Most Improved | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Most Improved

I'm going to say Azzi is the most improved.
At the beginning of the year she seemed lost.
Now she seems to be in constant motion like a non-stop pinball on the court.
Each movement is so well choreographed, she bumps into players to check them, and sells each fake or court movement to the defense like a veteran quarterback would.
That doesn't even include her movement with the ball or her jump shooting ability.
That's why Geno didn't take her off the court in the title game except for 4 minutes, more PT than anyone else.
It seems like she doesn't do anything wrong on the court.
Her defense looks pretty flawless too, and she doesn't skip a beat.

I don't know where she learned it, if it was from Geno or not.
But wherever she got it from, Geno must be very, very pleased.
A+++++ for Azzi!
If she keeps it up, she's going to be an All American, and it will be sooner rather than later.
 
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RE: caroline & azzi -- since they're frosh, they are expected to improve significantly, and they did (bravo!), but it's hard to judge how much they improved because we don't know where they started -- plus both were affected by major injuries.

RE: nika -- i, unlike some BYers, believed she was damn good last year, so her improvement has not been extreme. in fact, i was kind of hoping she would boost her game even more (sophomore jump). but she has been dealing with nagging injuries all year, though hiding it, so i understand. She was a big contributor, like last year. Improved? Sure. A super surprise? No.

RE: Liya -- hard to judge because she regressed so much from her freshman year ... does her current great play represent simply a return to her prior self, or a real improvement from it, which i believe to be the case. A recovery or an upgrade? To compare it to others' growth is a no-go for me.
 
JoePgh said:
I'm not sure about this season, but over the course of her UConn career I think Olivia has made remarkable improvements. In total contrast to her freshman year, she is no longer a "frail, stringbean" type. Although she still prefers to play in the high post and make passes, she now has a jump shot that is reliable enough that it needs to be guarded (as Tamari Key failed to recognize in the Tennessee game). She can also mix it up with anyone on the boards. Against all but the best competition, she can score in the paint. She is better at the free throw line, and she doesn't get into foul trouble every game.

Given that Ms. Boston is not likely to be in this year's WNBA draft, I wonder what center(s) would be drafted ahead of Liv. Nalyssa Smith is not really a center (more a power forward, which is where she plays for Baylor). People will talk about Cunane or Kitley, but I think Liv is better suited to the WNBA game than either of them, particularly with respect to speed and agility.
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Liv's passing ability is what sets her above the other centers in the draft. Since there is no substitute for height, Liv will be the first Husky drafted, a sure 'lottery pick' as I have been saying for the past two years, eh?
It's hard to say who has improved more: 1) Dorka 2) Nika 3) Caroline 4 ) Azzi 5) AE 6) EW .. I guess you could say the WHOLE TEAM has improved except for Paige.
 
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Nothing really new to add.

If you just count this season, start to present, it would be Aaliyah but as others have pointed out she regressed alot from the end of last year to the start of this year. Hard to say where she is with respect to her peak last year but she's doing very well now.

I love what E is doing. She used to be so tentative- hesitant to shoot when open, walking the ball up like she was trying to sneak up on someone, and tossing lazy passes. So different from her dynamic pre- transfer style. Still makes a bad pass here and there, but she looks way more assertive driving the ball up court, slashing to the rim and confidently taking outside shots. I love this E.

Nika is better at keeping opponents in front of her now. She is more aggressive going after rebounds. Not only does she take open 3s now, she actually fakes and drives for layups once in a while. Don't know how many times I screamed at my TV when Nika would dribble in the paint and have open opportunities to get to the hoop or pull up mid-range BUT never even looked at the hoop. Expanding her tool bag like this makes her so much for effective. I think her ceiling has yet to be reached.

Jury's out on Caroline. She was obviously crushing it until the head injury. I think this is the typical ups and downs that freshmen have rayher than some lingering medical problem. She showed us what she can/will be. And she will be all that and more as her career continues.

Azzi has been a little up and down but is clearly a great player... as she was supposed to be.

So who is the MIP? It's very close, but I'm saying E.
 
HopJim said:
Dorka gets my vote. In the beginning of the year, I didn't understand why Geno signed her. Now she is in constant motion, throwing her body around seemingly enjoying the physical aspect of the game. Has also become one of the more consistent 3 point shooters.
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Gotta agree here, although many of the players have demonstrated steady growth throughout the season, Dorka is playing at a complete different level since the season began. Her defense has been outstanding; along with rebounding, passing, hustle, and those 3 pointers!
 
MilfordHusky said:
Of the Nasty Nine, all but Paige have improved since early in the season. Liya looks like Thor of Yore! Nika was ready to rip someone’s heart and lungs out last night. Christyn was really pumped and is now the Queen of the Post-season—first player to be on the All-Conference Tourney Team 4x since Stewie. That’s pretty heady company.
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Miss March

 
HopJim said:
Dorka gets my vote. In the beginning of the year, I didn't understand why Geno signed her. Now she is in constant motion, throwing her body around seemingly enjoying the physical aspect of the game. Has also become one of the more consistent 3 point shooters.
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And passer!
 
sun said:
I'm going to say Azzi is the most improved.
At the beginning of the year she seemed lost.
Now she seems to be in constant motion like a non-stop pinball on the court.
Each movement is so well choreographed, she bumps into players to check them, and sells each fake or court movement to the defense like a veteran quarterback would.
That doesn't even include her movement with the ball or her jump shooting ability.
That's why Geno didn't take her off the court in the title game except for 4 minutes, more PT than anyone else.
It seems like she doesn't do anything wrong on the court.
Her defense looks pretty flawless too, and she doesn't skip a beat.

I don't know where she learned it, if it was from Geno or not.
But wherever she got it from, Geno must be very, very pleased.
A+++++ for Azzi!
If she keeps it up, she's going to be an All American, and it will be sooner rather than later.
Expand ...
Did she get better or did her foot get better?
 
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Just like the Badass award, let's give it to the whole team. Considering how the season went to where they are now...yeah I would say the whole team improved.
 
DEpup said:
Did she get better or did her foot get better?
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My guess is that her BB IQ increased considerably.
I doubt that she graduated from high school with all of that knowledge.
She wasn't putting it into practice playing on Team USA during the summer.
And she doesn't have brains in her feet.
I'll bet that someone has been teaching her, she's been studying hard and working the lessons into her game.
 
While I agree with most all above, there is improvement in the entire team. Obviously Paige is still in the game shape portion of recovery.
So addressing the thread title Most Improved, I have to say that would be Geno's, mood, blood pressure and migraines. ;)
 
psconn said:
Nothing really new to add.

If you just count this season, start to present, it would be Aaliyah but as others have pointed out she regressed alot from the end of last year to the start of this year. Hard to say where she is with respect to her peak last year but she's doing very well now.

I love what E is doing. She used to be so tentative- hesitant to shoot when open, walking the ball up like she was trying to sneak up on someone, and tossing lazy passes. So different from her dynamic pre- transfer style. Still makes a bad pass here and there, but she looks way more assertive driving the ball up court, slashing to the rim and confidently taking outside shots. I love this E.

Nika is better at keeping opponents in front of her now. She is more aggressive going after rebounds. Not only does she take open 3s now, she actually fakes and drives for layups once in a while. Don't know how many times I screamed at my TV when Nika would dribble in the paint and have open opportunities to get to the hoop or pull up mid-range BUT never even looked at the hoop. Expanding her tool bag like this makes her so much for effective. I think her ceiling has yet to be reached.

Jury's out on Caroline. She was obviously crushing it until the head injury. I think this is the typical ups and downs that freshmen have rayher than some lingering medical problem. She showed us what she can/will be. And she will be all that and more as her career continues.

Azzi has been a little up and down but is clearly a great player... as she was supposed to be.

So who is the MIP? It's very close, but I'm saying E.
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Caroline and Dorka shouldn't be limited to 15 minutes while others are getting 30+ minutes .. that's bad for chemistry, eh?
 
Jingo said:
Caroline and Dorka shouldn't be limited to 15 minutes while others are getting 30+ minutes .. that's bad for chemistry, eh?
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Nah, the basket needs to eat too.
The more net the better.
 
JavaMan said:
All very good and deserving choices. So I'm going with Synergy...she is the sum total of all of the parts that is UConn Women's Basketball. :D
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The UConn 2021-2022 WBB Team: dramatically changed from a Paige-centric, rely-on-Paige team to each one growing to contribute significantly to their emergence as a formidable team. While they haven't reached their peak as a team, the synchronicity in mind, spirit and effort has been forged in the crucible of setbacks emerging from the tunnel of gloom immersed in intermittent dark clouds to a rare unity and caring.....laying the foundation for rapid growth that we now witness.

They are but at the start of their final journey for this year, still far from the polished team they seek to be but brimming in joyful exuberance for each success large or small by and for each other. And they now carry the aura of resilience.....an assurance that there is no obstacle they cannot overcome, each one contributing as both their unique and overlapping skills are called upon solve every riddle in split-seconds time.

As they now refine and polish the each element needed to function as perfectly a team as possible, it bodes well for their quest: their holy grail, the NC #12!
 
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sun said:
I'm going to say Azzi is the most improved.
At the beginning of the year she seemed lost.
Now she seems to be in constant motion like a non-stop pinball on the court.
Each movement is so well choreographed, she bumps into players to check them, and sells each fake or court movement to the defense like a veteran quarterback would.
That doesn't even include her movement with the ball or her jump shooting ability.
That's why Geno didn't take her off the court in the title game except for 4 minutes, more PT than anyone else.
It seems like she doesn't do anything wrong on the court.
Her defense looks pretty flawless too, and she doesn't skip a beat.

I don't know where she learned it, if it was from Geno or not.
But wherever she got it from, Geno must be very, very pleased.
A+++++ for Azzi!
If she keeps it up, she's going to be an All American, and it will be sooner rather than later.
Expand ...
Very good points made about Azzi! And plus factor in the heavy pressure on her being the No.1 HS player and all the accolades such as getting NIL deals before even playing collegiately. She has really lived up to her fame, she looks so polished and seasoned--and I too recognize the playing time as emblematic of Geno's trust in her. I'd wager to say she'll get SERIOUS All-American consideration next year.

BTW, I went to college in Colorado back in the late 70s, early 80s and there was a Nuggets player named Dan Issel and whenever he shot a 3, the announcer would say, "Issel with the Missile!" So it's shame we can't say when Fudd hits a 3, "Fudd with the Scud!" But I guess that kind of cold war missile terminology is outdated nowadays, lol...
 
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Obviously the most improved is Paige's knee. Remember how many BY "fans" and "doctors" were expressing the opinion that Paige should not play at all this year?

In all seriousness, Azzi and Caroline started the year as high school kids having to play on the best D1 team in the country. Considering where they started from and where they are right now, I'll go with Caroline. I will say that I can't really disagree with any of the posts in this thread.
 
An argument, as has been, can be made for so many of our players being most improved but the beauty of it is that OUR Team has greatly improved. As the season began it seemed this would again be a 'Paige centric" team with an influx of Azzi Fudd supplemented by major senior contributions with Aaliyah Edwards in the mix and a spattering of Dorka - and rest not so much. The chemistry wasn't really there, Azzi seemed to still be fighting residual injuries, Edwards didn't show up, Dorka wasn't yet clicking and then we lost Paige and the dominos began to fall.

After some unbelievable lows we started to see light, Caroline sparked the offense and Nika the defense and pushing pace on both ends, Evina found her footing as an instant change maker off the bench, Liv and Christyn embraced their hoped for senior leadership roles, Dorka emerged as the force we had hoped she would, Azzi hit threes, pull-ups, drives and played great defense and to cap it off the beast of the East, Aaliyah came back with a vengeance. Things were gelling, we were seeing "UConn basketball" again and just as the regular season ended we got Paige back.

A nine player rotation with constant subbing, every player contributing, excellent pressure defense, efficient offense and simply beautiful basketball and still room before we hit our ceiling is how this team plans on hitting the dance floor. We, as a fan base, are the luckiest in the country to follow this group of women as they finish out this made for movie season!
 
BlueSkyGLW said:
The UConn 2021-2022 WBB Team: dramatically changed from a Paige-centric, rely-on-Paige team to each one growing to contribute significantly to their emergence as a formidable team. While they haven't reached their peak as a team, the synchronicity in mind, spirit and effort has been forged in the crucible of setbacks emerging from the tunnel of gloom immersed in intermittent dark clouds to a rare unity and caring.....laying the foundation for rapid growth that we now witness.

They are but at the start of their final journey for this year, still far from the polished team they seek to be but brimming in joyful exuberance for each success large or small by and for each other. And they now carry the aura of resilience.....an assurance that there is no obstacle they cannot overcome, each one contributing as both their unique and overlapping skills are called upon solve every riddle in split-seconds time.

As they now refine and polish the each element needed to function as perfectly a team as possible, it bodes well for their quest: their holy grail, the NC #12!
Expand ...
BlueSkyGLW-wow-love your writing. Have any novels out there I can get me hands on? Robert Frost would approve:)
 
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I think that every player on this team has improved mostly because of Paige's injury including Paige. Everyone has played so much better as the season progressed. I think that both Geno and Paige has learned that Paige does not have to carry this team on their backs. 9 players playing team basketball with great defense are a formidable example of team play.
 
HuskyPhan said:
BlueSkyGLW-wow-love your writing. Have any novels out there I can get me hands on? Robert Frost would approve:)
Expand ...
Thanks, Sorry, no novels or even short stories. Working on something technical: classical singing technique - describing the method taught by someone who made her operatic debut in the 1920s in Philadelphia and later taught.
 
tchalla1 said:
BTW, I went to college in Colorado back in the late 70s, early 80s and there was a Nuggets player named Dan Issel and whenever he shot a 3, the announcer would say, "Issel with the Missile!" So it's shame we can't say when Fudd hits a 3, "Fudd with the Scud!" But I guess that kind of cold war missile terminology is outdated nowadays, lol...
Expand ...
However, I am waiting for some announcer, after calling a series of Azzi's successful shots, say that the opposing defense appears "beFuddled". That would certainly have applied to the Tennessee defense in the early February game.
 
JoePgh said:
However, I am waiting for some announcer, after calling a series of Azzi's successful shots, say that the opposing defense appears "beFuddled". That would certainly have applied to the Tennessee defense in the early February game.
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I want to see a run out lay up call, "Fudd with the wabbit".
 
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