I don't think she'll ever recover. Witness the horrible games she's had since.
I don't think she'll ever recover. Witness the horrible games she's had since.
What!!???
She won't have to worry. With four other starters capable of 20-point games, any concentration on her opens up another supply of daggers.
Time to recover. I suspect Geno has long since lost any doubt about KLS's "heart," and I'll bet he has made sure she knows it, perhaps without saying it outright. Many of his public statements have indicated quite clearly what he thinks now.
Yes these boards are for discussion so...SERIOUSLY? Stewie in top 10???? So a 3 time player of the year, 4 time FF MVP is only in the top ten? How kind of you. She revolutionized how teams had to try to handle her. Yes she had talent (and very good talent) around her and so DID Taurasi, yet Stewie's teams were a juggernaut that no one thought they could beat. You did her a great disservice say "top 10". DT great player but not a slam dunk #1 either for UConn and definitely not a slam dunk as GOAT.
It's time to recover. Geno has stated publicly many times what he thinks of her now, and I'll bet he has communicated it to her clearly, although perhaps without saying it.
UConn played seven or eight top fifteen teams earlier this year and it seems to me that KLS showed herself pretty well. You talk about DT winning the MVP in the regionals and I don't recollect that (but it may be true). You do realize that in the regionals, most of the time you are playing at least a couple of games (if not more) against mediocre, at best, teams. A lot of UConn blowouts leading up to the Final Four attest to that. You must also remember that her horrific shooting in the semi-final game at the Final Four against Notre Dame was one of the most putrid exhibitions in the history of the Final Four. I realize she was only a freshman but it was dreadful by any standards. She couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and yet her cockiness had her lofting bad shot after bad shot after bad shot. I much prefer the quiet confidence of a player like KLS than the bombastic nature of someone like DT. She obviously was (is) a great player but I often felt that it was more about her and less about the team. Anything that would get her attention was in order (including that silly stuff punching that orange stanchion) and give me the Silent Assassin (KLS), every time. I respected (respect) her abilities but she is well down the line of my favorite Huskie women. She was one of those people who LEAST exemplified "the Huskie way", in my opinion.I don't agree with your points here and I don't think stats are going to prove anything. I can look at stats and could argue that Tamika Williams was overall a greater player than Morgan Tuck (which she wasn't). While she didn't average as many points, she had a higher fg%. Was a better rebounder. Had more steals. Tamika was the stopper both inside and outside within a range of quick guards/wings to power forwards.
DT in her frosh year got Most Outstanding in the Regional, didn't she? AT this point Lou needs to get something similar but D did this as a frosh.
**I don't have proof of this - I wish I could find it - you can choose not to believe me. But watch that play in 2001-2002 in the finals in which DT isolated and ended up fouling out Dales and wound up all but icing the game. The comment Geno made- which I can't find - which you don't have to believe me with is- Geno had said afterwards, to paraphrase "we could have run that isolation play anytime we wanted but that's not how we want to play." Basically I thought Geno was telling us-- I could have used DT to score whenever I wanted. OFC he didn't say that but it sounded almost like it. Anyhow - with championship on the line and with all the seniors -- Geno chose "an isolation play" in which DT was shooting poorly the entire game. That's how much confidence Geno had in her. While I'm sure he has a ton for Lou-- at this point in their careers -- DT took a final four team as a frosh in which they experienced a major injury in Shea of which DT had to become more of a weapon immediately after the Big East Tourney and DT was able ot turn on the lights immediately and wind up being Regional MVP.
Anyhow-- I do think it is possible Lou can be thought of among Stewie DT and Maya -- or in the Tina/Bird etc but it depends on what she does vs the elite tourney teams too. Not just the reg. season Tulanes. Meaning we got more to see especially tourney time-- this year!!!!
I just want to say that Breanna quite probably graduated from UConn as "probably" the most complete player in program history but that she wasn't nearly that for a good part of her time in Storrs. She was mediocre at best for two thirds of her freshman year and was still a somewhat weak defender and rebounder into her junior year. Inevitably she obviously excelled, particularly as a defensive player with her incredible wingspan devouring rebounds but more importantly intimidating anyone daring to try and penetrate the box. We are only two thirds of the way through KLS's sophomore year and what she is right now is pretty impressive, to say the least. Her defensive game is improving by the game and her ability to score in a variety of manners, is off the charts. I thought that KML had a beautiful shot and was amazing shooting the ball but the stroke of KLS is so amazing and so quick and deadly. We are so fortunate to have her. Tara must really be going buggy that she had the older two sisters (who were good) but lost out on the gold mine of the family.
I might suggest you think about the last 3 years that DT played and we won title without any player near as good as what Stewie had. This is not in any way denigrating Stewie but citing a freshman year one game does not make your case.DT could have scored 30 plus every game per Geno in his book but chose to set the record for assists and make her mediocre players better. Unquestionably the best pressure player ever not just my opinion
For Geno to throw out that DT could have scored 30 plus every game, it's just something he would say to note how special DT is, AFTER THE FACT. While she was playing, his praise wasn't as obvious and that's common with all his very special players. Do you think he really believes that she could score 30 points a game? In his system? No way! In some games she would but when she was having a bad shooting night (and she had them), she would have had to jack up a massive amount of shots to do so and do you think that he would have appreciated that. You could just use the fact that someone mentioned the other day about the record for most consecutive games with double digit scoring for the Huskies and guess WHO DIDN'T HAVE IT? DT did not have it so she obviously had games where she didn't light it up though I'm sure she contributed in some other way. I'm not saying she wasn't (or isn't) a great player but I think there's more than a few people who have a bit of a distorted opinion of her and think she has a Big S on her tee shirt beneath her team uniform. You're talking of the mediocre players that DT had? Is that what you'd call them? There are people on this board that have raved about the contributions of Maria Conlon often and Anne Strother and Barbara Turner weren't exactly chopped liver, were they? Didn't Wilnett Crockett save the day and allowed UConn to overcome and escape a UCLA win to enable them to win that championship when DT had another OFF Night. You can't have it both ways regarding Maria Conlon. The level of talent in 2003, 2004 throughout women's basketball wasn't nearly what it is today. How many special teams did you have in that era? Do you know what people now say about the New England Patriots? They talk this year about the fact that though Tom Brady is supposed to be so great, that more credit should go to the system that Bill Bellechik has put in place because when Brady was suspended the first four games, they still won 3 games without him against teams that were good enough that some thought they'd go 1-3 instead. Even then, the game they lost was primarily because their backup quarterback was hurt and their third string quarterback, a rookie, was playing with a torn ligament on his throwing hand. Maybe it's more the UConn system under Geno that should be given the credit for those championship seasons in DT's junior and senior year than DT's GREATNESS. Again, no one is saying she's not a great player but to the extent that she's the BOAT is based on her winning those two championships, after the TAASK class graduated. What about this years team that may win it all and actually go undefeated after losing the new 1, 2 and 3 players drafted by the WNBA???? Did either of her teams (after TAASK left) go undefeated or even close to it? I do not consider DT better than Stewie nor do I think she's better than Maya! I know there are a number of people who don't agree but I do believe there are others who support my view, thinking that either or both might actually be better than her. It isn't being disparaging because all three are special players in their own right. The only thing I'll concede is that DT is the most cocky (and probably arrogant) of the three.
I question that fact. How many MVP awards did she get in the post season, comparing her to Stewie? Obviously not nearly as many, right? Doesn't that suggest that Stewie was better under pressure and so good, in fact, that the games weren't nearly as close as Stewie. How many losses along the way in her junior and senior year? Those games were somehow meaningless to her where she didn't need to perform at her best. It's the feeling of superiority that you seem to give her that makes me continue to pursue this topic. She was a great player and your favorite player but I don't agree those last two titles somehow make her the preemptive best Huskie ever.