I Believe before seeing

[Tonyc]

We will see what the Lville game will look like. I expect to see us stumbling forward. In the UCLA game we started slow and showed alot of improvement. We turned a double digit lead into a double digit win. Thats a huge turnaround from the GT game. We still have a long way to go. Dorka is new to our system and it looked like against UCLA she was coming together. Caroline has tremendous potential and in the second half again UCLA she looked much more confident doing her thing. Deberry to has alot of upside, just needs more playtime to be more consistent. We've made alot of improvement, learning to play without Paige. We still have a way to go. LVille will exploit our weaknesses win or loose and we will have time over the holidays to correct what we need to improve on. Hopefully Griff Nika and Azzi are back early after the holidays.

The potential on this team is huge however we lack have players who lack experience at the college level and we have players who are learning Geno's system on the go because of our injuries. We have great shooter in Paige Azzi Caroline and Evina. We have good height in Liv Dorka and Deberry. When we get to where many of us think we should be, its gonna be a great team. We have shown our height is beginning to blossom and not yet in full bloom. We have great shooters however a couple are injured. We have good rebounding which we saw in the last game and that too will get better. However we are a work in process right now waiting for those reinforcements to get healthy. It may be this season it may not.

Some posters have posted that Azzi isnt or doesnt look like or what ever, you know what Im referring to with her shot and ability to play like Paige. Well shes been injured since before the summer and now Geno has elected to sit her til she gets better which is the right thing to do. I was told shes another Maya Moore. Now some of our posters havent seen that side of her yet and I dont need to see it now I know its there from coaches and parents I talk too. For one I got that from my cousin who's daughter played with Azzi in her back yard and she played with Paige too. Her name is Sara Scalia and shes a guard with Minnesota. Many of you saw her shooting ability against UConn in the Bahamas. Well the other nite she had 37 pts and put on a show with her shooting. Those of you who get the BTN network need to watch her. I wish she played for UConn. She shoots from deeper then deep. As many of you who have been on this board a long time know I know alot of people in WBB and they are creditable sources. When I post something about a player on the board you can pretty much count on it being reliable. Thats how I know Azzi is the real deal and when she gets healthy and when shes back up to speed we're going to have a very special player who will be a 1st team AA.

So when we get healthy and up to speed we have everything we need to win a NC. This is why I believe we will be almost unbeatable and the best team in the country. We havent seen it yet and I believe without seeing it yet because of what Ive benn told by creditable sources. Sunday will tell us alot about where we are as a team. We will see glimpses of our potential and we will see silly mistakes. The important right now is we learn how to become great without our 4 injured players.

 

[LoboDays]

I don’t know why but I always feel like I should be standing up listening to Ray Charles singing God Bless America when I read your messages Tony. You have no match when it comes to positive reinforcement.

You always point out our lack of experience. I don’t believe we have played a team that has more experience than UCONN. If LIV,CW,EW AE, DORKA suffer from a lack of experience compared to our opponents, we need to get in touch with Lobo to see if she has anything on her calendar.

 

[Bigboote]

Judy Elf in the Santa Clause: Seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing."

 

[Vowelguy]

@HuskyNan i was skeptical of your paragraph claim but now I can see it’s a true Festivus miracle!

 

[Charliebball]

I agree with you Tony but there are a lot of ifs and whens which still need to be determined...........if Nika and Azzi were playing I'd feel a heck of a lot better as this year's Louisville is not vintage but they have enough quality to give a fully healthy UConn a good game...........if the current team wants to win this one they need to dominate inside and hit some threes otherwise they are in for a long afternoon.......

 

[msf22b]

The L'ville game is an important game but its just a game...
an early out of conference game.
And it doesn't (hopefully) reflect the team or the quality of play that we'll be putting on the floor in March.

What it does do ...for Caroline, Dorka, and Aaliyah is a chance for the three of them to find their game, their place on the team and continue to make meaningful contributions. They are skilled young ladies, capable of
first-class performance, even domination.

You're not going to get it every game, but the potential is there...and if they do deliver and become integral, there is no telling how good this team can be.

Just be patient.

 

[Jc718]

“I was told shes another Maya Moore” “she’s more heralded than Paige” I am once again asking what Azzi has done to draw these comparisons..certainly nothing at the collegiate level yet. It seems everyone just keeps going off of hearsay ‘this person told me this so it must be true’

 

[Skeets]

Tony, I love your optimism. I really bleed blue. I believe UConn will put 5 players on the court thoroughly capable of beating Louisville. Here's my worry, all of this "when we get healthy and everyone back" reminds me a little bit the optimism last summer. Let's just live in the moment, game by game. If everything turns out the way we would LIKE it to turn out, great! In the meantime we are where we are where we are, win and move on.

 

[Artifact]

So with more time & experience, we shall receive valuable experience, Great! However, let us pray for any more injuries, not to occur. It appears that we presently are walking on 'Thin Ice'.

 

[hoophuskee]

“I was told shes another Maya Moore” “she’s more heralded than Paige” I am once again asking what Azzi has done to draw these comparisons..certainly nothing at the collegiate level yet. It seems everyone just keeps going off of hearsay ‘this person told me this so it must be true’

What's wrong with hearsay with anticipation? It doesn't matter if she isn't Maya or if she isn't as good as Paige, as long as she turns out to be a terrific player, right?

 

[willtalk]

“I was told shes another Maya Moore” “she’s more heralded than Paige” I am once again asking what Azzi has done to draw these comparisons..certainly nothing at the collegiate level yet. It seems everyone just keeps going off of hearsay ‘this person told me this so it must be true’

I am not agreeing or disagreeing with her being another Maya Moore, however, I don't put much credibility from the assessment of people just because they are affiliated with the WNBA. They really have no scouting system like the NBA. They basically rely on reputation and a few games that they might have seen. I do agree with Jc718 that we can not really go by just what she has accomplished in high school for multiple reasons ( lost later years due to injury issues ). Lets wait to see what she actually does in college and if she can put to gether some heathy seasons. It's been quite a while since she has been a 100%.

 

[Soxx]

“I was told shes another Maya Moore” “she’s more heralded than Paige” I am once again asking what Azzi has done to draw these comparisons..certainly nothing at the collegiate level yet. It seems everyone just keeps going off of hearsay ‘this person told me this so it must be true’

Credible sources are not the same as “hearsay.” Based on direct observation and experience/knowledge of women’s hoops.

 

[Jc718]

Credible sources are not the same as “hearsay.” Based on direct observation and experience/knowledge of women’s hoops.

All I’ve heard from “credible sources” is that she’s a tremendous shooter. All I’m wondering is how people took that and somehow it turns into she’s Maya Moore , she’s a generational player, better than Paige etc. Even Diana and Geno said what you do at the high school level is irrelevant because 90% of the people you play against will never play basketball again. Azzi had that one great game where she showed it was true she’s a great 3 point shooter! As for the other proclamations people have made about her..we just haven’t seen anything that merits those bold comparisons. That doesn’t mean it won’t ever show especially until she’s recovered from her injury. But right now all these claims just sound baseless and veryyy premature.

 

[sun]

“I was told shes another Maya Moore” “she’s more heralded than Paige” I am once again asking what Azzi has done to draw these comparisons..certainly nothing at the collegiate level yet. It seems everyone just keeps going off of hearsay ‘this person told me this so it must be true’

Azzi has a body of work. She played for the Team USA FIBA under 19 World Cup this past summer along with other college players.
Paige has posted video of her working out with Azzi 4 months ago, and she also heavily recruited Azzi to attend UConn.
Paige is one of the credible sources that knows a lot about Azzi's level of talent.
I haven't heard of Azzi being compared to Maya Moore, but it appears that you don't trust Paige's opinion about Azzi enough to investigate but would rather remain skeptical instead.
Surely you don't think that Paige is lying about Azzi's talent that she has seen 1st hand.
They seem to be pushing each other to improve all of the time.
Youtube has FIBA under 19 highlight videos against Egypt, Australia and Italy, and here's one of their private workout videos.
AFAIK Azzi's only issue has been her foot injuries and she needs to get some experience.
Her videos show that she's been able to perform.
Check them out.

 

[MSGRET]

@Jc718 Steph Curry has been noted as saying that "Azzi Fudd is the best pure shooter that he has ever seen, be it in the men's or women's game period." I believe that he would be a credible source when it comes to basketball and shooting.

 

[Jc718]

Azzi has a body of work. She played for the Team USA FIBA under 19 World Cup this past summer along with other college players.
Paige has posted video of her working out with Azzi 4 months ago, and she also heavily recruited Azzi to attend UConn.
Paige is one of the credible sources that knows a lot about Azzi's level of talent.
I haven't heard of Azzi being compared to Maya Moore, but it appears that you don't trust Paige's opinion about Azzi enough to investigate but would remain skeptical instead.
Surely you don't think that Paige is lying about Azzi's talent that she has seen 1st hand.
They seem to be pushing each other to improve all of the time.
Youtube has FIBA under 19 highlight videos against Egypt, Australia and Italy from 4 months ago and here's one of their private work out videos.
AFAIK Azzi's only issue has been her foot injuries, and she needs to get some experience.
Otherwise her videos have shown that she's able to perform.
Check them all out.

I’ve seen a lot of the Paige and Azzi workout videos and highlight videos. Obviously Azzi is a great shooter. She beat Steph Curry in a 3 point contest. “You don’t trust Paige’s opinion about Azzi” I don’t think I’ve ever heard Paige genuinely say anything bad about any of her teammates so I guess you’re right that I believe Paige likes to hype up her friends. I hope Azzi becomes a great player in college, but I am still skeptical of the extreme expectations and probably will be until she’s healthy enough to show it on this level. Also, the OP on this thread mentioned Maya Moore. I guess I’m just saying I have a more believe it when I see it perspective. That’s all!

 

[Jc718]

@Jc718 Steph Curry has been noted as saying that "Azzi Fudd is the best pure shooter that he has ever seen, be it in the men's or women's game period." I believe that he would be a credible source when it comes to basketball and shooting.

I agree that she’s a tremendous shooter! Steph Curry isn’t wrong!

 

[BBallF]

Tony- I agree with you about the pieces to the puzzle. The unknown enigma is whether when the pieces are all put in place on the board is the puzzle itself NC or FF caliber. You can put 5 really good and some great players on the court, but if the chemistry, the experience, the knowledge, the confidence and the team brain isn't there, it won't get you where you want to go. For example, does everyone know when CD will go back door? Does Azzi know the exact spot that Liv should receive the ball on the block? Do our guards know where not to give a pass to AE and several dozen other questions. No matter how you may see film or be told it, the experience of playing together and doing it is everything.

This is more of a work in progress now than in a lot of years. The key for me tomorrow is a continued effort through 4 quarters and a further step forward in forming a new team dynamic. That means the emergence of Evina and Dorka as a given from now on, CD with 2-3 3s and double figures every game, Liv being solid, and Amari contributing and CW just finding last year's focus on defense and following Steph Curry's advice about what to think about when shooting a 3; "NOTHING".

In short, it's a team game, you have to win as a team and in order to do that you have to know what the players on your team can and can't do. It just will take time as far as I'm concerned. I'm not worried.

 

[sun]

I’ve seen a lot of the Paige and Azzi workout videos and highlight videos. Obviously Azzi is a great shooter. She beat Steph Curry in a 3 point contest. “You don’t trust Paige’s opinion about Azzi” I don’t think I’ve ever heard Paige genuinely say anything bad about any of her teammates so I guess you’re right that I believe Paige likes to hype up her friends. I hope Azzi becomes a great player in college, but I am still skeptical of the extreme expectations and probably will be until she’s healthy enough to show it on this level. Also, the OP on this thread mentioned Maya Moore. I guess I’m just saying I have a more believe it when I see it perspective. That’s all!

I was skeptical too but the more I've watched the more that I believe.
Geno also has a lot to do with it since IMO he generally favors the upper classmen.
He probably won't let Azzi loose right away, but may give her more of a leash against the Big East teams.
Azzi needs to be comfortable and encouraged by Geno.
Some players will need to give up some playing time to get Azzi on the court.

 

[hoophuskee]

I was skeptical too but the more I've watched the more that I believe.
Geno also has a lot to do with it since IMO he generally favors the upper classmen.
He probably won't let Azzi loose right away, but may give her more of a leash against the Big East teams.
Azzi needs to be comfortable and encouraged by Geno.
Some players will need to give up some playing time to get Azzi on the court.

Auriemma is quoted as saying every time he wants Azzi to shoot the ball the moment she touches it.

Secondly, he said that he wants his team aware of where Azzi (and Paige) is all the time when she is on the floor.

Third, earlier after season started, - but before the SC game, someone posted quotes from Geno that said that he has to work/find ways to get Azzi the ball in positions that she can shoot to score.

So what if she is never Maya Moore or Paige Bueckers. She's shown Geno enough - and we saw what Azzi did in a highly contested game vs USF- to make what shouldn't be an outlandish projection that she'll probably be a terrific player. I wouldn't get too caught up on "literal" comparisons just yet. Especially since she is hurt.