Player’s Perspective: Season Recap
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Now that the season is over and the AAU circuit is beginning, I decided to go back and ask players in all 4 classes about how their seasons went, from their perspective. Here are the next couple players! Ariyana Deloney…
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Continue ReadingNow that the season is over and the AAU circuit is beginning, I decided to go back and ask players in all 4 classes about how their seasons went, from their perspective. Here are the next couple players!
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-In the beginning, we struggled a little bit because we lacked team chemistry on the court. After a few games we gained more team chemistry and we started to play better, making better passes, better decisions, and playing to eachother’s strengths. Going into the season I was nervous at first being the only freshman starting with high expectations. After the first game, I felt more comfortable on the court and started doing the things I do.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-I felt like the biggest obstacle for me and my team was that there were multiple injury’s this season including me, causing constant changes in the line ups.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-I think I most improved on my confidence on the court and being a leader. Creating shots, improving my deep range and attacking the basket through contact.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-I want to improve my rebounding and being faster on defense. Talking more on the court and helping my teammates when needed.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-Some teammates that I think stood out this season are Lamia Djuderija. Mia Pittman, and Mele Fataua. A teammate I think could have a breakout year is Mele Fataua because she’s really good at rebounding and put back shots. I see a lot of potential in her.
Highlights
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I am very proud of how we, as a team, developed over the season. As a senior captain, a lot of my teammates kind of felt like my younger siblings. It was awesome to see their growth as players and people. Reflecting on our performance is definitely difficult for me to answer because I’m hard on myself and never really feel satisfied with performances. In hindsight, I would say we had a pretty good season. Reaching the state playoffs was definitely a huge goal for us. I would have loved to go further, but nonetheless it was still a great moment for us.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-Our biggest obstacle this season was definitely injuries. We had some players dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season and one of our captains went down with a season ending injury. You always have those feelings of “what-if” when you are not able to play at full strength but that is also the nature of sports.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-Throughout my career I’ve either played point guard or combo guard. This was my first season playing mostly primarily shooting guard and off-ball. I definitely improved on my catch and shoot and just overall understanding the reads playing off the ball to find those open shots and gaps in the defense.
What are you looking to improve before the next level?rn-I’ve been working on my speed and agility, lifting, passing, ball handing, adding more finishes, and jump shots to my game (fade aways, off the glass, etc.). Definitely working to become the most crafty and versatile version of myself while preparing my strength and athleticism for the next level.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-One teammate that really stood out to me is Tamairah Allen. This was her first year playing full time varsity and she stepped up in big moments. She eventually ended up in the starting line-up a lot of games! Senior Keona Mitchell also stood out to me. Always ready to dive on the floor, she embodies hustle and is an outstanding teammate. I’m excited to see how Jordan Anderson Jordan Anderson 5’7″ | CG Decatur | 2024 WA bounces back from her ACL injury next season. Great, high energy teammate who loves to play defense! I’m also excited to see how Dream Mika grows next season! She showed exponential growth this season which I’m sure she’ll continue next season. She has great size inside with the coordination to finish with either hand.
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-Our team from the beginning of the summer decided to commit together to working extra hard whether that was conditioning or training on our own time or practicing in the off season our intensity started before the season even kicked off. Then throughout the season we competed at a high level and were able to consistently get better each game.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-The biggest obstacle our team faced this season was overcoming health issues whether that was injury or other things our team as a whole during league play took a hit with players missing games. Including myself I had to miss a couple games for injury.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-For me personally this year was great for developing my all around game. I was able to play multiple different positions which I found a lot of enjoyment out of since we were more guard heavy.
What are you looking to improve before the next level?rn-Going into college ball i would love to develop more range from behind the 3 and develop a higher IQ and look forward to working at that in the off season!
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-This season I felt like we had so much talent on all ends of the floor. Whether it was Sydney Hani Sydney Hani 6’1″ | SF Lake Washington | 2023 State WA ripping down rebounds or Ashley hitting a shifty move we had all sorts of weapons on both sides. This year I was very pleased but not surprised to see Sydney Hani Sydney Hani 6’1″ | SF Lake Washington | 2023 State WA have a breakout year. From being in the game where she tore her acl to watching her come back stronger than ever it was a true blessing to have her on the court. As far as next season goes I think you can count on the duo of Ashley, Paige, and Reese having some breakout seasons to come!!
How do you think your team and yourself performed throughout this season?rn-I think there was so much growth in every player on our team throughout this season and I believe what got us to the state championship game was our overall team chemistry and how much we improved our ball movement. By playing so much around each other we understood each of our teammates game which made us so successful. We were a completely different team at the end of the year.
What was the biggest obstacle you and your team faced this season?rn-The biggest obstacle we faced this year was being down players in a few of our league games mid season. This was hard because we were missing some starters that brought a lot to the team, but it only made us better because it allowed players to show what they had to bring which ended up helping us in future games. Not having some of our go to players in those crucial games helped give our bench players some high pressure game experience which helped with their confidence and our teams confidence overall.
What do you think you improved most on the court?rn-Something I improved the most on the court was my mental growth which helped me built confidence in myself. My role this year was much bigger than last years which gave me the opportunity to play more free, and show the things I could bring to help our team succeed without letting my mental get in the way. The offense we run really fits the type of player I am and because of this I’m a completely different player than I was last year.
What are you looking to improve before next season?rn-Our seniors this year constantly proved they were great shooters and that’s something we’ll miss next season for sure so something I’ve been working on this off season and AAU season is looking for my shot more often. Along with that, our seniors were great leaders, and losing 3 captions means someone needs to step into those roles to lead the team and continue playing how we did last season.
Who are some teammates that you think stood out this season? Who are some teammates who could have breakout years next year in your eyes?rn-Our team was full of talent, Natalia Sefair Lopez hit some really important shots during our state run and had one of the best three point percentages in the whole state tournament and I feel like I saw so much growth in her. kay Jackson also played through a knee injury most of our season and a lot of players wouldn’t risk getting more injured, but she wouldn’t let anything get in the way of playing at state and bringing so much energy at all times. Tatum wood has also been working so hard during her ACL recovery and started this AAU season strong, and I know next season will be huge for her, and I can’t wait to play my last year of high school ball with her.