Chong--on the first game and last year.

[BroadwayVa]

Jim Fuller in NHRegister.com

Sorry I couldn't pull up just the site address .
Chong and Fuller speak of last year and Chong and Stewie the ONLY two to have scored 20 on Stanford
Last year-- a good read.
http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20...-role-undefined-heading-into-preseason-opener

 

[Kaizen]

Chong is a very low profile, quiet player. I really wish she can pick up her confidence, then, she can be a very good player for UConn....
http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20...-role-undefined-heading-into-preseason-opener

 

[Hoopdreams]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

 

[Bestiarius]

I say don't count Chong out. She's a member of the best team in the country and she has had the strength of character to stick it out. It doesn't sound like she's given up. Let's cheer her on, she deserves it.

 

[EricLA]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

LOL. Thank you Dr. Phil. Please let us know when you spoke with her and discovered all this terrific insight you have!

 

[msf22b]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

That's pretty strong stuff.

I remember musing aloud in 'Yard submissions a few seasons ago that Moriah might have been handled differently in her freshman year the better to have obtained the output that we have come to expect and love.

For that I was roundly criticized, almost run off the forum.

And you've gone farther than I would ever have.

Also fascinating is the lack of outrage and indignation at your post...Anyway the day is still young.

One query: Do you have any inside /non-public information with regard your claims? Even if you're unwilling to divulge sources, it would be interesting to know your reply to that.

 

[Bonpland]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

You may know things that we don't, but I hope you are wrong about her confidence being shattered. She can help this team. A sub who can shoot adds instant offense. She won't start, but I'd like to think that she will make some important contributions this year.

 

[j66kicker]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real.

She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

Inside scoop with Saniya and the coaching staff, or just a mind reader?

 

[SoCalCanine]

This is the same dude who, on the Men's Board said that Omar Calhoun would become a starter this year and then a first round NBA draft choice! I would take what he says with a shaker full of salt. One of those who says outrageous stuff to get a rise out of everyone, he is probably best ignored!

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

 

[JoePgh]

If Saniya looks at last year's events objectively, which I hope she can do by now, she should be able to acknowledge that nothing unjust happened to her after the Stanford game. She did play well offensively, but not defensively, and poor defense (not just by her) was the reason why UConn lost the game. By contrast, Kia Nurse, coming off the bench in that game, played effective defense except for getting into foul trouble.

Two weeks after that Stanford loss, Nurse was named the most outstanding player among the eight teams at the Florida Thanksgiving tournament, beating out Stewie and Moriah. From the team's perspective, replacing Saniya with Kia, and Kiah with Morgan, was definitely proven to be the right move.

Every competitor gets beat out sometimes -- a similar thing happened to Stewie in the middle of her freshman year. The good ones learn from the experience and come back stronger. The bad ones wallow in self-pity and persecution complexes.

I would like to think that Saniya is one of the good ones.

 

[alexrgct]

47%/37%/74% FG/3PG/FT shooting is nothing to sneeze at. Saniya could get incrementally better and be a real force from the floor. 50/40/80 would be terrific.

Her ATO ratio through two seasons is also just about 2:1.

In other words, I am confident Chong is only going to surge ahead.

 

[DaddyChoc]

what about the other poster (Kaizen) that mentioned her "confidence"... where is his/her PHD.
HoopDreams words were strong but no different than saying "get her confidence up."

How did her confidence go down... the game after the Stanford game?

 

[Monte]

If Saniya looks at last year's events objectively, which I hope she can do by now, she should be able to acknowledge that nothing unjust happened to her after the Stanford game. She did play well offensively, but not defensively, and poor defense (not just by her) was the reason why UConn lost the game. By contrast, Kia Nurse, coming off the bench in that game, played effective defense except for getting into foul trouble.

Two weeks after that Stanford loss, Nurse was named the most outstanding player among the eight teams at the Florida Thanksgiving tournament, beating out Stewie and Moriah. From the team's perspective, replacing Saniya with Kia, and Kiah with Morgan, was definitely proven to be the right move.

Every competitor gets beat out sometimes -- a similar thing happened to Stewie in the middle of her freshman year. The good ones learn from the experience and come back stronger. The bad ones wallow in self-pity and persecution complexes.

I would like to think that Saniya is one of the good ones.

Like your statement that the good ones learn from experience and come back stronger....let's hope Chong is a "good" one!

 

[Huskyhoops]

So is this "pick a player apart day?" Saniya basically plays behind Jefferson and there are few if any players in the country that could displace Jefferson at the point. Chong provided serviceable minutes in several games last year giving Moriah a rest and she certainly can't be faulted for effort. Every player on the roster would like to be a starter but that cannot be, so what's so bad about that? I certainly hope that she has a great year and can continue to do the best she can for the team.

 

[Geno-ista]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

She scored 20 and gave up 30. I like her a lot- great young lady. Defense is important at U Conn.

 

[2Husky]

She scored 20 and gave up 30. I like her a lot- great young lady. Defense is important at U Conn.

I really feel Soniya is very unfairly blamed for a lack of defense in that game, when the team as a whole was not good on defense. The help defense was non existent, posts were frequently out of position and racked up a lot of fouls as a result. Kaleena didn't stop anyone, and she shot a low percentage. If you are going to single out someone to blame I think it should be Moriah, she had 5 points, 0 steals and 3 turnovers, her only bright spot was the 6 assists. She was not the same Moriah we saw later in the year or even the previous year. Soniya on the other hand had 20 points, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. I think both Soniya and Moriah did about an equal (poor) job on defense (along with most everyone else), but Soniya had the offense that was desperately needed.

 

[Icebear]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

And we should trust your word, why?

 

[rvwsleep]

what about the other poster (Kaizen) that mentioned her "confidence"... where is his/her PHD.
HoopDreams words were strong but no different than saying "get her confidence up."

How did her confidence go down... the game after the Stanford game?

What ? First of all, the first quote was "pick up her confidence, then, she can be a very good player for UConn...." There's a world of difference between that and "Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now." The former provides hope and potential while the latter offers neither. You don't think there's a difference between those two quotes ?
The other point is that we will never know what Chong's ( And the team's) performances would have been like for sure if she had remained in the starting lineup. The Stanford game might very well have been her best offensive performance even if she had remained in the starting lineup. However, we do know how the team performed after the change in starting lineups.
The fact is that the coach saw things that he determined needed to be changed. He changed them and the team goes undefeated from that point on and wins a NC. Now he's is being castigated for that change ?
There are 2 years worth of game play to judge Chong's effectiveness. You tell me, which games are the norm and which ones are the anomalies ?
This thread brings up numerous questions.
How many think that Chong is a better player than Nurse ?
Does being in the starting lineup mean never being moved to being a substitute ?
Does the head coach have to wait until the season is lost to make changes ?
If Chong was "benched because he never really wanted her to start" ( I'm curious how hoopdreams KNOWS this ) then why start her to begin with ? With his record, it's not like he has to account for his strategy.
Just ridiculous.

 

[DaddyChoc]

no confidence... so she should just pack her bags and go back home.

how do we judge peoples confidence from sooooo far away. If Geno or Chong said it I understand but just throwing it out there cause she dont take a jumper that you thought she shouldve or turned the ball over is just a stretch.

Chong didnt even play and we're questioning her confidence... forget what HoopDreams say, unless he's connected to her!

the things we say about "our kids"

 

[Huskies Rule]

It would not have mattered if Saniya had scored 50 points against Stanford. Her poor defense was ultimately going to be her demise. That team's success was unquestionably predicated upon its defense. Period. Sure, they scored a lot last year- better than 89 points per game- but Geno knew DEFENSE would be the key to winning NC #10. The girls had one of their worst shooting games of the entire year at Maples, going 28-69 from the floor, a season's worst 11-30 from 3-point range, yet still put up 86 points and still lost by just 2 points in OT. Had the defense been better, and Geno was determined to fix it, it would have been no contest against Stanford. Only Stewie and Saniya had good offensive games. Moriah, Morgan Kaleena, Kia and Kiah all shot poorly, but I doubt that concerned Geno going forward as much as the poor defense did. The defense was always going to be the key to the Championship #10.

Put aside all the AAC games. In the meaningful, out-of-conference games that really mattered, UConn's defense laid a brutal smackdown on every opponent. That's why Coach made the roster changes he did after Stanford. (In spite of the team's poor play, 86 points should have been more than enough to put away the Tree.)

Here's what every ranked team managed to score against the best damn defense in WCBB:
- Notre Dame- 58 and 53 points!!
- DePaul- 64 pts.
- Duke- 52 pts.
- S.Carolina- 62 pts.
- Rutgers- 55 pts.
- Texas- 54 pts.
- Dayton- (and USF) 70 pts.
- Maryland- 58 pts.
----------------------------------------
Average points defense gave up- 58.4 per game vs. ranked opponents

Defense is why UConn won National Championship #10, and defense is the reason Saniya mostly sat the rest of the year.

As far as Geno 'crushing' Saniya's spirit/confidence...every kid coming to UConn knows how tough and relentlessly demanding Coach is- no surprise there. I really like Saniya, and I don't want to sound like I'm unfairly coming down on her. I think she can contribute significantly to this team, especially with so many minor dings occurring on the roster, but if you can't stand the heat in Geno's kitchen....

 

[Hoopdreams]

Check out Uconn stats in the semi finals and finals and you tell me how many minutes she got. You tell me if Geno didn't draw the line with her. He played her like she was a complete scrub. Chong is a realist. She loves the University, the team and her teammates. Geno never gave her a fair shot and made an excuse on the defensive end not to play her. Others played very little D in the Stanford game. He just made an excuse. Now, I have no problems with the move, as Nurse is clearly a better defender and more fearless. Chong has always played looking over her shoulders. Her margin for error was slim to none compared to others. I'm calling it like I see it. Geno has already moved on. No disrespect. College basketball is a business. Nothing personal.

 

[rvwsleep]

The more posts of yours that I read, the less I understand your position. If "Nurse is clearly a better defender and more fearless", (also a better shooter, look up the stats) and you "have no problems with the move" then why the vitriol ("Geno already destroyed her psyche.") directed at the coach ?
If you agree that Nurse is a better player and you don't have a problem with the move, why would Geno need an "excuse" to take her out of the starting line up ? Wouldn't he be doing a disservice to the rest of the team by leaving her in the starting lineup ?

 

[meyers7]

Geno already destroyed her psyche. She's too far gone now. Best player on floor against Stanford and benched because he never really wanted her to start. Let's keep it real. She's just going to enjoy her college life at Uconn as she loves the university. She's accepted the fact that she was in an uphill battle after the Stanford game last season. Lines were drawn.

So destroyed she averaged 19 minutes and 5.6 ppg. Playing behind the NL award winner. Yea, that seems pretty destroyed to me. She'll get plenty of playing time this year.

To the corner with you.

 

[Waquoit]

Chong just isn't a UConn level starting player. No amount of puffing up will change that. The "destroyed her confidence" charge is nonsense.

 

[cabbie191]

Hoopdreams: I don't see, based on Chong's quotes, the same lack of confidence (on both her part and the coaching staff) as your are finding.

As much as fans can like a student/athlete without really knowing them personally, I like Chong. I appreciate her demeanor and her effort on the court. I hope her skill set has improved from last year so that she has a chance to compete for meaningful minutes as a junior.