Ice Brady's Freshman Year

[Sluconn Husky]

I'm gonna disagree here. Tina walked into Storrs saying she wanted to be an All-American. So, in order to do that, she had to out the work in. Obviously it didn't hit her until her Junior year, the work she was doing wasn't enough and she needed to start listening to the coaches.

My last post on this only because the topic is Ice, but in comparing her to Charles, Tina was already an excellent player as a frosh. She would get better--become dominant in fact--but she was really good right away. If Ice ends up as good as Charles was as a freshman UConn should be thrilled.

Tina Charles College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Tina Charles - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

 

[uconnfan68]

My last post on this only because the topic is Ice, but in comparing her to Charles, Tina was already an excellent player as a frosh. She would get better--become dominant in fact--but she was really good right away. If Ice ends up as good as Charles was as a freshman UConn should be thrilled.

Tina Charles College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Tina Charles - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Ice may have a better shooting (especially long shots) stroke now, but if she becomes the rebounder, shotblocker, and defender that Tina was, I’ll be thrilled. I felt that Tina played out of position for us (by necessity). She’s a true 4.

 

[hoophuskee]

I'll say it one more time. My post is about Isuneh Brady....Not Geno.
I tend to tread lightly on all topics Geno. I know in this Forum it can get a bit sensitive if his name is mentioned.
Bringing up 32-6 season has nothing to do with my original point and as I said in my last post he is all things Great. With that said even the best can trial and error or be innovative in it's approach and still hold true to past principals.

Addressing the Tara and Dawn point. Both coaches have had stacked rosters. Especially at the post position. Their rotations had other post players, subbing their starters.
UCONN had ONLY a Six man rotation for a large portion of the season and Ice, ONLY had 17 minutes a game.
It's just a bad comparison, when we know if UCONN had a healthy team, Ice doesn't average those 17 minutes. Take a look at the month of December minutes. Ice barely seen the court in the first game against Marquette, 30-point win. If I recall correctly, the announcers said Ice must be in the doghouse.
In all fairness Ice didn't always make good use of her court time. That seemed more mental then physical.

Don't agree what you're saying in re to Geno -- you say it's not about Geno but you make comments in bold below as you have done -- it is about Geno. And overall it's not accurate and/or misrepresents Geno. I do agree with you that at times Ice didn't make best use of her time. -- But that is the crux of my argument-- why I cite 28-3 -- because the guards were making better use of their time while you seem to be picking at Geno a bit (not a lot) by being so focused on "six" players. My point has been to highlight the record which provides an understanding that Geno plays his best whether it be 6 or 7 or 8 – if you can get seconds away from Finals why be so focused on 6 when you are winning so much?. It sems you try to put that 6 player into "losing patience" and you put that in a negative light. IMO it is "good substitution." When your guards play better than your big(s)-- your guards are going to play not because the coach loses patience in a negative manner btu because he is giving his team the best chance to win.

Ice: What I believe what has happened is that Geno did instill confidence in her. It's why they won as they did. And it's why Ice played pretty well at the end. Instead of knocking the head coach who did an amazing job - for not giving Ice minutes, imo it should be celebrated that what he did- allowed Ice to do well once the toughest games popped up. Ice Brady played pretty well down the stretch. So- in regard to this thread imo we can say “Ice played pretty well and we’re looking forward to her paly for next year.” Agree?

Ice ********I thought Ice’s outside shot emerged. I loved seeing how on 1 rebound she didn’t get she slammed both her hands on the floor in frustration. To me—her late play -this is a hopeful sign of an evolving player. I just can’t agree with the tone of your posts from below when I saw what Ice did late.


Hey I love Geno, too. However That's all yesteryear talk. All those you mentioned were great post players. Now please Move to current resume and tell me what you got.

Takes even longer when you don't get the minutes. That starts with instilling confidence thru trial and error on the court. It really does work. I've seen other programs do it.

i think it's clear Geno has had a short leash when it comes to Post play. He'll run a Post player into the ground or foul trouble before he even thinks about substitutions the backups.

 

[ktuck911]

Edwards had a terrific freshman season.

she did.. but she also had a better supporting cast... less pressure... we lost 4 impact players before the season got going this year.. YET, we still got to the Final 4....

 

[Geesworld]

Don't agree what you're saying in re to Geno -- you say it's not about Geno but you make comments in bold below as you have done -- it is about Geno. And overall it's not accurate and/or misrepresents Geno. I do agree with you that at times Ice didn't make best use of her time. -- But that is the crux of my argument-- why I cite 28-3 -- because the guards were making better use of their time while you seem to be picking at Geno a bit (not a lot) by being so focused on "six" players. My point has been to highlight the record which provides an understanding that Geno plays his best whether it be 6 or 7 or 8 – if you can get seconds away from Finals why be so focused on 6 when you are winning so much?. It sems you try to put that 6 player into "losing patience" and you put that in a negative light. IMO it is "good substitution." When your guards play better than your big(s)-- your guards are going to play not because the coach loses patience in a negative manner btu because he is giving his team the best chance to win.

Ice: What I believe what has happened is that Geno did instill confidence in her. It's why they won as they did. And it's why Ice played pretty well at the end. Instead of knocking the head coach who did an amazing job - for not giving Ice minutes, imo it should be celebrated that what he did- allowed Ice to do well once the toughest games popped up. Ice Brady played pretty well down the stretch. So- in regard to this thread imo we can say “Ice played pretty well and we’re looking forward to her paly for next year.” Agree?

Ice ********I thought Ice’s outside shot emerged. I loved seeing how on 1 rebound she didn’t get she slammed both her hands on the floor in frustration. To me—her late play -this is a hopeful sign of an evolving player. I just can’t agree with the tone of your posts from below when I saw what Ice did late.


Hey I love Geno, too. However That's all yesteryear talk. All those you mentioned were great post players. Now please Move to current resume and tell me what you got.

Takes even longer when you don't get the minutes. That starts with instilling confidence thru trial and error on the court. It really does work. I've seen other programs do it.

i think it's clear Geno has had a short leash when it comes to Post play. He'll run a Post player into the ground or foul trouble before he even thinks about substitutions the backups.

After reading your comment, this is my last post in the Boneyard, for awhile. You are working way to hard, to tell me what exactly it is that I am saying. I'm going to say it for the last time. I Revere Geno, he is the Goat. If you, create a talking point and I respond to enhance my point doesn't say that I'm not in favor of Geno. You are working way to hard on this post when I clearly stated that it's about ICE and her potential.

I was not focused on six players, I was focused on a point to say that Brady got minutes because there was only a six player rotation. That was addressing your Brink and Cardosa point. Peace!!

 

[KCD]

Statistically there are some stats that tend to get much better with time and experience and others that don't. Rebounds, blocked shots and steals are often related to the player's physical ability, and you often pretty much know what you have after the first year. Ice is not going to be a great rebounder or shot blocker, and the rebounding could be classified as a weakness.

Her offensive skills suggest she could show dramatic improvement in the numbers that often do improve. Fewer fouls and turnovers, more assists, better assist/turnover ratio, higher usage rate, learning what is and isn't a good shot against high level competition, shooting percentages etc.

Being a good player for us and maybe better than good on the offensive end is still in the cards or at least possible, but there is a lower ceiling on her rebounding/shot blocking ability and good but not great is IMO the most we can hope for at this point.

Oldhusky,
I believe that she improved dramatically for rebounding and also somewhat for blocking shots. Her rebounding for the first half of the season had lackluster intensity. But later in the year, I really noticed her having an aggressive attitude towards it. She was grabbing the ball like it had her name on it. She may not be an all-time great, but I think that she will be a good rebounder going forward. I thought that she did a much better job on blocks in the second half of the season as well. I believe that it took her more than half the season to get over the mental aspect of her injury and recovery. She wasn't playing the way that she was used to playing (the way that she played her entire life prior to her injury). I know from experience that takes a huge toll on the mind. You start second guessing everything that you thought that you knew about yourself, until you prove it to yourself again.

 

[asuwish]

Tina Charles struggled too as I recall. That turned out just fine. I feel confident that Ice will build on her improvement she showed at the end of the year.

She has the strength already now she needs quickness, not speed but quickness. That will determine her playing time.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Ice has already established that she can flat out play (see Big East tournament).

As to why she didn’t show that before then, consider:

• Geno had more than 10 practice players to start the season, and then in December-January, the roster became 9.
• Geno then determined that his best starting 5 involved 4 guards with 2 freshmen, Paige playing the 4, and Ice being a backup to All-American Aaliyah.
• Geno then rigorously tested that starting 5 both in practice and in games to be ready for March.
• It’s hard for Ice to show what she can do in practice with basically 5+2 since Geno’s priority is to rigorously test his novel starting 5 for March.
• Perhaps we can second-guess Geno’s game-by-game decisions, but he achieved the totally unexpected: a final four and 1 bad call away from the finals.

With (knock on wood) 10 healthy talented practice players in November, including several bigs, practice (post) play will be lit, providing Ice and others the repetitions they need to improve and showcase their talents.

I expect Ice to take a huge sophomore leap and be an integral part of the rotation in either the 2023 offense with 2 bigs or a big lineup a la Stewie years.

 

[JoePgh]

At this point, Ice's biggest weakness (growth opportunity) is simply to minimize her fouls. Just about every big at UConn has had to deal with this, from Kara W to Tina to Stef to Napheesa to Liv to Aaliyah. All of them got better at it with practice and discipline, and I'm sure that Ice will do the same.

If she doesn't improve the rest of her game at all, but simply manages to stay on the floor as she did in the Big East tournament, she will earn about 15-20 minutes of playing time per game in 2024-25.

Bear in mind that since Jana and Sarah are not experienced at the college level, it is totally predictable that fouls will be an issue for both of them. We know that Ayanna had a big fouling problem in her freshman year. So all four of them will probably hear the whistle a lot in the coming season. Ice will actually have more experience with collegiate officiating, and hopefully more skill in dealing with it, than any of UConn's other bigs.

 

[sun]

I expect Jana & Strong to play much better than Ice did last year or UConn will have trouble.
In order to beat the best competition, UConn needs post players who are ready to play at an elite level, otherwise they're just eating up minutes against mediocre teams.
Aubrey & Ayanna are also question marks as far as being able to stay healthy & their scoring abilities.
Eventually there will be intra-squad competition for PT that didn't occur last year.
Some players are going to be sitting on the bench more often if they don't step up & consistently play their best.
The best players need to play even if they're freshmen.

 

[Bone Dog]

I like Ice's chances for a sophomore leap. And it will be enhanced by having Jana to play next to. Jana is much more of a fighter in the paint, while Ice prefers fadeaways. If she's the only big in the game, the fadeaway is not an effective move. But if she's got Jana next to her, it can be very effective. Similarly, her rebounding should be very positively impacted by Jana. Generally, if she doesn't have the pressure of having to be both the 4 and the 5 in games, I think she'll thrive.

 

[tchalla1]

I do too. The only person to be great from day one I can think of is Ms. Buckets. Not even Diana was Diana from the start. The coldest I can think of in recent memory is Caroline. I also hope to see a sophomore jump from Ayanna. And Q. I have no doubt we’ll see a jump from KK and Ash.

Maya Moore...

 

[HopJim]

Having coached several AAU level teams, its not unusual to see a player, particularly a big, coming back from knee surgery taking a season to recover. Appeared that Ice was dragging her leg throughout the year, coming back in the playoffs. No one can know if her issues were physical or mental but by the NCAA layoffs, she was more of the player we saw as one of the top high school recruits in the US. Without any unique knowledge, predict her physical skills and commitment to being one of the best bigs in college basketball will show up as a key Huskie asset this coming year.

 

[WiseWillie]

I agree. Still, Geno has more than one goal for his program. It's not only about winning championships. It's also about developing players physically and mentally, and building character. I know, this seems naive now. But one of the reasons athletic programs were introduced into higher education was precisely this. If winning championships accomplishes these other goals, fine. But I don't think Geno will compromise those goals to get a championship. This is one important reason why he's won so many.

Remember CD yelling at Stewie about body language.

Perfect write up. Good going.

Regarding Ice, she obviously worked hard from her first days on the court and it showed as she came along in later half of the season big time. It took her a little time and sure the coaches worked with her and while sure she will agree herself there is more to accomplish, you can tell - She's Got This.