Evina

[UConnCat]

Highlights from the 2018-2019 season. Questions remain after a season off and knee surgeries, but here's a flavor of what she can bring.

 

[da60]

WOW...Just saw Evina video....she is quite the 'game' player. Hopefully she remains healthy. From what I witnessed, she is a definite starter. Hope Evina backs my enthusiam up.

 

[donalddoowop]

That was not against high school players. This should relieve some doubts of some BYers about her ability even though she has not played for over a year. I watched her for two seasons and I'm used to seeing that. She is one of the best finishers I have seen.

 

[Alydar]

Thanks for finding this video. Nice aggressive play. One small point, she needs to learn to use her left hand on drives to that side.

 

[CocoHusky]

Thanks for finding this video. Nice aggressive play. One small point, she needs to learn to use her left hand on drives to that side.

Either you a joking or we must not have been watching the same clip. Literally every drive from the opening clip up until the second to last drive where Evina is going left the ball was in her left hand.

 

[Alydar]

Either you a joking or we must not have been watching the same clip. Literally every drive from the opening clip up until the second to last drive where Evina is going left the ball was in her left hand.

I beg to differ. I watched and on every drive down the left side or across the lane from tight to left the ball was shot with her right hand. I got bored and ended the video a few minutes from the end but I saw at least 5 drives as I described. That works when you are 4-5 inches taller than your defender but against an elite and tall defender the shot would be blocked. It's a small point. Even Moore did it at UConn.

 

[Alydar]

She shoots from the left side with her right hand at 1:18, 1:39 1:44 1:59 2:22 & 2:50 at which point I figured I had made my case.

 

[Alydar]

She also blocked a shot in that span with her inside hand, which often draws a whistle.
I'm not trying to discount her value to UConn but it's those little things that win or lose titles. Lots of elite players have bad habits that their talent and athleticism covers over.

 

[CocoHusky]

I beg to differ. I watched and on every drive down the left side or across the lane from tight to left the ball was shot with her right hand. I got bored and ended the video a few minutes from the end but I saw at least 5 drives as I described. That works when you are 4-5 inches taller than your defender but against an elite and tall defender the shot would be blocked. It's a small point. Even Moore did it at UConn.

She shoots from the left side with her right hand at 1:18, 1:39 1:44 1:59 2:22 & 2:50 at which point I figured I had made my case.

Got it. You are talking about "finishing" with her left hand on the left side of the basket which she only did one time at the 4:30 mark. I agree, she needs to do a better job finishing with the left hand.

 

[eebmg]

Well, for completeness, I attach the latest "Chasing Perfection" podcast by David Connolly and Megan Gauer. Around the 34th minute, he talks about Evina and based on lack of really any positive comments by Geno on Evina's on court play (we know how appeciative he is of her leadership) and his mentions of rust etc, that she may not be in a position we thought she might. Also points to difficulties of transfers integrating in.

Chasing Perfection: Media Day Madness

The Big East held its annual media day virtually on Thursday which included some schedule news, fun sound bytes and a roster breakdown from Geno Auriemma.

www.theuconnblog.com

Generally fun podcast where speculation and projection are carried out like fans would.

After mentioning social media for Paige is unprecedented, our Boneyard mentioned as a measure of possible criticism that a player may have to deal with (unfairly?) quite a bit near the end but Megan turning her nose down on it since the takes are often so bad.

 

[Alydar]

Got it. You are talking about "finishing" with her left hand on the left side of the basket which she only did one time at the 4:30 mark. I agree, she needs to do a better job finishing with the left hand.

Thanks. I had to go back and look because you are seldom wrong. Yes, I meant finishing.

 

[Reypl21]

I beg to differ. I watched and on every drive down the left side or across the lane from tight to left the ball was shot with her right hand. I got bored and ended the video a few minutes from the end but I saw at least 5 drives as I described. That works when you are 4-5 inches taller than your defender but against an elite and tall defender the shot would be blocked. It's a small point. Even Moore did it at UConn.

She isn't going to be playing against many tall and elite defenders in the BE, sorry. Maybe she has been getting rejected a lot in practice by ONO and Edward's. It's amusing how some fans "get bored." If she was going to my team, I would be ecstatic. Her game is far from boring.

 

[Alydar]

She isn't going to be playing against many tall and elite defenders in the BE, sorry. Maybe she has been getting rejected a lot in practice by ONO and Edward's. It's amusing how some fans "get bored." If she was going to my team, I would be ecstatic. Her game is far from boring.

It was just an observation. I'm left handed and I had problems using my right hand. But these players have had at least 10 years of camps, AAU, HS & never were trained to use the correct hand. I see a lot of layups get blocked because the ball is exposed. You are right about it not being an issue dur to her height but in the FF teams will be looking for it.
And it isn't her game that's boring, it's endless clips of her making baskets in several ways but after seeing each about 4 times I had enough. I liked some of her passes a lot. And she looks like she isn't afraid to rebound. I'm very happy she's playing.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Evina does look right-hand dominant, but I see a lot of good things: court vision, ability to deliver the ball, hesitation moves, anticipation, quickness, nice release, size, and athleticism. I'm looking forward to seeing her play in National Flag Blue.

 

[Scud49]

She has some lighting quick reflexes on some of her passes - I like that a lot.

 

[donalddoowop]

She played against taller players for two years at UT and did just fine at finishing. Even if the coaches don't correct that flaw, She finishes as well or better than any current UConn player. Also, she very seldom missed any of those right handed layups in the games I watched her play. If that is a flaw, for her it is a minor one. I used to watch her thinking how much help she would be playing for UConn.

 

[HGN]

Highlights from the 2018-2019 season. Questions remain after a season off and knee surgeries, but here's a flavor of what she can bring.

Thanks UconnCat for that video. Evina is a great player as the video showed. Adding her to the returning group , plus the incoming freshmen , is going to make Uconn even more dangerous. No question the loss of Crystal and Megan is significant. But the addition of Evina and the outstanding freshmen group can overcome that loss and even be a plus.

From what I saw of Evina on that tape , she can be outstanding at Uconn. The only question I have is can she stay healthy ?

 

[da60]

There seems to be a problem this coming season. Too much talent and who to start, etc. I can only point to the fact that our basketball leader has had it before? Big time international competition. Did Geno get the job done? You think?

There is always a method to his madness. He is so bright that he must have a number of scenarios in his head already. The level of opposition is an important one, and one lineup probably will not be used on a continual basis. It is not the easy job that some people may envision. This group has 'sooo' much potential. But, maybe it would be a good thing to temper our enthusiasm, just a bit. As a fan, I know it is hard. Go girls!




















1

 

[oldude]

At this point in her career, Evina should not spend a whole lot of time trying to get better at finishing with her left hand. She has excellent size for a guard and her ability to get to the rim and finish in traffic is exceptional.

 

[Geew1992]

Pretty sure Bria Hartley is right handed dominate. She turned out pretty good

 

[CocoHusky]

She played against taller players for two years at UT and did just fine at finishing. Even if the coaches don't correct that flaw, She finishes as well or better than any current UConn player. Also, she very seldom missed any of those right handed layups in the games I watched her play. If that is a flaw, for her it is a minor one. I used to watch her thinking how much help she would be playing for UConn.

I have to disagree with that. Christyn Williams is the best finisher on the team and is ambidextrous.

 

[CocoHusky]

At this point in her career, Evina should not spend a whole lot of time trying to get better at finishing with her left hand. She has excellent size for a guard and her ability to get to the rim and finish in traffic is exceptional.

Finishing is just like any other basketball skill in that it can be improved upon with practice. It is exactly at this point in her career that Evina needs to continue to improve on not only finishing but but also her perimeter defense specifically moving her feet. The biggest reason is that she is about to be playing a higher level of basketball for UCONN and she has aspirations of playing at the next level-the highest level for women's basketball. Luckily Evina understands this: "Westbrook said of the good and bad days to come, “still got to continue to get better."

 

[oldude]

Finishing is just like any other basketball skill in that it can be improved upon with practice. It is exactly at this point in her career that Evina needs to continue to improve on not only finishing but but also her perimeter defense specifically moving her feet. The biggest reason is that she is about to be playing a higher level of basketball for UCONN and she has aspirations of playing at the next level-the highest level for women's basketball. Luckily Evina understands this: "Westbrook said of the good and bad days to come, “still got to continue to get better."

I don’t mean to suggest that Evina should not continue to work on that skill. I just think it’s really difficult to add an off-hand finishing skill to your game as a redshirt senior in college.

I would suggest her priority should be working on other elements of the game that would have a more immediate payoff for the team this season. Defensive skills and her outside shooting are decent but can be improved significantly, and more easily than adding a left hand finishing ability imo.

In addition, Evina and her teammates probably all need to collectively improve things like floor spacing, ball movement and team defense. There’s only so much practice time each day. The left hand finishing skill is certainly something Evina can work on by herself in the gym, on her own. Given what we know about her work ethic, that’s probably something she’s doing.

 

[donalddoowop]

I have to disagree with that. Christyn Williams is the best finisher on the team and is ambidextrous.

I have to disagree with that. Maybe on last season's team but I saw CW miss too many layups last season. CW is good at finishing but not as good as a sophomore than Westbrook was.

 

[Go/huskies]

Well, for completeness, I attach the latest "Chasing Perfection" podcast by David Connolly and Megan Gauer. Around the 34th minute, he talks about Evina and based on lack of really any positive comments by Geno on Evina's on court play (we know how appeciative he is of her leadership) and his mentions of rust etc, that she may not be in a position we thought she might. Also points to difficulties of transfers integrating in.

Chasing Perfection: Media Day Madness

The Big East held its annual media day virtually on Thursday which included some schedule news, fun sound bytes and a roster breakdown from Geno Auriemma.

www.theuconnblog.com

Generally fun podcast where speculation and projection are carried out like fans would.

After mentioning social media for Paige is unprecedented, our Boneyard mentioned as a measure of possible criticism that a player may have to deal with (unfairly?) quite a bit near the end but Megan turning her nose down on it since the takes are often so bad.

David got a little hesitant, but it sounded like he was ready to go with Evina, Paige, Christyn, Anna, and Liv as the starting five, or at least getting a lot of time on the floor together. That would be a great passing time, Paige, Anna, and Evina can all drop dimes, it’ll be interesting to see see who will be guarding the 4 in that scenario, but I think it will be Anna defending the 4 with Aubrey 1st off the bench. It also sounds like Geno said Mir, then Gabriel will be out of the rotation, with Caroline, Amari, and Saylor coming in next year, Mir could have a hard time finding minutes on this team.