Clay Kallam picked ND to win it all | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Clay Kallam picked ND to win it all

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doggydaddy said:
I totally agree with you. I don't get what having a roster of 15 does for you depth wise unless 10 of your players are injured and you can stil field a team.

Take any team in the country and start with their weakest player. Work your way to the best on the roster and tell me how many players do you count before you find one as good as Chong. I guarantee you won't have 8 players left to count after that.
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Good way to look at it. I hope you are right.

I am still worried. maybe cautiously nervous is a better term.
 
Phil said:
Good way to look at it. I hope you are right.

I am still worried. maybe cautiously nervous is a better term.
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Injuries happen. What about this roster is any different than any other past UConn team in regards to being able to withstand a bad injury?

I hate that we even talk about it.
 
vowelguy said:
As I said above, just 9 players, 3 with significant question marks.

Until kiah shows she's willing to even look at the basket, let alone take a shot, she is not much of a factor.
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What?

Are you saying Kiah, on a team with Stewart, KML, Dolson, Hartley, etc has to SCORE to be a FACTOR?

I guess you don't value defense and rebounding.
 
UConn's roster is usually always around 11. But in that 11 there's usually 2 players who with all due respect would never see the light of day in a competitive game.

I really don't see how UConn's roster makes them any more or less vulnerable to an injury than other teams. Most teams go 7 players tops when it counts. If you lose a top 7 player or starter it will effect you. Whether you have 15 players on your roster or 9. All of UConn's top 9 are capable and able to contribute. To include Chong as a question mark simply because she is a freshman? Please. I actually trust the recruiting instincts of our coaches. I think they've earned that.

We made the final 4 in 2011 with a starting 5 and a bench of Lorin Dixon. I'm not too worried about a starting 5 with 4 potential All American candidates and a bench of Tuck, Banks, Stokes, and Chong. If we lose any of our starters to injury I can guarantee you that even if we had 11 or 12 players on the roster they would not come close to replacing any of our starters if they go down with injury.

Now the elite 8 home court advantage, esp if we have to play in South Bend. That is a big potential problem to worry about. You cannot control injuries.
 
MarlboroughMike said:
I picked ND second in the boneyard poll and can see three concerns (two that have been discussed extensively - I have excluded the injury agenda)) that could push them (ND) to one:

1) Mo's outside shot or lack thereof if it doesn't materialize this year - that allows the defense to play 5 on 4. I know she can drive, but she has to put ball up at odd angles when she is among the trees.

2) I watched Kiah in the First Night Game and I did not see any great change from last year. From the 4:55 point to the end of first half - I counted 12 times she was in camera range and gave her a plus or a minus depending on whether I THOUGHT she was engaged with other players. I came up with 12 minuses. I know the way the game was played could lead to some of this, but all the other women appeared to be engaged in the game most of the time. I will be her biggest cheerleader should Gino's comment about her be correct.

3) I will never use my boneyard name around UConn fans, because this next one will get me stomped smaller than a grape being dejuiced. KML needs to stop channeling Kelly - I saw this last night and during the World University games. KML is a shooter first and foremost, she does not need to emulate Kelly, which is what I SEE. When she becomes Kelly, she tends to shoot like Kelly (1 for four on threes last night and they did not look good, forget the Univ. games and I hope she does). She needs to become KML and add the other pieces to the KML persona, otherwise I believe she will have a hard time breaking the 45% mark on threes.
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Lord give me strength. KML outside shooting complaint. That's rich. Kiah who appeared 12 times on camera for a nano second got 12 minuses from some mythical scoring system of her engagement with those around her? You do realize half of the players around her where men's players who she doesn't play with?

I guess I'll just ignore what the Hall of Famer 8 time national title coach said that Stokes has been one of the best players the first 2 days and focus on your instincts of her.

Lord give me strength.
 
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ASweet3781 said:
To include Chong as a question mark simply because she is a freshman? Please. I actually trust the recruiting instincts of our coaches. I think they've earned that.
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Just because they recruited her, doesn't mean she'll be great out of the box. Even highly touted players like MoJeff and Tuck didn't produce much for 80% of last season. Frosh can take time.

Nor does it mean she'll be a great contributor at all. The coaches recruit for a lot of reasons - ability, of course, but also effort, intensity, personality, and chemistry. I doubt Geno thinks every recruit is going to be an AA.

The point is we don't know what we're going to get from Chong this season.
 
ASweet3781 said:
What?

Are you saying Kiah, on a team with Stewart, KML, Dolson, Hartley, etc has to SCORE to be a FACTOR?

I guess you don't value defense and rebounding.
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The issue is the team's ability to overcome injuries should they occur. A team starting the Stokes from her first two years would have some weaknesses.

And I'm not saying Stokes is a non-factor, Geno is:
In 12 key games last year, Stokes averaged 10.0 minutes -- 2.5 fewer than she did the year before.

I like Kiah, and think she has great potential. But it is undeniable that she has not been offensive-minded in her first two years, and that has really hurt her game.
 
ok, I pick us, but ND is the ONLY team that scares me. They play us hard every time and beat us a fair amount of the time. I worry because of our division this year. It is not like we play them three times in the regular season and get to see just how good they are. We get the one shot. They are the one team I want to avoid. I am not saying I would pick them over us, but it would be a good and close game.
 
doggydaddy said:
I totally agree with you. I don't get what having a roster of 15 does for you depth wise unless 10 of your players are injured and you can stil field a team.

Take any team in the country and start with their weakest player. Work your way to the best on the roster and tell me how many players do you count before you find one as good as Chong. I guarantee you won't have 8 players left to count after that.
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Geno addressed the depth issue with Bob Joyce on wtic at media day. He used the same Red Auerbach quote he's used before: "If you can't win with 8 players, you can't win with 88."

I don't understand not ranking UConn #1 because of a perceived lack of post depth due to Dolson's risk of re-injury. Dolson played the entire NCAA tournament on 2 really bad wheels and UConn beat MD by 26, Kentucky by 30, ND by 18 and Louisville 33.
 
UConnCat said:
Geno addressed the depth issue with Bob Joyce on wtic at media day. He used the same Red Auerbach quote he's used before: "If you can't win with 8 players, you can't win with 88."

I don't understand not ranking UConn #1 because of a perceived lack of post depth due to Dolson's risk of re-injury. Dolson played the enter NCAA tournament on 2 really bad wheels and UConn beat MD by 26, Kentucky by 30, ND by 18 and Louisville 33.
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Dolson has missed 1 game in 3 seasons, playing in 84 of 85 games. And the game she missed was because she "didn't feel well".

Why on earth does Clay or anyone else think Dolson is any more an injury risk than anyone else on UConn? Or any other team?

I think Clay just wanted to be different and there was nothing else to bring UConn down to the level of ND except injury.
 
doggydaddy said:
Dolson has missed 1 game in 3 seasons, playing in 84 of 85 games. And the game she missed was because she "didn't feel well".

Why on earth does Clay or anyone else think Dolson is any more an injury risk than anyone else on UConn? Or any other team?

I think Clay just wanted to be different and there was nothing else to bring UConn down to the level of ND except injury.
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Amen.
 
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vowelguy said:
The issue is the team's ability to overcome injuries should they occur. A team starting the Stokes from her first two years would have some weaknesses.

And I'm not saying Stokes is a non-factor, Geno is:
In 12 key games last year, Stokes averaged 10.0 minutes -- 2.5 fewer than she did the year before.

I like Kiah, and think she has great potential. But it is undeniable that she has not been offensive-minded in her first two years, and that has really hurt her game.
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Can you think of a backup center in wcbb better than Kiah? I can't.
 
I really don't know why there is this much discussion on what Clay thinks. It wont change my mind. I remember when I brought up Saniya Chong on the ESPN board and nobody had heard of her. He had a lot of opinions then too and look where Chong is now. He is entitled to his opinion and you don't have to agree. I don't. He picked UConn last year and so did I. We were both right. LOL Im picking UConn to go undefeated this season, if healthy and next season too. Why? Any team with Breanna KML and Tuck for 2 years will be very difficult to beat. WCBB imo does not know how to play suffocating defense like UConn. ND knows how to get to the line and that's how they offset their lack of height. This season they have more height so we shall see.
 
Clay is just stirring the pot. If he ends up being right he looks like a genius. And if he's wrong, so what. He's probably had more page hits as a result of this thread than he's ever had.
 
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johnnyc said:
It just a 'to be different' pick. He pretty much says so.....



I certainly don't agree with his supposed reasons for making the pick.....Stewart, Dolson, Tuck (I don't know why people keep forgetting about her but they won't for long :)), KML (2nd in rebounds last season) and Stokes makes a solid (best in the nation) front court.

Still, ND is going to be good. I just wish UConn was playing them in season just to get a handle on them.
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Wish they were playing them too- but the reverse is also true- we have length speed shooters defense quickness----- they all should be more afraid of us! I agree that ND can be very dangerous still though. But alot of things are going to have to happen to us for us to lose. Even if last year's Kiah Stokes has to play alot, we will have 4 scorers on the floor at all times. Heck, I think Morgan Tuck is talented enough, smart enough and cool enough to replace Stephanie Dolson and still run a pretty potent offense from the high post. I am not saying she could do it better, I am just saying we would still be a very very tough out!
 
As a media guy, Kallam's ND pick is an excellent one. If it happens he's a genius, if it doesn't, few will remember. Besides, what distinction is there in choosing UConn. He'd be as recognized for the pick as a grain of sand on the beach. Now, if he had to back his pick with real money, I wonder who his choice would be. :rolleyes:
 
Every team in the country is worried about injuries. Obviously, the teams with the most depth will be better off than most. It is still a crapshoot !
I am sure Clay Kallam knows a whole lot about wcbb. That is how he makes his living. but I personally have to disagree with his assessment that we are THIN up front. Really ! I thought we were as deep coming in to this year as we ever were. Yeah, if Stef went down that would be terrible, but isn't that the way it is every year
I don't know. Perhaps I am missing something, but the depth of our front court has not entered my brain at all
 
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Bestiarius said:
As a media guy, Kallam's ND pick is an excellent one. If it happens he's a genius, if it doesn't, few will remember. Besides, what distinction is there in choosing UConn.
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He all but admits he determined beforehand that he wasn't going to pick the best team. It seems a bit dishonest to me. He couldn't even come up with a decent justification for the pick. The frontcourt is a bit thin? Huh?
 
Kibitzer said:
Willams starts at Duke. At UConn she might back up Stef. Only if she outplayed Kiah in practice.
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Is that all she has to do to be the backup? Should be easy then because Kiah's weakness is her practice habits! One good game against Williams does not make Kiah a better player. Based on the total body of work to this point I see it as a no brainer for Williams as my backup.
 
Forty_four said:
Is that all she has to do to be the backup? Should be easy then because Kiah's weakness is her practice habits! One good game against Williams does not make Kiah a better player. Based on the total body of work to this point I see it as a no brainer for Williams as my backup.
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There has been no ongoing evidence that there is any problem with Kiah's practice habits.
 
Icebear said:
There has been no ongoing evidence that there is any problem with Kiah's practice habits.
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Rich Elliot is quoted in a Shreveport Times article on April 8th 2013; "The minutes are there for Kiah. She has to perform in practice."
This has nothing to do with effort, it has everything to due with her mind set and inconsistency.
 
Forty_four said:
Rich Elliot is quoted in a Shreveport Times article on April 8th 2013; "The minutes are there for Kiah. She has to perform in practice."
This has nothing to do with effort, it has everything to due with her mind set and inconsistency.
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Exactly. It is not about practice effort or habits. It is about things like consistency.
 
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