Nika will get you the occasional 10+ points (11 yesterday), and of course the assists. Really unfortunate that Aubrey can’t finish, otherwise she would be amazing. Caroline is a shell of her freshman self, hopefully things come around for her.
More and more teams play the full 40 minutes regardless of score. As long as this doesn't disrespect the other team, I'm fine with it. Clearly, Shade was just playing hard till the final whistle and meant no disrespect.
Yes, two years ago Caroline had yet to go through hip surgery, neck problems, concussions, etc.
I've said it numerous times previously, she's playing with fear of getting hit in the head again. It's effecting everything she does or doesn't do out there. How does that effect her 3 pt. shot? Because she knows she must produce and that pressure is causing her to rush the shot when there is no need to do so. She has also lost confidence and passes up on shots and drives to the basket she would normally take. Geno is showing great patience in her, hoping that little by little this once upon a time very talented young lady will be able to return to star quality. In the meantime, the freshmen are enjoying the benefits by getting minutes they most likely wouldn't have otherwise.
I think that when Ayanna returns full time we will see more of Aaliyah and Ice together on the floor. They will resemble Aaliyah and Dorka, except Ice has to find a way to get more rebounds. I believe the lineup you mentioned will be the line-up going forward once Ayanna returns and Azzi is fit to play. Please gods, make Azzis injury not serious.
She is not the same player she was that is for sure. If there had been a natural progression for her that was uninterrupted by head injuries the team would be vastly different. BYers forget how great she played her freshman year and what she is still capable of. I don't know but I truly hope we will see it again. Right now, without Azzi, we really need the old Caroline.Yes, two years ago Caroline had yet to go through hip surgery, neck problems, concussions, etc.
Freshman year Swin I was a much tougher kid than KK. Don't get me wrong, KK is an outstanding player with a great personality, but Swin is an incredibly tough and driven person. That may be the reason why she has been so successful both in her career and afterwards.
The comparison was with Samuels, not Arnold.
Not only that, but I loved her pull up jumper leading the break. Nobody there? Okay, I'll take it. BY has been complaining for decades about Nika needing to develop her shooting. Well she had the first, the first, successful 3pt shot of the game by UConn. I thought the team was remarkably efficient when three point guards were on the court at the same time.
She did keep UConn in the game in the first half. Second half her shot was off and she didn't play a lot. Or maybe it just seemed that way to me.
Sometimes I wonder, and maybe it's been considered, if she would benefit from wearing protective headgear like soccer players do when they have concussion issues.
Ducharme has struggled and AG had little impact to the game (may be the first time I remember this in her entire career). NM on the other hand, scored 11 (third on the team, 1 point behind paige, shot the second highest percentage on the team behind Ice, and also had 3 assets, and only 2 TOs and 1 foul. NM more than held her own in this game on the scoring end, to go with her normal lock down defense. NM played a very good game overall.
the offense sputtered bc:
I believe that Caroline has said in interviews that she is/can be influenced in a variety of ways due to her history of what I will designate as head trauma, for lack of a better term. She can be affected by noise, lights and just playing the game. She is doing the best she can and as long as she is on the court, she is going to be the best she can be. Many feel like this is not enough but as long as she is on the court, opposing teams have to account for what she can be capable of doing. Once they stop doing that, I hope Caroline makes them pay.
Headgear has been suggested on this site over and over and over ... all summer long for example. People even posted images of the various styles available (primarily for other sports). Enough already! If it's an actual possibility and can be worn (via NCAA rules?), she apparently isn't interested.
It's a sad situation since CD has such a high basketball IQ and is highly skilled. But right now, if I can borrow a great movie line, her brain is trying to write checks that her body can't cash. I'm really surprised Geno is starting her. Maybe she can do certain things in practice, but when it comes to real-time game speed against press-up defense, she can't execute. The drop-off in her game speed is very noticeable and her body posture is very awkward when trying to run/execute plays. If I can see it, I'm sure the coaching staff can as well.Yes, two years ago Caroline had yet to go through hip surgery, neck problems, concussions, etc.
