Azzi’s shot | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Azzi’s shot

Jingo said:
And Dorka. And Nika.
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Very true...I chose Azzi and Christyn because they were both absence for extended periods of time. While Christyn was expected back she did play more minutes and better than expected and Azzi was a surprise...so, when I said we don't win without them it was because there was a good chance that we would have been without them. Dorka and Muhl on the other hand, were expected to play.
 
HuskyNan said:
When Azzi was shooting last night, I noticed that while her release is quick, her motion appears to be slow, almost languid. It’s the purity of her shot, done exactly the same way every single time, that is a thing of beauty. The tempo, and it’s consistency, is a marvel. I haven’t seen such a pretty shot since KML. And Azzi is a freshman - this is the worst she’ll be!


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Nan, you are spot on here. They key to her shot is that she doesn't pay attention to anything when she shoot. She's trained herself to shoot the ball. One way. Every time. Even if there's a tornado. Caroline Ducharme is a perimeter Napheesa Collier, but what she lacks is the patience on the the three point line. Azzi has that.

Azzi's pull up game is going to drive people insane. Once Geno pulls the "shoot whenever you touch card" with her it's over. That pull up was non-existent because of the shifting of the feet issue and her injury. But she can score anytime she wants. Excited to see what a Ducharme Azzi Christyn backcourt does to BE teams until PB comes in like a wrecking ball.
 
AzzisBraids said:
Nan, you are spot on here. They key to her shot is that she doesn't pay attention to anything when she shoot. She's trained herself to shoot the ball. One way. Every time. Even if there's a tornado. Caroline Ducharme is a perimeter Napheesa Collier, but what she lacks is the patience on the the three point line. Azzi has that.

Azzi's pull up game is going to drive people insane. Once Geno pulls the "shoot whenever you touch card" with her it's over. That pull up was non-existent because of the shifting of the feet issue and her injury. But she can score anytime she wants. Excited to see what a Ducharme Azzi Christyn backcourt does to BE teams until PB comes in like a wrecking ball.
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Just a quick note - I’m a fan of both freshmen, Azzi and Caroline. I feel I need to defend Caroline a little here. She’s been rushing her 3 because she’s been the focus of the defense for the last few games. Her shot overall has been rushed, except in the paint, where the game seems to slow down for her. It seems as though Caroline needs to relearn, so to speak, her shot on the perimeter because for the last several games, she’s been given the ball there with either a defender up on her or with a couple seconds on the shot clock.

Having Azzi, Caroline, and Christyn on the court will help all three of them get better. Azzi and Caroline just standing on the arc will open lanes for the slasher Christyn. And Christyn has been slashing towards the basket then passing out to the open shooter, who has had ages to set her feet and make the open shot. Both Azzi and Caroline aren’t afraid of a zone, either, as Azzi has the pull-up j and Caroline can take it to the hoop. The three of them are going to terrorize the Big East and, hopefully, opponents in the tournament.
 
AzzisBraids said:
Caroline Ducharme is a perimeter Napheesa Collier, but what she lacks is the patience on the the three point line. Azzi has that.
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I neither can agree or disagree- in defense of Caroline's tendency at times to hoist it up quickly, we needed someone to generate outside shooting last couple of months with Azzi, Paige, Christyn all out, and who else but Caroline could do so? With two of these injured back and hopefully Paige too in another month (or less?), she likely will be able to organize her shot mechanics with a bit more time, and I predict her shooting percentage will go up.

I think it will be fascinating to see if she keeps slashing inside and becomes also quite an inside the arc threat who attacks the basket too instead of just relying on outside shooting. With her ability to drive, and height, and free throw accuracy, she has all the tools to thrive near the basket, and we've seen glimpses of that already.
 
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I am excited to see us, hopefully, return to a much more uptempo offense. With no guard subs available we had to play a slower paced offense for several games. As the chemistry builds between a primary group of Nika, Christyn, Caroline, Azzi, Olivia and Dorka over a few games, I expect movement without the ball, crisper passing, faster ball movement finding the open shooter, fewer turnovers and better percentage of made first shots to be the result. We should also be able to play a more aggressive pressuring defense as well. Westbrook and Edwards will hopefully benefit as well feeling more comfortable with that pace coming in and impacting the games.

The three upcoming Big East games should give us time to get into a solid rhythm and Tennessee will face a UCONN team that will look more like what we will look like in March as opposed to January. Paige will slide seamlessly into this more uptempo style of play, making it even better. Not taking anything away from any other players, Azzi being back and being the player everyone hoped she would be was what was needed to allow the team to make this needed transition.
 
IIRC from highlight videos, because Caroline was the PG in high school, she made a lot of 3's from well behind the top of the key and slightly off to her right side, like within 2 hours on the clock.
Some of the shots that she made were from downtown, but it seemed that she favored 3's that were closer to being straight on and farther back from the arc.
She can make 3's from anywhere, but perhaps where she needs to make them from now are relatively newer 3 point shooting positions for her as opposed to where she was comfortable making them from in HS.
Some of the newer positions will probably take some getting use to in order to become more automatic.
 
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HuskyNan said:
Just a quick note - I’m a fan of both freshmen, Azzi and Caroline. I feel I need to defend Caroline a little here. She’s been rushing her 3 because she’s been the focus of the defense for the last few games. Her shot overall has been rushed, except in the paint, where the game seems to slow down for her. It seems as though Caroline needs to relearn, so to speak, her shot on the perimeter because for the last several games, she’s been given the ball there with either a defender up on her or with a couple seconds on the shot clock.

Having Azzi, Caroline, and Christyn on the court will help all three of them get better. Azzi and Caroline just standing on the arc will open lanes for the slasher Christyn. And Christyn has been slashing towards the basket then passing out to the open shooter, who has had ages to set her feet and make the open shot. Both Azzi and Caroline aren’t afraid of a zone, either, as Azzi has the pull-up j and Caroline can take it to the hoop. The three of them are going to terrorize the Big East and, hopefully, opponents in the tournament.
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When all the pieces are available, including Paige, I believe Caroline’s 3-pt shot selection and percentage made will improve. Compared to Azzi, Paige, and the Dara Mabrey, Caitlin Clark and Jewel Spear’s of the world, Caroline is not a pure shooter, particularly from outside the 3-pt line. Yes, she can and is not hesitant to shoot, but I’d put her in the category of a scorer.

I have no issue with her from taking shots on the side of the basket, even if she is cold. There is typically a lack of space to cut to the basket. When she rushes her shot from the top of the perimeter, especially early in a possession, it takes away from her ability to either take it to the basket, or pull up for a 12 to 15 footer. Given her size advantages against most of the defenders assigned to her, this could be a deadly weapon for her.

Again, she has demonstrated she can make outside shots, but that isn’t her strength. Azzi is poised and ready to shoot, much like KML in her day. Caroline has plenty of time in her career to work on this. As you stated, opportunities should increase for all 3 players with improved spacing, with teams perplexed as to who should be the primary target to stop. Add in a healthy Paige to orchestrate the offense, and we may get to witness the dazzling & lethal potential of UConn offensively.
 
My Gut feeling is that Caroline's 3pt shooting numbers go way up in critical moments like the 4th Q or when we need one desperately to turn momentum. Maybe some BY statistician can get into the weeds. Starting from the ND game, she has owned the 4th Q so I could not care less about overall %'s
 
eebmg said:
My Gut feeling is that Caroline's 3pt shooting numbers go way up in critical moments like the 4th Q or when we need one desperately to turn momentum. Maybe some BY statistician can get into the weeds. Starting from the ND game, she has owned the 4th Q so I could not care less about overall %'s
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You have a good eye. I will say that there are more early game threes as she gets more game experience. The header of the 2 Pointers & 3 Pointers columns should say Total Shots Made, not total points, but I’m too lazy to change it

4FB72049-7EB5-48FE-B133-9EA3C0B2C630.jpeg
 
HuskyNan said:
You have a good eye. I will say that there are more early game threes as she gets more game experience. The header of the 2 Pointers & 3 Pointers columns should say Total Shots Made, not total points, but I’m too lazy to change it

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And I am guessing the % goes up as well. Thanks Nan
 
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When you watch Azzi shoot, she has a classic spin on the ball. Perhaps she can teach ONO and some of the others with foul shooting issues that if you grasp the ball with fingers on a seam, you get a good spin and the shot is more likely to go in. 80% of the time, you can predict whether or not a Huskie will make her shot based on how she sets up.
 
I think Azzi has an edge over Caroline for 3 pointers but they are both great 3 point shooters. Remember, Caroline won several 3 point competitions and virtually tied Azzi on one. She can shoot the 3. We are still in small sample size mode. Let's give Azzi her due though. Often her 3 pointers don't just "make", they flush with the net barely moving sometimes. She has great arc, great form, and she can replicate it. She is a pure shooter and Paige is as well. I'm calling it. I think we should be able to make the final 4 yet again, even with the seeding. It would be nice if we don't end up with Stanford in our group. I'd almost prefer to play South Carolina with these 3 point shooters. Have you looked at South Carolina's 3 point shooter's numbers recently? Except for one player they are significantly worse than ours. We can beat anyone when Paige and Azzi are available.
 
If you miss your jump shots South Carolina will have a rebounding advantage. Got to shoot well.
 
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HuskyNan said:
When Azzi was shooting last night, I noticed that while her release is quick, her motion appears to be slow, almost languid. It’s the purity of her shot, done exactly the same way every single time, that is a thing of beauty. The tempo, and it’s consistency, is a marvel. I haven’t seen such a pretty shot since KML. And Azzi is a freshman - this is the worst she’ll be!


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Excellent descriptor of Azzi's shot--her motion does reflect hours and hours of perfection. Her shot colloquially expressed. is "like butta"...
 
cferraro04 said:
Without Azzi Fudd we don't win last night's game. The same can be said for Christyn Williams.
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We won by 2? Without Liv or Nika or Caroline or Evina we don’t win. Without whoever scored. Ok I’m being a smart arse but I don’t get these “without” post.
 
Another aspect from Azzi was that with 4.36 left in 3rd quarter Geno took out Ducharme and CWill with her being the primary option and during that time UCONN was down by 4. When CWill came back about 30 seconds left UCONN was up by 1. During UCONN’s bad stretch this could never have happeend vs a quality team. CDucharme and CWill needed to play 40. And they aren’t going to play perfect so this also accounts for past eventual lulls in the offense. There wasn’t as much help from others to make it easier for them. They aren’t pros.

As we have known, it’s so vital we get Azzi back. A further drill down looking back at this game we can see it’s not just Azzi’s shooting. Geno pulled her in the 4th quarter with UCONN up by 4. When she came back with a little over 3 minutes left, UCONN was down by 2. At that point, with about 2:25 left she got rebound over Morrow. She then kept her dribble alive and it was her penetration that drew Ducharme’s defender to help in stopping Azzi further penetrate with the ball – that was around the 2:17 mark. Subsequently, Azzi passed to Nika, who then made a quick pass to Ducharme who then nailed the 3 to put UCONN back in the lead. In this play, Ducharme’s defender couldn’t get back quick enough to Ducharme after helping stop Azzi from further penetration. The 3 Ducharme made was setup by Azzi’s penetration.

Going forward will be interested to see how the 3 of Azzi, CWill, and Ducharme improve as they play more time together. I love the fact that each of the 3 are a bit different .Also, in terms of continuity, it would be interesting to see them play without being subjected to grammar-school-referees. In the 2nd half the charges on Azzi and CWill were a joke. The Azzi charge was laughable even for grammar school. The 3rd foul on Ducharme was a comedy-hour call. And I’m not certain but Azzi’s foul at end of 3rd quarter looked more like the DePaul player lost her balance. It seemed just as similar as a prior play in 3rd quarter that Muhl drove into the lane (not the play she hurt her wrist) and flung up a shot near the basket as she sprawled to to the floor yet no call was made.-- Anyway, pretty excited to see more from our team going forward.
 
Have not read the thread so if it has been mentioned I apologize. For me, I had a pretty good idea watching her form and quick release against Arkansas she could shoot.
I was most impressed with her defense, she was totally engaged and moved her feet laterally very well. One of the plays she made that was huge but one that generally falls into the “forgotten pile” was the steal she made from the weak side, coming from behind Morrow to take the ball out of her hands. She doesn’t give help Morrow lays the ball in unopposed. One of those unsung plays that makes all the difference in a nail biter type game.
 
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