In this as in many other threads, a lot of folks are not being very precise when they use words like "quick", "fast", "fitness", "speed" etc. Obviously in casual conversation a lot of these terms can be easily conflated depending on the topic and there is no harm done.
However, the opposite is often true here on the BY.
Reasons being: (1) people are obviously very passionate about the team, the players and the game itself; and (2) many discussions go into great detail about this play or that, this video or that, specific match ups where we see players do this or that against each other, etc. Posters often (not always) get into arguments because they are talking past each other wrt the terms above.
Lateral quickness and even forward quickness (acceleration) are both different than raw sprinting speed. Players may possess some or all in various measure compared to other players.
Example: Maya is not at the top end for lateral quickness at her position. At all. She sometimes compensates by keeping an extremely wide base in her defensive stance. She has much better--but not elite--acceleration in her first step because her strides are very long and powerful. Where she is elite is in her speed once she has taken a step or two because her lower body is so incredibly strong and explosive. In her case, this also translates into elite leaping ability. Fitness for Maya has always been a strong point, and by this I mean the endurance necessary to play a ton of minutes on the floor while performing at a high level. However, even though Maya was always very fit, she still wanted to increase her quickness and agility to better compete at the pro level so she altered her diet and training before the 2013 WNBA season (IIRC), resulting in about a 10-12 lb weight loss and a more agile frame. For an already elite body, this was a big accomplishment. A simple argument about "fitness" would miss the point almost entirely because Maya was very fit both before and after the weight loss. This was a body change. KML will probably need to do something similar, in a way that works for her own body, to be more agile at the WNBA level. I think she'll make real changes but it will take a little while. She's got great hands and good footwork to go with natural scoring ability, so she will be fine in time. She'll get there.
When we talk about "fitness" vs lateral quickness, top-end speed, leaping ability, strength, forward acceleration, etc. blah blah blah, we have to keep in mind as we indulge in multi-page threads and dozens of posts, these things are actually very distinct attributes, even if athletic players like the ones UCONN is typically blessed with often possess many of them in abundance.
Just as another example, Morgan has *very* good lateral quickness and quick feet for a forward, so she can cover 3s and even shooting guards pretty well most of the time on the perimeter. Around the rim, her leaping ability is not great, so she rebounds through positioning, tenacity and a fair bit of strength. Kia has very good lateral quickness (IMO) as well, as does Gabby, who also possesses an other-worldly vertical leap as we all have seen. Gabby's speed traits are similar to Maya's -- she has longer strides with exceptional power but it takes her a split second longer to get moving when compared to a small explosive body like Moriah's. Mo possesses that rare combo of outstanding vertical leap/explosion, outstanding lateral quickness and lightning-fast forward acceleration in the first step, with very good sprinting speed. Once Gabby is in motion she has excellent top-end speed; I'd love to see her in a 60 m dash against Moriah. I'd give it to Mo in the first 30 m but I wonder if Gabby wouldn't catch up and go by her toward the end.
