Dolson should be looking over her shoulder . . .

[vtcwbuff]

'cause Heather Buck is gonna' take her spot.

 

[Icebear]

While I would be glad for Heather to push Stef she isn't going to be replacing her anytime. I do appreciate the sentiment though.

 

[Wbbfan1]

We have to see if Heather gets minutes in the A&M game and if she does will she be successful.

What we don't know is if Heather's practice time has improved to enable her to get additional minutes against better competition. Have to remember Heather didn't get any minutes against Stanford. I sure hope so, as this has been the best Heather has played since her arrival at Storrs.

 

[nan linds]

Cheers for BuckBall!

 

[Jonathan Husky]

'cause Heather Buck is gonna' take her spot.

Let's be realistic. Heather will replace Stef only if there is an injury or foul trouble. So far Heather has played pretty good against weak teams, same as she did last year. Heather plays hard and should be applauded for it but expectations of her starting or playing significant minutes against the best teams are not in the cards.

 

[John Fryer]

We have to see if Heather gets minutes in the A&M game and if she does will she be successful.

What we don't know is if Heather's practice time has improved to enable her to get additional minutes against better competition. Have to remember Heather didn't get any minutes against Stanford. I sure hope so, as this has been the best Heather has played since her arrival at Storrs.

IMHO, Heather is a better defender than Stef. And she is also a lot more nimble and quicker.

Peace,

John Fryer

 

[wire chief]

I think VTC was at least half-kidding, but we all like what we saw from her last night. And remember Griner's coming up soon, and Heather WILL BE READY.

 

[Husky68]

Uconn would have won championship last year if Heather was used. She isn't Dolson, but actually better at rebounding, defense and setting picks. How do you get better without game time. She makes one mistake and "see she can't play or thinks too much", KF freezes with the ball and can't make a personal offensive play successfully against the likes of FD; Hartley walks 5 times a game and gets called at least twice - yet Heather does a bone headed play and "that shows she isn't ready".

Dolson still can't move for a rebound, Heather has shown she can take several steps to get a rebound. We'll see against A&M and Baylor who is ready for prime time under the basket. Exceptionally stupid to not play Heather in the Stanford game, even after the 3rd straignt time Dolson was beat off the dribble by the O sister (how many of those you think Geno would have put up with if it was Heather getting beat like a drum). Dolson is Lambeer and Heather is Wes Unsled, both can be effective if used as they are rather trying to get them to do what they can't. I want Heather to play like Jessica Moore (ol' skillet hands), rebound, set picks, garbage points, cover for guards beaten off dribble, make open layups - and win two championships.

Of course Heather says the right things about needing to get more confident, etc.; how much playing time do you think she would get if she said what she really thought!

 

[Harry Mangurian]

IMHO, Heather is a better defender than Stef. And she is also a lot more nimble and quicker.

Peace,

John Fryer

Mushrooms ??

 

[Georgestarr7]

Let's be realistic. Heather will replace Stef only if there is an injury or foul trouble. So far Heather has played pretty good against weak teams, same as she did last year. Heather plays hard and should be applauded for it but expectations of her starting or playing significant minutes against the best teams are not in the cards.

I agree with this and want to add that to me she is playing a lot better than last year. Physically she seems stronger and last night I didn't see the hesitation to go to the basket. I really like Geno's options in playing tall combos of Steph, Kiah and Heather.

 

[boontonbomber]

last season stef averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds over the last 16 games, with good to excellent games against depaul, georgetown, oklahoma, duke , and twice against notre dame. and she had a decent game against stanford last week , with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with her 9 points. heather plays well against fdu and buffalo. get serious. when the going gets tough stef will be there, as she was last year. it's more likely that uconn would have won the semifinal against nd if the refs had not taken stef out of that game.

 

[AAADog]

last season stef averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds over the last 16 games, with good to excellent games against depaul, georgetown, oklahoma, duke , and twice against notre dame. and she had a decent game against stanford last week , with 9 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with her 9 points. heather plays well against fdu and buffalo. get serious. when the going gets tough stef will be there, as she was last year. it's more likely that uconn would have won the semifinal against nd if the refs had not taken stef out of that game.

The problem is Stef has not made any real improvement over those last 16 games of last year. Heather is the one that made the big jump. I think Geno knows it, and that is the reason he is giving Heather all of these minutes. He will give Stef lots of time and encouragement to come around but he will not wait forever. He knows that Heather is coming on strong now, and the things she needs to improve require game time/experience. I love Heather's energy and quickness and willingness to really mix it up down low. I think we have 2 very good post players now. What a great thing!

 

[Forty_four]

I may have missed it, but I thought Geno said UConn has the second best center in the country and her name is NOT Heather Buck!

 

[sTu]

Uconn would have won championship last year if Heather was used.

LOL. You have an interesting view.

 

[boontonbomber]

The problem is Stef has not made any real improvement over those last 16 games of last year. Heather is the one that made the big jump. I think Geno knows it, and that is the reason he is giving Heather all of these minutes. He will give Stef lots of time and encouragement to come around but he will not wait forever. He knows that Heather is coming on strong now, and the things she needs to improve require game time/experience. I love Heather's energy and quickness and willingness to really mix it up down low. I think we have 2 very good post players now. What a great thing!

when heather plays well against good competition then she can be given serious consideration. she probably will be given that chance, and we'll see if she's up to it.it's hard to talk about heather having made a big jump, when the competition is very weak. the fact that she did not play against stanford makes me wonder if geno is feeling more confident about her.

 

[Jonathan Husky]

Uconn would have won championship last year if Heather was used. She isn't Dolson, but actually better at rebounding, defense and setting picks. How do you get better without game time. She makes one mistake and "see she can't play or thinks too much", KF freezes with the ball and can't make a personal offensive play successfully against the likes of FD; Hartley walks 5 times a game and gets called at least twice - yet Heather does a bone headed play and "that shows she isn't ready".

Dolson still can't move for a rebound, Heather has shown she can take several steps to get a rebound. We'll see against A&M and Baylor who is ready for prime time under the basket. Exceptionally stupid to not play Heather in the Stanford game, even after the 3rd straignt time Dolson was beat off the dribble by the O sister (how many of those you think Geno would have put up with if it was Heather getting beat like a drum). Dolson is Lambeer and Heather is Wes Unsled, both can be effective if used as they are rather trying to get them to do what they can't. I want Heather to play like Jessica Moore (ol' skillet hands), rebound, set picks, garbage points, cover for guards beaten off dribble, make open layups - and win two championships.

Of course Heather says the right things about needing to get more confident, etc.; how much playing time do you think she would get if she said what she really thought!

I love Heather and the effort she expends. She is Wes Unseld in effort but not in skill. But to think Heather's basketball skills are in the same planet as Stefanie is ridiculous. The 7 minutes of defense she played against Baylor is the only contribution she has made against a quality team. Geno didn't play her against Stanford because he doesn't trust her.She looks great against inferior competition that doesn't have a strong post player. If she had good hands and could make plays Geno would play her much more.

 

[MikeBraddock]

'cause Heather Buck is gonna' take her spot.

Only in a parallel universe.

'cause Heather Buck is gonna' take her spot.

 

[doggydaddy]

'cause Heather Buck is gonna' take her spot.

It's just unbelievable to me that people took your post seriously even with the smiley face.

 

[gogiants1714]

This thread is way over the top. This is Heather's fourth year and she has hardly played, especially in the big games. I know, being from the area, Heather has a lot of fans, but to suggest she should be playing instead of Dolson is ridiculous.The coaches had watched Heather for three years and still went with Dolson last year.

 

[pppggg]

wouldn't the ideal situation be to have them both out there at the same time?

 

[alexrgct]

Of note is that Heather was the first post off the bench last night over Kiah. Although the OP was being facetious, I did interpret that fact as a sign that Geno feels Heather has earned more PT and that we will, in fact, see her play minutes against quality competition going forward. Certainly, she made the most of her opportunity last night.

 

[alexrgct]

wouldn't the ideal situation be to have them both out there at the same time?

Geno is definitely playing around with "big" lineups that involve Stef-Heather, Stef-Kiah, and even Heather-Kiah, on the floor at the same time. It is very important to UConn success throughout course of the season that these lineups be productive, even though I was very impressed by some of the things Kelly did defensively against much bigger Stanford players.

 

[ThisJustIn]

It's just unbelievable to me that people took your post seriously even with the smiley face.

Well, maybe an excess of turkey has impacted folks' vision and/or humor-sarcasm awareness....

 

[Icebear]

Let's be realistic. Heather will replace Stef only if there is an injury or foul trouble. So far Heather has played pretty good against weak teams, same as she did last year. Heather plays hard and should be applauded for it but expectations of her starting or playing significant minutes against the best teams are not in the cards.

Actually, Heather has played some of her best basketball against tough teams. Her play last year against Baylor is just one example.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Some at The Boneyard seem to have a Flavour of The Day attitude in regard to player value. Its no wonder many athletes distrust fans.