Kia Nurse And Her New Confidence

[JavaMan]

Added confidence takes Nurse to new level
By Carl Adamec

STORRS, Conn. — Moriah Jefferson’s head spins when she thinks about it, for more than one reason.

On July 20, Kia Nurse scored 33 points as Team Canada defeated the United States 81-73 in Toronto for the Pan-American Games gold medal. Nurse did a good amount of her damage against her University of Connecticut teammate, and Jefferson also ended up with a concussion after they butted heads while going for a loose ball in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t even know what adjustments to make,” Jefferson said on Tuesday. “I wasn’t expecting 33. So when she did that, you tip your hat to her. What are we going to do about it?

“But then she hit me in the head with her extremely hard head, and then I wasn’t happy with her anymore,” Jefferson added with a smile. “So I still have a grudge with her for that one.”

The best way for Nurse to get back on Jefferson’s good side is to help send the Huskies’ seniors out with an unprecedented fourth straight national championship.

The Huskies will continue their informal workouts for another three weeks. The annual First Night program is Oct. 16 at Gampel Pavilion and the first exhibition against Lubbock Christian is set for Nov. 2 at the XL Center in Hartford. UConn will then take a 37-game winning streak into its regular season opener at Ohio State Nov. 16.

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[HGN]

Thanks Java......Great Article.

What a team the Huskies could have this year with the talent and confidence these young women have.

 

[Bonpland]

I'm not the one to make the diffinitve statement on the issue, but I can't remember being more excited about the depth of talent that we have had heading into a new season.

I (with most everyone else) have been on the Nurse bandwagon since she decided to take the challenge and sign with us. But I wouldn't have guessed that she would become an impact player this quickly.

She had a strong year for us, had a great summer for Canada, and now sounds more and more like the voice of the Huskies. She handles herself very well with the media and is just self-deprecating enough in interviews to qualify her as a candidate for future folk hero status here among the faithful. By next year she will be the team's on-court leader.

With the starting four back, (and Butler ready to be the fifth), Chong, Williams, and Ekmark fighting for playing time, and bringing along one of our most exciting recruiting classes (although they will have to prove that they have the right to be mentioned in the same breath with the freshman classes of 1998 and 2012) we all have a lot to look forward to with this group.

How many days is it until we get to see them play?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Kia has talked about how she questioned whether she was up to UConn standards and then she got thrown into the deep end of the pool. Turned out she was a great swimmer. Still don't know how her steal and two handed lay up went in in the SC game, but loved it nonetheless. Kid has a lot of brass and about any shoot you want to see taken. Going to take a lot to unseat her in the line up. Love to see one of those NCAA promo cameos next spring with her saying: "Hey you...you want a piece of me?"

 

[CocoHusky]

How many days is it until we get to see them play?

23 days until first night on October 16th
40 days until the first scrimmage on November 2nd
54 days until the first game on November 16th
Not that I was counting down or anything overly eager like that!

 

[Huskies Rule]

Kia has talked about how she questioned whether she was up to UConn standards and then she got thrown into the deep end of the pool. Turned out she was a great swimmer. Still don't know how her steal and two handed lay up went in in the SC game, but loved it nonetheless. Kid has a lot of brass and about any shoot you want to see taken. Going to take a lot to unseat her in the line up. Love to see one of those NCAA promo cameos next spring with her saying: "Hey you...you want a piece of me?"

A lot, Rocky?? You're kidding, right? NOTHING will get Kia out of the starting lineup. She's the toughest damn kid I've seen since ummmm Moriah. And don't be fooled by the cute, innocent smile- the kid's a stone-cold killer.

 

[Kaizen]

I wonder this year may be the best ever class in UConn.
Stewie, Moriah, Morgan and Kia all can be the AA plus Butler and all the deep benches.

 

[Carnac]

I wonder this year may be the best ever class in UConn.
Stewie, Moriah, Morgan and Kia all can be the AA plus Butler and all the deep benches.

Is it me?, or has any UConn team been hyped more than this one prior to the opening of camp? I'm not complaining. I hope the team lives up to all of the hype and beyond. Regardless, (to borrow a baseball term) I do know that UConn will be a tough out for whomever they play.

Teams that schedule them in the preseason do so to use them as a measuring (and recruitment) tool, to see exactly where their team is, and what they need to work on and clean up. Because of their recent success, no team will want to see them in the NCAA tournament unless it's in the championship game.

I'm NOT suggesting that there are a lot of teams that are afraid to play UConn, that would be ridicules.
But there are a lot of teams that refuse to schedule UConn in the pre-season.

Cudos to Stanford, South Carolinas, DePauls, Ohio State, Florida State and the rest of the schools that put UConn on their schedule this year. These are some of the teams that will take the floor against the huskies with a "no fear" approach.

Stanford, Notre Dame, BYU and Dayton are but some of the opponents that have take the court recently against the huskies that were not afraid of them. Only Stanford was able to stay with the huskies for 40 minutes.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once said "everybody's got a plan..............until they get hit"

 

[HoopsFan21]

Is it me?, or has any UConn team been hyped more than this one prior to the opening of camp? I'm not complaining. I hope the team lives up to all of the hype and beyond. Regardless, (to borrow a baseball term) I do know that UConn will be a tough out for whomever they play.

Teams that schedule them in the preseason do so to use them as a measuring (and recruitment) tool, to see exactly where their team is, and what they need to work on and clean up. Because of their recent success, no team will want to see them in the NCAA tournament unless it's in the championship game.

I'm NOT suggesting that there are a lot of teams that are afraid to play UConn, that would be ridicules.
But there are a lot of teams that refuse to schedule UConn in the pre-season.

Cudos to Stanford, South Carolinas, DePauls, Ohio State, Florida State and the rest of the schools that put UConn on their schedule this year. These are some of the teams that will take the floor against the huskies with a "no fear" approach.

Stanford, Notre Dame, BYU and Dayton are but some of the opponents that have take the court recently against the huskies that were not afraid of them. Only Stanford was able to stay with the huskies for 40 minutes.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once said "everybody's got a plan....until they get hit"

I would say ND was able to stay with us. USF too in that last game.

 

[Kibitzer]

A lot, Rocky?? You're kidding, right? NOTHING will get Kia out of the starting lineup. She's the toughest damn kid I've seen since ummmm Moriah. And don't be fooled by the cute, innocent smile- the kid's a stone-cold killer.

Definitely a Badass!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A lot, Rocky?? You're kidding, right? NOTHING will get Kia out of the starting lineup. She's the toughest damn kid I've seen since ummmm Moriah. And don't be fooled by the cute, innocent smile- the kid's a stone-cold killer.

Absolutely agree. She will tear your heart out.

 

[Carnac]

Is it me?, or has any UConn team been hyped more than this one prior to the opening of camp? I'm not complaining. I hope the team lives up to all of the hype and beyond. Regardless, (to borrow a baseball term) I do know that UConn will be a tough out for whomever they play.

Teams that schedule them in the preseason do so to use them as a measuring (and recruitment) tool, to see exactly where their team is, and what they need to work on and clean up. Because of their recent success, no team will want to see them in the NCAA tournament unless it's in the championship game.

I'm NOT suggesting that there are a lot of teams that are afraid to play UConn, that would be ridiculous.
But there are a lot of teams that refuse to schedule UConn in the pre-season.

Cudos to Stanford, South Carolinas, DePaul, Ohio State, Florida State and the rest of the schools that put UConn on their schedule this year. These are some of the teams that will take the floor against the huskies with a "no fear" approach.

Stanford, Notre Dame, BYU and Dayton are but some of the opponents that have take the court recently against the huskies that were not afraid of them. Only Stanford was able to stay with the huskies for 40 minutes.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson once said "everybody's got a plan....until they get hit"

Pardon my typo......... (misspelled ridiculous)

 

[Carnac]

Definitely a Badass!

Maya Moore had the exact same smile and innocent looking persona.........but she too would rip your heart.

Dee would rip your heart out too, only she would tell you ahead of time what she was going to do.!
She would try to stuff it back in the body, but not in the hole it came out of.

 

[Kibitzer]

Pardon my typo.... (misspelled ridiculous)

Ahem.

Pardon granted for your self-inflicted "ahem."

 

[JRRRJ]

Pardon my typo.... (misspelled ridiculous)

...and kudos. ;^)

 

[JellyBean]

Man. I am so geeked about the upcoming season!! Kia impressed the heck out of me last year. Just her level of confidence is off the charts!! Just watching games (thanks again YouTube), watch how Kia shoots or attacks the rim on offense or the way she plays defense. She is always proactive rather than being in a reactionary mode. She is on the attack setting the tone. I love this kid and her confidence!! I can not wait until the season starts!!