Mir? Any idea why so little playing time?

[freshler40]

Makes perfect sense if you watch the games and note who Mir is actually subbing into the games for.
I don't suppose you have ever heard of a former All American UCONN 5'11" post player named Gabby Williams?

Likely that Mir is not a position player but all purpose disruptive much like Griffin. The men's game has moved in this direction and away from having a post for many teams. Is Mir the future of women's basketball?

 

[hart2hart]

I personally think she played well yesterday.
Need minutes to show all that you deserve to be in the rotation. I like her tenacity and the fact that when she’s in for more than 2 minutes you get an idea of how good she can be. Mir has my vote to be the 8th player off the bench. If she continues to work hard her minutes will increase.
Just my opinion only.

 

[Artifact]

My confusion isn’t that Mir should get more playing time over Aubrey or anyone else in the regular rotation, I was wondering why did she come in after Saylor and Piath last game. She is far and away better than those two and deserves to be in during garbage time before anyone else. Unless her practice habits have been bad. That’s all.

Perhaps, Mir may have had a poor prior practice session !

 

[CocoHusky]

Likely that Mir is not a position player but all purpose disruptive much like Griffin. The men's game has moved in this direction and away from having a post for many teams. Is Mir the future of women's basketball?

Mir definitely has a position as do ALL the UCONN WBB players. As to her being the future of Women's basketball well..... I suppose anything is possible. What I don't understand is how the people that are advocating for more playing time for Mir don't know what position she actually plays.

 

[MD#12Fan]

She's not a post player. Never was. Coach Geno never could have envisioned her as a post player defending players 6'4" and taller. Makes no sense. Nowhere is she listed as a post, not on the UConn website, nor the ESPN recruiting webpage. And Coach Geno could never have recruited her thinking she was a "post," then figured out that she was only 5'11" and decided that, whoa!, she's too small to play that position. Clearly, he knew how tall she was when he recruited her. Her height is not the issue keeping her out of significant minutes.

You're watching the games like all of us. Why are you saying she's not a post player. She works to get open at the low post and she will flash across the lane to get open a little higher along the key area. That's the definition of a post player as opposed to a wing player or point. Those are the 3 choices. Of course you can have different numbers of each. We all grew up with 2 posts, 2 wings, and a point.
I've written a couple of long posts in this thread about recruiting. To be honest, if Geno is not going to press 94 feet, I do not see how Mir fits into the rotation. Some people have said she's a version of AG. Personally I like her and I wish Geno had a 10 player rotation but I don't see that happening. The $60,000 dollar question is why did UConn recruit her.
If you look at my posts I try to make the point that Geno and the program have a responsibility to each recruit above and beyond NC's. You are right, how do you recruit a 5'11" post player at the nation's best WCBB program.
But, "if it's a duck....." Mir is a post.

 

[King Kong]

Mir needs more non-garbage playing time. She has a high upside, & just as Aaliyah's silly fouls went away quickly, so will Mir's game smooth out quickly. I like the allusion to Gabby, who was "a position-less player in a position-oriented game", a 5'11" forward. It's getting late for Anna to be ready for a deep run in the NCAAs, but perhaps here is your #8 player, & getting Mir ready for that role, makes a reasonable plan B. And if Anna comes back, good.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Makes perfect sense if you watch the games and note who Mir is actually subbing into the games for.
I don't suppose you have ever heard of a former All American UCONN 5'11" post player named Gabby Williams?

You're referring to the 5'11" Gabby Williams who qualified for the Olympics as a high jumper, right? Wasn't she the one whose superhuman abilities permitted her to out jump 6'4" players? Sui generis. No comparison.

 

[CocoHusky]

You're referring to the 5'11" Gabby Williams who qualified for the Olympics as a high jumper, right? Wasn't she the one whose superhuman abilities permitted her to out jump 6'4" players? Sui generis. No comparison.

I see you are still confused about the comparison and Mir's position on this team as a post player.

" For the second year in a row, UConn is arguably getting the most athletic player out of high school in McLean. She can get her hand six inches above rim according to her AAU coach and shares more than a few similarities with former Husky Gabby Williams."

UConn women’s basketball officially announces 2020 recruiting class

 

[SVCBeercats]

You're referring to the 5'11" Gabby Williams who qualified for the Olympics as a high jumper, right? Wasn't she the one whose superhuman abilities permitted her to out jump 6'4" players? Sui generis. No comparison.

Can't be the Gabby Williams who played for UCONN's women's basketball program, since she did not qualify for the Olympics. See article below.

Olympic Trials: Reed's Gabby Williams hits PR, misses Olympics

As the youngest athlete at this week's U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials, Gabby Williams could have been happy just to have qualified. She could have gone to Eugene, Ore., simply for the experience. But contentment with her own success has never been Williams' style

usatodayhss.com

 

[Florida Fan]

AG and AE are simply better options. Mir is good/solid but just not as good as the aforementioned options.

Mir would have to be a better outside shooter. Her hops carried Mir in high school; every inside player she meets down there is bigger.

 

[Martin]

Perhaps she is playing the part of hellacious defender in practice against the first team.

 

[AgStatesman]

I missed the written in stone rule that you have to come in and play as a Freshman. Players develop at different rates. Because Mir is not a regular in the rotation right now in no way means she won't be a crucial player for the Husky's in the very near future. I have zero concerns about her playing time and I have zero concerns about her ability to help the team in the future.

 

[JoePgh]

My recollection is that Gabby Williams did not play too much as a freshman. Definitely Kia Nurse (also a freshman that year) was ahead of her in the depth chart and in minutes played.

Aubrey did play more last year than Mir is playing this year, but that was somewhat by necessity because there was no one like Aaliyah on the team last year to provide major minutes in the front court.

Based on Geno's comments on Mir early in the season (about how she seemed to have no idea about the plays they were running or how the team was organized on offense and defense, unlike Paige / Aaliyah / Nika), I have the feeling that may be contributing to her slower development. Mir may be counting on her hops and her athleticism to compensate for that, and she may be hitting the limits of how well that will work for her.

She will have a lot of competition next year, not only from Anna and Aubrey but from Caroline Ducharme and Saylor. As with Aubrey and Liv, it would behoove her to develop a reliable jump shot, if not from 3-point range then at least from 10 to 15 feet.