I don't think Dorka is pro-ready, so I expect another year from her in Storrs. AD's poor practices are not conducive to more playing time. Geno needs big, tough, bodies in the paint. I am not saying she won't play, she will..............but not much.
I just don't think we can make judgements when we have such a small sample to judge from..........she did show a nice baby hook in one of her limited outings, something ONO unfortunately never developed ........let me ask you, do you consider Dorka a good defender? I'd call her adequate, not as effective as ONO yet she gets minutes because of the other things she can do on the court........unless a really solid post hits the transfer market, UConn is pretty much set up front once Dorka makes her decision.........if UConn doesn't get Cunningham, I don't think there's another big out there in next year's class that would be an upgrade (I don't consider Toomey a post) and the following year I'm only aware of one quality post player in Bianca Thomas......sure I'd love for UConn to get the next Aaliya Boston and other than possibly Cunningham there won't be another one available for quite some time.....
Eric, you may have something here. You've heard Geno say many times that one thing they DON'T teach at UConn is EFFORT. Geno and staff had to know Amari wasn't a good practice player when they recruited her. They saw her play, and they no doubt talked to her HS and AAU coaches on several occasions. They had to see something in her that they wanted to coach and have her be part of their program.
Two bolded areas I'm responding to: 1st) AD has three areas that need a lot of improvement. She needs serious strength gains in both her upper and lower body. I'm not sure how much can be done about her lack of short area quickness but stronger legs would certainly help. Part of the problem is that she plays high and too upright. A start would be to get some serious instruction on how to bend her knees to play lower with leverage to hold and create positioning for herself. And use it to maintain space around the lane so people can't get up under her and jam her up or spin by her. And last of the three, she needs to learn how to handle contact at both ends without fouling. And all this should preferably take place before she gets back to campus in the fall. Her commitment to work and improve will be tested. We'll see what changes are made.
I was thinking the same thing. I haven't seen enough of her to really make a fair assessment of her abilities. Like (FOX sports analyst and co-host of the morning sports TV talk show "Undisputed") Skip Bayless often says........."I need to see more." It's hard to form a take on a player when the only time you see her in in garbage time against other subs.
I agree. She and ONO will leave their feet on almost every up fake on the perimeter of the lane creating space for the offensive player to go by them.
I agree with the entirety of your take. She needs lots of work over the summer. You're right. Geno was recruiting both ONO and Collier, but if you remember ONO was very hush hush on her recruiting status (mindset) during her that time. She committed in the 11th hour only AFTER Collier de-committed to go to Texas. She may have come to UConn anyway. We'll never know. She never put her business on any social media platforms for public consumption.
In that same class, C. Williams said nothing publicly until signing day either. Or Megan Walker the previous year for that matter.
I'm not making judgements. I have said/implied "if all she is is a High Post Player" throughout then she'll struggle for minutes. I said/implied that she just can't be "high post." Please- make no mistake I am not writing her off. Frankly, I love offense. But I just think in order for her to get minutes she needs more than High Post in the future.
Why did Charlie Collier de-commit?
Brutal Hurricane hit her area,
that's one of the few advantages of not being a good jumper...........
The word we (the boneyard ) got was that because her father had recently passed, and (she was from Texas) she wanted to stay closer to home because of a major hurricane had recently come near her home town of Belvieu, TX, About 30-35 miles from the shoreline of the gulf.
Hurricane and her father had recently passed away
some people are just naturally "laid back"..........nothing seems to phase them good or bad.......perhaps that's just the way she's wired........as long as she gives 100% effort on the court I don't care if she yawns in practice waiting for the next layup line...............Eric, you may have something here. You've heard Geno say many times that one thing they DON'T teach at UConn is EFFORT. Geno and staff had to know Amari wasn't a good practice player when they recruited her. They saw her play, and they no doubt talked to her HS and AAU coaches on several occasions. They had to see something in her that they wanted to coach and have her be part of their program.
I'm sure Amari didn't become a "less than enthusiastic" player in practice overnight. We'll see if things change between now and November. Lots of things can happen in 9 months.
that and the possible continued recruiting on the part of the Texas coach...............
Katie Lou was a lot like Amari when Katie Lou was a freshmen is what im baseing my comment on. She was just a player looking for a spot to shoot the 3 till Geno challenged her. I think Amari will get that sense of urgency. Shes only a freshmen.
maybe I did not express my thoughts well, I was not saying SC was a better team than UConn this year or last year, I was trying to say SC provides more game time for her talented bench players than UConn does. Some coaches stress playing time for a group of players because they feel team chemistry is enhanced if a limited number of players get most of the game time, I agree player to player chemistry is enhanced by actual game time but player development suffers for any player not included in the game group. The lack of playing time is certainly a reason for very talented players transferring thus affecting the performance of future teams. Lack of game ready reserves is especially critical with illness or injuries. From the games that I have watched it appears to me SC really makes an effort to provide game time for it reserves, some times it is difficult to know which of SC players are starters and which are reserves because the reserves see playing time during critical close games. As for the top team this year, from what I have seen, I believe SC and Stanford are most likely to be N.C.
Like your post. Thanks!!
Her jump from her first year to second year is what I’m referencing. Since then (to now), she’s become a much better defender, increased her FG% & FT%, assist #s and her overall impact on this team is undeniable.
Agree that Amari will be a solid contributor but hard to compare her to ONO. Oliva is one of the top 5-6 shot blockers in UConn women's basketball history and while she has a tendency to swat down and foul on shots, she has been a strong defender, shot blocker, and rebounder since her frosh year. All we know so far about Amari is she has a nice (very nice) jump shot. Amari will find it difficult to gain minutes until she can prove she can do the dirty work as well as score.