Mir McLean to UConn [merged thread]

[hoophuskee]

I never watched Turner play in high school. I'm surprised that you saw her taking a lot of outside shots then. Do you have a link to videos of her HS play? Most players who excel inside stay inside in HS. Hell, from memory, I once looked up Stewart's offensive stats in HS and she had only taken about a dozen 3 point shots total during her first 3 years at Cicero South. I guess you labeled her "strictly inside".

I love freshmen who come in eager to learn great defense and with the tools to accomplish it. Gabby Williams, despite her meager outside shooting, was a joy to watch play. It seems that any player <6' is judged with great weight placed on her ability to dribble and create her own shot. I myself place the greater emphasis on passing and catching passes when it comes to UConn recruits. If McLean can catch em Paige can throw em. I see a possibly great battery in the spirit of Reynolds/Berra or Guidry/Munson.

IMO most people on here are looking for a point of reference of what Mir is now vs what we know of past UCONN players. For example-- Gabby and Tamika lived in the paint as scorers (Gabby hit an occasional jumper) and were undersized. While Turner took many more outside shots than either in college. I think most posters want to know right now at this moment what is she more like? Who knows what she'll become? And i don't know what she'll develop into for offense also. Look at Kelly Faris - she couldn't shoot early in her career and by her sr year she was a very good 3pt shooter yet Gabby could never shot from 3. And she wasn't that great of a mid-range shooter. She was awesome inside.

IMO I tend to doubt what you're saying in bold in context of on ocassion a star player will show what they can do - show to everyone - that they have "an expanded game" in some capacity. For example look at Olivia Cochran on the same video that was provided on this thread.. She is a stocky powerful player - though not as quick as Mir-- and a strong inside player and she took shots from the outside even though she was bigger that some of the players guarding her. Cochran had no problem going out to 10-15 feet and take at least one and I think she took more. Mir took none. SOCochran showed that she isn;t going to stay inside and that's it. Mir didn't -- but as I said it was just 1 game I saw.

As for Stewie-- - I see the MCD tape here/below in her sr year. True it's her SR year but at the 1:29 mark she is taking a left-handed - almost-fadeaway-hook in which she is outside the lane. In the context of my prior posts when I refer to mid-range game for Mir -- you speak of 3pt shooting for Stewie. Those aren't the same. And if Stewie was taking left-handed fadeaway hooks in a McD game I'm sure there were may games she did some showoff of taking shots farther than 5 feet. That's all I saw of Mir. Maybe Mir can be "Faris" or better in terms of Faris's sr year but at this moment which I think most people want to hear - not h/s vs h/s -- but what is Mir "now?" Cochran showed us she can take some shots. My post just offered that Mir didn't show it. At the 1:50 mark below Stewie knocks down a 3. I'd like to see Mir knock down a 3 in this atmosphere of elites/her peers or in a big game etc. And see if the shot is fluid.

Or maybe as you indicate that Stewie only hit 12 3's her 1st 3 years the link below suggest she hit around 12 her sr year. There is a progression. So let's see if Mir can have a progression.



Breanna Stewart High School Highlights

 

[hoophuskee]

I've always felt the recruiting 'slump' was caused by Geno's long commitment to the national team. I think this past year was the last holdover from his time with dual responsibilities. It takes 3 or 4 years to build a good recruiting class. This coming class should be back on par.

What "recruiting slump?" If Stevens stays we probably win a title and the prior two years we lost on last 2nd jumpers. We'll be top 5 this year.

 

[JonathanXIV]

What "recruiting slump?" If Stevens stays we probably win a title and the prior two years we lost on last 2nd jumpers. We'll be top 5 this year.

You mean top 4, don’t you? At UConn we can’t count past 4.

 

[oldude]

I did not say nobody, but a lot of BYers seem much more interested in discussing top 10 recruits. My guess is the volume of threads on Aubrey, Ania, Nika and Kia are much lower before they rise to the top of the Uconn staff's radar.

I don’t disagree. My tongue was firmly planted in my cheek when I made both posts regarding the BY’ers missing the recruitment of Mir.

But if I were being serious, I would suggest that in both instances the attention of the BY was diverted. In March, I suspect CD visited Mir at the same time Geno made his recruiting trip to Europe. The BY was all over Geno’s trip from which he secured Ania & Nika.

As for Mir’s visit to campus on June 20, the BY was once again preoccupied, this time with the visit of Sedona Prince.

Finally, it does not appear that Mir is a prolific poster on social media, something that genuinely elevates her status in my eyes. For most kids, 5 minutes after the visit was over there would be tweets and IG photos all over the internet.

 

[meyers7]

This is a Mir thread!!!

Mir thread!!

Mir thread !!

Mir thread!

You know, it's possible to put more than 1 quote in a Reply.

 

[Vowelguy]

You mean top 4, don’t you? At UConn we can’t count past 4.

Nah. We've had no trouble counting to 11.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

She's a double double machine in a hot bed of WHSBB and AAU competition, who knows she has to expand her game and that is why she is headed to Guru Geno and a few wanna throw her back?? Seriously, get some perspective or switch to International Chess Competitions.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Nah. We've had no trouble counting to 11.

Or 12.

 

[EricLA]

I wonder why she never really considered Maryland. Did they not recruit her at all? I can see if they are all in on Reese, but Reese and McLean have different skill sets and I think could easily have coexisted on the same team.

 

[Vowelguy]

I wonder why she never really considered Maryland. Did they not recruit her at all? I can see if they are all in on Reese, but Reese and McLean have different skill sets and I think could easily have coexisted on the same team.

Sounds like she was set on going somewhere warm, and may have dismissed UMd out of hand, as she did with UConn, until CD/GA took their shot and seems to have blown her away.

 

[mbr33ct]

Sounds like she was set on going somewhere warm, and may have dismissed UMd out of hand, as she did with UConn, until CD/GA took their shot and seems to have blown her away.

The weather must of been great the day she visited UConn. Do all recruits get the Dairy Bar treatment?

 

[Florida Fan]

Remembering Barbara Turner.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Mir was interviewed on a local sports radio show today:

 

[eebmg]

Mir was interviewed on a local sports radio show today:

The host was apparently a bigger UConn fan than Mir was growing up. He kept leading Mir to tell the story as it sounded in his head which I hate in an interviewer

Unlike Nika, Paige, Anna and Aubrey, it seems UConn was not the holy grail of her child hood and did not grow up watching them and worshiping the program. She seems much more analytical/ pragmatic and realized that she has a lot of similarities to Gabby and Gabby was developed very well at UConn and beyond. And she wants to win. Good reasons for me.

 

[bantamlaker]

The host was apparently a bigger UConn fan than Mir was growing up. He kept leading Mir to tell the story as it sounded in his head which I hate in an interviewer

I appreciate your point but somehow I didn’t mind hearing the obvious respect and admiration the interviewer had for Geno and the UConn program.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

I wonder why she never really considered Maryland. Did they not recruit her at all? I can see if they are all in on Reese, but Reese and McLean have different skill sets and I think could easily have coexisted on the same team.

Maryland recruits shooters, playing defense and rebounding is an afterthought.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Maryland recruits shooters, playing defense and rebounding is an afterthought.

Shakira Austin?

 

[Alydar]

IMO most people on here are looking for a point of reference of what Mir is now vs what we know of past UCONN players. For example-- Gabby and Tamika lived in the paint as scorers (Gabby hit an occasional jumper) and were undersized. While Turner took many more outside shots than either in college. I think most posters want to know right now at this moment what is she more like? Who knows what she'll become? And i don't know what she'll develop into for offense also. Look at Kelly Faris - she couldn't shoot early in her career and by her sr year she was a very good 3pt shooter yet Gabby could never shot from 3. And she wasn't that great of a mid-range shooter. She was awesome inside.

IMO I tend to doubt what you're saying in bold in context of on ocassion a star player will show what they can do - show to everyone - that they have "an expanded game" in some capacity. For example look at Olivia Cochran on the same video that was provided on this thread.. She is a stocky powerful player - though not as quick as Mir-- and a strong inside player and she took shots from the outside even though she was bigger that some of the players guarding her. Cochran had no problem going out to 10-15 feet and take at least one and I think she took more. Mir took none. SOCochran showed that she isn;t going to stay inside and that's it. Mir didn't -- but as I said it was just 1 game I saw.

As for Stewie-- - I see the MCD tape here/below in her sr year. True it's her SR year but at the 1:29 mark she is taking a left-handed - almost-fadeaway-hook in which she is outside the lane. In the context of my prior posts when I refer to mid-range game for Mir -- you speak of 3pt shooting for Stewie. Those aren't the same. And if Stewie was taking left-handed fadeaway hooks in a McD game I'm sure there were may games she did some showoff of taking shots farther than 5 feet. That's all I saw of Mir. Maybe Mir can be "Faris" or better in terms of Faris's sr year but at this moment which I think most people want to hear - not h/s vs h/s -- but what is Mir "now?" Cochran showed us she can take some shots. My post just offered that Mir didn't show it. At the 1:50 mark below Stewie knocks down a 3. I'd like to see Mir knock down a 3 in this atmosphere of elites/her peers or in a big game etc. And see if the shot is fluid.

Or maybe as you indicate that Stewie only hit 12 3's her 1st 3 years the link below suggest she hit around 12 her sr year. There is a progression. So let's see if Mir can have a progression.



Breanna Stewart High School Highlights

IMO most people on here are looking for a point of reference of what Mir is now vs what we know of past UCONN players. For example-- Gabby and Tamika lived in the paint as scorers (Gabby hit an occasional jumper) and were undersized. While Turner took many more outside shots than either in college. I think most posters want to know right now at this moment what is she more like? Who knows what she'll become? And i don't know what she'll develop into for offense also. Look at Kelly Faris - she couldn't shoot early in her career and by her sr year she was a very good 3pt shooter yet Gabby could never shot from 3. And she wasn't that great of a mid-range shooter. She was awesome inside.

IMO I tend to doubt what you're saying in bold in context of on ocassion a star player will show what they can do - show to everyone - that they have "an expanded game" in some capacity. For example look at Olivia Cochran on the same video that was provided on this thread.. She is a stocky powerful player - though not as quick as Mir-- and a strong inside player and she took shots from the outside even though she was bigger that some of the players guarding her. Cochran had no problem going out to 10-15 feet and take at least one and I think she took more. Mir took none. SOCochran showed that she isn;t going to stay inside and that's it. Mir didn't -- but as I said it was just 1 game I saw.

As for Stewie-- - I see the MCD tape here/below in her sr year. True it's her SR year but at the 1:29 mark she is taking a left-handed - almost-fadeaway-hook in which she is outside the lane. In the context of my prior posts when I refer to mid-range game for Mir -- you speak of 3pt shooting for Stewie. Those aren't the same. And if Stewie was taking left-handed fadeaway hooks in a McD game I'm sure there were may games she did some showoff of taking shots farther than 5 feet. That's all I saw of Mir. Maybe Mir can be "Faris" or better in terms of Faris's sr year but at this moment which I think most people want to hear - not h/s vs h/s -- but what is Mir "now?" Cochran showed us she can take some shots. My post just offered that Mir didn't show it. At the 1:50 mark below Stewie knocks down a 3. I'd like to see Mir knock down a 3 in this atmosphere of elites/her peers or in a big game etc. And see if the shot is fluid.

Or maybe as you indicate that Stewie only hit 12 3's her 1st 3 years the link below suggest she hit around 12 her sr year. There is a progression. So let's see if Mir can have a progression.


Breanna Stewart High School Highlights

Not making 12. She only took about 12. That's 4 shots per season or one every 5 or 6 games. I doubt she made even 40%, so her 3 point scoring amounted to less that 0.2 point/game. I guess if you had watched her in her first 3 years of HS you might have said she needed to bulk up because her entire future was going to be played inside since she had no outside shot. Almost all of her HS shots were within 8' of the basket. I had this argument many years ago with someone who, seeing her struggles playing inside as a frosh, claimed all she did in HS was shoot 3's. She had a decent outside game but rarely displayed it in HS games. In fact her 3 pt shooting was mediocre for her first 3 years at UConn, only becoming a deadly weapon in her senior year. Look it up. She took 84 3's in her freshman season, hitting at a 33% rate. That's about 2.3 attempts and less than one made 3/game.

All that and she still ended up as arguably the best overall player in UConn history.

So maybe there is some hope for McLean.

If she is 80% of Gabby Williams (who took virtually no 3's) I will be very happy. But I think there's more.

 

[Triad]

What "recruiting slump?" If Stevens stays we probably win a title and the prior two years we lost on last 2nd jumpers. We'll be top 5 this year.

Last SECOND JUMPERS----sounds like you are saying a Big post may have blocked or intimidated either shot. Not on your life. Both shot happened spur of the moment no one close enough to block. Gabby the best jumper, most athletic on that team tired---defecation occurs and this was 2 times it missed the fan and hit the shooters...,
I discount Z, Azura, Stevens past the point she departed Uconn---everything from that point on is myth, projection, imagery, hyperbole--she was GONE and never suited up in the games you mention. She may have fallen on her face.

 

[hoophuskee]

Not making 12. She only took about 12. That's 4 shots per season or one every 5 or 6 games. I doubt she made even 40%, so her 3 point scoring amounted to less that 0.2 point/game. I guess if you had watched her in her first 3 years of HS you might have said she needed to bulk up because her entire future was going to be played inside since she had no outside shot. Almost all of her HS shots were within 8' of the basket. I had this argument many years ago with someone who, seeing her struggles playing inside as a frosh, claimed all she did in HS was shoot 3's. She had a decent outside game but rarely displayed it in HS games. In fact her 3 pt shooting was mediocre for her first 3 years at UConn, only becoming a deadly weapon in her senior year. Look it up. She took 84 3's in her freshman season, hitting at a 33% rate. That's about 2.3 attempts and less than one made 3/game.

All that and she still ended up as arguably the best overall player in UConn history.

So maybe there is some hope for McLean.

If she is 80% of Gabby Williams (who took virtually no 3's) I will be very happy. But I think there's more.

Ohh my God!! You've got to be kidding?!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said I'm thrilled to have her and she could develop. You keep trying to put words in my mouth. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where did you get the idea I wasn't thrilled to have her? Are you suggesting only big time scorers are worthy of being lauded?

I said Mir didn't take ONE SHOT from outside 5 feet. I also said I saw her just once. Others can add more. But you cant go and twist what i saw. I saw Stewie take Two shots outside the lane (and I provided it to you) and I saw Mir take none. YOU said to some extent - big girls don;t go outside and shot when their strength is inside -- I told you I think you're wrong. I used Cochran as an example.

I said I'm thrilled to have Mir and hope she can develop and maybe get an outside shot yet you are giving me heavy sarcasm?!!!!!!!! . But please stop trying to put words in my mouth. Stop saying "what I would probably think YEARS AGO." I showed you what I would think by telling you the story of Cochran and showing you Stewie took shots outside the lane and Mir hasn't. Stop trying to twist my post in what you think I would have said years ago ot fit your narrative. Stewie and Cochran I've seen take outside shots. Show me a game vs her peers/simalr talent level she takes outside shots just as I've shown you Stewie and COchran have. And please read ALL of my posts on this thread not the parts you want to pick and choose a sentence. I said Mir could be AWESOME defensively and I said if Faris can shoot well from 3-- who knows maybe Mir can too. It's almost as if you are trying to equate my comments in which I'm saying she has shown she doesn't have a mid-range game from the 1 game I saw - as if I meant she stinks. If you think that you basically ignored my Faris comment along with how thrilled I am of her potential great defense AND I included on my 1st post she could flourish playing with Paige. I brought that up because I have some excitement!! Further if you read -- you would have sen how excited I am of having her

Here are some of my comments it seemd you ignore din order to bash me: 1- if Mir isn't really a scorer she could still "flourish." 2- she can create some offensive chaos in the paint though teams with good quickness from their "very big" bigs will probably be able to neutralize that aspect. 3- I described parts of her game she is better than BT. 4- IMO an exciting point about her is what I've sort of didn't want to see in the past but between her and Griffin and Paige, and Evina, and Megan and CWill - we have the type of team that could press. 5-- f her lateral quickness matches her hops and her arms -- look out. 6-- I're saying she has the lateral quickness - to me that is huge -- if she has it as you say- I'm super excited, whether she becomes a/a or not have to see her progress. But just super excited about her quickness.

Is it because I said she isn't a big time offensive weapon yet? I mean Gabby wasn't early. Many players aren't. But you choose to ignore my comments regarding Faris and its hard to tell how a player will develop? I hope my post isn't construed as I'm an angry poster going back and forth with you. I'm just very confused by your fight with me with your heavy sarcasm. Heck I got a lot of likes and I think Coco might have posted he or she agreed with most of what I said. And SLu posted highlights and even then we don't see Mir taking a mid-range shot (Yet I see Stewie when she was a sr). Show me some vids otherwise believe her when she says that's a part of her game she needs to work on. Apparently she said she wants to be like Gabby. Gabby was not known for her shooting outside the paint. Are you going to twist that into I think Gabby stunk too? I don't understand your sarcasm coming at me, Oh well - whatever.

 

[Triad]

Remembering Barbara Turner.

Pound for Pound, Inch for Inch the 5ft 9 or maybe 10 played post effectively. She was always in the mix under the boards. When i read or hear Barbara Turner, first the BT Express floats through my brain, the tough, tough is the next words floating in there but mostly it was the vision of BT against 6 ft 4 inch Bales head to head. Every second of the final seconds of her final game--she left only sweat and blood and cramps from dehydration on that Bridgeport floor. Just the thought of her warms my cold cold heart.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Premier Basketball Report's Shane Laflin responding to a tweet I previously posted:

 

[HuskylnSC]

What "recruiting slump?" If Stevens stays we probably win a title and the prior two years we lost on last 2nd jumpers. We'll be top 5 this year.

The key players on those teams, except Crystal Dangerfield, were recruited 4 and 5 years ago. The lack in recruiting is evidenced by the short bench.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I think could easily have coexisted on the same team.

They do now on their AAU squad; but Reese's position will be changing and maybe Mir's will too. But I agree. Two different players. A big who wants to play guard and a guard who plays really, really big!

 

[Sluconn Husky]

We now know some of the other schools that were in on Ms Mclean, unless I missed this reported elsewhere.


McLean, an athletic 5-foot-11 wing, declined offers from South Carolina, Miami and NC State.

For Roland Park Basketball Star Mir McLean, UConn Commitment A Dream Come True

After Baltimore native and hoops star Mir McLean graduates from Roland Park Country School next spring, her next stop will be the powerhouse Connecticut women's basketball program -- a team she's fallen in love with in recent years.

www.pressboxonline.com