This offense has little movement and almost no synchronization. I am not going to argue where a player should be to start a set because I don‘t know. ... But the fact is Makurat moves without the ball more than any other Uconn player and doesn’t see the ball nearly as much as she should. She is by far the best passer on this team and . . . I think Makurat should run this offense and I have seen nothing to change my mind. One of the obvious deficiencies of the Uconn offense is that the ball “stops” whenever Walker, Williams and to a lesser extent because they see it less, Ono and Griffin touch it. They are all players who do not have quick ball movement in their games.
In his post-game interview, and on many occasions before, Geno has been frustrated by the lack of movement of both ball and players.
Littlemin's comments start from the same point. I, too, have noticed, especially as I replay games and can stop and rewind and re-view action, that yes, the ball does stop much more once its in Walker's or Williams' hands, much more so than when Crystal or Anna have the ball. Why?-- because both Crystal and Anna have better court vision and seem to know what to do with the ball
before they get it. Megan gets a pass, and only
then looks to see what or who is open. Christyn also does not seem to "read" the floor, the defense, or her teammates' locations "before" getting the ball. And she tends too often to start to dribble without any plan for what she's going to do with it. Megan seems to have a kind of tunnel vision that gets her dribbling into crowds without knowing where she might find a teammate open. Result: steals and held balls and shots in heavy traffic. And dribbling, btw, is the slowest way of moving the ball from place to place, player to player. For years, announcers marvelled at the way the UConn offense moved the ball without it once touching the floor.
A Boneyard poster (sorry, can't remember who) observed that Anna seems to know what to do with the ball before she gets it. That's court sense, that's court vision, and it's essential to swift ball movement, also a UConn hallmark.
Give credit to Megan for the way she dedicated herself to becoming a more powerful athlete, and that has paid off in her rebounding and strength on defense agains taller opponents. If she will refine and expand her court vision and awareness, she can help her teammates and find better openings for her shots. Christyn can make more efficient use of her physical skills at both ends of the court by building vision and awareness of where the ball and her teammates are; that will allow her to make quicker and more effective decisions.
This is not an easy game; the challenge for both of these young, promising players is to elevate their mental games to the same level as their physical skills. I think their lack of progress in that area is what has so frustrated Geno. I'm also sure that both Megan and Christyn feel frustrated and guilty about their 5 of 25 shooting. Move the ball, shots will open— for them
and their teammates—and shooting percentages will rise, even agains the best teams.
