alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 10,091
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- 15,648
OK, the buzz from the great win and great atmosphere is starting to wear off. I predicted Stanford 62, UConn 57, and am happy to have been wrong. I thought the game would be low-scoring, which it was, but that not having a player with Nneka’s experience/talent would do UConn in at crunch time. Nneka played her butt off in the second half, but UConn prevailed just the same.
So let’s rehash what I considered the nine key questions relating to UConn’s 2011-12 season.
In my personal order of importance pre-season:
1. Caroline’s health
2. Kiah’s ability to contribute at the 4
3. KML- how good, how soon?
4. Tiff being a consistent senior leader
5. Stef- extent of her sophomore leap?
6. Bria- same question
7. Banks- can she be a meaningful bench player?
8. Can we get meaningful minutes out of some combination of Buck/Johnson/Engeln?
9. Kelly- more consistent contributor on offense?
After beating another very talented work in progress, UConn’s picture is becoming a bit clearer.
Caroline’s health- she had a couple of big threes down the stretch, but her most significant contribution may have come during warm-ups. Believe me, KML was nervous before this game. I saw it on her face and in her body language. At one point, Caroline, who was directly behind her, somehow sensed it too. She helped make sure KML was jacked instead of nervous. It’s little stuff, but that’s the kind of leadership we’re not getting from anyone else this season.
Kiah- welcome to the big-time! She held her own tonight on defense. Tough, strong kid. The crazy thing is she may never start at UConn…and that’s fair to precisely no one else in WCBB. Her offensive game needs a lot of work still, but she is doing an admirable job already.
KML- she’s better than I dared hoped she’d be at this stage, and we needed her to be tonight. Forget the 19 point first half for a minute…if that’s possible. Her second half, though nowhere near as prolific from a scoring standpoint, was just as impressive. She D’d up on Nneka (only a senior and one of the very best players in the country), fronting her and winning on a lot of possessions. Yes, Nneka got hers, but given that Stanford was looking to go to her at every opportunity, KML played some fine defense. She just contributes. You know how Geno said Kelly would never have a bad game at UConn? KML’s the same way, but she also has the gifts of a #1 high school player in the country. That’s scary. BTW, she easily outplayed 2010 national #1 Chiney tonight.
Tiff- God love her, she is who she is, and consistency ain’t her game. She has the athletic ability to have her name next to the 13 women who have made the Huskies of Honor, but it doesn’t come together for her game in and game out. She’s still a weapon, but thankfully not one UConn has to rely on to show up on offense every game…because we can’t.
Stef- not real sure what to make of her yet. Stanford has a number of tall players and did a good job keeping the ball out of the post. She stepped up her game on offense in the second half after a lucky bounce on a 15-footer got her on the board, and she was really tough on defense throughout. However, I’m still waiting on her breakout game this season.
Bria- but I’m not waiting on Bria’s! OK, it’s easy to get on her when she’s playing poorly and easy to get really excited when she has good games, but that was definitely a memorable game. For me, what was memorable about it was that she wasn’t content to stay on the perimeter. Instead, she attacked…and attacked…and attacked, and Stanford had absolutely no answer for it. She’d be an All-American if she played like this every night. I’m not prepared to say she will, but I am prepared to say that this was a performance from her that we would not have seen last season.
Banks- she had a short leash tonight, but she got in the game. Geno has the luxury of letting her progress a little more slowly given the depth of guards, but I’m happy to see we’re at least eight-deep, even against a top opponent. Geno even had the three freshmen in at once at one point in the first half!
Buck/Engeln/Johnson- well, I guess tonight answers this question pretty definitively, doesn’t it? At least for now?
Kelly- she will not be a consistent offensive performer. But seeing her physically force Boothe out of the post on one defensive series was worth the price of admission in and of itself.
So, where does that leave us? Well, not national-championship caliber yet despite the #2 ranking. I have a hard time believing that you can win it all with most of your paint points coming from a guard and most of your other shots being from 12+ feet away. However, that might not be the worst strategy against Baylor. Griner’s going to force your offense out to the perimeter anyway. Let’s hope we hit some more of those shots in Waco.
Again, ten of these kids are coming back next year, with Breanna, Moriah, and Morgan coming in. Does everyone realize just how ridiculously good UConn is going to be next season? If not, I’ll forgive you for just enjoying this one, especially after a win like tonight. I loved seeing the smiles on Tiff’s and Stef’s face as the game was coming to an end. The girls wanted this one bad- make no mistake about it.
So let’s rehash what I considered the nine key questions relating to UConn’s 2011-12 season.
In my personal order of importance pre-season:
1. Caroline’s health
2. Kiah’s ability to contribute at the 4
3. KML- how good, how soon?
4. Tiff being a consistent senior leader
5. Stef- extent of her sophomore leap?
6. Bria- same question
7. Banks- can she be a meaningful bench player?
8. Can we get meaningful minutes out of some combination of Buck/Johnson/Engeln?
9. Kelly- more consistent contributor on offense?
After beating another very talented work in progress, UConn’s picture is becoming a bit clearer.
Caroline’s health- she had a couple of big threes down the stretch, but her most significant contribution may have come during warm-ups. Believe me, KML was nervous before this game. I saw it on her face and in her body language. At one point, Caroline, who was directly behind her, somehow sensed it too. She helped make sure KML was jacked instead of nervous. It’s little stuff, but that’s the kind of leadership we’re not getting from anyone else this season.
Kiah- welcome to the big-time! She held her own tonight on defense. Tough, strong kid. The crazy thing is she may never start at UConn…and that’s fair to precisely no one else in WCBB. Her offensive game needs a lot of work still, but she is doing an admirable job already.
KML- she’s better than I dared hoped she’d be at this stage, and we needed her to be tonight. Forget the 19 point first half for a minute…if that’s possible. Her second half, though nowhere near as prolific from a scoring standpoint, was just as impressive. She D’d up on Nneka (only a senior and one of the very best players in the country), fronting her and winning on a lot of possessions. Yes, Nneka got hers, but given that Stanford was looking to go to her at every opportunity, KML played some fine defense. She just contributes. You know how Geno said Kelly would never have a bad game at UConn? KML’s the same way, but she also has the gifts of a #1 high school player in the country. That’s scary. BTW, she easily outplayed 2010 national #1 Chiney tonight.
Tiff- God love her, she is who she is, and consistency ain’t her game. She has the athletic ability to have her name next to the 13 women who have made the Huskies of Honor, but it doesn’t come together for her game in and game out. She’s still a weapon, but thankfully not one UConn has to rely on to show up on offense every game…because we can’t.
Stef- not real sure what to make of her yet. Stanford has a number of tall players and did a good job keeping the ball out of the post. She stepped up her game on offense in the second half after a lucky bounce on a 15-footer got her on the board, and she was really tough on defense throughout. However, I’m still waiting on her breakout game this season.
Bria- but I’m not waiting on Bria’s! OK, it’s easy to get on her when she’s playing poorly and easy to get really excited when she has good games, but that was definitely a memorable game. For me, what was memorable about it was that she wasn’t content to stay on the perimeter. Instead, she attacked…and attacked…and attacked, and Stanford had absolutely no answer for it. She’d be an All-American if she played like this every night. I’m not prepared to say she will, but I am prepared to say that this was a performance from her that we would not have seen last season.
Banks- she had a short leash tonight, but she got in the game. Geno has the luxury of letting her progress a little more slowly given the depth of guards, but I’m happy to see we’re at least eight-deep, even against a top opponent. Geno even had the three freshmen in at once at one point in the first half!
Buck/Engeln/Johnson- well, I guess tonight answers this question pretty definitively, doesn’t it? At least for now?
Kelly- she will not be a consistent offensive performer. But seeing her physically force Boothe out of the post on one defensive series was worth the price of admission in and of itself.
So, where does that leave us? Well, not national-championship caliber yet despite the #2 ranking. I have a hard time believing that you can win it all with most of your paint points coming from a guard and most of your other shots being from 12+ feet away. However, that might not be the worst strategy against Baylor. Griner’s going to force your offense out to the perimeter anyway. Let’s hope we hit some more of those shots in Waco.
Again, ten of these kids are coming back next year, with Breanna, Moriah, and Morgan coming in. Does everyone realize just how ridiculously good UConn is going to be next season? If not, I’ll forgive you for just enjoying this one, especially after a win like tonight. I loved seeing the smiles on Tiff’s and Stef’s face as the game was coming to an end. The girls wanted this one bad- make no mistake about it.
