The freshmen | Page 2 | The Boneyard

The freshmen

I’m also a Q fan and agree that the comparison to Aubrey is not all that apt.

Similar in height, but what else? Sure, maybe Q could bulk up to approximate Aubrey’s strength, but can she ‘speed’ up?

And they’re not all that similar in personality, at least as it shows up on the offensive side. Aubrey is a finisher and a reluctant midrange and perimeter shooter. Q is a dynamite perimeter shooter who doesn’t take a lot of midrange shots but seems unafraid to go to the rim either on the break or on an inbounds play. We haven’t seen her slash to the rim in a half court set.

And on defense, it’s hard to find a real similarity. Q will improve, make the right switches, figure out how to disrupt the passing lanes, block more shots with those long arms.

Q is already a clever rebounder and she’ll improve at boxing out, but she may never be the ‘energizer bunny’ Aubrey often is when it comes to rebounding. For one thing, she’s not much of a leaper while Aubrey might as well wear a cape some nights.

When Aubrey is ‘on’ I think opposing teams feel like she is everywhere — blocking their shots, stealing their passes, turning every mistake into a fast break layup — while Q is harder to spot on defense, a subtler presence. She doesn’t present opponents with the “shock and awe” campaign Aubrey does.

I suspect that Q can develop her game in some of these areas, but we will primarily know her as a deadly perimeter shooter who plays subtle but effective defense, sneaks into the paint to steal a rebound from the bigs, and can get out on the break. And we’ll be very pleased with the contribution she makes.

If I were @Carnac (where is he anyway?) I might predict a career average stat line like 14 pts, 50% fgs, 40% on 3s, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 2 blocks. A line like this will get her into the W.
 
boontonbomber said:
Gotta wonder if past first-years might have shown similar development had they had the opportunity to play many minutes. Likely that players play looser and freer when they figure that mistakes are not going to lose them playing time. So can coaches find a way to "free up" their frosh , not just when players are injured and the coach has no choice? Seems to me that coaches should be able to figure that out. Painful to watch talented recruits, used to playing most minutes in games, wallowing on the bench, given a couple of minutes here and there. Players successfully stepping in, when coaches have no choice, is nothing new in sport .Think of Earl Morrall stepping in for Unitas and Griese. Who?
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I can’t think of any players in UConn program who deserved to play and didn’t play as a freshmen. If you can play, you play. If you can’t play, and can’t demonstrate in practice that you can play, you won’t play. This is D1 basketball, nothing is given, everything is earned. The way it should be.
 
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CTBballfan243 said:
I can’t think of any players in UConn program who deserved to play and didn’t play as a freshmen. If you can play, you play. If you can’t play, and can’t demonstrate in practice that you can play, you won’t play. This is D1 basketball, nothing is given, everything is earned. The way it should be.
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My guess is that Geno recruited these frosh because he thought they could play. If you don't think that lack of so much stress has freed them up, then I can't help you. The fact that KK,Ashlynn, and Quadence have done so well, given real game minutes, throws a bit of water on the "play well in practice" thing that is so often brought up here. It's practice, man!
 
boontonbomber said:
My guess is that Geno recruited these frosh because he thought they could play. If you don't think that lack of so much stress has freed them up, then I can't help you. The fact that KK,Ashlynn, and Quadence have done so well, given real game minutes, throws a bit of water on the "play well in practice" thing that is so often brought up here. It's practice, man!
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My guess is that Geno has never recruited anyone that he thought couldn't play.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Update on the frosh after the Marquette game.

Ash scoring 9.8 ppg and shooting 52/34/100.

KK scoring 8.9 ppg and shooting 52/40/65.

Q scoring 6.2 ppg and shooting 47/41/75.

Meanwhile Coach P is scoring 19.2 ppg and shooting 54/50/80. Sensational!
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KK has seemed more comfortable shooting the ball. I feel that’s going to be a big key to our offensive success. When she shoots effectively from 3 and gets into the lane, she adds a unique dynamic to this team.

Another key is Shade maintaining a near 40% success rate from 3. She somehow generates the most looks from outside, knocking them down will be important. Her midrange is money.

Q is probably the best shooter of the 3 freshman. I hope she finds more minutes via improvements defensively. She could emerge as a really important piece to the puzzle. Especially if Shade is having an off shooting night.

This class is thriving under pressure. Program is definitely in good hands for the future.
 
Rb335 said:
KK has seemed more comfortable shooting the ball. I feel that’s going to be a big key to our offensive success. When she shoots effectively from 3 and gets into the lane, she adds a unique dynamic to this team.

Another key is Shade maintaining a near 40% success rate from 3. She somehow generates the most looks from outside, knocking them down will be important. Her midrange is money.

Q is probably the best shooter of the 3 freshman. I hope she finds more minutes via improvements defensively. She could emerge as a really important piece to the puzzle. Especially if Shade is having an off shooting night.

This class is thriving under pressure. Program is definitely in good hands for the future.
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Ash shoots 76.3% from two point land (29-38)
 
Rb335 said:
KK has seemed more comfortable shooting the ball. I feel that’s going to be a big key to our offensive success. When she shoots effectively from 3 and gets into the lane, she adds a unique dynamic to this team.

Another key is Shade maintaining a near 40% success rate from 3. She somehow generates the most looks from outside, knocking them down will be important. Her midrange is money.

Q is probably the best shooter of the 3 freshman. I hope she finds more minutes via improvements defensively. She could emerge as a really important piece to the puzzle. Especially if Shade is having an off shooting night.

This class is thriving under pressure. Program is definitely in good hands for the future.
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I don't understand what you are referring to or basing this on. I am not trying to argue with you but of these 3 freshmen, Q, so far, seems to be one dimensional. She appears to be more comfortable being in a corner, or on a wing, and shooting the 3 than being more involved in the motion. But this could be by design too.

Does anyone keep stats on "air balls"? Not trying to be cruel, but just off the top of my head, I think of these three, Q has the most. But she has made for it by her number of makes.
 
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Centerstream said:
I don't understand what you are referring to or basing this on. I am not trying to argue with you but of these 3 freshmen, Q, so far, seems to be one dimensional. She appears to be more comfortable being in a corner, or on a wing, and shooting the 3 than being more involved in the motion. But this could be by design too.

Does anyone keep stats on "air balls"? Not trying to be cruel, but just off the top of my head, I think of these three, Q has the most. But she has made for it by her number of makes.And yet Geno said in the post-game that Q has a tremendous upside. He also said that he has to get her more time with the first.
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Centerstream said:
Q, so far, seems to be one dimensional.
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It's true that Geno has told her to set up for corner 3s. In one of her interviews over the summer, Q said exactly this. In this sense, Geno wanted her to focus on one dimension, more or less.

But she seems to have more than this to offer. We've seen her running the floor in transition and getting transition layups, as well as getting a quick score in the lane on an inbounds play. She seems to be pretty crafty around the rim. What she doesn't seem to have is a midrange game, a dribble-stop jumper, floaters, back to the basket post moves, etc. In other words, Geno can develop other dimensions as soon as he has a reason to.

On the defensive side, she also needs to develop a bit, mainly in focus and intensity. She's got quick feet and long arms, which is the foundation. And in the Marquette game, she dove for a couple of loose balls and seemed willing to take up Geno's challenge to crank up the energy. I think we can see that she's not afraid to throw herself into it, and no amount of coaching can supply this if she doesn't already have it. The rest will come in time. And I suspect when he said in the presser yesterday that he wants her to have more practice and playing time, he was signaling that he wants her to develop in these other areas.
 
Bone Dog said:
It's true that Geno has told her to set up for corner 3s. In one of her interviews over the summer, Q said exactly this. In this sense, Geno wanted her to focus on one dimension, more or less.

But she seems to have more than this to offer. We've seen her running the floor in transition and getting transition layups, as well as getting a quick score in the lane on an inbounds play. She seems to be pretty crafty around the rim. What she doesn't seem to have is a midrange game, a dribble-stop jumper, floaters, back to the basket post moves, etc. In other words, Geno can develop other dimensions as soon as he has a reason to.

On the defensive side, she also needs to develop a bit, mainly in focus and intensity. She's got quick feet and long arms, which is the foundation. And in the Marquette game, she dove for a couple of loose balls and seemed willing to take up Geno's challenge to crank up the energy. I think we can see that she's not afraid to throw herself into it, and no amount of coaching can supply this if she doesn't already have it. The rest will come in time. And I suspect when he said in the presser yesterday that he wants her to have more practice and playing time, he was signaling that he wants her to develop in these other areas.
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I can’t deny your take on Geno’s words. And Q obviously has stuff to work on as do most players, especially the first years.

My sense though was that he felt she was ready now for the first team; maybe split time with Ashlyn was my inference. Geno surprised me as i saw a lot of what you saw. But she is fast, a slasher and built for an up speed game.

It is so interesting to see how Geno is mixing and matching.
 
KK, Ashlynn, and Q are playing so well people are forgetting they’re freshmen and showing some impatience with their development. I’m thrilled with how they’re playing. All three have upsides and will be tremendous players by their junior years.
 
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HuskyNan said:
KK, Ashlynn, and Q are playing so well people are forgetting they’re freshmen and showing some impatience with their development. I’m thrilled with how they’re playing. All three have upsides and will be tremendous players by their junior years.
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If you are referring to me, not so. I do have a sense though that they’re timetable may be shorter than you do.

Please allow me my assessment and i will allow you yours.
 
Skeets said:
I agree. We saw Taurasi do it her junior year. Just about single handily dragged the team to an NC. So, don't put it past Paige. To keep this on topic, where would UConn be if these were just average freshmen? Luck for UConn they are "ready to play" freshmen.
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Ok, I am now reminded of the quote from "The Man who shot Liberty Valence" where the reporter says "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend". Let's please set the record straight here, Diana's junior year had team that went 37-1 (loss being in the BE Final against Villanova). Diana's junior class was rated #1 with Maria Conlon, Morgan Valley and Ashley Battle-all 4 played a prominent role on the team. they also had the #1 or #2 ranked freshman class of Ann Strother, Barbara Tuner, Willnett Crockett and Nicole Wolff. The team had 9 players average 11 or more minutes (albeit Wolff got hurt after 10 games). Please let's stop with the "Diana and 4 nobodies" narrative. That simply is not true. This team was talented and they won back to back years despite the next year being a bit of a "struggle" at 31-4.

The other fact from Diana's era (20 years ago) is the talent pool and Women's coaching skill was much, much thinner than it is now.

While I truly believe this team is talented, the gap between their talent and all the other top teams is identical whereas in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 teams we clearly had an advantage.
 
Bone Dog said:
It's true that Geno has told her to set up for corner 3s. In one of her interviews over the summer, Q said exactly this. In this sense, Geno wanted her to focus on one dimension, more or less.

But she seems to have more than this to offer. We've seen her running the floor in transition and getting transition layups, as well as getting a quick score in the lane on an inbounds play. She seems to be pretty crafty around the rim. What she doesn't seem to have is a midrange game, a dribble-stop jumper, floaters, back to the basket post moves, etc. In other words, Geno can develop other dimensions as soon as he has a reason to.

On the defensive side, she also needs to develop a bit, mainly in focus and intensity. She's got quick feet and long arms, which is the foundation. And in the Marquette game, she dove for a couple of loose balls and seemed willing to take up Geno's challenge to crank up the energy. I think we can see that she's not afraid to throw herself into it, and no amount of coaching can supply this if she doesn't already have it. The rest will come in time. And I suspect when he said in the presser yesterday that he wants her to have more practice and playing time, he was signaling that he wants her to develop in these other areas.
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I was replying to a post that said Q was the best shooter of the 3. What I highlighted in your reply seems to agree with what I was asking about in my reply.
 
FanFromMaine said:
If you are referring to me, not so. I do have a sense though that they’re timetable may be shorter than you do.

Please allow me my assessment and i will allow you yours.
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?? Huh?
 
Centerstream said:
I was replying to a post that said Q was the best shooter of the 3. What I highlighted in your reply seems to agree with what I was asking about in my reply.
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Sorry. Sloppy writing on my part. I wasn’t disagreeing with you so much as expanding on something your post suggested to me. I tend to think out loud so to speak.
 
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Centerstream said:
I don't understand what you are referring to or basing this on. I am not trying to argue with you but of these 3 freshmen, Q, so far, seems to be one dimensional. She appears to be more comfortable being in a corner, or on a wing, and shooting the 3 than being more involved in the motion. But this could be by design too.

Does anyone keep stats on "air balls"? Not trying to be cruel, but just off the top of my head, I think of these three, Q has the most. But she has made for it by her number of makes.
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My basis is that by my eye and the stats, Q seems to be the best 3 point shooter of the freshman. She’s shooting the highest percentage from 3 of the freshman, and has made the same number as Shade on 8 fewer attempts.

I can agree that she is a bit one dimensional at times. But her one dimension has consistently been that she can shoot the 3. I’m not saying she’s the best player of group, or playing the best basketball. She’s not even the best at generating open looks. But when she gets the really open looks, I’ve liked her ability to knock them down.

My post was intended to highlight how perimeter scoring from the freshman will be important. I tried to include positives about all three, to highlight how huge their impact has been and will be.
 
FanFromMaine said:
If you are referring to me, not so. I do have a sense though that they’re timetable may be shorter than you do.

Please allow me my assessment and i will allow you yours.
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Their timetable? As freshmen they've played...what 2 months? I thk they're doing great and their future looks extremely bright. I can't wait to see their sophomore leap and their junior jump.
 
One game doesn't change the season stats much, but the trio is still doing well:

Ash 10.6 ppg, shooting 54/35/100

KK 9.7 ppg, shooting 55/40/69

Q 6.3 ppg, shooting 46/39/50.

In comparison, P. Buckets is scoring 19.3 ppg and shooting 54/51/81.
 
371AC4C0-E11D-486F-8B0B-1A4F1DCC07F3.jpeg
 
HuskyNan said:
View attachment 94870
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I‘m not quite prepared to say that Ashlynn is the equal of Azzi, the player she essentially replaced in the starting lineup. But what is clear is that Ashlynn is more aggressive shooting the ball than Azzi, she gives relentless effort on both ends of the court and her strength and conditioning permit her to play the entire game at an extremely high performance level.
 
oldude said:
I‘m not quite prepared to say that Ashlynn is the equal of Azzi, the player she essentially replaced in the starting lineup. But what is clear is that Ashlynn is more aggressive shooting the ball than Azzi, she gives relentless effort on both ends of the court and her strength and conditioning permit her to play the entire game at an extremely high performance level.
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I was thinking Ash was more like Lou, a clutch shooter when the team needs a bucket
 
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