In defense of Bria Hartley....not that she needs it.

[DavidinNaples]

Bria Hartley is an All-American and doesn't need a couch potato from the BY to make excuses for her "tough" shooting night against Maryland. That said, the stat line in the box score doesn't always tell the whole story. Therefore, here is some added analysis to help put her performance in perspective.

1. Bria played the whole game - With Saniya having an off night and Banks turning her ankle in the first half, Geno saw fit to leave Bria on the floor for 40 minutes. Bria didn't just play the whole game, she played the whole game at full speed, like UConn always does. She shared duty w/ Banks guarding Alyssa Thomas and faced a rotation of fresh guards all night. Tired legs are a jump shooter's worse enemy. Consider that in the first 12 minutes last night, Bria was 4-7 for 8 pts. In the last 8 minutes of the half, w/out a break, she was 0-3. In the 2nd half, she was 0-11 and appeared to have tired legs, but never let up. Alyssa Thomas, who played 37 minutes, was tired as well. In the last 16 minutes of the game, she went 2-6 w/ 3 turnovers, 3 fouls and only 3 rebounds.

2. Good shots vs bad shots - There is a difference between "bad shots" and "good shots that don't go in." Bria had mostly the latter against Maryland. After Stewie hit 3 of 4 three pointers, Maryland made sure she had very few additional chances. Bria was open for most of her shots and had good looks at the basket. With Dolson, Chong, Banks and MoJeff going 2-9, Hartley kept getting open and kept shooting.

3. KML was missing - KML averaged almost 12 shots per game last year, more than half of them 3's. With KML playing, Bria probably takes 8-10 fewer shots. With KML and/or Tuck available to play, she probably gets 3-5 minutes on the bench to rest. It would have helped.

4. Offensive rebounds - Interestingly, UConn had offensive rebounds on 6 of 11 missed shots taken by Bria in the 2nd half. While that doesn't excuse the misses, it does provide UConn with another opportunity to score and lessens the impact of a bad night by one shooter.

The rest of Hartley's play was brilliant. In 40 minutes she had 1 turnover, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 0 fouls. Great job not letting one part of her game impact other areas. Go Huskies..!!

 

[Alydar]

My first reaction to Hartley during the second half was that she was doing a great Simmons impression, but after watching the replay I agree with the OP. She and Jefferson did a fantastic job of making Thomas work for everything in the second half and once Thomas was on empty MD gave up.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Why do we feel the need to defend her? She has been playing great. She is playing a ton of minutes due to the shorter bench, she is leading us in many ways. Anyone who wants to say something negative should keep their opinions to themselves, unless they think they can do a better job.

 

[UcMiami]

Nice OP and as you say unnecessary but nice to lay it all out.
Interesting thing - Uconn was shooting lights out in the first half (56%) and Maryland was getting all the rebounds and a bunch of long offensive rebounds - second half Uconn didn't shoot well but they had a bunch of long offensive rebounds - rebounding in short segments can be very fickle based on whether the ball comes of soft where boxing out has most effect or if they are long making the defensive box out much less effective. A lot of Bria's misses were hard off the iron and came out further from the basket. (Not atypical for 3 point misses as the ball tends to have a higher arc to reach the basket from distance - therefore more energy.)

 

[tomcat]

I have to say this, as someone who has never really been a Hartley fan. She took a bunch of what I would consider good percentage shots and they didn't fall. That happens. But beyond that, she was a force on the court. She contributed in a lot of important ways, drove to the basket well and (unlike some times last year) did not turn the ball over. Someone above said one TO. That's great. Mostly, she just seems to be a really valuable teammate. When you can miss all those shots and still be considered a vital part of the team effort, that's really saying something.

 

[huskyharry]

When not hitting from three, take a step in. Then make a couple of shots to get the confidence up & then shoot the three. I cringed when she deliberately stepped back that time to get behind the line.
Overall, she played an outstanding game. Her ability to push the pace to keep the defense on its heels was crucial.

 

[RadyLady]

WHY IS IT - that the only thing that matters to some folks is the number of points a player scores...
It seems to SOME that the intangibles are lesser in the bigger picture than points.

Ask Geno what he thinks....

One bad game (point-wise) and the player is excoriated and as I ruminated in another thread, opined that they should lose their starting slot.

Well I agree - this team should NEVER make mistakes, and if they do, they should get their scholarships yanked - NOT

(I realize now that I should not have even bothered reading this thread - my bad).

 

[DavidinNaples]

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what your point is or to whom it is directed. The thread highlights her effort, heart and intangibles.

 

[tomcat]

It amazes me that when people want to give a player credit for going above and beyond, others somehow read implicit criticism into it. None was intended, at least not by this poster.

 

[UcMiami]

WHY IS IT - that the only thing that matters to some folks is the number of points a player scores...
It seems to SOME that the intangibles are lesser in the bigger picture than points.

Ask Geno what he thinks....

One bad game (point-wise) and the player is excoriated and as I ruminated in another thread, opined that they should lose their starting slot.

Well I agree - this team should NEVER make mistakes, and if they do, they should get their scholarships yanked - NOT

(I realize now that I should not have even bothered reading this thread - my bad).

RadyLady - this one seems out of place on a thread that is celebrating all the intangibles Bria brought to the game that made her off shooting night immaterial - or am I missing something?

 

[hjoerring]

RadyLady - this one seems out of place on a thread that is celebrating all the intangibles Bria brought to the game that made her off shooting night immaterial - or am I missing something?

I think the author was referring not to the original thread itself- which only make sense if its writer felt the need to clarify a situation (read it's opening remark), but to a general under the table critique of Bria. This is a critique with roots in how PG days. It would be folly to deny this as a fact. Indeed, one respondent felt the need to tell us that s/he has not been a fan of her! I understand RadyLady to be saying that she played well well- and may have been, w/ Mo, the reason we came out ahead. Let us say that she gave up shooting after so many misses, would her impact be the same? Would Maryland be so stupid as to defend her? The idea that if you are not making them 10 ft out then come a little closer in is wishful thinking- if she is playing within the game and what is available. Had she made every basket there would be no noise from US about shots, etc. Personally, there are few players who can be called upon to play at that pace, defense, rebound and a 40 min outing without giving up something. I read that coach A told Stewart or pointed out to her that while she may have 19 points, she had 0 rebounds-- something she corrected (which meant less point production in the 2nd half) Of course I am a fan of Bria (and all the others-- 11) and would like for her and Big Mamma to do well, so that they have a good chance come draft day. It hurts to see our well coached players go in the later rounds (Tiff) when it is clear that they are talented and well schooled.

 

[UcMiami]

I think the author was referring not to the original thread itself- which only make sense if its writer felt the need to clarify a situation (read it's opening remark), but to a general under the table critique of Bria. This is a critique with roots in how PG days. It would be folly to deny this as a fact. Indeed, one respondent felt the need to tell us that s/he has not been a fan of her! I understand RadyLady to be saying that she played well well- and may have been, w/ Mo, the reason we came out ahead. Let us say that she gave up shooting after so many misses, would her impact be the same? Would Maryland be so stupid as to defend her? The idea that if you are not making them 10 ft out then come a little closer in is wishful thinking- if she is playing within the game and what is available. Had she made every basket there would be no noise from US about shots, etc. Personally, there are few players who can be called upon to play at that pace, defense, rebound and a 40 min outing without giving up something. I read that coach A told Stewart or pointed out to her that while she may have 19 points, she had 0 rebounds-- something she corrected (which meant less point production in the 2nd half) Of course I am a fan of Bria (and all the others-- 11) and would like for her and Big Mamma to do well, so that they have a good chance come draft day. It hurts to see our well coached players go in the later rounds (Tiff) when it is clear that they are talented and well schooled.

Nicely explained - I just thought and I think most of the posters were coming from a completely different place - including tomcat who, while not a particular fan of Bria's recognized a stellar performance.
I agree that many fans do get caught up in scoring and shooting percentage as a gauge of quality of game played and this diminishes all the other qualities of what makes a good basketball player and I think that was the whole point of the OP. We easily recognize Kelly or Kalana as great team players because we always talk about their intangibles and their defensive prowess. With other players that we expect to be scorers, we sometimes forget to account for everything else they are doing - I think this is especially true of combo guards and point guards because on offense they can switch between scoring and facilitating play by play, half by half, and game by game.
And I will say that I cannot remember a better game played by anyone at any level or gender of the sport who even approach a 4-21 shooting night. She was great!

 

[John Glass]

great defense by Bria today

well at least in the first half

 

[RadyLady]

I think the author was referring not to the original thread itself- which only make sense if its writer felt the need to clarify a situation (read it's opening remark), but to a general under the table critique of Bria. This is a critique with roots in how PG days. It would be folly to deny this as a fact. Indeed, one respondent felt the need to tell us that s/he has not been a fan of her! I understand RadyLady to be saying that she played well well- and may have been, w/ Mo, the reason we came out ahead. Let us say that she gave up shooting after so many misses, would her impact be the same? Would Maryland be so stupid as to defend her? The idea that if you are not making them 10 ft out then come a little closer in is wishful thinking- if she is playing within the game and what is available. Had she made every basket there would be no noise from US about shots, etc. Personally, there are few players who can be called upon to play at that pace, defense, rebound and a 40 min outing without giving up something. I read that coach A told Stewart or pointed out to her that while she may have 19 points, she had 0 rebounds-- something she corrected (which meant less point production in the 2nd half) Of course I am a fan of Bria (and all the others-- 11) and would like for her and Big Mamma to do well, so that they have a good chance come draft day. It hurts to see our well coached players go in the later rounds (Tiff) when it is clear that they are talented and well schooled.

thank you.