Game report from UCONN-Marquette game

[doggydaddy]

Here is a guarentee.

You will see both Steph and Kiah smiling with their teammates prior to tip off.

 

[EricSD]

One thought crosses my mind when I hear about Stef in tears and Kiah smiling--who's the starting center for Monday night? (No, they won't play 5 guards against a brute force team like ND, unless Geno wants to give up 25 offensive rebounds to the Irish.)

well i haven't seen the game yet. if Stef was that bad, then i'm guessing she comes off the bench Monday. IIRC, Geno was going to start Kiah after the SJU loss, but didn't want it to appear like the loss was all on Stef. maybe expectations were too high for Stef going into this year. i'm not sure. either way i 'm VERY glad we got Kiah so we actually have a post player who apparently is effective on the court. gotta be rough for a sophomore to lose her starting role to a freshman the last few weeks of the regular season...

my heart goes out to Stef and i'm rooting for her big time, but we need the best players on the court, and if she's not one of them, then her playing time needs to be reduced. i wonder if the tears were the result of some tough love from the coaches...

 

[katymarie82]

"I stayed after the game to wait to see some of the players. After around half hour the players came out to sign autographs for some of the kids who stayed around. Dolson was sobbing and clearly very upset. Kara Wolters (I think it was her, the person who did the radio) had to comfort her and talked a bit to her. On other hand, Kiah Stokes came out smiling so I found it odd that Dolson would come out crying and Kiah was smiling."

I was also at the game yesterday and sat in the same section as Kiah's family. After the game, Kiah walked out of the locker room, across the floor and gave a quick half smile to her friends and family who had made the trip from Iowa. She then walked straight into her Dads arms and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Just wanted to clarify this as I thought Katymarie82's post made it seem as if Kiah took the benching lightly when she was actually very visibly shaken. I'm not sure what Kiah did to warrant benching for the game, but I overheard Geno yelling at Kiah for not paying attention to the inbounder and allowing her girl to catch the inbounds pass. Kiah was taken out of the game never to return. Hopefully , Geno doesn't plan on using all guards in tomorrow's game. They will definitely need Stef and Kiah tomorrow. I hope Geno's antics does not backfire on Kiah's and Stef's confidence. Yes they can beat an average Marquette team with all guards but against a team such as ND, everyone is going to have to contribute.....especially our posts.

I was standing right outside of the locker room area and saw Kiah give a few kids standing with us autographs and she was smiling. Her mood may have changed when she saw her parents because I did not see Kiah after she walked across the court so, if Huskypup saw Kiah break down, then it may make sense but I am just reporting what I saw on my side. Dolson, on other hand, was crying uncontrollably coming out of the locker room.

 

[Yukon]

This is NOT good...players sobbing after a game? I am one (maybe in the minority) who happens to feel that positive reinforcement works wonders with players who are dealing with low self esteem. The "kick them when they're down" method only inspires certain (very few) athletes, especially ones who are so young. If Geno is trying to get a rise out of these two, in preparation for tomorrow, I hope to God he knows what he is doing. I fear that now the self-doubt is so planted in their minds that instead of rising to the occasion, they will play with a sense of fear that they will somehow "let the team down" yet again....

I do hope I'm completely wrong and as Geno said, I shouldn't quit my day job in hopes to out-coach the greatest WCBB coach....

 

[JSB60]

Absolutely nothing like the Charde situation which was far more complex.

That implies you have some insight into the simplicity of the situation with Kiah. And the one mistake and out for the game does seem similar to me.

 

[cabbie191]

There were actually quite a few Husky fans at the game. I was seated a bit higher up than Katiemarie.

Regarding Kiah's crying when she saw her family, I would suppose that having her family drive in from Iowa and then to play only a couple of minutes must have been terribly disappointing to her.

I wasn't totally surprised to see Stephanie pulled early because it appeared that she was fumbling around, but I was surprised that she didn't come back in. Had hoped to see Heather get more minutes. I thought she played quite well for the short time she was in.

 

[Icebear]

That implies you have some insight into the simplicity of the situation with Kiah. And the one mistake and out for the game does seem similar to me.

I do and the first difference was that Kiah had two parents to walk across the court to meet after the game and a father who is a former professional athlete. Charde's life was far harder and on the edge than anything than Kiah and Stef have ever dealt with. During the Geno Show he spoke about kids needing to be emotionally tough and learning to fight for what they want rather expecting or thinking it just to come to them.

Charde's issue wasn't toughness, she fought for everything she had. She had to learn how to depend upon and to trust teammates and not just herself.

Remember both Rebecca and Tina wanted to hold their cards at UConn at early points in their career because it was so hard.

 

[HuskyNan]

Why do people assume Kiah and Stef were crying because of something Geno said? How do you know their teammates didn't say something to them? CD or Marissa? How about, they're competitors and were just disappointed they didn't contribute to the win?

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Why do people assume Kiah and Stef were crying because of something Geno said? How do you know their teammates didn't say something to them? CD or Marissa? How about, they're competitors and were just disappointed they didn't contribute to the win?

It seems to me that at some point posters need to step back and mind their own business. How can one assume anything from a single observation? Gossip...how I loathe gossip. Just me I guess...

 

[Icebear]

Why do people assume Kiah and Stef were crying because of something Geno said? How do you know their teammates didn't say something to them? CD or Marissa? How about, they're competitors and were just disappointed they didn't contribute to the win?

Very good point, Nan. There are any number of potential causes for their reaction including just their simple disappointment in themselves and their perception of letting their teammates down to a simple stress reaction. No need to speculate.

 

[alexrgct]

Geno clearly felt he needed to send a message. Both Kiah's and Stef's families are very close to their daughters and to the UConn program. I doubt anyone liked it, but I'm sure everyone understood the message. Geno's job is to win at the highest level, not coddle kids who are getting a free college education. You don't come to UConn if you want to take the easy road.

Again, this is thread took a turn that would never be on a men's sports board. If you want women's sports to be on an equal footing with men's, allowing tough love to happen is part of the deal from a perception standpoint.