Ayanna Patterson goal. Alot more than a super athletic Dunker.

[eebmg]

Hot off the presses as some of the Media day interviews start to make it into the public

UConn freshman Ayanna Patterson brings unique skills to Storrs

UConn women’s basketball freshman Ayanna Patterson has unique athletic gifts. She hopes to show off her overall game with the Huskies.

www.theridgefieldpress.com

“It’s everything I expected and more,” Patterson said of her UConn experience so far. “I knew it was going to be intense. I knew it was going to be hard. But I’m working hard every day.”


“Sometimes from the outside she’s more of a shy person, unless you get to know her,” Lopez Senechal said. “She’s very sweet. She’s very easy to talk to. She’s funny, too.”

“I remember the first day, I was just shooting around with her,” Lopez Senechal said. “After she was done shooting, she would just grab the ball and dunk it. I stand there like, ‘Yeah, I wish I could do that.’ ”

Can you touch the rim? “Maybe on a good day,” Lopez Senechal said, sheepishly.

 

[CocoHusky]

Love that almost her entire focus is on the defensive side of the ball.

“I also want to show I’m a really good defensive player, being able to block shots and get rebounds."

Also strongly agree with this sentence from the article.

With the ground Patterson covers and the way she moves, she should be able to make an immediate difference on defense.

Welcome to UCONN Ayanna your skills are badly needed.

 

[Charliebball]

With all of her athleticism and aggression, my hope is for Patterson to become UConn's version of Nalyssa Smith over the next four years......should be exciting to watch.......

 

[Bone Dog]

I don't care for the word aggression to describe BB. You hear it a lot from sportscasters, but they are often vocabulary-challenged. Maybe this term is suitable for football. What I think matters in BB is energy, decisiveness, resolve and self-assertion. They're not picking fights with each other on the court, after all.

Otherwise, I'm totally on board with the Alyssa Smith comparison.

 

[JordyG]

I don't care for the word aggression to describe BB. You hear it a lot from sportscasters, but they are often vocabulary-challenged. Maybe this term is suitable for football. What I think matters in BB is energy, decisiveness, resolve and self-assertion. They're not picking fights with each other on the court, after all.

Otherwise, I'm totally on board with the Alyssa Smith comparison.

Yeah, well I first heard the term from players and coaches. Announcers stole the phrase from them, not the other way around. The phrase is used throughout sports, even from players in games like tennis, curling, bowling, and table games like chess. If you think basketball isn't a physical game where aggression is rewarded perhaps you need to play a bit more.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

I find nothing wrong with the phrase "an aggressive drive to the basket"

 

[Luckystrike]

She seems so lovely and very committed. I am looking forward to four years of Gabby Williams-like steals

 

[Alydar]

Physicality in the execution of an athletic move is a part of most team sports involving a ball. Two players go for a rebound and a 2 second struggle ensues. I have a problem when physicality becomes a strategy, ala UCF for an example. Physical intimidation is nothing more than bullying and officials who allow it should be fired. I know many think it's "part of the game" but getting beat up every morning on the way to school also used to be "just part of growing up".

 

[Bone Dog]

Yeah, well I first heard the term from players and coaches. Announcers stole the phrase from them, not the other way around. The phrase is used throughout sports, even from players in games like tennis, curling, bowling, and table games like chess. If you think basketball isn't a physical game where aggression is rewarded perhaps you need to play a bit more.

Sorry, @JordyG . Didn't mean to offend anyone's delicate sensibilities. I've played plenty, thank you. Plus, though I'm not large, I was always the kid on the bb court or the baseball field who was likely to get into fights with larger kids. Prolly why my Mom wanted me to study martial arts -- to take the edge off and help me win some of those fights. Now, 50 years later, as a college prof, experienced youth coach in 3 sports, I know from aggression. And that isn't BB. Perhaps I'm not the one who needs to play a little more... you know, just to remind yourself of how BB works. On any playground or court, once a fight breaks out, the game is over. And spare me the irrelevant examples from professional sports, especially football and hockey.

 

[Charliebball]

I don't care for the word aggression to describe BB. You hear it a lot from sportscasters, but they are often vocabulary-challenged. Maybe this term is suitable for football. What I think matters in BB is energy, decisiveness, resolve and self-assertion. They're not picking fights with each other on the court, after all.

Otherwise, I'm totally on board with the Alyssa Smith comparison.

I used the term to describe a player that will drive to the basket or fight for a rebound or play defense with an aggressive mindset..........they will not be deterred regardless of the opponent............without PB, UConn needs more players to be consistently aggressive to have a successful season......

 

[Majic Hands]

..........without Paige Beckers, UConn needs more players to be consistently aggressive to have a successful season......

I have no doubts. We have seen it before.

With Paige in the game it seems as if 4 other players aren't concerned. . . Paige will get it done. When Paige isn't available we have 5 player playing with a sense of urgency on the floor looking to get it done.

Just my opinion. Looking forward to a really awesome year of UConn WBB!

 

[CocoHusky]

Have we collectively gotten this soft and are now afraid of the use of the words like aggression and physicality as it applies to sports? If so please count me out. From the time of playing pee wee football the first thing we did in warm ups was look across the field to "size" up the opposition. For basketball same story. You guys don't think there was physical sizing up going on in the LLWS last month. In the softball LLWS the pitcher from Texas the wining team was wearing terminator style sun glass ( I loved it ). If you have a physical advantage (taller, stronger , faster) regardless of the sport, and you are not using that to your advantage (AKA being aggressive) you are doing it wrong. Physical intimidation is not bullying in the context of a sport, it is actually malpractice if you have that advantage and don't use it.

 

[Bone Dog]

That's not what aggressive means. But, whatever. Use it however you like. I never said you couldn't.

And stop wimp-shaming me. Or is it nerd-shaming? I'm all for big kids pushing little kids around in sports. And for little kids pushing back -- though often enough the big kids aren't ready for that and they respond either with bullying (aggression) or tears. But as much as I like kids asserting themselves in sports, I like using words well even more. A little nuance, please.

 

[Mdoggie]

She seems so lovely and very committed. I am looking forward to four years of Gabby Williams-like steals

Lovely is not a word used in Basketball @Bone Dog

 

[TeamFirst!]

Ayanna is clearly a very nice kid. I think she's teachable though. She's going to respond to the new level of competition. I think she thrives. If you watched her in the HS all star games she rose to the top quickly. She definitely belongs. It's only a matter of how fast she improves.

 

[TeamFirst!]

And I think she might be our best rebounder already and potentially a defensive force in the paint with her size, jumping ability and quickness. Is she the Robert Wiliams of this team? Maybe.

 

[meyers7]

That's not what aggressive means. But, whatever. Use it however you like. I never said you couldn't.

And stop wimp-shaming me. Or is it nerd-shaming? I'm all for big kids pushing little kids around in sports. And for little kids pushing back -- though often enough the big kids aren't ready for that and they respond either with bullying (aggression) or tears. But as much as I like kids asserting themselves in sports, I like using words well even more. A little nuance, please.

 

[GEAinAustin]

Use whatever term you want, I am standing by my statement that she will be starting sooner than later. Patterson, Edwards, and Griffin on the court at the same time give UConn a speed, physical, and athletic component that will be hard to match.

 

[Alydar]

I have no doubts. We have seen it before.

With Paige in the game it seems as if 4 other players aren't concerned. . . Paige will get it done. When Paige isn't available we have 5 player playing with a sense of urgency on the floor looking to get it done.

Just my opinion. Looking forward to a really awesome year of UConn WBB!

A lot of that sort of thing left with the seniors. Geno has commented that he was impressed with how competitive the last 2 classes have been. I'm seeing the same thing this year.

 

[BBallF]

We all have to be patient with her and the other freshmen and Lou Two too. Remember Caroline in the early part of last season? I was at the game against Seton Hall at Walsh. She had a terrible game. Stepped on the sideline twice, turned it over and fast forward, the light goes on later in the season and she wins the DePaul game and becomes our go to player for a stretch. I mean, second team All Big East as a freshmen after a very turgid and forgettable start.

Most players need their sea legs, not everyone is a Paige, and this UCONN stuff is hard work, with fits and starts, being in the Chateau De Bow Wow at times as Kara Wolters would say, and sometimes tears and fears. However, just look at what these young women become both as players and people. The maturity level, the growth and development as players, the self esteem, the confidence. It will happen to Ayanna and Ice and Lou Two and yes, to a very young Ines as well.

Ayanna is going to be a very, very difficult player to defend and contain in relatively short order. I'm excited to watch.

 

[JordyG]

Sorry, @JordyG . Didn't mean to offend anyone's delicate sensibilities. I've played plenty, thank you. Plus, though I'm not large, I was always the kid on the bb court or the baseball field who was likely to get into fights with larger kids. Prolly why my Mom wanted me to study martial arts -- to take the edge off and help me win some of those fights. Now, 50 years later, as a college prof, experienced youth coach in 3 sports, I know from aggression. And that isn't BB. Perhaps I'm not the one who needs to play a little more... you know, just to remind yourself of how BB works. On any playground or court, once a fight breaks out, the game is over. And spare me the irrelevant examples from professional sports, especially football and hockey.

And I apologize for clearly hitting a sour spot with you. I of course would never compare, and never have, football or hockey to basketball. Again, you may have a problem with aggression in BB, and I've complained any number of times about "bully ball" tactics used by teams. But the use of the word aggressive has been in effect in playgrounds, on BB courts, and in every single sport I can think of since I can remember watching my first sporting event on my daddy's knee.

 

[Ace565]

I don't care for the word aggression to describe BB. You hear it a lot from sportscasters, but they are often vocabulary-challenged. Maybe this term is suitable for football. What I think matters in BB is energy, decisiveness, resolve and self-assertion. They're not picking fights with each other on the court, after all.

Otherwise, I'm totally on board with the Alyssa Smith comparison.

There is a level of aggressiveness in all sports (fact). Beyond that fouls or called or worst case fighting. Aggression in sports is not bullying it is part of the game. Coaches would refer to it as getting in a players head or owning that person. When a player mind is elsewhere the player does not play as well. Another known fact. Also an aggressive player coupled with that burning desire elevates that player to an otherworldly level and cannot be stopped. See Paige in the OT periods in the NC State game or Jordan back in the day after he got angry from what the defender was doing. He was quite unstoppable at that point. And last, every time TB 12 got angry he won the game.

 

[Bone Dog]

Still with the definitions of aggression? Use a dictionary, people. It refers to attacking people. In sports, it’s a metaphor borrowed from military uses, you know, war and fighting, etc. Yeah, I get that coaches use it. Sportscasters too. Two groups known for their linguistic dexterity. We don’t need to keep stating the obvious. Continue to use it if you like. I don’t like it. I offered a few alternatives with more nuance. Use them instead, if you care, or don’t use them.

 

[Bone Dog]

When I was a kid, BB sportscasters regularly used two clichés, 1) “getting on track” for a player who’s shot was off initially — he needed to get on track; 2) drawing a foul, in the sense of inducing the player covering you to foul. Both of them evolved over the years.

Al Maguire transformed #1 to “getting untracked.” Was he aware that he’d changed the phrase? Who knows, but the underlying sense had changed into something either incoherent or weird, namely a drug addict trying to kick the habit and missing shots becomes the withdrawal symptoms. It’s a rich image but not a very friendly one. The incoherent alternative would be that the player has gotten tangled up in his model train set.

#2 had the rich sense of drawing the foul from the opponent’s soul, as if someone was a sort of wizard. I imagine we can all remember stars from our childhood capable of such wizardry. For me it was Oscar Robertson and Walt Frazier. Later it became drawing the foul from the refs as though they were Las Vegas dealers.

 

[Ace565]

Still with the definitions of aggression? Use a dictionary, people. It refers to attacking people. In sports, it’s a metaphor borrowed from military uses, you know, war and fighting, etc. Yeah, I get that coaches use it. Sportscasters too. Two groups known for their linguistic dexterity. We don’t need to keep stating the obvious. Continue to use it if you like. I don’t like it. I offered a few alternatives with more nuance. Use them instead, if you care, or don’t use them.

I started using the term "aggressiveness". It is a noun and it's second definition is "energetic and enterprising" or "boldly assertive". This is what I was describing. See Webster's. I always been taught to call a spade a spade. Why call it something else when it's not? That's just avoiding reality. It still will not change the fact that in women's basketball, players are not attacking each other. That's called "fouls". So no bad karma to you but I like others see it differently than you and that's ok. It's each person's right to an opinion.