Ribet Academy’s Andrea Aquino: Making her mark on basketball

Lol... I guess according to some("I cannot believe that anybody who knows anything about Pac-12 basketball would believe for a minute") you and I know nothing about Pac12 basketball....

My gut feeling is that AA has a decent chance of underwhelming us next year. From what I'm reading she isn't dominating, by any means. Why she's playing out of position still doesn't make sense to me. If it's because there are better girls ahead of her under the basket, then that tells me she's not all she's cracked up to be. I hope I'm completely and utterly wrong but I just have had this feeling about her. Sure she'll block and alter some shots but we need a dominant low post offensive player to be the team Rueck can make us be. Jo just isn't it and we're all assuming that AA will fill that void but I'm just not feelin' it.

Go Beavs!!

I was going to wait a bit before commenting on AA until after I watched two video's I have on her games at the MLK classic in California. There she played against one of the top five teams in the Nation. You can always evaluate a player better against better competition. I did watch one of her EYBL games on YouTube. For those of you that are unaware the EYBL is the top AAU summer league. Players go against the top high school players in the country. The Cal Stars had Tudor, Ionescu, Westbrook, Both Moore's, McGuire, DeCosta etc. It is not uncommon for players to come from different states. The competition is the closest you get to college level.

I think one thing I can say already about AA is that she still working on her physical strength and endurance. What needs to be remembered is her history. She comes from an underdeveloped third world country and did not have the nutritional advantages as most other players. I read a story about her and since she came to the States she is gaining weight and strength. The one thing I noticed is that every game she played they limited her minutes. That was in the tourn. and the EYBL game I watched. Now she might be able to play more more minutes but is just being brought along slowly.

As to her playing out of position, that was just a few times. The reason was that Ribet has two other very good centers ( very unusual in high school) who would not be able to play anywhere except the middle where as AA can play the forward position-at least in high school.

I watched a couple of Morris's games as well. My take was that she is not in the best program in either high school or AAU. Actually I don't know if she even plays AAU and if she does it certainly isn't for even a decent team. Part of the reason she has not focused on basketball is that against the competition she faces she can get away with it. Her high school team plays in a very weak league and they do not travel of play any top flight competition. What I saw was a player who is not being developed at a level suited to her potential. She has really good foot speed, but plays on her heels rather than the balls of her feet. Thus she moves very well laterally but doesn't challenge shots. Players were shooting over her in both games that I saw. She doesn't challenge shots or jump much. I suspect that this is because she has been taught to keep her feet on the ground. Good idea under the basket because with her height she can still block shots because of the limited available trajectory the ball has close to the basket. Farther away from the basket it is necessary to move towards and jump to challenge and block shots. That issue is easily fixable and at worst she will a very good defensive player. If she were in a better program who would have developed her skills she would be a top recruit. I always look at a players foot speed, that is a key in basketball.

As of now both recruits still have a huge upside left. AA because she will get stronger and gain more experience. AA never even saw a basketball til she was 15. Morris because she has quick feet that which is not being utilized because she presently plays on her heels. You can tell by her play that she is energetic and displaying that via her lateral movement ( lateral movement makes for great defenders). I do not think either player is ready to push out Jo for the starting position. The EYBL and the teams Ribet faced do not come close to competition Jo has faced in the Pac 12. That is even more applicable to Morris. I suspect that Scott might slowly blend them in to where he is using a three headed dragon. That is the best case scenario for the end of this season. Forget the idea of any of the rooks playing the forward position for quite a few years. AA shows some outside shooting ability so that years in the future it might be possible that her an Morris are on the floor at the same time.

Someone mentioned that AA seemed like a good passer. I concur with that. She might even possess superior court awareness. Good vrs poor peripheral vision plays a major part in that, which is why some players do not get better with experience. When AA passed she didn't hesitate as some of the present players on ORST are prone to do. You have to have an idea of where you are going with the ball before it even hits your hands. AA shows BBIQ potential. In respect to Morris, I wouldn't judge her one way or the other because of the program she is in. Also many people have already posted that she didn't focus on basketball. You can get away with a rinky dink high school program as long as you play for a top AAU team. Well when she gets to ORS that will change, so she still has not scratched her physical skill set or BB awareness potential.

Oh I did see the gams AA played in the MLK. I just couldn't focus that much on the details because I was doing the Video. 

Has anyone seen anything about AA? She didn't play in Ribet's last game and I didn't see her on the bench.

They way I look at both of these players the same way I saw Marie 4 years ago. The first time I watched Marie, there were a few times where watching her moves around the basket showed quick feet, good balance control and good hands. However, she lacked the physicality to leverage those skills a whole lot, let alone be a defensive liability. I immediately thought she had a high ceiling, but had no idea (was doubtful, really) if she had the desire to put in the work for it to be realized. 4 years later, she has left little of her potential on the table, and I think that has a lot to do with this staff and the culture it embodies. Ruth's history is even stronger evidence of this - when I first saw Ruth play, I thought we had another Liam Hughes.

I don't know of AA and Morris will do the same with their raw potential, but history suggests the odds are very good that it happens. They might be 3 years away from all Pac-12 players, but at this point I'll be surprised if they don't get there. As for making big impacts next year, I see that as optimistic as well, but I won't be surprised to see them making significant contributions by the end of the season. If you look at Marie's progression, I suspect we'll see a similar story with both of these ladies: herosports.com/colleges/sports/womens-basketball/marie-gulich-stats

beaverstever - I think you may have hit on a realistic view of the basketball future of AA & Morris...An over simplified summary might read something like this: Neither player is a ready-to-play prospect, and any impact they make in their Frosh seasons will be minor rather than major.

Basically, you are betting on the ability of the coaching staff to develop talent almost as much as betting on the players themselves. I can see that line of thinking....

Here is what makes it so hard for me to evaluate these two players.

One the one hand they definitely pass the eyeball test. Even more importantly, Coach R & staff believe in them, believe in their talent and their future in the Pac.
In my view, this is the major plus for both kids.

On the other hand, neither player is making much of a splash against high school competition. I haven't heard or read anything along these lines: "AA plays on a so-so team but she herself is an obvious star."
"Morris is obviously the best player in her conference." I say this because it's not hard to spot star quality once you get it into the gym - especially in high school.

For example, The current OSU roster is filled with athletes who were super stars in high school...Goodman, Corosdale, Pivec, McWilliams, were all either State POY or in the running. Same with Oregon's top players, and UCLA's top players. Star quality players don't come from nowhere. They arrive with a pedigree and with history of dominating h.s. opponents.

This is where AA & PM are something of a mystery. For reasons I do not know, they have failed to dominate in h.s. Hopefully, as others have suggested, this is due to circumstances and not a reflection of their basketball talents....

So, like the rest of us, I'm in wait and see mode....

But getting back to beaverstever, I think the final answer to our questions will rest as much with Coach and staff and their ability to develop talent as with two talented athletes who assess well, who measure well, but who simply have not delivered on the floor as virtually everyone expected....
GO BEAVS !!