How Jana El Alfy is adapting to new role as starter

[hoophuskee]

from my earlier post.......

"...there's no reason that Jana and Ice shouldn't be combining for twenty points and twelve rebounds a game in the Big East...."

there's no reason for UConn to stop shooting threes when they are making them but as we've already seen in numerous games, the offense can get bogged down when they aren't......having a capable low post presence simply gives them another scoring option to consider......

The below in bold were the prior posts you made that I replied to. I see though you did initially make mention to both players which I missed but then in bold I suppose because the way I phrased the questions, we were speaking specifcially of Jana at least the bold in which you replied to me states Jana only. Not Ice. As I said now,-- I see from the start that you did iniitally include Ice which i missed- I feel Ice could have a game then Jana could have a game etc. And Ice is easier to get her type of shots and easier to play for pace. But that's beside the point. I’m fine with adding both as a combined 2 but they need the Big 3 to create for them vs the top teams other than very few baskets on their own.

My point about Paige/Sarah and Azzi is that they aren't just 3point shooters. Once they get comfortable playing with each other and once the defense improves with the addition of Aubrey, the offense shouldn't get bogged down enough so that UCONN needs to focus on Jana/Ice to score. More time together with the Big 3, why wouldn't their chemistry improve? Why plan for them bogging down at such a level rather than planning for them to beat the defense enough? The top 3 players are top tier players for a reason. They should be feeding Jana/Ice to score in tough games only if they feel she/they has/have the easiest opportunity to score at a high efficiency because of the situation they created against the defense. The opposing team which is supposedly elite isn't going to so easily let Jana/Ice get position 3-5 feet from the basket very often. There is a reason why they are good. It's because they won't let “the Jana's” get layups and/or bury them on their own in the post. The best way Jana is getting layups and easy shots at the rim would be because of the situation UCONN's super 3 put the opposing team’s defense in.



the more effective Jana becomes offensively down low, the more wide-open shots will be available for the rest of the team......

That may be true but why should UConn ignore their inside game if Jana shows she can be a legit scoring threat?

 

[ERWUC65]

He said 20 points. You are moving the bar if you are replying to my post. I was replying to 20 points or near,. Twenty points is an illogical stretch. It’s not even close to being realistic. Eighteen points is illogical too. You call it a stretch, respectfully I respect you and Charlie a lot; it's a pipedream. Much more than "just a stretch.” UCONN has to change their entire offense for her to be averaging 18-20 ppg. You must slow the pace down for this to happen. And by him stating as few as 10 shots; it's not like she is going to go to the Free Throw line 8 times. Thus 10--11 shots, she'd have to be shooting 70% or higher while she gets some free throws in which she ups her free throw % a great deal. Again taking so few shots and averaging near 20 - it's a pipedream.

Also, how many points do you think it realistic that she should be relied upon scoring vs South Carolina or UCLA?

If you think she should be averaging double-digits vs these high quality inside teams then I think that crazy-far-fetched. She can get 10 in a random game but averaging double-digits vs these teams shows little respect for the other teams capabilities imo.

She is only shooting 50% right now and she isn't even being double-teamed. She is magically going to take it against these other elite inside teams? Is it that easy for a freshman after 14 games to turn from being 50% EFG% to all of a sudden a double-digit threat big-time threat? This is what I meant by just because she is wearing a UCONN jersey doesn’t turn her into Wonder Woman.

There has to be respect for the other teams. Thinking that the ball is going to be dumped into Jana and she is going to take it to them in terms of double digits multiple games shows no respect to these other teams. She isn't Stewie. And she isn't what Tina was as a frosh. Bottomline is that you don't go limit the ball from your superstars hands for such an unknown at this point in the season.

I just want to say again I have a ton of respect for you and charlie. A ton. Along with that you are both gentleman (I think you’re a dude?). My bark is not meant to be mean here. Please don’t take it that way.

It is not necessary to take up the entire thread to make your point. I think we heard you the first time. I suspect you are not even in the majority with your opinion. Geno knows there is strength in numbers and is trying to get to March with a healthy roster and that means playing everyone and developing any and all options in the process. Right now I don't see Paige playing like the top player in the nation, Sarah, in spite of her prowess, is still a freshman and we are all holding our breath on Azzi - so much for total dependence on the big three.

 

[Blond D.]

Jana needs to work on her footwork, her shooting and her timing. Once she gets that down (that includes free throws) she could get 8 or 9 shots a game. Thats only like 2 per quarter. Once she gets it down on a good night she could get 18 points. On a bad night not so many.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Just because Jana has a UCONN jersey on doesn't turn her into Wonder Woman.

Well, not yet anyway.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

For Jana and/or Ice to be truly helpful offensively this season, they must score their points from getting offensive rebounds. If they can do that rather than being a focal point, then UConn will be a much stronger team. I believe that is what @hoophuskee is saying in a nutshell.

 

[Cuango]

Not a chance. And t would be crazy for UCONN to do this. Take away shots from players like Paige, Azzi and Sarah is not a winning formula. And to think that Jana is going to take it vs a the top tier teams would be wrong as well.

UCONN is a fastbreak team. UCONN's best players are perimeter players. That's their bones. Working on a philosophy with minimal chance of success vs top tier teams and going away from your strength is a massive mistake which Geno won't do.

The top tier teams with very good inside players with a lot more experience work on their Defense too. Just because Jana has a UCONN jersey on doesn't turn her into Wonder Woman.

And yet, the hope must be that, by the end of the season, she will have progressed to be at least in some small way, exactly that! It is clear that since Stewie left, the main impediment (next to injuries) to winning #12 has been our inability to field a competitive big in the middle! Is it possible that we could have won had we been healthy even without a strong presence in the middle? Perhaps so, but it is abundantly clear that even with the ridiculous amount of talent on this roster, we will always be a better team when we have a competitive post to battle the Betts, Watkins, and Iriafens in the middle! Do I expect Jana to be that by the end of the season? You bet I do! Not as “Wonder Woman” but certainly capable to make things difficult for any post we meet in the tournament! Jana does not need to dominate, or even play even! (Although that would be nice) What I am hoping for (what I am convinced she can do) is that she will be able to defend and rebound, with a little opportunistic scoring thrown in as a bonus. That, is what I (and I believe, most UConn fans) are hoping for! I am convinced that Geno too is hoping for this! To not attempt to develop a big with the obvious potential that Jana clearly has, would be coaching malpractice!

 

[AzzisBraids]

She just needs to keep it simple, she's doing so much thinking and dribbling. Catch ball, lay ball up, block shot, run back, hedge, don't foul. That it's, it's easier said than done but I think she needs to focus on defense.

At 6-5, she has 6 blocks for the season, tying Paige and way below Sarah. Elite teams have players averaging close to these totals a night. She's young and will figure it out but if she's going to foul, at least foul on trying to block a shot. After the boneyard hyped her up all summer as the next Stewie, I don't really know what to make of what I'm seeing.

 

[hoophuskee]

And yet, the hope must be that, by the end of the season, she will have progressed to be at least in some small way, exactly that! It is clear that since Stewie left, the main impediment (next to injuries) to winning #12 has been our inability to field a competitive big in the middle! Is it possible that we could have won had we been healthy even without a strong presence in the middle? Perhaps so, but it is abundantly clear that even with the ridiculous amount of talent on this roster, we will always be a better team when we have a competitive post to battle the Betts, Watkins, and Iriafens in the middle! Do I expect Jana to be that by the end of the season? You bet I do! Not as “Wonder Woman” but certainly capable to make things difficult for any post we meet in the tournament! Jana does not need to dominate, or even play even! (Although that would be nice) What I am hoping for (what I am convinced she can do) is that she will be able to defend and rebound, with a little opportunistic scoring thrown in as a bonus. That, is what I (and I believe, most UConn fans) are hoping for! I am convinced that Geno too is hoping for this! To not attempt to develop a big with the obvious potential that Jana clearly has, would be coaching malpractice!

I believe UCONN would have won at least one title if not for the injuties. Period.
Don't believe to add in any other caveats.
Geno said the same thing too that he believes he would have won if not for all the injuries. I don't recall him adding in any caveats other than injuries as well. Though I don't have the quote he said I belive it was 2 years ago. Those can beleive as they wish.
And all UCONN fans hope for a championship(s) too. How they win is of little concern for most fans.

 

[BRS24]

Gifted the article to share with folks that Geno knows what she has to do, Jana knows what she has to do, and it gets turned into another Jana/Ice playing time, points scored argument. I'll leave y'all with this quote:

In her first two months of college ball, El Alfy has learned to keep up with the pace of the game and allow actions to come to her instead of trying to force things to happen. Most importantly, she’s learned to give herself grace and learn from mistakes instead of letting them take up space.​

 

[huskeynut]

I posted this in another thread and I will do it again on this one.

Read and React (mental) and Muscle Memory (physical). The two important parts of any players game.

Jana is still thinking offensively and defensively. She is not at the stage where gets the ball and goes. Let's remember, her career, so far, is 13 D1 games and the highest level. And playing for UConn and Geno is no easy task for anybody.

Jana has the physical skill and the talent to be a force in the low post. The Marquette game showed improvement. The more minutes she gets in games the better she will be.

This also means Chen, Arnold and Bueckers need to feed Jana when she presents herself more often. Again, this team is still a work in progress. If Jana remains a starter, things will improve. The better Jana gets, the better the offense will flow. If Jana becomes that 4th scoring threat, guards won't be able to double down on her defensively because there are 3 others who can burn them.

 

[Bone Dog]

“That consistency thing, that kind of affects pretty much every kid playing college basketball.”

One thing that gets in the way of Jana’s consistency, I suspect, is conditioning. This looks like it’s a work in progress and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her running the court better at the end of January than she is now. Also, and this is trivial but may be indicative, in her two starts she lost both opening tips to smaller players. She barely jumped each time. What I’m getting at is she may not be comfortable jumping yet.

Once Jana is fully comfortable running and jumping we may see much better consistency in her play.

 

[6Nattys4Us]

Thinking by post season, the El Alfy / Strong combo will be clicking as will the Buekers / Fudd combo.

Hard to game plan vs super talented front and back courts - let's get Jana the minutes 'now' and it will pay dividends in post season play.

 

[Charliebball]

For Jana and/or Ice to be truly helpful offensively this season, they must score their points from getting offensive rebounds. If they can do that rather than being a focal point, then UConn will be a much stronger team. I believe that is what @hoophuskee is saying in a nutshell.

How about a combination of the two? Not sure why there is such an aversion to getting Jana more touches now to improve her inside game for the end of the season when baskets are so much harder to come by.........getting her the ball a bit more should have almost no impact on the rest of the UConn player's shots.......as a matter of fact, any increased effectiveness down low should benefit the rest of the shooters....

 

[6Nattys4Us]

How about a combination of the two? Not sure why there is such an aversion to getting Jana more touches now to improve her inside game for the end of the season when baskets are so much harder to come by.........getting her the ball a bit more should have almost no impact on the rest of the UConn player's shots.......as a matter of fact, any increased effectiveness down low should benefit the rest of the shooters....

Jana has 2" on Ice which might not seem 'a lot' but in rebounding every inch of height helps.

I'm more than sure Geno is seeing matchups, working practices for the best outcome of winning. It would be great to get Jana more minutes, but not at the sacrifice of a game plan predicated on matchups that benefit a different players tendencies.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

How about a combination of the two? Not sure why there is such an aversion to getting Jana more touches now to improve her inside game for the end of the season when baskets are so much harder to come by.........getting her the ball a bit more should have almost no impact on the rest of the UConn player's shots.......as a matter of fact, any increased effectiveness down low should benefit the rest of the shooters....

Did you not read the "and/or" in my first sentence? Getting either of them the ball so far this season has had little to no effect on the scoreboard. If and when they prove they can actually score consistently when fed the ball, then I am definitely with you. Until then, as I've said previously, their points need to come from put-backs of offensive rebounds.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

One thing that gets in the way of Jana’s consistency, I suspect, is conditioning. This looks like it’s a work in progress and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her running the court better at the end of January than she is now. Also, and this is trivial but may be indicative, in her two starts she lost both opening tips to smaller players. She barely jumped each time. What I’m getting at is she may not be comfortable jumping yet.

Once Jana is fully comfortable running and jumping we may see much better consistency in her play.

I keep reading about "rust" and "conditioning" as excuses for sub-par performances. These are young, strong, very athletic women. Even returning from injures, they recover very quickly once released from the medical staff. If they are serious about returning to form, they will have worked perhaps even harder than they ever have previously to return to top form. When was Jana, for example, released by the medical staff to return without limitations? Several months before the season started right, so c'mon with the conditioning excuse.

 

[ERWUC65]

I keep reading about "rust" and "conditioning" as excuses for sub-par performances. These are young, strong, very athletic women. Even returning from injures, they recover very quickly once released from the medical staff. If they are serious about returning to form, they will have worked perhaps even harder than they ever have previously to return to top form. When was Jana, for example, released by the medical staff to return without limitations? Several months before the season started right, so c'mon with the conditioning excuse.

First, there is quite a difference between practice/conditioning and actual game intensity. A medical release says nothing about the mind set of the individual. I would use Azzi as an prime example of this. Why is she not 100% right now? I am sure Aubrey has been released as well, but is still not ready mentally or we would see her already. And, finally, Jana is one of the hardest workers in practice and has played in enough games to be fit, but still hesitates on occasion to go full out - perhaps thinking of that achilles tear. Give them a break!

 

[JRRRJ]

Did you not read the "and/or" in my first sentence? Getting either of them the ball so far this season has had little to no effect on the scoreboard. If and when they prove they can actually score consistently when fed the ball, then I am definitely with you. Until then, as I've said previously, their points need to come from put-backs of offensive rebounds.

Between them, Ice and Jana are scoring over 10 points and just under 9 rebounds per game in 34 minutes between them. That's not "little".

 

[Charliebball]

Did you not read the "and/or" in my first sentence? Getting either of them the ball so far this season has had little to no effect on the scoreboard. If and when they prove they can actually score consistently when fed the ball, then I am definitely with you. Until then, as I've said previously, their points need to come from put-backs of offensive rebounds.

Exactly my point..........the only way Jana will improve her offensive prowess is by playing on a consistent basis until she's rolling or until she shows she's not capable.........

 

[WiseWillie]

One thing that gets in the way of Jana’s consistency, I suspect, is conditioning. This looks like it’s a work in progress and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her running the court better at the end of January than she is now. Also, and this is trivial but may be indicative, in her two starts she lost both opening tips to smaller players. She barely jumped each time. What I’m getting at is she may not be comfortable jumping yet.

Once Jana is fully comfortable running and jumping we may see much better consistency in her play.

You may be right about the jumping. Perhaps still some lingering concern of the achilles tear.

 

[Nolefan]

She just needs to keep it simple, she's doing so much thinking and dribbling. Catch ball, lay ball up, block shot, run back, hedge, don't foul. That it's, it's easier said than done but I think she needs to focus on defense.

At 6-5, she has 6 blocks for the season, tying Paige and way below Sarah. Elite teams have players averaging close to these totals a night. She's young and will figure it out but if she's going to foul, at least foul on trying to block a shot. After the boneyard hyped her up all summer as the next Stewie, I don't really know what to make of what I'm seeing.

Who’s averaging 6 blocks per game ?

 

[sun]

Who’s averaging 6 blocks per game ?

Blocks per game leaders from the NCAA website: Position, games, total blocks, blocks per game.
Blocks per game is only an average so some games can be higher & other games can be lower.

1	Sedona Prince	TCU	Sr.	6-7	C	14	52	3.71
2	Kate Koval	Notre Dame	Fr.	6-5	F	11	38	3.45
3	Makayla Timpson	Florida St.	Sr.	6-2	F	14	45	3.21
4	Serah Williams	Wisconsin	Jr.	6-4	F	14	39	2.79
5	Anastasiia Boldyreva	Middle Tenn.	Sr.	6-6	C	14	38	2.71
6	Anna Miller	Drake	Sr.	6-3	F	13	35	2.69
7	Ashley Sofilkanich	Bucknell	So.	6-3	F	12	32	2.67
8	Teonni Key	Kentucky	Jr.	6-4	F	13	34	2.62
-	Clara Strack	Kentucky	So.	6-5	C	13	34	2.62
10	Khadija Faye	Pittsburgh	Sr.	6-4	C	13	31	2.38

 

[uconnfan68]

One thing that gets in the way of Jana’s consistency, I suspect, is conditioning. This looks like it’s a work in progress and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her running the court better at the end of January than she is now. Also, and this is trivial but may be indicative, in her two starts she lost both opening tips to smaller players. She barely jumped each time. What I’m getting at is she may not be comfortable jumping yet.

Once Jana is fully comfortable running and jumping we may see much better consistency in her play.

Samson Johnson gets beat too. It’s not how high, or even how quick you jump, it’s how you anticipate and react.

 

[Bone Dog]

Samson Johnson gets beat too. It’s not how high, or even how quick you jump, it’s how you anticipate and react.

There’s definitely a skill involved in timing the jump. But it looks to me like Jana isn’t even really jumping at all.

 

[hookshot]

That may be true but why should UConn ignore their inside game if Jana shows she can be a legit scoring threat? I'm talking about her taking 10-15 shots a game........ easy baskets are always a good thing and the odds of making a shot five feet from the basket are far greater than those taken from 22.2 feet away.........I simply don't think that UConn's outside shooting can be counted on alone to win four or five straight games against the best defensive teams in the country....

Depends who is taking the shots doesn't it ?

 

[DefenseBB]

This sounds familiar. If she develops as I hope she does, and brings the ferocity, we’ll all be calling her ‘Big Nika.’

Wait, weren’t you the poster espousing how Jana and Stewie had similar tools? And then a bunch of others all jumped aboard that absurd observation by liking it. Stewie did not need to “develop” as much as hone her tremendous skills. Geno prodded Stewie to contribute every night like he is doing here. Hopefully Jana responds.

Jana needs to show her back to the basket skills and avoid all the silly fouls to warrant continued playing time. She is showing glimpses but as Geno stated, “prove it every time”. Jana IS NOT like Stewie and we can only hope she develops into a nice solid contributor both offensively and defensively who can rebound and make the opposing team defend her.

Short of that occurring we will have many players in roles out of their natural positions. That has hurt this team from achieving the lofty goal of title #12.

Simply put, you need a strong post presence to win a title. No team has won a title without a strong inside presence.Even Diana had Jessica Moore and Ann Strouther (though many conveniently forget them in the narrative). We too will need Jana to develop and evolve to compete with UCLA, ND, SoCal and SCar.

While optimistic, it is not a foregone conclusion. I am rooting for her!

 

[Charliebball]

Depends who is taking the shots doesn't it ?

yes, and how hot that shooter is during a game...........it stands to reason that a layup is going to be a higher percentage shot than a three pointer all things being equal........that's why posts and big forwards often shoot at a higher percentage than three point shooters.....

 

[Rowdy831]

Jana learns. In the game last weekend she made a post move that started too low and she ended up under the basket with really no angle to make a shot. The next time she posted up about 5 feet higher and her move ended up right she needed to be. To me that learning only happens when you are on the floor for a lot of minutes.

I still think they need to be able to go with Jana and Ice against a few teams out there so the rest of the schedule will be interesting.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Blocks per game leaders from the NCAA website: Position, games, total blocks, blocks per game.
Blocks per game is only an average so some games can be higher & other games can be lower.

1	Sedona Prince	TCU	Sr.	6-7	C	14	52	3.71
2	Kate Koval	Notre Dame	Fr.	6-5	F	11	38	3.45
3	Makayla Timpson	Florida St.	Sr.	6-2	F	14	45	3.21
4	Serah Williams	Wisconsin	Jr.	6-4	F	14	39	2.79
5	Anastasiia Boldyreva	Middle Tenn.	Sr.	6-6	C	14	38	2.71
6	Anna Miller	Drake	Sr.	6-3	F	13	35	2.69
7	Ashley Sofilkanich	Bucknell	So.	6-3	F	12	32	2.67
8	Teonni Key	Kentucky	Jr.	6-4	F	13	34	2.62
-	Clara Strack	Kentucky	So.	6-5	C	13	34	2.62
10	Khadija Faye	Pittsburgh	Sr.	6-4	C	13	31	2.38

Thanks for this! in my OP I mentioned that some have close to these totals a night. My point was almost all of these players has had a single game that equals or is close to the season total of our tallest post player. That's not shady or smacktalking, that's just data and facts.

 

[hookshot]

Jana learns. In the game last weekend she made a post move that started too low and she ended up under the basket with really no angle to make a shot. The next time she posted up about 5 feet higher and her move ended up right she needed to be. To me that learning only happens when you are on the floor for a lot of minutes.

I still think they need to be able to go with Jana and Ice against a few teams out there so the rest of the schedule will be interesting.

yes, and how hot that shooter is during a game...........it stands to reason that a layup is going to be a higher percentage shot than a three pointer all things being equal........that's why posts and big forwards often shoot at a higher percentage than three point shooters.....

I was being a bit tounge in cheek; right now I'll take Paige at 15 feet versus Jana at 5 feet. I think we just don't know how well Jana will do at this level, but can only assume that she will get better as she gets more comfortable with playing time.