Worth a Listen

[UConnCat]

Jhasmin Player is a former Baylor player and now an assistant coach at Maine. She has a bright future, I think.

This little clip about her playing time at Baylor as a freshman is worth a listen for fans here (and players and parents too).

 

[MilfordHusky]

How many likes can I give this?

 

[UConnCat]

I corrected my post -- Jhasmin is an assistant coach at Maine. Texas to Maine. Yikes!

 

[Orangutan]

Saw this last night, great insight. In a similar vein, Lili Thompson's post-graduation business venture is tutoring incoming freshman on the mental side of the game. So keep in mind that she is shilling for her service here but I thought these were interesting insights. These were originally tweets. Each tweet is a new paragraph below. My description of accompanying images is in brackets"

Every year, high school standouts get to college and struggle to earn playing time. Why's it so difficult to transition to the college game? A thread:

Here's a secret I've learned from watching class after class of incoming freshmen arrive at summer workouts: Talent earns you a scholarship. Basketball IQ earns you playing time.

Most incoming freshmen underestimate how difficult the transition to the college game is. When you get to campus this summer, don't expect to spend much time on the court with your coaches. Most of your time will be spent in the weight room like this: [gif of cartoon character lifting weights]

Class, practice, weights, and conditioning will have you like: [gif of man falling down face first]

And that's okay! Everyone's been in your shoes. So while you don't have to be super strong or super skilled right away, ONE THING YOU MUST BE IS SMART.

The WORST thing you can do in a college practice is make your coach keep repeating their instructions. Earning playing time is all about earning trust. Keep letting someone drive middle and your coach will lose it (and you'll lose PT)

The freshmen that I've seen succeed are the ones who have the best combination of talent and Basketball IQ. As an upperclassman, nothing's better than a newbie who comes in and plays smart.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Sooo refreshing!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The WORST thing you can do in a college practice is make your coach keep repeating their instructions. Earning playing time is all about earning trust. Keep letting someone drive middle and your coach will lose it (and you'll lose PT)

Ultimately at UConn you lose your jersey. "I'm going to remind you again. Until a point I don't remind you, and you're not here anymore."

 

[Carnac]

Jhasmin Player is a former Baylor player and now an assistant coach at Maine. She has a bright future, I think.

This little clip about her playing time at Baylor as a freshman is worth a listen for fans here (and players and parents too).

Well now......................freshmen coming in and not being able to play right away (and knowing it), because they don't know the offense, and can't guard anyone, thus spending lots of time on the bench learning because they're not ready to play. Based on this video clip, it appears this dynamic is NOT only confined to UConn freshmen. It DOES happen to other freshmen at other schools. Well how do you do?!? "My mom wasn't at practice, I was. I knew how bad I was, and I had a lot to learn". Her honesty is refreshing. Gabby Williams said the same thing after the Stanford game in 2014, "I wasn't ready to play".

How many times has Geno said he's not going to put a freshmen on the floor that's not ready, only to allow her to embarrass herself? How many times have fans commented that they want player X to play (even though she may not be ready)?. All things in time. When they're ready, Geno will play them. We know that players develop at their pace, not ours. Everyone cannot make that transition overnight.

Ask Crystal Dangerfield. Remember what she said after 2 weeks of practice her freshman year: "Nothing I did or experienced in high school or AAU, prepared me for what I'm going through now". Don't forget, she was all "everything" in high school, and she had a hell of a time her first 2 months. Word of the day - "Give it time, they just haven't figured it out yet" ~ Jhasmin Player.

UConnCat is correct. EVERY potential recruit, their parents and every BY'er should see this clip.........and embrace it. I also agree 100% with all of the points in Orangutan's post. If you didn't know, now you know.

Post of the day!!! Thanks Cat for this very poignant and positive post. If I could "like" it 100 times, I would.

 

[DavidinNaples]

Great find by UConnCat... but then again, her posts are always really good.

Jhasmin Player only saw the court in 32 games freshman year (2005-06) and scored only 109 points. By her senior year, she was Co-captain for Baylor, started 85 of 90 games in 3 seasons and led the team in minutes played as a senior at 32.2 per game. Worth noting that she had a season-ending ACL injury junior year after 21 games and still had a strong senior year. She finished just 9 points short of 1,000 points at Baylor on 45% shooting for her career. She already sounds like coach material..