Geno on Sarah

[HuskyNan]

Kerry Bascom! High praise indeed

 

[Next 12]

Uconn has a real winner in SARAH. She will not be on the bench for long. Sarah is ready to go NOW and as Geno"s above post, be ready to play anywhere Geno wants her to be. Another multiple AA candidate. GO SARAH!!!! GO NEWBIES!!! GO SOPHOMORES!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!!

 

[Bone Dog]

This sounds like the way he always praises the freshmen. Every year. It doesn’t mean they’ll start in November. But if all goes well some of them will have cracked the rotation by January. My money is on Sarah and Allie.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

Obviously is too early to make assessments on Sarah, but she gives me Maya Moore vibes. I think her demeanor and aesthetics as an athlete, correlate with Maya's very much. Maya's freshman year, when you saw her play on the court, her composure, made you think she was a senior. I think Sarah is going to be just that. I think with Sarah on the floor, there's going to be so many easy lay ups for our bigs, it's going to feel like a scrimmage.

 

[AzzisBraids]

She's tall, mobile, can shoot, takes us space in the lane and is a great passer. She's not afraid of contact either. But that quote shows off why she's #1. She can morph into whatever is needed and I think she's the missing piece of the puzzle that sets UConn apart. The last time Geno got the #1 forward in the class, he did not disappoint.

 

[hoophuskee]

She's tall, mobile, can shoot, takes us space in the lane and is a great passer. She's not afraid of contact either. But that quote shows off why she's #1. She can morph into whatever is needed and I think she's the missing piece of the puzzle that sets UConn apart. The last time Geno got the #1 forward in the class, he did not disappoint.

I expect she'll start right away. Maybe not until the 1st big game they could lose but overall I'd be shocked if not by the 1st big game or sooner that she isn't starting.

 

[Gus Mahler]

My question re Sarah is "Can she defend?"

Beyond that, I can't wait to see her bombing away from three and dominating in the paint.

I'm also encouraged to hear that her mom thinks she, Sarah, is a better player than she, the mom.

 

[ec33]

My question re Sarah is "Can she defend?"

It is one thing to play "any position" on offense. It can be much more difficult to defend everyone the opponent puts on the floor.

How she matches up with small forward-types defensively will be a key to allowing more flexible lineups.

 

[Jackalope]

My question re Sarah is "Can she defend?"

Same was said of Paige her Freshman year. She is a pretty good defender now!

Geno will make sure that she can defend, or she will be sitting on the bench a lot.

 

[HuskyNan]

Sarah (#21 in green) vs Kelis (#1 in white) in a matchup of Top 10 teams. (video is 5:20 long)

 

[Bone Dog]

Sarah (#21 in green) vs Kelis (#1 in white) in a matchup of Top 10 teams. (video is 5:20 long)

Sarah looks good in this video, as does Kelis. Sarah's perimeter shooting game is formidable, often hitting from 6 feet or more behind the arc, and she's strong enough that those long shots don't tax her hand strength. Kelis is a scrapper who knows how to create her own shot and has quite a motor.

As for defense, you can't really see much in this -- highlights usually focus on offense. But you don't see a lot of defensive energy being exerted by anyone. Sarah works hard boxing out, that's clear enough. And Kelis is a ball hawk.

I can also see what Allison Feaster is thinking when she says Sarah's a better player than she was. Beyond maternal bias, Sarah is 3 inches taller, shoots the 3 better and is very strong under the rim. Rebounding was one of her mom's real strengths and Sarah has definitely picked up that talent. It's not clear yet what sort of sustained energy and speed Sarah has -- this was another hallmark of her mom's game. For example, can she defend on the perimeter, in a high hedge and can she close out on a shooter on the wing? This isn't what see seems to be asked to do at Grace Christian. Also, HS games don't usually demand the same sort of energy as a D1 game. I suspect this is the place where we'll see the most growth in Sarah's game. She appears to have the right work ethic and now she'll get to push herself much harder than any previous coach has asked of her.

 

[Surly1]

Obviously is too early to make assessments on Sarah, but she gives me Maya Moore vibes. I think her demeanor and aesthetics as an athlete, correlate with Maya's very much. Maya's freshman year, when you saw her play on the court, her composure, made you think she was a senior. I think Sarah is going to be just that. I think with Sarah on the floor, there's going to be so many easy lay ups for our bigs, it's going to feel like a scrimmage.

I also think that having Paige by her side for a season will help out immensely. Everyone knows that playing for UConn comes with high expectations and demands. This is a deep roster with talent, but also question marks. Paige is clearly the leader of the team, and all of the newbies, Sarah included, will benefit as they don't need to be immediate superstars for this team to thrive. Sarah can concentrate on doing the things she does well and slowly add new wrinkles over time. That's the value of having the best player in the country.

 

[huskeynut]

I also think that having Paige by her side for a season will help out immensely. Everyone knows that playing for UConn comes with high expectations and demands. This is a deep roster with talent, but also question marks. Paige is clearly the leader of the team, and all of the newbies, Sarah included, will benefit as they don't need to be immediate superstars for this team to thrive. Sarah can concentrate on doing the things she does well and slowly add new wrinkles over time. That's

the value of having the best player in the country.

Not only the best player in the country but the best coaching staff in the country.

 

[DEpup]

Kerry Bascom! High praise indeed


View attachment 101330

Yes because Geno always mentions her and often says things close to her being his best and putting the program on the map for the success that happened from the mid 90s forward.

 

[Bone Dog]

Not only the best player in the country but the best coaching staff in the country.

And the coaching trio of Geno CD and Coach P is formidable.

 

[JoePgh]

I think Sarah's natural position will be the 4, where she can muscle in the paint and not have to cope too frequently with fast small forwards. The second coming of Morgan Tuck, perhaps?

That doesn't mean that she won't shoot 3's, as previous UConn 4's such as Morgan, Stewie, and Napheesa did. But I don't know that she will be expected to defend 3-point shooters, especially those who can also drive to the basket.

 

[Mandoo]

Same was said of Paige her Freshman year. She is a pretty good defender now!

Geno will make sure that she can defend, or she will be sitting on the bench a lot.

Nope. Major firepower demands court time. Geno will have enough flexibility to put good defensive players on the other team's best forwards. Sarah, admit it, is gonna be DEADLY. Nerves of steel, can do it all.

 

[Jackalope]

Nope. Major firepower demands court time. Geno will have enough flexibility to put good defensive players on the other team's best forwards. Sarah, admit it, is gonna be DEADLY. Nerves of steel, can do it all.

Geno has always benched his players if they weren't performing to their capabilities. He uses this as a motivating tool. The great players embrace the challenge and continue to work and develop their game. As he has said many times: "Perfection is unattainable, but if you chase perfection you’ll catch excellence."

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma benches Breanna Stewart

"There's a certain level of play that I've been accustomed to at Connecticut," he says. "If you're not there, then you're not playing."

www.syracuse.com

UConn Women's Basketball: Charles focused on keeping up intensity

STORRS — Listening to Tina Charles, the sophomore center on the UConn women’s basketball team would have received the coach’s message loud and clear no matter where she was.

www.norwichbulletin.com

How Nika Mühl escaped the doghouse to become a UConn legend

While Mühl ended her career atop the Huskies' record books, there were times during her freshman year where she didn't look like she could contribute at all.

www.uconnwbbweekly.com

 

[KCD]

For those questioning her defense, watch the 3x3 tournaments that she's played in. She was guarding down low, at the 3-point line, pick-n-roll, etc. She really dominates at 3x3. That's not even mentioning her offensive game. Nobody could contain her underneath and it seemed like she never missed 3-pointers. She never showed any sign of pressure. When it comes to learning, listening to the coaches (and other players), and wanting to be great: both of her parents played college and pro bball. And she's been coached by her dad (at least for the last several years) for non-school bball. She knows how to listen and learn and is coming to UConn to be the best. At least, that is my opinion after following her since she was in junior hs.

 

[oldhusky]

It is one thing to play "any position" on offense. It can be much more difficult to defend everyone the opponent puts on the floor.

How she matches up with small forward-types defensively will be a key to allowing more flexible lineups.

I find myself curious about Geno's comments from the standpoint of our position of greatest need. To me that is backup 5. Assuming Jana starts, and she pretty much has to, ready or not, backup is still a question mark. I know many feel Ice could be fine in that role, and she might be, but not playing at anything approaching last year's level. She needs a quantum leap to be a good backup, as does Ayanna at the 4, at least based on their initial years.

Sarah has real star potential, and the main debate seems to be if she is a 3 or a 4. There is rationale on both sides of that argument, but from a team standpoint there clearly is more of a need at the 4. She needs to start with Jana and the only proven backup at either position is Aubrey, a thin 6-1, but who can score inside, rebound and block shots like a big.

Uconn has had successful three big rotations in the past, the last being Liv, Dorka and Aaliyah. That worked largely because Dorka could play either position. This year I expect both Sarah and Jana to be the real deal (although unproven) and Aubrey has proven to be an excellent reserve when she returns, and she is way way ahead of what Ice and Ayanna have shown so far. So if those two don't show remarkable improvement, could we use a three big rotation of Jana, Sarah and Aubrey, at least some of the time?

From a talent standpoint I think you could, and certainly Aubrey could team up with Jana, but if Jana is resting, could Sarah play the 5 with Aubrey at the 4? I think against teams that didn't have a very good low post scorer it could work, so when Geno says she can play everywhere, i wonder how everywhere he means?

That would probably be Sarah's third best position, but remember we used our best superstar at her fourth best position last year in Paige, also because of need. We have many players that may be asked to play one position bigger than their best this year. Jana is probably a 5/4 but will is needed almost exclusively at the 5. Ice is probably best at the 4 but has been used more at the 5 due to need. Aubrey started at the 3 one year because of need, but this year will be needed more upfront, and Caroline, Morgan and Paige depending on developments could be asked to play the 4. But asking them to play the 5 would be a monumental stretch. With Sarah against most 5's maybe not so much IMO.

 

[BobbyJ]

I find myself curious about Geno's comments from the standpoint of our position of greatest need. To me that is backup 5. Assuming Jana starts, and she pretty much has to, ready or not, backup is still a question mark. I know many feel Ice could be fine in that role, and she might be, but not playing at anything approaching last year's level. She needs a quantum leap to be a good backup, as does Ayanna at the 4, at least based on their initial years.

Sarah has real star potential, and the main debate seems to be if she is a 3 or a 4. There is rationale on both sides of that argument, but from a team standpoint there clearly is more of a need at the 4. She needs to start with Jana and the only proven backup at either position is Aubrey, a thin 6-1, but who can score inside, rebound and block shots like a big.

Uconn has had successful three big rotations in the past, the last being Liv, Dorka and Aaliyah. That worked largely because Dorka could play either position. This year I expect both Sarah and Jana to be the real deal (although unproven) and Aubrey has proven to be an excellent reserve when she returns, and she is way way ahead of what Ice and Ayanna have shown so far. So if those two don't show remarkable improvement, could we use a three big rotation of Jana, Sarah and Aubrey, at least some of the time?

From a talent standpoint I think you could, and certainly Aubrey could team up with Jana, but if Jana is resting, could Sarah play the 5 with Aubrey at the 4? I think against teams that didn't have a very good low post scorer it could work, so when Geno says she can play everywhere, i wonder how everywhere he means?

That would probably be Sarah's third best position, but remember we used our best superstar at her fourth best position last year in Paige, also because of need. We have many players that may be asked to play one position bigger than their best this year. Jana is probably a 5/4 but will is needed almost exclusively at the 5. Ice is probably best at the 4 but has been used more at the 5 due to need. Aubrey started at the 3 one year because of need, but this year will be needed more upfront, and Caroline, Morgan and Paige depending on developments could be asked to play the 4. But asking them to play the 5 would be a monumental stretch. With Sarah against most 5's maybe not so much IMO.

You don't think Brady's play in the most critical part of the season, the BET and NCAAT, was good enough to qualify her as a "good backup"? She needs a quantum leap? C'mon, get serious. Bad backups don't play 40 minute back to back games and help win them. They don't even get into those games.

 

[Bone Dog]

Sarah’s natural position is everywhere, on offense clearly, but also defense. She says she’s modeled her game on Maya Moore, her favorite player, and it shows: she likes versatility. But does this solve the height problems many thought we faced last season? I think she does, but not in an obvious way.

Positional analysis (1-5) always seems to me to be somewhat misleading when it comes to Geno’s teams. This is really true on offense. But the fact is that on defense the girls have to matchup with teams that don’t necessarily play a positionless style. Thus there is something to be said for wondering how they’ll matchup in terms of height at each position.

But all but one of the games in the tournament last season were against taller teams. For an example, you can rewatch the Jackson State game and if there was ever a team that posed height matchup problems it was them. Almost the entire team was >6’ and the front court was 6’6”, 6’4”, 6’4”, 6’3, and these were very active bigs. As we all know, our lineup gave up 3 or more inches at every position. And yet we ran away with this game. The only thing that kept it within 20 points at the end was their perimeter shooting game, not dominating in the paint.

It was crisp active defense that did it. We hounded them, chased down loose balls, switched crisply, disrupted passing lanes and generally were more active and dynamic on defense. Paige Aaliyah and Ash also had excellent offensive games each scoring over 20 points. What this tells me is good defense is supported by good offense. If the team can score, they can more confidently take chances on defense. It should be obvious how Sarah will help next season in so many ways.

Next season, we will be much bigger than last season at every position, and not just in terms of height. We will be stronger too. 6’5”, 6’3”, 6’2” (x4), 6’0” (x3), 5’11”, 5’10”, 5’9” (x2). And we will pack a heckuva punch offensively, and Sarah will be no small part of this. We will also rebound aggressively and she will be a huge part of this. It’s one of the most developed parts of her game already. I suspect she’ll even enable Jana and Ice on the defensive boards. And when Aubrey returns, those two will be scary on the offensive boards whenever they’re on the floor together.

At 6’0”, Maya was every good in the paint and it was mainly because she moved her feet so well. This is what I think we’ll see from Sarah too. And her shooting and passing are also well developed. In other words, she’ll make everyone else better, which was a hallmark of Maya’s game, but also of Paige Azzi and so many others in lore.

Obviously, a lot depends on how quickly Sarah and Jana pick up Geno’s system. But I’m not so worried about this. A lot also depends on Ice especially having a sophomore leap. We’ll know this soon enough. And of course whether the injured can return to form. But that is a worry not relevant to summer speculation. Right now, my magic 8-ball says “all signs point to yes.”

 

[oldhusky]

You don't think Brady's play in the most critical part of the season, the BET and NCAAT, was good enough to qualify her as a "good backup"? She needs a quantum leap? C'mon, get serious. Bad backups don't play 40 minute back to back games and help win them. They don't even get into those games.

Obviously we disagree, and I think she has substantial offensive potential, but IMO will never be a very good rebounder or shot blocker. I do think her position defense is ok, and I expect offensive performance to improve, but a look at her overall numbers is not encouraging.

On the season her PER was somewhere around 12, which is by definition below average which is 15. Now that doesn't mean she is a below average player, compared to all Division 1 players, because Uconn plays a way above average schedule, but it does mean that her numbers incorporating all stats were below average relative to the schedule played.

Where many will disagree with me is her performance in the BET and NCAAT. Is it impressive to play 40 minutes? Of course and some slack must be given for that in the numbers because of fatigue, but the numbers for 40 minutes were still not impressive, nor was her performance in the tournament. Many seem to think that there was this dramatic turnaround starting with the BET, but I think the numbers don't support that.

Ice got minutes last year because she was better than Amari and was the only big option left. The reason I say a quantum leap is necessary is twofold. If her PER improved by 25% to 15, that would be bring her up to average. She would need to be near 20 for me to consider her a good backup, at least by Uconn's standards. Aubrey for example has been upper 20's as a backup, Dorka was well into the 20's when she was the third big. On the greatest teams we have had backup bigs in the 30's, I know Gabby was and maybe Pheesa, and Liv in her freshmen season was about 20, and later as a starter moved to upper 20's.

It doesn't matter who it is, if Uconn has a player in the rotation with PER numbers below average, at least for a national contender that is a relative weakness that I would hope could be fixed. A normal level improvement from freshmen to sophomore doesn't get me there in her case. I hope she does show a dramatic improvement and eliminates concern I have for the backup 5, but see nothing in the numbers or late season performance that suggests she is close to getting there. Maybe it will show up this season.

 

[Zonepress]

Obviously we disagree, and I think she has substantial offensive potential, but IMO will never be a very good rebounder or shot blocker. I do think her position defense is ok, and I expect offensive performance to improve, but a look at her overall numbers is not encouraging.

On the season her PER was somewhere around 12, which is by definition below average which is 15. Now that doesn't mean she is a below average player, compared to all Division 1 players, because Uconn plays a way above average schedule, but it does mean that her numbers incorporating all stats were below average relative to the schedule played.

Where many will disagree with me is her performance in the BET and NCAAT. Is it impressive to play 40 minutes? Of course and some slack must be given for that in the numbers because of fatigue, but the numbers for 40 minutes were still not impressive, nor was her performance in the tournament. Many seem to think that there was this dramatic turnaround starting with the BET, but I think the numbers don't support that.

Ice got minutes last year because she was better than Amari and was the only big option left. The reason I say a quantum leap is necessary is twofold. If her PER improved by 25% to 15, that would be bring her up to average. She would need to be near 20 for me to consider her a good backup, at least by Uconn's standards. Aubrey for example has been upper 20's as a backup, Dorka was well into the 20's when she was the third big. On the greatest teams we have had backup bigs in the 30's, I know Gabby was and maybe Pheesa, and Liv in her freshmen season was about 20, and later as a starter moved to upper 20's.

It doesn't matter who it is, if Uconn has a player in the rotation with PER numbers below average, at least for a national contender that is a relative weakness that I would hope could be fixed. A normal level improvement from freshmen to sophomore doesn't get me there in her case. I hope she does show a dramatic improvement and eliminates concern I have for the backup 5, but see nothing in the numbers or late season performance that suggests she is close to getting there. Maybe it will show up this season.

You must have a lot of time on you hands to
Post this

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You must have a lot of time on you hands to
Post this

That's not a Boneyard reply.