Gabby and Saniya improving

[Sluconn Husky]

A couple of excerpts:

“I have been working hard,” Chong said. “My confidence level wasn’t doing so well, but I know it is coming. We have about a month or month and a half left, and I want to give it my all. In practice I have been working hard and carrying it into the games.”

While there was a learning curve, Williams is UConn’s top rebounder and No. 4 scorer since the St. John’s game.

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20150206/gabby-williams-saniya-chong-stepping-it-up-for-uconn-women

 

[uconnfan68]

A couple of excerpts:

“I have been working hard,” Chong said. “My confidence level wasn’t doing so well, but I know it is coming. We have about a month or month and a half left, and I want to give it my all. In practice I have been working hard and carrying it into the games.”

While there was a learning curve, Williams is UConn’s top rebounder and No. 4 scorer since the St. John’s game.

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20150206/gabby-williams-saniya-chong-stepping-it-up-for-uconn-women

I've noticed a HUGE change in Saniya the past few games. She gets "it" now. Shooting is effortless. Gabby just gets better every game. With Kiah, we're 8 deep, and very, very good.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Interesting going back to this same thread 7 weeks ago and reading the thoughts from "Chong will graduate before she's adjusted to being able to play for UConn" and that her shooting form is utterly abysmal to "they're all okay and let's see what develops." At this point I think Chicken Little may have run away, and things have definitely developed for Chong, Stokes, and Williams. But anyone who has followed UConn through the ages knows that's often the way things turn out. I'd hate to revisit the posts about Stewie from early March 2013, and if I copied anything from them to a current post I'd definitely get banned again.

We have a very special reserve corps this year that just may be the best ever, and still not counting out Courtney to make more progress and make UConn a fully 9-deep team. That could quell a little bit the postings about "What if three starters pick up 3 fouls in the first 10 minutes . . . . ."

 

[HoopsFan21]

Interesting going back to this same thread 7 weeks ago and reading the thoughts from "Chong will graduate before she's adjusted to being able to play for UConn" and that her shooting form is utterly abysmal to "they're all okay and let's see what develops." At this point I think Chicken Little may have run away, and things have definitely developed for Chong, Stokes, and Williams. But anyone who has followed UConn through the ages knows that's often the way things turn out. I'd hate to revisit the posts about Stewie from early March 2013, and if I copied anything from them to a current post I'd definitely get banned again.

We have a very special reserve corps this year that just may be the best ever, and still not counting out Courtney to make more progress and make UConn a fully 9-deep team. That could quell a little bit the postings about "What if three starters pick up 3 fouls in the first 10 minutes . . . . ."

I'm loving the improvement by Gabby and Chong. But let's be real, the competition isn't much these days. If any of the starters get into foul trouble, it's problematic against a team with a pulse. We can't pretend that we can just seamlessly plug in Chong for Kia. Or Kiah for Morgan. Or Gabby for KML. Maybe we can against teams outside the top 5, but certainly not against the top team in the country, South Carolina.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Um, but they do get plugged in with the starters in the first half, and that's often when a sluggish team gets going and the lead jumps from little to much. Let's get real and follow the action, and then we'll see we have 8 players that can be fitted in easily. Are you kidding me? Are you seriously questioning that fitting the likely NDPOY into the lineup is an issue? That putting the Gabby-Rodman element into the lineup will cause any problems except for teams not named UConn? That Chong's 71% shooting in the last 5 games is going to cripple the Huskies?????????

Yes I know that the Huskies' AAC competition is not the greatest, but USCar's SEC competition has also been drekky. Stokes, Williams, and Chong have been intermixed wit the starters and done extremely well, and at the end of the game they are still playing against the opponent's starters, and they are dominating.

Please watch the games the idea of "what's real" gets a little more firmly understood. These women are special.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

"The thing with Saniya is, when you give her a lot of minutes, she tends to give you a lot back," coach Geno Aiuriemma said. "But in order for her to get a lot of minutes, she has to look like she wants to play 25 in the first five minutes she's on the floor. The more she looks like she wants to contribute, the more minutes she will get."

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Post Memphis comments:

''When she gets her confidence going, she's really, really good,'' Auriemma said of Chong. ''Today, she was great. Her and Gabby were really good.''

 

[DobbsRover2]

Really good -- yeah, that works.

As always Geno has built another two-headed terror. But Gabby could still jump higher, and Saniya might at some point remember how she shot in high school at Ossining. Then all would be good.

 

[wbfree]

Really good -- yeah, that works.

As always Geno has built another two-headed terror. But Gabby could still jump higher, and Saniya might at some point remember how she shot in high school at Ossining. Then all would be good.

The question is, how long before Gabby is starting over Tuck? If not this year then next year for sure. She's already a better defender and rebounder. Watching how aggressive and physical Gabby and Kia Nurse play is fun to watch.

 

[HuskyNan]

I'm loving the improvement by Gabby and Chong. But let's be real, the competition isn't much these days. If any of the starters get into foul trouble, it's problematic against a team with a pulse. We can't pretend that we can just seamlessly plug in Chong for Kia. Or Kiah for Morgan. Or Gabby for KML. Maybe we can against teams outside the top 5, but certainly not against the top team in the country, South Carolina.

Saniya shot 8-13 and scored 20 points against Stanford. It's not like she's been a scrub against the good teams. I think she had an issue with her confidence which appears to be much improved in recent days. If I were a coach, I'd be comfortable putting Saniya in at any point in the game and giving her a chance.

 

[jcoton56]

I've noticed a HUGE change in Saniya the past few games. She gets "it" now. Shooting is effortless. Gabby just gets better every game. With Kiah, we're 8 deep, and very, very good.

Neither one hesitates anymore or look the least bit lost - bodes well.

 

[Geno-ista]

Um, but they do get plugged in with the starters in the first half, and that's often when a sluggish team gets going and the lead jumps from little to much. Let's get real and follow the action, and then we'll see we have 8 players that can be fitted in easily. Are you kidding me? Are you seriously questioning that fitting the likely NDPOY into the lineup is an issue? That putting the Gabby-Rodman element into the lineup will cause any problems except for teams not named UConn? That Chong's 71% shooting in the last 5 games is going to cripple the Huskies?????????

Yes I know that the Huskies' AAC competition is not the greatest, but USCar's SEC competition has also been drekky. Stokes, Williams, and Chong have been intermixed wit the starters and done extremely well, and at the end of the game they are still playing against the opponent's starters, and they are dominating.

Please watch the games the idea of "what's real" gets a little more firmly understood. These women are special.

DR- I wouldn't be surprised if Gabby went into tonites game really really early, and Chong either. We could go small quickly and try to shake things up that way- even with stokes in also as an extra def back stop for a small lightning quick line up.

 

[Shenandoah]

Saniya's confidence level is increasing every game. What I see is that she no longer hesitates. She instinctively knows that she is open enough to shoot, and lets it fly. Gabby, well, she is a game changer. The energy level rises exponentially when she comes in. Love watching that kid play the game...