MilfordHusky
Voice of Reason
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 37,432
- Reaction Score
- 127,694
I drove out to St. John's College High School at the edge of D.C. to watch Azzi and her team play against Elizabeth Seton, a decent local squad. To say I was impressed would be a gross understatement.
I should preface this by saying that I'm no expert (as many of you know). I saw 2 of Maya's Collins Hill games (against nationally ranked teams that included Tiffany Hayes and Khadijah Russian) on DVD, Charde's team, Kaleena's team (ironically, also against Seton), De'Janae's team, and 3 high school All-American games (Bria's year, Saniya's year, and Meg's year). So, while I haven't seen many games, I have seen some good teams and great players.
Some stats to start: St. John's won by about 88-60. Azzi missed a few minutes in the second quarter because of foul trouble--a perfect fit for UConn. She sat out the last 4 minutes or so, because her team was up 34. I think she played about 24 minutes of the 32-minute game. These may not be exact, but here's my tally: 10-13 inside the arc, 5-7 from the arc, and 4-4 from the line. (Her FTs didn't touch the rim.) That's 39 points, 22 in the first half. She had 20 points in the first 10 minutes.
A few plays:
On one fast break, she outran the defender, took a pass in stride, and made the layup.
On defense, she stood around, didn't box out, gave up an offensive rebound and put-back. (She's not perfect.)
She made a nice 2-handed tip of a pass on defense that led to a steal a la Gabby (with less elevation).
Azzi made a sick crossover dribble and layup that had the people sitting near me gasping.
She made a very nice lob pass to Dikembe Mutombo's niece for a score.
On one contested fast break, she dished to a teammate who was fairly well defended but was probably better off shooting it herself, using her size. I thought it showed that she was unselfish.
On one drive into the lane, she drew the defense and dished with her left hand to a teammate for a corner three. It was a high-level college play.
She also made a difficult scoop shot with contact, plus the FT.
Her shot selection was very good. From the arc, a few pull-ups, and drives.
When Azzi was on the bench, she was chatting with coaches but also was very involved in the game. She was cheering a lot and seems like a great teammate.
Azzi seems to have a fairly wide shoulders. She looks trimmer than Kaleena during K's light period (sophomore year). She doesn't have the carriage or musculature of Maya, but Azzi is barely 15. She's taller than Bria Hartley.
I've seen Azzi listed at 5'10" and 5'11". I'd say those are accurate. She's not 6', at least not yet.
Azzi's handle is very good, at least at this level. I didn't see a lot of rebounding. Her defense was decent, but not extraordinary. On the offensive end, it's hard not to use superlatives. She's as gifted an offensive player as I've seen, with the possible exception of Maya. Tonight, I thought she compared to Kaleena and Charde in their senior years. Her shot is picture-perfect. Though her form is slightly different from Kaleena's, I see similarities. I think she resembles a lean KML more than a Maya or Diana. Like Christyn Williams, Azzi Fudd is a scoring machine. She does remind me of when I watched Maya in her first year at UConn and I constantly thought, "She's way better than everybody else." People who give out awards need to pay attention to Azzi. She may be as good as anyone, including the big name juniors and seniors. By the time she finishes high school, she'll have an incredible resume. We'll be watching her for another 20 years. I'll go back to watch her as soon as I can.
People sitting near me asked, "Where did she come from?" "She's only a freshman??"
Just before the end of the game, I spotted Sue Semrau sitting in the front row near me. As I passed by, I said, "She's really good, Sue, isn't she?" Her reply, "She's ridiculous." I didn't need to clarify who "she" is.
I should preface this by saying that I'm no expert (as many of you know). I saw 2 of Maya's Collins Hill games (against nationally ranked teams that included Tiffany Hayes and Khadijah Russian) on DVD, Charde's team, Kaleena's team (ironically, also against Seton), De'Janae's team, and 3 high school All-American games (Bria's year, Saniya's year, and Meg's year). So, while I haven't seen many games, I have seen some good teams and great players.
Some stats to start: St. John's won by about 88-60. Azzi missed a few minutes in the second quarter because of foul trouble--a perfect fit for UConn. She sat out the last 4 minutes or so, because her team was up 34. I think she played about 24 minutes of the 32-minute game. These may not be exact, but here's my tally: 10-13 inside the arc, 5-7 from the arc, and 4-4 from the line. (Her FTs didn't touch the rim.) That's 39 points, 22 in the first half. She had 20 points in the first 10 minutes.
A few plays:
On one fast break, she outran the defender, took a pass in stride, and made the layup.
On defense, she stood around, didn't box out, gave up an offensive rebound and put-back. (She's not perfect.)
She made a nice 2-handed tip of a pass on defense that led to a steal a la Gabby (with less elevation).
Azzi made a sick crossover dribble and layup that had the people sitting near me gasping.
She made a very nice lob pass to Dikembe Mutombo's niece for a score.
On one contested fast break, she dished to a teammate who was fairly well defended but was probably better off shooting it herself, using her size. I thought it showed that she was unselfish.
On one drive into the lane, she drew the defense and dished with her left hand to a teammate for a corner three. It was a high-level college play.
She also made a difficult scoop shot with contact, plus the FT.
Her shot selection was very good. From the arc, a few pull-ups, and drives.
When Azzi was on the bench, she was chatting with coaches but also was very involved in the game. She was cheering a lot and seems like a great teammate.
Azzi seems to have a fairly wide shoulders. She looks trimmer than Kaleena during K's light period (sophomore year). She doesn't have the carriage or musculature of Maya, but Azzi is barely 15. She's taller than Bria Hartley.
I've seen Azzi listed at 5'10" and 5'11". I'd say those are accurate. She's not 6', at least not yet. Azzi's handle is very good, at least at this level. I didn't see a lot of rebounding. Her defense was decent, but not extraordinary. On the offensive end, it's hard not to use superlatives. She's as gifted an offensive player as I've seen, with the possible exception of Maya. Tonight, I thought she compared to Kaleena and Charde in their senior years. Her shot is picture-perfect. Though her form is slightly different from Kaleena's, I see similarities. I think she resembles a lean KML more than a Maya or Diana. Like Christyn Williams, Azzi Fudd is a scoring machine. She does remind me of when I watched Maya in her first year at UConn and I constantly thought, "She's way better than everybody else." People who give out awards need to pay attention to Azzi. She may be as good as anyone, including the big name juniors and seniors. By the time she finishes high school, she'll have an incredible resume. We'll be watching her for another 20 years. I'll go back to watch her as soon as I can.
People sitting near me asked, "Where did she come from?" "She's only a freshman??"
Just before the end of the game, I spotted Sue Semrau sitting in the front row near me. As I passed by, I said, "She's really good, Sue, isn't she?" Her reply, "She's ridiculous." I didn't need to clarify who "she" is.
