In defense of Dorka | Page 2 | The Boneyard

In defense of Dorka

Bone Dog said:
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.
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You made this observation during the chat, it's a legitimate observation, and I think you may have hit on something. What concerned me yesterday as well though was how frequently Dorka was pushed aside, even when she had position for the ball, be it rebounds or loose balls. However, through much of the game Dorka was guilty of being out of position for many rebounds. I didn't see much if any evidence of Dorka limping, and she seemed to run the floor fairly well. But yes absolutely, she barely left the floor for rebounds, was out jumped time after time, and it was especially noticeable when she had position.

Also consider the fact that Dorka's injury on her thumb prevented extensive weight room training on her upper body during her long recovery over the summer, and breaking her thumb again during this year didn't help at all. But again, let's consider the fact that AE had 6 rebounds at the half, Dorka 4. Yet AE had only 1 rebound in the 2nd half, that late in the game, while Dorka had 2 rebounds in the 2nd half. So rebounding wasn't merely a Dorka problem, but a team problem. I was surprised that Nika was able to get the ball out into space at all considering UConn's poor rebounding. I don't think I've ever seen a UConn team win a game nearly by 20 while being out rebounded by such a large margin.
 
It is hard for UCONN Players to stay on the "good side" of some BYers. In one post the writer said... "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." (emphasis added) NOTE: I used this quote only as an example, not to single out its writer. Game after Game this season Dorka has received positive comments and accolades for her play at both ends of the court. She has Shown UP... and Shown Out. And she apparently had some tough times last night (I must admit I did not see the game), and some on this board make her out to be a poor player... Imagine who would have caught the brunt of an angry fan base had UCONN not won. We have to Trust the Coaching staff saw the game too, and any issues Dorka was having ... they will work on those and correct them!

Yes, Dorka is a Grad Student playing her 5th year of NCAA D1 WBB... and maybe we should expect her to be error free every game... but that's not the way things go in Sports, or in life. Remember, even the Mighty Casey Struck out... they wrote a poem about it!

Give the Team a break. Praise their good stuff... encourage them when they have a tough game. They are OUR Team, and they certainly don't have any intention to have off games. :);):confused:
 
Many people don't realize the difference between height and length. In high school, I was 6'4". We had a forward who was 6'1". Yet when we stood together and extended his arms, his reach was 2 inches higher than mine. Tennessee has long players and, because they are lithe bodies, their techniques is to one-hand tap and catch the ball the second time. Dorka had a great game and gave us everything she had. Criticism of her for this game is unwarranted in my opinion.
 
JordyG said:
You made this observation during the chat, it's a legitimate observation, and I think you may have hit on something. What concerned me yesterday as well though was how frequently Dorka was pushed aside, even when she had position for the ball, be it rebounds or loose balls. However, through much of the game Dorka was guilty of being out of position for many rebounds. I didn't see much if any evidence of Dorka limping, and she seemed to run the floor fairly well. But yes absolutely, she barely left the floor for rebounds, was out jumped time after time, and it was especially noticeable when she had position.

Also consider the fact that Dorka's injury on her thumb prevented extensive weight room training on her upper body during her long recovery over the summer, and breaking her thumb again during this year didn't help at all. But again, let's consider the fact that AE had 6 rebounds at the half, Dorka 4. Yet AE had only 1 rebound in the 2nd half, that late in the game, while Dorka had 2 rebounds in the 2nd half. So rebounding wasn't merely a Dorka problem, but a team problem. I was surprised that Nika was able to get the ball out into space at all considering UConn's poor rebounding. I don't think I've ever seen a UConn team win a game nearly by 20 while being out rebounded by such a large margin.
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The total rebound amount is misleading, in my view. UConn actually had more Defensive rebounds than Tennessee . The Offensive rebound total disparity meant that the Vols ended up with more shots, which was negated by UConn’s superior defense. One could certainly argue that they had fewer Defensive rebounds because UConn shot the ball so well, but that argument always results in a loss. Someone also brought up the obvious; a team with no subs can’t possibly be more aggressive down low, particularly when the officiating is so unpredictable. It is unfathomable that ESPN spent so much time and money on this game without insisting that the home team spring for the best officials available. It was, after all, a non conference game.
 
HuskyNan said:
LV had a lot of offensive rebounds because they missed their shots. Who cares?
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Absolutely. Boxing out does no good if the rebound goes beyond the player you are boxing out such as on missed 3s. Hey, they are an offensive rebounding team. Always have been and always will be. It's what Pat Summit always emphasized and it's not surprising that a point guard of hers would adopt the same approach.

This is the best statistical analysis of Dorka last night- She had 13 points and 5 assists or was responsible, at least partly, for 23+ points or more than 1/3 of the entire Tennessee total and had 6 rebounds and 3 steals and was therefore singularly responsible for 9 changes of possessions. We had 16 turnovers and took 60 shots so that makes 76 possessions at the least. Since we made a turnover 1 out of every 5 possessions, that means that approximately 2 of the 9 Dorka possession changes did not result in a shot. However, 7 of them did. We shot 55% from the field so that translates into about 4 made baskets. 25% of our made baskets were 3s so out of those 4 we have one 3 and three 2 point baskets for an additional 9 points. Now we are up to her having a role in part or wholly for 32 points or almost half the Vols total. Yes she has imperfections and they were visible to some extent last night as was true for others ( Lou was just magnificent though in a Taurasiesque type performance) but as Nan said, Who Cares? She was one of our Badasses last night in the Orange Badlands.

Finally, compare our game last night to our game against ND where we were pushed, pulled, restrained and hammered similar to last night and while there may have been a disparity in the talent level between ND and the Vols, there was no difference in the physicality we faced and we kicked butt despite it. Dorka is a big reason for that.
 
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Littlemin said:
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.
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It appears that some posters have lost sight of the fact that Tennessee while not currently ranked, is still an elite team with better-than-average players.
FACT: you’re not going to be able to do the things against the rlite teams and their players that you can against lesser talented teams........like those in our conference.

We don’t know the condition of her thumb which was recently broken. It may be 100% healed or not. It’s aldo possible that it was aggravated at some point during the game (not saying it was, just that it may have been). If so, knowing that the bench was thin, she persevered and continued to play. Or maybe she just got outplayed by a more talented player(s). That happens too sometimes.

During the course of a season, you’re going to have a game where nothing works for you. Sometimes we have bad days too. When a player, any player has a bad game, they know it. What they need is support, a show of appreciation and understanding from their fan base. Not the darts, arrows and vitrol like the LV’s got from their fanslast night.
 
Surly1 said:
To paraphrase a quote from Jean-Jacques Rousseau quote, "Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong,
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Nice quote. I wasn’t familiar with it.
 
I feel like Dorka will always figure it out if she's given minutes. She'll find a way to make a positive impact on the game. She missed some bunnies and had her shot blocked a couple of times but she's giving her all. I honestly feel like she's still improving in terms of driving and finishing and posting up. AE scores a lot with her quick first step and driving and finishing. Dorka has a solid first step and handle, it's just finishing she sometimes has problems. To me it kinda is what it is, but she's always a net positive on the floor in my eyes.
 
Boreifs said:
The total rebound amount is misleading, in my view. UConn actually had more Defensive rebounds than Tennessee . The Offensive rebound total disparity meant that the Vols ended up with more shots, which was negated by UConn’s superior defense. One could certainly argue that they had fewer Defensive rebounds because UConn shot the ball so well, but that argument always results in a loss. Someone also brought up the obvious; a team with no subs can’t possibly be more aggressive down low, particularly when the officiating is so unpredictable. It is unfathomable that ESPN spent so much time and money on this game without insisting that the home team spring for the best officials available. It was, after all, a non conference game.
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Yes well.... UT has been for many years a poor shooting team. Chuck it up and get the put back. Last year for example the rebounds were 38 apiece. UT had slightly more offensive rebounds, yet shot a putrid 17-59. This year 26-66. So UConn's defense was better against UT last year, and so was UConn's rebounding.

The difference this year was UT's defense was shoddier, and UConn shot incredibly at all levels, so yes, better shooting means less defensive rebounds for the opposing team. Every time. It's a guarantee that if UConn shot worse, like the 44.8% they had last year, UT would have had more than 3 more defensive rebounds. Better, if UConn had missed more shots, as in shooting the 44.8% they had last year, the net result would have been a loss; for UConn.

Last year Geno mainly played 6 players, with Dorka getting 13 minutes while scoring 2 points with 4 rebounds. This year he played 5. Yet UConn was out rebounded by 11. Last year Geno used virtually no subs as well, yet was more effective on the boards. Three more defensive rebounds by UConn doesn't, in my book, constitute any sort of domination.
 
Bone Dog said:
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.
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As a player, you don’t get injured if your bench is thin or non-existent. Knowing the coach does not have an “adequate” replacement for you, you bite the bullet and play through it. That may have been what you saw in Dorka last night. Geno may or may not address that in subsequent pressers.
 
Tenn was slapping hard on all the defensive sets and Dorka lost the rebound a few times. I wondered if her thumb prevented her hanging onto the ball as hard as others might be able to. However remember that I think at least 3 and I think 4 of our starters were in foul trouble which certainly hinders being able to get involved in situations where fouls might get called when the bench is lean. UConn won. I'm happy.
 
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CONNCAN said:
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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As I said in the post game thread, the team that wears Orange was hacking and slapping at Dorka's wrists and hands last night. She has had a broken wrist and thumb in less than a year and any jarring of those two is going to cause pain, sometimes very severe pain, so I will give her some slack because of the hack the sack play of those people that wear Orange.
 
jdote33 said:
I feel like Dorka will always figure it out if she's given minutes. She'll find a way to make a positive impact on the game. She missed some bunnies and had her shot blocked a couple of times but she's giving her all. I honestly feel like she's still improving in terms of driving and finishing and posting up. AE scores a lot with her quick first step and driving and finishing. Dorka has a solid first step and handle, it's just finishing she sometimes has problems. To me it kinda is what it is, but she's always a net positive on the floor in my eyes.
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This just in..........we don’t win last night without Dorka!! Funny you should say that. Geno admitted that he has mellowed some this year. He said that more and more he’s letting the players figure things out for themselves during the course of a game instead of correcting them on the fly.
 
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I am a huge fan of Dorka's but lets stop with the excuses about her wrist and thumb..she played all year last year with the same problems she's having now up to the NC State game when she broke her wrist.Her wrists /hands are just not very strong..now since the 2 injuries it's even worse..I still love everything she brings to the lineup...I really think that if she had played against ND and Maryland Uconn would be undefeated
 
I thought Dorka did well last night on the boards. I mean if you are not in position for a rebound, not much you can do, unless you want to risk picking up silly fouls. Dorka and the coaching staff probably had a game plan for this type of situation. I just think that she got rebounds where it was clearly easy and offered low risk.
 
I would say there were also a few of those 'padding the offensive rebounding stats' moments in the game where a few LVs couldn't buy a lay-up but were in the inside position to grab the ball each time it rolled off the rim again. That, combined with what seemed quite a few strange bounces lead to an inordinate number of O boards given up. And has led to all this angst and criticism.

I was reminded of the old description of the Pat Summit offense: toss it up and rebound like hell.

While TN has continued to hire Pat disciples, the offensive plan has not evolved - when Pat was still fully coaching she recognized that coaches like Tara and Muffet as well as Geno were leaving her behind. The famous Pat and Harry hot tub quip was based on her trying to learn new tricks. She relied on great recruiting to maintain the competitiveness of TN, but it was beginning to fail her.
 
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around 15 and 10 with 4 assists so far this year. 18/11 road warrior.
Dorka is a star. always was.

and, she just handed Tennessee an egg, then said 'suck it.'
at their place.
 
Carnac said:
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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The girls are going to be either bone tired and subject to injury or be able to run marathons and threw brick walls. We'll see.
 
JellyBean said:
I thought Dorka did well last night on the boards. I mean if you are not in position for a rebound, not much you can do, unless you want to risk picking up silly fouls. Dorka and the coaching staff probably had a game plan for this type of situation. I just think that she got rebounds where it was clearly easy and offered low risk.
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I don't get it ... I am rewatching the game and Dorka is doing fine. If anything Geno came up with an unusual game plan. Defensively Dorka was frequently outside with her assignment, and offensively she very rarely came inside the arc. And I didn't see a lot of high post. It appears the strategy was to spread four out around the arc and make room for Aaliyah to work underneath. So both offensively and defensively she had to come from outside to make rebounds. (Not a great scheme as they got eaten up by offensive rebounds just like in last year's NC game.)

On the one hand they won the game so you could argue the game plan worked but I would argue it was not a good game plan (you can blame that on whoever scouted Tenn).

And, Tenn entire offensive plan seems to be Jackson and Horston driving the lane.
 
Carnac said:
I’ll take the marathons and brick walls for $500 Alex. :)
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Carnac. For $500 (in BY$$$). Who was the coach for UCONN's WBB that only coached 1 season? (w/o looking it up) ;)
 
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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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Agree with your comments.
Dorka has been through so much and wants the WNBA so bad and last night was a statement game. ( she did not stand out as much as we would like ).
Unfortunately, she is dropping in the draft due to her inability to be dominate on the glass.
She gets blocked too much from smaller players.
We still have a long way to go and I hope she gets back into the 1st round discussions
 
Two things can be true at once. I agree with all the positives about Dora’s play but still think she missed too many defensive rebounds, didn’t always get good position, and didn’t grab the ball enough.
 
What I noticed the most for Dorka was less efficiency in the low post in terms of scoring. Given her height, she doesn’t often experience as tough of defensive pressure as she did last night.

In my eyes, it was a perfect game for Dorka to experience before playing SC. She had plenty of positives, with some fantastic film to watch to prepare her for SC and ultimately the pros.
 
I read those remarks about Dorka's rebounding, earlier, and just thought that these are the type of people, who if you gave them a five-dollar bill, would complain that they wanted five singles. It's never enough.
 
Kat said:
I read those remarks about Dorka's rebounding, earlier, and just thought that these are the type of people, who if you gave them a five-dollar bill, would complain that they wanted five singles. It's never enough.
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We are all rooting for Dorka - so why do you think she is dropping in the pre draft discussions
 
LCConnFan said:
Carnac. For $500 (in BY$$$). Who was the coach for UCONN's WBB that only coached 1 season? (w/o looking it up) ;)
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I have no idea. I didn't become an "avid" UConn fan until 2008. Geno is the only UConn WBB coach I know. :rolleyes:

I looked it up...........

Sandra Hamm (1974–1975)​

Sandra Hamm, a Terryville native, was employed part-time as the interim women's coach in the 1974–1975 season, when the team was 2–8. When she wasn't coaching, she taught physical education at a junior high school in Manchester.
 
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