What is the "jump" a UCONN player is to make

[SVCBeercats]

What is the "jump" a UCONN player is to make from one season to the next? Statistically speaking only Edwards and Bueckers made the jump. In their case from high school to college. Bueckers' jump should actually be viewed as a leap, not a jump. No one else on the team has made the jump. Leadership? Who were the leaders on the court? The freshmen, Bueckers, Edwards, and Muhl? knowing where to position themselves on the court? Again the freshmen seemed to know where to be. Buekers moved upperclassmen like chess pieces. Just what is the "jump?"

 

[UcMiami]

The 'jump' and it is expected not just at Uconn but across college basketball is between Freshman and Sophomore years - it is the expected development and maturation from exposure to coaching and experience of playing with and against better players. Most HS players experience a certain 'shock and awe' as they leave home and adapt to college and as they learn they are not quite as wonderful as their HS teams made them feel and the recruiting praise made them sound.

The summer between Fr and Soph years is a chance to work on their games with a purpose and direction from their college coaches that they really didn't understand in their pre-freshman summer. The stories of players losing their lunch during their first official fall practice is real, the expectations are real, and the level of effort expected are beyond what they believed they could reach.

Some freshmen are exceptions to that rule, but not a lot.

And of course not all sophomores make that jump.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Freshman to Sophomore year... On defense I look for improved help skills. Most players are nowhere near lockdown defenders and never will be....so defensive rotation is critical and can elevate a team, unless you're at Arkansas. lol

On offense...reading and reacting to defenses...and maintaining spacing in the offense. As far as improved skills and range...that's further down the road for most and for others...they just need to do what they are good at. If you don't understand the offense...you can't marry it to your offensive strengths. CONSISTENT offensive output (not just points) is a sign that the player has figured out their role. Who looks loss on the floor versus who always seems to be in the right place...AND at the right time?

 

[JoePgh]

I wish that SVCBeercats had commented in more detail on the numbers that he displayed, so we could understand more clearly what he views as a jump or a non-jump from year to year.

In Olivia's case (since so much commentary seems to focus on her), I do see a steady improvement in her A/TO ratio from year to year in the numbers above, which gives credibility to the idea that playing as a high-post distributor might make a lot of sense for her. Her points per minute also improved every year, but it certainly needs to improve more.

Another area that needs improvement for both Liv and Aaliyah is fouls per minute: Liv fouls at a rate of one every 10 minutes or nearly 4 per 40 minutes, and Aaliyah's fouling rate is similar. No wonder they have difficulty staying on the floor.

Rebounding is another oddity. Based on the eye test, I would have said (and I think most Boneyarders would have agreed with me) that Aaliyah is a more aggressive and more successful rebounder than Liv, but the statistics tell another story. Liv got a rebound every 3.4 minutes, but Aaliyah grabbed a rebound only every 3.85 minutes. Not what I would have expected.

SVCBeercats, what specific numbers are you looking at to support the conclusions that you stated?

 

[oldhusky]

In general there are some statistics on a per minute basis that don't change much over a player's college career. They usually involve more natural physical skills or instincts, like rebounding, blocked shots, and steals. The ones that involve more decision making and experience, however often show substantial improvement, particularly between the freshmen and sophomore years.

Players adjust to opponents that have more size, speed, basketball skills, and leaping ability than they were used to in HS. They have to relearn what is a foul, good pass or good shot against the higher level of competition. Mistakes are reduced, lowering fouls, turnovers, and bad shots.

This year Paige, Aaliyah and Nika are in that category of sophs we hope to see significant improvement from. In Paige's case, her numbers were so good at so many categories that it is hard to see big improvement, but some overall is likely. I think expectations for a bigger jump from Nika and Aaliyah are more realistic. Both players showed us some strong positive traits, but also had categories were they could show major improvement.

Even during her freshmen year Nika learned to reduce her fouls compared to early in the season, and started nailing more three pointers. I know she can both increase her rate of assists and reduce turnovers this year, perhaps learning to penetrate more but staying under control. She has the ability to create many more assists with penetration, but has to do so without having too many turnovers.

Aaliyah while having marvelous numbers in some categories was also foul prone, a category she can improve, and her assist to turnover numbers compared to most Uconn bigs was pretty weak, and I'm sure that ratio will improve as well.

 

[Alydar]

Imagine a virtuoso guitar player joining a band. Despite great skills they need to learn to play with their band members. Each of them has peculiarities in their playing and each needs to adjust their play to every other musician, including anticipating when one of them improvises during a concert. Freshmen arriving at UConn have been used to being the focus of their HS team's offense and often are not given tough defensive assignments to keep them out of foul trouble. Then they show up in Storrs and discover that they need to learn defense, which involves anticipating what their team mates are doing. On offense they have to not only understand their own roles but need to know their team mates tendencies and anticipate their moves. Geno often comments that certain players are doing too much thinking and not enough playing. There is no time to think. Players must have internalized the offensive sets and all the options. And those that do that have "made the jump". Some take 2 seasons to do it, some never.
Bueckers made the jump while still in high school. She is a prodigy. My sense is that Fudd is the same. It's rare to have one such freshmen. Prior to the start of last season Geno said that only Moore "got it" from day one.
My picks for the jump this season are Fudd, Mühl and Edwards. And that is why I have high expectations for this season.

 

[SJF]

Arguably Griffin is the best athlete and possibly defensive player. I would like to see her make the jump to become a huge threat on the offensive side of the ball especially with the mid range jumper.

 

[oldude]

One of the bigger “jumps” last season was Aubrey, particularly on offense. While she didn’t all of a sudden become a deadly shooter, Aubrey no longer appeared “lost” on offense, like in her freshman season. She constantly moved, set picks, cut to the basket, passed the ball and crashed the boards. In so doing, she became a valued member of the rotation as a key reserve.

 

[PvP]

I wish that SVCBeercats had commented in more detail on the numbers that he displayed, so we could understand more clearly what he views as a jump or a non-jump from year to year.

In Olivia's case (since so much commentary seems to focus on her), I do see a steady improvement in her A/TO ratio from year to year in the numbers above, which gives credibility to the idea that playing as a high-post distributor might make a lot of sense for her. Her points per minute also improved every year, but it certainly needs to improve more.

Another area that needs improvement for both Liv and Aaliyah is fouls per minute: Liv fouls at a rate of one every 10 minutes or nearly 4 per 40 minutes, and Aaliyah's fouling rate is similar. No wonder they have difficulty staying on the floor.

Rebounding is another oddity. Based on the eye test, I would have said (and I think most Boneyarders would have agreed with me) that Aaliyah is a more aggressive and more successful rebounder than Liv, but the statistics tell another story. Liv got a rebound every 3.4 minutes, but Aaliyah grabbed a rebound only every 3.85 minutes. Not what I would have expected.

SVCBeercats, what specific numbers are you looking at to support the conclusions that you stated?

I agree that there is a lot of talk of Liv contributing most as a "high post distributor" but with Paige, Nika, E and possibly Azzi as exceptional passers, do we really need to give up the value of a big in the low post to get another distributor? I personally don't think so.

 

[mbr33ct]

I wish that SVCBeercats had commented in more detail on the numbers that he displayed, so we could understand more clearly what he views as a jump or a non-jump from year to year.

In Olivia's case (since so much commentary seems to focus on her), I do see a steady improvement in her A/TO ratio from year to year in the numbers above, which gives credibility to the idea that playing as a high-post distributor might make a lot of sense for her. Her points per minute also improved every year, but it certainly needs to improve more.

Another area that needs improvement for both Liv and Aaliyah is fouls per minute: Liv fouls at a rate of one every 10 minutes or nearly 4 per 40 minutes, and Aaliyah's fouling rate is similar. No wonder they have difficulty staying on the floor.

Rebounding is another oddity. Based on the eye test, I would have said (and I think most Boneyarders would have agreed with me) that Aaliyah is a more aggressive and more successful rebounder than Liv, but the statistics tell another story. Liv got a rebound every 3.4 minutes, but Aaliyah grabbed a rebound only every 3.85 minutes. Not what I would have expected.

SVCBeercats, what specific numbers are you looking at to support the conclusions that you stated?

I would have been happy if @SVCBeercats included what years those stats are from...in the case of multiple stat rows. I would have known whether they are "jumping" forward or backwards. Williams must have made the jump since she's not included.

 

[Inthepaint]

Arguably Griffin is the best athlete and possibly defensive player. I would like to see her make the jump to become a huge threat on the offensive side of the ball especially with the mid range jumper.

My # 1 Husky paradox...
Love to see Aubrey playing at 78 speed when everyone else is 33 1/3 (showing my age).
Would like to see more minutes for her to keep the other team on edge, force more turnovers.
BUT...
She's SO d__n good coming off the bench and changing the dynamic!!
Geno is a great believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", so with probably a deeper rotation this year, how to get more Aubrey if the first 5 or 6 are getting it done?
Maybe have her in the starting 5 at the start of the 2nd half, just to disrupt whatever adjustments the opposing coach tries to implement.

 

[Zarathustra]

I agree that there is a lot of talk of Liv contributing most as a "high post distributor" but with Paige, Nika, E and possibly Azzi as exceptional passers, do we really need to give up the value of a big in the low post to get another distributor? I personally don't think so.

Would it not be "best" if all players ( e.g. "the high post") are exceptional
passers? With regard to LIV, if she were on the HIGH post, I would expect
her to make great passes "into" Dorka, Aaliyah, and guards cutting on the
baseline. We really don't have to "give up the value of a BIG in the low post"
when we have multiple "BIGS " ( Piath Gabriel, Amari DeBerry in addition to
the previously mentioned playing a "big to big" high low ; not often, not
always, but when the opponent's game plan calls for it).

 

[SVCBeercats]

I wish that SVCBeercats had commented in more detail on the numbers that he displayed, so we could understand more clearly what he views as a jump or a non-jump from year to year.

In Olivia's case (since so much commentary seems to focus on her), I do see a steady improvement in her A/TO ratio from year to year in the numbers above, which gives credibility to the idea that playing as a high-post distributor might make a lot of sense for her. Her points per minute also improved every year, but it certainly needs to improve more.

Another area that needs improvement for both Liv and Aaliyah is fouls per minute: Liv fouls at a rate of one every 10 minutes or nearly 4 per 40 minutes, and Aaliyah's fouling rate is similar. No wonder they have difficulty staying on the floor.

Rebounding is another oddity. Based on the eye test, I would have said (and I think most Boneyarders would have agreed with me) that Aaliyah is a more aggressive and more successful rebounder than Liv, but the statistics tell another story. Liv got a rebound every 3.4 minutes, but Aaliyah grabbed a rebound only every 3.85 minutes. Not what I would have expected.

SVCBeercats, what specific numbers are you looking at to support the conclusions that you stated?

I did not notice I left the CW's stats out when I did the cut and paste. Her numbers are below. The top line of stats for each player is for 2020-21 then 2019-20, etc. What I was looking for was an obvious increase in a player's stats across the board. I did not see this for any of the Juniors and sophomores. Percentages were not increasing strongly. Basically the stats looked like little or no improvement. Occasionally a stat or two had a moderate jump but nothing like a "jump." Statistically I was impressed with Paige and Aaliyah's acclamation to college basketball. As I said Aaliyah made a jump and Paige made a leap! I was interested in what others Boneyarders saw as the "jump." The "jump" is more than stats, however, there should be some reflection of improvement in the stats. Leadership is a biggie upon which I don't believe the upperclassmen delivered except for Evina. I am hopeful Dorka's presence will push Liv to realize her potential and have a "delayed jump." CW baffles me. She just seems to cruise along at what she must believe is a high level but isn't. If she extends her end of 2020-21 season performance throughout all of the coming 2021-22 season, then she will have a "delayed jump." I hope either Azzi and/or Carolina push her for playing time. I don't believe Liv and CW ever had a jump at UCONN. In Liv and CW I never saw the "fire in the belly" consistent performance. Evina appeared to have a sophomore jump at TENN but her injury interrupted her progress. Hopefully her health is much better resulting in a jump worthy final season for her. I am curious about Aubrey and Mir. They both to me appear to have a limited game. Nika improved in the second half of last season but her offensive game seems weaker than her defensive game. It will be interesting to see if she makes the jump. Relative to the freshmen I don't expect much from Amari and Saylor this coming season. Saylor seems to have health issues. Amari strikes me as having "fire in the belly" issues. Azzi and Caroline should perform at a high level for freshmen but not at a Paige or Maya level. However, I will settle for a Stewie type freshman season particularly come tourney time. Hopefully they have a quick start followed by the freshman wall, and then the moment of clarity leading to a strong finish.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Gabby Williams made quite the leap. Literally.

 

[huskeynut]

I agree that there is a lot of talk of Liv contributing most as a "high post distributor" but with Paige, Nika, E and possibly Azzi as exceptional passers, do we really need to give up the value of a big in the low post to get another distr. ibutor? I personally don't think so.

Liv at the high post as a distributor is a valued offensive weapon. Sure she can feed Aaliyah and Dorka, but she can also feed the guards cutting down the lane. E, Christyn and Paige would be the most likely recipients.

Geno used Stef Dolson as a high post distributor with great success. This aspect of the game should never be discarded when you have personal to do it.

 

[Alydar]

I agree that there is a lot of talk of Liv contributing most as a "high post distributor" but with Paige, Nika, E and possibly Azzi as exceptional passers, do we really need to give up the value of a big in the low post to get another distributor? I personally don't think so.

I think that at least ion the marquee games UConn will have 2 posts on the court most of the time. ONO Juhasz & Edwards. A high-low double post with 3 great shooters/scorers rotating around them sounds good to me.

 

[PvP]

Would it not be "best" if all players ( e.g. "the high post") are exceptional
passers? With regard to LIV, if she were on the HIGH post, I would expect
her to make great passes "into" Dorka, Aaliyah, and guards cutting on the
baseline. We really don't have to "give up the value of a BIG in the low post"
when we have multiple "BIGS " ( Piath Gabriel, Amari DeBerry in addition to
the previously mentioned playing a "big to big" high low ; not often, not
always, but when the opponent's game plan calls for it).

Of course if the opponent's game calls for bigs high and low, that is one thing but, as you say, that isn't often. Otherwise having Liv as a high post means other more productive shooters or faciltors would have to sit. Who are you willing to sit so Liv can play high post?