Patterson and Ziebell

[BRS24]

Yanna hasn't played in a "real" game in almost two years. Monday was an exhibition game, so I'm not going to nitpick anyone's contributions. From my observation, she was one of many players that tried to cram in a whole bunch of stuff in short minutes.

 

[DefenseBB]

I feel for Yana, as noted she’s missed two years of playing and now has an unbelievable amount of talent to compete against. Her freshman year was beset with fouling problems as she led the list of 205 players that I tracked in fouls per minutes. Her brief appearance on Monday showed little improvement. Trying to find time among a 10 person rotation may be very difficult for her.

 

[EricLA]

Who was it that Geno said, "She'll be really good once her basketball skills catch up to her athleticism". Was that Gabby? Yana strikes me the same way. The basketball skills have some catching up to do.

2 years of not playing basketball, plus her nagging injuries before that - she's practically a freshman skills-wise, if not a little behind that. Agreed super easy kid to root for - really hoping even just a few things click for her.

I kind of thought Geno's comments to her at the start of this year would be something like "don't be too hard on yourself. You may be back physically, but we need to work on basketball skills more slowly. Let's focus on _______ and get really good at that. Then work on _______ next summer and come back for the 2026 season in a much better spot."

 

[MooseJaw]

2 years of not playing basketball, plus her nagging injuries before that - she's practically a freshman skills-wise, if not a little behind that. Agreed super easy kid to root for - really hoping even just a few things click for her.

I kind of thought Geno's comments to her at the start of this year would be something like "don't be too hard on yourself. You may be back physically, but we need to work on basketball skills more slowly. Let's focus on _______ and get really good at that. Then work on _______ next summer and come back for the 2026 season in a much better spot."

Maybe they were.

 

[my2cents]

With a low post threat with Willams, double team her or she will score, the three point line will be open. Ziebell will be the one to knock those down. I expect her to be a big part of our success this year.

 

[WiseWillie]

Certainly Janelle and others are working closely and repeatedly with Yanna to bring her into form for playing UConn type defense. She definitely looks in shape but now the next steps are dependent on her own motivation to improve. Offensive skills reinforcement should come only after defense drills. She needs to improve her balance and footwork for rebounding, how to successfully contest a shot by avoiding reaching and striking the opponents arms or hands to reduce or eliminate a whistle and more of the drills that UConn has used for years working with some tremendous as well as some good to average post players. Janna is well worth any of the time spent coaching her 1 on 1. I think we will see a much improved Janna as the season progresses.

 

[Longtime fan]

She seemed to lack the same degree of bounce and athleticism that she showed prior to being injured. I don't know if that's rust, lack of opportunity to showcase her athleticism, or whether she's not 100% back. Hopefully she'll get plenty of opportunities to plan an improve. Given where she is on the depth chart that means that Connecticut will need to be winning comfortably.

Ayanna is an easy kid to root for. Hopefully she can make it all the way back.

Allie id look better as her minutes increased. I think she has the potential to become a force. I don't feel the same about Yana. But time will tell.

 

[Skeets]

Certainly Janelle and others are working closely and repeatedly with Yanna to bring her into form for playing UConn type defense. She definitely looks in shape but now the next steps are dependent on her own motivation to improve. Offensive skills reinforcement should come only after defense drills. She needs to improve her balance and footwork for rebounding, how to successfully contest a shot by avoiding reaching and striking the opponents arms or hands to reduce or eliminate a whistle and more of the drills that UConn has used for years working with some tremendous as well as some good to average post players. Janna is well worth any of the time spent coaching her 1 on 1. I think we will see a much improved Janna as the season progresses.

Is this a Patterson post or an El Alfy post? Perhaps both?

 

[Bills Fan]

Yanna is going to have a hard time getting minutes this year unless she develops her shooting from the 15' to 18 ft range. (Something she did not demonstrate her FR year) Without that ability, she will struggle for any minutes at the 3, with Sarah, BQ, Morgan, Caroline and, in Geno's small lineup-Ash, Allie and/or Azzi.
I believe she will get most of her minutes at the 4, where she will be competing for PT with ICE, Sarah, BQ and, in Geno's small lineup, with MC or Caroline.
In other words, minutes before the 4th Qtr, will be hard to come by, unless she becomes a threat from mid-range.

 

[HopJim]

Suspect that Yana will be one of the biggest tests of Geno and staff's coaching skills. Was thrilled when she signed with UConn but looking back, many of her high school accomplishments appear to be due to here being physically stronger than her competition. With Yana's commitment to succeed, will be interesting to see how her basketball skills progress.

 

[Bone Dog]

Suspect that Yana will be one of the biggest tests of Geno and staff's coaching skills. Was thrilled when she signed with UConn but looking back, many of her high school accomplishments appear to be due to here being physically stronger than her competition. With Yana's commitment to succeed, will be interesting to see how her basketball skills progress.

This is what I saw too when I watched a few of Ayanna's HS games. I suspect she is still physically stronger than most competition she'll encounter even in D1, but the difference won't be nearly so great as to make up for undeveloped skills. This is definitely a 'time will tell' situation.