July 2020 UCONN recruiting thread

[lebronfan23]

I think Azzi will commit when her and her family drops Paige off at UConn

 

[Blueberries]

First sensible teen I’ve seen in a while. Recruit the girl wearing the mask to UConn right now for common sense!

 

[hoophuskee]

Wow-- I have a complete different view 100% than donald and soxfan. I didn't see her favoring her leg(s) at all though I only saw 3/4 of the Indy Gym Rats Game game and 1st quarter of the Riverside game. In the Riverside game she was leading the press. They couldn't let the player Azzi was defending bring the ball up if she was pressuring her. So Azzi is at the front of the press but she has bad knees???

And as for redsox fan-- I agree when he says--

she is still as smart and savvy a basketball player as you will ever find, she has an amazing pull up, she is lights out if left open behind the arc, she is a tremendous leader the way she is always picking her team up, and she plays extremely hard!

I mean IS THAT ALL? That’s tremendous what he is saying. But what he didn’t add was that she is a terrific ball handler and passer. Vs Riverside as an example look at the pass she makes while on the ground over her shoulder after she steals the ball from the defender she is pressing off-the-dribble. At the 5 minute mark vs Riverside harassed defender enough where she made a poor pass that got picked off. Yet he's knocking her defense in these exhibition games? And at 12:22 she steals the ball again.

Further regarding passing around the 8 minute mark she is playing good d on the outside grabs a rebound and about at 7:50 mark comes over halfcourt and off-the-dribble makes a gorgeous left-handed pass for a player to hit a layup (but she missed.).

As for 3 pt shooting- So why would she take any 3's when she is covered in these types of games? It would be poor decision-making. SO he is actually knocking her a bit because he wants to see her make poor decisions hoisting up 3's? How many 3's are you supposed to take with players hanging all over you? So imo we can say a player like Azzi with her handle along with passing and ability to hit pull-up jumpers and has a deadly 3pt shot - that makes her ELITE. Then look at the 3:54 mark vs Indy Gym Rats - she knocks down a 3 so effortlessly off-the-dribble.

And the thing is -- she has "power." You can't knock her off-the-ball. Which means it's extremely hard to direct her where to go. You can't "ride her" right or left.

So I've seen no evidence of her favoring her legs. Go ahead and watch the 2nd half of the Indy Gym Rats game-- they are sending a sending a 2nd player at her 20-25 and plus feet from the basket on several occasions. Does that sound like "she has leg problems" or she doesn't have "it?" They also did it at 17:25 1st half and at 24:15 or so and after that as well. That double teaming isn’t someone with leg issues nor is it any way to believe she doesn’t “have it.” It’s the opposite. This tells you what the opposing team with their stars think of her.

The bit I've seen so far- I see a superstar.

 

[donalddoowop]

She was on the sidelines trying to get her legs loose when she went out of the game. Her handle was only fair and one game she had it either taken from her or batted away, and that was not against a good team. If you could not see her lack of quickness on defense I can't figure out why. Maybe we saw two different games. If I did not know who she was, I would not have noticed her. She did not stand out like she used to do and I think it had to do with her physical (legs) condition. I still hope she commits to UConn. For all the posters who wants her to hurry up and commit to UConn, how many of you would then start having concern about her keeping her commitment? The closer to LOI time she commits, the less the concern will be that she will honor it.

 

[hoophuskee]

Okay SORRY DONALD and JIBARIQUA. Looks like her jump shot - she couldn't jump/ get elevation near the end of the 1st half of Riverside game. After her 2nd flat jump shot-- they pulled her.

Up until this point she was terrfic.

 

[hoophuskee]

She was on the sidelines trying to get her legs loose when she went out of the game. Her handle was only fair and one game she had it either taken from her or betted away, and that was not against a good team. If you could not see her lack of quickness on defense I can't figure out why. Maybe we saw two different games. If I did not know who she was, I would not have noticed her. She did not stand out like she used to do and I think it had to do with her physical (legs) condition. I still hope she commits to UConn. For all the posters who wants her to hurry up and commit to UConn, how many of you would then start having concern about her keeping her commitment? The closer to LOI time she commits, the less the concern will be that she will honor it.

Her handle was not "FAIR." It was terrific but then again I also saw the Indy game and this Riverside game so I'm adding the 2. But there is no such thing as a guard who doesn't occasionally get a ball swiped from them unless they are Jon Stockton etc. **When any player drives to the basket - sometimes they are going to get an occasional ball swiped away." A scorer driving inside is going to get an occasional ball swiped. She won't get the ball swiped away near as much if she doesn't drive at all. So imo the example you are giving is irrelevant.

I don;t know what to say about quickness. Did you watch the 1st half vs Riverside? The player she was defending struggled to handle the ball around her. And there is no such thing as playing good positional defense?-- You must be very quick otherwise you are a sub-par defender? You can't be "at least" "average" if you play good position defense?

And -- she didn't stand out like she used to? You have other summer league games from prior years to point as an example? She didn't even play an entire 1st half vs Riverside, looks like her team is getting beaten pretty good inside, and she got 12 points while being hurt for a bit (and missed two jumpers while probably hurt) yet she didn't stand out? What is she supposed to do-- get 20 in a half or she is not elite? And it looks like her team isn't very good either. Take a look at that Indy Gym Rat game-- they are DELIBERATELY leaving other players open and coming at her with her with a 2nd player 20 - 25 and plus feet from the basket. But she doesn't stand out????

And this isn't H/S regular-season hoop either in which the team wants her to take 25 shots I believe. I could be wrong. But I tend to think in these games one player doesn't take over. Am I wrong about that? SO how much is she going to stand out if team is also going to let other players also be featured?

Let me be frank-- I don't think you know what you're talking about regarding her leg other than she has had the prior injury and maybe it's related. That's a wild guess any of us can make. But that's just it-- it's a guess. But we don't know. You were right it seems she hurt herself. But conditioning? I guess one can make a statement and just claim any injury is "conditioning."

And yes we did see 2 different games. How many nice passes did she make and her teammates didn't finish? Her team just doesn't look very good. Am I wrong?

As far as keeping her commitment if she committed to UCONN early. Huh? I don't understand your point here. Any player that gives a verbal but without a LOI-- there is always some degree of concern, right? We've even had players who signed a LOI end up not coming, right? So what's your point? I am not arguing. Just don't understand your point unless it is just stating the obvious of --- "be concerned with anyone until they start to play?" We've even had a player after a few practices leave and go to Miss State, right?

 

[Jibariqua]

Okay SORRY DONALD and JIBARIQUA. Looks like her jump shot - she couldn't jump/ get elevation near the end of the 1st half of Riverside game....

Up until this point she was terrfic.

I don’t know why your apologizing to me, we basically said the same exact thing. I texted someone that’s at the tournament and they said she got bruised on her thigh going for a rebound and it was tightening up.

I only watched the game against Riverside. She definitely was injured towards the the end of the first half. She didn’t play in the second half and wasn’t even on the bench for a lot of it. About 12 points and 3 steals isn’t too bad for 1 half of a game.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Hopkins vs Eden Prairie - 2/23/17

Paige put on a show during this game during her freshman season. She missed a bunch of free throws and sat out the last 8+ minutes of the game yet still put up 25 points. But you have to watch to see the pure dominance on display. Besides a few ridiculous assists she hit a driving, Jordanesque scoop shot where she changed hands and flipped the ball about two feet above the hoop around 38:30 in.


School Space Media

 

[soxfan23]

Wow-- I have a complete different view 100% than donald and soxfan. I didn't see her favoring her leg(s) at all though I only saw 3/4 of the Indy Gym Rats Game game and 1st quarter of the Riverside game. In the Riverside game she was leading the press. They couldn't let the player Azzi was defending bring the ball up if she was pressuring her. So Azzi is at the front of the press but she has bad knees???

And as for redsox fan-- I agree when he says--

she is still as smart and savvy a basketball player as you will ever find, she has an amazing pull up, she is lights out if left open behind the arc, she is a tremendous leader the way she is always picking her team up, and she plays extremely hard!

I mean IS THAT ALL? That’s tremendous what he is saying. But what he didn’t add was that she is a terrific ball handler and passer. Vs Riverside as an example look at the pass she makes while on the ground over her shoulder after she steals the ball from the defender she is pressing off-the-dribble. At the 5 minute mark vs Riverside harassed defender enough where she made a poor pass that got picked off. Yet he's knocking her defense in these exhibition games? And at 12:22 she steals the ball again.

Further regarding passing around the 8 minute mark she is playing good d on the outside grabs a rebound and about at 7:50 mark comes over halfcourt and off-the-dribble makes a gorgeous left-handed pass for a player to hit a layup (but she missed.).

As for 3 pt shooting- So why would she take any 3's when she is covered in these types of games? It would be poor decision-making. SO he is actually knocking her a bit because he wants to see her make poor decisions hoisting up 3's? How many 3's are you supposed to take with players hanging all over you? So imo we can say a player like Azzi with her handle along with passing and ability to hit pull-up jumpers and has a deadly 3pt shot - that makes her ELITE. Then look at the 3:54 mark vs Indy Gym Rats - she knocks down a 3 so effortlessly off-the-dribble.

And the thing is -- she has "power." You can't knock her off-the-ball. Which means it's extremely hard to direct her where to go. You can't "ride her" right or left.

So I've seen no evidence of her favoring her legs. Go ahead and watch the 2nd half of the Indy Gym Rats game-- they are sending a sending a 2nd player at her 20-25 and plus feet from the basket on several occasions. Does that sound like "she has leg problems" or she doesn't have "it?" They also did it at 17:25 1st half and at 24:15 or so and after that as well. That double teaming isn’t someone with leg issues nor is it any way to believe she doesn’t “have it.” It’s the opposite. This tells you what the opposing team with their stars think of her.

The bit I've seen so far- I see a superstar.

Watch this and then tell me she has a good handle. The first play of the game, she immediately picks up her dribble and turtles at the first sign of a double team. She repeatedly gets beat off the dribble on defense, she has trouble getting to the spots she wants to with the ball in her hands on offense, she is just not the same player! Yes, she is well built, but she is too undersized to take advantage of that at the next level! She is really going to struggle with the length at the 3 in college, both offensively and defensively. She was invisible for the majority of this game, that should never happen for the #1 ranked player in the country playing against mediocre talent! Is she still a good player? Yes, of course she is, she is just not the same player that she was!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

" We've even had a player after a few practices leave and go to Miss State, right?"

Wrong @hoophuskee . In late December, after repeatedly refusing to take instruction, she was told she was no longer wanted in the program.

 

[donalddoowop]

Watch this and then tell me she has a good handle. The first play of the game, she immediately picks up her dribble and turtles at the first sign of a double team. She repeatedly gets beat off the dribble on defense, she has trouble getting to the spots she wants to with the ball in her hands on offense, she is just not the same player! Yes, she is well built, but she is too undersized to take advantage of that at the next level! She is really going to struggle with the length at the 3 in college, both offensively and defensively. She was invisible for the majority of this game, that should never happen for the #1 ranked player in the country playing against mediocre talent! Is she still a good player? Yes, of course she is, she is just not the same player that she was!

This is the game that I watched. If @hoophuskee watched this game and did not see what we saw, he was not watching closely. It's just one game but she looked hindered in this one game.

 

[CocoHusky]

I know this is going to be considered blasphemy on this board, but Fudd is extremely overrated right now. I realize that it is extremely tough coming back from a bad injury like Fudd suffered, but she just does not look anything close to the best player in the country. Don't get me wrong, she is still as smart and savvy a basketball player as you will ever find, she has an amazing pull up, she is lights out if left open behind the arc, she is a tremendous leader the way she is always picking her team up, and she plays extremely hard! She just doesn't have that "it" factor that she used to have! She is obviously not fully back yet, but she looks extremely slow right now, she was never really an elite athlete, it's just that her lack of athleticism really stands out now. She doesn't have the handle or speed to play the 1 in college like some have suggested. She is a below average defender at this point, lacking the length to alter shots and the foot speed and lateral quickness to defend the drive. She struggled to get separation to get open and was very inactive without the ball on offense. Again, I know it is very early in her recovery and I hope she really gets back to form as time goes on because she has worked so hard and deserves it. I still would like her to commit to UConn, but I wouldn't be heart broken if she went somewhere else.

If you removed the emotionally charged words such as "overrated, blasphemy & it factor " from you post you might get more people to agree. Suffice to say the Azzi on those tapes is not the Azzi of old. Caroline Doty, Morgan Tuck, Gabby Willians, all recovered from prep injuries to have stellar UCONN careers. Doty & Tuck are especially good comparisons because much like Azzi thier games were not based on super athleticism but efficiency. Before this injury Azzi was as efficient a basketball player as there was. You touch on some of this, that pull up jumper was usually after she had beaten the defender with a jab or head fake. Tim recently remarked that they had actually measure Azzi release and found it comparable to only Clay Thompson and Steph Curry. That level of efficiency can be regained in time in the same was it originally gained-by working in the gym. Azzi has a full season of HS basketball remaining and 12 months before will have to be on Campus at UCONN.
One other data point. Two years ago Elauna Eaton (former UCONN prospect) and Caroline Ducharme attended USA basketball trials after mending from knee injuries. Like Azzi in these video neither player resembled their former self. Today Caroline Ducharme looks much better than her former self and will be pressing some people hard for minutes once she gets on the UCONN campus.

 

[donalddoowop]

Her handle was not "FAIR." It was terrific but then again I also saw the Indy game and this Riverside game so I'm adding the 2. But there is no such thing as a guard who doesn't occasionally get a ball swiped from them unless they are Jon Stockton etc. **When any player drives to the basket - sometimes they are going to get an occasional ball swiped away." A scorer driving inside is going to get an occasional ball swiped. She won't get the ball swiped away near as much if she doesn't drive at all. So imo the example you are giving is irrelevant.

I don;t know what to say about quickness. Did you watch the 1st half vs Riverside? The player she was defending struggled to handle the ball around her. And there is no such thing as playing good positional defense?-- You must be very quick otherwise you are a sub-par defender? You can't be "at least" "average" if you play good position defense?

And -- she didn't stand out like she used to? You have other summer league games from prior years to point as an example? She didn't even play an entire 1st half vs Riverside, looks like her team is getting beaten pretty good inside, and she got 12 points while being hurt for a bit (and missed two jumpers while probably hurt) yet she didn't stand out? What is she supposed to do-- get 20 in a half or she is not elite? And it looks like her team isn't very good either. Take a look at that Indy Gym Rat game-- they are DELIBERATELY leaving other players open and coming at her with her with a 2nd player 20 - 25 and plus feet from the basket. But she doesn't stand out????

And this isn't H/S regular-season hoop either in which the team wants her to take 25 shots I believe. I could be wrong. But I tend to think in these games one player doesn't take over. Am I wrong about that? SO how much is she going to stand out if team is also going to let other players also be featured?

Let me be frank-- I don't think you know what you're talking about regarding her leg other than she has had the prior injury and maybe it's related. That's a wild guess any of us can make. But that's just it-- it's a guess. But we don't know. You were right it seems she hurt herself. But conditioning? I guess one can make a statement and just claim any injury is "conditioning."

And yes we did see 2 different games. How many nice passes did she make and her teammates didn't finish? Her team just doesn't look very good. Am I wrong?

As far as keeping her commitment if she committed to UCONN early. Huh? I don't understand your point here. Any player that gives a verbal but without a LOI-- there is always some degree of concern, right? We've even had players who signed a LOI end up not coming, right? So what's your point? I am not arguing. Just don't understand your point unless it is just stating the obvious of --- "be concerned with anyone until they start to play?" We've even had a player after a few practices leave and go to Miss State, right?

Paige stands out when she is not featured. As far as keeping a commitment, that was not about Fudd but the posters who want an early commitment. First we are concerned if she will commit and then when she does with so much time left before LOI time, we worry if she will honor it. It has happened before. That is my point. If she was not so highly regarded, it would not matter so much. What Collier did can make some of us fans a little wary until a player has signed. Just my opinion.

 

[soxfan23]

If you removed the emotionally charged words such as "overrated, blasphemy & it factor " from you post you might get more people to agree. Suffice to say the Azzi on those tapes is not the Azzi of old. Caroline Doty, Morgan Tuck, Gabby Willians, all recovered from prep injuries to have stellar UCONN careers. Doty & Tuck are especially good comparisons because much like Azzi thier games were not based on super athleticism but efficiency. Before this injury Azzi was as efficient a basketball player as there was. You touch on some of this, that pull up jumper was usually after she had beaten the defender with a jab or head fake. Tim recently remarked that they had actually measure Azzi release and found it comparable to only Clay Thompson and Steph Curry. That level of efficiency can be regained in time in the same was it originally gained-by working in the gym. Azzi has a full season of HS basketball remaining and 12 months before will have to be on Campus at UCONN.
One other data point. Two years ago Elauna Eaton (former UCONN prospect) and Caroline Ducharme attended USA basketball trials after mending from knee injuries. Like Azzi in these video neither player resembled their former self. Today Caroline Ducharme looks much better than her former self and will be pressing some people hard for minutes once she gets on the UCONN campus.

Yes, Tuck, Williams, and Doty had good careers at UConn, but NONE of them are even in the Top 15 best ever at UConn! Will Fudd be a good college player? Yes, absolutely, hell she may even be considered great, but IMHO she is NOWHERE near the "once in a generation" player that the majority of this board is clamoring over! Her BB IQ, her pull up, her ability to shoot the 3, her hustle, etc all make for a damn good player, just not in same breath as the all time greats like Stewie, DT, etc.

 

[soxfan23]

They own and run GTS Fusion. Does that mean she is going to go to an Under Armor school IDK. Kevin Plank went to the same high school as Azzi. But I have no idea if that has any meaning in her decision.

This is NOT a good sign for those who want Fudd to commit to UConn! Let me preface what I am about to say with this, I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Fudd's and their relationship to UA. However, there is long history of allegations regarding both men's and women's AAU team owners/players receiving illegal monetary benefits to commit to a school that is of the same brand. The Fudd's happened to change teams this year to play/run a UA sponsored team, which just so happens to be the sponsor of Maryland. Again, I have ZERO inside knowledge, just not a good sign IMHO.

 

[CocoHusky]

Yes, Tuck, Williams, and Doty had good careers at UConn, but NONE of them are even in the Top 15 best ever at UConn! Will Fudd be a good college player? Yes, absolutely, hell she may even be considered great, but IMHO she is NOWHERE near the "once in a generation" player that the majority of this board is clamoring over! Her BB IQ, her pull up, her ability to shoot the 3, her hustle, etc all make for a damn good player, just not in same breath as the all time greats like Stewie, DT, etc.

She is not currently that once in a generational player. She was!
This board had nothing to do with her earning a Naismith Trophy as the best HS player in her sophomore season=generational talent! She can be again!

 

[soxfan23]

She is not currently that once in a generational player. She was!
This board had nothing to do with her earning a Naismith Trophy as the best HS player in her sophomore season=generational talent! She can be again!

So can a lot of players!

 

[CocoHusky]

This is NOT a good sign for those who want Fudd to commit to UConn! Let me preface what I am about to say with this, I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the Fudd's and their relationship to UA. However, there is long history of allegations regarding both men's and women's AAU team owners/players receiving illegal monetary benefits to commit to a school that is of the same brand. The Fudd's happened to change teams this year to play/run a UA sponsored team, which just so happens to be the sponsor of Maryland. Again, I have ZERO inside knowledge, just not a good sign IMHO.

Uhm... what women's AAU team were alleged to have received "illegal monetary benefits to commit to a school." Please stop this scandalous mudslinging before you tear a rotator cuff!

 

[CocoHusky]

So can a lot of players!

That's just silly. A lot of players were never generational talent. How can many return to being what so few were?

 

[UConnCat]

Can posters resume the discussion about Wilt and Bill?

If this thread were an asylum it'd be fair to say the inmates have taken over.

What will the August recruiting thread bring?

 

[donalddoowop]

Can posters resume the discussion about Wilt and Bill?

If this thread were an asylum it'd be fair to say the inmates have taken over.

What will the August recruiting thread bring?

Just a few more days and we will find out.

 

[Alydar]

Did a little research and this is interesting. Hopkins and Minnetonka HS are both public and in Minnetonka. Bueckers played as a freshman at Hopkins even though it is listed as one of the only HS in Minn. still offering classes in only grades 10 thru 12. So I wonder how she did that. Minnetonka is much larger with 3300 students to 1600 for Hopkins.

Sharpen your pencil. She actually played for Hopkins as an 8th grade student.

 

[Alydar]

She was on the sidelines trying to get her legs loose when she went out of the game. Her handle was only fair and one game she had it either taken from her or batted away, and that was not against a good team. If you could not see her lack of quickness on defense I can't figure out why. Maybe we saw two different games. If I did not know who she was, I would not have noticed her. She did not stand out like she used to do and I think it had to do with her physical (legs) condition. I still hope she commits to UConn. For all the posters who wants her to hurry up and commit to UConn, how many of you would then start having concern about her keeping her commitment? The closer to LOI time she commits, the less the concern will be that she will honor it.

I watched part of both listed games. I thought that AAU teams were much more talent-infused than HS teams but Hopkins would have beaten the 3 AAU teams I saw in laughers.
As for "She did not stand out", what I saw was a player who passed the ball but who rarely got a pass in return, even when she was wide wide open behind the arc.

 

[BobbyJ]

Sharpen your pencil. She actually played for Hopkins as an 8th grade student.

I know that. How did she do that if they ONLY offer classes for grades 10-12? How could she have been a student of that school?

 

[Alydar]

I know that. How did she do that if they ONLY offer classes for grades 10-12? How could she have been a student of that school?

Don't know but over the years reading about 8th grade girls playing HS BB has become a common thing. Bueckers was one and her team mates Woodson and Agara are two more who played HS ball as 8th graders.