Jana's New Adventure as a Husky

[boontonbomber]

I've been reading for many months now what a tremendous skill set Jana has. I think she should just skip college ball and declare for the draft.

 

[yhun89]

Can someone link Jana’s stats vs Team USA in the World Cup thing in 2022? There’s a photo of her going against who looks to be Sarah Strong, I’d like to see how she performed against College level competitors.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

Interesting ideas. As far as Coach G is concerned, I remember two things in particular:

1) When he had Steph and Stewie, both capable outside shooters, low-post scorers and fairly good passers, and

2) His often mentioned wish to have more positionless players on the team.

First, on offense, he seldom had both players in the low post - more by accident to find them that way. It was always high-low post play and her rotated them as part of the movement-centric offense. It was not unusual to see both of them take turns shooting 3s or long mid-range open opportunities. With the low post unclogged most of the time, key players would have open driving lanes to the basket. At least one of Stewie or Steph will be around the post for offensive rebounds as well as some perimeter players rushing to position themselves for OR. I believe he thinks enough of both Jana's and Sarah's skill sets and motor that he will try and do the same. The outcome of this offense configuration is beautiful to watch and he has the players to implement it: both post and perimeter players with complementary skills.

In this case, positionless doesn't mean nearly the same size players with similar skill sets, more like the latter even if the players are not the same size: all can handle the ball, score at three levels, and pass. Given the skill sets of Jana, Sarah and Ice, he has three post players who are all mobile and complete skill sets. The main thing they have to do is to gain confidence in what Coach G will ask them to do in this scheme.

The wings and the guards are rounding into complete players on shooting and ball handling.

In defense, the mobility and footwork of everyone are above average, with some at the outstanding level. This makes it possible to have a switching defense (man or zone) and some of the combination of players on the roster will enable playing the press - this would include all the bigs (Jana, Ice, Sara and Ayanna). The number of wings and guards who are capable in these schemes almost is the rest of the roster.

So, expect a lot of movement and switching on both sides of the ball. There will combinations which are better than others but all appear capable, hence the press is possible to play all game long, if needed. I don't think it will be but it is there to use.

I contend that if the players deliver on the promise they have shown and remain in full health, this team will be lovely to watch. Coach G knows that so he will try to do everything he can to get there. If he succeeds, he just might end up with NC12.

So, the emphasis during training "camp" and the early part of the season will be to refine the read and reaction skills of the players into second nature in order for them to function smoothly as a team as the season unfolds.

 

[Blond D.]

I've been reading for many months now what a tremendous skill set Jana has. I think she should just skip college ball and declare for the draft.

Don't forget she got to practice against the UCONN players for like 6 months before she went to play for Egypt and got hurt so Geno's seen what she can do and he knows what shes capable of becoming.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Can someone link Jana’s stats vs Team USA in the World Cup thing in 2022? There’s a photo of her going against who looks to be Sarah Strong, I’d like to see how she performed against College level competitors.
View attachment 100998

It’s 3x3: Egypt v USA: 2022 FIBA U18 3x3

18-7 USA. Sarah had 0 points; Jana had 1 point. KK Arnold had 7 points. Mikayla Williams had 8 points. Boxscore

Jana also played in the 5x5 that year (replays available): Egypt - FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 - FIBA.basketball

 

[Mandoo]

I think you’re right. This is one of the adjustments she’ll have to get used to, since on the Egyptian teams the guards were not adept at passing into the paint. In order to get the ball at all, Jana typically had to come out to get a pass and then drive or shoot from there. Receiving the ball in the low post may feel like a luxury and a new challenge for her.

Of course, her high school experience also means she’s gotten good at driving the lane, rather like Aaliyah became in her last two seasons. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a C who could do this well. And there’s something especially intimidating about trying to guard someone that big who moves that well with the ball. Stewie and Rebecca had this ability too. I can’t think of anyone else.

Jana's aggressiveness will serve her very, very well. Judging from the tapes I've seen, she's really mobile, sure footed, and has a flexible body capable of deceptive motion. The nays will be vastly surmounted by what I expect to be a very good start to her years in Storrs. Oh, yes. I like what I see.

 

[CL82]

Would sitting on the bench watching a season of games help Jana as she embarks on her Husky play? Of course there is also game review, film and observing practice. She's a big brain. I can't wait. Will there be some lows along with the highs. Yes, sure, unless you are the Nat'l POY.

Based on what she was doing with the Egyptian U19 team last summer, I think people may be very pleasantly surprised by her play.

 

[yhun89]

Heck, I always thought stretch-4 meant a 4 who could shoot from long and therefore would "stretch" the floor. But I never really knew.

Stretch four is basically someone who plays in the PF position who can shoot farther from the basket than the typical range for a forward, thereby brining defense out with them and un-crowding the paint. Jana is a stretch 4/ Center player.

Dorka was our most recent stretch 4.

 

[yhun89]

It’s 3x3: Egypt v USA: 2022 FIBA U18 3x3

18-7 USA. Sarah had 0 points; Jana had 1 point. KK Arnold had 7 points. Mikayla Williams had 8 points. Boxscore

Jana also played in the 5x5 that year (replays available): Egypt - FIBA U17 Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 - FIBA.basketball

Oh geez. It doesn’t seem anyone was on their game. But it does look like Jana has come a long way from one bad performance.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Based on what she was doing with the Egyptian U19 team last summer, I think people may be very pleasantly surprised by her play.

Exactly. Back yard pundits better stop the negativity and save a mountain of embarassment. Frankly, I don't get it. A few years back we had a small group of nattering nabobs of negativity, but they drifted off or fell silent. That was good.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Stretch four is basically someone who plays in the PF position who can shoot farther from the basket than the typical range for a forward, thereby brining defense out with them and un-crowding the paint. Jana is a stretch 4/ Center player.

Dorka was our most recent stretch 4.

Ha!

 

[CL82]

Exactly. Back yard pundits better stop the negativity and save a mountain of embarassment. Frankly, I don't get it. A few years back we had a small group of nattering nabobs of negativity, but they drifted off or fell silent. That was good.

Liked for "nattering knobs of negativity."

(Your old.)

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Liked for "nattering knobs of negativity."

(Your old.)

With age comes wisdom.

 

[KCD]

Heck, I always thought stretch-4 meant a 4 who could shoot from long and therefore would "stretch" the floor. But I never really knew.

This is exactly what the term stretch-4 refers to. A 4 was always considered a power forward and not necessarily a good long range shooter. A good example of an early stretch-4 in the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki. Unless it has morphed into some other meaning over the years.

 

[Bone Dog]

This is exactly what the term stretch-4 refers to. A 4 was always considered a power forward and not necessarily a good long range shooter. A good example of an early stretch-4 in the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki. Unless it has morphed into some other meaning over the years.

Nowitzki is such a good example, by this definition. A skinny 7 footer with a great perimeter game including a favorite fadeaway who also rebounded well, he played a role that would be played also by KD, who had better handles. Dirk wasn’t quite strong enough to play the 5 at Dallas and may only have done so for one or two seasons.

Larry Bird was maybe the best of all stretch 4s since he brought excellent passing and shooting skills to the position. Were Magic or Lebron really stretch-4s by this definition? Big enough to play the 4 but with muscular guard skills and perimeter shooting?

If I define it this way, I wonder how many stretch-4s there have actually been in the women’s game. You can see the pressure on all the bigs who get to the W to develop perimeter shooting skills. This is a key element of how coaches in the W think of the pro game. But in WCBB have there been many who already had that skill set? Stewie, obviously. Maybe Katie Lou as well. No one from the great SC teams of the last few years. No one from LSU or ND. Anyone from Stanford? Brink developed a fine midrange game in her final season and could hit the 3 as well, though she didn’t have the handles you’d expect from a 4. Would she count?

What about Dorka? She could hit the 3 but didn’t have the face-up game you’d expect from a 4. Maybe she was more of a stretch-5? Aaliyah had all the skills of a 4 and could play the 5 but didn’t really have developed perimeter shooting. Ice might have some of those skills — we may find out this season — and is more of a 4 than a 5. Sarah may a great example of a stretch-4 with her excellent perimeter shooting and passing skills.

This leaves us with Jana. She has good handles and can shoot 3s. She can rebound, drive the lane and the baseline, and run the floor. But she also has back to the basket skills and is a rim protector. This sounds like she’s both a stretch-4 and a stretch-5. Of course, we don’t know if these skills will translate to D1 WCBB. But if they do, we may have to call her both, which puts her in Stewie territory, at least in terms of the range of her skills. It also means Geno will have a stretch-4 and a stretch-5 he can put on the floor at the same time. Combine that with a stretch-3 and a stretch-2 in Paige and Morgan and he’ll have a lot of interesting possibilities.

 

[huskeynut]

Look back to the 4 year run of consecutive championships. There is the possible key to what Geno may run next season.

Geno moved the entire offense up to run from the foul line to almost half court. What this did was leave the entire baseline to foul line wide open. In this condensed area, crisp passing, continual movement, solid screens allowed for wide open back door cuts and layups.

With time, the 24 - 25 team could run this type of offense. Since no one else has run this type of offense in a long while, opponents would be scrambling to figure out how to defense it.

 

[PacoSwede]

this thread allegedly about jana has greatly morphed and lately has been about 'bigs' -- or the frontcourt in general. there are some competing perspectives, for sure.

i want to bring up a thought that has basically been ignored in a barrage of comments about players' prospects on the offense.

but, ummm, seems to me a much bigger factor for having more size in the frontcourt is the boon it would be to uconn's defense, including rebounding -- which of course helps offense too.

the team doesn't need more size to score. the talent to score is clearly there with this team regardless of player's height. it can make a huge difference on defense, though.

but it doesn't happen magically. it takes time to learn the right chemistry with teammates and familiarity with the husky approach with switching assignments, etc. plus, individual players need to have their skills improved to do the job, regardless on their innate ability.

and i've seen zippo commentary about the projected frontcourt's defensive potential and the impacts on the uconn title run. ... any ideas?

BTW, what's with the commentary about morgan? sure, she's apparently versatile and could play 3 or 4, but to me she is obviously a point guard, an outstanding one (a rare commodity) and should be viewed primarily as such even though she's taller than the usual points. is anti-tall pg bias afoot?

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[Bone Dog]

BTW, what's with the commentary about morgan? sure, she's apparently versatile and could play 3 or 4, but to me she is obviously a point guard, an outstanding one (a rare commodity) and should be viewed primarily as such even though she's taller than the usual points. is anti-tall pg bias afoot?

I’d love to see Morgan get a chance at pg. but with Paige KK and Kaitlyn in n front of her, I suspect her destiny for next season is at the 3-4. Maybe the following season?

 

[yhun89]

this thread allegedly about jana has greatly morphed and lately has been about 'bigs' -- or the frontcourt in general. there are some competing perspectives, for sure.

i want to bring up a thought that has basically been ignored in a barrage of comments about players' prospects on the offense.

but, ummm, seems to me a much bigger factor for having more size in the frontcourt is the boon it would be to uconn's defense, including rebounding -- which of course helps offense too.

the team doesn't need more size to score. the talent to score is clearly there with this team regardless of player's height. it can make a huge difference on defense, though.

but it doesn't happen magically. it takes time to learn the right chemistry with teammates and familiarity with the husky approach with switching assignments, etc. plus, individual players need to have their skills improved to do the job, regardless on their innate ability.

and i've seen zippo commentary about the projected frontcourt's defensive potential and the impacts on the uconn title run. ... any ideas?

BTW, what's with the commentary about morgan? sure, she's apparently versatile and could play 3 or 4, but to me she is obviously a point guard, an outstanding one (a rare commodity) and should be viewed primarily as such even though she's taller than the usual points. is anti-tall pg bias afoot?

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there’s highlights of Morgan playing in other positions. She has a nice spot up jumper near the basket. She can extend to the 3, and with her height she’s tougher to guard out there. She can rebound fairly well for a guard when necessary. She’s a great PG, yes. But she doesn’t need to be viewed as just a PG. by the looks of her off season training, she’s working on being a 2-3 on the floor.

As for FC defense, a lot is unknown. We’ve got nothing to really go off of because Ice is the only one who’s played recently out of all of our FC players.

 

[Alydar]

this thread allegedly about jana has greatly morphed and lately has been about 'bigs' -- or the frontcourt in general. there are some competing perspectives, for sure.

i want to bring up a thought that has basically been ignored in a barrage of comments about players' prospects on the offense.

but, ummm, seems to me a much bigger factor for having more size in the frontcourt is the boon it would be to uconn's defense, including rebounding -- which of course helps offense too.

the team doesn't need more size to score. the talent to score is clearly there with this team regardless of player's height. it can make a huge difference on defense, though.

but it doesn't happen magically. it takes time to learn the right chemistry with teammates and familiarity with the husky approach with switching assignments, etc. plus, individual players need to have their skills improved to do the job, regardless on their innate ability.

and i've seen zippo commentary about the projected frontcourt's defensive potential and the impacts on the uconn title run. ... any ideas?

BTW, what's with the commentary about morgan? sure, she's apparently versatile and could play 3 or 4, but to me she is obviously a point guard, an outstanding one (a rare commodity) and should be viewed primarily as such even though she's taller than the usual points. is anti-tall pg bias afoot?

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UConn is no different from a lot of the top teams. USC has 6 freshmen and 2 transfers who are expected to play big roles. NDame has Koval coming in and Miles returning (hopefully).

Defenses do need many hours of practice together but UConn's offense will cover for them until they learn each other. Their depth alone will mean that fresh legs are always on the court.

As for Cheli playing pg, I know she played their last season for the first time but that was by default. Is Geno going to start Bueckers at the wing and entrust Chli with running the team on the floor? I sure hope she's that good but I'd be shocked to see it. It's nice to have 2 or 3 players on the court together with pg skills though. Slotting players into position numbers this season may be impossible. So many multi-skilled players.

 

[Bone Dog]

I don’t think there’s quite so much mystery about the defense and the position assignments. Geno has 5 returning players with substantial experience of his defense: Paige KK Ash Ice and Q. This points to a typical 3 guard offense with KK and Paige sharing the pg duties. And he’s got 2 more returning from injury — Azzi who has most of two seasons experience, and Jana who has six months or more of practice experience. This core seven will play a lot in November as the new kids gradually fit themselves in and the other veterans gradually return from injury. Paige Ash KK Ice and Jana are my prediction for opening day starters. Q and maybe Azzi plus Sarah Morgan Allie and Kaitlyn will get minutes initially as they prove themselves. The rest of the rotations and assignments will work themselves out in time.

From my perspective the important thing, and the primary challenge concerns Jana. How will she fit in? How long will it take her to get up to D1 speed of play? How well will her existing skills translate to D1 competition? My guess is that Geno will try to settle all of these questions right away by playing her as much as possible early in the season. This is why she’ll start in front of Q and the others in November.

 

[Hayven]

I’m not going to expect a great year from her. I learned my lesson from Ice. But, if she and Ice can contribute to around 18-20 points per game, I think that will be solid enough.

 

[JellyBean]

If Jana can put together 5-7 points a night and grab 6-8 boards a game and develop into a decent rim protector, 1-3 blocks a game, she is going to have a wonderful season and career here at UConn. The key will be how she handles everything and right now, nobody knows until the first game of the season.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m not going to expect a great year from her. I learned my lesson from Ice. But, if she and Ice can contribute to around 18-20 points per game, I think that will be solid enough.

This is also why some of us are expecting a sophomore leap from Ice. As so many have observed, it tends to take longer for bigs to find themselves in D1 level competition than for guards. Jana’s first year will also undoubtedly be a “work in progress.”

Personally, I expect Jana to flounder initially and to depend on the 4 playing next to her for a lot of support, whether that’s Ice or Sarah or Paige or Morgan or Aubrey or Ayanna. The key is that she’ll have a lot of support.

 

[yhun89]

I’m not going to expect a great year from her. I learned my lesson from Ice. But, if she and Ice can contribute to around 18-20 points per game, I think that will be solid enough.

I think Ice showed great signs at the end of the season. For some reason, she seems to thrive when there's a ton of pressure on her, something I wouldn't expect from a freshman. She's starting to nail the jump shot down, and her range is extending towards the 3 little by little. That post up she did against Stuelke is also a great sign.