Good read on Natalie Butler at George Mason

[pinotbear]

Nat is not very good. Great attitude and teammate . Game seemed way to fast for her. Wouldn't surprise if she didn't dominate this year. Be cool if she does.

I think you're a bit unreasonable here. She was remarkably dominate at Georgetown as a frosh. She was a key role player, and, essentially so in a few games, while at UConn. I suspect that your perspective is colored by the incredible standard established at UConn over the past 17+ years. "UConn normal" isn't , well, normal, for any other WCBB program, any other program. There are a few that are close - ND certainly, and for periods of time, Stanford, Baylor, SC, Duke, and, previously, UTenn, UNC, Rutgers, what have you. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two that folks will remind me of.
But, basically, you can be a good basketball player, even very good, and not be "UConn" good. It's unreasonable to hold UConn up as the baseline for "good". It's like saying that MIT is the baseline for "good engineering students" or similar academia. MIT is the baseline for extraordinary students in those disciplines, not "good" students. There are plenty of players who left UConn who were solid contributors to the programs they went to.

 

[Kaizen]

Nat is not very good. Great attitude and teammate . Game seemed way to fast for her. Wouldn't surprise if she didn't dominate this year. Be cool if she does.

Natalie and Crystal are two key benchers to support UConn 2016-2017 team.
Natalie had done her best when our start 5 were so tired and exhausted. I thank her for her selfless contribution to UConn the past year.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I think you're a bit unreasonable here. She was remarkably dominate at Georgetown as a frosh. She was a key role player, and, essentially so in a few games, while at UConn. I suspect that your perspective is colored by the incredible standard established at UConn over the past 17+ years. "UConn normal" isn't , well, normal, for any other WCBB program, any other program. There are a few that are close - ND certainly, and for periods of time, Stanford, Baylor, SC, Duke, and, previously, UTenn, UNC, Rutgers, what have you. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two that folks will remind me of.
But, basically, you can be a good basketball player, even very good, and not be "UConn" good. It's unreasonable to hold UConn up as the baseline for "good". It's like saying that MIT is the baseline for "good engineering students" or similar academia. MIT is the baseline for extraordinary students in those disciplines, not "good" students. There are plenty of players who left UConn who were solid contributors to the programs they went to.

You are correct in all you way--although CalTech and RPI may differ with your MIT views.
However Natalie was what she became--either by injury or mentally taken away from tough games. She gave Geno minutes in the post in difficult times--that's true. She wasn't exactly what he would have used had he a choice. In the final game, he required a body to relieve Collier and/or Gabby due to fouls--Natalie got the job--only because of her size. But her time on the floor indicates the level of play she had to give. You cannot ever fault a player who plays up to their physical and mental level in BB games--Natalie did just that. But if Geno had a choice, ie, if Kyla had the experience and another 2 inches she may have been given the nod in the final game.

 

[BigBird]

I will always think of Nat with fond respect. She tried hard and always gave her max effort.

 

[Carnac]

I'm still working on the growing up part. I'm a work in progress. I was born in Bristol (home of the worldwide leader) and moved to Milford at age 2. I lived there until college and 1 year on a break. I moved around for school, spent 15 years in the Philly area, and have been in the D.C. area for 30 years. Alexandria, Va. feels like home.

The 30 minute drive to Fairfax is based on the absence of traffic. During rush hour, the driving time from Alexandria may be roughly equal to the driving time from Milford. The DMV has the 2nd or 3rd worst traffic in the country and the worst outside California.

You've got a witness!! In So. Calif, our freeway traffic is bad 7 days a week. We no longer have light traffic on the weekends. Sat & Sun look just like any other day of the week.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Natalie and Crystal are two key benchers to support UConn 2016-2017 team.
Natalie had done her best when our start 5 were so tired and exhausted. I thank her for her selfless contribution to UConn the past year.

Nat and Crystal worked the pick and roll nicely, once Crystal learned to toss the ball up high enough. I doubt that Nat will have such a slick passer for a teammate at GMU.

 

[MilfordHusky]

You've got a witness!! In So. Calif, our freeway traffic is bad 7 days a week. We no longer have light traffic on the weekends. Sat & Sun look just like any other day of the week.

L.A. is #1; S.F. may be #2.

I've driven "the 405" and "the 5" a lot. It's 6 lanes of cars moving 80 mph about 2 car lengths apart. Or 6 lanes of cars not moving at all.

 

[uconnfan68]

Probably on the wrong board (athletic vs. academic ) to get a good answer but I think @bags27 might be on to something. I'm also not aware of any other major dropped by UCONN recently either, so when you say "doing things like that" I can't relate.

Clearly it was a school decision since they used to offer it. It was more of a rhetorical question.

 

[CL82]

I think you're a bit unreasonable here. She was remarkably dominate at Georgetown as a frosh. She was a key role player, and, essentially so in a few games, while at UConn. I suspect that your perspective is colored by the incredible standard established at UConn over the past 17+ years. "UConn normal" isn't , well, normal, for any other WCBB program, any other program. There are a few that are close - ND certainly, and for periods of time, Stanford, Baylor, SC, Duke, and, previously, UTenn, UNC, Rutgers, what have you. I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two that folks will remind me of.
But, basically, you can be a good basketball player, even very good, and not be "UConn" good. It's unreasonable to hold UConn up as the baseline for "good". It's like saying that MIT is the baseline for "good engineering students" or similar academia. MIT is the baseline for extraordinary students in those disciplines, not "good" students. There are plenty of players who left UConn who were solid contributors to the programs they went to.

She's not a perfect fit for our style of play but would have seen a lot more minutes if we didn't have a freakishly athletic "guard" with incredible hops, athleticism and will. Nonetheless she gave her all whenever she was asked to play and never complained for a minute about playing time.

I appreciate all she did for us and wish her well at GM and wherever else life takes her.

 

[CocoHusky]

Nat is not very good. Great attitude and teammate . Game seemed way to fast for her. Wouldn't surprise if she didn't dominate this year. Be cool if she does.

That's a tad harsh IMO. Nat was very good at times like against Baylor & Texas where she provided much need size for some UCONN player that were in foul trouble.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Nat and Crystal worked the pick and roll nicely, once Crystal learned to toss the ball up high enough. I doubt that Nat will have such a slick passer for a teammate at GMU.

As I said during those games--it's up to the guards to know: How hard and where to put the ball for every player on the team--especially the bigs. I said Natalie had good hand, and was derided by other posters who were right. I thought at the time Natalie needed every good word she could get.
Natalie was a difficult one to figure out---in some games she was actually good--others a liability.

Coco a nice person, may think this harsh--probably ; she wasn't mobile, tried hard to make it quickly up and down the floor, had a great top of the key shot. Her 6 ft shot against smalls was excellent, her defense needed work, basically she was what she was--and coaching even with Geno --didn't make significant changes--I cheered for her all year---I wanted her to succeed. In the AAC she had moments when I said--a break through-but in the final analysis--she was what she was.
She gave Geno all she could, no doubt. I wish her well. You may write in your diary's that Natalie Butler shall be a success in her selected field--she is intelligent and a hard worker--tough combination to beat.