In defense of Dorka | The Boneyard

In defense of Dorka

HuskyNan

HuskyNan

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I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
 
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Dorka played 38 minutes. She had to be a little tired. Geno said in a recent interview that they’re all tired physically and mentally. They battled hard for 40 minutes and won by 17. They all played major minutes. They got 11 minutes and no points from the bench.

Some fans want perfection regardless. I can imagine the tenor of some comments if UConn had lost. :eek: If folks feel they need to point out the obvious, let them and simply move on. We all saw the game.

Dorka did not disappear last night. She showed up to play. She stayed shoulder to shoulder in the trenches with her teammates the entire time. That’s all you can ask. Her teammate’s made enough plays to cover her.

I’m elated we won. I’m happy the Tennessee fans are upset at Geno coming in their house and beating them convincingly. That is not an easy place to play. Word is they were irate in their comments directed at the players and coaches in their chat room. Good. I’m still smiling and giddy like the Joker. :D A great win ladies. You made UConn Nation very proud. Thank you very much. Proud to be a UConn fan this morning.
 
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We don't win that game without Dorka. The only legitimate criticism of her last night in my mind were the turnovers when she had the ball stripped from her hands or simply did not maintain control of it. If you go back and watch the plays carefully you will see that slapping on the wrist or arm was not being called. When Dorka had the ball taken from her at half court in the fourth quarter she was slapped so hard she would have needed gorilla glue to hold onto it. Sure, the hand is part of the ball but the wrist and foreearm isn't.
 
Urshurak said:
Rebounds were weird in this game. I think you’re spot on. Also, there seemed to be several that just bounced right into the LV hands. It was just a weird night in that regard.i
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I was also amazed on how those ? non=Nike ?? balls just found their way to Volunteer Hands.
But a W is a W , I no longer ask that they be pretty, or even according to my prognostication!
Dorka is a " peach". Go Dorka!!
 
The LVs had 23 offensive rebounds. UConn had 16 TOs after not having any in the first quarter. It was a great win but it wasn’t perfect. They never are.
 
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I am happy I opened this thread. Been warned now - I'll skip the game thread. I sometimes wonder how many posters experience the withering critique some feel appropriate to articulate here. Let's carry on with celebrations of a solid win and a remarkable, inspiring year for UConn WBB. How the heck do the bench stars and star to be sustain their (public at least) cheerful, engaged support. They're role models for the rest of us.
 
HuskyNan said:
I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
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people cant lose sight of the amount of minutes these young people are playing. Fatigue will lead to mental mistakes.

For god’s sake, they still won by 17 points
 
HuskyNan said:
I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
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Post of the year.
 
HuskyNan said:
I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
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NAN - respectfully so, Dorka's questionable rebounding in last night's game, in my personal opinion, was very glaring, especially in comparison to how she performed in similar situations in other past games this season, where she gobbled up those offensive boards and put them back up for points, or on the defensive side, easily picked them off and started fast breaks down to the other end. I did not see Aubrey's rebounding deficiencies last night as much as you may have. What I did see was that Aubrey, who was given the daunting task of trying to cover both Jordan Horston and Rickea Jackson and was getting beaten up down low by Tennessee Wide-Bodies 6'5' Hollingshead and 6'2" Puckett, when Aubrey tried to help out down low on the boards. I love Dorka's game, especially this season. But, I just felt (and apparently many others as well) that, while she it some key shots late in the game, to help put the game out of reach, she just didn't rise to the occasion, as she is capable of doing.
 
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She played fine to me. In some games, it just takes time to settle in and allow the game to come to you. And this was a little more than...some game. I wouldn't be surprised if she had to work that crowd out of her head.
 
The only reason Tennessee has a superior rebounding advantage against us is because they kept chucking up shots that often had a lucky bounce and it's hard to get a rebound on the offensive side when we were shooting at such a high clip :)
 
IMO, Dorka needs no defense, she pretty obviously was having trouble grabbing the ball with two hands at times and since that is not her recurring MO, I will assume it had something to do with her thumb or wrist. Anyone who has played basketball knows how vital the thumb is in grabbing and being strong with the ball.
As Carnac posted, she was in their fighting the whole game and that’s all you can expect; results are not always there but effort should be, and it was.
The other aspects of her game yielded fine results and at the end of the day, she had ONE less rebound than Edwards.
 
HuskyNan said:
I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
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Let's not forget that Dorka hit a dagger 3 point shot late in the game. She never lost focus & seemed very determined. Some players become frastrated & hesitant after a few misplays. But Dorka shrugged them off & fought through an intense, physical battle. She wanted the ball & looked very confident.
 
I would imagine she is still somewhat in her head about the injuries she's had to her wrist and fingers. She made some mistakes, but she also had some important defensive plays. The one where she came over and stole the ball from Jackson immediately sticks out to me. On the other end, she made some really nice passes and reads for her teammates. I think she played fine, and the mistakes she made could be corrected with some film.
 
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jaydee602 said:
Let's not forget that Dorka hit a dagger 3 point shot late in the game. She never lost focus & seemed very determined. Some players become frastrated & hesitant after a few misplays. But Dorka shrugged them off & fought through an intense, physical battle. She wanted the ball & looked very confident.
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She sure did. When she hit that, I thought to myself ok this is over, and then Lou piling on sealed the deal.
 
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When the Vols got within 2 points I was very concerned. At that point the true warriors have to do things at the highest level. Yes, I saw a few rebounds that made me wonder what's wrong. However, Dorka played way above a 6'5" big. How many bigs hit 3 point shots in the heat of the battle? Dorka did. How many bigs get 5 key assists when needed? Dorka did. And the best in my mind, how many bigs strip/steal the ball on a driving player. Dorka did. She is a winner.
 
I’ve got no criticism to make of Dorka. She was essential to our win. And she played a lot of minutes.

But I do have a concern, and you guys can tell me if my eyes were deceiving me. Dorka didn’t seem to be jumping for rebounds after the 1st quarter. This allowed the LVs to jump over her. I was worried that she’d hurt herself against DePaul — after one collision in that game she was grabbing the back of her leg. Could she have been protecting herself in this game by trying not to push off that same leg? Even if I’m right, I don’t think it could have been serious, or she couldn’t have run the court for 38 mins.
 
According to the Box Score she only had 2 turn overs, but had 5 assists.

Stanford several years ago had a post player who only played her freshman and junior years due to chronic knee issues. If I recall correctly she barely practiced her junior year due to her knees.

I remember after one game seeing her walking around with ice bags tied to both knees. Since that day I’ve done my best to minimize my criticism of players and just enjoy watching them play.

Most players at this level know their weaknesses and mistakes. They are much more frustrated at themselves than we are.

It’s the journey, not the destination. Enjoy the journey.
 
We can't have it both ways; if staying on-the-floor is an overarching priority (and it is), then you can't battle with a team selling out on the boards. Since it's all about getting more possessions and more shots, our counters to getting out rebounded are ball security (we had 16 TOs to their 21) and shooting pct. (we shot 55% to their 39.4%). If we shoot well and take care of the ball, we can live with giving up a few rebounds. Tenn took six more shots than we did but we made seven more than they did.
 
Thanks Nan for starting this thread. To paraphrase a quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau quote, "Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong," change insults to criticisms and after a hard fought victory against a determined team, backed by a home crowd, focusing on negatives is akin to an insult.

Dorka contributed to this game. Yes, the ball seemed to slip out of her hands tonite, but it is easy to rush to judgment w/out knowing if she might have been experiencing problems with either her thumb or wrist. Even if it is attributable to having a slightly off game rebounding, Dorka hit two threes, had 5 assists and had a timely steal off of Rickea Jackson.
 
HuskyNan said:
I’m seeing some criticism of Dorka in the post game thread and rather than reply to all the posts, thought I’d start a new thread.

It was mostly her rebounding that was criticized and, yes, it seemed some bounced off her hands. She wasn’t the only one, though. I found myself yelling at Aubrey to go chase rebounds rather than watch them. Their key stats were similar, btw, 13 points, 6 rebounds.

Anywho, Geno had Dorka playing a more perimeter oriented game, often initiating the offense from the top of the key, rather like Stef Dolson used to do. While Dorka had only 6 rebounds, she did have 5 assists by passing to cutters and three point shooters. As for the rebounds, it’s hard to grab an offensive rebound when you’re standing at the arc. And didn’t it seem a lot of balls took weird bounces, mostly towards an LV player? I’m not complaining, btw, it happens. That’s the way the ball bounces.

One of the reasons Dorka was on the perimeter is because she can make threes, and sh had 2 last night. Now a post player has to come out and guard her, opening the lane for Aaliyah and Aubrey.

Dorka’s defense in the 4th quarter was big, too. She stole the ball away from the LV posts (who told them to do so much dribbling in the paint anyway?) and had 3 steals during the game. I loved the one where she snagged the ball right out of the air.

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in numbers that they lose sight of the small things, like screens and defense. I just want to go on record that I feel Dorka made some valuable contributions that were not as noticeable as some missed rebounds.
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Some folks have good days, and not so good days...she's only human.
 
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