For Any other Coach, Would Gabby Have Been A Forward?

[MilfordHusky]

What Geno is doing/ has done is recruit players who can play multiple positions like Gabby, Pheesa, Lou and Kia.

Gabby, as discussed, is a guard who now plays the 5, 4, 3, and could play a little 2. Both on offense and defense. Gabby is now the nightmare every team has to deal with.

Mo's successor as DPOY??

 

[MilfordHusky]

As great as it was the job she did against Turner who does she guard against South Carolina. That is a different animal. Turner is tall but definitely not physical. I'm sure she'll find a way. That's right I heard they invented something called a zone defense a few years ago.

SC is like Baylor.

 

[MilfordHusky]

That defensive steal Williams made and went the length of the court at the end of the 3rd qua was a dandy. I've seen steals but that one was special. The anticipation was great but the speed was the difference. Then leaping over people for rebounds cleanly over and over was really something. She changed the perplexion of the game in less than a minute at the end of the 3rd quarter. The end of the 3rd qu UConn reminded me of a boxer that is trading blows for 8 rounds and then with a flurry dazes their opponent they can't recover from.

Gabby's energy was like that of Mo or Kelly in their best games.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm not sure why Butler didn't play in the second half. I thought Natalie did a good job guarding ND bigs. Although I don't know what her stats were.

I think Nat had trouble hanging onto passes and rebounds. Pheesa was the better option. The team was about -7 without Pheesa and +19 with her.

 

[tkaes]

I think Nat had trouble hanging onto passes and rebounds. Pheesa was the better option. The team was about -7 without Pheesa and +19 with her.

Butler has just about the worst hands of any basketball player I can ever remember going back to the mid-fifties. Combine that with the fact that her feet are almost always glued to the floor so that she loses rebounds to women much shorter than her and therefore she's just too big of a risk in a game like this until either Gabby or Pheesa got their fourth foul. The point differential with Pheesa on the bench that you cite clearly indicates the need for Geno to play Gabby and Pheesa as many minutes as they could remain standing. Since they are both great athletes and obviously in great shape, there was probably very little chance of them not remaining standing regardless of how tired they might have been.

Having said all that, Butler has and will continue to have an important role against a number of the real bigs UCONN faces.