2016 UConn commitment: Molly Bent [merged thread]

[Sluconn Husky]

Including Irwin and Bent, right? Doesn't that support my point?

I don't know. They're in no danger of having 8 players so it would seem they don't need anymore, but the more they add the less chance they end up with 8 players. Chicken and egg I guess.

Really, even 8 is more than enough with the quality of player they have. The issue prior to two years ago was not having enough bodies for practice which they rectified with the additions of the walk-ons.

 

[CocoHusky]

1-- OT -- I like the "pull me back in comment!" With that said - what did you think of the movie that used that line? I thought it was very disappointing.

2--- As I said in terms of characterizing role players- wow you are tough imo. IMO you can define every player as a role player if you wanted. Michael Jordan's main role was to score etc. He did other things but hsi main role was to score. It would be tough though to say characterize him as a role player though one can argue he was. SO I'm not saying you are wrong - just being very tough. Rodman was a role player too and is in HOF. Dennis Johnson was an all-star in 1985. Kia Nurse - if one says she will be an a/a in her sr year- then in her jr year she will be be doing a lot of things very, very well therefore to classify her as a role player - imo wow that is a tough designation of her.

3--- In terms of your comment above Dangerfield, okay I see it - but why do we need another hybrid (do you mean "hybrid as a a big guard? I don't think we need a big guard. We have a big guard coming the following year with other major possibilities I think along with KLS as a big guard))? We have two pgs in Chong and Dangerfield. Nurse can play pg if need be. SO now we have Bent. We have many sg's including KLS. Keeping Nurse at sg with two main pg's (Chong and Dangerfield) what is wrong with that?

4-- I know you never said anything about KLS - but I brought it up because you didn't list her as a sg. You didn't list her - so I asked you why. So now we have other "sg's" why not get someone who is more of a pg like we did with Bent?

5-- I agree we can use awesome players like Cox and McCoy as I wrote my reply to you poorly. I think with Butler as a center, then Collier, KLS, Gabby, Nurse, Ekmark and Irwin (maybe Tuck) , - our strength right now is at the 2/3/4 imo. Which would make us more lethal with Cox/McCoy. Has this move with Bent taken us out the picture of getting Cox or McCoy? If it hasn't then why scratch your head regarding Bent?

6-- You're the only that it wrote it (scratching your head. And I didn't see Choke's questioning the move either.) - so I can only respond to you. So I still am scratching my head why you or anyone else would be scratching theirs as to why we signed a backup pg? I still don't understand why you are and because you are the only one on this thread questioning it, you are the only one I could ask the question to.

1) Agree that the movie was very disappointing when compared to the predecessors. Maybe I should just stop right here, but I won't I truly enjoy the dialogue.
2) As long as Nurse is sharing the floor with Stewie, she will be a role player-Nothing wrong with that. What we are not talking about is the room for recognition between superstars ( Stewie and Mojeff, Tuck-hopefully this coming season) and role player (Nurse, Stokes). Plenty of room-kind of like the difference between making the list for the Leiberman award and actually winning it. So In "85 Dennis Johnson was an allstar but Bird was in the middle of winning 3 consecutive MVPs-Does that sound familiar to what a current UCONN WBB player is doing? Dennis Johnson on the floor with Larry bird makes Dennis a role player.
3) There is nothing wrong with your proposed roles and players & I just have a difference of opinion/approach. My philosophy is: evaluate the available talent regardless of the current roster because ultimately you will be limited by available scholarships and you never know how a player is going to pan out. Do we need a big/hybrid guard? Need is a four letter try want. Yes I want a hybrid/big guard especially if there were quality ones available. Could Bent be just as good as the players rated ahead of her-God I hope so. In my own defense I stated that I was way to focused on the available Big guards for 2016.
4) Because we are in June, in the last 2 months there have been more de-commits (Slocum & Ramirez) of top 25 players than there has been commits for the class of 2016.
5) I don't see how this Bent signing would impact a Cox/McCoy signing. I scratched my head because 1) I was surprised 2) not overwhelmed by the posted videos and 3) Trying to make sense of the timing of this Bent offer and the overall recruiting philosophy and priority for the class of 2016.

You do realize that you have already designated a role for Bent that of being a backup PG. No worries, I did the same thing in my response to AnotherVolFan. What are "we" basing this designation of backup PG on?

 

[CocoHusky]

..well its to early to call her a backup but I promise you I had already figured out that she was going to be a teammate of Dangerfield.

Just so we are on the same page of friendly banter. I also thought you were firing shots -I now know better. Shots that get fire, get returned. We good?

 

[triaddukefan]

its amazing how posters are getting bent outta shape in this thread


apologies if that has already been posted in here...... i didnt read through every single post

 

[NewCorn]

..well its to early to call her a backup but I promise you I had already figured out that she was going to be a teammate of Dangerfield.

Well, it is early, but not too early to predict that Molly Bent will win more National Championships then Diamond Deshields.

 

[Wally East]

To some extent it is true of all teams, but UCONN has produced a number of players like, (as UCMiami has pointed out), Kelly, Stef, Maria, and possibly in the future Chong,

Stef played in the McDonald's All-American game. Hoopgurls ranked her the #2 center in her class and 39 overall.

Saniya was a Parade All-American.

 

[jsloanjr]

Nice pick up Geno and staff..........Always building their base team then adding the missing pieces.......Go UCONN!!!!

 

[hoophuskee]

1) Agree that the movie was very disappointing when compared to the predecessors. Maybe I should just stop right here, but I won't I truly enjoy the dialogue.
2) As long as Nurse is sharing the floor with Stewie, she will be a role player-Nothing wrong with that. What we are not talking about is the room for recognition between superstars ( Stewie and Mojeff, Tuck-hopefully this coming season) and role player (Nurse, Stokes). Plenty of room-kind of like the difference between making the list for the Leiberman award and actually winning it. So In "85 Dennis Johnson was an allstar but Bird was in the middle of winning 3 consecutive MVPs-Does that sound familiar to what a current UCONN WBB player is doing? Dennis Johnson on the floor with Larry bird makes Dennis a role player.
3) There is nothing wrong with your proposed roles and players & I just have a difference of opinion/approach. My philosophy is: evaluate the available talent regardless of the current roster because ultimately you will be limited by available scholarships and you never know how a player is going to pan out. Do we need a big/hybrid guard? Need is a four letter try want. Yes I want a hybrid/big guard especially if there were quality ones available. Could Bent be just as good as the players rated ahead of her-God I hope so. In my own defense I stated that I was way to focused on the available Big guards for 2016.
4) Because we are in June, in the last 2 months there have been more de-commits (Slocum & Ramirez) of top 25 players than there has been commits for the class of 2016.
5) I don't see how this Bent signing would impact a Cox/McCoy signing. I scratched my head because 1) I was surprised 2) not overwhelmed by the posted videos and 3) Trying to make sense of the timing of this Bent offer and the overall recruiting philosophy and priority for the class of 2016.

You do realize that you have already designated a role for Bent that of being a backup PG. No worries, I did the same thing in my response to AnotherVolFan. What are "we" basing this designation of backup PG on?

1-- In regards to your comment about Nurse- I thought we were talking about the year after next? The 2016-2017 season. Therefore mentioning Stewie and MoJeff I don't understand. They won't be on the floor with Stewie then -- but I get what you're saying. You an I have a completely different meaning / terminology and how we actually define a role player. I enjoy this conversation too.

2-- In regards to the head-scratching I don't see why you wouldn't feel a position of need is backup pg - and why would you feel we needed a big guard when we already have quite a few if you also add in KLS to the equation? And how many kids de-commit from UCONN? SO we have a difference here too. You aren't counting on the big guard coming in 2017 because of all the de-commits- I am.

3-- Yes I do realize I have designated Bent as backup pg. For me it's simple to say this. Might I be wrong? Sure but it is my opinion and I believe my opinion is right. Here si why:

a--- I like experience. Always have. Thus I see Chong as a starter. Though I think possible Dangerfield can be or become - but I have yet to see Bent play and no way I am going to put a kid with the type of rating she has, the type of teams she has been recruited by, and not have seen her play, and put her ahead of the senior, Chong.

b--- I have seen Dangerfield play. She looked spectacular. So I've seen her play and I've seen the ratings, therefore I can't imagine Bent will outplay her. Until I see Bent look spectacular, I have to put her behind Dangerfield.

c--- To answer your question about backup pg- like many on here including yourself I have been following basketball for a very, very, very long time. It is extremely rare in my experience that a player not in top 50 playing in USA who predominantly has been recruited by Ivy League schools is going to jump over a potential hardened senior in Chong and a freshman who is a top 3 recruit who looks absolutely sensational.

So I can see her as a backup pg which is no way a "shame." What I would like to see as a 1st jump for someone like Molly is that a coach such as Muffett will never say "we wanted to get into their bench (backcourt.)" when Molly is playing like she said 2 years ago. OFC if Dangerfield is as good as she has looked - she may say that because Dangerfield is so amazingly awesome.

 

[masshusk77]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

 

[Kibitzer]

1) Dennis Johnson on the floor with Larry bird makes Dennis a role player.

Some role!! Larry Bird has stated that Dennis Johnson was the best basketball player he ever played with.

I believe that qualifies as expert testimony.

 

[Fightin Choke]

I recall that when announcements were made that Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes had committed to UConn, the typical Boneyard reactions were either "Huh?" or "Who?"

Tiffany Hayes was ranked 11th in the country by Hoopgurlz, so wouldn't she have been fairly well known? LINK

 

[Fightin Choke]

6-- You're the only that it wrote it (scratching your head. And I didn't see Choke's questioning the move either.) - so I can only respond to you. So I still am scratching my head why you or anyone else would be scratching theirs as to why we signed a backup pg? I still don't understand why you are and because you are the only one on this thread questioning it, you are the only one I could ask the question to.

I didn't question (or applaud) the move, but in this thread (LINK) I pointed out how obscure Molly Bent was. She had not been ranked highly by any of the recruiting services. In fact she only appeared as the 16th ranked SG on Hoopgurlz, which placed her out of the top 60 (the extent of their rankings for the 2016 class thus far). Her 90 grade would place her out of the top 100 in any of the past several years (since 2008). She was not listed in the top 177 by Blue Star (which is as far as they have ranked in 2016), was not ranked by ASGR, and was not even listed as a recruit from Massachusetts by Prospect's Nation. That's pretty obscure for a recruit from the top WCBB school in the nation. And the horde seemed out of the loop as well. This was a stealthy acquisition by the UConn staff. Obviously Geno and company saw something they liked. Of course Geno doesn't bat 1.000. No one does. We will see what they saw in the next few years.

 

[hoophuskee]

I didn't question (or applaud) the move, but in this thread (LINK) I pointed out how obscure Molly Bent was. She had not been ranked highly by any of the recruiting services. In fact she only appeared as the 16th ranked SG on Hoopgurlz, which placed her out of the top 60 (the extent of their rankings for the 2016 class thus far). Her 90 grade would place her out of the top 100 in any of the past several years (since 2008). She was not listed in the top 177 by Blue Star (which is as far as they have ranked in 2016), was not ranked by ASGR, and was not even listed as a recruit from Massachusetts by Prospect's Nation. That's pretty obscure for a recruit from the top WCBB school in the nation. And the horde seemed out of the loop as well. This was a stealthy acquisition by the UConn staff. Obviously Geno and company saw something they liked. Of course Geno doesn't bat 1.000. No one does. We will see what they saw in the next few years.

So you are scratching your head with this?

If so is it because of the rank or the position?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Tiffany Hayes was ranked 11th in the country by Hoopgurlz, so wouldn't she have been fairly well known? LINK

was that before or after the verbal... and the recruiting by Maya Moore?

 

[triaddukefan]

Well, it is early, but not too early to predict that Molly Bent will win more National Championships then Diamond Deshields.

thats a pretty bold statement

 

[cferraro04]

Could we be getting our own "Machine Gun Molly"? (27 points per game).

 

[Sluconn Husky]

“I loved the campus,” said Bent, who visited on Wednesday and committed on Thursday. “I loved playing pickup with them and how they play, the UConn style, unselfish, team-orientated basketball. After we finished playing pickup, a lot of them came over to talk to my parents and those who weren’t doing it picked up a ball and started shooting. I have gone on visits before and sometimes when pickup was over, the players were done but not at Connecticut. I just love to play basketball and I love to be surrounded by those kinds of people.”

.....

“The last two years I considered myself a 1/2 kind of combo guard but in this past year especially with my AAU team I have taken on more of a point guard,” Bent said. “I love to distribute the ball, I love to pass and find other players especially in the open court because I like to run. I can also play the 2 whatever the team needs me to do.”


http://www.registercitizen.com/sports/20150606/molly-bent-latest-recruit-to-commit-to-uconn-women

 

[Sonny44]

Welcome to UCONN Molly!!!!!

 

[warbler1055]

I was looking for info on Molly's commitment when I found out today and I came across this message board. My daughter has played against Molly in AAU, in high school (when she played at Barnstable High), and even back to the grade school small AAU and travel tournaments. I've talked to her a few times in passing and actually talked to a coach in her AAU organization a couple weeks back at a tournament they hosted. From talking to her I've taken away that she is one of the most humble kids out there, she never wants to talk about herself and always changes the subject to talk about or to compliment my daughter instead. This probably explains her lack of tweets about her recruitment and commitment that someone mentioned. As for her on the court, she is one of the best players I've seen on the AAU circuit. She is always pushing the ball, attacking the rim and dishing the ball to teammates. On the defensive side her motor is outstanding and she rarely if ever takes a play off. She battled a few injuries and played for some club soccer team and didn't stick to just basketball in the spring and summer until last year or the year before I believe. As for the conversation with the coach in the program a couple weeks ago, he said that the Deep South in April was big for her, he told me she had been offered by Kentucky and Vanderbilt and got some interest from some more of the "bigger name" schools. I've loved watching her play all the way back to when my daughter was in the 5th or 6th grade. I think all of you will love the way she plays when you get her in a couple years.

Thanks for the great personal info. Molly seems like a diamond in the rough to me. Could she be a future Sue Bird?

 

[jcoton56]

Welcome to UConn Molly!

 

[HuskyNan]

I was looking through the NEPSAC (New England Prep Schools Athletic Conference) All-Star program and found the blurb on Molly, who is a NEPSAC All-Star.

Aggressive at both ends of the court, she uses great athleticism, skill and energy to bring a high level of play on offense and defense. She anticipates brilliantly off the ball and frequently turns defense into break away offense. She also has the skill to create her own shot or distribute to an open teammate in the half court.

By the way, Molly plays for the same AAU organization, Rhode Island Breakers, that Heather Buck did. Bill Coughlin of the Breakers is a quality guy and a great coach.

 

[HGN]

Well, it is early, but not too early to predict that Molly Bent will win more National Championships then Diamond Deshields.

Or just as many.

 

[CocoHusky]

Some role!! Larry Bird has stated that Dennis Johnson was the best basketball player he ever played with.
I believe that qualifies as expert testimony.

Kib not to quibble but Larry Comment was " Bird once called Dennis Johnson the best teammate he ever had. "
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=may_peter&id=5053579
Best teammate is not the same as best basketball player Bird ever played with-but again small quibble.

 

[johnnyc]

Da noive of the UConn coaching staff to recruit a player and give no indication to the Boneyard let alone asking for approval. It's a head scratcher I tell ya.....

 

[RockyMTblue2]

thats a pretty bold statement

What are fans suppose to do if not be bold supporters of their team? That's rhetorical triad, but I know you get that - you're a Dookie!