Very Positive, Very Worrying Developments ONO & Squeaks

[CocoHusky]

UConn sophomore Olivia Nelson-Ododa and four former Huskies comprise five of the 12 members of the U.S.'s FIBA AmeriCup Team roster, announced Thursday afternoon.
Nelson-Ododa, Tina Charles, Stefanie Dolson, Napheesa Collier, Katie Lou Samuelson and the rest of the U.S. team will compete in the tournament, held in Puerto Rico Sept. 22-29.
Other athletes selected include Sylvia Fowles, Jordin Canada, Diamond DeShields, Arike Ogunbowale, Khadijah Sessions, Brittney Sykes and Elizabeth Williams.
Nelson-Ododa is the only college player.
What does her selection to the team say about her current skill set? This answers the question of whether she will make the sophomore leap. She already has. She's been selected to play with the BIG girls.

1) USA Basketball kind of knows what they are doing and what they are looking for. Clearly USA Basketball are expanding the pool of potential players for the national team for 2020 and beyond.
2) We shouldn't be too excited, this isn't World Cup or Olympics, technically USA didn't have to play in this tournament. Let's see how much ONO actually plays first.
3) We should be very excited ONO must have improved.
4) I expect Geno and or CD to be in Puerto Rico shortly.
5) For those recruits paying attention that's 5 current or former UCONN players on this squad and another on team Canada.

 

[willtalk]

Agree on the year-round basketball, burnout before they get to college. Seems like lots of recruits are already wearing flexible knee braces, already have chronic joint pain by the time they show up. Once they get to college they're done with AAU ball, though most of them do try to fill their summers with some sort of training. Not sure if college is a little bit of a break from the year-round stuff or not. Anyway, back to the year-round grind after college if they want to make a good living at it.

Disagree on playing for the national team, though. The college kids that get to go to those NT training camps always come back raving about how much it helps their game to play with that highest level of players. Suspect playing in the summers for the age-level USA Basketball teams has similar benefits too - playing with the very best players in their age groups, plus learning to quickly adapt to different styles, different coaching, different teammates has to have tremendous benefits.

I am certain it has benefits, just like any other basketball or training would. I could see that it might give them insight into their own developmental level. The thing is if it is worth the long term tradeoff. I also suspect that the players are somewhat influenced by the prestige factor. Again it is about the trade-off. Many knowledgable people say that the body needs to balance out muscle usage for optimum health. Just using certain muscles will create an imbalance that leads to injuries. I think we can all see the increase in injuries in women basketball in the last ten years. How much of that has to do with their year-round regimen. We probably will not see consequences and effects until this year-round basketball generation gets older and we can see how it will affect their long term careers.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Tutors.

Internet.