Asia Durr talks recruiting

[HuskyNan]

you guys are a little harsh on Russell. i remember reading some of the same nonsense about Harrison and Glory Johnson when they were underclassman. Russell will be a VERY good player. her skill set is far more advanced than Glory or Harrison as freshman. just wait and watch....and remember the criticism...

Too many UConn fans forget it took a year and a half each for both Asjha Jones and Tina Charles to "get it". Posts need a longer time to adjust, it's just a fact. If Mercedes had gone to just about any other school fans here would be more forgiving of Mercedes' learning curve.

 

[jdubct]

Too many UConn fans forget it took a year and a half each for both Asjha Jones and Tina Charles to "get it". Posts need a longer time to adjust, it's just a fact. If Mercedes had gone to just about any other school fans here would be more forgiving of Mercedes' learning curve.

And, Geno wanted to recruit her but she wasn't interested in going to Uconn.

 

[doggydaddy]

Too many UConn fans forget it took a year and a half each for both Asjha Jones and Tina Charles to "get it". Posts need a longer time to adjust, it's just a fact. If Mercedes had gone to just about any other school fans here would be more forgiving of Mercedes' learning curve.

I'm really doubtful of that. It wouldn't be as much a topic of conversation, but her performance is not near the freshman Charles and certainly not that of the #1 recruit.

Russell - 6.3 ppg, 5 rpg, 40 blocks.

Charles - 12.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 81 blocks.

Big difference.

Asjha was not the #1 recruit.

 

[doggydaddy]

I wouldn't put too much stock in recruiting rankings anyhow.....its so odd how unevenly ranked players are throughout different services. And that 2012 class with KML at the top wasn't that strong but EW deserved her #2 ranking...she just hasn't lived up to the potential of a #2 recruit. Just like Cierra Burdick....just from watching her play I would have never thought she was #3 :-/

Russell was either #1 or #2 recruit in the services. Are you saying she was over ranked? Clearly Burdick was.

 

[HuskyNan]

I'm really doubtful of that. It wouldn't be as much a topic of conversation, but her performance is not near the freshman Charles and certainly not that of the #1 recruit.

Russell - 6.3 ppg, 5 rpg, 40 blocks.

Charles - 12.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 81 blocks.

Big difference.

Asjha was not the #1 recruit.

UConn had better guards. The kid can't score if she doesn't have the ball.

 

[Icebear]

UConn had better guards. The kid can't score if she doesn't have the ball.

But that doesn't address the rebounds and blocks.

 

[doggydaddy]

UConn had better guards. The kid can't score if she doesn't have the ball.

Not buying that one. Charles was better her freshman year and Russell underperformed for a number one recruit.

I'm not sure why you are arguing those facts.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Give her time....Mercedes will be the best center in WCB by her Jr year! All the things she needs to improve on are very achievable. (Strength, Conditioning)....there is really only one good thing that makes post players great and that's footwork. Every game I seen or attended MR footwork was qyite good to be a freshman. And you can't teach height...she'll be great once we have guards that can knock the 3 down. And I can't knock Khia for her defenses and rebounding but she'll have to work on her offensive skill set to have a breakout season as MOST here think she will have.

Kiah is unlikely to be the prolific screener and assist machine that Dolson was. Not too many centers average 2.5 A/G in a single season, let alone over their entire career, or shoot 42% from behind the arc as Stef did her junior year. Very few centers will ever have the offensive skill set of Dolson, so one must be reasonable about their expectations. As far as putting points on the board, I think Kiah will be just fine in place of Dolson. Assuming Kiah does not improve going into next year (unlikely that she won't get at least marginally if not quite a bit better) and given Dolson minutes, Kiah would average about 8 points per game, or about 4 less than Dolson. I really don't understand why people get down on Kiah's offensive game. Maybe it's not as complete as Dolson's, but from a points standpoint, there really isn't going to be a precipitous drop off. Replacing Bria's offensive output and defense is going to be a much bigger deal I think, and I'm not sure Chong or Banks will come as close to being a replacement for Bria as Kiah will be for Dolson.

 

[HuskyNan]

Not buying that one. Charles was better her freshman year and Russell underperformed for a number one recruit.

I'm not sure why you are arguing those facts.

I was not arguing your stats, which I've pointed out numerous times don't always show the whole picture. If we judged players solely on stats, Kelly Faris would have been a bust. I'm arguing with the fact that the kid played in a horrible system.

I'm not getting into this with you people any more because there's no point. The kid wears orange so she was overrated coming out of high school. If she'd come to UConn, and Geno recruited her hard, people would be falling all over themselves to point out what I've already said.

 

[Bestiarius]

I was not arguing your stats, which I've pointed out numerous times don't always show the whole picture. If we judged players solely on stats, Kelly Faris would have been a bust. I'm arguing with the fact that the kid played in a horrible system.

I'm not getting into this with you people any more because there's no point. The kid wears orange so she was overrated coming out of high school. If she'd come to UConn, and Geno recruited her hard, people would be falling all over themselves to point out what I've already said.

This isn't a normal case of homerism. It's pretty clear she was overrated based on what previous number 1 players did their first year. We're talking about her rating peers to be people like Moore, Delle Donne, Griner, Ogwumike, Stewart.

Plus it's not that she played in a horrible system, she plays in a horrible system. There is no indication that anything will be changing anytime soon.

 

[Orangutan]

She's still just 18. She may not being matching up with other top recruits yet, but I think it's only fair to see how much she improves over the summer before we tag her with labels like "overrated".

 

[sawxfan23]

UConn had better guards. The kid can't score if she doesn't have the ball.

Do you know how many put back oppotunities and rebound opportunities she got per game last year from poor shot selection from those guards you speak of? I mean if anything at 6'6 her stats should have been padded if anything.

 

[Bestiarius]

She's still just 18. She may not being matching up with other top recruits yet, but I think it's only fair to see how much she improves over the summer before we tag her with labels like "overrated".

We can only judge on what we’ve seen and the stats that are produced. The future is unknown. We’ve got an entire year of Mercedes work to look at. There’s no justification for allowing more time before commenting. Do we have to wait until next season to comment on all Freshmen? Perhaps we should give Diamond a chance to improve? I shudder at that thought.

So how about we leave next year to next year? No one knows what will happen. Dolson performed a miracle transformation over a summer. We praised Graves her first year. As a Soph she also performed a miracle transformation, but in the wrong direction. Next year, Mercedes might follow or better one of these two examples, or perhaps settle somewhere in between. We’ll see, and I’m sure we’ll comment again.

 

[doggydaddy]

I was not arguing your stats, which I've pointed out numerous times don't always show the whole picture. If we judged players solely on stats, Kelly Faris would have been a bust. I'm arguing with the fact that the kid played in a horrible system.

I'm not getting into this with you people any more because there's no point. The kid wears orange so she was overrated coming out of high school. If she'd come to UConn, and Geno recruited her hard, people would be falling all over themselves to point out what I've already said.

You people?

Conversely, if she wasn't a member of the hated orange, you wouldn't say boo to the criticisms.

Of course most Uconn fans will support Uconn players, even if they underperform.

I saw several Tennessee games and she had trouble getting good position to receive entry passes from guards. She was constantly pushed away from the post. I agree that the offensive system didn't help but I don't see how anyone can she didn't underachieve.

One last thing. Yes, stats don't tell everything, but Charles freshman year was nothing like Russell's and I was just trying to show you your comparison was wrong. You might not think numbers tell everything, but national freshman of the year and Big East freshman of the year for Charles trumps anything that Russell ever dreamed of.

 

[doggydaddy]

She's still just 18. She may not being matching up with other top recruits yet, but I think it's only fair to see how much she improves over the summer before we tag her with labels like "overrated".

She may prove to be a better player, probably will, but her performance in her freshman year tells me the ranking services got this one wrong.

 

[LadyVols9]

UConn had better guards. The kid can't score if she doesn't have the ball.

exactly. TN's guard need work getting the ball inside. that certainly helps. she will be fine.