"A Quick Point Guard’s Unconventional Path to UConn"

[punchjur]

From today's New York Times: "A Quick Point Guard’s Unconventional Path to UConn," by Tim Casey.

 

[meyers7]

Cool. Didn't realize her family went to Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. The head pastor there, Dr Tony Evans is a great speaker.

 

[JoePgh]

She met Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi on an unofficial trip to UConn??

Call the NCAA!

 

[MilfordHusky]

The 7th grader written up in the New York Times. Good for Moriah! She's really, really, really good.

 

[UcMiami]

The 7th grader written up in the New York Times. Good for Moriah! She's really, really, really good.

Milford - nothing personal because a lot of folks use this 'name' for Moriah, but ...

Moriah is a young woman of 20 and while she is not as tall, as muscular, or as large boned as her teammates or many of the players she plays against, she is a junior in college. I know calling her a '7th grader' is meant as an endearment, but I am not sure she would appreciate it and it does offend me a little. Not sure how others feel about this on the board, or how her friends/family feel about it.

I'll shut up about this now.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Wow, you hear about players shooting hundreds of thousands of shots in their teenage years like Larry Bird and KML to work themselves into proficient shooters, but here's a player who dribbled the basketball while watching television to hone her skills. It really makes you appreciate how the players you watch on the court just got to be so damned good and why they can do things that defy belief. And you know MoJeff will never stop refining her stuff.

 

[HistoryMajor]

I love it when MoJet skies for a rebound. And even better is when she blocks a shot!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Milford - nothing personal because a lot of folks use this 'name' for Moriah, but ...

Moriah is a young woman of 20 and while she is not as tall, as muscular, or as large boned as her teammates or many of the players she plays against, she is a junior in college. I know calling her a '7th grader' is meant as an endearment, but I am not sure she would appreciate it and it does offend me a little. Not sure how others feel about this on the board, or how her friends/family feel about it.

I'll shut up about this now.

I think you know I meant it in an endearing way. She's always going to look young. I love it when she takes games over and tells the best player in the country what to do.

I saw her walk by me in the hotel in New Orleans in 2013, and she was a very attractive young woman. She is about average size relative to the overall female population.

I love Moriah and her game.

 

[connboy77]

Mo is one of my favorite UCONN players current and past. She is the best point guard in the country and brings so much to the table. Thank god we have one more year to watch her play and help bring another championship to UCONN.

 

[UcMiami]

I think you know I meant it in an endearing way. She's always going to look young. I love it when she takes games over and tells the best player in the country what to do.

I saw her walk by me in the hotel in New Orleans in 2013, and she was a very attractive young woman. She is about average size relative to the overall female population.

I love Moriah and her game.

Milford - absolute! I know that you and everyone else that uses the '7th grade' or other equivalent moniker for Moriah is doing it from love and appreciation for her skills and game and personality.

Just for me and I suspect some others, while 'funny' and 'endearing', it also is slightly disrespectful. For a lot of young people, being told that they look younger than they are is not a compliment - one of my best friends in HS fumed for weeks about a comment made by a person casting a play that he looked too young for a role. And watching friends older than me get carded at bars for years after they were 'legal' caused resentment towards me who was not always 'legal' but did not get carded.

And people shorter than their peers do not always enjoy that fact being pointed out.

Again - never questioned your motive, just wanted people to consider refraining from that particular moniker for Moriah and its possible negative connotations.

 

[meyers7]

I know calling her a '7th grader' is meant as an endearment, but I am not sure she would appreciate it

She'll love it when she's 40.

 

[Zorro]

The 7th grader written up in the New York Times. Good for Moriah! She's really, really, really good.

I hate to quibble, Milford, but you left out at least one "really".

 

[Zorro]

Milford - nothing personal because a lot of folks use this 'name' for Moriah, but ...

Moriah is a young woman of 20 and while she is not as tall, as muscular, or as large boned as her teammates or many of the players she plays against, she is a junior in college. I know calling her a '7th grader' is meant as an endearment, but I am not sure she would appreciate it and it does offend me a little. Not sure how others feel about this on the board, or how her friends/family feel about it.

I'll shut up about this now.

I think that Milford was referring back to Geno's comment that MoJet "looked like she just escaped from Jr. High". Take a deep breath and try to relax. It's banter.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Moriah is exhilarating to watch...she'll thrive in the WNBA on showmanship alone, and not the forced kind...just the WOW kind...

 

[Striper69]

From today's New York Times: "A Quick Point Guard’s Unconventional Path to UConn," by Tim Casey.

Cool story. I was wondering about the "home schooled" thing.

 

[ctkaiser]

According to the Courant article today Moriah is an emerging star. I've never seen a 2nd team all American described as an emerging star. Just imagine how good she will be when she's done emerging!

 

[UcMiami]

Cool story. I was wondering about the "home schooled" thing.

I really believe in public schools, but I admit there are some truly dreadful ones in this country and home schooling if possible when located within the catchment for one of those is a very good option.

I used to work for a group that brought artists into elementary schools throughout the south Bronx. A few of those schools were incredibly (and very surprisingly) good, but a majority were run like prisons and surrounded by burnt out buildings. And it isn't just inner city schools that are terrible, many in suburban and rural areas are equally bad. A blot on our society that we cannot do better.

Zorro - agree and remember Geno's comment though that was a while ago, and I don't think he would make that comment today.

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Milford - nothing personal because a lot of folks use this 'name' for Moriah, but ...

Moriah is a young woman of 20 and while she is not as tall, as muscular, or as large boned as her teammates or many of the players she plays against, she is a junior in college. I know calling her a '7th grader' is meant as an endearment, but I am not sure she would appreciate it and it does offend me a little. Not sure how others feel about this on the board, or how her friends/family feel about it.

I'll shut up about this now.

Whenever someone I'm watching a game with comments on how short she is, I point out that she's taller than I am, and I'm taller than most of the women I watch games with.

 

[meyers7]

Whenever someone I'm watching a game with comments on how short she is, I point out that she's taller than I am, and I'm taller than most of the women I watch games with.

She's listed at 5-7. Avg female height is 5-5. So she's above avg.

 

[MilfordHusky]

She's listed at 5-7. Avg female height is 5-5. So she's above avg.

I'm not sure that Mo is 5'7". I saw her in a nice dress and flats. She looked like maybe 5'6". On the court, she looks short and tiny; in person, she looks cute and average sized.

 

[msf22b]

Agree
I never thought she was anywhere close to 5'7"
My wife who has a much, much better sense of perspective than I, thinks I'm full of crap (with regard this matter).

 

[jimazee]

Regardless of her height, she has a big heart and is a pleasure to watch.

She does stuff I go back and replay in "slow -"Mo"" just to see how she DID that.

 

[meyers7]

I'm not sure that Mo is 5'7". I saw her in a nice dress and flats. She looked like maybe 5'6". On the court, she looks short and tiny; in person, she looks cute and average sized.

Agree
I never thought she was anywhere close to 5'7"
My wife who has a much, much better sense of perspective than I, thinks I'm full of crap (with regard this matter).

Listed.

 

[alexrgct]

"Jefferson traveled to Connecticut for the first time in September 2010 when she watched the United States women’s national basketball team play Australia in an exhibition game in Hartford."

I was at that game and wrote about it on Facebook...and later posted it here!

http://the-boneyard.com/threads/when-my-daughter-became-a-fan-of-basketball.70832/

 

[msf22b]

I was too, Alex
Remember thinking (and writing) that Kara deserved a shot
very productive that afternoon and on the court practicing her shot way before anyone else.