Poll Which Three Players Should UConn Nominate for WBCA AA | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Poll Which Three Players Should UConn Nominate for WBCA AA

Which 3 PLayers should UConn Nomnate for WBCA All Amercian Team


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Obviuosly all four should be nominated. I hope we all agree on this!

But since we can only have three, its Lou, Pheesa and Gabby. And I'll leave it at that.
I don't agree. I think Kia is a very talented player, particularly defensively but she isn't an All-American in my estimation. There are a number of players around the country that I feel, given the opportunity to play for this team from the beginning of practice in October, would giving us at least as much in totality as we get from Kia. Again, I'm happy we have her and she's doing a really good job and her leadership qualities are great but come on! It reminds me of all those stickers about my kid is an honor student and my granddaughter is blah, blah, blah. We're invested in this team and it's players but some of you should really consider that there is some exceptionally talented players in the country and you would deny them a spot on the AA team for Kia????? She's special to us and a real asset but SERIOUSLY!
 
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Look, we all have our favorites. But there must be some reason(s) Kia is nominated by members of the committee, whoever they might be, perhaps reasons many BY'ers easily dismiss. Anyway, it doesn't make a difference since none of us do the nominating or voting. I agree Gabby should be included, but less inclined to think at the expense of Kia or any other UCONN player than many of you. I think all four are deserving, but for different reasons. Anyway, there's a lot of basketball left to be played. The season isn't half over yet so I think it's kind of early to be discussing who deserves what, although I suppose it's fun to speculate. I just think some of the anti-Kia rhetoric from certain BY'ers is distasteful and its been going on for quite some time. Frankly, I just don't get it. She seems to embody all the qualities one would want in a UCONN player. Maybe I'm missing something.
 

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With there being at least 3 AA teams, one that names 5 players AP, and one WBCA, that names 10 players, and another that I can't recall, all 4 of our players can be named AA's when all is said and done! I agree with huskeynut and RegisteredUconn above, name all 4 and let the talking suits pick 3! #4 will definitely be named by the WBCA thereby all 4 getting up on the UCONN HUSKIES OF HONOR!
IMHO Kia, Pheesa, KLS, and Gabby are 4 of the top 5 players in the country, if the powers that be can't or won't understand that then it's their loss.
There are no "power that be" that have anything to lose or give a darn how many UCONN players get on AA team.
There are only UCONN fans and somewhat objective fans of WCBB of which there are not that many. Would be risky of UCONN to submit 4 players when the rule explicitly says submit 3 because you are risking the standing of all 4 players (invalid ballot). All 4 UCONN players can be named to one of the AA teams but this is not likely. More likely is a very deserving UCONN player being left off the list like Morgan Tuck & Kelly Faris were. Unfortunately, the UCONN staff must distinguish.
 

CocoHusky

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My point is, just because she is on the Canadian national team does not mean she is a great player. She is a good player and uconn would've still won the last 2 NCs without her.
Kia being Canadian has as much to do with what we are talking about as the National Championships you mention=NOTHING!
 
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This is thought provoking.
How about, naphesia, gabby and Kia for AA.
Let KLS win NPOY, etc....
Then let history sort it out. LOL we'll hear about it till the cows come home.
 

CocoHusky

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This is thought provoking.
How about, naphesia, gabby and Kia for AA.
Let KLS win NPOY, etc....
Then let history sort it out. LOL we'll hear about it till the cows come home.
The cows will come home quickly -same time next year. Among the 4 players are, 2 Sophomores (Napheesa and KLS) and 2 Juniors (Gabby and Kia).
 
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Perhaps I'm misreading your reply, but this is not my poll. I'm just one of, at this moment, 156 responders. You suggested that all of the choices that didn't include Lou received the fewest number of votes. I was simply pointing out that there was only one choice that didn't include Lou just as there was only one choice that didn't include Kia. At this moment out of 156 respondents, 132 have selected the latter choice. I wouldn't characterize the poll as the "Katie Lou Poll".
That was ALL the choices lou wasn't in. it would be interesting to have another poll where she was excluded from more
choice--and again i'll bet that every choice lou was in would get more votes.
But the comment that this was Katie lou's poll --was not a negative comment--nor did it imply (except in your mind)
that you designed this poll for katie lou---I simply stated the obvious--every category she was in got more votes.

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Kia's numbers look better because the attention of most teams is on the BIG 3. She is drawing no where near the attention of the others the vast majority of the time but I acknowledge that she does deserve credit for taking advantage of that. She's shown more discipline this year than she had in the past and she's not nearly as prone to drive to the rim totally out of control as she used to. She reminds me a bit of Kelly Farris in the fact that her offensive game has evolved in the latter stages of her time in Storrs. I think losing KLS or Gabby or Napheesa to foul trouble or heaven forbid, injury, would have more of a devastating effect on this team, not that Kia's loss wouldn't be a big one. I think Kia is a really good player but not of All-American caliber.

VS a team like Fla State, I think losing Kia would be devastating too but as you imply losing Kia can be. But per below we have survived with Lou/Gabby/Collier had "less than" minutes expected. Anyhow, games in which Nat would be totally ineffective vs a quality team - we would definitely be hurting if Kia was out too. I'm not saying Kia is better than the other 3, just saying there are times losing Kia to foul trouble or injury would be awful too.

VS Fla state Gabby played 23 minutes.
Vs Baylor Gabby played 25 minutes.
VS Texas Lou played 25 minutes
VS ND Collier palyed 29 minutes (though that isn't so bad)
VS Md Collier played 26 minutes



I do agree Kia is the "4th option" to make a play because my guess is her USAGE % is 4th lowest (though it might be because she plays the most minutes she might be working on making the pass as a guard rather than other guards with more minutes might be prone to chuck more. Or that she has played more minutes vs the tougher teams in which it harder to get off good shots which maybe drags down her numbers.) but she really can score pretty easily with just a simple pick because she has such a quick release. And her shot is awesome as her 3pt numbers show- shooting 45% while averaging near 5 3's a game is awesome. Her EFG% when she is taking 3's is 67.61%. The problem for other teams is, she is such a deadly shooter from 3, and because of her height in that she can get off 3's at an amazing %. Her presence (along with Lou's) is the reason why for example you heard pots game comments from Muffett's and The Texas coach said they thought of playing zone but felt they couldn't.

Because of her presence/ such a threat, this gives Gabby and Collier more room to operate.

**********This TEAM*************** has JUST the "right enough" counters to offset anything that a defense can throw at them. I find it amazing. You'll notice the many of the teams that feel they have no shot to beat UCONN will play a zone because they fear giving up so many layups. While the real good teams that think they can win fear the outside shooting so they won't play zone and thereby challenge a bit more for Gabby/Collier to beat them. As of this moment, this UCONN team is the greatest 3pt shooting team in their history. Though you could argue 14-15 is - they took more than 2.5 more 3's per game and their 3pt% is 40.6 vs this team of 42.1. The good teams aren't going to want to give Lou and Kia open looks. And now we have Ch:)ong coming on. :):):):):)

Add to that she can put the ball on the floor and can score inside in traffic which is why a simple pick would make/has made her incredibly effective. You run out at her she is adept at going to the basket. And she is tall for her size so she can get off shots.
 
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That was ALL the choices lou wasn't in. it would be interesting to have another poll where she was excluded from more
choice--and again i'll bet that every choice lou was in would get more votes.
But the comment that this was Katie lou's poll --was not a negative comment--nor did it imply (except in your mind)
that you designed this poll for katie lou---I simply stated the obvious--every category she was in got more votes.

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it means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections

I'm not sure why I'm bothering Broadway, but I'll try one more time. With this reply I am done trying to get through to you. If you don't get it this time, I'll just have to assume that you are too challenged to do so.

Please go back and read the very first post in this thread.

This is not my poll. I didn't design it. I only made my selection in response to someone else creating the poll.

Additionally, there are no more choices to be made. This is simple 7th grade math. It is a combination of 4 players taking 3 players at a time. Order is not important. For example, a combination of Lou, Pheesa, and Gabby is the same as a combination of Pheesa, Gabby and Lou. See, it doesn't make any difference in which order you list them, they are still the same 3 players. If you have 4 players and you have to make selections using 3 at a time, there are only 4 such selections mathematically possible and only one selection that excludes Lou.

If it helps you to feel better about yourself, by all means create your own poll with mathematically incorrect selections that exclude Lou from more than one. Then you can entitle it the "False Katie Lou Poll So I Can Prove My Inaccurate and Irrelevant Point".

P.S. Thanks for the disconnected feel good quote. It gave me one more piece of drivel to forget.
 
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Regardless of this poll, or who UConn submits, or what we think, or anything else, I suspect KLS may make AA this year. No other UConn players are likely to.
 
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Mistakes? Kia makes fewer mistakes than pretty much any other player on our team, in my opinion. Now she does fail to execute on offense from time to time, with missed bunnies or problematic drives to the basket that can lead to turnovers, so I agree with your comments about her scoring. This has historically been an challenge for her, but she's been a lot better about it in recent games.

I could go on and on about why I also believe she is the indispensable glue player for our tam. Here's just one example: Against Maryland, late in the game when we were in big-time foul trouble, and they were scoring at will on layups and in the paint, Kia ran the point to perfection. She calmed everybody down and created a perfect rhythm/pace that allowed her her team to hang on and grind out the win. It's a strong possibility that we would not have won without what Kia did for us in the forth quarter of that game.

Not arguing your general point but going into today's game but Kia has more turnovers than everyone except Gabby. There are times during the season where she has forced the issue. That's said I believe she is the key leader on the team. Also, saying the others are better overall players doesn't mean she is not great.
 
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I'm not sure why I'm bothering Broadway, but I'll try one more time. With this reply I am done trying to get through to you. If you don't get it this time, I'll just have to assume that you are too challenged to do so.

Please go back and read the very first post in this thread.

This is not my poll. I didn't design it. I only made my selection in response to someone else creating the poll.

Additionally, there are no more choices to be made. This is simple 7th grade math. It is a combination of 4 players taking 3 players at a time. Order is not important. For example, a combination of Lou, Pheesa, and Gabby is the same as a combination of Pheesa, Gabby and Lou. See, it doesn't make any difference in which order you list them, they are still the same 3 players. If you have 4 players and you have to make selections using 3 at a time, there are only 4 such selections mathematically possible and only one selection that excludes Lou.

If it helps you to feel better about yourself, by all means create your own poll with mathematically incorrect selections that exclude Lou from more than one. Then you can entitle it the "False Katie Lou Poll So I Can Prove My Inaccurate and Irrelevant Point".

P.S. Thanks for the disconnected feel good quote. It gave me one more piece of drivel to forget.
I see no need for me to design another poll YOUR POLL IS NEARLY SATISFACTORY

Being Happy doesn’t mean every thing is perfect.

it means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections
 
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Regardless of this poll, or who UConn submits, or what we think, or anything else, I suspect KLS may make AA this year. No other UConn players are likely to.

If UCONN goes undefeated in reg season, I can't imagine not having two 1st team all-americans.
 
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Not arguing your general point but going into today's game but Kia has more turnovers than everyone except Gabby. There are times during the season where she has forced the issue. That's said I believe she is the key leader on the team. Also, saying the others are better overall players doesn't mean she is not great.

I agree with a lot of what you say on other posts. Maybe some minor stuff had small differences. But here I'm not sure the point you are trying to make. Every player "at times forces the issue" if they are any good. Today Nurse didn't shoot well, as result if she shoot just "pretty good" and not "great" for the rest of the season then I would agree with those that say she isn't an a/a player. However to knock her passing, I think you're dialing up the wrong number here. Using your logic, one could say the same thing about John Stockton that you are saying about Kia. He led his team in turnovers. Below is one year as an example. And I'm sure he forced some passes too, right?

1988-89 Utah Jazz Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com
 
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This question is interesting but counterproductive. UCONN is a team, the whole greater than the individual parts. I don't want the core-four fighting it out. Stats or popularity, we have four worthy candidates. Let's nominate them all and let the system sort it out. The remarkable part is this undefeated, record-setting group started the fall with NO pre-season All Americans.
 
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I agree with a lot of what you say on other posts. Maybe some minor stuff had small differences. But here I'm not sure the point you are trying to make. Every player "at times forces the issue" if they are any good. Today Nurse didn't shoot well, as result if she shoot just "pretty good" and not "great" for the rest of the season then I would agree with those that say she isn't an a/a player. However to knock her passing, I think you're dialing up the wrong number here. Using your logic, one could say the same thing about John Stockton that you are saying about Kia. He led his team in turnovers. Below is one year as an example. And I'm sure he forced some passes too, right?

1988-89 Utah Jazz Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

I was just being objective and commenting to other poster who said Kia makes less mistakes than anyone. Being second on team with turnovers suggests that perhaps it was over stated. I think all four are great, but truth be told I probably take the other three over Kia but it's not because I think she makes mistakes.... It's simply the other three are more talented.
 
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I was just being objective and commenting to other poster who said Kia makes less mistakes than anyone. Being second on team with turnovers suggests that perhaps it was over stated. I think all four are great, but truth be told I probably take the other three over Kia but it's not because I think she makes mistakes.... It's simply the other three are more talented.

I agree to an extent. This team is so much fun to over-analyze!!!!

Anyhow, who of the two do you think will be the better WNBA pro? Or do you think one or two won't make it?
 
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I agree to an extent. This team is so much fun to over-analyze!!!!

Anyhow, who of the two do you think will be the better WNBA pro? Or do you think one or two won't make it?

You know, Lou playing guard at 6'3" with a mature, diverse, but still improving offensive game jumps out. By the time she leaves UConn her defense will be even better not that it's bad now, just not as impactful as the other two. I can see Lou being an allstar at the 2 or 3.

Pheese is harder to pin because not sure how her game will translate as pro against even bigger and taller opponents. Her fade away, use of glass and knack for finding the ball tells me she will be successful. She also looks as if she will keep working on expanding her range. The thing about Pheese is she is so controlled it's easy to miss what she does until you look at stat sheet.

And despite the points I have made about Gabby, if she continues to work on her offense I would think she has a high cieling. She lost some years to both injury and being on track in comparison to the others who played more and abroad before attending UConn.
 
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The AA awards rules are not set by UCONN, but the Huskies of Honor rules are. It's unfortunate that they tied the one to the other. I understand that as Geno explained they had to use some yardstick, but still it hurts when you consider the possibility that Kia (or one the others) might miss out on the recognition they deserve in their own gym.
 
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The AA awards rules are not set by UCONN, but the Huskies of Honor rules are. It's unfortunate that they tied the one to the other. I understand that as Geno explained they had to use some yardstick, but still it hurts when you consider the possibility that Kia (or one the others) might miss out on the recognition they deserve in their own gym.
If there were a "Boneyard Huskies of Honor," every player who ever started on a UCONN team would be on it. If everyone goes up on the wall then it loses its meaning. I like the HOH rule - the player must be recognized by the WBCA, not just by UConn fans.
 
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Each of these players are excellent and brings needed positives to the team. They are all essential. The goal for UConn is for all four of them to play great every night. For the most part they have done that.

I did not base my vote entirely on stats. I also did not base my vote on who has the best chance of being named All American. I looked at the nomination by the team as the (first) honor and asked: "Who deserves that honor."

For me Katie Lou and Napheesa are the no-brainers. They are the offensive glue. They have performed every game. Katie Lou's offensive game is at All American status and the rest of her game is getting better and better. Napheesa is one of the best all around players in the country. She scores, she defends and blocks shots, she rebounds. I cannot imagine how these two don't get the nod. These two are the only two on the team who can consistently score even when they are guarded (as opposed to hitting the open shot). Napheesa is the best at this. If you give her the ball in the low block she will score. She doesn't need a screen or to be left wide open. She will score no matter what.

So for me it came down to Kia and Gabby. Kia's offensive numbers are slightly better but in every other way Gabby is more important to the team. Her defense is essential (we have no one else who can guard the centers as effectively), she leads the teams in assists, she blocks shots, she had great energy and appears to be a team leader. I think we should not underestimate the physical pounding she absorbs every game from much bigger players. I don't think Gabby would be voted All American because the voters will focus on her scoring average. But in my view, she deserves the honor of the nomination from the team in recognition of her outstanding, selfless play.

So I voted, Gabby, Katie Lou and Napheesa.

Completely disagree and have noticed that you have a similar thought in your posts. Gabby is the more rounded player in the paint as she can score over stronger players, she is the best defender on the team and unlike Collier can make the passes which gets Collier her open looks at the basket. KLS is a no brainer she is the most skilled offensively, a great passer, plays good defense being able to switch on any player especially with Williams, is the first scout by the opposing teams, and along with Williams garners double teams, from which they both can make the right decisions to get to the open player. If you add in Nurse who spreads the defense with her shooting and driving ability, defense specialist, you have 3 players whom without, there would be no open lanes or 1 on 1 mismatches in the paint.
 
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Completely disagree and have noticed that you have a similar thought in your posts. Gabby is the more rounded player in the paint as she can score over stronger players, she is the best defender on the team and unlike Collier can make the passes which gets Collier her open looks at the basket. KLS is a no brainer she is the most skilled offensively, a great passer, plays good defense being able to switch on any player especially with Williams, is the first scout by the opposing teams, and along with Williams garners double teams, from which they both can make the right decisions to get to the open player. If you add in Nurse who spreads the defense with her shooting and driving ability, defense specialist, you have 3 players whom without, there would be no open lanes or 1 on 1 mismatches in the paint.
I generally don't go back and forth in threads. I chose to state my position and read when others state their, sometimes contrary, views. But since you called me out specifically ....

I love Gabby's game. Gabby has excellent passing skills but mostly they don't get Collier her open looks. Collier gets open and Gabby's is excellent at getting the ball to her. This may sound like semantics but it is not. I suggest you look at the games and focus on Collier before she gets the ball. She battles and fights for position. She understands angles to the passer, she "shows her numbers" in a way that gives a lane for passes. She is great at holding the defender off with her arm or backside creating space and a lane for the pass. Sometimes that lane is very small and that is where Gabby's passing is so crucial. Collier has great timing for when to work for position in relation to where the ball is on the floor. She then is great at turning her numbers to the person with the ball. She signals by raising her hand -- and by the way, please note the positioning of her hand, she doesn't just stick it straight up but usually angles it to a free space, quite subtle but excellent, and that tells the passer where the pass should be made. Many of Collier's points come when she is covered and uses an array of moves to create space (including a great fade-away move) to get her shot off. Collier gets few screens set for her to break her free. This is not to mention her rebounds and put-backs.

By the way, KLS doesn't play in the post (mostly) and rarely switches onto the person Williams is guarding. She plays the wing defensively (when they are playing man-to-man defense). Collier is in the blocks defensively with Williams (mostly). Which is part of the reason why Collier averages 3.7 rebounds a game more than KLS (but also because Collier is a great rebounder). If you look at the SMU game, KLS was not asked to guard either one of the post players who were 6'3" and 6'5". That job fell to Williams and Collier (and Butler). I watched that game again and did not see one defensive set where KLS guarded either one of them (or switched with Gabby for that matter).

You are also wrong if you think that Gabby is garnering double teams. Again, rewatching the SMU game that rarely happened. That rarely happens in any game for any UConn player. That is the beauty of the construction of this team with scoring from 5 players. That is not to say that when a UConn player gets the ball in good scoring position and is open a second player may not run to her or the zone doesn't collapse creating open shots for other players. But teams don't double down immediately on Gabby when the ball goes to her in the post or at the top of the key. When teams play man-to-man. It just doesn't happen.

I will say again I love Gabby's game but if you think she is a more "rounded' or skilled offensive player than Collier you are just wrong again. First you are statistically wrong ... and not by a little. Collier leads in scoring average (19.3 to 11.9), field goal percentage (65% to 53% both really good), 3-pt field goal percentage (41% to 25% on small sample sizes) and free throw percentage (79% to 70%). You might say that is because Collier takes more shots and she does. But she only averages 2.75 more shots a game but averages 7.4 points more. Beyond statistics, Collier just has more moves and a great "go to" move at this point. I think that Gabby's offensive game will continue to grow but right now Collier is more well "rounded" offensively.

I think the Core Four are amazing and bring something essential to this winning team. If I had to pick three, which is what this post asks, I still say KLS, Collier and Gabby.
 
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You know, Lou playing guard at 6'3" with a mature, diverse, but still improving offensive game jumps out. By the time she leaves UConn her defense will be even better not that it's bad now, just not as impactful as the other two. I can see Lou being an allstar at the 2 or 3.

Pheese is harder to pin because not sure how her game will translate as pro against even bigger and taller opponents. Her fade away, use of glass and knack for finding the ball tells me she will be successful. She also looks as if she will keep working on expanding her range. The thing about Pheese is she is so controlled it's easy to miss what she does until you look at stat sheet.

And despite the points I have made about Gabby, if she continues to work on her offense I would think she has a high cieling. She lost some years to both injury and being on track in comparison to the others who played more and abroad before attending UConn.

So you think Kia will be a better pro than Gabby?
 
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So you think Kia will be a better pro than Gabby?

I think Gabby has more potential at the next level purely based on being a (type of) world class track and field athlete. Her defense is game changing and will translate at the next level. I believe it to be better than Kia's in the sense that she creates turnovers and is more impactful on making plays on players she is not guarding, meaning blocks and steals. Again Kia is solid but her ceiling is not as high. She will also be able to rebound well from the 2/3, meaning in comparison to numbers for those positions.

On the offensive side I have made comments on other threads on Gabby's lack of offensive skill set, and I dont' care how high she can jump, at the next level you are talking about the Briana, Stokes, Griner, etc... and its more about positioning so her making a living on just the inside as a 4/5 is not gonna happen. She really needs a better repertoire. The last game I do not think she scored on anything but a layup, and most times that is the case with either one or two jump shots from foul line. I would guess three outside shots in a game is her high. That upsets some folks when I said that but its the truth. It might be me but when is the last time you saw her hit a baseline jumper or pull-up on a drive? She does have a one hand jump shot in the lane that I see sometimes too. She doesn't necessarily need to be a 3pt specialist but she needs to be able to hit from mid-range more consistently and from more spots on the floor. She also needs a pull up jumper so when she does drive she can have the option to stop and shoot, and not have it contested at the rim against the 4/5 at the next level.

I think Gabby will be drafted higher but Kia may get more play time early on because she is just a bit more well rounded for the 2 position. Obviously after the first couple games she has shown consistent shooting from all over the floor. She can hit from three, mid-range and does often show a pull-up jumper. I just do not know how explosive she will be at next level which can limit her from role player to a solid starter. They both are good passers.

The one thing about Gabby is I think people think because she has the most assists she is the best passer, it may not occur to them that since she has less ways to score she will pass it more often as the ball moves around the offense. i.e. When Lou has any breathing room its going up unless they are running a play for someone or Geno wants X amount of touches before a shot. The game Kia had 30+ points could Gabby have that kind of night meaning when she is open nail all those outside shots (even if they were not from 3 point range?) She would be passing the ball to someone else which includes all the great finishers UConn has that helps pile up the assists. All that to say Kia is just as good a passer which will be an asset for both of them.

Good news is they are both hard working, fearless, unselfish and intelligent players so I think it will not take long for them to make a positive impact.
 
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I generally don't go back and forth in threads. I chose to state my position and read when others state their, sometimes contrary, views. But since you called me out specifically ....

I love Gabby's game. Gabby has excellent passing skills but mostly they don't get Collier her open looks. Collier gets open and Gabby's is excellent at getting the ball to her. This may sound like semantics but it is not. I suggest you look at the games and focus on Collier before she gets the ball. She battles and fights for position. She understands angles to the passer, she "shows her numbers" in a way that gives a lane for passes. She is great at holding the defender off with her arm or backside creating space and a lane for the pass. Sometimes that lane is very small and that is where Gabby's passing is so crucial. Collier has great timing for when to work for position in relation to where the ball is on the floor. She then is great at turning her numbers to the person with the ball. She signals by raising her hand -- and by the way, please note the positioning of her hand, she doesn't just stick it straight up but usually angles it to a free space, quite subtle but excellent, and that tells the passer where the pass should be made. Many of Collier's points come when she is covered and uses an array of moves to create space (including a great fade-away move) to get her shot off. Collier gets few screens set for her to break her free. This is not to mention her rebounds and put-backs.

By the way, KLS doesn't play in the post (mostly) and rarely switches onto the person Williams is guarding. She plays the wing defensively (when they are playing man-to-man defense). Collier is in the blocks defensively with Williams (mostly). Which is part of the reason why Collier averages 3.7 rebounds a game more than KLS (but also because Collier is a great rebounder). If you look at the SMU game, KLS was not asked to guard either one of the post players who were 6'3" and 6'5". That job fell to Williams and Collier (and Butler). I watched that game again and did not see one defensive set where KLS guarded either one of them (or switched with Gabby for that matter).

You are also wrong if you think that Gabby is garnering double teams. Again, rewatching the SMU game that rarely happened. That rarely happens in any game for any UConn player. That is the beauty of the construction of this team with scoring from 5 players. That is not to say that when a UConn player gets the ball in good scoring position and is open a second player may not run to her or the zone doesn't collapse creating open shots for other players. But teams don't double down immediately on Gabby when the ball goes to her in the post or at the top of the key. When teams play man-to-man. It just doesn't happen.

I will say again I love Gabby's game but if you think she is a more "rounded' or skilled offensive player than Collier you are just wrong again. First you are statistically wrong ... and not by a little. Collier leads in scoring average (19.3 to 11.9), field goal percentage (65% to 53% both really good), 3-pt field goal percentage (41% to 25% on small sample sizes) and free throw percentage (79% to 70%). You might say that is because Collier takes more shots and she does. But she only averages 2.75 more shots a game but averages 7.4 points more. Beyond statistics, Collier just has more moves and a great "go to" move at this point. I think that Gabby's offensive game will continue to grow but right now Collier is more well "rounded" offensively.

I think the Core Four are amazing and bring something essential to this winning team. If I had to pick three, which is what this post asks, I still say KLS, Collier and Gabby.
Again I completely disagree, all the players switch on defense at Uconn, who guards who is not an issue unless Geno decides that there is a player on the other team that needs special attention when he goes to Williams or Nurse. Yes Williams and Collier usually play closer to the basket as both Nurse and KLS are playing guards spots because of their skills. KLS has shown she can easily post but she has skills that the other players don't on the perimeter that opens the floor for them. When KLS posts the question is who passes the ball, the only other good post passer is Williams, so you see Collier benefits from the skills of both Williams and KLS along with Nurse on the perimeter and Chong, not the other way around. Collier is open as she is the third or fourth option of the defense or you are saying every coach that Uconn has played against is an idiot;)
 

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