Ashlynn

[Gordo]

One thing I see Caroline doing is cutting to basket but not stopping & trying to post up- instead, she continues to opposite corner where too often she becomes not involved. I’d love to see her spend more time inside and around basket, maybe Geno can design some plays to isolate her. She’s 6’2 and could set up around basket more often.

I don't recall her ever (for the most part) stopping and trying to post up unless one of her teammates actually passed her the ball (which was rare) while she was in the key. When they did, she usually scored. She has great moves in there. However, it appears that Caroline isn't ready to spend much (if any) time in areas where she most likely will get hit in the head again. Fear is controlling much of her game at present. She knows she has to contribute to stay on the floor and that pressure is affecting every part of her game. Her feet are moving before her body and she get a traveling call. She's rushing her 3 pt. shots (when there is no need to do so) and she's not setting her feet, squaring her shoulders, and shooting in rhythm. Instead of pulling up for a easy jump shot, she continues into the stationery defender and is called for a charge. She hears the patter of little feet (although they aren't little) wanting to take more and more of her minutes. She just needs to relax and play her normal game if that's every going to be possible for her again?

 

[Gordo]

In HS, if you earned a D1 scholarship you were likely the best kid on your team and most of the others were not going on to play D1 ball. This would also be true of most of the best opponents you might face: one maybe two best players would earn D1 scholarships.

Now you’re in college and every kid on every team is that “best player” from HS. It’s a really different set of challenges. They’ll all have strengths and weaknesses, but they’ll all be comparable to the best kids you saw. And to top it off, they’ll be grown women, not 14-17 year olds.

You show up at a school like UConn and it’s like you’re that precocious 8th grader who somehow made the HS varsity team. Everyone seems smarter and more mature than you. They’ve seen more and know more and can trick you into mistakes in ways you haven’t seen before. It can be a shock. And it all happens again if you get to the W.

The only advantage you have is some small talent that isn’t fully developed yet. But you’ll keep growing and getting better and eventually you catch up to the older players and even surpass them.

This is where Ashlynn KK Qadence Ice and Jana (and to some extent Inês and Amari) are right now. There will be disappointments along the way, but the future looks bright for them if they stick with it and can avoid injury.

Very well said! It's surprising on a site like this that those things need to be pointed out over and over again and still they unfortunately don't sink in. The only thing I would change would be a couple names in your last paragraph.

 

[Bills Fan]

Very well said! It's surprising on a site like this that those things need to be pointed out over and over again and still they unfortunately don't sink in. The only thing I would change would be a couple names in your last paragraph.

Bone Dog and Gordo; Agree Gordo, the names in Bone's ( ) are not like the others.

 

[Forego]

I've said this before...I hope everyone is not too tired of my carping.

Caroline is a huge talent, super competitive, intelligent, the type of player that can turn a game, even a team around. And I love her game.

She is also a wounded sparrow.
I don't care that the doctors have cleared her;
she is clearly not right.

[ ]

In my heart of hearts, I think she should stop playing right now!
If that's not possible...She, her family and doctors are willing to let her go on for a bit longer...I wouldn't
if it was my child...

Then watch her like a hawk...

I suppose they think they are...but when she speaks about still having symptoms and we all see the ice pack; something is really, really wrong here. And I fret for her future.

Tough crap that some think we need her...
We need her to have a wonderful and fruitful life

Sorry
MSF

Stop being so Koi when expressing your true thoughts regarding Carolina.

 

[JellyBean]

One thing I see Caroline doing is cutting to basket but not stopping & trying to post up- instead, she continues to opposite corner where too often she becomes not involved. I’d love to see her spend more time inside and around basket, maybe Geno can design some plays to isolate her. She’s 6’2 and could set up around basket more often.

Caroline did a lot of posting up last year. I do hope that she or the coaching staff get back to allowing her those options of posting up. With her size in the post and her footwork, she would be hard to deal with.

 

[NC28604]

kind of reminds me of Kelly Faris.

 

[Bills Fan]

I guess we need to change the heading of this thread from Ashlynn to Caroline.

 

[Longtime fan]

At this point, unless something major changes for Caroline, I would think the time for Ash to be getting more minutes than CD is now, not at the end of the season. Caroline clearly brings more to the table than Ashlynn, IF CD is playing as she did as a Freshman but not if she is playing as she has this year.

Not so sure I agree that Caroline brings more to the table. Ash is hugely under-rated. Once she gets comfortable with her game here
(i.e. it slows down for her ), she will amaze you.

 

[Longtime fan]

Great post. Time to remind ourselves that these are basically high school kids with at most 3 D1 games under their belt. Where will they be a month from now? A year from now? They could be really good, the future of UConn WCBB.

Part of the under-rating of Ash is a comment such as," she doesn't appear that quick." Do you watch her being the first Husky down the court in transition, every time? She is not " quick" like KK ( no one is ) but she is plenty fast. And her stamina is so high that after ten full sprints up and down the court, no one will beat her on the eleventh. As you can tell, I am a big fan of her ability. We are lucky to have her.

 

[Jokerman619]

What a amazing group of freshman class. Ashland is doing a incredible job. Not that I am bias, living in Indiana. The same with Patterson. Go Huskies.

 

[Scud49]

What a amazing group of freshman class. Ashland is doing a incredible job. Not that I am bias, living in Indiana. The same with Patterson. Go Huskies.

Yea likewise, I live wthin 10 miles of Noblesville. Really pulling for her (and Ayanna). Actually very pumped for all the freshmen. It would be really crazy if Jana was healthy, I think she has huge upside.

 

[MSGRET]

What a amazing group of freshman class. Ashland is doing a incredible job. Not that I am bias, living in Indiana. The same with Patterson. Go Huskies.

Yea likewise, I live wthin 10 miles of Noblesville. Really pulling for her (and Ayanna). Actually very pumped for all the freshmen. It would be really crazy if Jana was healthy, I think she has huge upside.

Lived in Indiana for the first 20 years of my life before going into the Army. Graduated from Lafayette Jefferson High School. I hated it when they changed basketball to a class system in High School Basketball, it's not the same anymore where a small school like Milan can win it all. Don't miss the heat, humidity and mosquitoes of the Summer and the cold and snow Winter months.

 

[Bills Fan]

Not so sure I agree that Caroline brings more to the table. Ash is hugely under-rated. Once she gets comfortable with her game here
(i.e. it slows down for her ), she will amaze you.

You missed the capitalized "IF" in my last sentence. I, like you, love what Ash does. My point was that CD is 4" taller, plays a needed position (#4) and has experience, but all of that only "IF" CD plays as she did as a Freshman.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

Ms. Shade is the real deal. With each game, you can see her confidence rising. Her game is the mid range game, and I belive she can do some serious damage in that position. I also love her fearless persona on the floor. Man, these freshman are going to be really good down the road. They will hit a couple of bumps down the season, but what better team or system to do that in than Uconn.

 

[Jokerman619]

Yea likewise, I live wthin 10 miles of Noblesville. Really pulling for her (and Ayanna). Actually very pumped for all the freshmen. It would be really crazy if Jana was healthy, I think she has huge upside.

I live just about 20 miles south of Fort Wayne. In Bluffton Indiana. Home of the best Street fair ever.

 

[Skeets]

Stop being so Koi when expressing your true thoughts regarding Carolina.

There's something fishy about your post.

 

[Mandoo]

I don't recall her ever (for the most part) stopping and trying to post up unless one of her teammates actually passed her the ball (which was rare) while she was in the key. When they did, she usually scored. She has great moves in there. However, it appears that Caroline isn't ready to spend much (if any) time in areas where she most likely will get hit in the head again. Fear is controlling much of her game at present. She knows she has to contribute to stay on the floor and that pressure is affecting every part of her game. Her feet are moving before her body and she get a traveling call. She's rushing her 3 pt. shots (when there is no need to do so) and she's not setting her feet, squaring her shoulders, and shooting in rhythm. Instead of pulling up for a easy jump shot, she continues into the stationery defender and is called for a charge. She hears the patter of little feet (although they aren't little) wanting to take more and more of her minutes. She just needs to relax and play her normal game if that's every going to be possible for her again?

Her tapes from the high school she attended show a considerably more agile, energetic player. She was quite a player, no doubt. I can only surmise that the accumulation of concussive shocks to her head have led to a decline in movement, thought, etc. Or, as Mike Tyson once said, "everybody has a plan to defeat me until they get hit on the chin".

 

[Gordo]

Her tapes from the high school she attended show a considerably more agile, energetic player. She was quite a player, no doubt. I can only surmise that the accumulation of concussive shocks to her head have led to a decline in movement, thought, etc. Or, as Mike Tyson once said, "everybody has a plan to defeat me until they get hit on the chin".

My high school movements would show a considerably more agile, energetic player. I believe what I have posted provides a very accurate account for Caroline's present decline. Nothing you have said here has altered that, but I do understand when you're new the desire to contribute (and you do it quite well). Caroline was a beast as a freshman until she got smacked around in a couple of games late in the season. That altered her desire to get there and mix it up. She returned to form and played well coming off the bench against So. Carolina in the 2021-22 season National Championship game. Her sophomore year seldom got on track due to first recovering from hip surgery in the off season, then neck stiffness problems, followed later by the continued hits to the head leading to the concussion(s). Through it all she did have a few very good games, actually winning at least one of them. She has/had (without exaggeration) All American talent and skills offensively, we can just pray that they return a.s.a.p.

 

[CL82]

For what it's worth, I had a chance to speak for an extended period of time with John Fanta. He likes all three of our freshman, but he loves Ashlyn. he is very impressed by her intensity and focus.

 

[boscolino]

She is a bit short. Hoping she will compensate somehow.

 

[Lynx23]

She is a bit short. Hoping she will compensate somehow.

 

[Stinger92860]

I'd say Ash had a heck of a game vs Maryland - 10 pts, a couple of rebounds, a steal, and no turnovers in 15 min on the court. I really like this kid and want to see more of her.

You will get your wish now, but what a crappy way to get minutes. I assume KK moves to starter.

 

[Conndog]

Ashlyn is essentially the same size as Azzi, 5'10 vs 5'11. She is a great defender and plays very smart basketball. I think she is a very good shooter too, and one shot in her repertoire similar to Azzi's is the pull-up jump shot. She can get in the lane and hit that mid-range jumper which separates her somewhat from the others. I would want Caroline to continue to platoon with Aubrey, it doesn't matter to me who starts. If Caroline begins to demonstrate her scoring potential, then for me she must overcome what I think is a mental barrier holding her back (fear she will get injured again). It that happens, then that changes things, and Caroline should keep getting extra minutes. Otherwise, keep alternating her with Aubrey at the 3 for now. Q can also sub for Ashlyn, but I think Ashlyn has the better overall game.

 

[Mandoo]

She is a bit short. Hoping she will compensate somehow.

So was Moriah Jefferson......

 

[Bone Dog]

Ashlyn is essentially the same size as Azzi, 5'10 vs 5'11.

When I’ve seen pics of Ashlynn standing next to Azzi she looks a couple inches shorter. But she looks at least as strong, and Azzi is very strong.