Her mom is correct too. The coach looks like something not too pretty now.
He just won WNBA Coach of the Year, so he looks to be okay, from my vantage point.
Geno's statement only validates the coach not playing her more. It is critical of the GM who drafted her onto a team which really had no immediate need for her skill set. It only justifies the coaches actions, while placing the blame where it belongs- the GM who drafted her. Perhaps they expected to trade her and the deal never materialized. Maybe they can work out a deal for LA's Parker?
This as a marathon, not a sprint. Simply because a player does not have an impact in her first year that means the coach and/or GM should be blamed and the player should be traded?
Natasha Howard was drafted fifth overall. She struggled to adjust to the speed and physical nature of the game (she looked lost on the court at times in Indiana). Once she adjusted, she then earned more minutes. And while they were not available (in Minnesota, her second team), she signed in her fifth season with her third team (Seattle), winning MIP and becoming an All Star.
In the NBA, we see it all the time...teams pick for the future, based on potential/ceiling. Allie Quigley is 33 years old and an established SG (three-time All Star). She cannot play forever. Grooming KLS to adjust to the speed of the game, to bigger and more physical defenders, and to getting her shot off more quickly is something the coaching staff should be and likely is doing.
Deshields and CVS are givens Lou should have started at the other guard but hard to get playing time there when the one starting is married to the PG!
With all due, as I mentioned earlier, Quigley was an All Star in 2017, 2018, and 2019. For her career, she is shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 39.9 percent from three. In the last three years, she has averaged 16.4 ppg (2017), 15.4 ppg (2018), and 13.8 ppg (2019) -- while shooting a combined 48.8 percent from the floor and 43.0 percent from three in those three years.
I believe her on-court performance more than justifies her starting position at shooting guard.
My thoughts exactly. We seem to get one of these post every year: WNBA coach not utilizing former UCONN player correctly (KML, Saniya, Morgan, Azura.....and now KLS). KLS is struggling in her first year in the WNBA-BIG DEAL! She'll figure it out.
What is interesting is how quickly people blame the coach, instead of recognizing that the WNBA is vastly different from college. College coaches have systems, with the great coaches plugging players into those systems and masking weaknesses. In the professional game, innate talent about ability wins out.
On the men's side, Christian Laettner was one of the greatest college basketball players in the history of the game. But in the NBA, he played 13 seasons and averaged 12.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg for his career, with one All Star nod. Laettner was not the most athletic player, nor was he the most physical (although, ironically, his game is tailor-made for today's NBA, with a premium on shooting from all positions and the ability of bigs to demonstrate expanded range and passing). Does that take away from his college career? Absolutely not.
In some cases, it turns out the system truly made the player even better than she was -- e.g., Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. KML was an elite shooter in college -- truly elite. And Geno Auriemma was able to mask her limitations with his system. But her elite shooting and college accolades have not transferred into the same level of success in the pros. What she has found, after five years in the WNBA and three different head coaches, is her role with the Storm -- 12-14 minutes per game off the bench, averaging 5-5.5 points per game.
Is she equaling her collegiate performance and accolades in the pros? No. Is she a solid and vital cog on the Storm's bench? Absolutely.
And she has a WNBA championship to show for it.
If you look at Phoenix this year, there were three rookies -- Alanna Smith, Sophie Cunningham, and Brianna Turner. Turner made the All-Rookie team. When she was inserted as a starter due to injuries, she was able to adjust and defend really well at the four. Coach Sandy Brondello put her on Elena Delle Donne for large stretches. While EDD was able to score, you can watch the replay and see Turner elevating with a hand in EDD's face. The defense was incredible; the offense was just better. Turner started slow, but averaged 6.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.21 blocks in her final 14 games.
Now, Cunningham and Smith were not nearly as successful. But as Coach Brondello repeatedly stated, this was about getting the rookies experience -- and doing so on the biggest stages and in meaningful games. Phoenix was an older team this year, with Bonner, January, Taurasi, Little, Lytle, Carson, and Mitchell all at least 32 years old -- and Yvonne Turner turning 32 in October. Given they will not play forever, it is important to groom and develop players, while allowing them to do so.
In Phoenix's case, injuries to the veterans allowed the rookies to have more playing time. In Chicago's case, it did not. Adjusting to the pros means adjusting to the speed of the game, to new teammates (though there were a few familiar faces for KLS), etc. There is grooming in practice, as well as in games.
KLS was injured for 1/3 of the season. But she played in 20 games and averaged 7.7 minutes per contest. Alanna Smith, who was also injured, played in 18 games and averaged 7.2 minutes, while Sophie Cunningham got 12.2 minutes in 32 games (and that was with Taurasi missing most of the season, plus other backcourt injuries and players missing time because of overseas national team commitments). Yet Mercury fans, for the most part, recognize the need to think long-term. Again, it is a marathon, not a sprint.
KLS has plenty of time to figure things out and to find her role with the Sky (or, if traded, another team). But jumping all over the coach/GM based on the minutes of one season (a season in which KLS was injured for one-third of it) seems a bit out of place to me in the professional game, especially since this coach/GM just led his team to the league's third-best record (and an improvement of seven wins over last year), led the team to its third-best record in the 14-year history of the franchise, and won this year's WNBA Coach of the Year award
chicago.suntimes.com
