Piath and Amari

[Conndog]

Some thoughts on seeing them against Butler. Both 6'5, Piath a sophomore and Amari a freshman, while both need game time to get used to live play at college, Piath seems to need a little more. Having said that, Piath is much more aggressive at trying to establish position inside. Amari has a natural looking motion on her shot but wish she could emulate what Aaliyah does down low- maybe practice time against Aaliyah will teach her better footwork and how to get position, or the coaches can teach her to use her size more effectively. Amari seems to have trouble when she gets the ball low, she hasn't shown natural moves to evade defender and go up quickly, and at times when holding the ball brings it to chest instead of keeping it high, which lets defender get the ball and tie her up somewhat. Piath has an awkward looking shot at the moment, it seems she shoots from the shoulder maybe and is pushing the ball rather than flicking the wrist? Defensively, Amari isn't aggressive enough yet and in spite of her height seems to get pushed around right now. Not sure how Piath's defense is yet.

Lots of potential in both. At the moment, Amari seems to be oriented to being more of an outside shooting big and Piath is better situated down low. Looking forward to seeing them get more time and developing still further.

 

[UcMiami]

They also had the disadvantage of playing that last quarter in a really mismatched lineup. With Nika's minutes being limited by the medical staff, they were a bit lost figuring out who would play center on defense in the zone and where and what to do on offense.

 

[and one]

When Paith was recruited the general understanding was she was a project. It's not my impression Amari was considered a project. From what I've seen neither are ready to contribute in a meaningful way now. Amari will probably be a starter by sometime next season. I don't know about Paith but I seriously doubt she'll have a career that compares to Amari's.
What their learning curves will be is unknown. If Paith can develop into a good reserve anything else would be gravy.

 

[hart2hart]

The more minutes these 2 gals get, the better.
Most definitely they will keep continuing to grow!
I loved seeing them both in the game. Gonna re-watch tonight!! Did you notice Piath can run the floor quite well?

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Chucking three after three is not DeBerry's game, to put it mildly.

 

[Charliebball]

if UConn had been forced to play Amari the way they had to do with CD I think we would have seen a fair amount of progress..........she's not a banger but more in the style of ONO and should become an important contributor in the next three years if she stays healthy............

 

[CocoHusky]

When Paith was recruited the general understanding was she was a project. It's not my impression Amari was considered a project. From what I've seen neither are ready to contribute in a meaningful way now. Amari will probably be a starter by sometime next season. I don't know about Paith but I seriously doubt she'll have a career that compares to Amari's.
What their learning curves will be is unknown. If Paith can develop into a good reserve anything else would be gravy.

Highly unlikely that Amari is a starter next season. Dorka may return and even if she doesn't there is still Ice Brady, Edwards and Patterson as candidates to start up front.

 

[oldude]

I sincerely hope that both Piath and Amari find meaningful PT at UConn. Amari is closer than Piath, but neither is that close. Next year is a stronger possibility for both, but it’s not assured by a long shot.

Assuming Dorka returns and Aubrey recovers from back surgery, Piath & Amari will start out behind Dorka, Aaliyah & Aubrey for front court PT. Add to that the arrival of Ice & Ayanna, two dynamic front court players, and Piath & Amari will have their work cut out for them.

With that said, I hope Jamelle can work her magic to prepare both of them to contribute. If this year taught us anything it’s that you never have enough depth.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Geno has said that Amari may be the most talented big ever recruited at UConn. And we have seen a glimpse of how well she moves in the low post. Geno has also said that with her it is two steps forward and then two steps back. They way I saw her Butler game she was instructed to be the high post facilitator. Although looking lost frequently she still did the job well enough to have 5 assists. Piath's job as the low post was to get open and score, which she tried to do. On one trip down Geno told them to swap positions with no real impact. I don't expect much from either of them this year. But next year could be a whole new ball game for them both.

 

[Carnac]

They also had the disadvantage of playing that last quarter in a really mismatched lineup. With Nika's minutes being limited by the medical staff, they were a bit lost figuring out who would play center on defense in the zone and where and what to do on offense.

An easy fix…. play a zone, and only give them 2 plays to run on offense. They run those two plays over and over until they score consistently. They should be able to play a basic 2-3 zone effectively. This isn’t their first year of playing basketball. Guard your area of the floor and protect the rim. No uncontested layups.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Highly unlikely that Amari is a starter next season. Dorka may return and even if she doesn't there is still Ice Brady, Edwards and Patterson as candidates to start up front.

Dorka has said she intends to be here two years. I think next year we will see Amari replace Liv and we will continue with a trio of primary performers at the 4/5 with Aaliyah. Ice and AP might contribute latter in the year.

 

[CocoHusky]

Geno has said that Amari may be the most talented big ever recruited at UConn. And we have seen a glimpse of how well she moves in the low post. Geno has also said that with her it is two steps forward and then two steps back. They way I saw her Butler game she was instructed to be the high post facilitator. Although looking lost frequently she still did the job well enough to have 5 assists. Piath's job as the low post was to get open and score, which she tried to do. On one trip down Geno told them to swap positions with no real impact. I don't expect much from either of them this year. But next year could be a whole new ball game for them both.

I'm throw some names at you real quickly: Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, EDD, Stewie, Stefanie Dolson, Tina Charles, Kiah Stokes

 

[CocoHusky]

UCONN did this same thing to Saylor last year (encouraged her to shoot every time she touched the ball in a blow out situation). This is a great disservice to the player because it develops bad habits. The team should be out there running offense and the criteria should be the same: If you are open as a result of the running the offense then take the shot if that is a shot you have practiced and made, if someone is more open than you are then pass the basketball. BTW I though Amari did exactly that in her meaningful minutes in the game. It was her last few chucks with the bench yelling at her that I have a real issue with.

 

[uconnfan68]

Chucking three after three is not DeBerry's game, to put it mildly.

She must make them in practice because Geno encouraged her to shoot them. Her stroke looked reasonable. My one complaint, and it's for many of them, is that they don't use glass on the shorter shots from the side.

 

[Carnac]

View attachment 72429
I'm throw some names at you real quickly: Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, EDD, Stewie, Stefanie Dolson, Tina Charles, Kiah Stokes

There’s still a lot of games left for Amari to get comfortable, improve her game, increase her field goal %, and reduce the freshman mistakes she‘s currently making. A rule of thumb…….. the more a player plays (in games), the more comfortable they become.

Look at Caroline and Dorka now as opposed to games 1-4. Big difference. Amari will be ok in time. Maybe not until next year, but at some point, she’s going to realize that she can do this, and she belongs here. When that happens, she will be fine. It won’t be long after that we can expect a breakout game.

 

[Kevin G]

I would love to see Piath and Amari get more playing time

 

[Longtime fan]

Highly unlikely that Amari is a starter next season. Dorka may return and even if she doesn't there is still Ice Brady, Edwards and Patterson as candidates to start up front.

I thought Amari was going to be a natural inside BIG. Not another version of Olivia. Geno once said, " she seemed the most natural BIG we have had here in a long time." Really?

Piath has far more strength and physical presence, but far less developed ability. I don't think we have much of a clue so far. Against Butler, neither was effective ( that is not a high complement). We saw no moves, no natural instincts, no savvy. They just an around and waved their arfms. Amari threw up 7 uncontested shots and there was no prayer on any of them. Do you think Boston ( South Carolina) started her college career like that? Amari was pretty highly rated. So she should show talent, no? It was Butler!!

 

[donalddoowop]

View attachment 72429
I'm throw some names at you real quickly: Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, EDD, Stewie, Stefanie Dolson, Tina Charles, Kiah Stokes

Cajun is just reporting what Geno said. I believe he knows all those players you named played for UConn.

 

[oldhusky]

I think Aubrey's surgery has made Amari far more important for this year as the 4th big. Going into this season I expected her freshmen season to mostly be a learning one, as we had Liv and Dorka at C and Aaliyah and Aubrey at PF. It is hard to have just a three big rotation, usually you need just a few minutes from a 4th player and I think that will be Amari.

Geno will likely rely heavily on the main three in big games, but give Amari maybe 5-8 minutes a game on many of the others, enough to pass judgement a little bit on what her potential is. If she looks promising and Dorka returns she might settle in as the backup C with hopes to start when Dorka moves on. Ice and Ayanna certainly will have something to say about that next year, but regardless this season Amari could be in the rotation capturing a few of the minutes that Aubrey would have gotten. Piath appears to be on the outside looking in, but with another injury or covid scenario she could become significant as well.

 

[Zinethar]

I just don't understand why so many here fail to understand that Geno wants bigs that are versatile and can hit the outside shot to help open the inside for the guards to drive to the basket. This is what he teaches and wants. He wants the bigs to drag their defenders outside (which won't happen if they can't shoot from there). The team will do what Geno wants not what the Boneyard seems to want.

 

[CocoHusky]

Cajun is just reporting what Geno said. I believe he knows all those players you named played for UConn.

It wasn’t @CajunHusky it was @HuskylnSC. Regardless, it is still a preposterous statement even if Geno did say it.

 

[CocoHusky]

I thought Amari was going to be a natural inside BIG. Not another version of Olivia. Geno once said, " she seemed the most natural BIG we have had here in a long time." Really?

Piath has far more strength and physical presence, but far less developed ability. I don't think we have much of a clue so far. Against Butler, neither was effective ( that is not a high complement). We saw no moves, no natural instincts, no savvy. They just an around and waved their arfms. Amari threw up 7 uncontested shots and there was no prayer on any of them. Do you think Boston ( South Carolina) started her college career like that? Amari was pretty highly rated. So she should show talent, no? It was Butler!!

Where are you and @HuskylnSC getting these Geno quotes regarding Amari from.

 

[Gus Mahler]

She must make them in practice because Geno encouraged her to shoot them. Her stroke looked reasonable. My one complaint, and it's for many of them, is that they don't use glass on the shorter shots from the side.

+1000