Confirmed UConn pursuit of Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams | Page 6 | The Boneyard

Confirmed UConn pursuit of Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams

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faninwisc said:
How did this thread which is supposed to be about Serah Williams now turn into things that Allie Ziebell need to work in on the offseason?
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In the good old days we use to have several quirks here that some of us felt enriched the Yard. One of them is what I call thread drift. Indeed some of us called out drift in a celebratory way. Now if drift takes hold more often than not Nan will lock the thread. She does not appreciate thread evolution apparently. ;):):D
 
Bone Dog said:
This is sort of true and sort of false. Sarah is a post player in much the same way Paige is a PG. She rebounds and blocks shots like a demon and is a brilliant scorer on the low post and is especially good at receiving passes into the post. But she doesn’t look like a post player because she’s not 6’5”. More importantly, she does so much else a post player doesn’t typically do.

As for Ayanna, she looks very much like a typical post player to me. She rebounds and defends well and knows how to muscle taller players off the block. She may not be the scoring talent Sarah is and doesn’t have a midrange or perimeter shot like Sarah. Also, she’s not 6’5”. But that’s not really necessary. She plays big. If we can get that Ayanna back, the one who is strong and quick in the low post, she’d be a real asset.

Consider our main rival, SC. They don’t start a post player larger than 6’3”. And yet no one thinks they don’t have a post presence.
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Serah Williams, is by far more a post player than anyone on our roster to offer both scoring prowess (Jana is a work in progress, Ayanna in her freshman year 2 years ago was void of any offense) and defensive ability. Yes, Sarah S did rebound and defend well against the smaller teams but look at SoCal game and if she has to defend the true bigs of UCLA and Texas. Aneesah Morrow was/is an awesome rebounder but defending against the taller teams in the SEC caused her to struggle. Ayanna has not played in 2 years and at 6'2" is not a "post" player. Her freshman year also saw her foul at an unfathomable rate (49 fouls in 301 min or .162 fouls per min) Morgan Cheli by contrast, 41 fouls in 318 min or .128 which was still a high percent and has many of us concerned. None of what you stated about Ayanna is supported in actual facts based on her past play, it based on your wishful thinking, similar to your past statements that Jana reminded you of Stewie (she doesn't).

Qualifying "start" for opponents is completely disingenuous to state (Ayanna is not a starter) and why do we have to have a small lineup when we could have a bigger, more skilled lineup?

My recap is: I like the optimism from BY posters but please have some actual facts and precedent to base this. Serah is one of the few quality bigs in all of D1, not just in the portal. Getting her helps this team immensely. Not getting her won't cripple us but leaves us less room for injury or lack of development.
 
It seems like every year we are talking about the post position being crowded for the coming year but when the time comes, many times because of injuries and sometimes due to lack of talent, we are left with a 6'2" wing jumping center. Wouldn't it be exciting to see a 6'4" or 5" coming in to replace another 6'4" or 5".
 
We know that there are many things that inform a player's decision on where to enroll.

In this case, I am hoping that since Serah was raised in Brooklyn and perhaps still has family there, the relative closeness of Storrs to NYC will be a factor in our favor.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
In the good old days we use to have several quirks here that some of us felt enriched the Yard. One of them is what I call thread drift. Indeed some of us called out drift in a celebratory way. Now if drift takes hold more often than not Nan will lock the thread. She does not appreciate thread evolution apparently. ;):):D
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I know!!!!!!!!
 
DefenseBB said:
Serah Williams, is by far more a post player than anyone on our roster to offer both scoring prowess (Jana is a work in progress, Ayanna in her freshman year 2 years ago was void of any offense) and defensive ability. Yes, Sarah S did rebound and defend well against the smaller teams but look at SoCal game and if she has to defend the true bigs of UCLA and Texas. Aneesah Morrow was/is an awesome rebounder but defending against the taller teams in the SEC caused her to struggle. Ayanna has not played in 2 years and at 6'2" is not a "post" player. Her freshman year also saw her foul at an unfathomable rate (49 fouls in 301 min or .162 fouls per min) Morgan Cheli by contrast, 41 fouls in 318 min or .128 which was still a high percent and has many of us concerned. None of what you stated about Ayanna is supported in actual facts based on her past play, it based on your wishful thinking, similar to your past statements that Jana reminded you of Stewie (she doesn't).

Qualifying "start" for opponents is completely disingenuous to state (Ayanna is not a starter) and why do we have to have a small lineup when we could have a bigger, more skilled lineup?

My recap is: I like the optimism from BY posters but please have some actual facts and precedent to base this. Serah is one of the few quality bigs in all of D1, not just in the portal. Getting her helps this team immensely. Not getting her won't cripple us but leaves us less room for injury or lack of development.
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Oh, yay, another attempted refutation on a fan forum. How interesting.

You seem to be under the impression that I don't think Serah would be a good addition. Wrong. I think she'd be a great addition. Then you add in some fuzzy thinking about whether Ayanna or Sarah or Aneesah Morrow is a post player -- huh? -- merely because they have difficulty defending much taller players. There's a difference between fitting some ideal of a post and actually playing the position. But here's my favorite joke of yours:

"None of what you stated about Ayanna is supported in actual facts based on her past play, it based on your wishful thinking, similar to your past statements that Jana reminded you of Stewie (she doesn't)."​

All I said is that she's quick and strong and can defend well, and that she doesn't score very well. Am I mistaken about this? I don't think so. And apparently my saying over a year ago that Jana reminded me of Stewie because she showed ball handling skills and a perimeter shot in high school is some sort of heresy in your eyes. Sorry, but my being reminded of someone is not a refutable statement. However your claim that she doesn't remind me of Stewie is obviously refutable.

I'll ignore the rest of your screed. Read more carefully before going into refutation mode.
 
Question. Since she is from NYC, what was her high school recruiting like? Was she ranked? Did she fly under the radar and Marisa found a diamond in the rough? I don't really remember her being talked about.
 
I think Williams can be thought of as more than just a 5, increasing her potential value to us. The 6-1 Carter was actually called the C at Wisconsin. As a shot-blocker, rebounder and inside scorer she could certainly be our starting 5, but her mobility and a pretty good FT% suggests she could be a good 4 too.

In a minimal big rotation you could use just three, kind of like we had with Liv, Aaliyah and Dorka. That third player could be a 5 type (probably Jana or less likely Gandy), or it could be more of a 4 (Ice or Ayanna). If our third best big turns out to be significantly better than our fourth, then the versatility of Sarah and Williams could allow the three big rotation to work.

If Jana was the third, then Williams could spend some time at the 4 as Sarah's backup, and if Ice was the third, when Willams was sitting Sarah could play the 5. Ideally it would be more of a 4 big rotation because say Jana and Ice both step up their games a lot and we are very good with all four.
 
DEpup said:
Question. Since she is from NYC, what was her high school recruiting like? Was she ranked? Did she fly under the radar and Marisa found a diamond in the rough? I don't really remember her being talked about.
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Her family moved to Canada from Brooklyn when Serah was 14. She played HS basketball at Niagara Prep in Niagara Falls, Canada.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
In the good old days we use to have several quirks here that some of us felt enriched the Yard. One of them is what I call thread drift. Indeed some of us called out drift in a celebratory way. Now if drift takes hold more often than not Nan will lock the thread. She does not appreciate thread evolution apparently. ;):):D
Expand ...
And some of us did NOT feel that thread drift "enriched the Yard". If one follows a thread from the beginning, and surfs every twist and turn, thread drift may be charming. However, if one clicks onto a thread after it has been running for a while, and does so because of interest in the subject framed by the OP, thread drift is teeth grinding at best.
 
From what I have heard (without watching any videos), I think Serah would be a good addition to the UConn roster, and Geno is right to pursue her.

But in several of the comments in this thread (as in many others), I detect an altogether disproportionate emphasis on height. All else equal, more inches of height in the post is helpful, but all else is never equal. A highly skilled and disciplined 6-2 forward (even a center) is to be preferred over a 6-4 or 6-5 player who is "pretty good". Sarah Strong is sufficient evidence of that. If Serah comes to UConn, she will ultimately succeed or fail based on her skills and discipline. Her 6-4 height doesn't guarantee anything, or even make her success probable.
 
Crossover said:
And some of us did NOT feel that thread drift "enriched the Yard". If one follows a thread from the beginning, and surfs every twist and turn, thread drift may be charming. However, if one clicks onto a thread after it has been running for a while, and does so because of interest in the subject framed by the OP, thread drift is teeth grinding at best.
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I know and at times I would grind my teeth too, but on balance I think it enriched our discourse more than it flustered it.
 
JoePgh said:
From what I have heard (without watching any videos), I think Serah would be a good addition to the UConn roster, and Geno is right to pursue her.

But in several of the comments in this thread (as in many others), I detect an altogether disproportionate emphasis on height. All else equal, more inches of height in the post is helpful, but all else is never equal. A highly skilled and disciplined 6-2 forward (even a center) is to be preferred over a 6-4 or 6-5 player who is "pretty good". Sarah Strong is sufficient evidence of that. If Serah comes to UConn, she will ultimately succeed or fail based on her skills and discipline. Her 6-4 height doesn't guarantee anything, or even make her success probable.
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Go ahead and watch the Williams videos that have been posted. They should help alleviate any doubts about her abilities that you may have. If she chooses UConn, her skills, discipline, and yes height will qualify her as the best and most experienced big on the roster IMO.
 
oldude said:
Her family moved to Canada from Brooklyn when Serah was 14. She played HS basketball at Niagara Prep in Niagara Falls, Canada.
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Imagine if she went back to Canada (was snagged by Syracuse).
 
I wonder how potential transfers view UConn. Is it more demanding than other schools? Beers chose OU over UConn, and the fact that they’d run the offense through her might have had an impact, aside from other more personal considerations. We’ve been speculating about personal considerations (location, connection to her coach, desire to boost her draft stock) but she may also be thinking that Geno may not guarantee her minutes or require her to learn more skills to fit into his style of play. The defense is more regimented, requires precise switches, and the offense requires rigorous screening, positioning and passing, and the conditioning required may be greater. This could be attractive to her, or a deterrent.

My guess is she’ll end up playing 20-25 mins. But there’s no guarantee of that, from her perspective. And there’s pressure to produce that may seem daunting viewed from outside.
 
Bone Dog said:
I wonder how potential transfers view UConn. Is it more demanding than other schools? Beers chose OU over UConn, and the fact that they’d run the offense through her might have had an impact, aside from other more personal considerations. We’ve been speculating about personal considerations (location, connection to her coach, desire to boost her draft stock) but she may also be thinking that Geno may not guarantee her minutes or require her to learn more skills to fit into his style of play. The defense is more regimented, requires precise switches, and the offense requires rigorous screening, positioning and passing, and the conditioning required may be greater. This could be attractive to her, or a deterrent.

My guess is she’ll end up playing 20-25 mins. But there’s no guarantee of that, from her perspective. And there’s pressure to produce that may seem daunting viewed from outside.
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On the minutes, if she was the clear second best big and started with Sarah, it is interesting to see that she is capable of heavy minutes since she played 32/game last year. Some bigs that are very good can't be effective in that many minutes and/or have their minutes reduced from foul trouble.

She was the go to star at Wisconsin with a very high usage rate but more mid level efficiency. Here i would expect the rate of scoring to decrease, the efficiency to go up quite a bit, and her assists to increase as well.
 
Bone Dog said:
I wonder how potential transfers view UConn. Is it more demanding than other schools? Beers chose OU over UConn, and the fact that they’d run the offense through her might have had an impact, aside from other more personal considerations. We’ve been speculating about personal considerations (location, connection to her coach, desire to boost her draft stock) but she may also be thinking that Geno may not guarantee her minutes or require her to learn more skills to fit into his style of play. The defense is more regimented, requires precise switches, and the offense requires rigorous screening, positioning and passing, and the conditioning required may be greater. This could be attractive to her, or a deterrent.

My guess is she’ll end up playing 20-25 mins. But there’s no guarantee of that, from her perspective. And there’s pressure to produce that may seem daunting viewed from outside.
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1st bolded: None of this would be a problem. Williams has all the skills, athleticism, and experience to handle all of these. She would know it and just as importantly, Auriemma does also. That's why he's recruiting her, her value is pretty obvious. Not to mention what Moseley has told him.
2nd bolded: Accomplished, All Big 18 conference players with her high compete level don't even look at it like this. Like K. Chen, she'd view it as a challenge to meet. If she thinks UConn is the right place to accomplish her goals, I doubt that any of these factors would deter her.
 
Bone Dog said:
I wonder how potential transfers view UConn. Is it more demanding than other schools? Beers chose OU over UConn, and the fact that they’d run the offense through her might have had an impact, aside from other more personal considerations. We’ve been speculating about personal considerations (location, connection to her coach, desire to boost her draft stock) but she may also be thinking that Geno may not guarantee her minutes or require her to learn more skills to fit into his style of play. The defense is more regimented, requires precise switches, and the offense requires rigorous screening, positioning and passing, and the conditioning required may be greater. This could be attractive to her, or a deterrent.

My guess is she’ll end up playing 20-25 mins. But there’s no guarantee of that, from her perspective. And there’s pressure to produce that may seem daunting viewed from outside.
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If she intends to play professional ball, there is no better place to prepare for the next level than UConn.........
 
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