Freshman

[UcMiami]

I just thought it might be time to post a reminder about the struggles of being a freshman at Uconn. We have on our current team a player that many feel has supplanted the all time great PG in team history - Sue Bird. Her stats are very impressive and I tend to support that conclusion, but it wasn't always so. A quick check of her freshman year stats is a good reminder that great players and even iconic players can take a year or two to develop in the Uconn system:
Moriah as a freshman was just not that amazing:
Started 2 games out of 39 and averaged 17.4 minutes/game
Shot a very pedestrian .424/.266/.760 and scored 4.7 ppg.
Had 69 assist and 49 turnovers for a 1.41 A/TO rate - below the team average for the year.
She had 1.6 rebounds per game, and the one decent stat - 52 steals.

To misuse a quote of Geno's - the best thing about Moriah's first 39 games, is that they were over and she became a sophomore.

This is no knock on Moriah, my all time favorite Uconn player, just a little perspective for those that want to pick apart the games played by freshman at Uconn and despair in their futures. I could have used any number of stats for the same purpose including the reigning NPOY's whose conference stats as a freshman were even worse in terms of shooting: .404/.179/.700 with 16 assist and 25 TO for a 0.6 A/TO!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Most freshman struggle or at least hit a rough patch. Here are the stats for one who didn't.

Shooting: .540/.423/.743 116 assists to 80 TOs, plus 63 steals and 59 blocks

She was a consensus All-American that season and a unanimous All-American her other seasons.

If you can't guess who, here's a hint: see the avatar to the left.

By the way, she's gotten better since then. A lot better, as in FIBA WC MVP and WNBA MVP.