Kelly vs. Courtney

[chrissaran]

In John Altavilla's article about tonight's game he said that pundits see Courtney as a more talented Kelly Faris. How wrong they are. Yes, Courtney is a much better shooter. No, Courtney is not the athlete that Kelly was, the defensive player Kelly was, the rebounder Kelly was, the on the floor going after the loose ball, hustle player Kelly was and nobody ever played harder than Kelly. Kelly is and will always be the better all-around player. Courtney will be a strong role player, but she will not be Kelly. She doesn't have nearly Kelly's overall ability.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I haven't heard anyone compare the two.

 

[pap49cba]

Not saying I disagree but can we let the new girl play at least one game before making comparisons?

 

[EricLA]

I hadn't seen that at all. Do you have a link to the article? Would be curious as to why anyone who follows UCONN hoops closely would even consider comparing the two. I think Kelly has more in common Kiah than she does with Courtney (from a hoops perspective)...

 

[Aluminny69]

I think Mel Thomas played at least as hard as Kelly Farris. And she has the face mask to prove it.

 

[PalPa]

I hadn't seen that at all. Do you have a link to the article? Would be curious as to why anyone who follows UCONN hoops closely would even consider comparing the two. I think Kelly has more in common Kiah than she does with Courtney (from a hoops perspective)...

The quote: "Ekmark, a solid fundamental player with great three-point range, reminds pundits of a more talented version of Kelly Faris."
The link: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...nn-cal-davis-preview-1114-20141113-story.html

 

[Goodgood]

The quote: "Ekmark, a solid fundamental player with great three-point range, reminds pundits of a more talented version of Kelly Faris."
The link: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn...nn-cal-davis-preview-1114-20141113-story.html

That is from John A, we know. But who are the pundits he mentioned? Except for John A, I see no one else making that comparison.

 

[PalPa]

That is from John A, we know. But who are the pundits he mentioned? Except for John A, I see no one else making that comparison.

Beats me. Once again I got trapped by answering one of Eric's questions, gotta stop doing that.

 

[EricLA]

Beats me. Once again I got trapped by answering one of Eric's questions, gotta stop doing that.

LOL. Beeyotch!!

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think of Courtney as a taller version of Mel. Great shooter, smart player, decent but not great athleticism, ultimate team player. She's 3"-4" taller and maybe not quite as tough. Yet. I love them both

 

[Kibitzer]

I think of Courtney as a freshman with great HS credentials, a reputation for being a deadly shooter, and who later tonight will play her first game against Division I wcbb.

 

[geneticrex]

Courtney is Courtney. Kelly is Kelly.

2 different skillsets.

 

[JoePgh]

I agree that Kia Nurse is the freshman who most resembles Kelly Faris. Their games are really quite similar, as is their skill set. Very good athletes (no, not great), not great jump shooters, loads of basketball IQ and competitiveness, totally team-oriented. Kia is more vocal than Kelly. Kelly will probably prove to have been a better 1-on-1 defender than Kia.

I suspect that after four years, Kia will score more than Kelly, but I doubt that her overall impact on UConn basketball will be entirely comparable. But it will be close. Kia will probably also be a late first round draft pick for the WNBA.

The comparison between Courtney Ekmark and Mel Thomas is also fairly accurate. They have similar strengths and weaknesses. It's possible that Courtney will have as much of an impact over 4 years as Mel did.

Maybe Gabby Williams and Kalana Greene are also fairly comparable in their skill sets and likely 4-year contribution.

 

[Shenandoah]

Wow...This is truly amazing. Can we PLEASE let the freshmen play a few games before we start comparing them to UConn immortals? Courtney hasn't even played a real game in over a year (except for the 3 exhibitions, including First Night) yet she is being dissected and compared to one of the all time hardest working players at UConn. Give the kid a break, and let her get her feet wet.

 

[mhshuskies]

In John Altavilla's article about tonight's game he said that pundits see Courtney as a more talented Kelly Faris. How wrong they are. Yes, Courtney is a much better shooter. No, Courtney is not the athlete that Kelly was, the defensive player Kelly was, the rebounder Kelly was, the on the floor going after the loose ball, hustle player Kelly was and nobody ever played harder than Kelly. Kelly is and will always be the better all-around player. Courtney will be a strong role player, but she will not be Kelly. She doesn't have nearly Kelly's overall ability.

Pretty tough criticism for just one official game.

 

[Jim]

Pretty tough criticism for just one official game.

Even tougher when you consider it came BEFORE she had played her first official game.

 

[hoophuskee]

Maybe Gabby Williams and Kalana Greene are also fairly comparable in their skill sets and likely 4-year contribution.

I haven't seen Gabby play yet but that sounds like an excellent comparison.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Plus, opinions also changed on Kelly dramatically from her freshman to her senior year. For many the image of her is as a smart super-active defensive wizard with limited shooting ability, which was a decent sum up of her freshman year. But as a senior she shot 53%, was comfortable sometimes knocking down 4 threes and at an overall 41.5%, and led the team in assists at 4.0, and had 5.6 rebounds along with being the defensive shutdown person. There's a lot of players who would kill to have those types of stats and talents for the Huskies. So perceptions of her changed quite a bit over 4 years, and the same process would wisely be applied to any Husky as she's starting out, though I know that's not usually done, especially when you can catch some media attention with a catchy phrase like "a more talented Kelly Faris."

Note: perceptions would change even more if you checked the senior stats for Kelly in wikipedia, some of which are borrowed from Stef (rebounds and assists), who was on that UConn site's cumulative stats line right above Kelly. Net loss there on the assists for Kelly, but she would have loved Stef's rebounding average.

 

[winlots]

We each get four equal players for our teams. You get Ek and I get Kelly to fill out the competing starting line ups. And, as of right now, my team will kill ya. Any body want to challenge that?

In fact, I'll go this far with you: I'll take Kelly as she was as a freshman after one game under her belt , forget about "right now", and my team will still kill ya. ANybody want to challenge that?

(By the way, I'm all for Ek and will continue to root for her to shine here and have a wonderful career)

 

[Boreifs]

Wow...This is truly amazing. Can we PLEASE let the freshmen play a few games before we start comparing them to UConn immortals? Courtney hasn't even played a real game in over a year (except for the 3 exhibitions, including First Night) yet she is being dissected and compared to one of the all time hardest working players at UConn. Give the kid a break, and let her get her feet wet.

Your point is well taken, but your info is not accurate. She didn't play in high school, but she did play AAU basketball. Unless it has changed dramatically since my daughter played, that's as many as 100 games a year.

 

[Kibitzer]

We each get four equal players for our teams. You get Ek and I get Kelly to fill out the competing starting line ups. And, as of right now, my team will kill ya. Any body want to challenge that?

In fact, I'll go this far with you: I'll take Kelly as she was as a freshman after one game under her belt , forget about "right now", and my team will still kill ya. ANybody want to challenge that?

(By the way, I'm all for Ek and will continue to root for her to shine here and have a wonderful career)

Huh?

 

[Buzzyboy]

In John Altavilla's article about tonight's game he said that pundits see Courtney as a more talented Kelly Faris. How wrong they are. Yes, Courtney is a much better shooter. No, Courtney is not the athlete that Kelly was, the defensive player Kelly was, the rebounder Kelly was, the on the floor going after the loose ball, hustle player Kelly was and nobody ever played harder than Kelly. Kelly is and will always be the better all-around player. Courtney will be a strong role player, but she will not be Kelly. She doesn't have nearly Kelly's overall ability.

What I don't understand is you're speaking as if there's an appreciable body of work from Courtney to compare her negatively in comparison to Kelly. I don't think anyone was awed by Kelly in her first games with the Huskies, though after closer observations, people were able to see the intangibles that Kelly brought to the court, game after game. In retrospect, she is a number of Boneyarder's favorite player or at least top 5. Isn't it quite possible that the same thing holds true for Courtney???? For you and others to dismiss Courtney as a marginal player or someone who seemingly can't carry Faris's sneakers after almost no time at all is pretty unfair. It's one thing for a scribe to make a comparison because he's probably had a lot more insight with practices, etc., but even that might be a little over the top. I seem to remember that Sue Bird didn't really make that big an impression her freshman year with a lot of people and then was hurt, thus ending any speculation on what type of player she would be. Turns out, she was and is a marvelous member of the UConn women's basketball family.

 

[Buzzyboy]

We each get four equal players for our teams. You get Ek and I get Kelly to fill out the competing starting line ups. And, as of right now, my team will kill ya. Any body want to challenge that?

In fact, I'll go this far with you: I'll take Kelly as she was as a freshman after one game under her belt , forget about "right now", and my team will still kill ya. ANybody want to challenge that?

(By the way, I'm all for Ek and will continue to root for her to shine here and have a wonderful career)

Silly stuff!

 

[Shenandoah]

Your point is well taken, but your info is not accurate. She didn't play in high school, but she did play AAU basketball. Unless it has changed dramatically since my daughter played, that's as many as 100 games a year.

I thought that Courtney only took her senior year off, after winning the state championship as a junior. She spent her senior year interning, training with a former NBA player ( Johnny-I-forget-his-name) and homeschooling on the only class that she needed to graduate. If I'm wrong, I stand corrected! I don't know about her playing AAU.

 

[PalPa]

I thought that Courtney only took her senior year off, after winning the state championship as a junior. She spent her senior year interning, training with a former NBA player ( Johnny-I-forget-his-name) and homeschooling on the only class that she needed to graduate. If I'm wrong, I stand corrected! I don't know about her playing AAU.

That is my understanding also. I was thinking the layoff from actual game competition is why she is struggling right now, no different than Morgan Tuck in that regard. Both players should have marked improvement after a few more games, shaking off the rust as they say.