Newest Husky Ines Bettencourt [Merged thread]

[bantamlaker]

Isn’t there a large Portuguese population in the CT-MA area? Perhaps Ines has family here?

Don't think so. Connecticut features the largest Italian-American population of any American state. But you have to move one state to the east, Rhode Island, to see the big Portuguese population.

I remember from my working days there being a large Portuguese population in Naugatuck and the surrounding valley towns In CT. There still is a Portuguese consulate office in Naugatuck so I assume there still must be a significant population in the area. Hopefully they show up for Ines.

Portuguese Consulates in the United States​

The Portuguese Consulate in Naugatuck is not the only Portuguese consular office in the region. For your convenience we also listed below all other consulates of Portugal located in the United States. A Portuguese consulate can be found in the city of: Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Naugatuck, New Bedford, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Phoenix, Providence, San Diego, San Francisco and Tulare

 

[Petero]

I remember from my working days there being a large Portuguese population in Naugatuck and the surrounding valley towns In CT. There still is a Portuguese consulate office in Naugatuck so I assume there still must be a significant population in the area. Hopefully they show up for Ines.

Portuguese Consulates in the United States​

The Portuguese Consulate in Naugatuck is not the only Portuguese consular office in the region. For your convenience we also listed below all other consulates of Portugal located in the United States. A Portuguese consulate can be found in the city of: Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Naugatuck, New Bedford, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Phoenix, Providence, San Diego, San Francisco and Tulare

My wife and just spent a week on Sao Miguel in June. A stunningly beautiful island and the temps were 70 and 63 just perfect. Two great golf courses and really cool volcanic hot springs. Very very affordable. The euro is at par with the dollar. First night I ordered a 8.50 glass of wine. That was for the whole bottle!!!! I drank it...hey I was on vacation!!! Overall a beautiful spot that produces point guards of note! Go Inez go Huskies.

 

[MooseJaw]

It will be interesting to see her future. Because, while UCONN is now desperate to have a back-up at the point, that won't be true when KK arrives next season.

I hope you are right, however IMO it's darn near impossible to predict if or what injuries will rear their ugly heads between now and then. Earlier this year we were all ecstatic with the performance Paige put on in the tourney. We all expected her to regain or exceed the brilliance she displayed before her first injury. Tough enough to come back from one major injury much less two. I for one am very glad Geno brought Ines into the fold. I desperately want Paige back next year. I also want Ines to play "UCONN" ball this season and the three after that. We will be better off having her hopefully not desperate just fortunate.

 

[eebmg]

When Nika next takes the court for UCONN she will be the most experienced players with the most starts and a Junior. While we all cling to the hope that Nika now finally gets it and does improve her shooting accuracy and volume what I will point out is it should not have taken this long. The calls for Nika to become a better shooter began within her first few practices at UCONN.

"There is this moment I’ll never forget,” Muhl said this week. “It was the beginning of the year, maybe October or something, and we were in practice. I shot the ball maybe two times and I missed both. He completely stopped practice and in front of my face said, ‘You’re the worst shooter that UConn has ever seen.’ He told me, ‘You’re never going to be a shooter.’ "

For Muhl, high energy is a feature, not a bug

Believe it or not this is a kinder gentler but classic Geno. Geno does not throw out that kind of challenge unless her knows that the player has the ability to deliver and as I have written before he does not go to the press to throw out the challenge until he has done so with the player privately.

So what I will actively dispute and continue to harp on is the notion that being surrounded by greater shooters was what has enabled Nika to not individual improve her shooting. The challenge for Nika to become a better shooter was laid down on day 1- that almost two full years ago.

The last sentence is Nika's

“I let him put pressure on me so I could grow my confidence. It was definitely worth it. There’s still a long way to go, don’t get me wrong. But it’s been rewarding to see my progress.”

I think Geno was targeting her 3pt shooting and in particular under open conditions. There was no way around it, she had to be a respectable outside threat and I think she worked her self into that. Then there was the fouling she had to get under control and I think she has also improved alot in that category

Now come the harder issues and deficits in her game, overcoming her enormous desire to pass to players she views as better equipped to score. Mock the idea but this is part of her makeup and it takes alot of work. Unfortunately, it took paige being out to probably make this realistic since if Paige (and in a lesser sense the Senior guards) were playing, she would still defer.

Finally, I want to point out that this is pretty close to how she played in Europe so it should not have been a surprise that her game needed to evolve dramatically . She was never a good 3pt shooter and she always wanted to pass first. True she was a much more explosive driver and finisher but I dont recall any mid range game.

So I say we need to be patient and I expect to be pleasantly surprised by how she takes charge this season.

 

[CocoHusky]

Just in case anyone is wondering about that Geno comment about Ines being really good at 2 and 3 man game those sets and action are already heavily featured in the UCONN offense therefore Ines is not going to be starting from scratch. Generally speaking 2 and 3 man game means that 2 or three players are primarily involved in the offensive action while the remaining offensive players are primarily used space the floor and usually on the opposite side of the court from the ball. In the UCONN offense these sequences go by many different names but there are generally a couple of features used to initiate the action.

These actions usually start with a high ball screen from one of the bigs and an entry pass into the high post.
Once the entry pass is made the post player can initiate a Dribble handoff (DHO) where the ball is handed off to one of the wing players while the big sets a screen on the wing defender.

The next action off this might be a GET and that is literally what it says- the wing player making the entry pass into the high post literally goes into the post player to get the ball while the post player set a back screen on the wing defender.

Another feature is what is called a pin down which is basically a player from the wing going down to the low post to set a screen to free up a "designated" wing shooter.

Don't get too confused by the terminology especially for those posters like myself who will be tempted to say-"back in my day we used to call this pick and roll."

This episode of Geno's X's and O's diagrams a few of the sequences.

 

[#12in21]

When Nika next takes the court for UCONN she will be the most experienced players with the most starts and a Junior. While we all cling to the hope that Nika now finally gets it and does improve her shooting accuracy and volume what I will point out is it should not have taken this long. The calls for Nika to become a better shooter began within her first few practices at UCONN.

"There is this moment I’ll never forget,” Muhl said this week. “It was the beginning of the year, maybe October or something, and we were in practice. I shot the ball maybe two times and I missed both. He completely stopped practice and in front of my face said, ‘You’re the worst shooter that UConn has ever seen.’ He told me, ‘You’re never going to be a shooter.’ "

For Muhl, high energy is a feature, not a bug

Believe it or not this is a kinder gentler but classic Geno. Geno does not throw out that kind of challenge unless her knows that the player has the ability to deliver and as I have written before he does not go to the press to throw out the challenge until he has done so with the player privately.

So what I will actively dispute and continue to harp on is the notion that being surrounded by greater shooters was what has enabled Nika to not individual improve her shooting. The challenge for Nika to become a better shooter was laid down on day 1- that almost two full years ago.

CocoHusky, I doubt there is anyone on this board who is not clear on the fact that you feel Nika should have, much earlier in her career at Uconn, made the adjustments you once again repeated above. She didn't. She has indicated that she has a different mindset and understanding of her role for this upcoming season and will do her best to implement those changes. I take her at her word. You seem to expect she is likely not to do so based on the fact that she has not done so over the last two seasons. We disagree on either what she said, what she will do to address the needed changes or both. The past can't be changed, so the question is will Nika's game this season implement an improvement in shot selection, volume and accuracy?

 

[Bone Dog]

so the question is will Nika's game this season implement an improvement in shot selection, volume and accuracy?

I’m in the camp of those who hope Kelly, er… I mean Nika will increase her offensive production once Maya, er… I mean Paige… whatever.

Nika’s situation is different after “The Injury.” It may not be fair to her, but the team needs something different from her. I hope she can do it. Fingers crossed. Go Nika!!!!!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

The state of New York has the largest population of Italian Americans, at 3.1 million people. The majority of Italian Americans in New York City originated from southern parts of Italy.

In terms of percentage of the population.