On the Geno show of Feb. 7, he talks about all of the 5 recruits individually. He says that Mir is uber athletic, is one of those kids who goes and get rebounds, reminds him of a smaller Swin, and welcomes the challenge of playing at UConn.
I went out to watch Mir again last night. Her team played St. John Vallotti of Laurel, MD. Unbeknownst to me, Vallotti has their own McDonald's All-American, Eniyah Russell. HoopGurlz lists her as #43, a 5'10" PG headed to South Carolina. She looks more like a 6'0" shooting guard and plays with a lot of energy and intensity. She made a couple of jumpers early, but shot a couple of airballs later. She and Mir were far more athletic than anyone else on the floor.
Roland Park had beaten Vallotti at home in January. This time, Vallotti got the win. Roland Park led 17-12 after Q1, helped by a couple of 3-pointers. But Vallotti went on a big run and led by 36-24 at halftime. The lead expanded to at least 16, but Roland Park cut it to 6 with a few minutes remaining. I think the last score I saw was 58-48, but then the power went out. The lights in the gym had gone off twice in Q4, but were turned back on almost immediately. This time, only the emergency lights came on. There was reportedly a transformer fire behind the school, and all the neighborhood was dark. The officials met with the coaches and decided to call the game. I think Vallotti got the win, unless it was deemed a forfeit. It was very strange!
Regarding Mir's play, she had played both inside and outside when I saw her previously. She played only inside last night and moved around the 2-3 zone. I can't find detailed stats, but my slipshod notes show the following: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Shooting was 4-7, all inside the arc, and 8-11 from the FT line. Two of the misses were very late in the game when she was too far under the basket--she had started 4-4. On an early basket, she took a lob pass that would have hit the backboard if she had't snared it, was closely defended, but managed to leap, double-clutch, and make the shot while being fouled. On another basket, she took a pass deep in the lane and sank a fall-away jumper. It was a little like Liv's turn-around fall-away in the lane, except Mir was much higher in the air and fell away about 2 feet farther.
Mir sat about 2 minutes in Q2 because of a second foul, but was actively cheering from the bench. She played hard and was knocked to the floor at least 3 times. One play should have been a flagrant foul on Vallotti. A few of Mir's rebounds came right to her and were rather mundane, but a few others were of the spectacular type at rim level that left the crowd gasping. There were taller players on both teams, but Mir won the opening tip by exploding off the floor.
Mir reminds me of Aubrey and Gabby in some ways. She is raw offensively, but has played volleyball and done track and field, so she will be able to specialize in basketball at UConn. Unlike Gabby and Aubrey, Mir appears to be a solid FT shooter already. She was about 8-11 last night and 6-6 when I saw her previously. She is not as tall or long as Aubrey, but she plays bigger than her 5'11". Like Aubrey, her offensive game needs work. She reminds me more of a thinner Gabby, because she explodes off the floor so quickly and is the same height. Mir does not appear to have Gabby's passing skills, but I recall how much Gabby improved from her freshman season. Mir has a substantial upside, no pun intended. I think she would be very effective in a full-court press, and she rebounds the heck out of the ball--a foot above everyone else. Comparing Mir to the rest of next year's recruits, she is not as ready as Paige or Aaliyah, but is not nearly as raw as Piath. I'm not sure if I have time to see her again for Roland Park, but I expect to see her (and Paige) in the McDonald's game in Houston.
