Aubrey Griffin Making an Early Impression

[oldude]

If Westbrook is eligible and healthy, she is as good of a scorer as ANYBODY in the country!

Evina beats defenders off the dribble and attacks the basket about as well as anyone, but to truly be a great scorer, she’ll need to improve her outside shooting. As a freshman at TN, Evina was a very average shooter. After spending all summer working with TN MBB coach Rick Barnes, she became a better shooter as a sophomore at TN. If she continues to improve under the UConn coaching staff, she may well become a great scorer.

 

[meyers7]

I'm just stirring the pot for fun but there is a pathway for Aubrey to be leading scorer. If the starters get after it, play good swarming defense, and get a hefty lead by half time each game then

They will have scored a lot of points.

 

[Jingo]

Sir are you feeling alright? Should we call for help?

After 40 years in girls' basketball, I don't think my predictions are very far off the mark. We'll see, n'est-ce pas?

 

[Jingo]

They will have scored a lot of points.

If Geno deems Aubrey to be a game-changer, then she will get her minutes AND points. He's no fool, eh?

 

[Jingo]

If nothing else, the Huskies bench will be much deeper this year and the rebounding will be MUCH better than in recent years. As such, better rebounding will lead to more transition, a Husky trademark. Like I saw her in high school, I can visualise AG scoring a bunch in transition, especially as a 'trailer'. Like Geno sez, ".. she goes and goes and goes .. !"

 

[DEpup]

They will have scored a lot of points.

All I'm saying in a cheeky way is I remember during the Stewie, Tuck, and MoJeff years that Gabby and then Phee for one year racked up a lot of points in the second half of games. Unfortunately MW and ONO did not continue that tradition in their freshman years....

 

[Sluconn Husky]

If nothing else, the Huskies bench will be much deeper this year and the rebounding will be MUCH better than in recent years. As such, better rebounding will lead to more transition, a Husky trademark. Like I saw her in high school, I can visualise AG scoring a bunch in transition, especially as a 'trailer'. Like Geno sez, ".. she goes and goes and goes .. !"

Why do you think there will such an improvement in rebounding? Collier and her 10.5 RPG are gone. Even if ONO turns special this year--a big if--that's a lot of boards missing.

 

[meyers7]

All I'm saying in a cheeky way is I remember during the Stewie, Tuck, and MoJeff years that Gabby and then Phee for one year racked up a lot of points in the second half of games. Unfortunately MW and ONO did not continue that tradition in their freshman years....

Well they scored "some", wouldn't call it a lot. Williams avg 8.3 which made her #6 in scoring. Collier avg 6.8 which made her #7 in scoring. So neither one were close to being leading scorer as FR (as Jingo is conjecturing), no matter how much they scored in the 2nd half.

 

[meyers7]

If Geno deems Aubrey to be a game-changer, then she will get her minutes AND points. He's no fool, eh?

Sure. IF. But the liklihood that happens is very, very remote. And if it does, UCONN is in trouble.

 

[BroadwayVa]

A. Griffin, is a talent but yet to play a division one game. Last year I anointed C.Williams as the second coming of DT, she wasn't but she proved to be an exceptional talent and very good Division one player. I have serious doubt Aubrey shall be the top scorer, I'll love it if she were, a high being told me last April that Geno never plays Freshmen or never starts freshmen. Geno, without a doubt has a low threshold of confidence in Freshmen and with reasons to back that up. Some High playing Frosh have showed talent until crunch time. DT, Sveta, Sue, Swin, and a dozen others never failed perform even as Frosh. All players, regardless of College year status, have had bad games--it goes with being a BB player.

 

[Jingo]

Why do you think there will such an improvement in rebounding? Collier and her 10.5 RPG are gone. Even if ONO turns special this year--a big if--that's a lot of boards missing.

Besides ONO getting much more playing time this year and, hence, more boards, AG and EA are both elite glass cleaners .. and any caroms from Touly, Irwin and Walker are gravy

 

[Jingo]

Sure. IF. But the liklihood that happens is very, very remote. And if it does, UCONN is in trouble.

Sorry .. I respectfully disagree with you on both counts .. but glad for the chance to argue/debate the points of speculation .. with KLS & Phees gone it's [ahem!] a "whole new ball game!"

 

[BroadwayVa]

If Geno deems Aubrey to be a game-changer, then she will get her minutes AND points. He's no fool, eh?

If GENO deems Aubrey a GAME CHANGER it will be her SENIOR YEAR, when all is said and done. Right now he calls her Go Go ---and a defender. Now, having said that: She jumps (from all reports) like Gabby, she attacks well. Defense with a shot and great attitude (go go gos) will get her time on the floor.
I have great expectations for her future I hope she scores well, plays defense, rebounds like Gabby as a senior. Will she this year, probably not.

 

[Buzzyboy]

If GENO deems Aubrey a GAME CHANGER it will be her SENIOR YEAR, when all is said and done. Right now he calls her Go Go ---and a defender. Now, having said that: She jumps (from all reports) like Gabby, she attacks well. Defense with a shot and great attitude (go go gos) will get her time on the floor.
I have great expectations for her future I hope she scores well, plays defense, rebounds like Gabby as a senior. Will she this year, probably not.

Isn't Geno known to love and cherish a kid that can play defense? Defense is what's the engine for fast break opportunities and if the other team is stopped defensively, more than half the battle is won, isn't it? He has kept kids on the bench who had good offensive tools because they didn't or couldn't play defense.

 

[Jingo]

If GENO deems Aubrey a GAME CHANGER it will be her SENIOR YEAR, when all is said and done. Right now he calls her Go Go ---and a defender. Now, having said that: She jumps (from all reports) like Gabby, she attacks well. Defense with a shot and great attitude (go go gos) will get her time on the floor.
I have great expectations for her future I hope she scores well, plays defense, rebounds like Gabby as a senior. Will she this year, probably not.

Why does everyone talk about AG 'down the road' .. what's wrong with 'right now' as I see it?

 

[Mdoggie]

Why does everyone talk about AG 'down the road' .. what's wrong with 'right now' as I see it?

I sometime ask my children, How many people is "everyone'

 

[Jingo]

I sometime ask my children, How many people is "everyone'

Eristic...

 

[Alydar]

Why do you think there will such an improvement in rebounding? Collier and her 10.5 RPG are gone. Even if ONO turns special this year--a big if--that's a lot of boards missing.

Instead of looking at who is gone (which is scary) try looking at who we got (better than most everyone else) I don't worry about rebounding. Everyone is a decent rebounder. The problem is going to be keeping the couple of really big schools off the offensive boards. But that was a problem for Collier last season and she got 10+/gm.
Adebayo could be a big help spelling ONO and at the 4. Murray St played Ill., Kent., & Tenn. She had some nice and a couple not so nice stats in those games but she was very active. She took 51 shots in those 3 games, scoring 23, 20 & 28 pts. She was 5-11 from 3, hit her ft's and scored and all 3 games were on the road and Tenn still draws a good crowd. That tells she isn't afraid of the lights which is an issue. But she's 22, not 17. Geno said she has transformed her body and it looks to me like she is majoring in "Pro-Preparation" this season. If she followed what Dolson did prior to her senior year then she's got some focus. If she can get 6-7 rbs in 15 min/gm we'll do OK.
All that makes me optimistic. Hope it lasts.

 

[DeeHusky]

Even if she does leads the team in scoring, that doesn’t mean others won’t be high scorers as well nor does it mean the team will be in trouble. It’s just a prediction.

 

[soxfan23]

Why does everyone talk about AG 'down the road' .. what's wrong with 'right now' as I see it?

Because we are trying to be realistic.

 

[diggerfoot]

Yea Jingo has brought this up before. (He's not willing to back it up though.) As I've replied to him before, IF Griffin is leading UCONN in scoring, that's gonna be a very, very bad thing. At the very, very best Griffin is going to be the 5th scoring option. That would mean Westbrook didn't get her waiver and Makurat is struggling. And if our 5th option is leading the scoring, that means options 1-4 (Williams, Walker, ONO, Dangerfield) are either having very bad years or are injured.

So, hopefully, it will not happen.

I disputed Jingo as well, but now let me play devil's advocate. If Griffin is really, really terrific as a freshman she could get the most points and that would be good news. Of course, she would have to be even better than Taurasi, since there was too much seniority ahead of Taurasi for her to even start right away. She would have to be even better than Stewart as well. Even though she started and led in scoring for awhile, opponents figured out how to neutralize her until tournament time. But if Griffin is as good as Moore as a freshman, well then, we got ourselves a championship team in the making. The early comments from Auriemma, while promising, do not indicate she's as good as Moore, so you're probably right.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Why does everyone talk about AG 'down the road' .. what's wrong with 'right now' as I see it?

Shes an un tried and not so true Freshman and historically Geno need Frosh to build trust with him---no trust no start. That's Geno.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Isn't Geno known to love and cherish a kid that can play defense? Defense is what's the engine for fast break opportunities and if the other team is stopped defensively, more than half the battle is won, isn't it? He has kept kids on the bench who had good offensive tools because they didn't or couldn't play defense.

Read the second line you have commented on. DEFENSE IS ADDRESSED THERE. DEFENSE IS ONLY PART OF THE GAME SHE MUST PLAY

 

[MilfordHusky]

I disputed Jingo as well, but now let me play devil's advocate. If Griffin is really, really terrific as a freshman she could get the most points and that would be good news. Of course, she would have to be even better than Taurasi, since there was too much seniority ahead of Taurasi for her to even start right away. She would have to be even better than Stewart as well. Even though she started and led in scoring for awhile, opponents figured out how to neutralize her until tournament time. But if Griffin is as good as Moore as a freshman, well then, we got ourselves a championship team in the making. The early comments from Auriemma, while promising, do not indicate she's as good as Moore, so you're probably right.

I saw Ossining play a good team from Baltimore in Virginia last December. Ossining eventually lost by a few in a high-scoring affair. I believe that Aubrey had 38 points. For a 6-minute stretch in Q3, Aubrey WAS Maya Moore. She took over the game with steals, blocks, layout, jumpers, etc. It was a glimpse of her potential.

 

[meyers7]

I disputed Jingo as well, but now let me play devil's advocate. If Griffin is really, really terrific as a freshman she could get the most points and that would be good news. Of course, she would have to be even better than Taurasi, since there was too much seniority ahead of Taurasi for her to even start right away. She would have to be even better than Stewart as well. Even though she started and led in scoring for awhile, opponents figured out how to neutralize her until tournament time. But if Griffin is as good as Moore as a freshman, well then, we got ourselves a championship team in the making. The early comments from Auriemma, while promising, do not indicate she's as good as Moore, so you're probably right.

Probably???