Gabby passes like Larry Bird

[SVCBeercats]

Once while watching some videos about Larry Bird, I heard the following (paraphrased): "He throws passes where no one is then like magic a teammate appears and scores. On the basketball court he is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers." The sequence of Danny's photos below shows Gabby doing essentially the same thing. She throws the pass to no one and then Lou appears and scores. Checkmate!

 

[SVCBeercats]

 

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[connie]

Thanks for posting this. While many praise Gabby's (1) athleticism, (2) defense, and (3) ability to get to the rim, her passing is amazing. She is particularly expert at putting a bit of English on the skip pass, with just the right touch and timing to hit a cutter. The above sequence illustrates this perfectly. There are very few players in WCBB that can reliably execute that pass. Gabby seems to do it at least once a game.

 

[lne001]

Thanks for posting this. While many praise Gabby's (1) athleticism, (2) defense, and (3) ability to get to the rim, her passing is amazing. She is particularly expert at putting a bit of English on the skip pass, with just the right touch and timing to hit a cutter. The above sequence illustrates this perfectly. There are very few players in WCBB that can reliably execute that pass. Gabby seems to do it at least once a game.

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, not even close.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I was thinking John Stockton, but I’ll take Larry Bird. I think Lou is 13th in the nation in A:TO ratio.

 

[connie]

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, not even close.

Got it. And agreed!

However, looking at all the games Larry and Gabby played in college, I don't know if I'd forego the chance to wager that Gabby is every bit as great a passer by her senior year of college as Larry was at a comparable time.

 

[Scud49]

Pete Maravich and Bob Cousy were rather adept at it too. Larry was otherworldly though

 

[SVCBeercats]

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, not even close.

I am referring to a single play Gabby made. I am not saying she is the equal of Hall of Fame player. Probably one of the best players to EVER play the game of basketball. We are talking in relative terms, not absolute terms. No woman player could ever be favorably compared to Bird in absolute terms. Relative, yes. Absolute, no. Women players cannot compete favorably with men players. Men are just too athletic. Hell the UCONN women lose every day to the men practice players who are not good enough to play on the UCONN men's basketball team which is a terrible college team.

 

[eebmg]

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, not even close.

Geno would kill her if she tried 1/10 of those passes.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Got it. And agreed!

However, looking at all the games Larry and Gabby played in college, I don't know if I'd forego the chance to wager that Gabby is every bit as great a passer by her senior year of college as Larry was at a comparable time.

In relative terms, yes. Within the context of women's basketball, yes. In absolute terms Gabby will never be the equal of Larry Bird at any point in his development. Remember the UCONN practice players beat the UCONN women every day in practice. Practice players who are not good enough to play on the terrible UCONN men's basketball team.

 

[SVCBeercats]

This is the play I remembered when I saw Gabby and Lou's pass and score. Start at 4:40 mark.

 

[connie]

Gabby will never be the equal of Larry Bird at any point in his development.

In terms of passing as a senior, I disagree. As for the rest, not at issue.

 

[lne001]

Bird averaged 4.6 assists per game in college (3 years) versus 3.7 per game for Gabby's last 3 years to date. This while averaging nearing 3 times as many points per game and 2 times the rebounds.

I love me some Gabby Williams, but Bird was arguably the best male basketball player ever. Gabby will never be in that conversation relative to female players, and I think it is not fair to her to make that comparison.

 

[psconn]

Personal Pet Peeve (along with "Lady" Huskies ) :

Comparing WBB players to NBA players. Announces went on and on comparing Z to Kevin Durant... beyond ludicrous. Gabby has been compared to Draymond Green and now Larry Bird? OMG, really?
Why not compare Azura to Rebecca, Candace Parker or JJ? How about Gabby to Alana Beard or Alyssa Thomas? I think it is disrespectful to the women's game to seek comparisons on the men's side as if that is the only legitimate measure of excellence at one skill or another.

 

[DaddyChoc]

View attachment 28731 I am referring to a single play Gabby made. I am not saying she is the equal of Hall of Fame player. Probably one of the best players to EVER play the game of basketball. We are talking in relative terms, not absolute terms. No woman player could ever be favorably compared to Bird in absolute terms. Relative, yes. Absolute, no. Women players cannot compete favorably with men players. Men are just too athletic. Hell the UCONN women lose every day to the men practice players who are not good enough to play on the UCONN men's basketball team which is a terrible college team.

thats why its bad to compare women to men when it comes to basketball... especially WCBB to the NBA

 

[DaddyChoc]

Personal Pet Peeve (along with "Lady" Huskies ) :

Comparing WBB players to NBA players. Announces went on and on comparing Z to Kevin Durant... beyond ludicrous. Gabby has been compared to Draymond Green and now Larry Bird? OMG, really?
Why not compare Azura to Rebecca, Candace Parker or JJ? How about Gabby to Alana Beard or Alyssa Thomas? I think it is disrespectful to the women's game to seek comparisons on the men's side as if that is the only legitimate measure of excellence at one skill or another.

wow... guess I didnt scroll down long enough, just took the first few post and had to chime in on the comparison. Great Minds

 

[DaddyChoc]

Bird averaged 4.6 assists per game in college (3 years) versus 3.7 per game for Gabby's last 3 years to date. This while averaging nearing 3 times as many points per game and 2 times the rebounds.

I love me some Gabby Williams, but Bird was arguably the best male basketball player ever. Gabby will never be in that conversation relative to female players, and I think it is not fair to her to make that comparison.

 

[cohenzone]

Personal Pet Peeve (along with "Lady" Huskies ) :

Comparing WBB players to NBA players. Announces went on and on comparing Z to Kevin Durant... beyond ludicrous. Gabby has been compared to Draymond Green and now Larry Bird? OMG, really?
Why not compare Azura to Rebecca, Candace Parker or JJ? How about Gabby to Alana Beard or Alyssa Thomas? I think it is disrespectful to the women's game to seek comparisons on the men's side as if that is the only legitimate measure of excellence at one skill or another.

Those dumb comparisons are made all the time. And it’s usually related to a female accomplishment. Stuff like, “she’s score the most points in school history, men or women.” It diminishes both. The only things the games have in common are a hoop; a Court and a ball. Our women couldn’t beat most decent boys hs teams. I’m not sure they could beat many boy’s hs teams at all for that matter Not as quick, not as tall, no where near as vertical and that isn’t a put down.

 

[connie]

Gabby will never be in that conversation relative to female players, and I think it is not fair to her to make that comparison

I think we are all on the same page here. No one has suggested Bird and Williams are comparable basketball players. OP pointed out how one aspect of Gabby's game was like Bird's (i.e., throwing a pass to an area where no one is, etc.).

 

[connie]

Comparing WBB players to NBA players. Announces went on and on comparing Z to Kevin Durant... beyond ludicrous. Gabby has been compared to Draymond Green and now Larry Bird?

Generally speaking, I see no problem making comparisons--men to women, women to men. It just depends on what is being compared. I mean, you hear scouts do this all the time when comparing younger players to older. Sometimes the comparison concerns something quite tangible, like a technique (e.g. a young Randy Johnson's whip-like delivery and speed is redolent of Walter Johnson-- arguably true). I took the OP to be doing this in comparing one of Gabby's passes to something Bird used to do. There's no disrespect in observing that a given competitor manifests some aspect of performance comparable to another. Doesn't mean that the two are equivalent players or even anywhere near.

 

[psconn]

I think we are all on the same page here. No one has suggested Bird and Williams are comparable basketball players. OP pointed out how one aspect of Gabby's game was like Bird's (i.e., throwing a pass to an area where no one is, etc.).

But it isn't. Look at a clip of Bird passing... touch passes, over the head, behind the back, between the legs, no looks - that's not Gabby at all. How about great UConn post passers like McClaren and Dolson? How about Alyssa Thomas in the W? You want to really stretch the point, how about great passing guards like Sue Bird and Ticha Penicheiro?

Any time a ball is passed to a moving player, it must be directed to a point that the receiving player does not yet occupy at the time the pass was thrown. Its just physics and everyone has to do this to complete a pass to a moving target. What makes some players more successful is the vision and timing (developed over countless hours of practice) to execute the pass with precision in a crowd. Gabby is pretty good at that, but (I haven't studied the stats yet) I'd guess that all the women I mentioned are better (Gabby leads the team in assists, but also turnovers by a wide margin). Why bring Larry Bird into the conversation?

I would guess that Azura aspires to be as good as Candace Parker or Jonquel Jones someday. Maybe she gets there, maybe not. She has a long way to go. What's the point of announcers comparing her to Kevin Durant? How ridiculous.

The best Gabby comparison I have come up with is probably CT Sun All-Star Alyssa Thomas. Similarities: rebounding, pushing the ball up court, attacking the rim, making steals, guarding bigger players on D, weak outside shooting game, team leading assist and turnover counts (highest APG in the W among posts and 5th overall, but highest TO/G in the league... even so her A/T ratio is better than Gabby's). Gabby leads the team in steals - Alyssa was tied for the team lead. Their games are amazingly similar.
[2017 stats for Alyssa; this season for Gabby]

I get the general point the OP was making (Gabby completes some really good small-window passes and the one being discussed is a really good example) and I hope this post is not viewed as an attack on the OP or Gabby. I saw the OP's subsequent post and (despite to OP title) I know that he/she was not saying that Gabby is as good as Bird.

It is not just this one post, it is the frequent references by announcers, reporters and posters to NBA players when looking for analogies for WBB players. I just want to point out that there are more appropriate comparisons for WCBB players IN THE WOMEN'S GAME and these great players deserve not to be overlooked when making comparisons. I do understand that folks outside of the women's game may not have the knowledge to relate to past WBB players as well as they can to iconic men's players, but the games are so different that making comparisons like that opens us up to the reality of the physical disparity between the two games. An NBA fan viewing WBB with these comparisons in mind is going to really be disappointed and may not stick around long enough to appreciate the competitive level at which the women's game is played. It invites the kind of mindless twitter comments I read disparaging WBB for not being as good as MBB (the W "like watching a bunch of kids in church league" compared to NBA).

 

[wbball novice]

I'm with Connie on this one. I enjoy NBA and women's bball. To this non-purist casual fan both genders seem to be playing what I would call basketball. In the women's game coaches and players often model their strategies, moves, and playing styles on the men's game, I believe, if only because the majority of games on TV are played by men/boys. I'm sure even Coach A. has at one time or another compared the style of one of his players to some iconic male player. This is not to say that women players don't emulate their female peers. Remember that bounce pass Gabby made to KLS in the SC game that made a lot of halftime highlights? In the next SC game I swear Ty Harris made the exact same pass to Wilson. Imitation the sincerest form of flattery. I don't have a problem comparing Z to KD. They have a similar body type but nobody is saying she drops threes like KD. If only! Guys who get their knickers in a twist when some aspect of a woman's game is compared to a well-known male player's game aren't gonna stop dissing women's bball if only the fans of women's ball learn to know their place and stay in their own playground.

 

[JRRRJ]

While I appreciate your enthusiasm, not even close.

Having watched the video (I've never been an avid NBA fan), I find myself surprised that D never convinced Geno (or one of her team mates ;^) to try one of those full-court inbounds passes Larry did so well. She had the strength and court vision to do it...and I'm sure it would have tickled her fancy.