I thought Patterson gave UConn some pretty good minutes off the bench | The Boneyard

I thought Patterson gave UConn some pretty good minutes off the bench

"Ayanna, you go in there and you will have your best game of the season this afternoon, or you will be doing burpees all day tomorrow"
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Patterson and Ines both had quality minutes today. Between them and Caroline, maybe we’re actually going to be able to rely on the bench to help out in the upcoming games. And hopefully Azzi will be part of that reliable bench next weekend.
 
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If she puts in the effort, she can become a player like Morrow. She has the tenacity and grit. She has the athleticism. Some of you may remember the video showing her dunks.
 
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I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the bench is playing better now that that Caroline is back. The injuries hurt bench development because they needed to do more than they were capable of. Now Patterson need come in and bring rebounding and defense. Ones just needs to play solid.
 
socal613ws said:
it's amazing what happens when bench players are given an opportunity isn't it? If only that was done earlier
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She has demonstrated very limited game skills but used her time to good advantage today - hopefully she will continue to develop and compliment her physical skills with game skills. Maturity, rather than opportunity, appears to be the issue - she has time (it's great to be young)
 
Ayanna is going to be so good it's almost scary. Once she starts to get more minutes, more experience, and develop her offensive gave, she's going to be a real problem. I think Ayanna should always think "drive to the basket first, pull up jumper as a second option". Ayanna can easily average 9 points per game just on the free throw line. That should be her goal, to get to the free throw line and complete and ones. She goes for rebounds with freaking authority. I hope Geno uses her a lot more.
 
Topdawg said:
If she puts in the effort, she can become a player like Morrow. She has the tenacity and grit. She has the athleticism. Some of you may remember the video showing her dunks.
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NYCHUSKIES said:
Ayanna is going to be so good it's almost scary. Once she starts to get more minutes, more experience, and develop her offensive gave, she's going to be a real problem. I think Ayanna should always think "drive to the basket first, pull up jumper as a second option". Ayanna can easily average 9 points per game just on the free throw line. That should be her goal, to get to the free throw line and complete and ones. She goes for rebounds with freaking authority. I hope Geno uses her a lot more.
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The problem at the moment is she never considers creating a shot or taking a shot. She doesn't want to dribble or move with the ball. I'm with you. She needs to be told " take some damn shots !"
 
socal613ws said:
it's amazing what happens when bench players are given an opportunity isn't it? If only that was done earlier
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I thought she was given some opportunities earlier in the season-- not copiously-- but she looked lost out there. Today, much better, which should give her more confidence and more clarity on where to be and how to use both the opportunities and her particular talents.
 
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I have no opinion right now on how good a player Patterson can or will become. It seems every player that commits to Uconn becomes the second coming with little consideration given to the tremendous gap between HS, AAU, and big time D1.
She has had chances and for the most part has been tentative, which is not remotely unusual or unexpected. But I cannot blame that on the coaches, this is big time basketball and players need to earn their way on the court. Confidence can just as easily be destroyed as developed by giving minutes when players are not ready.
Patterson played well today, aggressive rebounding, a nice and very much needed putback; most importantly, stood up to and very much competed with Morrow when assigned to her. One of the more impressive things to me was that she didn’t “stick out” today, she blended in to the game, looking like she “belonged”.
But I don’t agree with the idea that she should have gotten more time earlier simply because she had a positive impact on the game today. Should she get some time next game? IMO, without a doubt, because that is what I think she earned today.
 
Littlemin said:
I have no opinion right now on how good a player Patterson can or will become. It seems every player that commits to Uconn becomes the second coming with little consideration given to the tremendous gap between HS, AAU, and big time D1.
She has had chances and for the most part has been tentative, which is not remotely unusual or unexpected. But I cannot blame that on the coaches, this is big time basketball and players need to earn their way on the court. Confidence can just as easily be destroyed as developed by giving minutes when players are not ready.
Patterson played well today, aggressive rebounding, a nice and very much needed putback; most importantly, stood up to and very much competed with Morrow when assigned to her. One of the more impressive things to me was that she didn’t “stick out” today, she blended in to the game, looking like she “belonged”.
But I don’t agree with the idea that she should have gotten more time earlier simply because she had a positive impact on the game today. Should she get some time next game? IMO, without a doubt, because that is what I think she earned today.
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Well put @Littlemin ... I agree with you. Ayanna, Amari and Ines have all been given opportunities earlier in the season but looked tentative and sometimes "lost" as to their role in the offense and defense. Tentative play does not earn more playing time. Amari looked better in the St Johns game with her defense (2 blocks) in her limited minutes but was not any help on the offensive end. Today, Ayanna looked like a different player...aggressive to the ball, tough D on Morrow, and aggressive to the basket. She has "grown up" over the season . Ines looked "scared" early in the year... to be expected with her late call to join UCONN...especially given her stated knowledge of how significant the program has been in NCAA WBB. The last few times on the court she has looked calm and collected... she has played in the flow of the offense and defense and given some valuable minutes.

It's all coming together at the most important time of the Season!!! Add one Azzi and the rest between BE and NCAA tournaments, and who knows how far this team can go!!!

Love the UCONN HUSKIES!!!
 
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socal613ws said:
yes but that's how you learn, from mistakes in game. But if someone makes a mistake once and they don't see the floor again for 20 games how is someone suppose to improve?
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Not necessarily, first you earn minutes in practice and then get to learn from your game mistakes if you also do some positive things in games to deserve minutes going forward. Most players understand and accept that’s the way it is.
 
There was quite a few games where AP looked lost on both ends of the court but almost every time she did play she got rebounds no matter how bad the rest of her game looked..The girl can flat out rebound and once she has it your not going to knock the ball out of her hands
 
socal613ws said:
yes but that's how you learn, from mistakes in game. But if someone makes a mistake once and they don't see the floor again for 20 games how is someone suppose to improve?
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If your team is playing a close game and you are consistently hurting them more than helping, you’re not playing because of a single mistake one time. You’re not playing because you can’t be counted on to provide decent minutes.
 
browns said:
There was quite a few games where AP looked lost on both ends of the court but almost every time she did play she got rebounds no matter how bad the rest of her game looked..The girl can flat out rebound and once she has it your not going to knock the ball out of her hands
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Ayanna started the season strong but faded a bit after New Year’s. It’s not unusual for freshmen to hit the wall as the travel, class work, and physical play begin to take a toll. Hopefully today was the start of her second wind.

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Our bench has actually played pretty well the last 5 or so games. Yes, they are not as productive as the starters, but they shouldn't be. And their skill set is not on the scoring side, but they have held their own. CD was right playing them more. The short bench is a decision now, unlike when we were actually shorthanded
 
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