John A.: Geno is NOT happy with Dolson

[magic]

"Neither ..." Caroline nor Kelly "...contribute anything offensively to this team." Do assists count? Does avoiding turnovers count? Do Caroline's 15 points and numerous steals against Louisville count?

I don't see how Caroline can possibly be blamed even slightly for the St. Johns outcome since she was injured in the opening minutes and played only 8 minutes. For most of the game, we had a backcourt of Bria/Tiff/KML -- is that offensive enough for you?

I do agree that a twin-towers line-up (Kiah in the low post and Stef high) with those guards is probably a good idea at this point. But I think if Caroline had not been injured early in the St. Johns game, the outcome would probably have been different -- if nothing else, the 18-to-8 adverse turnover differential would almost certainly not have occurred.

The turnovers and the lack of offensive production from Stef were the primary causes of the unfavorable outcome.

 

[HuskyNan]

People that compare the relative value of a point guard to a center make me want to pull my hair out.

 

[magic]

The reason SD has no place to move is because there isn't enough threat from the perimeter. If you have two players noit contributing offensively, you can just cheat off them, and pack the lane. In case you haven't noticed , SD is getting whacked constantly! Hell, I've seen players hanging omto her arms. The reason you play a 4guard offense is usually to spread the floor and take advantage of speed and spacing. But, those guards must be outside scoring threats for it to work. At this point in the season every good team will pack SD in, and dare KF and CD to shoot! Play SD and KS together with 3 guards and teams will not be able to cheat anymore!

 

[Icebear]

The reason SD has no place to move is because there isn't enough threat from the perimeter. If you have two players noit contributing offensively, you can just cheat off them, and pack the lane. In case you haven't noticed , SD is getting whacked constantly! Hell, I've seen players hanging omto her arms. The reason you play a 4guard offense is usually to spread the floor and take advantage of speed and spacing. But, those guards must be outside scoring threats for it to work. At this point in the season every good team will pack SD in, and dare KF and CD to shoot! Play SD and KS together with 3 guards and teams will not be able to cheat anymore!

CD takes shots regularly. She is not hesitent and her shooting percentages are not bad.

 

[msf22b]

If Kelly finds herself in open space in the corner, rather than take the three, she has to drive in and thrreaten a lay-up. that will bring D to her

 

[Icebear]

If Kelly finds herself in open space in the corner, rather than take the three, she has to drive in and thrreaten a lay-up. that will bring D to her

That is indeed one of the threats that Kelly needs to offer regularly. There are things that you can do other than sinking 3s that force the opponent to honor you as a threat.

 

[VAMike23]

That is indeed one of the threats that Kelly needs to offer regularly. There are things that you can do other than sinking 3s that force the opponent to honor you as a threat.

In the past, Kelly used to be fairly adept at stepping in from the wing or baseline and taking a mid-range jumper off the glass. She was pretty reliable with that shot. I think Maya was a good example for her to copy, since she used the glass a lot from mid-range. Lately, I see much less of that particular shot from Kelly -- OTOH I have seen somewhat of an increase in the number of floating, turnaround shots in the lane from Kelly, which don't go in

 

[Icebear]

In the past, Kelly used to be fairly adept at stepping in from the wing or baseline and taking a mid-range jumper off the glass. She was pretty reliable with that shot. I think Maya was a good example for her to copy, since she used the glass a lot from mid-range.

Agreed, Mike, she has done less of that.

 

[UConnCat]

My point is that she was not supposed to be in that place at all. She was not screened by motion she had taken a position face up in the post against #3 where Kiah was, also.. Tiff is not screened she was squared up defending a player she was not to be guarding in the first place. Tiff was supposed to have the perimeter player and Kiah the player in the post. Shekinna Smith never ran Tiff into the screen/pick. Tiff took that position and note that she is using an arm bar on #3. Not something that happens when you get screened. Think about it. Who you you have had in the post to challenge Kiah or Tiff and who would you have defending the quicker perimeter player I think the answers are obvious.

I don't get your point. Tiff started off guarding Smith, not Stevens. Smith never ended up setting a screen but I think she was supposed to. The two SJU players came together and Tiffany called for a switch anyway. Stevens then screened Kiah which delayed her getting out to the shooter. The point is that Tiffany started off guarding Smith and by her own admission should have stayed with her. Instead, she called for a switch which wasn't really necessary and then led to a screen on Kiah. (“It was probably my fault,’’ senior Tiffany Hayes said. “I could’ve just went out. We were supposed to be switching, but it wasn’t really a screen so I could’ve stayed with her. But instead I told Kiah (Stokes) to go out.)

 

[Icebear]

That is not the same ending of the game I watched Cat. I'm sitting here watching it on YouTube. Tiff description may be what she thinks happened but it is not what I see on tape. There is no coming together of any two players on the last Johnnies basket as Tiff says it wasn't a screen. ESPN replay LINK

 

[HuskyNan]

The reason SD has no place to move is because there isn't enough threat from the perimeter. If you have two players noit contributing offensively, you can just cheat off them, and pack the lane. In case you haven't noticed , SD is getting whacked constantly! Hell, I've seen players hanging omto her arms. The reason you play a 4guard offense is usually to spread the floor and take advantage of speed and spacing. But, those guards must be outside scoring threats for it to work. At this point in the season every good team will pack SD in, and dare KF and CD to shoot! Play SD and KS together with 3 guards and teams will not be able to cheat anymore!

UConn is 11th in the country in three pointers made per game and 20th in the country in three point FG percentage. That's out of 330-something teams. Caroline hits 36.9% of her threes which is second best on the team after Tiff.

Really tough crowd today.

 

[MarlboroughMike]

UConn is 11th in the country in three pointers made per game and 20th in the country in three point FG percentage. That's out of 330-something teams.

Really tough crowd today.

Live by the three, die by the three. oops, we did.

 

[RadyLady]

I HATE TREND MICRO SECURITY SOFTWARE! It blocks the links to the blogs.

Thanks. Just had to grumble.

does that for me at work. I have to wait until I get home to read these things or watch video - hell, even to look at pictures!

 

[doggydaddy]

UConn is 11th in the country in three pointers made per game and 20th in the country in three point FG percentage. That's out of 330-something teams. Caroline hits 36.9% of her threes which is second best on the team after Tiff.

Really tough crowd today.

Today?

Between the "fact" that Dolson has no offense, we don't have 3 point shooters, Buck needs to play more, Hayes never shows up in big games (St. Johns is a big game?)...all the "I told you they would lose soon" folks now cashing in....it makes this board tough to read.

I know, don't read it...lol. I did stay away as long as I could.

We are doomed, Nan,...doomed.

 

[UConnCat]

That is not the same ending of the game I watched Cat. I'm sitting here watching it on YouTube. Tiff description may be what she thinks happened but it is not what I see on tape. There is no coming together of any two players on the last Johnnies basket as Tiff says it wasn't a screen. ESPN replay LINK

I watched the last sequence several times on CPTV, not ESPN. It's impossible to see what happened with Stevens and Smith on TV because the camera was on the player with the ball. The camera barely catches Stevens screening Kiah and preventing her from getting out to Smith. But if you watch the CPTV broadcast including the full last possession including timeouts, you will see that Tiffany was guarding Smith and the post players (Stef then Kiah) were on Stevens. After the last timeout you can see Tiffany looking for Smith to guard. That didn't change until Tiffany called for a switch which was unnecessary by her own admission. Any suggestion that Tiffany started off guarding the wrong player (Stevens) is not accurate and not consistent with what the coaches and her teammates said. As CD said on post-game, it was very difficult to see what happened on TV because of the camera angle, but "Tiffany could have just stayed with the shooter," which we know was Smith.

 

[HuskyNan]

Today?

Between the "fact" that Dolson has no offense, we don't have 3 point shooters, Buck needs to play more, Hayes never shows up in big games (St. Johns is a big game?)...all the "I told you they would lose soon" folks now cashing in....it makes this board tough to read.

You forgot to list that Geno no longer knows how to coach post players.

We are seeing the difference between people that watch women's basketball vs those that watch only UConn women's basketball. If folks would watch more games maybe they'd actually be impressed with the level of excellence the Huskies have maintained for years on end. It's easy to lose perspective when your definition of a "nice win" is a 40 point blowout.

 

[RadyLady]

It's amazing to me that Geno says on his show that if you can't score, you can't play for the huskies. I love CD and KF, but neither of them contribute anything offensively to this team , but because of the "love fest", we keep talking about their "GREAT" court game. PLEASE ,GIVE ME A BREAK! Kiah is the most improved player on the team, and a monster rebounder. Play physical with huskies, Pack the lane aganst SD, because CD and KF are non factors. That's the game plan folks.

wish we had a "dislike" button

 

[RadyLady]

You forgot to list that Geno no longer knows how to coach post players.

We are seeing the difference between people that watch women's basketball vs those that watch only UConn women's basketball. If folks would watch more games maybe they'd actually be impressed with the level of excellence the Huskies have maintained for years on end. It's easy to lose perspective when your definition of a "nice win" is a 40 point blowout.

THANK YOU - and I agree with DD - I have avoided the BY until today to let the negativity die down.

 

[Icebear]

I watched the last sequence several times on CPTV, not ESPN. It's impossible to see what happened with Stevens and Smith on TV because the camera was on the player with the ball. The camera barely catches Stevens screening Kiah and preventing her from getting out to Smith. But if you watch the CPTV broadcast including the full last possession including timeouts, you will see that Tiffany was guarding Smith and the post players (Stef then Kiah) were on Stevens. After the last timeout you can see Tiffany looking for Smith to guard. That didn't change until Tiffany called for a switch which was unnecessary by her own admission. Any suggestion that Tiffany started off guarding the wrong player (Stevens) is not accurate and not consistent with what the coaches and her teammates said. As CD said on post-game, it was very difficult to see what happened on TV because of the camera angle, but "Tiffany could have just stayed with the shooter," which we know was Smith.

I have watched all of that including the two views shown as part of The Play that Secured the Game (beginning at 2:50 of the Hoop Streams video to the end) and I disagree with your view of what occurs in the play. Tiffany may have started with whoever but the two SJ players never come within 5-7 feet of each each so if Tiff called for a switch it was flat wrong. What I see is Tiff guarding instead #3 with the arm bar sending Kiah out and Smith on the perimeter for a long count. Given CD's comments it would appear that is how she saw it, too.

 

[magic]

CD takes shots regularly. She is not hesitent and her shooting percentages are not bad.

No, she isn't hesitant, and her percentages aren't bad. But, don't you want your 6'5'' center getting more shots per game? Huskies pounded the ball into TC. First problem is, none of husky guards get her or KS ball at the right time . Start recording the games , and you will see how many times SD has fought for position but not getting the ball. Why, because huskies do not have a "true" point guard, and htis years version is not a great passing team. It's all about angles. But, if you're looking in the other direction when the angle occurs, you've lost the opportunity. SD has been bounced all over the place to accomodate this 4 guard structure. On saturday the transition game was controlled and the scoring was a struggle.

 

[Icebear]

No, she isn't hesitant, and her percentages aren't bad. But, don't you want your 6'5'' center getting more shots per game? Huskies pounded the ball into TC. First problem is, none of husky guards get her or KS ball at the right time . Start recording the games , and you will see how many times SD has fought for position but not getting the ball. Why, because huskies do not have a "true" point guard, and htis years version is not a great passing team. It's all about angles. But, if you're looking in the other direction when the angle occurs, you've lost the opportunity. SD has been bounced all over the place to accomodate this 4 guard structure. On saturday the transition game was controlled and the scoring was a struggle.

So now you are changing the argument because the first one was wrong. Of course, I want passes into Stef, but I want players like CD taking shots, too. Everything within the flow of the offense. The problems with the feed into the post have never been resolved.

 

[magic]

"Neither ..." Caroline nor Kelly "...contribute anything offensively to this team." Do assists count? Does avoiding turnovers count? Do Caroline's 15 points and numerous steals against Louisville count?

I don't see how Caroline can possibly be blamed even slightly for the St. Johns outcome since she was injured in the opening minutes and played only 8 minutes. For most of the game, we had a backcourt of Bria/Tiff/KML -- is that offensive enough for you?

I do agree that a twin-towers line-up (Kiah in the low post and Stef high) with those guards is probably a good idea at this point. But I think if Caroline had not been injured early in the St. Johns game, the outcome would probably have been different -- if nothing else, the 18-to-8 adverse turnover differential would almost certainly not have occurred.

The turnovers and the lack of offensive production from Stef were the primary causes of the unfavorable outcome.

You say SD lack of production was the issue. I disagree. The reason you play a 4guard lineup, is because you are supposed to have guards that SCORE, because you are giving up size. You trade post scoring , and rebounding for transition baskets created by turnovers, and 3pointers.

 

[magic]

So now you are changing you argument because the first one was wrong.

Please explain what I changed.

 

[Icebear]

Please explain what I changed.

I realized that it may not have been you and was in the process of changing it to "the argument." The critique had been that CD and Kelly were liabilities because of not shooting that is not true of CD and less so of Kelly than many express in hyperbole. Even last night Kelly took and made a big 3 down the stretch.

On second look it was you who posted, "Pack the lane aganst SD, because CD and KF are non factors."

It is not true that CD is a non-factor.

 

[alexrgct]

I think Stef's struggles are well documented, so I'm not going down that road.

I do, however, think it's interesting that Geno went from really pumping her up pre-season to being very protective of her in public statements to now calling her out. It's clear he thinks she needs some tough love...or at least that the obvious needed to be stated.