Bria...

[DaddyChoc]

she looked great against Idaho, hopefully she continues to impact the game. I'm glad Geno stuck with her the whole time, great coaching!

 

[Kibitzer]

DC, I wish you had let it go at "Idaho." The remaining verbiage may elicit dissenting comment from our resident "experts."

Reminds me of a story about the great composer, Igor Stravinsky. Here goes:

Billy Rose [Broadway impressario] commissioned a piece from Stravinsky for a NY revue in 1945. On opening night he cabled the composer:​

​

YOUR MUSIC GREAT SUCCESS STOP COULD BE SENSATIONAL SUCESS IF YOU WOULD AUTHORIZE ROBERT RUSSELLL BENNETT ORCHESTRATION STOP BENNETT ORCHESTRATES EVEN THE WORKS OF COLE PORTER STOP​

​

Stravinsky replied:​

​

SATISFIED WITH GREAT SUCCESS​

​

[DC, Tongue in cheek and all in fun, OK?]

​

​

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Bria looked faster and stronger to me, right from the get go.

 

[bruinbball]

I am sure the rest really helped.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Bria proved herself to me a long time ago...I'm looking forward to a great tournament for her...

 

[DaddyChoc]

Kib I get your style... love ya Big Fella!

 

[Husky68]

Yeah, Bria the Vandals killer. Still can't dribble. She is a sidekick not a superhero, needs a Tiff or Maya to get to the basket so she is open for the pass on switches and double teams. Having Doty as her sidekick just doesn't/didn't work and having Banks for two years and MJ for one year not get playing time as ball handlers/drivers was a big coaching error.
Hartley has never been able to dribble or been strong with the ball, she has made her mark by making shots.

 

[CCinCT]

she looked great against Idaho, hopefully she continues to impact the game. I'm glad Geno stuck with her the whole time, great coaching!

In my mind, the Bria we saw vs. Idaho is the key to our 8th NC. (Assuming all else is equal she will put us over the top).

 

[Kibitzer]

Yeah, Bria the Vandals killer. Still can't dribble. She is a sidekick not a superhero, needs a Tiff or Maya to get to the basket so she is open for the pass on switches and double teams. Having Doty as her sidekick just doesn't/didn't work and having Banks for two years and MJ for one year not get playing time as ball handlers/drivers was a big coaching error.
Hartley has never been able to dribble or been strong with the ball, she has made her mark by making shots.

You have been consistent and relentless in your criticisms of Bria ("can't dribble") and Geno ("bad coaching"). I do not share your views but I see no sense in getting into a rude back-and-forth with you. So I won't.

This UConn team will go only as far as Bria and Geno (in their respective roles) take them. There are no two counterparts of theirs that I would rather have. Let's see how it plays out.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Husky68...you see what happens when you ignore my advice and skip the nap!

 

[Tonyc]

IMO we are peaking at the right time. Saturdays game showed me we have confidence. Kiah MoJeff Tuck all looked very confident after a few minutes in the game. Bria had the arc on her shot back and that little bounce in her step just before letting her shot go. As the tourney continues I see us continuing to get better. I surely hope the injuries and flu are over with. Firing on all cylinders will make UConn a very very tuff out. Just thinking about tonites game with Bria and Breanna hitting shots and Kiah and Morgan and MoJeff doing their thing makes for a great dream. Tonites a big nite as we move forward to Bridgeport next weekend.

 

[OneTrickPony]

You have been consistent and relentless in your criticisms of Bria ("can't dribble") and Geno ("bad coaching"). I do not share your views but I see no sense in getting into a rude back-and-forth with you. So I won't.

This UConn team will go only as far as Bria and Geno (in their respective roles) take them. There are no two counterparts of theirs that I would rather have. Let's see how it plays out.

Amen, brother...!

 

[OneTrickPony]

Yeah, Bria the Vandals killer. Still can't dribble. She is a sidekick not a superhero, needs a Tiff or Maya to get to the basket so she is open for the pass on switches and double teams. Having Doty as her sidekick just doesn't/didn't work and having Banks for two years and MJ for one year not get playing time as ball handlers/drivers was a big coaching error.
Hartley has never been able to dribble or been strong with the ball, she has made her mark by making shots.

I'm keeping my Bria Super-Hero poster up...

 

[JoePgh]

I share nearly everyone's disagreement with Husky68's main themes, but I will give him credit to this extent: If Brianna Banks were still healthy when Geno finally decided that Caroline had to sit, I think she should and would have been Caroline's replacement in the starting lineup (rather than Breanna). With the current starting lineup (Stef - Breanna - KML - Kelly - Bria), one feature that is lacking is penetration to the basket. It's true that MoJeff would provide that, but at the cost of a lot of poor decision-making (understandable given her level of experience). I think that at the time of her injury, Brianna was just reaching the point where her decision-making and defense could be trusted, and of course she would provide the penetration that the current lineup does not deliver.

But given Breanna's sudden rediscovery of her talent, it's open to question whether UConn would be better off if that had happened. If BBanks had started and taken the majority of Caroline's minutes, we (and the coaching staff) might never have observed BStew's re-emergence. And it's possible that BStew will help us more to achieve a national title than BBanks would have.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I don't think that Auriemma had any other options than to play Hartley. A healthy Banks at PG would have allowed Hartley to play in her natural position. Had she not been forced to play PG her return to form might have been a lot quicker.

 

[JoePgh]

On further reflection, I think that my previous post was unjustly dismissive of the penetration capabilities of both Kelly and Bria. The reason Bria has not penetrated this year as she did in the past is that her jump shot has been inaccurate, so defenders can play off of her to stop the drive. If the jump shot returns, she will get the tight coverage that will allow her to penetrate either with or without the ball. She can do that quite successfully, and has in the past. Haven't you noticed her acrobatic layups at the end of drives?

Kelly also has the ability to penetrate and to dribble through traffic. Among the many things she does, that is not something that she does frequently, and the offense does not seem to focus on providing her with opportunities to do it. But I remember in a few Georgetown games in past years, when Bria clearly did not want to handle the ball in the midst of the Georgetown press, Kelly would do so steadily and successfully. I think by now Bria is more confident and more capable in doing that -- not that she doesn't have her pocket picked more than she should.

I am not saying that either Bria or Kelly can do the driving thing as well as BBanks could have, and Bria probably cannot defend big guards as well as BBanks could have. But even with the current starting lineup, opponents would not be well advised to overplay UConn's backcourt, unless they want to watch a layup line.

 

[msf22b]

DC, I wish you had let it go at "Idaho." The remaining verbiage may elicit dissenting comment from our resident "experts."

Reminds me of a story about the great composer, Igor Stravinsky. Here goes:

Billy Rose [Broadway impressario] commissioned a piece from Stravinsky for a NY revue in 1945. On opening night he cabled the composer:​

​

YOUR MUSIC GREAT SUCCESS STOP COULD BE SENSATIONAL SUCESS IF YOU WOULD AUTHORIZE ROBERT RUSSELLL BENNETT ORCHESTRATION STOP BENNETT ORCHESTRATES EVEN THE WORKS OF COLE PORTER STOP​

​

Stravinsky replied:​

​

SATISFIED WITH GREAT SUCCESS​

​

___________________________





Kib

Love the piece, love the story; told to me by Robert Craft who conducted the orchestra I founded in a
wonderful recording of the work, Scene de Ballet.


PS. How can anyone criticize the emergence of Bria and what it took to get to this point?

 

[doggydaddy]

Yeah, Bria the Vandals killer. Still can't dribble. She is a sidekick not a superhero, needs a Tiff or Maya to get to the basket so she is open for the pass on switches and double teams. Having Doty as her sidekick just doesn't/didn't work and having Banks for two years and MJ for one year not get playing time as ball handlers/drivers was a big coaching error.
Hartley has never been able to dribble or been strong with the ball, she has made her mark by making shots.

This "she can't dribble" or "not strong with the ball" stuff is just bull.

Her assist to turn over ratio belies that and she is very strong with the ball. She also has an excellent pull up jumper.

Don't be surprised if she has a Montgomery type tourney.

 

[doggydaddy]

msf,
If you put your words outside of the end quote, it's easier to know what you wrote and what the person you quoted wrote.

Thanks.

 

[MikeBraddock]

Yeah, Bria the Vandals killer. Still can't dribble. She is a sidekick not a superhero, needs a Tiff or Maya to get to the basket so she is open for the pass on switches and double teams. Having Doty as her sidekick just doesn't/didn't work and having Banks for two years and MJ for one year not get playing time as ball handlers/drivers was a big coaching error.
Hartley has never been able to dribble or been strong with the ball, she has made her mark by making shots.

 

[MikeBraddock]

Yeah, the Vandals never found the handles!

 

[jsloanjr]

I think

I am sure the rest really helped.

Bria is finally healthy this year........

 

[concerned143]

Bria will be pushed and checked harder and tighter in each of the next three games. If her ball handling and leadership stays at the level as the Idaho game she'll be ready for the final four

 

[OneTrickPony]

Bria will be pushed and checked harder and tighter in each of the next three games. If her ball handling and leadership stays at the level as the Idaho game she'll be ready for the final four

Her handling against Vandy looked first class...especially on the break...