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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 5201781, member: 12088"] Jana’s high school skill set is similar to what Dorka brought to UConn. So it’s not like Geno is opposed in principle. But as people have observed after watching her game in person, her foot speed is not great. If she can improve in that area, perhaps she can expand her game. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t aware of the difference between Egyptian high school competition and what she’s seeing in D1. It may be frustrating to feel that you’re not quick enough, especially in the aftermath of an injury. Now it’s up to Jana to find her motivation in the situation. Just for contrast, other bigs like Betts or Lee are slow-footed and don’t really have a developed midrange game or the ability to drive the lane. But their low post skills are very well developed. Beers has a very good midrange jumper and this opens things up in the lane allowing her to drive the lane and maneuver despite not having great foot speed. Prince also has a good midrange game and is much quicker than most bigs. All of them are good rim protectors. I suspect what Geno tells Jana is that she isn’t ready to play the game Dorka could and that she used to play in high school. And she probably sees the truth of it. But I have a feeling she could end up a lot closer to being capable of it next year. Maybe the best comparison would be to Stef Dolson, who also lacked foot speed when she arrived and was apparently very frustrated as a freshman by how limited her game was in the context of D1. But by her junior year she’d expanded her game to include shooting and passing from the high post as well as the occasional 3 pointer. She was never as quick as Aaliyah or Liv would be. But she was very strong and sure handed and the range of her shots opened up a lot for her in the low post. Liv is an interesting comparison. She was always much quicker than most bigs. She didn’t have a great midrange game, not nearly as good as Aaliyah’s became, but it had to be respected and opened up the lane for her. She also became an excellent high post passer, which became practically a signature of Geno’s offense in her time at Storrs — Liv stationed at the top of the key with ball. Jana will never be as quick as Liv. She might develop other parts of her game and could become a better midrange shooter. I suspect Geno would like to use her as a high post passer and I imagine he’d want to see her driving the lane eventually. This is a possible trajectory of her development and one Geno has encouraged several times over the past few decades. And for now, he’s focusing on improving her low post skills: the basics like boxing out, not bringing the ball low, kicking the ball out of a double team, and so on. [/QUOTE]

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