An Elephant in the Head

[diggerfoot]

Al Maquire made a comment that became a famous quote among Husky fandom. In observing the tenacious defense of Ricky Moore and the impact it had on opponents he described it has having "an elephant in the head." We've seen some of that from Faris this year. The recent game with Hrynko brought that to focus for me. After a few days lapse I might be extrapolating a bit ... I have a hard time recalling the details from yesterday ... but here's what (I think) I observed.

At the very beginning Hrynko was hesitant with the ball, passing it up quickly on the perimeter rather than try to make a play. To my eye, just the reputation of Faris got in her head a bit ... this would make sense in light of Bruno's pregrame comment bemoaning the fact of the impact Faris could have on their one great offensive threat with Martin on the bench. Bruno probably could be faulted for being a little too honest there.

When Faris went out Hrynko immediately sought to take it to the hole, getting fouled and some foul shots in the mix. When Faris came back Hrynko continued to be a little more aggressive but without much success. At that point the "elephant in the head" really occurred. Sure, Faris made things difficult, but even when Hrynko had her opportunities she sort of fell apart on her own accord. Towards the end of the game I was feeling sorry for her.

This has become a microcosm of UConn's overall impact. How many times have we heard that sometimes our opponents are defeated before they even step out on the court? Now as an individual player Faris has her own little "Griner effect" going on, and national media is helping us along with this.

The only problem is that players like McBride refuse to read the intimidation memo. I believe Faris can and will do a better job on McBride next time around, but we know she won't fall apart like Hrynko, or even the way Thomas of Maryland did. I think molding players like this is one of McGraw's strengths as a coach.

Just my casual thoughts.

 

[attaboy]

Agreed. Some players beat themselves and some players challenge themselves. Mcbride looks to be challenged.

 

[bruinbball]

Gray looked beaten.

 

[Scotter]

McBride doesn't get intimitaded, but part of why Kelly didn't guard McBride well is that she wasn't even on McBride because UConn was pressing. Much of the damage came from the press getting broken or transition where Kelly never even had the opportunity to matchup with McBride.

 

[UConnCat]

McBride doesn't get intimitaded, but part of why Kelly didn't guard McBride well is that she wasn't even on McBride because UConn was pressing. Much of the damage came from the press getting broken or transition where Kelly never even had the opportunity to matchup with McBride.

McBride made 10 baskets against UConn and no more than 3 of those baskets were scored with Kelly guarding her one-on-one in the half-court. I say no more than 3 because there is one of McBride's baskets that I didn't see in the highlights I looked at. Scotter is correct; a few of McBride's baskets were scored in transition w/out Kelly guarding her. Of the 2 baskets McBride definitely scored against Kelly, one was a drive and pull-up jumper in which she did beat Kelly off the dribble and the other was a long 3-pointer.

 

[Icebear]

Kelly was still angry at herself over her defensive performance.

 

[grizz36]

If there's an elephant in the head, I'm going to move at least 10 urinals away!

 

[diggerfoot]

McBride doesn't get intimitaded, but part of why Kelly didn't guard McBride well is that she wasn't even on McBride because UConn was pressing. Much of the damage came from the press getting broken or transition where Kelly never even had the opportunity to matchup with McBride.

Hmm. Here are my premises.

Faris's defense gets in the head of the people she defends.
Faris's defense was not up to her usual standards against McBride.
Even Faris's usual standard for defense would not get into McBride's head regardless.

You refute the second premise, with an assist from UConnCat, based on points scored against Faris. Well, actually you simply state Faris wasn't even on McBride while UConnCat at least provided some quantifiable evidence that Faris did not guard McBride for most of her scoring, though on her for some. Icebear provided the evidence in support of my premise, Faris's well publicized declaration that she should have done a better job defending McBride.

Ah, quantifiable evidence in regards to scoring vs. Faris's self-evaluation. Sorry, I'll trust in Faris on this one for the second premise, though I also don't doubt that Faris overstated her case because she's a perfectionist. She knows better than us when she should have switched/hedged/covered/etc. on defensive possessions, and how those decisions related to McBride. My first premise would suggest that if only Faris guarded McBride the way she felt she was capable she could have got into her head and affect her performance ... even when she was not guarding her a la Hrynko some times in the second half. My third premise was meant to be critical of my first for the particular, I don't think you can get into McBride's head.

 

[jplotinus]

If there's an elephant in the head, I'm going to move at least 10 urinals away!

You beat me to it

 

[Icebear]

You beat me to it

Let's hope you can wait for Grizz's sake.