Auriemma eyes dominant frontcourt in UConn’s quest for 12th title

[hoophuskee]

. Morrow averaged 25 PPG and 15 RPG in two meetings against UCONN this season-Her Freshman campaign. I'd say she pretty much kicked butt unless you can name me another player that took it to UCONN and put up those kinds of numbers in consecutive games EVER.

In case you didn't read my whole post and the context of my post to oldddue to whom he was replaying to, I'll put down below in bold. And I'd like to remind you there were two games You seem to want to pretend it's one game, otherwise if you agree with me about that it being two games then your post is irrelevant in the context of the discussion. Two is not one. The poster that you gave a like to clearly said "beat us up twice." That means two games. You can't go and change his post or the context of mine because it doesn't fit your narrative.

Here is what I made to olddude who was replying to the other poster -- and my comment in bold below can't be refuted, can it? I clearly said "both" games below, right? And I was clearly responding to the poster saying "beat us up twice," right? So in fact in Game Two Morrow did not beat up UCONN, right?

In Game 2 Morrow was 9-20 from the floor. Nine-for-twenty. With a whopping ONE free throw.

At the other end the 2 bigs for UCONN - with no Liv-- were 16-25 from the floor. Dorka has 22 and Edwards had 19 but the 9-20 from the floor Morrow really whipped UCONN? Yeah Morrow really kicked UCONN's butt in both games. C'mon!!!!!!

 

[CocoHusky]

In case you didn't read my whole post and the context of my post to oldddue to whom he was replaying to, I'll put down below in bold. And I'd like to remind you there were two games You seem to want to pretend it's one game, otherwise if you agree with me about that it being two games then your post is irrelevant in the context of the discussion. Two is not one. The poster that you gave a like to clearly said "beat us up twice." That means two games. You can't go and change his post or the context of mine because it doesn't fit your narrative.

Sure I can! Morrow beat up on UCONN in both games. You can talk about the second game all you want and make excuses about Liv being out and 1 FT attempt etc... In the second game when UCONN knew she was coming Morrow still dropped 20 and 16. The 30 Points she dropped on UCONN in game 1 was the most points UCONN gave up to any player on the season and the 16 rebounds was a tie for the most rebounds with Boston in the Championship game. Why are you having such a hard time giving Morrow her props?

 

[The deacon]

Imho while UConn has some very good “big”
Players none of them have the ability to post
In the low block ..Dorka is a very skilled player
But like most European players is most comfortable facing the basket with good 3
Point range. With another big player who could post up would be very effective
AE is a good rebounder can defend multiple positions and seemed to be getting better at
Shooting the foul line jump shot..a very good player . at this point
Does not have the “natural ability” to establish
Post position,feel the defender and use the body
And foot work to either finish or find the open
Man when there is help defense .these skills
Are very hard to teach and imho are somewhat
natural skills..I believe improved shooting from the foul line and putting the ball on the floor to finish at the rim are areas she could make the most improvement
AD certainly can shoot the ball and in limited
Minutes appears to have a Good “feel” for the game Seems she may have the skills to be a post player but no certainty Her “upside” is very high

Which brings me to why GA seems to be
Very high on I Brady
Have watched multiple video and she
Absolutely knows how to post up great footwork
Knows how to use her body to create angles and space and has a soft touch and being left handed helps additionally very comfortable putting the ball on the floor and range to 15
Feet
She has all the skills that other UConn big
Players do not have and seems physically ready for the college game
Like most freshman players defense will a challenge
While South Carolina will be the favorite and Stanford very formidable. a healthy uconn
Team with improvement from
AD and significant contributions from the freshman could allow the best backcourt
In the country to be the difference
I’m optimistic!!

Excellent stuff, Zonepress... just one note: Aaliyah shot a very respectable 74 percent from the line this past season.

 

[hoophuskee]

Sure I can! Morrow beat up on UCONN in both games. You can talk about the second game all you want and make excuses about Liv being out and 1 FT attempt etc... In the second game when UCONN knew she was coming Morrow still dropped 20 and 16. The 30 Points she dropped on UCONN in game 1 was the most points UCONN gave up to any player on the season and the 16 rebounds was a tie for the most rebounds with Boston in the Championship game. Why are you having such a hard time giving Morrow her props?

Are you kidding me?

Morrow is 9-20 from the floor in Game 2. The poster said twice - two. The number 2. . Why is it that you are having a hard time distinguishing between the words "Game 1" and "Game 2?" SO why do you keep bringing up Game 1 when replied to the "TWO GAMES?"

Are you suggesting 9-20 from 2 for 20 from Morrow while the UCONN players scored 22 and 19 respectively at the 4/5 spots shooting a combined 16-25 that these numbers in Game 2 means that Morrow "was beating up on UCONN? You realize 45% is not very good, right? And 64% is terrific right?

Why do I get the feeling you are going to include Game 1 numbers again?

 

[Fossil]

If there are no more True Biggs how about 6’3” really active good rebounder gets really good low position shoots a nice fade away in the key. Comes from a defensive minded program and only has one year left. She has experience and proven tenacity. Britney Smith from UCF.Under the radar player who could help Connecticut Downlow did not seem to mind the physical play in the paint. Could be a nice addition.

 

[oldude]

If there are no more True Biggs how about 6’3” really active good rebounder gets really good low position shoots a nice fade away in the key. Comes from a defensive minded program and only has one year left. She has experience and proven tenacity. Britney Smith from UCF.Under the radar player who could help Connecticut Downlow did not seem to mind the physical play in the paint. Could be a nice addition.

Other than the experience part and having one year left, your description sounds a lot like Ice and/or Ayanna. I know the grass can always appear greener somewhere else, but with UConn bringing in the 2 best forwards in the class of 2022, I would much rather see Geno and his staff develop their talent and ability rather than renting a player for one year.

 

[TCC Kid]

This is an interesting article. It appears that Geno is weighing whether or not to play the hand he has next season as far as frontcourt players are concerned or to dip into the transfer portal for another Big.

Much of UConn’s ability to make it back to the FF next year, and perhaps overcome the enormous challenge posed by SC & Boston, comes down to the development of Amari DeBerry, a 6’5” post. Amari needs to improve her conditioning and agressiveness but she definitely has the skill set to become a dominant post player.

I am heartened to know that Amari plans to stay on campus over the summer to work with Andrea Hudy, as well as the coaches. She is most certainly the X-factor going into next season.

This is an interesting article. It appears that Geno is weighing whether or not to play the hand he has next season as far as frontcourt players are concerned or to dip into the transfer portal for another Big.

Much of UConn’s ability to make it back to the FF next year, and perhaps overcome the enormous challenge posed by SC & Boston, comes down to the development of Amari DeBerry, a 6’5” post. Amari needs to improve her conditioning and agressiveness but she definitely has the skill set to become a dominant post player.

I am heartened to know that Amari plans to stay on campus over the summer to work with Andrea Hudy, as well as the coaches. She is most certainly the X-factor going into next season.

I am not stupid enough to disagree. I do have a different take on DeBerry. As she ended the season this April she isn't anywhere near being ready to take on Boston, if used as a straight up one on one offensive/defensive player against Boston. She needs 30 pound, 3 years of Div 1 post experience, and maybe 2 inches in height.
HAVING SAID THAT --Geno hasn't been called the MASTER for his good looks. Also, he is not stagnant in his approach to the portal, freshmen, new methods. You can be sure he won't throw away his 40 years of experience. So he and Christine will work DeBerry hard until November. The kid is a tremendous asset in her shooting ability, her mobility, but she needs those things above.
I believe, a team of basketball players (not just those that play), with loads of movement,passing, that can score with 60 percent of their shots or better. Can defeat the team we played in the NC game. SCwon that game with defense and Boston. They, as Arizona did, took Uconn out of its offense. The normal scorers couldn't score.
Deberry's development alone will not be the answer to SC.

 

[Fossil]

Other than the experience part and having one year left, your description sounds a lot like Ice and/or Ayanna. I know the grass can always appear greener somewhere else, but with UConn bringing in the 2 best forwards in the class of 2022, I would much rather see Geno and his staff develop their talent and ability rather than renting a player for one year.

You mentioned it sounding like the stats of two freshmen who have yet to play as opposed to proven statistics from an experienced player. I would love for our incoming freshmen to be that confident and skilled to start with but would not plan on that. So to have a proven commodity at the position would be a solid team decision. Geno and staff can still develop the freshman and sophomore players as well. If anyone is playing better than the transfer then they play over her. But to just automatically give them statistics that we hope they will obtain it’s just that hope. I do know there are other Bigs still available so I’m not locked into the one I mentioned but I know she comes from a tough defensive minded team. I don’t think Connecticut would want to depend on a freshman big or a unproven sophomore big to fill that role if heaven forbid an injury occurs.

 

[oldude]

I am not stupid enough to disagree. I do have a different take on DeBerry. As she ended the season this April she isn't anywhere near being ready to take on Boston, if used as a straight up one on one offensive/defensive player against Boston. She needs 30 pound, 3 years of Div 1 post experience, and maybe 2 inches in height.
HAVING SAID THAT --Geno hasn't been called the MASTER for his good looks. Also, he is not stagnant in his approach to the portal, freshmen, new methods. You can be sure he won't throw away his 40 years of experience. So he and Christine will work DeBerry hard until November. The kid is a tremendous asset in her shooting ability, her mobility, but she needs those things above.
I believe, a team of basketball players (not just those that play), with loads of movement,passing, that can score with 60 percent of their shots or better. Can defeat the team we played in the NC game. SCwon that game with defense and Boston. They, as Arizona did, took Uconn out of its offense. The normal scorers couldn't score.
Deberry's development alone will not be the answer to SC.

I’m not hanging my hope for Amari’s development on her ability to take on Boston. Let’s be honest, there isn’t a player in women’s college basketball who can take on Boston right now. Amari has a big body. Not sure why so many in the BY think she needs to get bigger. She certainly needs to get stronger and fitter which is exactly why Amari committed to spending the summer at Storrs attending Andrea Hudy’s boot camp.

Beyond that, I am intrigued with Amari’s skill set. She doesn’t have to bang in the post with Boston and other Bigs if she can draw them outside of the paint with her ability to knock down 3’s. Once she draws opponents outside, Amari is an excellent passer, who can hit back cutting teammates all day long.

On the defensive end, Amari certainly needs to become more aggressive. In that aspect I am counting on Jamelle to impart her particular brand of toughness to Amari.

The final point I have made about Amari is that she basically missed her entire senior season in HS as a result of the pandemic shutdown. So she had almost 2 years off from basketball. Bigs almost always take a little more time to develop, and Amari came to UConn with a significant developmental disability by virtue of a lengthy period of time away from basketball.

 

[oldhusky]

SC will have a new point guard and that may be the weakness for them. Henderson was very good at controlling the pace and the team. She was a senior and did the job that Harris did before her. We have to disrupt the new point guard. It could be Cooke or maybe Amihere would played it when Henderson was out early in the year.

That could be a problem for SC but the most likely starter at PG for them is not Cooke or Amihere, but their highly rated recruit from last year that suffered a season ending injury. I believe her name was Raven, and I don't remember the last name. She was a top 5 or so recruit and a natural point guard.

Just like Henderson had to apprentice behind Harris for a year or two before taking over the reins, that was probably the gameplan for Raven. When Henderson missed a few games this year they had to adlib with Raven out for the year, but this year I think Raven gets the job unless she proves she isn't ready.

Unlike Henderson she missed that potential year of development, and of course she is coming off an injury and may not be quite 100%, so those are real concerns for SC, but they do have a talented prospect who could do a good job there.

 

[visitingcock]

That could be a problem for SC but the most likely starter at PG for them is not Cooke or Amihere, but their highly rated recruit from last year that suffered a season ending injury. I believe her name was Raven, and I don't remember the last name. She was a top 5 or so recruit and a natural point guard.

Just like Henderson had to apprentice behind Harris for a year or two before taking over the reins, that was probably the gameplan for Raven. When Henderson missed a few games this year they had to adlib with Raven out for the year, but this year I think Raven gets the job unless she proves she isn't ready.

Unlike Henderson she missed that potential year of development, and of course she is coming off an injury and may not be quite 100%, so those are real concerns for SC, but they do have a talented prospect who could do a good job there.

Raven Johnson was generally considered the number two consensus player coming out of high school (behind Azzi). She swept Player of the Year awards her senior year of HS (Azzi didn't qualify because she only had two games in her senior season.)

Raven had a great pre-season for us and was our backup PG to Henderson. Dawn raved about her chemistry with Cardosa. Got meaningful PT in the first game against NC State before blowing out her knee. Will she be at 100% next year physically? Will she rekindle her chemistry with Cardosa? Lotta questions but lotta potential. We'll see.

 

[jabstep]

That could be a problem for SC but the most likely starter at PG for them is not Cooke or Amihere, but their highly rated recruit from last year that suffered a season ending injury. I believe her name was Raven, and I don't remember the last name. She was a top 5 or so recruit and a natural point guard.

Just like Henderson had to apprentice behind Harris for a year or two before taking over the reins, that was probably the gameplan for Raven. When Henderson missed a few games this year they had to adlib with Raven out for the year, but this year I think Raven gets the job unless she proves she isn't ready.

Unlike Henderson she missed that potential year of development, and of course she is coming off an injury and may not be quite 100%, so those are real concerns for SC, but they do have a talented prospect who could do a good job there.

They have lots of players with the potential to do the job but if their is a weakness I believe it is at point guard. Remember she scored a lot of points against us. Its like Nika is a good player but could she replace Paige's points.

 

[TCC Kid]

I’m not hanging my hope for Amari’s development on her ability to take on Boston. Let’s be honest, there isn’t a player in women’s college basketball who can take on Boston right now. Amari has a big body. Not sure why so many in the BY think she needs to get bigger. She certainly needs to get stronger and fitter which is exactly why Amari committed to spending the summer at Storrs attending Andrea Hudy’s boot camp.

Beyond that, I am intrigued with Amari’s skill set. She doesn’t have to bang in the post with Boston and other Bigs if she can draw them outside of the paint with her ability to knock down 3’s. Once she draws opponents outside, Amari is an excellent passer, who can hit back cutting teammates all day long.

On the defensive end, Amari certainly needs to become more aggressive. In that aspect I am counting on Jamelle to impart her particular brand of toughness to Amari.

The final point I have made about Amari is that she basically missed her entire senior season in HS as a result of the pandemic shutdown. So she had almost 2 years off from basketball. Bigs almost always take a little more time to develop, and Amari came to UConn with a significant developmental disability by virtue of a lengthy period of time away from basketball.

i agree with most of what you say. i agree De berry is talented.
But , while she has muscles, she can't bang for very long with anyone of her size. She can't take a rebound away from Boston, nor, at least I haven't seen her, rebound against any large (wide or taller) post.
I noted in the last rambling that she lacked experience (HS and College). You and I know: The isn't any practice that will make up for not playing against the best, that is WCBB college experience against top talent.
Without a true Steff,Stewie,Stokes, type center; if I could get sharp shooters in 4 or 5 positions and play extremely tight defense on SC's other 4 I'd like my chances.
I could complain about the emphasis on the "Big girls" but I think Geno started that trend.
You realize, I'm sure, we are discussing not disagreeing or arguing. Im pretty sure Geno has mused over all our amusing comments since the NC.

 

[oldude]

i agree with most of what you say. i agree De berry is talented.
But , while she has muscles, she can't bang for very long with anyone of her size. She can't take a rebound away from Boston, nor, at least I haven't seen her, rebound against any large (wide or taller) post.
I noted in the last rambling that she lacked experience (HS and College). You and I know: The isn't any practice that will make up for not playing against the best, that is WCBB college experience against top talent.
Without a true Steff,Stewie,Stokes, type center; if I could get sharp shooters in 4 or 5 positions and play extremely tight defense on SC's other 4 I'd like my chances.
I could complain about the emphasis on the "Big girls" but I think Geno started that trend.
You realize, I'm sure, we are discussing not disagreeing or arguing. Im pretty sure Geno has mused over all our amusing comments since the NC.

There were a couple of games when UConn was down to 7 players and Geno was forced to play Amari off the bench. In an admittedly small sample size, I was impressed that Amari appeared more than willing to bang with other posts. Of course none of those posts were named Boston.

 

[oldude]

You mentioned it sounding like the stats of two freshmen who have yet to play as opposed to proven statistics from an experienced player. I would love for our incoming freshmen to be that confident and skilled to start with but would not plan on that. So to have a proven commodity at the position would be a solid team decision. Geno and staff can still develop the freshman and sophomore players as well. If anyone is playing better than the transfer then they play over her. But to just automatically give them statistics that we hope they will obtain it’s just that hope. I do know there are other Bigs still available so I’m not locked into the one I mentioned but I know she comes from a tough defensive minded team. I don’t think Connecticut would want to depend on a freshman big or a unproven sophomore big to fill that role if heaven forbid an injury occurs.

My other issue is although there are a lot of players in the portal, I just don’t see a one year rental who can come in and make a difference. We have Aaliyah, hopefully a healthy Aubrey and the two freshmen. We only need 2 of those 4 to be productive. I’m OK with playing the hand we’ve been dealt.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think Amari will contribute but I have even more hope that Ice and Ayanna will contribute. I don’t care where the rebounds come from as long as they happen. The remaining portal options don’t look enticing to me. Gotta hope the kids develop quickly. They don’t have to score much. Just rebound and defend and they will be a huge plus. Generally I’m not a fan of my post players shooting the 3. I want to see pick and roll ability, defense and rebounding. Finishing ability at the rim would be a plus though. I see Dorka getting worked pretty hard next year and I’m fine with that.

 

[Stymie]

Here you go again

OK, OK...
I’ll get off rebounding problem.
Please pull up Championship Game statistics.
Check differential of “points in the painting” and “second chance points”.
That’s three data points.
Please continue to post cartoons since they seem to be your only reply.

 

[Steelerone]

Ahhh, the hopes and dreams. Probably any coach in basketball, minus the ladies who lead South Carolina and Stanford, go to sleep at night dreaming of attaining even a quarter of what Geno has built. Isn't it sad that some people actually believe that Uconn is diminuished by only being in the Final Four or not winning the Championship game. Talk about the plate being overfilled. The young ladies coming in next year will definitely add to our defense and rebounding because that is now the norm in college basketball, men or women's. And with the new transfer portal rules you are going to see the role of freshmen expanding even furthur.

 

[Alydar]

It would be bad in fact horrible if the program is only striving to be a top 3 team in the country next season. But since I'm positive the team doesn't have the same lowly expectations as you do-we are all good over here!

It would also be bad for the team to have 4 shots of Jägermeister at halftime.

There is zero chance of either happening.

10?
12?
Try UCONN out rebounded by TWENTY FOUR in the finals.
Game
Set
Match

It's not an attempt at an excuse but if you lose 1 of your 3 posts and another is trying to guard the NPOY with a groin pull you should expect to get hammered on the glass. But it isn't nearly enough to say UConn couldn't play inside against SCar next season with their current lineup. SCar has staked it's season on rebounding and defense for as long as Dawn has been there. They have had several seasons when they were both stronger and deeper inside than UConn and yet UConn won easily.

The reason they won so easily was that they had Boston/Henderson and we didn't.

 

[Alydar]

Sure I can! Morrow beat up on UCONN in both games. You can talk about the second game all you want and make excuses about Liv being out and 1 FT attempt etc... In the second game when UCONN knew she was coming Morrow still dropped 20 and 16. The 30 Points she dropped on UCONN in game 1 was the most points UCONN gave up to any player on the season and the 16 rebounds was a tie for the most rebounds with Boston in the Championship game. Why are you having such a hard time giving Morrow her props?

She beat up ONO. ONO is gone. There are still 2 posts left in the rotation along with an underperforming rising sophomore and and blue chip inside power post rookie. There are also 2 jumping jacks being added.
Sometimes another team has a superior player. Morrow can continue to get 25/15 and still graduate without a win against UConn.

 

[CocoHusky]

She beat up ONO. ONO is gone. There are still 2 posts left in the rotation along with an underperforming rising sophomore and and blue chip inside power post rookie. There are also 2 jumping jacks being added.
Sometimes another team has a superior player. Morrow can continue to get 25/15 and still graduate without a win against UConn.

Uhm... when she was beating on ONO, ONO was wearing a UCONN uniform correct? When Morrow was dropping 30 on UCONN it was a 2 point win by UCONN correct? I'm not for conceding any player 25 and 15. You can if you want.

 

[Bone Dog]

In case you didn't read my whole post and the context of my post to oldddue to whom he was replaying to, I'll put down below in bold. And I'd like to remind you there were two games You seem to want to pretend it's one game, otherwise if you agree with me about that it being two games then your post is irrelevant in the context of the discussion. Two is not one. The poster that you gave a like to clearly said "beat us up twice." That means two games. You can't go and change his post or the context of mine because it doesn't fit your narrative.

Here is what I made to olddude who was replying to the other poster -- and my comment in bold below can't be refuted, can it? I clearly said "both" games below, right? And I was clearly responding to the poster saying "beat us up twice," right? So in fact in Game Two Morrow did not beat up UCONN, right?

In Game 2 Morrow was 9-20 from the floor. Nine-for-twenty. With a whopping ONE free throw.

At the other end the 2 bigs for UCONN - with no Liv-- were 16-25 from the floor. Dorka has 22 and Edwards had 19 but the 9-20 from the floor Morrow really whipped UCONN? Yeah Morrow really kicked UCONN's butt in both games. C'mon!!!!!!

I agree. And even in the first game, Morrow benefitted from "Chicago" refereeing. Watch the game and you'll see. The obvious one was where she nearly took Christyn's head off on a layup. By any conservative estimate, she should have had 3 fouls by halftime. Now I think it's also the case that our front court gave her too many free throw opportunities. And it's clear that when she came to Connecticut and got whistled more evenly, her game suffered.

Now don't get me wrong. Morrow is a tremendous talent and DePaul should have been able to follow her through at least two rounds in the NCAA. But it does her a disservice to give her "Chicago" officiating. She still needs to develop to become the star she should be, and that means learning to manage her fouls better.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m not hanging my hope for Amari’s development on her ability to take on Boston. Let’s be honest, there isn’t a player in women’s college basketball who can take on Boston right now. Amari has a big body. Not sure why so many in the BY think she needs to get bigger. She certainly needs to get stronger and fitter which is exactly why Amari committed to spending the summer at Storrs attending Andrea Hudy’s boot camp.

Beyond that, I am intrigued with Amari’s skill set. She doesn’t have to bang in the post with Boston and other Bigs if she can draw them outside of the paint with her ability to knock down 3’s. Once she draws opponents outside, Amari is an excellent passer, who can hit back cutting teammates all day long.

On the defensive end, Amari certainly needs to become more aggressive. In that aspect I am counting on Jamelle to impart her particular brand of toughness to Amari.

The final point I have made about Amari is that she basically missed her entire senior season in HS as a result of the pandemic shutdown. So she had almost 2 years off from basketball. Bigs almost always take a little more time to develop, and Amari came to UConn with a significant developmental disability by virtue of a lengthy period of time away from basketball.

I like Amari's skill set on offense, and she can be shot blocker. But what she seemed to lack on defense was energy, not skills. On offense, I like the way she doesn't bring the ball down when she catches it at either post. She seems already to have learned how to avoid those pesky little guards who try to claw the ball away when it's down low. She knows how to catch turn and shoot/pass. I think she'll become a quick and nimble scorer and passer rather like Czinano on Iowa.

 

[CocoHusky]

And it's clear that when she came to Connecticut and got whistled more evenly, her game suffered.
But it does her a disservice to give her "Chicago" officiating. She still needs to develop to become the star she should be, and that means learning to manage her fouls better.

Yea Morrow's game really "suffered" once she came to UCONN after all she only grabbed 16 rebounds (above her season average) and only scored 20 points (2 points below her season average). Quick question: Did UCONN have a front court player "suffer" this badly all season -with 20 Point and 16 Rebounds in the same game I mean? That kind of "suffering" is definitely something we should all be looking forward to.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I think the tallest player still in the portal is 6'6" Kennedy Brown of Oregon State.

After watching that video I think she'd be worth a look see by Geno & staff!
You can't teach height and at 6'6" Kennedy Brown has some good feet and hands and with the best coaching staff in WCBB they can get some success out of her!