Evina concern

[nomdoux]

Avid BY follower. 1st post in awhile.

Really concerned about Evina Westbrook, esp in wake of today’s lackluster primetime effort against prominent program in her senior year homecoming game. Thought circumstances would conspire to jumpstart her game into aggressive play that we most recently saw against UCLA & in last season’s Tourney. Nothing to lose yet she was passive throughout. Puzzling to not be assertive in that spot, even if her shot wasn’t falling, esp as a senior, the team “mom”, in front of family/friends, & severely short handed with CW out.

Evina has poise, maturity, competitiveness, natural leadership, & a passion for BB— as recent article post highlighted. So I’m stunned to see her almost going through the motions on court, as though she cannot impact the game. Either she’s hurt, her confidence is shot, or something else is affecting her unrelated to BB.

I’m also worried that Geno may have alienated her by his always blunt, harsh postgame comments. Given her clear struggles & homecoming game, I thought he might be a tad more forgiving & was dismayed not to see that in such context. Find myself hoping to see an EW interview sometime soon, just to gauge her mindset & hopefully be reassured that she is okay.

EW aforementioned article cited lacking confidence coming off her knee injuries, that she wouldn’t be same player again & didn’t belong at that level. After overcoming that & showcasing her value/ability as recently as earlier this season, she has pronouncedly regressed. Really hoping to see her rebound, more even for her own sake/BB future than our beloved team’s March fortune. Evina’s a classy young woman & a credit to the UConn program overall. She has alot to offer this team over the next 2+ months & then in the W.

Insights? Comments?

 

[Notyetready]

The human mind and it’s emotions are a complex web; there could be dozens of possible reasons, maybe even overlapping ones. Also COVID 19 has long term effects in many people, effects on the brain as well as the body. I just hope she starts feeling better, whatever the reason.

 

[Soxx]

Avid BY follower. 1st post in awhile.

Really concerned about Evina Westbrook, esp in wake of today’s lackluster primetime effort against prominent program in her senior year homecoming game. Thought circumstances would conspire to jumpstart her game into aggressive play that we most recently saw against UCLA & in last season’s Tourney. Nothing to lose yet she was passive throughout. Puzzling to not be assertive in that spot, even if her shot wasn’t falling, esp as a senior, the team “mom”, in front of family/friends, & severely short handed with CW out.

Evina has poise, maturity, competitiveness, natural leadership, & a passion for BB— as recent article post highlighted. So I’m stunned to see her almost going through the motions on court, as though she cannot impact the game. Either she’s hurt, her confidence is shot, or something else is affecting her unrelated to BB.

I’m also worried that Geno may have alienated her by his always blunt, harsh postgame comments. Given her clear struggles & homecoming game, I thought he might be a tad more forgiving & was dismayed not to see that in such context. Find myself hoping to see an EW interview sometime soon, just to gauge her mindset & hopefully be reassured that she is okay.

EW aforementioned article cited lacking confidence coming off her knee injuries, that she wouldn’t be same player again & didn’t belong at that level. After overcoming that & showcasing her value/ability as recently as earlier this season, she has pronouncedly regressed. Really hoping to see her rebound, more even for her own sake/BB future than our beloved team’s March fortune. Evina’s a classy young woman & a credit to the UConn program overall. She has alot to offer this team over the next 2+ months & then in the W.

Insights? Comments?

I appreciate your questions and also your clear concern/compassion for whatever she is going through. I expect and hope to see her rebound, once more of the bench returns, and she is not carrying so much of the burden.

 

[snlMINAJ]

i was thinking she must have been one of the players who tested positive for covid, because she just doesn't look the same. doesn't look to be totally focused. even though they had 3 weeks off, maybe she is very simply being used too much and its taking a toll.

 

[veryolddog]

Well....I suspect with no real data or understanding that Evina came to UConn to win a National Championship. The first year she sat and watched. The second year the team also had injuries and other problems, made it to the final four, but did not come home with the brass ring. This year has turned into what you see. So, what is the motivation for the last year you are playing college basketball. Don't know what goes on in someones mind about this. Perhaps, they need a rest.

 

[oldude]

I have mentioned in other threads that Paige made everyone on the team better. No one misses Paige more than Evina. From the very start of last season, Evina and Paige played off each other beautifully.

Without Paige in the lineup, Evina has had to step up and lead the team. In a similar role she struggled at times when she was at TN. Outside of a wonderful game against UCLA, Evina hasn’t been able to lead the team effectively, prompting Geno to start Nika at pg.

Evina may simply be more comfortable in a supporting role, like she was last season, providing whatever UConn needed in a game. Sometimes it was defense, sometimes rebounding, sometimes passing and sometimes scoring.

 

[schmendrick]

No way am I giving up on Evina. Yes, she's a leader. Yes, she's the team Mom. But she's in her early 20s and she's human. Look at the devastation around her, particularly in yesterday's game. If anything, props to her for taking her demotion nobly and, to the extent she can, giving it her all.

 

[LarryLegend]

i hope that the team is adequately monitoring her health situation.

 

[HopJim]

Suspect at some point in the future, we will find out Evina has a combination of issues, possibly related to recovering from Covid and/or her past knee related injury. She was never supposed to play 35 minutes a game this year. The past few games were very unlike her. She normally takes charge but has been noticeably slower, deliberate in her passes (nice way of saying she is turning the ball over), and reluctant to shoot.
Relative to getting drafted, the question is where in the draft she will be picked. Teams will likely evaluate her based on how she does at the end of the year and in the play offs, not during the current chaos.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think her future is in coaching, not playing. You can see she's just not physically able to do some things like she was in the near past.

 

[CL82]

I really like Evina as a person and I am glad she came to Storrs.

As challenging as things were for the team last night, I couldn’t help but wonder what things would have been like if she had decided to go pro last year.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Really concerned about Evina Westbrook, esp in wake of today’s lackluster
Insights? Comments?

Comment: If Evina's play continues to be mediocre, she can expect to fall out of the first round of the WNBA draft.

 

[LoboDays]

We know what she can do and we know she is not close to being the player she can be. We also know that she is a person who is looked up to by the other players. We have no idea why things are like they are today so, it’s time to just wish her well.

 

[Fossil]

Well....I suspect with no real data or understanding that Evina came to UConn to win a National Championship. The first year she sat and watched. The second year the team also had injuries and other problems, made it to the final four, but did not come home with the brass ring. This year has turned into what you see. So, what is the motivation for the last year you are playing college basketball. Don't know what goes on in someones mind about this. Perhaps, they need a rest.

The W. If she still has lingering effects from Covid hopefully the people who were scouting her know some of the behind-the-scenes information that we don’t have. I know people who have had Covid and I still struggling to catch their breath two months afterwards. I doubt it’s motivation driven for a national championship she’s not the type of kid To give up on that dream. It does look like something else is going on. I only hope they sort it out for this year and her future. Too good a person to lose a dream because of the virus.

 

[ABCDFE]

I feel bad for Evina. For whatever reason she looks limited out there. I hope she can return to form at some point this year.

 

[JellyBean]

No way am I giving up on Evina. Yes, she's a leader. Yes, she's the team Mom. But she's in her early 20s and she's human. Look at the devastation around her, particularly in yesterday's game. If anything, props to her for taking her demotion nobly and, to the extent she can, giving it her all.

Well said. It could be a host of things going on that we don't know about, nor should we know about those details. The thing that jumps out to me is and I am so proud of Evina, and the rest of the team for doing this is, leadership and stepping up to fill a void with confidence. Evina has slide into a point guard position and that is no easy task, especially if there are so many reads of an offense that the coach wants you to see. Evina has stepped up and handled the situation, again on the surface level, very well. I am not giving up on Evina. I love this young lady's calmness and approach to a game. Proud of her and the whole team.

 

[JoePgh]

I think Evina's problem is really simple -- she is not meant to be a point guard. Ball handling, court vision, and accurate passing are not her forte. She should have a role similar to Caroline's -- to shoot from a variety of places on the floor, disrupt defensively, and grab a good number of rebounds. She should be a wing, not a PG.

And without Paige's injury, that is exactly what what she would be doing. She, Christyn, Caroline, and Azzi (when healthy) would split the minutes at the 2 and 3 positions, and all of them would be off the ball. Paige and Nika would handle the PG role. Playing 20-25 minutes per game would do a world of good for all of them, especially at the end of the season.

UConn fans should non-ironically thank Holly Warlick for giving Evina a good bit of experience at the PG position, so she was somewhat familiar with the position when both Paige and Nika were injured. But that is not where she belongs -- she had a lot of turnovers at Tennessee, and has had a lot of TO's at UConn while playing PG (but not when she is off the ball).

I think that is about 95% of her problem.

 

[nomdoux]

Appreciate all your feedback.

To be clear, I was not intimating that Evina will be a high W pick, just that she should be drafted in 3 rounds if healthy— certainly by 2R latest IMHO.

EW can definitely help a WNBA team in a bench role given her positional size, rounded game, toughness, BB IQ, poise, maturity, etc. She can do a little bit of everything, and— to many of your points— is at her peak production/efficacy when playing off of elite talent in limited minutes as part of complementary, supporting cast.

Evina’s leadership (esp last season nurturing big freshman class amidst COVID onslaught), versatility, perseverance & team orientation have been massive benefits to the UConn program. I’m a huge fan— even more so for the person than the player.

 

[cwaduke]

If she has a covid haze, it would explain a lot. I had it bad 21 months ago, and my lungs and heart still aren't right. I can just see that she isn't the same as she was a month ago. Not sure why. I just wish her well.

 

[Phillyconn]

Avid BY follower. 1st post in awhile.

Really concerned about Evina Westbrook, esp in wake of today’s lackluster primetime effort against prominent program in her senior year homecoming game. Thought circumstances would conspire to jumpstart her game into aggressive play that we most recently saw against UCLA & in last season’s Tourney. Nothing to lose yet she was passive throughout. Puzzling to not be assertive in that spot, even if her shot wasn’t falling, esp as a senior, the team “mom”, in front of family/friends, & severely short handed with CW out.

Evina has poise, maturity, competitiveness, natural leadership, & a passion for BB— as recent article post highlighted. So I’m stunned to see her almost going through the motions on court, as though she cannot impact the game. Either she’s hurt, her confidence is shot, or something else is affecting her unrelated to BB.

I’m also worried that Geno may have alienated her by his always blunt, harsh postgame comments. Given her clear struggles & homecoming game, I thought he might be a tad more forgiving & was dismayed not to see that in such context. Find myself hoping to see an EW interview sometime soon, just to gauge her mindset & hopefully be reassured that she is okay.

EW aforementioned article cited lacking confidence coming off her knee injuries, that she wouldn’t be same player again & didn’t belong at that level. After overcoming that & showcasing her value/ability as recently as earlier this season, she has pronouncedly regressed. Really hoping to see her rebound, more even for her own sake/BB future than our beloved team’s March fortune. Evina’s a classy young woman & a credit to the UConn program overall. She has alot to offer this team over the next 2+ months & then in the W.

Insights? Comments?

I think she’s hurt.

 

[BostonBay]

Could be lingering/chronic injury concerns from several recent surgeries. May be the reason why she came back for another year - to get physically & mentally better. Even last year, she seemed very "cautious" in her movements. She really hasnt looked good at all this year.

 

[BBallF]

I have a different take on this. Evina came here and then came back to win a NC. Hence the "unfinished business" statement. When Paige went down, knowing what a knee injury means, all the wind went out of her sails when she realized her goal would not be attained this year. I don't get it because you would think she would be playing now for a high draft position. I just don't understand why she didn't shoot 15-20 times against Oregon. I mean, this is your place, you are not coming out of the game for long, so let them fly. She is a heck of a lot better than she is playing and I really think she needs someone to talk to. This isn't her.

 

[cohenzone]

I think her future is in coaching, not playing. You can see she's just not physically able to do some things like she was in the near past.

There are so many top athletes who are just not the same after knee problems. For hoops, the offense suffers. I wouldn’t be surprised if her knees aren’t a constant problem and the injury issues for her teammates are certainly putting in a tough spot both time wise and responsibility wise.

 

[DrummerDee]

I think E will flourish in the W. I have some thoughts about her, mindset, her frustrations that she touched on in the recent piece published about her struggles in earlier years. It seems like things are weighing on her mind, and it's not all about basketball. I think she will go in the first round.
Evina is 23, spending all day, every day with teenagers. Think about that for a second.
Anyway. I think she is a great player with big potential at the next level. She would be a star on most teams, I just think her light has been dimmed recently. She hears the criticism. All of it.