Just got home from the game. A few thoughts. [merged]

[Kibitzer]

For me tonight, there were three persons of interest: Banks, Stokes, and Chong.

I could not have been more pleased with way this local version of "3 2 C" played out. Brianna, Kiah and Saniya were all terrific, each in her own way.

In the car en route home, caught a little of Bob Joyce's post-game show. During his interview with Chris Dailey, she compared Morgan Tuck to Kelly Faris. I rate that as high praise.

 

[Bestiarius]

I agree with Kib. Kiah showing lots of confidence. Saniya goes to the basket like a demon. She will spend considerable time at the charity stripe. Banks is all around solid.

The team was determined to get Polly a basket. At the end of the game they fed her the ball for a shot four times in about 10 seconds. Alas, she missed them all.

 

[UConn8flags]

Yes Kib... she seems to always take a tough offensive opponent on defense. I do like her game! we dont remember that she was rank very high before injuring her knee in high school. Solid player all around.

 

[Kibitzer]

Let's look ahead.

On Monday, Stanford. First order of business? Chiney Ogwumike.

Friday, Maryland. Alyssa Thomas.

Who is best suited to draw the primary defensive assignment on these two big, strong All-Americans? I believe it is -- yup! -- Morgan Tuck.

Note that I said primary. Chiney and Alyssa will also get to meet Stef and Stewie and, yes, Kiah and Kaleena. They will work very hard and earn anything they get.

You guys still want Morgan to come off the bench?

 

[wire chief]

If Morgan starts, who is left out?

 

[Icebear]

Morgan will not start unless Moriah can not play. The offense at the beginning of the game did not flow with Bria and KML at the top. Encountering and countering a team with strong guards would not be easy with what I saw from that starting line up. It is possible with more time as a unit that group might work out the flow problems to a degree but a tremendous amount of speed for exploiting the top of the defense was lost.

One thing that did not occur in either of the exhibitions was substantial use of Stef with entry passes high or low.

 

[Tonyc]

Signs of Greatness last nite. This new version of the UConn Womens BB team looked like a well oiled machine. They ran their plays effectively which is a good start pre season. Yes Philly was not top knoch however they lost to Seton Hall by 1. So not exactly shabby. UConn will make a lot of teams look worse they they did to Philly last nite. Stef with a steal and taking the ball the length of the court like a guard. Very impressive. We have a team of girls who can go inside outside drive the lay pass play D and do a lot more and do it as a team not as individuals. Geno took the starters out early and the walkons and Saniya got a lot of playtime which is the only reason we didn't score over 100 pts. I think we will manhandle Hartford and Stanford. At Maryland it depends on how the fouls are called but I see another blow out. Many fans judge games by the great plays or how many points a player scores. I was focused on the execution of plays, fast breaks, and defense. It was the best Ive seen in quite sometime. Its very hard for me to think that any team can even come close to us.

Now back to signs of Greatness. Kiah is looking very good. The longer she stayed in last nite the better she looked Most importantly she looked more confident with her shot. She scored and had 7 blocks. Defensively she is really good and a very good rebounder. Morgan hit a few outside shots. Yep outside shots and so we now have another outside shooter. Morgan underneath has more moves then a magician. Saniya made a few freshman mistakes and on the break made some great passes. She can get to the hoop. The nitemare for opponets will be having to bring the ball up against our quick guards, MoJeff BB Bria and Saniya. This team can score fast and in bunches. Its kinda like a knock out punch and the guy laying on the floor after the punch says what just hit me.

 

[johnnyc]

You guys still want Morgan to come off the bench?

I don't have a problem with Morgan Tuck starting as long as it doesn't include any pre season All Americans going to the bench. (but also acknowledging the fact that if Tuck were on another team she herself would most likely be on the pre season All American list)

But here's the thing.....look how great Tuck played coming off the bench!

 

[maddoggy]

Not sure quite what to make of this, but -- hard as it is to believe -- Belgian doctors seem to have confirmed a ligament in our knees that they could only theorize about before and that could help improve treatment of ACL tears.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131105081352.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23906341

 

[JoePgh]

Regarding Kiah Stokes, I was very pleased to see the ample minutes that Geno provided to her in both pre-season games. That suggests: (a) that her effort and commitment in practice must have improved a lot; and (b) Geno plans to use her for serious minutes as a backup to Stef, something that Stef will truly appreciate.

Her defense and rebounding (including shot blocking) are already at least equal to Stef's, and her offense is coming along. If she were to play 30 minutes (not suggesting that is going to happen often), she could easily get 12-14 points just from layups (when the defenders help off her to deal with other threats), putbacks, and free throws. She could do that even against Top 10 competition.

Another thing that Kiah can do is run the court, and get some transition points after somebody else clears a defensive rebound. Very few bigs in the country will be able to get down the court fast enough to cover her.

I also think that while it doesn't seem to make sense, we may see a lot of minutes where Stef and Kiah are on the court at the same time. That was the case in both exhibition games. Stef can dish out passes and take jump shots from the high post, while Kiah occupies at least one defender in the low post. When KML or Stewie is about to shoot, the defense will be pulled away and Kiah will have a layup chance.

In addition to that 12-14 points, I think Kiah could get about 10 rebounds and 4-5 blocks in 30 minutes against good competition. Not a bad stat line, and it doesn't require any improvement in the skill set that she has already demonstrated.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

In the car en route home, caught a little of Bob Joyce's post-game show. During his interview with Chris Dailey, she compared Morgan Tuck to Kelly Faris. I rate that as high praise.

Hope Kelly's still reading the Boneyard. She's getting lots of props here!

 

[meyers7]

You guys still want Morgan to come off the bench?

Yes I do. But you knew that was coming.

I would rather Tuck come off the bench, if that means we get to start Jefferson at the 1, and have Hartley and KML play their more natural positions. I just think the team works better that way. To get Tuck into a starting position you have to move two AA's out of position and take the keys of the Ferrari away from the best driver. I would rather not do that.

And at this point I would rather have Tuck (than Stokes) available to spell Dolson, Stewart or even KML . Overall I think it makes the team more balanced.

The bench
Stokes - 5/4
Tuck - 4/5/3
Banks - 2/3/1
Chong - 1/2

Vs

Stokes - 5/4
Banks - 2/3/1
Chong - 1/2
Jefferson - 1/2 ( and Jefferson really is a pure 1, if she's in that's what she's playing)


By the way it was great to meet you last night. (and I believe your better half?)

 

[UcMiami]

What I like about Kiah (and I only saw the first game and read comments about this one) is that she looks like she knows what is going on when on offense this year - last year she seemed lost on that end - unsure what to do and where to go and whether to shoot or pass. She just looks comfortable on offense this year. She has the talent to contribute and has lost the fear/uncertainty.
Meyers - nice post and agree - balance and flow with two real guards to start the game is I think important. Hope to see Morgan playing 20+ minutes a game coming off the bench.
Just a thought - with the new rules about contact ... I think the speed of PFs and centers down the floor is going to be even more important because moving a player off her spot once established is supposed to be a foul - first person to a spot owns the spot.

 

[VAMike23]

This is really remarkable - and interesting. Hard to believe that something like this would still be there to "find."

Thanks for posting!

 

[UConnCat]

Just a thought - with the new rules about contact ... I think the speed of PFs and centers down the floor is going to be even more important because moving a player off her spot once established is supposed to be a foul - first person to a spot owns the spot.

True, but of more importance may be having shot blockers protecting the basket. UConn now has three excellent shot-blockers.

 

[Kibitzer]

If Morgan starts, who is left out?

Excellent question, easy answer.

It's Geno's call, of course, and the players (1) have total faith in him and (2) are focused on winning (games and NC), not about who starts or who gets how much PT.

My expectation is that during the long season Geno will "mix and match" his starting lineups and his substitution patterns to take advantage of the team's depth of talent and to create nightmarish challenges for opponents and their coaches. Under a given set of circumstances I could even imagine Stef or Stewie on the court with Bria, Moriah, Saniya and Brianna.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I believe that in high school and on Team USA, there was only 1 player who could guard Stewie effectively. That player: Morgan Tuck.

 

[UcMiami]

Wow! It is pretty amazing to realize that macro structures in humans can still be discovered as the first article mentions - I expect discoveries of a chemical or microscopic nature, and brain study is still fairly new, but for such a large structural element to be identified at this point in human anatomy is pretty amazing. And one that could have such serious implications to an all too common injury ... just wow.

 

[psconn]

Agree with VAMike... how the heck was this missed throughout medical history? "Postulated" many years ago but there it is in the picture, plain as day... why not confirmed til now?

Oh well, anything that might help with the ACL scourge is great news. The related articles listed on that webpage are great also. I hope UConn is doing all the preventative stuff that the articles refer to. I am hesitant to even mention it, but I have been worried about Breanna's gait from the first day I saw her in a video. Distinctly Shea-like, just longer and leaner, I think.

 

[Bestiarius]

Excellent question, easy answer.

It's Geno's call, of course, and the players (1) have total faith in him and (2) are focused on winning (games and NC), not about who starts or who gets how much PT.

My expectation is that during the long season Geno will "mix and match" his starting lineups and his substitution patterns to take advantage of the team's depth of talent and to create nightmarish challenges for opponents and their coaches. Under a given set of circumstances I could even imagine Stef or Stewie on the court with Bria, Moriah, Saniya and Brianna.

Agree. I believe this year will be different in the use of players. Substitutions will be quicker and there will be no "standard pattern".

Too much talent beyond the starting five and a short roster will enable an endless configuration potential.

 

[Wonkster]

Agree with VAMike... how the heck was this missed throughout medical history? "Postulated" many years ago but there it is in the picture, plain as day... why not confirmed til now?

I see that you guys haven't been following science news this summer. A scientist in Great Britain found a new layer in the human eye.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262013.php

There it was, right in front of our eyeballs!

 

[Icebear]

Gives us hope that Sasquatch might be real.

 

[willtalk]

Gives us hope that Sasquatch might be real.

Why mention the Sasquatch. One would think you would have much more in common and thus more interest in the Yeti.

 

[UcMiami]

I see that you guys haven't been following science news this summer. A scientist in Great Britain found a new layer in the human eye.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262013.php

There it was, right in front of our eyeballs!

This is 15 microns thick - sort of my definition of 'microscopic' as opposed to a new tendon clearly visible without magnification. But agree that the stuff we do not know about the human body could fill a few textbooks.

 

[Icebear]

Why mention the Sasquatch. One would think you would have much more in common and thus more interest in the Yeti.

Sasquatch is likely one of Grizz's cousins.