KLS time!

[Jronp]

I expect KLS to move into starting line up soon. I think she is ready now. It will spread the floor more. And make them more explosive. Plus their chemistry seems better when she's on the floor. She is about to take off!

 

[Kaizen]

KLS has big potential to be really good. She is tall, flexible, good ball handling and good 3 pts shooting. She needs to do more inside works like Stewie and Tuck.

 

[EricLA]

I have no idea what to expect. Gabby blew me away the first several games, but her stats have steadily declined "lately" (i put that in quotes because it's not like we've had that many games for a sample size). I imagine the staff sees them daily at practice and will evaluate as the season progresses. I hope Gabby remains and becomes more productive. Time will tell...

 

[Jronp]

I have no idea what to expect. Gabby blew me away the first several games, but her stats have steadily declined "lately" (i put that in quotes because it's not like we've had that many games for a sample size). I imagine the staff sees them daily at practice and will evaluate as the season progresses. I hope Gabby remains and becomes more productive. Time will tell...

Gabby is still very important! And will remain so.

 

[huskyd]

Remember that Gabby was a tremendous energizer coming off the bench last year. As a starter she is disruptive of the opponent, a good rebounder, and she can score in close. Her FT shooting has turned around. She is lightening quick. The best argument for Lou is that she can shoot from anywhere, has the height to defend, understands the game, and she is a great passer. But most importantly, Katie Lou is the next Stewart; she has to get as many minutes as possible this year. I love Gabby, but her potential seems circumscribed. Glad Geno has to make the call.

 

[HGN]

I hope Gabby stays in the starting line-up personally.......,,Plus , Lou coming off the bench brings fire-power and instant offense. Length , and some ball-handling...... We have no one else like her.
The current starting line-up has been averaging 90 points per game. Enough to win every game they have played. So its not offense the team is lacking , IMHO. Plus , Gabby has 3 double-doubles already , and provides strong rebounding when she is left in there. Maybe you try to work Butler in for a little PT to see how that works.

Thus , I would hate for Geno to start tinkering too much with what seems to be working pretty well from where I sit.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I expect KLS to move into starting line up soon. I think she is ready now. It will spread the floor more. And make them more explosive. Plus their chemistry seems better when she's on the floor. She is about to take off!

I am a loud and often Katie Lou supporter, but Geno said in his interview ---Katie needs to learn defense. I didn't believe it --so I went back and checked. She stood along side of Mabrey2 and watched a layup, didn't close the back door when her teammates were beaten--that's her job.
You won't see Katie Lou in big games as a starter until this is fixed. She is a tremendous player, scorer, now on to Uconn type of Defense. ND showed all the warts of Uconn in attacking and defending--and shooting the 3 with regularity.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I have no idea what to expect. Gabby blew me away the first several games, but her stats have steadily declined "lately" (i put that in quotes because it's not like we've had that many games for a sample size). I imagine the staff sees them daily at practice and will evaluate as the season progresses. I hope Gabby remains and becomes more productive. Time will tell...

I wondered, during the ND game, why wasn't Gabby put on Mabrey 2. Gabby can defend the basket, is fast, has the quickest hands, is smart. Yet, she didn't defend that well. What is going on--Eric --this is your forte, Is she out of sorts, is Collier taking away her limelight? What is it ERIC???

 

[wolverine]

KLS has big potential to be really good. She is tall, flexible, good ball handling and good 3 pts shooting. She needs to do more inside works like Stewie and Tuck.

Stewie and Tuck are not guards.

 

[UcMiami]

This summer I was in the camp of Natalie or Lou being the 5th starter, not because I didn't believe in Gabby, but because I thought either of the others provided a more balanced floor for the team. I was pretty blown away by Gabby in the first four games and her steals and rebounds were impressive. But I have never felt she was a great defender - her technique and lateral quickness are not great and she compensates with her athleticism and leaping ability. Against the four guard lineups in the last two games her technique issues have been exposed by the speed of the opponents, and also exposed has been her aggressiveness to get rebounds as opposed to properly blocking out, so her responsibility has been free to sneak in for a few offensive boards.
I don't think any of this detracts from what Gabby brings and the improvement she has shown this year - she has shown a willingness to shoot 15 footers (only a few) and make them, the quickness of her hands and her speed make her a steals threat, and she is a great rebounder, and remains very accurate on her wide variety of close in shots. She needs some schooling in practice, as do all the players, something they haven't gotten a lot of for the last ten days. And I fully expect her to continue to grow - the last two opponents are as tuff as we will face this year, so not the best games to base an early season evaluation on.

As for who starts - I suspect it might stay just as is, or it may change sometime in the first two weeks of January, but I doubt any changes occur in 2015.

 

[BroadwayVa]

This summer I was in the camp of Natalie or Lou being the 5th starter, not because I didn't believe in Gabby, but because I thought either of the others provided a more balanced floor for the team. I was pretty blown away by Gabby in the first four games and her steals and rebounds were impressive. But I have never felt she was a great defender - her technique and lateral quickness are not great and she compensates with her athleticism and leaping ability. Against the four guard lineups in the last two games her technique issues have been exposed by the speed of the opponents, and also exposed has been her aggressiveness to get rebounds as opposed to properly blocking out, so her responsibility has been free to sneak in for a few offensive boards.
I don't think any of this detracts from what Gabby brings and the improvement she has shown this year - she has shown a willingness to shoot 15 footers (only a few) and make them, the quickness of her hands and her speed make her a steals threat, and she is a great rebounder, and remains very accurate on her wide variety of close in shots. She needs some schooling in practice, as do all the players, something they haven't gotten a lot of for the last ten days. And I fully expect her to continue to grow - the last two opponents are as tuff as we will face this year, so not the best games to base an early season evaluation on.

As for who starts - I suspect it might stay just as is, or it may change sometime in the first two weeks of January, but I doubt any changes occur in 2015.

Everything you say is highly correct, except Gabby's shot selection. Against aggressive and hustling smaller people she has been missing close in shots, like tuck, stewie, etc, by rushing them too much. Layups after layups were missed one nearly wide open (for her) driving high flying lay up was missed at a crucial time--I think Geno pulled her right after that one. Uconn for the past 3 years significant component was composure under pressure--(exception Dayton)--they need to get back to that. In the DePaul and ND games Jefferson was under attach so the calming voice was missing'
that is where Tuck is supposed to come in. Tougher games will come.

 

[UcMiami]

BroadwayVA - Gabby is at .610 shooting right now so she isn't missing that many! Not quite the .637 from last year, but then she hasn't faced the easier full year schedule yet.

 

[psconn]

Remember that Gabby was a tremendous energizer coming off the bench last year. As a starter she is disruptive of the opponent, a good rebounder, and she can score in close. Her FT shooting has turned around. She is lightening quick. The best argument for Lou is that she can shoot from anywhere, has the height to defend, understands the game, and she is a great passer. But most importantly, Katie Lou is the next Stewart; she has to get as many minutes as possible this year. I love Gabby, but her potential seems circumscribed. Glad Geno has to make the call.

Sorry. There is no "next Stewart" any more than Ann Strother was the next Diana despite posts to that effect here. Lou will be very good, maybe even great, but the there will never be another Stewie.

 

[Dougie]

Remember that Gabby was a tremendous energizer coming off the bench last year. As a starter she is disruptive of the opponent, a good rebounder, and she can score in close. Her FT shooting has turned around. She is lightening quick. The best argument for Lou is that she can shoot from anywhere, has the height to defend, understands the game, and she is a great passer. But most importantly, Katie Lou is the next Stewart; she has to get as many minutes as possible this year. I love Gabby, but her potential seems circumscribed. Glad Geno has to make the call.

I like your post but might rephrase one statement. Katie Lou is not the next Stewart. She is the next Katie Lou. Will she become the next big piece to the UCONN puzzle? I think she will but I think it a bit unfair to her to say she's the next Stewart.

I like your "best argument" for her. And I also agree with other posters who say she needs to develop her inside game. Imagine her getting stronger, posting up her defenders, setting screens, getting points in the paint, developing a short jump hook like Stewie's, slashing to the rim and curling back to 3 point land to release that beautiful jumper. Katie Lou has a very quick release and a pure jump shot. All great shooters will go through occasional slumps and, generally, one of the best ways to get out of them is to get some easier baskets. It usually helps the player to get back into the flow of the game and the long range shot magically starts falling again.

Gabby's game does get more exposed when going up against a zone defense whereas a great shooter like Samuelson is a zone buster.

Ultimately, I'm not too concerned who gets the start but I agree with you that Katie Lou has to get as many minutes as possible. The same will be true for Collier and Butler. Like any great chess master, Geno is making his moves with a much larger picture in mind.

 

[Zorro]

I wondered, during the ND game, why wasn't Gabby put on Mabrey 2. Gabby can defend the basket, is fast, has the quickest hands, is smart. Yet, she didn't defend that well. What is going on--Eric --this is your forte, Is she out of sorts, is Collier taking away her limelight? What is it ERIC???

Yeah, Eric! And incidentally, where in the world are you?

 

[WestCoastFan]

I wondered, during the ND game, why wasn't Gabby put on Mabrey 2. Gabby can defend the basket, is fast, has the quickest hands, is smart. Yet, she didn't defend that well. What is going on--Eric --this is your forte, Is she out of sorts, is Collier taking away her limelight? What is it ERIC???

Gabby is a great athlete. But....doesn't match up well against certain teams. Can't play with the big girls like SCAR...and has struggled against ND. Needs to work on the 12-15 footers...and her in-close layups against strong teams. Great against average teams though.

Remember...she's a guard playing out of position.

 

[wbfree]

How about Katie Lou at the two and leaving Gabby at the three?

 

[WestCoastFan]

How about Katie Lou at the two and leaving Gabby at the three?

I know this...I know this....the answer is 6!!

 

[Bgillon]

Gaby has played one season and 6 games in 3 years. Many of her games have been outstanding. Some have been less than stellar. KLS has had 2 good halves in 6 games. Many posters are now ready to relegate Gabby to a lessor role and replace her with KLS as our next superstar. It seems to me that a great orchestra is constructed with different talents and blended together by a great director. It isn't necessary to decide who is the best musician!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Gabby is a great athlete. But....doesn't match up well against certain teams. Can't play with the big girls like SCAR...and has struggled against ND. Needs to work on the 12-15 footers...and her in-close layups against strong teams. Great against average teams though.

Remember...she's a guard playing out of position.

My take last year was nearly all you say. She had trouble with the taller/bigger women--she is undersized--but the kid can jump. Last year she was great against the AAC not so much Tx.
She has improved. Has the 15 footer. I think (my opinion) is she was rushing her shots because of the hectic pressure in the last 2 games. Her up side is huge. Her free throws are near perfect. I don't blame Gabby for anything--just questions for Eric, he and Philly Coach and either Naples are very good at analysis of players without damning them.

 

[WestCoastFan]

My take last year was nearly all you say. She had trouble with the taller/bigger women--she is undersized--but the kid can jump. Last year she was great against the AAC not so much Tx.
She has improved. Has the 15 footer. I think (my opinion) is she was rushing her shots because of the hectic pressure in the last 2 games. Her up side is huge. Her free throws are near perfect. I don't blame Gabby for anything--just questions for Eric, he and Philly Coach and either Naples are very good at analysis of players without damning them.

No blame at all. They're 18-21 year olds. What's to complain about? Hope they enjoy it.

Remember: Youth is wasted on the young...says us old guys.

 

[donalddoowop]

Stewie and Tuck are not guards.

KLM was and Geno wanted her to post up as well as shoot three pointers, and play good defense.

 

[Kibitzer]

"Katie Lou is too good to not start."

And soon.

 

[BroadwayVa]

No blame at all. They're 18-21 year olds. What's to complain about? Hope they enjoy it.

Remember: Youth is wasted on the young...says us old guys.

Thank you=====I resemble that remark!!

 

[WestCoastFan]

Thank you=====I resemble that remark!!

That's because you're a tremendous slouch!