Jana's improvement | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Jana's improvement

I don't think she has fully recovered from the Achilles injury and I think even recently she has said as much, but said she is getting closer. Like others have pointed out, watch some of the FIBA highlights of her and her mobility at her size is something that stood out. From a few people I know who have been unfortunate to suffer both, they all say the Achilles is harder to come back from than an ACL tear. And, they all said it took between 1 1/2 years to 2 years before they felt 'back' from the Achilles.
I think having never played a college game and having to come back at the same time, the staff have purposely limited what she does to try to simplify the game for her. It's a lot to ask someone who is rehabbing and rebuilding themself to also make the adjustment to the highest level of women's college basketball.
I think by the time she's done at UConn, she is going to be special.
 
I wonder if Jana's improvement has been influenced by her realization that Ice Brady will not be platooning with her & her mistakes will be overlooked more often.
Being the only available center can boost her confidence & allow her to play a bit more carefree.
 
A lot of good comments in here. All I can add is that it’s great to say Jana joins a long line of Huskies who through coaching and their own dedication and hard work have continued to improve from game to game and shine when the lights are brightest.

As amazing as Jana played on Sunday, I think she can get even better from here on out. Her potential is massive; the sky is the limit. Well done, Jana!!
 
maple said:
A lot of good comments in here. All I can add is that it’s great to say Jana joins a long line of Huskies who through coaching and their own dedication and hard work have continued to improve from game to game and shine when the lights are brightest.

As amazing as Jana played on Sunday, I think she can get even better from here on out. Her potential is massive; the sky is the limit. Well done, Jana!!
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Jana has great natural instincts for the game and desire to match. Perhaps she needs to slow down to 80% to get to 100%. Love seeing her growth in a Husky uniform. With the fine cast of players around her a truly competitive future is likely. She loves to rebound and quickly releases the outlet pass. When Geno wires her into the offense, other teams will shutter.
 
Spaceman213J said:
I don't think she has fully recovered from the Achilles injury and I think even recently she has said as much, but said she is getting closer. Like others have pointed out, watch some of the FIBA highlights of her and her mobility at her size is something that stood out. From a few people I know who have been unfortunate to suffer both, they all say the Achilles is harder to come back from than an ACL tear. And, they all said it took between 1 1/2 years to 2 years before they felt 'back' from the Achilles.
I think having never played a college game and having to come back at the same time, the staff have purposely limited what she does to try to simplify the game for her. It's a lot to ask someone who is rehabbing and rebuilding themself to also make the adjustment to the highest level of women's college basketball.
I think by the time she's done at UConn, she is going to be special.
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as i recall, nykesha's career as a husky was ended by an achilles injury and keesh went on to be a WNBA all-star for something like 7 times. and there's stewie who also proved it doesn't have to stymie basketball days. same may be in store for jana.
 
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A couple of points from an old retired educator:
1. The jump from high school/ foreign country to D1 basketball is huge. Especially if you are at UConn. There is a learning curve and a period of adjustment to the speed and physicality of the game. And the complexity of the game as played by UConn.
2. The brain has its own built in clock. By this I mean learning and then executing come at different times. No two people are the same. And no coach or teacher can speed up this process. When it clicks it clicks. Jana did not think about that crossover dribble move. She just did it. The physical skill to do that was already in her. She reacted to the situation. She didn't think. That is what you want.

It make have click for Jana on Sunday. It was certainly a Jana we have not seen so far. I'm betting that we are going to see much more.
 
Everyone should remember that Jana never played high school basketball, she only played on the Egyptian National teams. Here father was her only coach and international play is different then high school. She had to get used to playing a different type of basketball with a different set of rules. Then add in the almost year and a half of no organized basketball it would take a little more time to get into the groove of things.

She is steadily improving almost every game while getting used to college play. One thing for certain she is called for too many touch fouls while she is being pushed, shoved and even hacked almost every time she either tries to establish herself down low or goes to the basket with too many no calls.
 
PacoSwede said:
as i recall, nykesha's career as a husky was ended by an achilles injury and keesh went on to be a WNBA all-star for something like 7 times. and there's stewie who also proved it doesn't have to stymie basketball days. same may be in store for jana.
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Even an older Kobe came back and I believe Durant suffered the same injury. It just a lot of time.

I just know that one of the people I talk to who has suffered an Achilles rupture said that he felt like he hit a wall and began to wonder if he'd ever have the same quickness in initiating a first step or to get going, but then all of sudden a few months later he was zipping around the tennis court like had 18 months before. He also noticed it in the open gyms he would go to for some basketball games. But he did say there were a few months were doubt started to creep in and wondered if would ever be the same.

I look at Akok Akok on the men's side. It seemed like it took him a few years that he looked the same moving around and he had left by then.
 
I don't think it's so much about her improvement as it is her getting time on the court. Her last three games she has equal 20 plus minutes. It's all about opportunity when it comes to growth. Small sample size should never tell the story. She and Ice are very much needed. We're not always going to be able to hit double digit three pointers. Learning to rely on inside presence can take us a long way in this season.
 
huskeynut said:
A couple of points from an old retired educator:
1. The jump from high school/ foreign country to D1 basketball is huge. Especially if you are at UConn. There is a learning curve and a period of adjustment to the speed and physicality of the game. And the complexity of the game as played by UConn.
2. The brain has its own built in clock. By this I mean learning and then executing come at different times. No two people are the same. And no coach or teacher can speed up this process. When it clicks it clicks. Jana did not think about that crossover dribble move. She just did it. The physical skill to do that was already in her. She reacted to the situation. She didn't think. That is what you want.

It make have click for Jana on Sunday. It was certainly a Jana we have not seen so far. I'm betting that we are going to see much more.
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to me, that was the key moment in the scar game. jana stopped the overthinking and maybe that spread to others on the team who perhaps suffered from the same malady. i sure hope it's a turning point.
 
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PacoSwede said:
as i recall, nykesha's career as a husky was ended by an achilles injury and keesh went on to be a WNBA all-star for something like 7 times. and there's stewie who also proved it doesn't have to stymie basketball days. same may be in store for jana.
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I'm just guessing it may still be a little mental hurdle, but I hope that last game convinced her she'll be ok.
 
Man oh Man If Jana continues to improve and we're knockin down shots from the outside that will leave her open one on one and with what we saw @SC and she improves.... WOW just WOW How could we can be.
 
MSGRET said:
Everyone should remember that Jana never played high school basketball, she only played on the Egyptian National teams. Here father was her only coach and international play is different then high school. She had to get used to playing a different type of basketball with a different set of rules. Then add in the almost year and a half of no organized basketball it would take a little more time to get into the groove of things.

She is steadily improving almost every game while getting used to college play. One thing for certain she is called for too many touch fouls while she is being pushed, shoved and even hacked almost every time she either tries to establish herself down low or goes to the basket with too many no calls.
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Sarge,
That is what I was trying to get at, in post 27 in this thread. The refs are not cutting her any slack.
 
fomalhaut said:
I watched the South Carolina game again last night, and Jana was the best player for the first five minutes when everyone else was stuggling. Then Ashlynn came in and gave them another boost, and finally everyone joined the party.
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And that first travel call when she had an open lane to the rim was definitely a bad whistle. I’ve watched that moment about a dozen times and just can’t see any violation there. Fortunately, Jana didn’t let it get into her head. But imagine her confidence level if that whistle hadn’t happened. Jana driving the lane is something I love to see.
 
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I'm not really surprised. Jana has been getting better with each and every game. Sunday showed she's not at her ceiling yet. This kid has some kind of upside. Consider that SCar is not some BE team.

The cross over was beautiful. But here's what could get me in trouble. Was it purposeful or accidental? It looked just a little bit awkward to me, but maybe that's how a cross over looks when a 6'5" kid does it. Who was the most surprised? Obviously, the kid who was guarding Jana. Probably never saw that move from a center before.
 
As much as Jana has improved this season, I think we’ve only seen the “tip of the Great Pyramid.” ;) Jana has a wonderful skill set. She can put the ball on the floor, score with either hand and knock down outside shots all the way to the arc.

The more she plays, the more comfortable she will become. The more comfortable she becomes, the more we will see her expand her game. It’s just a matter of time.
 
Skeets said:
I'm not really surprised. Jana has been getting better with each and every game. Sunday showed she's not at her ceiling yet. This kid has some kind of upside. Consider that SCar is not some BE team.

The cross over was beautiful. But here's what could get me in trouble. Was it purposeful or accidental? It looked just a little bit awkward to me, but maybe that's how a cross over looks when a 6'5" kid does it. Who was the most surprised? Obviously, the kid who was guarding Jana. Probably never saw that move from a center before.
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As I said in an earlier post, that crossover is in her arsenal. No hesitating, no thinking. Just react and go. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as to what Jana is capable of. And the drive that was stopped by a bogus travel call is also part of her arsenal.
 
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If you saw some of her games she played for the Egyptian national team in international play you would be tempted to say she has been disappointing so far because she was dominant in some of those games even as a one man band on that team. Obviously her injury and adjusting to how the college game is played vs international has been a struggle. I really thought she would be a monster in college play and I think that time is still coming.
 
Ok, now I'm pissed... or maybe not. I complained above about that whistle in the opening possession Sunday for traveling. Just now I was watching a replay of the UCLA-USC game and the analyst is praising Betts for drawing a crowd in low post and hitting a cutter -- and she does a good job getting the pass off -- but she shuffles her feet before she does it. Similar plays happen two more times and I think she shuffled her feet on at least one more of them [the camera doesn't get a good view of her feet on the third one]. Is Betts getting the benefit of the doubt on travel calls from the B1G refs? Because Jana certainly isn't getting any sort of break from anyone's refs. I know, she has traveled on occasion. But if Betts is getting a break, shouldn't Jana not be getting false whistles at least?

And I know, it's not on purpose. I sometimes wonder if the refs are unused to seeing bigs drive through the lane and so they overreact or anticipate and make mistakes. In other respects, I think Jana has gotten an easy whistle on fouls. She inadvertently poked Feagin in the eye Sunday and the refs didn't even bother looking at it again. They knew it was incidental contact. And she's gotten some blocks that could have been whistled.
 
I'm hoping for consistently good play from Jana.......her shots may not always fall but her passing, screening, defense and rebounding need to be solid in every game going forward..........her improved play could impact UConn's season more than many think......
 
Jana wouldn't be at UConn if she wasn't a talented player. However, it has happened, sometimes, that a talented player bumps heads with the coaching staff during that first year on the court. I think that's what was going on here. Jana would make a mistake, make a needless foul, argue with the referee, etc., and she'd get yanked by Geno for not doing things the UConn way. Eventually, it works out. Stewie and Nika offer proof of that. Jana is on board and on her way.
 
Kat said:
Jana wouldn't be at UConn if she wasn't a talented player. However, it has happened, sometimes, that a talented player bumps heads with the coaching staff during that first year on the court. I think that's what was going on here. Jana would make a mistake, make a needless foul, argue with the referee, etc., and she'd get yanked by Geno for not doing things the UConn way. Eventually, it works out. Stewie and Nika offer proof of that. Jana is on board and on her way.
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I think it's more like she gets frustrated because the fouls that she gets called on are not called when the opposing players do the same to her.
 
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