Any MIR news?

[Carnac]

we agree there..........I think Geno is going to want to get the freshmen who are working hard in practice a few minutes of game time and why not throw them into the deep end once in awhile to see what happens during a lull in an easy game........

I think that opportunity will come late in the Quinnipiac game. The Q (MAAC) finished in a 3 way tie for 2nd place last year at 12-8, 15-14 overall. Their tallest players this year are 6-5 sophomore F/C Cat Almeida and 6-3 junior P Rachel Stoval. The Q is a mid-major program and is not UConn's equal in talent or depth quality. They have a full roster of 15 that includes 4 freshmen. This game should be decided by half time. A good game for both.

 

[Alydar]

Mir is 2 weeks into practice and four weeks from Quin. If 3 of them can look good in 2 weeks then no reason McClean can't in 6.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Mir ( and Piath) are typical freshmen in terms of their previous exposure. Paige is paige a unicorn and has extensive international team experience. Aaliyah with the Canadian National Team and Nika with the Croatian pro league have spent extensive time with better and more experienced players than Mir and Piath. From that viewpoint Mir and Piath are adapting to the UConn environment and expectations slower than there 3 classmates. We should expect their adaptation to be more like the typical Freshmen. They will have their 'sophomore bump' and then the scoresheet will get really crowded. Think of Gabby's development arc and I imagine that is what we will see from these two. Piath will be a bit behind Mir.

 

[DEpup]

Out of all the new players, it is hardest to figure out a regular role for Mir. Part of that is we haven't heard much about her from practice, and there wasn't much video of her before she arrived. By reputation we hear she is a great athlete, can leap, and is a great rebounder.

At her size she would appear to be a wing, but her style at least in high school sounds more like an undersized big who because of her leaping ability, could score and rebound around the basket. Will those inside abilities translate against even bigger and more athletic bigs in college?

Of course Gabby is the possible comparison, both 5-11 and great athletes. Gabby had a bigger stronger body to bang inside even guarding some top centers reasonably well. Personally without injuries or foul trouble I think Geno could go with a three big rotation of Liv, Aubrey and Aaliyah with Liv and Aubrey getting their minutes at C and PF respectively, and Aaliyah splitting her time between both spots.

In that scenario there might not be much time for Mir or Piath up front, but when going to a fourth "big" it might depend on what size and or skills are most needed for that game. Even though they are quite different Mir and Piath might be competing for that role.

On the other hand Mir because of her mobility and size can be considered at the wing as well.

So I think if you are going to compare bodies than compare freshman Gabby to Mir not senior Gabby.. I think she will end being used similarly to Jamelle, Willnet Crockett, Kalena Green, Kelly Faris a bit and Gabby. Geno has his patterns un recruiting. If Geno had size in the Gabby years, I bet she would have played closer to her present WNBA role but he needed her to compensate for a team with no size.

 

[Carnac]

Other than Griffin, Edwards, and Mühl, no. Against D1 college competition, all 5 have to know what they’re doing to do it effectively.

I think we’ll have a pretty good idea of what we’ve got by the holiday break. The cream will rise to the top. The new players that are ready for prime time will stand out. The play by play announcers won’t have to tell us. We’ll see it for ourselves, and we‘ll know what we’re looking at.

 

[DEpup]

I't's unlikely to happen but I'd love to see UConn utilize a second team of Mir, Nika, Aubrey, AAliyah and Piath once or twice a game just to shake up the other team...........not sure how much they'd score but they would drive the other team crazy with their defense and hustle.......

I am sure that is a group we will see in the last 5 minutes of quite a few games....

 

[BBallF]

Yeah, Mir is kind of a "tweener" and really needs to develop some aspects of her game before she can really shine. Don't get me wrong, her athleticism and unrelenting motor will help the team this year, but she is very limited offensively. She basically scores in three ways, either a put back off a missed shot, a layup off the bounce, or a layup in transition after a steal. She really needs to develop her jump shot and be able to consistently knock down shots from 15 feet and in. I also think her impact in the rebounding game is going to lessened considerably going up against the much bigger and more physical 3s and 4s in the college game.

In the film I watched, she is a tremendous defender with great anticipation, is very fast, a strong rebounder for her size and a very smart player. She can shoot although that was not her game and has to develop that aspect of her game but she didn't need it to dominate in high school because the other skills were so superior. I do see similarities with Aubrey last year( I think Aubrey will be vastly improved this year) since both are floor players at the core but Mir can develop offensively whereas players without the floor skills who are simply offensive players don't necessarily ever acquire them. I see her playing a lot more than most BYers do when we press, which I believe we will do regularly. It's made for her because she causes chaos and the press is made for us because it's a way to get her and the other 5 non starters valuable experience and playing time.

 

[Carnac]

Wow!!! 2,000+ views on this thread in 15 hours. I'd say there's more than just a passing interest in Mir!!

 

[oldhusky]

So I think if you are going to compare bodies than compare freshman Gabby to Mir not senior Gabby.. I think she will end being used similarly to Jamelle, Willnet Crockett, Kalena Green, Kelly Faris a bit and Gabby. Geno has his patterns un recruiting. If Geno had size in the Gabby years, I bet she would have played closer to her present WNBA role but he needed her to compensate for a team with no size.

I agree completely that if Geno had more size at the time, Gabby might have been used differently, but he did manage to fit a square peg in a round hole pretty effectively, finding ways to still make her effective offensively from the foul line.

She was largely a passer from there, but close enough to take a wide open 15 footer if they gave it to her, and quick enough to blow by a big that guarded her close for a layup. Gabby could do everything else, but Geno found a way to make her a very effective scorer as well in their offense.

Mir and the others that may not initially be in the prime time rotation, will certainly have limited minutes in the conference blowouts to learn and show how they might be able to contribute and fit in with the others. They also might become specialists. Mir could represent a completely different skill-set to Anna at SF for example. Anna is a very skilled shooter/passer, but maybe Mir could bring more defense and rebounding when needed etc.

If Mir and Piath were on last years team I suspect they would have gotten rotation minutes in lieu of Kyla and Molly. We only had Aubrey as a quality sub. This year it at least appears we can have three very very good players off the bench at a minimum. Mir and Piath might expand that, but with those first 8 Geno could pretty much cover all the minutes in contested games if he wants, without having to put a weak link on the floor.

Being an above average 9th or 10th best player, doesn't mean you necessarily get significant minutes. The question might be why Mir or Piath instead of Nika, Aaliyah, Aubrey, Anna or Evina. Those are probably going to be hard players to take minutes away from, unless Geno decides on some specialist substitutions or to pick up the pace and press and fast break for much of the game. Of course one injury opens the door, as could foul trouble in some games..

 

[Boreifs]

Let’s not forget that she was a McDonalds All-American. That is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Mir will be like a typical freshman--think Aubrey--in that she is raw, but when you see her chase down rebounds 10' off the floor, you'll be thinking of Gabby Williams. She made the spectators gasp multiple times in each game that I saw her last year.

 

[Magruber]

Here is Mir in her own words. "It is exactly what I anticipated".

She is also a language buff and is learning Polish and Croatian from Ann and Nika and Arabic on her own.
I suspect there are a few Academic awards in Mir's future.

Very impressive young lady.
Mir will be a success in life.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Many of us have seen this before, but perhaps a little refresher is in order:

 

[BBallF]

Very impressive young lady.
Mir will be a success in life.

" Definitely looking at the championship wall a lot....it's not daunting, it's kind of cool....". I think we have ourselves a player who is not intimidated by our history and who gets it already. I predict she will become a fan favorite.

 

[HuskylnSC]

If Mir and Piath were on last years team I suspect they would have gotten rotation minutes in lieu of Kyla and Molly. We only had Aubrey as a quality sub. This year it at least appears we can have three very very good players off the bench at a minimum. Mir and Piath might expand that, but with those first 8 Geno could pretty much cover all the minutes in contested games if he wants, without having to put a weak link on the floor.

Great Point - The end of this year's bench is more talented then the top of last years bench. Interesting way to look at the athletic improvement in one year. Now I want to see that translate into wins.

 

[Deuce]

I have no idea why so many people are penciling in MM2 (can I do that? feels icky towards the original MM) for mop up PT in blow outs. I personally have no idea the impact she will have as a frosh but she is not some low ranked sleeper or total project they took a flier on. She is an All-American, a state POTY and an uber uber athletic freak that Geno signed first and signed early indicating he really wanted her. Someone with her kind of skill set absolutely will be seeing the court early and often for defensive and rebounding purposes. Imo McLean is being wildly underestimated on this board and that rarely ever happens on the women’s board (not an insult just an observation)

 

[AFJ]

I't's unlikely to happen but I'd love to see UConn utilize a second team of Mir, Nika, Aubrey, AAliyah and Piath once or twice a game just to shake up the other team...........not sure how much they'd score but they would drive the other team crazy with their defense and hustle.......

I disagree on Edwards, she might be a starter based on experience.

 

[DEpup]

With all I have heard with Nika, Mir, and seen with Aubrey I am looking forward to some old time UConn pesky relentless perimeter defense! I want to see tears and frustration tech fouls from the opposing guards because they are just hounded and shut down!!!!!

We haven't had that devastating one on one defense in a few years. Don't get me wrong, team defense is great but I love to watch a devastating MoJeff and Kia type deny and hounding one on one defense to take out the opposing team's best guards.

I believe Crystal had the will and speed but poor thing lacked size to fully execute it. Unfortunately Chrystin doesn't have the interest in it nor did Megan Walker. KLS and Anna are a bit too big and gangly to do it but Aubrey, Mir, and Nika may be able to just terrorize guards... I hope!

 

[HuskylnSC]

I have no idea why so many people are penciling in MM2 (can I do that? feels icky towards the original MM) for mop up PT in blow outs. I personally have no idea the impact she will have as a frosh but she is not some low ranked sleeper or total project they took a flier on. She is an All-American, a state POTY and an uber uber athletic freak that Geno signed first and signed early indicating he really wanted her. Someone with her kind of skill set absolutely will be seeing the court early and often for defensive and rebounding purposes. Imo McLean is being wildly underestimated on this board and that rarely ever happens on the women’s board (not an insult just an observation)

It's not intended to insult Mir, but it is objectively looking at her 'competition' for playing time. First she is faced with an almost identical clone in Aubrey. I hear that Mir is even more athletic than Aubrey, but Aubrey starts the year with cache for her performance last year. Then there is Anna a 6'2" sharpshooting passing wiz who again has a really good performance form a year ago. If she wants to play at the 4 there is Aaliyah in her way. An aggressive rebounder/defender, big enough, strong enough to score down low with accuracy to the line. I really don't see her taking minutes from an apparent 4 guard rotation or in the post. Mir is great and I'm glad we have her and I would not be surprised that there will be a time when she steps up and is a key to victory for us. But right now she seems to be in line of 8 others.

 

[Carnac]

I have no idea why so many people are penciling in MM2 (can I do that? feels icky towards the original MM) for mop up PT in blow outs. I personally have no idea the impact she will have as a frosh but she is not some low ranked sleeper or total project they took a flier on. She is an All-American, a state POTY and an uber uber athletic freak that Geno signed first and signed early indicating he really wanted her. Someone with her kind of skill set absolutely will be seeing the court early and often for defensive and rebounding purposes. Imo McLean is being wildly underestimated on this board and that rarely ever happens on the women’s board (not an insult just an observation)

All 11 players have a place on this team. Every player has something to offer. We just have to wait until the season begins to see where everyone fits in. Because the skill and experience levels are different, some players will get more playing time right now than others. Geno and his staff will help EVERYONE develop and improve their skills and athleticism as the season/year progresses. All of the freshmen are better TODAY, than their first day on campus. They will all be much better, and have a better understanding of Geno's system and the game by this time next year. All things in time.

 

[CTBballfan243]

I thought the Russians de-orbited MIR in like 2001. I haven’t heard anything since.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I thought the Russians de-orbited MIR in like 2001. I haven’t heard anything since.

Just like Mir McLean, it was airborne for a long time!

 

[DEpup]

One of the things I think comes with having more good teams is then the need for not only depth but diversity in your depth to be able to easily adjust to different matchups and styles from game to game.

If you are playing a guard focused team then you want to have the ability to bring your guard defense in waves against them. If you are playing a big oriented style than you also want to have bigs to keep throwing at a team.

The flexibility is needed these days so I think you'll see different bench players shine and get substantial minutes based on matchups throughout the season and that is a good thing for UConn. Having plan A, B, and C is good.

 

[donalddoowop]

With all I have heard with Nika, Mir, and seen with Aubrey I am looking forward to some old time UConn pesky relentless perimeter defense! I want to see tears and frustration tech fouls from the opposing guards because they are just hounded and shut down!!!!!

We haven't had that devastating one on one defense in a few years. Don't get me wrong, team defense is great but I love to watch a devastating MoJeff and Kia type deny and hounding one on one defense to take out the opposing team's best guards.

I believe Crystal had the will and speed but poor thing lacked size to fully execute it. Unfortunately Chrystin doesn't have the interest in it nor did Megan Walker. KLS and Anna are a bit too big and gangly to do it but Aubrey, Mir, and Nika may be able to just terrorize guards... I hope!

Do you have proof that C. Williams has no interest in playing hounding man to man defense?

 

[HuskylnSC]

Just like Mir McLean, it was airborne for a long time!

I believe I am paraphrasing Muggsy Bogues who could dunk at 5'3". Who said something like he could jump with anyone in the league. The only problem was it took him longer to come down.

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