OT: Link to Schedule for Aaliyah Edwards, U23 Canadian National Team "GlobLJam" July 2022

[oldude]

I agree with the assessment, and the importance of fitness for Aaliyah. She was not the same player last year, even at the tail end of the season, where she was better than early in the season, but still nowhere near her freshmen year. It appears from the physical look and early results she is moving towards the freshmen version of Aaliyah not last year's, which by itself could result in a major improvement for the team.

I was in the wait and see camp as to which version we would get this year, hoping she would recapture freshmen Aaliyah conditioning and performance, but certainly not considering that a given because of what happened last year. This is obviously a very encouraging sign.

In all honesty, I will be disappointed if Aaliyah is no better than she was as a freshman. IMO Aaliyah’s fitness level will far exceed that of her freshman season. She should be able to play longer, harder and with far greater effectiveness than ever before.

 

[Huskee11]

I think we will see the positive influence of Andrea Hudy in full display during the 2022-2023 season.

Not just Aaliyah, but certainly including her. She looks great.

A lot of them do. They are owning the weight room and also just taking better care of themselves.

 

[cancontent]

In all honesty, I will be disappointed if Aaliyah is no better than she was as a freshman. IMO Aaliyah’s fitness level will far exceed that of her freshman season. She should be able to play longer, harder and with far greater effectiveness than ever before.

Last night's game shows signs of improvement, especially her outside shooting. No hesitation from the FT line range when she had a shot. Shot arc looks a lot better too.

 

[HuskyNan]

From yesterday

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[rvwsleep]

Love this.................I'll be using this a lot

That phrase was made popular by then U.S. vice-president Spiro T Agnew.

 

[cancontent]

Glad to see they didn't stick this behind their paywall.

 

[Zarathustra]

It remains to be seen, but... IMO, Canada's opposition will be France. the French
ladies had 35 bench points i.e., less tired, more bench strength? for tomorrow's game
), France also had
18 fast break points and caused 34 (!!) Belgium turnovers. Belgium might have
had the short turnaround time mentioned in the earlier post but the Belgium team was more
competitive against Canada than against the French.
Canada hopefully can handle Virginia Commonwealth easily. Aaliyah and
the other starters will then get some extra rest (as well as the Canada bench getting some important
playing time). So .. will the physicality of Aaliyah (and other Canadians) and the strong
PG play of Day-Wilson (Duke) be enough? Remember only 5 of Canada's players scored in
the first game!! Seven players with ZERO points. Many things to think about in this
evenings game against USA's VCU. I would love to see a low scoring Canada/Aaliyah if
it helps Canada's chances against France tomorrow. Different opinions?? Z

 

[cancontent]

It remains to be seen, but... IMO, Canada's opposition will be France. the French
ladies had 35 bench points i.e., less tired, more bench strength? for tomorrow's game
), France also had
18 fast break points and caused 34 (!!) Belgium turnovers. Belgium might have
had the short turnaround time mentioned in the earlier post but the Belgium team was more
competitive against Canada than against the French.
Canada hopefully can handle Virginia Commonwealth easily. Aaliyah and
the other starters will then get some extra rest (as well as the Canada bench getting some important
playing time). So .. will the physicality of Aaliyah (and other Canadians) and the strong
PG play of Day-Wilson (Duke) be enough? Remember only 5 of Canada's players scored in
the first game!! Seven players with ZERO points. Many things to think about in this
evenings game against USA's VCU. I would love to see a low scoring Canada/Aaliyah if
it helps Canada's chances against France tomorrow. Different opinions?? Z

I bolded these words specifically because the physicality of several Canadian players hurt them yesterday. Ejim, Hanson and Te'Biasu all had 4 fouls which limited their time on the court. They can't afford to be without them against France tomorrow in my opinion. They also need Lattimore to crash the boards more. She needs to build up that toughness, especially for ACC conference play this upcoming season.

A little surprised Ejim struggled yesterday. She played well this past season, earning 6th woman of the year in the WCC conference. She also has a lot of international experience and should be familiar with FIBA rules. Hanson has always been aggressive to a fault. Te'Biasu's play should be interesting as she knows the team very well.

Once they changed up ball handling duties in the second half, Day-Wilson improved. Her shooting in the first half was atrocious, but it seemed like she was mainly looking for her shot and not moving the ball as much. Ball movement improved once it was split up between her, Pellington, Russell and Te'Biasu in the second half.

 

[HuskyNan]

France beat Team USA

 

[oldhusky]

How is this for fitness

From the description very very good.

 

[oldhusky]

In all honesty, I will be disappointed if Aaliyah is no better than she was as a freshman. IMO Aaliyah’s fitness level will far exceed that of her freshman season. She should be able to play longer, harder and with far greater effectiveness than ever before.

I hope so. One of the overall disappointments for last year's team was their overall PER (player efficiency rating) numbers vs. the prior year. I remember comparing those after the first 6 games last year and the only player who had improved at that time from the prior year was Paige. Everyone else was worse not better, including Dorka vs. her Ohio State numbers. That was shocking almost beyond belief, to have close to a whole team of returnees and collectively not improve.

Uconn's scheduling had something to do with that, because as usual our schedule was front loaded with difficult games. I was comparing their PER numbers after 6 games vs. their whole season numbers from the prior year, and the easier part (our conference schedule) was still coming. As a result as we went thru the easier conference schedule most players improved, but the final season numbers still wound up worse than the prior year for everyone except for Nika who wound up a little better than the prior year. Paige's numbers because of playing games after the injury fell back below her prior season by year end.

I think expecting some improvement from returning players is quite normal, it doesn't always turn out that way, and if anything it should be even more so with a team returning just about everybody from the prior year. That is why I was so surprised by last year. This year we lose some players, but hopefully with quite a few returnees coming back we can see a significant bump from some of them.

Aaliyah might have the potential for the biggest increase, but if I was a betting man I like the odds of improvement from Azzi and Caroline a great deal, and believe Dorka playing full-time C in her second year with the program is a pretty good bet too.

 

[cancontent]

Early in the 3rd CAN leads 45-28. Quiet so far for Aaliyah. Day-Wilson with 0 points but has 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Russell leads all Canadians with 12.

 

[oldude]

View attachment 77418
View attachment 77419
Early in the 3rd CAN leads 45-28. Quiet so far for Aaliyah. Day-Wilson with 0 points but has 3 assists and 3 rebounds. Russell leads all Canadians with 12.

Aaliyah certainly isn’t quiet on the boards, leading all players with 8 rebounds.

 

[cancontent]

USA (VCU) hanging tough. Canada leads 55-11 going into the fourth,

Link to live box score for those who may not have it.

FIBA LiveStats

Canada Basketball Federation, 2022, Check out the full statistics here

fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com

 

[Zarathustra]

I bolded these words specifically because the physicality of several Canadian players hurt them yesterday. Ejim, Hanson and Te'Biasu all had 4 fouls which limited their time on the court. They can't afford to be without them against France tomorrow in my opinion. They also need Lattimore to crash the boards more. She needs to build up that toughness, especially for ACC conference play this upcoming season.

A little surprised Ejim struggled yesterday. She played well this past season, earning 6th woman of the year in the WCC conference. She also has a lot of international experience and should be familiar with FIBA rules. Hanson has always been aggressive to a fault. Te'Biasu's play should be interesting as she knows the team very well.

Once they changed up ball handling duties in the second half, Day-Wilson improved. Her shooting in the first half was atrocious, but it seemed like she was mainly looking for her shot and not moving the ball as much. Ball movement improved once it was split up between her, Pellington, Russell and Te'Biasu in the second half.

Thanks about the feedback on the fouls .. I missed that. However how did they
collect so many fouls in so few minutes on the court? ( I did not have access to
the live game , so I missed the reason for the fouls.). So... I agree with you up to
a point. IMO if Canada does not have quality playing time from their bench,
and Aaliyah and the others primary scorers for Canada ( based on the first game
stats

USA (VCU) hanging tough. Canada leads 55-11 going into the fourth,

View attachment 77421
View attachment 77422

Link to live box score for those who may not have it.

FIBA LiveStats

Canada Basketball Federation, 2022, Check out the full statistics here

fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com

Thanks for the link to the box score, I could not get it. Can you do the same tomorrow evening?
( early in the game?? ) Thanks, Z

 

[eebmg]

Aaliyah coming alive in 4th Q. (but a few too many TO's)

 

[eebmg]

Solid Double / Double by Aaliyah. 12 pts / 12 Rebounds

 

[cancontent]

FIBA LiveStats

Canada Basketball Federation, 2022, Check out the full statistics here

fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com

 

[cancontent]

Thanks about the feedback on the fouls .. I missed that. However how did they
collect so many fouls in so few minutes on the court? ( I did not have access to
the live game , so I missed the reason for the fouls.). So... I agree with you up to
a point. IMO if Canada does not have quality playing time from their bench,
and Aaliyah and the others primary scorers for Canada ( based on the first game
stats

Thanks for the link to the box score, I could not get it. Can you do the same tomorrow evening?
( early in the game?? ) Thanks, Z

Will do.

 

[mrmojack]

Final 78-69 Canada beats USA. Edwards 12 and 12

 

[Zarathustra]

Canada 78 USA 69 Aaliyah with another Double Double 12 points 12 rebounds
It was getting a little concerning when Canada did not make a field goal in
the last 2 minutes or so (?) and the USA made 5 ( or more ) consecutive free throws.
However, Aaliyah came through with a free throw at 1:25 minutes and Merisah
Russell sealed the deal with her final free throws. Interesting game, but
tomorrow night is the BIG ONE. Go Canada, go Aaliyah! Z

 

[triaddukefan]

Looking at Day-Wilson in the box score

 

[cancontent]

Looking forward to the game against France. They put together a competitive roster.

Canada got more scoring from the bench which helped. I can't put my finger on why they can't pull away by a larger margin. On paper, their length should have been a larger factor than it seemed.

 

[cancontent]

Looking at Day-Wilson in the box score

Yup....................ice cold shooting for the first half. Has been this way for both games.