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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4074701, member: 1131"] [USER=3215]@pvdoggy[/USER]: When the coaches see someone with Mir's athletic ability, and they also see a highly competitive attitude, a willingness to learn and be coached, and a team-first orientation, they will take on the challenge even if they know that she is going to be a "project". Not only Mir, but also Piath and to some extent Aubrey, fit this profile. Amari may also be in this category. Past successful examples of this profile include Kara Wolters, Ketia Swanier, Mel Thomas, and Stef Dolson. But really, my sense (based on a number of Geno's comments) is that even players with competent high-school and AAU coaching have a LOT to learn when they get to UConn. Apparently it is unusual at the high school level to play organized defenses that know how to rotate to compensate for double teams, or that know how to switch in a man-to-man defense. There are certainly a few players who arrive at UConn with a high level of basketball knowledge, a category that certainly includes Paige and apparently also Azzi and Caroline -- but they are definitely the exceptions. KLS, Napheesa, Kelly Faris, and Kia Nurse (probably based on her time with the Canadian National team) may also have had a high level of knowledge before they got to Storrs. There also seem to be a number of players (perhaps the majority) who are talented and willing to work, but have absolutely no idea of HOW MUCH work is needed to succeed at a place like UConn. By all accounts, Tina Charles was in this category, and we know how she turned out. Rather than fail, she cranked up her engine and learned to think and play at the level that UConn demanded. Then there are players who are athletically talented, were not very well coached in high school, have no idea of the level of work needed to be successful in college, and (when they find out) are not overly inclined to do that level of work. I think that Mikayla Coombs and Megan Walker, unfortunately, fit into this category. Neither of them reached nearly their potential at UConn, and I don't think either of them enjoyed their time in Storrs very much. We all remember how disappointed Geno was in their freshman year with the slow pace with which they were learning the system, and he was apoplectic when he let them play big minutes in an AAC game (against Tulsa, as I recall) and their ignorance (late in February) was revealed. It is possible that Andra Espinosa-Hunter was also in this unenviable category. Hopefully none of the freshmen and sophomores who are now at UConn will follow their example. [/QUOTE]

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