Brianna Banks

[Bigpetunia]

It's obvious that Geno knows his stuff, and I'm not trying to second guess him.....but...

It seems to me that beyond our first seven players, the bench-warmer with the most promising opportunity to break out and be a major future contributor is BB. She's very athletic, and has plenty of skills on both sides of the ball. Naturally, she's a Freshman, and often plays like one, making mistakes that understandably cause GA frustration. It seems, however, that he has her on such a short leash, pulling her out with a hair trigger whenever she commits an error, that her confidence seems severely undermined. I fear that without more minutes on the floor, especially when we have a comfortable lead, her prospects for improvement are in serious doubt. Just wondered what others thought...

 

[Dairyair]

It's obvious that Geno knows his stuff, and I'm not trying to second guess him.....but...

It seems to me that beyond our first seven players, the bench-warmer with the most promising opportunity to break out and be a major future contributor is BB. She's very athletic, and has plenty of skills on both sides of the ball. Naturally, she's a Freshman, and often plays like one, making mistakes that understandably cause GA frustration. It seems, however, that he has her on such a short leash, pulling her out with a hair trigger whenever she commits an error, that her confidence seems severely undermined. I fear that without more minutes on the floor, especially when we have a comfortable lead, her prospects for improvement are in serious doubt. Just wondered what others thought...

I think Doris actually had this one right...it wasn't the error per se that got her pulled, but not playing the game the "right" way in a game that was well decided. He want's his players to play hard and smart all the time--to execute--and he obviously didn't see that tonight from BB. On this subject, I'm a little surprised he didn't sub more freely at the end. I had heard he was friendly with Coquese.

 

[Fiftyish]

It's obvious that Geno knows his stuff, and I'm not trying to second guess him.....but...

It seems to me that beyond our first seven players, the bench-warmer with the most promising opportunity to break out and be a major future contributor is BB. She's very athletic, and has plenty of skills on both sides of the ball. Naturally, she's a Freshman, and often plays like one, making mistakes that understandably cause GA frustration. It seems, however, that he has her on such a short leash, pulling her out with a hair trigger whenever she commits an error, that her confidence seems severely undermined. I fear that without more minutes on the floor, especially when we have a comfortable lead, her prospects for improvement are in serious doubt. Just wondered what others thought...

Like you said, Geno knows his stuff. She will be a major contributor going forward. It's just going to take a little more time.

 

[DESERTDOG]

Like you said, Geno knows his stuff. She will be a major contributor going forward. It's just going to take a little more time.

 

[Vowelguy]

She will be a major contributor going forward.

Don't know about that. Backcourt is crowded.

 

[DESERTDOG]

It seems to me that Doty should be the one on a short leash! She's been a non-contributor basically all season - except for 1 game - Louisville. All of her minutes should have gone to Brianna to develop her - she has tremendous up-side!

 

[Icebear]

It seems to me that Doty should be the one on a short leash! She's been a non-contributor basically all season - except for 1 game - Louisville. All of her minutes should have gone to Brianna to develop her - she has tremendous up-side!

She is the stabilizing factor for this team and allows Bria to play off the ball where she is better and today she got the offense started with two great back door cuts.

 

[justML]

It seems to me that Doty should be the one on a short leash! She's been a non-contributor basically all season - except for 1 game - Louisville. All of her minutes should have gone to Brianna to develop her - she has tremendous up-side!

All signs point to Doty being a leader on the floor; an invaluable contribution for this young team.

If all Caroline's minutes had gone to Brianna, I have no doubt those two players would be watching the tourney from home. Just like us non-coaches are.

 

[Kevin G]

I am a BB fan. I hope she stays positive, works hard, and she will get plenty of minutes.

 

[alexrgct]

Caroline, though she doesn't end up with a ton of assists, is great at helping get UConn into its halfcourt sets against pressing and trapping teams. She's also an emotional leader and in tune with her younger teammates.

If UK wins tonight, we'll need that contribution from her.

I would support she come off the bench next year in favor of starting Breanna, but no way would I have Banks taking minutes from her at this point.

Banks just has to keep her head down and work her way into the rotation more. That's not going to be given to her, and to VG's point, the backourt depth will be significant next season.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Doty just commits "dumb fouls" (in my Geno voice)

 

[John Fryer]

Bria Hartley is all everything for this team

When Bria isn't in the game the team basically stagnates.

I was happy for Doty's contributions in the first 10 minutes of the game.

After that she became more of an offensive liability, IMO. (Didn't she lose the ball a couple of time to a quicker defender?)

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate and respect Caroline for her effort and grit.

But she still has a ways to go before she really qualifies for some of the praise that some BYs give her.

Just my opinion, of course.

Peace,

John Fryer

 

[Sonny44]

It seems to me that Doty should be the one on a short leash! She's been a non-contributor basically all season - except for 1 game - Louisville. All of her minutes should have gone to Brianna to develop her - she has tremendous up-side!

I thought this was one of Caroline's best games in quite a while.

 

[ThisJustIn]

If you can't play focused and on point in a blow out, how can you be expected to play that way in a tight game. The score shouldn't matter. Learn that lesson and BB will stay on the court.

 

[Frank]

First let me say Faris is my hero. Having said that did anybody else notice the tension between Faris and Banks? Faris seemed to refuse to give the ball to Banks several times, one of which was blatantly obvious on a in bounds pass when Banks was WIDE open, Faris looked straight at her, but held the ball trying to force it to another well covered player. Other times it seemed when Banks was in trouble and Faris was there for relief, Banks held on instead of passing it..... Perhaps I was just seeing more into it...but there sure seemed to be something going on towards the end of the game.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

CD committed a couple of fouls today to stop potentially momentum shifting breaks. If those are dumb, I like dumb. But, yeah, occasionally she acts human and just gets pissed!

 

[Wonkster]

It seems to me that Doty should be the one on a short leash! She's been a non-contributor basically all season - except for 1 game - Louisville....

You forgot Doty's 15 points against Duke in the regular season. She really bedeviled the Blue Devils.

Your point is well taken, though.
.

 

[John Fryer]

First let me say Faris is my hero. Having said that did anybody else notice the tension between Faris and Banks? Faris seemed to refuse to give the ball to Banks several times, one of which was blatantly obvious on a in bounds pass when Banks was WIDE open, Faris looked straight at her, but held the ball trying to force it to another well covered player. Other times it seemed when Banks was in trouble and Faris was there for relief, Banks held on instead of passing it..... Perhaps I was just seeing more into it...but there sure seemed to be something going on towards the end of the game.

There was another time when Faris and Banks were on a break-out against one defender.

Faris was contested by the lone defender and Banks was running free.

For whatever reasons, Faris didn't pass the ball to Banks. (She took the shot and made it.)

Peace,

John Fryer

 

[bschwartz]

It is going to be tough going for BB to crack more PT especially if MJ plays well from the get go. However, after Kelly, CD and Heather graduate the team may need some guard depth especially for a tough defender and a distributor. BB is super fast, probably faster than Lorin. She may be able to grow into the role. In two years, Bria and MJ will be around. Who knows where Breanna is going to play (gulp) if Dolson and Stokes develop like we think. So I think BB has some real opportunities the year after next if she sticks it out even if more Frosh guards arrive in 2013. The front court could become one of the best ever assembled in two years so back court depth will be important. Maybe Coach thinks two years ahead of everyone else.

 

[Husky WBB Fan]

I think guard depth next year will be important. Tiff departs and Moriah (yes!!) arrives. No change in guard numbers if, as I'm assuming, BS and MT join Kiah and Steff on the frontcourt along with MJ and Heather (isn't that where the crowd will be next year?). I am a BB fan and it pains me to see her make an error and then head to the pine. I think she is pressing from trying so hard to contribute and to not make errors. Even her great and smooth shooting from the foul line seems to have suffered. I like her athletic game and would love to see her succeed, and I think the team will need her. Certainly there are many fans who want to see her play more and contribute.

 

[JoePgh]

Actually, I've been surprised in an unpleasant way by Brianna's difficulties in doing things that most of us expected her to do really well -- above all, playing one-on-one defense effectively. Many opposing guards seem to drive by her with very little difficulty. She doesn't anticipate cuts and rarely tips passes, makes steals, or jumps screens. This should be one of her strongest suits. Caroline, despite her mobility limitations, seems to be a more effective on-ball defender than Brianna, and of course Tiffany and Kelly (and often Bria) are in another league.

As others have noted, she often seems not really to have her head in the game (or at least not processing information at the same speed as the other players -- similar to the problems that Heather had in her first two years). Once today, when a teammate batted a ball, it hit her before she was aware of it and took at least a half second to grab it and go down the court.

I didn't notice the tension between her and Kelly, but I suspect it could be due to this problem. Kelly would know exactly what the game plan calls for, and would not trust Brianna to execute it if she seems confused or slow-on-the-uptake on too many occasions. Kelly would trust Caroline in that way, even with her physical limitations.

We may need Moriah next year more than we think. Assuming (based on zero factual evidence at this point) that Moriah does not have these problems, or at least not to the same degree, she may quickly surpass Brianna in the depth chart.

 

[alexrgct]

Moriah is rated as a 98 by HG- in other words, a #1 in the nation-caliber recruit. I would expect her to jump Banks in the depth chart on that alone, and watching her games does little to dissuade me of that expectation.

Banks, however, can still have a valuable role on the team. You really can't have enough team speed.

 

[msf22b]

I want to look at the game again, but from a terrific perch in the upper deck in the corner, Caroline did some terrific things early and passed up too many opportunities to shoot in the middle part of the game.
Kelly was superlative in all aspects of the game and was the closer today. When she was sitting for a large art of the first half is when the offense got a little lost.
Brianna made some nice plays but also some really dumbbell ones too. Her BB IQ isn't there yet and I think she plays if she's smart and sits if she isn't (fouls and injuries aside).

 

[ju6381]

BB needs to get the message, just like Kiah did, that her team does not like playing with her when she does not play hard or with her head in the game. Maybe that is the cause of the percieved notion that Kelly did not want to pass to her until she had to. Might be a little late in THIS season for it to click. I do have faith that she will turn it around in time and be a part of a 10 player roation next year that plays 94 feet all game...or until we are up by 40!!

 

[Icebear]

CD committed a couple of fouls today to stop potentially momentum shifting breaks. If those are dumb, I like dumb. But, yeah, occasionally she acts human and just gets pissed!

That is exactly what she did on two of those fouls. Other times she is just Honey Badger and "don't give a..... hoot."