The AAAAA Affect

[JellyBean]

I am now skipping over posters who claim absolute knowledge of Amari's future as a player. It's past tiresome. Just like the grief Olivia Nelson-Ododa took and the certainty from many BYers that she didn't have what it took to make it in the WNBA. For those who think circumstances don't change, that human beings don't change, I suggest a little more flexibility in opinions about the future would benefit us all.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Geno has said on multiple occasions "do what you do best" and sends the player in to make good on their strengths. When they go back to being tentative on what should be automatic (with little to no reaction time), they get pulled until "mop up time" with the game fully in hand.

Hopefully, Amari will show that she understands and will take action very soon to show she can be aggressive and stay aggressive doing what she does best.

I always try to be optimistic and think back to the metamorphosis of one Tina Charles [who is back to "crushing" it as of late]

Positive encouragement goes a long way, but a change of mindset still has to happen internally before improvement can happen in practice, and then during the game!

 

[Zarathustra]

I have hope in Amari. I had heard about her when she was in early in HS. She did not play against much competition in HS then onto AAU ball. If you look at the hoopgurlz rankings coming out of HS she was pretty highly ranked but imo not tested. I watch alot of WCBB and imo there are girls playing with less skills. I would like to see Amari practice against boys to get her up to speed. Much like some other UConn bigs who took til their late junior or senior year to have an impact I think if Amari wants it she will be given a chance. We dont know what she wants. Her team mates love her. Shes 6'6. IMO she is the missing piece to the puzzle to get us to a NC this season. Time is running out this season. She needs to work very hard. I would love the chance to motivate her because at 6'6 she has a future and a career to make a name for herself. At this point playing Amari against lower competition, or when UConn has big leads is giving her a chance. Some players learn by playing in competition. Dont throw her in against SC but against lesser competition when UConn has a big lead would help. You guys know what Im saying. A 6'6 girl is the missing piece to the puzzle this year. If she fails then at least we gave it our all. If she comes around.....................

I'm with the "HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL" crew. I remember the highlight of Villanova's
Denise Dillon blistering rant at her Wildcats during a timeout against UCONN: "giving up,
IS NOT AN OPTION". She lite a fire under those ladies.... The Wildcats
did not win that day... but they returned to the court with determination and purpose.
I think that Coach Dillon's dad was a speech writer for Winston Churchill during
the "Battle of Britain " (" never have so many owed...." " we will fight them in the
Hedgerows... we will never surrender! ). Get that Fire going, Amari, as Kobe said:
"U CAN"!

 

[Cuango]

Liv always, always, made an effort! Sometimes she messed up, sometimes she made mistakes, but there was never any doubt that she wanted to play and play well. She showed both in practice and in games that she was here to play and to win! Amari has now been here 2 1/2 years and has shown none of that in games and I have to assume she shows nothing in practice as well.
Does anyone here truly believe that Geno would not love to be able to use a 6’6” Amari for 15-25 minutes a game? Or, that he has done everything he knows to try and get her to a level where she might contribute? I have nothing but good wishes for this young woman who is clearly a smart, nice, and classy individual but she is not going to suddenly become the answer to our size problem. There is no answer at this point except increasingly tough defense, steady growth and improvement by Ice in particular and the team as a whole.

As unlikely as it seems that we could get to the Final Four or win a championship with two starting freshmen and an undersized team, let’s not forget what happened last season when an undersized, outmanned Iowa team beat the juggernaut that was South Carolina! Sure, some things are going to have to go well, but can you think of any team that is more deserving of a break than us?
This team is growing right in front of us! I have no doubt that we will be 20-30% better at the end of March than we are now. Ice will be a solid contributor, Q will be way better on defense, and we will be capable of keeping any game close enough to where Paige can lead us to a win! I think it’s eminently possible that this team can progress to a point where we will only need Paige to win one, perhaps two games for us. I mean NC State, SC, Tennessee kind of games!

Every time I‘ve watched this team since they recovered from the Azzi announcement, they’ve gotten better and better! Even now we are once again becoming a team no one is eager to play and it is not yet January! Imagine how good we will be in late March! This team will be a force to be reckoned with by then and don’t forget, never forget, we have something no other team has! We have Geno and we have Paige Bueckers, the best closer in the game! She imo, more than any player in Women’s College Basketball has the ability to take over a game and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat! Granted, we’re not a favorite but don’t kid yourselves, we can win it all!

 

[LarryLegend]

Geno has said on multiple occasions "do what you do best" and sends the player in to make good on their strengths. When they go back to being tentative on what should be automatic (with little to no reaction time), they get pulled until "mop up time" with the game fully in hand.

Hopefully, Amari will show that she understands and will take action very soon to show she can be aggressive and stay aggressive doing what she does best.

I always try to be optimistic and think back to the metamorphosis of one Tina Charles [who is back to "crushing" it as of late]

Positive encouragement goes a long way, but a change of mindset still has to happen internally before improvement can happen in practice, and then during the game!

as was pointed out here
(Ines & Amari)

“Tina won the USBWA national freshman of the year award and was a third team all-American her sophomore year.”

there is no comparison that can be made between Deberry and Tina Charles