September recruiting thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

September recruiting thread

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CocoHusky said:
Let's be careful not to liken Paige's flexing to the behaviors you saw in that video. There should be no such comparison. As far as "us" being hypocritical, be careful there as well. Had Paige exhibited those same behaviors I imagine the BY critique would have been far worse. Of course that would mean we had entered an alternate universe in which the program standards & respect for the game which CD & Geno have establish were gone.
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Z Jones is a talented young 15 year old kid. I agree that her 360 spins when no one is guarding her are over the top, although it’s worth noting that at least once on the tape she does a spin to separate from a defender, which reminded me of Christyn’s 360 spinning layup vs SC.

Other than that, I didn’t see anything on that tape that bothered me. Z Jones was having fun and showing emotion, which is exactly why we all love Paige. There in lies my comparison between the two. I think we would all do well to be a little less judgmental.
 
oldude said:
We have to be careful in our evaluations of the behavior of young people, lest we become hypocritical. I seem to recall a particular freshman star at UConn exhibiting a level of exuberance that included bicep flexing, primal yells and chest bumps. Do any UConn fans believe Paige should rein in her behavior?
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I do. I did not like her flexing either.
 
donalddoowop said:
I do. I did not like her flexing either.
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Times have changed. Back in the dark ages, the coaches I played for would have found me a good seat on the bench, right next to them. Since Paige did that double arm flex throughout the season, I can only assume Geno is OK with it.
 
oldude said:
Times have changed. Back in the dark ages, the coaches I played for would have found me a good seat on the bench, right next to them. Since Paige did that double arm flex throughout the season, I can only assume Geno is OK with it.
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You would have been lucky. My coach would have had me on the end of the bench, away from him.:confused:
 
oldhuskie said:
I think the best possible comparison for a potential role for Rice is Evina. Their games are very very similar in my opinion. Both have enough size and versatile skills to be quite comfortable at 1-3. Remember Evina was a point guard at Tennessee, but here with Paige and Nika she was not needed much there, and as a "swiss army knife" became more of a 2/3 and even played some at the 4.

I agree with some here that a PG is not "needed" in 22, but I don't think of Rice as a pure point guard, but rather a three position player who on this team would be more of a 2/3, and next year we lose two of those in Christyn and Evina, and Rice appears to be about as close to a clone of Evina as I can imagine.

So I think she could clearly find a role next year, the question is how big a role is required for her to be interested. I don't think she views herself just as a point guard, or we wouldn't still be in the mix. I suspect she also knows with two generational talents at PG (Paige) and SG (Azzi) that starting at either of those positions is extremely unlikely until they graduate. Her only realistic shot at starting in the first couple of years would be at the 3. There she still would have serious potential competition from Caroline and others, but in Evina she has an excellent exhibit A of how a big point guard can and has made that transaction successfully at Uconn.
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don't see that comparison at all, Kiki does more with the ball and is much more of an athlete and she just is an all around better player than Evina. People that see Kiki closely say she has Allen Iverson similarities and the one player that reminded me of AI for the female side is Aari Mcdonald as we saw in the final four. To the fan that was rooting for Arz you might get ur wish ;)
 
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jchuskie said:
don't see that comparison at all, Kiki does more with the ball and is much more of an athlete and she just is an all around better player than Evina. People that see Kiki closely say she has Allen Iverson similarities and the one player that reminded me of AI for the female side is Aari Mcdonald as we saw in the final four. To the fan that was rooting for Arz you might get ur wish ;)
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Should be noted Westbrook was a higher ranked recruit at all services than Rice though Rice is obviously top-10.
 
Former UConn final-lister Paulina Paris has released her visits:

Penn State, USC, Indiana, North Carolina, and Washington.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Should be noted Westbrook was a higher ranked recruit at all services than Rice though Rice is obviously top-10.
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ranking doesn't matter, #3 was Boston and she is the best in her class
 
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jchuskie said:
when did I write that? Who I think will be better when their college careers are over tho? Kiki
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You original post isn't really clear but seems to indicate that Rice is currently better at things than Westbrook.
 
nuna23 said:
no boston is the best player in 2019 ...
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Everyone is entitled to their opinion. IMO, Jones came up bigger on the biggest stage. In the national semifinal between Stanford & SC, Jones was 11/14 while Boston, who missed a bunny at the buzzer that would have sent SC to the championship, was only 5/14.
 
oldude said:
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. IMO, Jones came up bigger on the biggest stage. In the national semifinal between Stanford & SC, Jones was 11/14 while Boston, who missed a bunny at the buzzer that would have sent SC to the championship, was only 5/14.
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Coming up bigger on the biggest stage doesn't make you the better player because you are looking at a single game. If that were the case Caitlin Clarke might be considered a better player than Paige because she outscored when the two met in the tournament. Boston was First Team AP All American last year, Haley Jones was Honorable mention. The AP selects 3 AA teams and Ashley Owusu who is also class of 2019 was 3rd team AA.

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CocoHusky said:
Coming up bigger on the biggest stage doesn't make you the better player because you are looking at a single game. If that were the case Caitlin Clarke might be considered a better player than Paige because she outscored when the two met in the tournament. Boston was First Team AP All American last year, Haley Jones was Honorable mention. The AP selects 3 AA teams and Ashley Owusu who is also class of 2019 was 3rd team AA.

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Agreed. But Jones plays in a Stanford system that doles out lots of PT to many talented players throughout the regular season. During the Pac-12 conference championship and throughout the big games during the NCAA tournament, Jones role was elevated in terms of minutes, scoring and leadership. In some ways, Jones emergence as the MOP during the Big Dance was reminiscent of Stewie.

As I stated, everyone is entitled to their opinion. While stats & AA recognition are great, I’ll take the player that delivers in the clutch during the biggest games. For me that’s Haley Jones.
 
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oldude said:
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. IMO, Jones came up bigger on the biggest stage. In the national semifinal between Stanford & SC, Jones was 11/14 while Boston, who missed a bunny at the buzzer that would have sent SC to the championship, was only 5/14.
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if championship performances is what makes the best player then Haley Jones shoulda been poy over Paige because Paige didn't make the final
 
MdStang said:
I agree. Also don't forget Kiki's friendship with Saylor goes way back. Kiki played with Saylor on the Fairfax Stars and the U16 FIBA champs.

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Kiki also played with Ayanna Patterson on the U 18 3X3 team! Gold Metal teammate.
So that could counter balance the Janiah Barker connection ( also 3 X 3)
no?? That said, I would like DelRosairo ( sorry about the spelling ), and
eventually another BIG like the lady, C. Toomey, from Penna. Time will tell!
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Newer subscription-based recruiting outlet has released '22 and '23 class lists in recent days. Can at least say they didn't copy from the others. Lots of eyebrow raisers in '23.

Williams, Toomey, Scott, Watkins, Shade 1-5. Kitts #91

UConn POI: 1-8, 12, 15, 16, 24, 32, 33, 39, 42, 55, 59, 72, 91
Rankings - Jr All-Star Basketball
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:eek: I have a vague recollection that someone predicted that Toomey was going to make a run at #1 in the class before it's all said and done. Booker is ranked too and Kitts being ranked at 91 defies belief.
 
Stoli said:
Not sure if this goes here but Fox sports is posting I would guess for TV ratings. Start of season getting a little closer
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Not counting non Americans like Aaliyah and Nika?

Anyway makes a good banner.
 
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oldude said:
The initial question was whether Boston was the best player in the Class of 2019, not whether Jones is better than Paige.
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No... The "original" opinion was that you could not always rely on HS ranking to project who the better player & specifically when comparing Kiki to Evina using Aliyah Boston as an example who turned out to be the best player in HS class of 2019 and was not ranked #1. All of which was appropriate for this thread because it was about the recruiting of Kiki Rice. It was your post that invoked both Haley Jones and a suggested a "personal" criteria of big players in big moments which prompted @jchuskie post. Players can't have big moments if they don't get recruited and to @jchuskie point, never get the opportunity to be on a big stage. Many of these BY threads take a detour, but be careful not to direct others about taking detours when they are only following your lead. In an attempt to get back on track I think Kiki is coming to UCONN. U?
 
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DEpup said:
That could change with better shooters/scorers around her.
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That’s true. I think Geno would be very pleased to have a point guard who can bring the ball up (under duress if necessary), and put it where it needs to be. If/when a player is in rhythm and is hot, you want the ball in her hands. It’s not going to be the same player every game.

One of my former coaches once told us that when we have the ball, he did not care who scored. He said he didn’t have a favorite player. He just wanted points on the board each time we had possession. I think most coaches feel that way. If Ducharme scores 35 one game, and Azzi scores 35 the next, you think Geno will be disappointed? All 5 starters are not going to have a hot hand every game.

That’s why a player can go 9 of 10 from the field today, and 1 for 10 the next game. We are stacked with players that can/will score. Take each game one at a time, and play it by ear. 4 minutes into the game will tell you who has the hot hand that game. Out of the 14 players on roster, all we need is for 3 of them to be in sync on any given day. I feel real good about this team. They’re going to be fun to watch all year.
 
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Someone did the BY a great favor and put together this highlight package of Olivia Olson just passing the basketball. Olson is already an elite passer and athlete. We did not get to see much of her passing at USA basketball U16 because she was playing the SF position. All the numbers from the U16 are too gaudy to draw any meaningful conclusions but Olson played very well considering she was one of the youngest on the team and the only starter from class of 2024. Olson's future IMO is not as a SF but as an elite play making lead guard, I hope that future is at UCONN.

 
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