her HoF coach who was already short two post player would have put her in.

Here is what everyone was thinking by the time Amari entered into the game.

• Basketball Heads: Garbage time sure started early in this one
• The Trainers: Do we have enough healthy players for mop up duty
• Assistant Coaches: Do we have to put w 5 player on the floor just to run the clock out
• ND fans: There are putting Amari in the game that's the same as waving a white flag
• The bougie fans: Isn't that fat lady singing like her third aria?
• The most optimistic UCONN fans including @Tonyc : We'll get then next time.
• The officials: We haven't called the obvious fouls all game so no chance we are going to start now
• End of bench players including Amari: I can still get my name in box score and make my parents proud by just committing a foul but a rebound would be much better.
• Fans in attendance : If I leave right now I can get out of parking garage in less than 1/2 hour
• Geno to CD : We don 't have any walkons on the rosters this year right?
• The caterer: UCONN is not going to enjoy their post game meal. I bet they are going to give is a bad review although this is the exact same food we fed then last time they were here.
• Geno: Bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose instead....

Honestly, I was thinking about what took so long. What was there to lose no matter how you feel about her? I think some folks get caught up in cliches and literally worship some of the things that come out of a coach's mouth, Geno's included. Of course, practice is important, but not everything can be simulated in practice and I would argue there are times when it shouldn't. I wouldn't beat up my players for 40 minutes in practice so they could get ready for UCF. Especially now, with a bench of walking wounded. It would be difficult to simulate rebounding against a SC forest. Maybe folks see 4 minutes as mop-up time in what was essentially a blowout. I don't, especially when you barely get time on the floor. It is, however, brief enough that everything you do will not be reflected in the stats. Someone is always at the end of the bench and in Uconn's case, a talented someone.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Posters complained about Aubrey her first two seasons as if she would not improve and as soon as she showed improvement this season some of those same posters changed their opinions. Some said the same thing about Muhl. Give the young lady some time. Some players need more time than others. She has not played enough to form a true judgment of her talent or how good she will be.

Aubrey is just fine. Having a solid season and playing to her strengths. Some folks expect every player to develop into these 3 level scorers. I don't. Take your talents and add them to the puzzle. Heck, Dennis Rodman could barely make an open layup, but his talents, rebounding, and defense, were essential to team success. GO AUBREY.

 

[JBK]

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.

What do we know - but from a fan perspective it would be nice to see what she can do in 20 minutes not 2 . Caroline did not perform last year in the 2 minute role but we were all presently surprised at her 20 minute performance. In fairness to Aubrey -
She is a guard and not a center and Ayanna does not seem to have an offensive “game yet”
I have to imagine Amari could have beat EBO up the court for some easy hoops.
Who knows.

 

[Conndog]

Well, when we lost key parts of our outside game, Amari might have given us some decent replacement shooting, drawn out a ND big and opened up the inside for more drives. Three bigs with Edwards, Patterson and Amari might work for some good minutes against the big front lines of the top teams like Stamford, ND, SC etc. Who would sit is the question and what defense would you give up?

I'm not sure about having these 3 bigs in the game together or any 3 bigs we have. Unless we play either Caroline (she will rebound into the great player she can be) or Lou as a big, I feel that we would give up too much shooting/scoring.

But I do hope Amari starts to enjoy scoring, which can only happen if she is playing, and will do whatever it takes to earn the opportunity to play more & more, especially if she is being productive.

 

[CocoHusky]

Aubrey is just fine. Having a solid season and playing to her strengths. Some folks expect every player to develop into these 3 level scorers. I don't. Take your talents and add them to the puzzle. Heck, Dennis Rodman could barely make an open layup, but his talents, rebounding, and defense, were essential to team success. GO AUBREY.

The Aubrey who played in the first 6 games of this season was absolutely stellar defensively and offensively=her best stretch in a UCONN uniform. The version of Aubrey that played in the ND game was painful to watch= perhaps her worse game in a UCONN uniform. Aubrey is capably of playing much better and there is no doubt she will.

 

[ccwarrior]

Look, what's the point? Posts about Amari are never ending. True, she looks slow, she looks not engaged at times, but when she is in the last couple of games she has gotten rebounds and has made a few shots. Right now, she is a bench warmer. I know Geno knows what he is doing, but gee whiz, just give the girl a shot in the game with the other starters. Mop up time does little to help the team. If she does suck, she will show it, but until she gets to play with the other good players we will never know. Screw practice, sometimes you have to take a chance, especially when things are not going well on the court.
I think he needs to insert Amari in the line up early, sometime in the first half. We all know, only game experience will give the player confidence going forward, and no matter what is happening in practice, this team needs to know if she can help us or remain on the bench and be a cheerleader without the uniform.
I just say, let's find out, it is clear we could really use her.

It seems like people who have never played or coached don’t get it, a player’s attitude in practice is important and tells a coach all they need to know about them. If a player is serious and works hard when “it doesn’t matter” then they can be counted on to do so when it does. I will be nice and not say it, but I think it is clear that Amari is a certain type of player (at least from what she has shown). I have rarely seen this type change.

 

[snowkot]

I played, and then coached in various incarnations, from ages 6 to high school.

I, like most on here, have not seen this student-athlete practice, and so can only judge what we see, in the very limited moments she appears in games, on TV or at Gampel / Hartford. I've seen a big with a nice stroke from outside, quite decent ball and rebounding skills, but who appears to be moving casually transitioning from offense to defense and vice versa. As the saying goes, though, appearances can be deceiving.

I saw positive impact (rebounding, +/-) in the National Championship game, and, as we just witnessed, and the box score attests, positive impact on Sunday. Would absolutely like to see more, especially given this team's challenges.

As for "this type" changing - disagree. That is what a coaching staff does, especially at the college level, and especially in the women's game, where students stay 3 to 4 years. They engender growth, improvement, change and perspective in all aspects of life. Something with which this particular coach, and his assistants have proven extraordinarily gifted over these many decades.

This student has time, and potential. Hoping, for her sake, and the team's, she gets there.

 

[cgshuskie]

So bigs are not ragin cagin. They can bring value, they are just not the intense, dominant type personality. They need to be worked with and trusted. They become value added with support and can become winners. Amari doesn't fit Geno's mold and this could hurt the team. She could bring a different kind of dominance if approached properly. Some bigs slam dunk others shoot fade aways. The question is, does it go in?

 

[TCC Kid]

Posters complained about Aubrey her first two seasons as if she would not improve and as soon as she showed improvement this season some of those same posters changed their opinions. Some said the same thing about Muhl. Give the young lady some time. Some players need more time than others. She has not played enough to form a true judgment of her talent or how good she will be.

Yes Donald, I was one who had words (complaints?) about Aubreys out of control, bouncing the ball off the backboard with shots. Yep, I did that!
Nika NEVER. I love tough kids, tough physically and mentally and darn good PG's to boot! Emotions get us in trouble, but emotions drive us to great heights--don't discount their value.

I can't take back words written, I was right then. Now a transformed Aubrey is a Uconn different player---and I don't enjoy the crow I'm eating. I do however enjoy every minute Aubrey, the controlled, yet flash quick, player I am delighted to watch.

 

[cferraro04]

Let's face it...Geno is the master of distraction. He is sandbagging with Amari...his plan is to pull out the secret weapon come playoff time...no one will see it coming.

 

[cancontent]

Yes Donald, I was one who had words (complaints?) about Aubreys out of control, bouncing the ball off the backboard with shots. Yep, I did that!
Nika NEVER. I love tough kids, tough physically and mentally and darn good PG's to boot! Emotions get us in trouble, but emotions drive us to great heights--don't discount their value.

I can't take back words written, I was right then. Now a transformed Aubrey is a Uconn different player---and I don't enjoy the crow I'm eating. I do however enjoy every minute Aubrey, the controlled, yet flash quick, player I am delighted to watch.

Why would you consider it eating crow? Had she moved on to a different team, I'd get it. However this is benefitting UConn, and her improvement comes at a time where she's needed to help while others are unavailable.

It sounds like you're punishing yourself for no reason. This happens in sports. For example, fans in Toronto were blasting the Kyle Lowry trade deal years ago. Wanted him traded, etc. Now he will get first class treatment whenever he's back, even when he plays for a rival team.

 

[TCC Kid]

I played, and then coached in various incarnations, from ages 6 to high school.

I, like most on here, have not seen this student-athlete practice, and so can only judge what we see, in the very limited moments she appears in games, on TV or at Gampel / Hartford. I've seen a big with a nice stroke from outside, quite decent ball and rebounding skills, but who appears to be moving casually transitioning from offense to defense and vice versa. As the saying goes, though, appearances can be deceiving.

I saw positive impact (rebounding, +/-) in the National Championship game, and, as we just witnessed, and the box score attests, positive impact on Sunday. Would absolutely like to see more, especially given this team's challenges.

As for "this type" changing - disagree. That is what a coaching staff does, especially at the college level, and especially in the women's game, where students stay 3 to 4 years. They engender growth, improvement, change and perspective in all aspects of life. Something with which this particular coach, and his assistants have proven extraordinarily gifted over these many decades.

This student has time, and potential. Hoping, for her sake, and the team's, she gets there.

I'm not certain what you mean by "this type". Care to expand that comment?
This Student, every Uconn recruited STUDENT has potential. for 3 years, often they have TIME. But time comes with ---what you give ME, I give back--if determination and effort AND potential is seen, Time is allowed,. Time is our most wasted, and most valuable commodity !