Majic Hands
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We Hoosiers like our basketball!
Ashlynn Shade's excellent season...
- Thread starter DavidinNaples
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I think one of the outstanding traits of a player like Ashlynn is their unselfishness, their willing to subjugate themselves. They practice hard and do everything they can to improve themselves but at all times the team comes first. No, they don't like sitting on the bench but when they do they are doing everything they can to support their teammates. You don't win championships without Ashlynn's.
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Shade is a far superior defender than Azzi. Because of her defensive intensity and the fact that “Geno trusts her”, I see her being on the court a lot. Maybe it will be better to play the more injury prone players in spot duty. Sort of keep them in bubble wrap annd hope they can make it unscathed until March.
Majic Hands
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I could’ve really given your thoughts a thumbs up, But your first sentence.
Haven’t seen either enough to evaluate their defense. Yes, Ash improved all season long last year and I’m hoping she’s improved in this aspect of her game since last year.
I suspect when Azzi gets up to speed she will be a more prolific scorer than Ash. I’m thinking in terms of mindset. I think Azzi is more comfortable shooting first where Ash has more of a pass first mindset.
But again, Azzie’s been playing between injuries. . . If Azzi makes it back before December I’m not expecting much before Jan-Feb.
MSGRET
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Born a Hoosier, St Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette. Grew up in both West Lafayette and Lafayette before joining the Army in 73.
Majic Hands
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Born in New Albany.
Was attending Floyd Central when we got beat by East Chicago Washington.
Spent time in Lafayette. Know the folk who own Claycritters.
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MSGRET
MSG, US Army Retired
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New Albany home of one of the first National Cemeteries, Fuzzy Zoeller and one of the most beautiful steel bridges ever built. Haven't been back to Lafayette since 2012 for Jefferson high school's 40th reunion. Another famous basketball player lived most of his childhood in Indianapolis, they called him the Big O. Born in Tennessee, but moved when he was only 18th months old.
Go GO! Ash 12!
Azzi should be Ash"s backup when Ash needs a minute. Ash is the future, near-term and long-term.
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I like Ash too! She is the quintessential UConn player, skilled, hard working, enthusiastic, and all about the team! However, let’s remember that Azzi was the consensus #1 recruit in her class, was/is said to have “perfect” form on her shot by no less an authority than Steph Curry, and in the brief period where she was fully healthy, exhibited Paige like dominance on the court! I don’t think any of us can truly say where she stands in the hierarchy of guards until we see her play “healthy” for a substantial period of time. Hopefully, we will finally get to see that very soon!
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I watched the team practice for 2 days a few weeks ago. Shade was a leader. She was 100% involved the entire time. And she never looked tired. She has more definition to her body. Her shot was even better, at least out to the 3pt line. She looked like she knew what she was doing. And she was decisive. But what really made me a fan was in the 2nd period of the 1st night scrimmage. The players just shot 3's with almost zero defense. The almost was Shade, who didn't get the memo to stop defending. There was a miss with a few seconds left and she ran in to get the rebound while everyone else was walking off the court. She was going 100%. I think she will set the intensity level of the defense, something that Muhl handled. She has matured and I think she will be known for her defense as much as her offense. I strongly think she starts. Geno knows he can trust her.
donalddoowop
Who put the Bop in the Bop Shoo Bop?
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I trust her too. That automatically means she will start.
Shade will be one of the UConn greats if she steers clear of a major injury. I believe she will be one of UConn's leaders by her junior year.
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I suspected something like this from watching her in HS, and your report goes beyond even my highest hopes. Ash was a natural leader back then and it sounds like she’s becoming one in Storrs.
Muhl was in and out of the starting lineup in her first two seasons. But she was a constant theme in Geno’s lineups throughout. Ash also might not start every game, but I bet she figures importantly all season.
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First let me say that Ash is one of my very favorite Huskies and that she could or should be a starter at the beginning of the year. Regarding playing time she has a couple of obstacles to overcome: 1. she is very limited in her "position." she is not a point guard and is really too short to play the #3 spot. The next obstacle is just the number of highly talented guards Geno will have available and want to give time to.
KK and KC will get almost all of the minutes at the PG. While Paige can get time at the SF, she is probably best at the SG so there go some of Ash's time. Then you have Azzi hopefully coming back NLT mid-Dec. The SG spot is AZ's natural position, she really is not a PG and is too short for the SF position. In addition to all the competition for time at the SG (#2) we also have two outstanding FR who will need rotation minutes at the SG-Allie primarily at the SG and Morgan splitting time at the SG and SF spots.
When all of this is taken into account, even an improved Ash, while maybe a starter, will see a substantial reduction in her playing time. One helpful item regarding Ash's time on the court is Geno's often stated trust in her in any tight games, I see her PT at important times of the game, especially the last quarter and she will never look tired.
If Azzi is 110% down the road, Ash12 will still be the more impactful player. (Just one more Ashfan prediction.)
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Ash and everyone else on the team has the luxury of having the best go to player in the country down the stretch when you need to score. I think we are really overlooking Chen. I see her as a potential starter and also as a backup for Paige when she sits and before Azzi is healthy because Chen is a proven from everywhere scorer. There seems to be an implied and accepted version of this team on the BY that Chen is a backup point. She is far more than that and a much better shooter and scorer than KK and a very adroit passer. I see her in several roles and perhaps at 3 different positions, if positions even still exist.
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I don’t know which one will back up which. Chens stats show she’s the better scorer at present. We don’t know which will be the better defender yet, but I suspect KK may have a slight edge there. However it turns out, I have to suspect KK will get major minutes (at least 20) merely because she’s the PG of the future and Chen is only here for one year. I doubt Geno will sacrifice a year of development for KK just to get a slight scoring advantage, given how many other scorers he’s got.
See that is what I was referring to. The implicit assumption that it is her and KK fighting for time at the point. She is a lot better than most of us are thinking and more versatile by position because of her offensive game. I don't think it's a slight scoring advantage over KK. I think it is a lot more than that and that Geno will use her to spell not only KK but also Ash and Paige. We will see.
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KK averaged 9 pts/g last season and Kaitlyn averaged nearly 16 last season and14.2 for her career at Princeton. Don't worry, I'm a fan of hers and hope she thrives this season, and even earns a draft pick next spring. I'm not making an implicit assumption here. It's explicit for me. This is one of the reasons Geno got her. And I think the competition will be really good for her and especially for KK. They'll both have a ton of motivation to up their games.
I'll be thrilled if Kaitlyn gets that many points this season. I suspect her numbers will be slightly lower on a team where she's not the primary scoring option. Plus, she may want to showcase her passing more on a team with so many other options. She averaged 4.9 assists at Princeton and may aim higher, maybe 6+ assists. I mean, as PG at Princeton, Kaitlyn was piloting a tugboat, a scrappy tugboat to be sure. This season she'll find herself at the helm of a battleship bristling with weapons.
She can play the 2 and even some 3 but KK can't, that is the difference. I think she will thrive here much the same as Lou did and she will make her own role on the court including being on it when KK is at the point because she is so versatile.
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You may be right. However, I suspect neither KK nor Kaitlyn will get many minutes (if any) at the 3 or the wing. Paige Azzi Allie Caroline Sarah Q are all better candidates for minutes there. A similar problem for either of them at the 2 or SG since there are so many better perimeter shooters available. Put KK or Kaitlyn at either spot and that means sitting a better shooter. Geno played KK Ash and Nika together last season because injuries didn’t leave him a lot options, and they made it work by being supremely scrappy. I don’t see him going to such a lineup often this season.
Your list at the 3 or wing, left a few candidates off, one who will play a lot and one not so much. Paige will get as many minutes at the 3 as needed so that she will average 28-30 minutes/game no matter what she is playing. The two you left off are Morgan and Yanna, although I don't see Yanna playing that spot unless needed there due to size of an opponent.
If PB plays 30 min per game then maybe half of them will be as a SF/wing. I think the remaining 25 will be distributed roughly as follows: MC 12, AZ 6, Q 6 , CD 1 (because of injuries), 0 (too short), SS and AP, 0 will play all their minutes at the 4. I think too many posters are sleeping on how good Morgan is going to be.
When Aubrey returns she will impact these minutes at the 3 although she might be part of the 4-player rotation ( Jana, SS, Ice and AG) in the frontcourt , (mainly at the 4 for Aubrey).
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Depends upon what is your definition of spectacular. I was impressed by Steady Eddie performance---and A FRESHMAN, without the hype of 4 or 5 others. Give me a team of 4 Ashlynn's and one Paige or Fudd, I may not win the NC but i'll be in that game at the end. I must admit, I'm an unbashful Ashlynn fan.Plenty of pre-season discussion about Liya and Nika leaving, Sarah & Allie arriving, Kaitlyn transferring and Jana & Azzi recovering. And of course, Paige being Paige for her final season. (maybe) I'm also excited about the upcoming season for Ashlynn Shade. First, a review of her stats from last year, when nothing much was expected, but a whole lot was delivered.
Consider:
1. Scored 419 points while playing 1,194 minutes. (Both 3rd most on the team.)
2. More assists (55) than personal fouls (52).
3. A total of 39 turnovers in 38 games. Going to round down to 1 per game..!
4. Shot 91% from the free throw line (21-23).
5. Her 64 threes was 2nd on the team to Paige (84).
6. Shot 36% from outside the arc & 62% from inside the 3 line. Sweetest pull-up jumper on the team.
7. Averaged 31.4 minutes per game and never looked tired. (Ok, maybe a little)
Shade plays very steady, but unspectacular basketball. But her relentless motor and drive make her the perfect compliment to the team's higher profile stars. Best of all, she will get even better this season. (Gym rats always do.) Does the headline refer to Shade's play last year or the upcoming season? Both I hope...
Go Huskies..!! Go Ashlynn...!!
