She is a good ball handler, and she doesn't turn the ball over a lot. Dawn said she was the best passer on the team. That is why she was at the point. She can play off the ball, but we needed her at point.
She was suspended by Dawn for 3 games during the NCAA tournament, you know. Not sure a lot of the ppl commenting in this thread are aware of that having happened.
In general, would like to see another guard with point guard and defensive skills. Our best defensive players, Muhl and Aubrey, have struggled against quicker guards that can drive to the basket. Having Anna come back from injury and run the team in Paige's absence demonstrated how valuable a true point guard is. Seems like we always have a point guard injured or slowed in the playoffs from Nurse to Dangerfield to Paige. Big scorers often make the pros; good point guards often make great coaches and would appreciate learning the UConn way.
No actually that is exactly where we are short next year. As of right now we have 4 guards for 3 positions. AND only 10 players total. (with 2 coming back from injury)
Happy birthday Tony.
Why? If she is open playing pg she is more likely to miss shots than if she is a wing? Unless you are suggesting less opportunities for layups and some ORebounds as the wing?
It's not really her natural position and you tend to think more about it, particularly when you're also running the team's half-court sets. Plus, as you point out, there are a lot fewer of her normal scoring opportunities. I only saw her half-dozen or so times this year, but she looked tentative.
I see her going to a top ten school that she is almost "guaranteed" to get lots of minutes. I think she would fit in well at LSU, Tennessee or Arizona.
Thanks Doggie. Like Gus I had no idea what "DIP" meant. I am not of this era that I understand its slang.
I agree completely that this guard would only be a one year filler and would like to see a more defensive player than offensive player. Connecticut has shooters that need to live up to their hype and if they do the offense will be fine from the outside. I still believe Connecticut needs help of an experienced grad transfer big just in case Amari doesn’t flourish and the two freshman act like freshman. Gino has always said it’s more difficult for a big to acclimate than a guard. So someone with experience would be a valuable asset.
Agree with one year filler concept, but wouldn't necessarily prefer defense to offense for that player. Lou would seem to be more of an offensive option, but it sounds like if defense is the priority a player like Warren from Texas would be a possibility. If healthy Aubrey could be a situational defender of guards although she might not be an offensive fit there. I think the same might be true of Ayanna.
The idea that Aubrey is not a great defender against quick guards is not entirely correct. Aubrey was a guard out of HS. While she has primarily defended the 3/4 in college, including shutting down SC’s 6’4” Amihere in last year’s Husky win in Storrs, Aubrey has also successfully defended quicker guards.
AG was really missed last season and I really hope she is able to play at her best again........if she's close to one 100% then that will be as good or better than getting somebody out of the portal.......
How did she shut down Amihere? Amihere played 13 minutes in that game and scored 4 points. It is weird that you would pick Amihere to prove your point, since she was not a starter and was not a double figure scorer for SC. Saxton nor Beal were double figure scorers, so to say she shut down anyone other than Boston is not a good example of her defensive prowess. SC out rebounded UConn 52-39, so maybe she would have grabbed a few more boards for UConn. In her two years did Aubrey make any defensive teams? In her two games against SC, she had not done anything special. Hopefully she comes back 100% and we will see what difference she will make.
Her best game to date of her career was the freshmen year game against Tennessee...Other than that i think people just miss her presence on the court and since she's been gone so long they forget lol. She's UCONN's most effective defender on smaller posts. No way she's shutting down the likes of Boston , Lee , Brink etc....
In the game last year at Storrs, Aubrey, who is all of 6’1, was critical in UConn’s upset win. She played 22 minutes, pulled down 5 critical rebounds, blocked 3 shots, including 2 point blank rejections of 6’4” Amihere and 1 on Boston at the end of regulation, along with 2 steals while also pressuring Amihere into a critical turnover that turned into a pick-6 by Paige.