Our freshmen versus Tennessee | The Boneyard

Our freshmen versus Tennessee

A and A are going to be extraordinary 4 year players. Not just good...but stellar and special.

Anna's bb IQ, size and all round skills are killer. Aubrey's athletic abilities and instincts are seriously off the charts. Elite.

Over the next several years UConn wbb is going to separate itself from the pack again. I can't wait.
 
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What struck me most (watching in person) was Anna's poise. She played like a junior or senior, never rattled by whatever happened on the court. Near the end of the game, she dribbled calmly through a double-team to get the ball across mid-court.

This was a game in which her European pro-level experience really was apparent.
 
The fabulous freshman (ff), Aubrey got most of the ink (our Bambi taking her first critical legendary steps ;)) and it is well deserved but Anna was another bright spot. Even though the horrendous shooting extended to Anna, her offensive mindset was very good. Her 3rd Q 3pt shot was much needed at the time. But more importantly, She was not only taking wide open isolated 3's but shooting off of and using her screeens and her tight pic/roll shot at the key that she made was very Lou like. Her position defense is really very good *better be because she is not that quick) and she is a fundamentally great rebounding guard. And yes, she can pass. Some of those weighted passes to break the press were beautiful.
 
Nick Pignatello said:
Question about Ana, did she suddenly learn to dribble, or were the officials from a few games ago just that bad and inconsistent?
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Anna travels when she is indecisive. Last night, whenever she got the ball she immediately did something with it: pass, shoot, dribble. Essentially, Anna played much faster and her problem shuffling her feet disappeared.
 
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Was not able to see the game, but looking at the box score it looks like Aubrey and Anna more than held their own.
 
and the TN freshman (Horston, Key, Rennie) not so much
 
oldude said:
Anna travels when she is indecisive. Last night, whenever she got the ball she immediately did something with it: pass, shoot, dribble. Essentially, Anna played much faster and her problem shuffling her feet disappeared.
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In the game I referenced, UCF, the calls were as she released the ball on the first dribble, MW was also called for the same thing. She played 33 minutes scored 10. One overall one of her best.
 
JoePgh said:
What struck me most (watching in person) was Anna's poise. She played like a junior or senior, never rattled by whatever happened on the court. Near the end of the game, she dribbled calmly through a double-team to get the ball across mid-court.This was a game in which her European pro-level experience really was apparent.
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Spot on! In an interview Geno said Anna is so composed on the court.
 
Nick Pignatello said:
In the game I referenced, UCF, the calls were as she released the ball on the first dribble, MW was also called for the same thing. She played 33 minutes scored 10. One overall one of her best.
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Watching the replay of the UCF game, it did look to me like all the traveling calls were legitimate. Indecision sometimes creates turnovers.
 
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eebmg said:
and the TN freshman (Horston, Key, Rennie) not so much
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I would not subtract from the Tennessee freshman so quickly. Basically, the freshwomen (LOL), and the starters have a lot of potential which Harper can develop. I feel confidant to say that if Geno had that Tennessee Team playing the UConn game, they would be a lot more powerful and precision oriented than they showed yesterday. There is a lot of underdeveloped talent there. Especially with that height. Another Baylor in the making potential.
 
We always speak of Anna as being a freshman (what she is).
And some folks are amazed that a frosh could play with such poise and knowledge

But the fact is, she's really not a freshman at all...not really.
She has semi-pro experience playing several seasons against very decent players.
What we're now seeing is the confidence in her basic skillset coming to the fore.

And it's a most impressive skillset indeed.
 
In fairness to the Tennessee freshmen, Key and Horston are starters. They will be just fine. It was only 1 game - can't judge Meg on that game. .

So happy our kids shined. The freshmen were needed to provide the spark and scoring punch because everyone else on UCONN wasn't really able to do it.

Anna has been terrific all year, especially after her first 6-8 games or so. Aubrey had one other stellar scoring game - against Seton Hall. I HOPE, as others have mentioned or alluded to, that both take a great deal of confidence from the game and carry that forward.
 
eebmg said:
The fabulous freshman (ff), Aubrey got most of the ink (our Bambi taking her first critical legendary steps ;)) and it is well deserved but Anna was another bright spot. Even though the horrendous shooting extended to Anna, her offensive mindset was very good. Her 3rd Q 3pt shot was much needed at the time. But more importantly, She was not only taking wide open isolated 3's but shooting off of and using her screeens and her tight pic/roll shot at the key that she made was very Lou like. Her position defense is really very good *better be because she is not that quick) and she is a fundamentally great rebounding guard. And yes, she can pass. Some of those weighted passes to break the press were beautiful.
Expand ...
Yeah. Watching Ania dribble around a screen a shooting, what looked to me, like her first pull up of the year, was a thing of beauty. I've been screaming all year (mostly in the chat room) for her to shoot that pull up which has been wide open in the middle for her, and the number of opportunities for her pull up is about 3 or 4 times a game.
 
JordyG said:
Yeah. Watching Ania dribble around a screen a shooting, what looked to me, like her first pull up of the year, was a thing of beauty. I've been screaming all year for her to shoot that pull up which has been wide open in the middle for her, and the number of opportunities for her pull up is about 3 or 4 times a game.
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and she even tried a step back 3. Just good confidence and body language.
 
eebmg said:
and she even tried a step back 3. Just good confidence and body language.
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In his postgame comments, Geno wasn’t particularly thrilled with that shot. Of course if she had made it, that would have been a different story.
 
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msf22b said:
We always speak of Anna as being a freshman (what she is).
And some folks are amazed that a frosh could play with such poise and knowledge

But the fact is, she's really not a freshman at all...not really.
She has semi-pro experience playing several seasons against very decent players.
What we're now seeing is the confidence in her basic skillset coming to the fore.

And it's a most impressive skillset indeed.
Expand ...
Yes, but she’s still a teenager playing in another country, taking college classes in a second language, enduring the pressure of playing for the top women’s basketball program in history. Then again, she spent two years as the youngest player on a Polish pro team so she understands pressure, which is why Geno gives her so many minutes. Her Polish team was not WNBA level by any definition but to make it as a 16-year-old...well, that’s quite a young woman.
 
seeya27 said:
A and A are going to be extraordinary 4 year players. Not just good...but stellar and special.
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we could just leave the 'and' out and say the freshmen are 'AA' (or will be eventually)
 
For me, one that that is very notable about Anna is how much her defense has improved since her first few games. More confident, more aggressive, better positioning. Really rounding into an impressive, all-round player.
 
Nice article on our AA's

dailycampus.com

Women’s Basketball Notebook: Confidence is key — The Daily Campus

After the UConn women’s basketball team’s game against Houston on Jan. 11, head coach Geno Auriemma had a few comments to make.
dailycampus.com dailycampus.com

I guess we should remember as freshman, they are roommates.

Love this quote


It’s a confidence boost that’s shared between Griffin and Makurat. The two roommates have improved their willingness to call for the ball, attack the rim, run the fast break and more.

“We try to lift each other up, we talk a lot after the games, just how to change, how to be better, yeah, it’s great,” Makurat said.
 
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