What’s the long term plan for Amari?

[HopJim]

I may have told this story before. In high school, our tallest, strongest player for unknown reasons was passive on the court. One day, the coach told him he would get a milk shake if he just went out there and hit someone. Needless to say, our center was drinking a big Dairy Queen that night and started to play a physical game, which is what we needed. DeBerry doesn't need to make all her outside shots or be the first down on a fastbreak. Geno needs to find the mental equivilent of a "milk shake" to incent her to get physical and play strong defense and rebound, if only for 5-7 minutes of prime time a game.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno has said a million times he won’t play someone unless he’s reasonably sure he knows what he’ll get from her on the court. Is he going to pull Aaliyah and put in Amari and hope the light will come on that game? Maybe during Big East games, but not during this difficult out of conference schedule

 

[cancontent]

I like Deberry. I'm not here to guess what is going on beyond what I see on the court. She's tall. We could use rebounds. In some of the less competitive games she could eat some of Edward's minutes and give her a breather. Kiah Stokes hung around on the bench, but eventually became a solid and reliable player. I'm hoping for the best with Deberry.

And she now has 2 WNBA rings to add to her collection. Sometimes the progression takes a longer than initially expected.

At the same time, could it be that fan expectations were higher than they should have been? For context, look at her stats from FIBA U16 and U19. She came off the bench as the last post player during both events, with players like Lauren Betts and Aaliyah Moore playing ahead of her. Her point averages were 5.3/game in 2019 and 2/game in 2021. To me that's an indication of a long term project.

It's definitely perplexing, but this happens all the time in all sports. The list of top ranked players that don't pan out goes on forever. Nothing is guaranteed even when it comes to the UConn women's program. The current season is in it's third week, however. Let's see how things progress through non-conference play

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I went down this rabbit hole this morning. I know UConn doesn't have a lot of size but that doesn't mean Amari is the answer.

Not every player who comes to UConn follows the path from high ranked recruit to starter or even contributor. Some players don't develop much at all. Maybe they weren't ranked properly to begin with (and those rankings are problematic as most of us know), maybe they haven't put in the work to get better, maybe they aren't a great fit with the coaching staff or program. It's possible she becomes an impact player and makes a difference but by the time players are upperclassmen it's unlikely they take a major leap (though possible).

Frankly the evolution of the game towards more perimeter oriented means fewer players, on the men's a women's sides of the game, really understand or know how to post up. They don't really learn that skill anymore when they are younger and most coaches don't seem interested in teaching it properly.

 

[Florida Fan]

Kia had two great characteristics, hustle and most importantly for a center - good hands.

Kia was critical in some key games, (think Notre Dame), Geno using her to stop the bleeding, and reclaim the boards. She was great with put-backs.

 

[Rowdy831]

I might as well say it because no one else will. The coaching staff has misused DeBerry. She has some talent. The staff hasn't figured out how to use that talent. Can she be an adequate post player? She has to be taught how to play the post. Maybe, she can only make a unique style of post play. But we need the rebounding and even the potential of shot blocking.

I thought CD used her pretty good when she filled in for Geno last year. I would love to see Amari used more but she seems happy to be where she is and that is what is important.

 

[Rowdy831]

How long have you been following UConn? You actually think that Auriemma, of all people, hasn't told DeBerry exactly what's expected of her? That probably happened around the 2nd week of practice her freshman year if not before. She knows EXACTLY what's expected. Being 6-5 with long arms doesn't mean anything if she plays 6-1. And that's her problem, she's not athletic or quick enough to play 6-1 inside and doesn't have the perimeter skills to play outside. You're deluding yourself if you think she does because the whole coaching staff including Dailey knows she doesn't.

Bobby I have studied Geno for many years and he is a great coach and gets a lot out of certain type of player. Usually that person is the one he recruits but from time to time one slips through that isn't going to respond to your normal message or normal delivery. To answer your question, no I don't think Geno has told her exactly what he needs in a game. I do think he told her exactly what he wants her to do in practice but I am talking more about results. "I need you to go in there and get us 5 rebounds" or "I need you to go in there and shut down so and so". I am NOT talking about direction in practice, they are two different things.

What I do know for sure is they have no one currently playing that can handle a player 6'5 man to man. They will have to run up tempo to try to wear that person down. I agree that is option 1 but if that doesn't work they need an option 2 and that one is where it gets dicey.

 

[Vancat]

Wow- I'm surprised this thread hasn't been locked down yet, as what usually happens to threads criticizing players.

Amari seems to be a great kid & well-loved by her teammates and coaches. She is obviously happy with her scant role on a great team. And what's wrong with that? Who knows.... if all our bigs go down, at least she's tall!

 

[HuskyNan]

Bobby I have studied Geno for many years and he is a great coach and gets a lot out of certain type of player. Usually that person is the one he recruits but from time to time one slips through that isn't going to respond to your normal message or normal delivery. To answer your question, no I don't think Geno has told her exactly what he needs in a game. I do think he told her exactly what he wants her to do in practice but I am talking more about results. "I need you to go in there and get us 5 rebounds" or "I need you to go in there and shut down so and so". I am NOT talking about direction in practice, they are two different things.

What I do know for sure is they have no one currently playing that can handle a player 6'5 man to man. They will have to run up tempo to try to wear that person down. I agree that is option 1 but if that doesn't work they need an option 2 and that one is where it gets dicey.

@BobbyJ is correct. Geno meets with every player and sets goals for each person. Numerous players have spoken about it. Don’t you recall his saying, “Maya worked her butt off to get that one rebound” then she gets 10 the next game. Don’t you think he told her to get more rebounds?

And, I’m sorry, but elite, high Division I athletes don’t need to be told “You have to get x number of points and x number of rebounds” before each game. They WANT to go out and do what the team needs.

 

[BobbyJ]

Bobby I have studied Geno for many years and he is a great coach and gets a lot out of certain type of player. Usually that person is the one he recruits but from time to time one slips through that isn't going to respond to your normal message or normal delivery. To answer your question, no I don't think Geno has told her exactly what he needs in a game. I do think he told her exactly what he wants her to do in practice but I am talking more about results. "I need you to go in there and get us 5 rebounds" or "I need you to go in there and shut down so and so". I am NOT talking about direction in practice, they are two different things.

What I do know for sure is they have no one currently playing that can handle a player 6'5 man to man. They will have to run up tempo to try to wear that person down. I agree that is option 1 but if that doesn't work they need an option 2 and that one is where it gets dicey.

You cannot have studied Auriemma for many years and actually think that he gives precise instructions in practice and then just wings it in games and hopes a kid would get the message and perform. That makes no sense at all.

 

[meyers7]

UCLA will give them a small taste of how well they can handle size and I hope the coaches are paying attention because other teams are way taller across the starting 5.

What other teams? There are a few, but not very many. Only a few (very few) that should give us any problems.

 

[cancontent]

What other teams? There are a few, but not v

What other teams? There are a few, but not very many. Only a few (very few) that should give us any problems.

Not to mention having a height advantage doesn't predict an outcome. Santa Clara beat Oregon who has a 6'7" post while their tallest player was 6'3". Duke only lost by 3 to Stanford who also had a decent height advantage when you compare rosters.

 

[sun]

The combination of Lobo & Wolters in '94-'95 went undefeated & were unstoppable.
UConn won all of their games by double digits except for 2 games in the NCAAT.

 

[HuskyNan]

The combination of Lobo & Wolters in '94-'95 went undefeated & were unstoppable.
UConn won all of their games by double digits except for 2 games in the NCAAT.

There were maybe 7-10 teams with any chance of winning the championship or of beating a top ranked team in 1995. That’s no longer the case. the talent pool is deeper and spread throughout the country and women’s team coaching and schools’ investment in teams have improved significantly in 30 years

 

[Puppy Love]

I generally don’t like or this kind of thread, because I find it depressing to keep beating the same seemingly dead horse. However, I will say that the player who comes to mind most is Heather Buck. Heather had all kinds of promise coming out of high school, but seemed permanently mired on the bench. At the time, she probably could’ve started on nearly any other Big East team. She was ranked a little lower than Amari out of high school, but I think people had similar expectations. It seems like back then, fans were a lot kinder in their support of the bench than they are today.

 

[HuskyNan]

Locking this because it’s too high maintenance.

Transfer speculation is NEVER allowed on any board on the Boneyard.