Gustafson and Iowa

[kenja]

Not disputing it has been said of many other players by many different posters. It was not, in my recollection, said of Gustafson because she was not interested in coming to UCONN and UCONN was not interested in recruiting her. Kalani Brown & Batouly Camara were the post players in that class offered by UCONN. BTW Jessica Shepard was the #1 post in that class and UCONN did not look at her either because she made it know early in the recruiting process that she was staying in state-Nebraska. If someone said Gustafson was not UCONN material I love to know who it was. The BY has a pretty good search feature.

You hit upon something in that post. UConn does not waste time and resources on players they have no chance at. And they shouldn't. But too often that gets spun as the UConn passing on the player because of skill set attitude by fans, and in a few instances, poorly sourced newspaper info. In the case of one highly rated prospect in the 2019 class UConn and Notre Dame were rumored to have backed off because one of the parents had Lavar Ball tendencies.

 

[Rixxx]

All I know is when Megan G. gets the ball on the block, before you know it the ball is being kissed off the glass. She doesn't fool around and knows exactly where the defense is before she makes her move. She does the work before she gets the pass.

 

[eebmg]

Remember Graig Nettles, the 3rd baseman for the Yankees in the late 70s? He was known as "puff" because he'd come into a situation, say something to rile things up then -- "puff" -- disappear, while the situation (usually) escalated, in part due to that comment.

So, you Blue Devil, "puff!"

My recollection is that he was called "puff" by his teammates because he
would pull practical jokes on his teammates and then disappear.

I suppose the interpretation depends on whether you are a yankee lover or yankee hater.

 

[Plebe]

All I know is when Megan G. gets the ball on the block, before you know it the ball is being kissed off the glass. She doesn't fool around and knows exactly where the defense is before she makes her move. She does the work before she gets the pass.

To me this is the thing that really separates her. Before you even realize she's caught the ball, she's already in her shooting motion. Her baby hook on the left block is virtually unstoppable unless you move way over to camp out on it, which of course would hand her an easy layup on the other side. Her combination of quickness, decisiveness and footwork is amazing.

 

[eebmg]

To me this is the thing that really separates her. Before you even realize she's caught the ball, she's already in her shooting motion. Her baby hook on the left block is virtually unstoppable unless you move way over to camp out on it, which of course would hand her an easy layup on the other side. Her combination of quickness, decisiveness and footwork is amazing.

The only way to play her is to keep enough distance so she does not feel you.

Or

Pull back during her move and hope she goes off balance since she is using the defender as leverage very often.

Neither is easy.

 

[paisan]

I would love to see Seattle Storm get Gustafson...

 

[Dillon77]

My recollection is that he was called "puff" by his teammates because he
would pull practical jokes on his teammates and then disappear.

I suppose the interpretation depends on whether you are a yankee lover or yankee hater.

He would do that, too, if I recollect the stories I used to read in Newsday, Daily News, NY Post, etc.
In my opinion, a well-versed verbal "whip" can be just as unruly as a physical practical joke.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I don't know what Gustafson was like in HS but she sure can play BB now!
She'd help UCONN if she played in CT! Bet the ranch!

 

[BigBird]

Good read re: Megan

Actually, she’s been exceptional for a long time. She’s not about self-aggrandizing hype, which partially explains why those who haven’t seen her say, in effect, “who?” Those of us within the Big Ten’s media footprint know quite well what she can do. Legit possibility for NPOY.

 

[HuskyNan]

Stop attacking posters because you don’t like their opinions. You want names? @Charliebball

 

[noirwestern]

I've seen it discussed that she's soft on defense and watching her play one does get the impression that she tends to step aside and avoid contact. Then again, if you're responsible for about 75 to 80% of your team's offensive output on any given night it's probably in everyone's best interest for you to stay out of foul trouble. I would really liked to have seen her on a more balanced squad where she could have taken on the role as rim defender ala Stewie... Might be a different player altogether in the WNBA...