She needs to move rather than stand on one spot and wait for the ball. She’s a smart player, I have no doubt that problem will disappear by the end of the regular seasonI can’t tell you how many times Ashlyn was open in the corner and no passes. She could help make up some of those Azzi 3’s we’re missing. C’mon man!
The reason why you don't see many Connecticut players leave their feet on defense is that it's bad basketball. One of the things Connecticut does very well is "wall up "on defense and not bite for fakes. Particularly this year, we need to be concerned about keeping all our players available.Jump. I don't see too many female players jump. Paige is the only one who consistently jumps on the team. The reason how she got 4 blocks. Most of the times everyone else is flat footed.
As others, box out. More so, box your opponent out wherever they are, outside, inside, etc. Find a body, put your backside to them, and move them out. Boxing out in the paint isn't going to work if you're 6' and your opponent is 6'5" with long arms, and you don't JUMP. (See the above.)
If she's open in the corner, she probably should stay there. When she's fed and hits enough of those it'll force her defender to come out to her, which in turn will open up the paint for other players, like Paige, Aubrey and KK, to drive.She needs to move rather than stand on one spot and wait for the ball. She’s a smart player, I have no doubt that problem will disappear by the end of the regular season
Thank you and no offense intended. I meant synchronization.Syncopation between Nika and the freshmen in passes? I'm a professional musician. Syncopation is not the term to use.
Syncopation is a musical term. The definition is the practice of displacing the beats or accents in music so that the strong beats become weak. I doubt that is what you mean.
Nika and the freshmen need to be in sync with the passes.
All true. I'm hoping that Ash emerges at least in part as that third player. She has a very good pull up and usually makes it when she is vertical. She missed one yesterday when she was moving to the side which configuration reminded me of Evina.1--- The team's offense runs smoothly enough so Paige and Aaliyah to be unstoppable. That's what I think needs to be worked on. Not just individual moves but plays within the Offense. Then you know the Offense of motion is doing well.
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2-- Running the offense with few turnovers in which UCONN will always have at least a 3rd scorer game in and game out.
3-- Don't panic and play undeserving bench players. Continue to play to win rather than worry about a future opponent. That''s a basic thing as fans and players we say. Let's stick to that rather than worry about "South Carolina." And play the deserving players (from Practices). If it is 6 players - so be it. If it is 10 so be it. But I don't want to see panic and throw away fundamentals and not play better players just because of physical characteristics or wanting everyone to get a trophy. Bottomline is that what I want to see and what needs to continue to be done is that Geno plays the best players that he thinks that can win the game at hand rather than being desperate because he feels his player's aren't good enough.
4-- A third player to step and be dynamic. I'd like to see UCONN work on finding that 3rd player.
I think Amari has shown time and time again through her performance in games, which is all we see, that she can't be or is unwilling to be"coached up". I can't imagine that significant time wasn't spent with her by Jamelle and others trying to get her to a place where she could be a regular contributor. It is not always the fault of a coach if a player does not develop. The light simply hasn't gone on for her and I don't know if it ever will. We would all love that not to be the case,First off Geno and his staff recruited Amari so that is telling in itself. Secondly, I've seen coaches get a lot more out of a lot less. There is no way a 3 man big rotation can't exist for this team. There are so many ways to be impactful at the position. 5 players of 5'10 on the quart is crazy and it is a recipe for burn out. Use what you got and coach it up in real time.
As it pertains to Amari: During the UNC game we heard the announcers talking about UConn needing more elbow action. In the old days we'd call it the high post. This is a perfect spot for Amari. She's a good passer, knows the offense and would be in a position to get down low for rebounding. Remember Kaylie McLaran (spelling)? That's the role Amari should be playing. It would give Aaliyah an opportunity to work the base line and allow Paige to run off picks ala Rip Hamilton. Sometimes I think positionless basketball has forgotten many of the offensive principles that worked in the past.We had 3 players in double figure Paige Aaliyah and Nika We need more
We need to maintain our energy which means we need to have a bench that can come in and not miss a beat
Need to not rush or play to fast.
Give everybody some minutes. Especially Ines and Amari we may need them down the road.
Ines has an outside shot we could use that and Im sure she will make less then 6 turnovers a game and we have starters doing that
Amari is tall. We need tall. Some think its hopeless. I say give tell her she gonna get minutes and better respond.
We looked confident as a team tonite. Not everybody looked confident. That needs to change. To gain confidence you play to your strengths and the coaches tweak you.
1-- Amari is not a good passer.As it pertains to Amari: During the UNC game we heard the announcers talking about UConn needing more elbow action. In the old days we'd call it the high post. This is a perfect spot for Amari. She's a good passer, knows the offense and would be in a position to get down low for rebounding. Remember Kaylie McLaran (spelling)? That's the role Amari should be playing. It would give Aaliyah an opportunity to work the base line and allow Paige to run off picks ala Rip Hamilton. Sometimes I think positionless basketball has forgotten many of the offensive principles that worked in the past.
I disagree on her passing abilities. I believe she can be effective in that spot. She also has the ability to hit the 15ft shot from the h-post. Look if she's that terrible of a player then UC's opponents would play off her leaving her open. Give her an opportunity is all I'm saying. And yes I agree with you being tall does make you a good rebounder but if she's able to get to the ball she be effective. Of course all of what I said depends on effort from her which I think is her biggest weakness1-- Amari is not a good passer.
2-- She is a bad rebounder. Just because you are tall doesn't mean you can rebound well.
That woman plays taller than that. Made Aaliyah seem like she was 6 even. She's a strong, tough player.From the UConn Blog. The woman with the red extensions (hair) is 6-3 or 6-4
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I wish I could agree with this but I can't. First off, there isn't one player in Div 1 that doesn’t have abilities. And more importantly, every player on the UCONN team has passing abilities.I disagree on her passing abilities. I believe she can be effective in that spot. She also has the ability to hit the 15ft shot from the h-post. Look if she's that terrible of a player then UC's opponents would play off her leaving her open. Give her an opportunity is all I'm saying. And yes I agree with you being tall does make you a good rebounder but if she's able to get to the ball she be effective. Of course all of what I said depends on effort from her which I think is her biggest weakness
Ice may be a better player at setting the high pick, then roll. We have more years to develop her game.As it pertains to Amari: During the UNC game we heard the announcers talking about UConn needing more elbow action. In the old days we'd call it the high post. This is a perfect spot for Amari. She's a good passer, knows the offense and would be in a position to get down low for rebounding. Remember Kaylie McLaran (spelling)? That's the role Amari should be playing. It would give Aaliyah an opportunity to work the base line and allow Paige to run off picks ala Rip Hamilton. Sometimes I think positionless basketball has forgotten many of the offensive principles that worked in the past.