KLS

[ochoopsfan]

Lou almost always plays all of the first three quarters before she gets a rest(unless she is in foul trouble or doesnt hustle, not make mistakes, but doesnt hustle). Every other player normally gets a rest, even for 2 minutes, not Lou.
With 6 turnovers yesterday Geno easily could have taken her out, but he didnt. He knows there is much more to her game.

 

[Vowelguy]

I would be eager to know who would take kls place if she left the game.
Yesterday was a 6 person day - too athletic for Butler.

 

[oldude]

Just want to say that I have been writing a series of obsequious, supercilious, unctuous, sycophantic, pettifogging posts hoping to get my likes equal to my posts.

Fun to laugh at oneself.

Had to crack open my thesaurus, but once I did, I threw you a like for your delving deeply into the lexicon in an effort to raise the level of discourse on this board.

 

[connie]

Just re-watched the third quarter. Seems to me that Katie Lou was every bit as active as in other games. Her movement was fine early in the quarter. A couple of times she slashed through the lane on offense but her teammates did not get her the feed. UCLA's Burck was bird-dogging her quite a bit.

She got a key rebound that led to a fast break resulting in good ball rotation and three by Saniya.

Got an offensive rebound at 5:38 that eventually led to another basket by Gabby.

She was floating on the perimeter on the next possession, allowing the lane to open up for another drive and score by Gabby, with a foul putting her on the line for a 3-point Play.

Next possession, she got decked in the lane on a play that could have been a charge on Canada

At 3:40, she fed Phees in the corner for what could've been a three.

A couple possessions later, she played just a bit soft and allowed a three

At 0:30 She went to the deck to tie up a loose ball caused by weak pass from Crystal to Gabby.

She had a three pointer after the clock expired.

In all, I don't think she scored in the quarter. But she was totally involved. Just didn't get the ball to shoot at the right times. Only gave up one, perhaps two shots at most. And they were both three-pointers by that guard for UCLA that was playing hot.

So, really nothing to be critical about-at least for the third quarter.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Uhhhh...Lou did hit two 3 pointers that didn't count if that helps. She didn't just disappear! Calm down, she'll figure it out! No need to take her out of the game and mess with her confidence going into the elite 8! Lou will not "disappear" (as you say) in the elite 8! Go UCONN

Let's hope KLS does not disappear. Let's hope Nurse does not disappear. Let's hope Chong does not disappear. Oregon's bigs (6'4" and 6'5") are showing as quite good. Collier and Williams may have their hands full. This may be a game the guards need to win. Hopefully, KLS, Nurse, and Chong had better be shooting lights out. It is about time for Dangerfield to have a very good shooting game. If its not asking too much. let's have Collier drop 2-3 3FGs or mid-range jumpers early to draw out one of the bigs so Williams has more room to operate. Not to mention UCONN's guards need to strongly defend Oregon's talented young guards. Mostly they need to do what they have been doing best, playing as a team.

 

[huskyd]

In defense of Lou, I'd like to state the obvious: she's a hybrid, neither a guard nor a forward. Because she isn't as short as most guards, her start-up speed is relatively slow; it's why smaller players are able to accelerate around her. But her height enables her to see the entire court better than most guards, she can shoot over most and she is an excellent passer. She doesn't play much inside, so her skills at blocking and rebounding aren't fully evolved. KLM had the same problem and received the same sort of criticism. It took Kaleena 3 years to learn to post-up effectively; Lou can already do that (and she's fast enough to drive to the basket). Given the choice of a 5th starter last year, Geno chose Lou because among Pheesa and Gabby, KLS is the most versatile.
On more than one occasion, Coach has pointed out that players are human, with all the limitations that status imposes on the best of us. When Lou starts dropping 3's like rain again, all the petty griping will stop. We're lucky to have our CA girl.

 

[augustaTC]

Seems most of Geno's former players agree that he knows what buttons to push and when to push with each player. I think one of her sisters characterized Lou as the one who marched to her own drummer and was a bit of a wild child. Gee, does that, perhaps, stubborn streak remind us of any one or two or three former UConn greats? In Geno I trust. I suspect Lou is so chomping at the bit to show coach just how wrong he is!

 

[Ozimoto]

I think the Huskies will have an easier time with Oregon. They aren't as quick and run a more methodical offense. It will be more like the South Carolina game. Seemed to me Lou was rushing her shots a bit because with UCLA's quickness. They were closing out on her faster than most teams are able to when she was in position to shoot a three.

 

[UcMiami]

Wow! Lou had a poor game and UConn by 15. Lucky UConn. Also, According to many--Lou had a bad day on defense. I decided to examine that a bit.
Canada scored 20. Who was guarding her most of the time? IMO it was not Lou. Billings scored 17 and had mucho rebounds. Who was guarding her? Don't think it was Lou. That leaves Korver with 15 points. (remember the rest of UCLA starters scored 5 or so each--someone on UConn played better defense).
Korver had 15 points that mostly came from 30 feet out. Korver had 2 rebounds and 0 assists. Was Lou the primary defender on Korver? Maybe. So Lou had 15 points too, plus 6 rebounds. Poor defense? OK--it was not a good day, but not as bad as some believe.
However, Lou did look tired. Gabby and Pheese also said they were tired at the end. UCLA did have two athletes that were equal or better than UConn yesterday. But the other 3 starters were not as good as UConn. And as we know here on the BY, UConn had the best TEAM. Looking forward to Oregon. Go Huskies.

She actually played defense on Korver in the most effective way possible - she drew two fouls on her in the first 7 minutes and sent her to the bench for quite a little time in the first half. She drew another on Burke - three of the first four fouls that directly led to the three points Uconn scored in the last 5 seconds of the first Q.

 

[JordyG]

I think unbeknownst to us, Lou has been dealing with a series of injuries, each of which are hurting her performance. I think right now she is dealing with sore neck, shoulder, wrist, and hip. I of course have no inside info, but just watching her body language after landing on the floor, while covering on defense, and even after making shots I've note that she goes to touch certain parts of her body. Now, these aren't excuses, because every player in the tourney is playing with a bunch of nicks and bangs. But shooters are different animals than say cutters and post players like Pheese and Gabby. Little things upset their rhythm and can throw them off for months.

 

[JordyG]

Wow! Lou had a poor game and UConn by 15. Lucky UConn. Also, According to many--Lou had a bad day on defense. I decided to examine that a bit.
Canada scored 20. Who was guarding her most of the time? IMO it was not Lou. Billings scored 17 and had mucho rebounds. Who was guarding her? Don't think it was Lou. That leaves Korver with 15 points. (remember the rest of UCLA starters scored 5 or so each--someone on UConn played better defense).
Korver had 15 points that mostly came from 30 feet out. Korver had 2 rebounds and 0 assists. Was Lou the primary defender on Korver? Maybe. So Lou had 15 points too, plus 6 rebounds. Poor defense? OK--it was not a good day, but not as bad as some believe.
However, Lou did look tired. Gabby and Pheese also said they were tired at the end. UCLA did have two athletes that were equal or better than UConn yesterday. But the other 3 starters were not as good as UConn. And as we know here on the BY, UConn had the best TEAM. Looking forward to Oregon. Go Huskies.

Trust a coach to note what is clear to those who can't or won't see.

 

[tbabe72]

Let's hope KLS does not disappear. Let's hope Nurse does not disappear. Let's hope Chong does not disappear. Oregon's bigs (6'4" and 6'5") are showing as quite good. Collier and Williams may have their hands full. This may be a game the guards need to win. Hopefully, KLS, Nurse, and Chong had better be shooting lights out. It is about time for Dangerfield to have a very good shooting game. If its not asking too much. let's have Collier drop 2-3 3FGs or mid-range jumpers early to draw out one of the bigs so Williams has more room to operate. Not to mention UCONN's guards need to strongly defend Oregon's talented young guards. Mostly they need to do what they have been doing best, playing as a team.

We need all hands on deck every game now! Watching the game it seemed KLS looked a little sluggish. not as a criticism of her just energy level seemed low. But she is explosive scorer that can lay 20 points on you in first half. i call KLS, Gabby, and Pheesa the strategic triad of Uconn.hit you from land,sea and the air.

 

[connie]

In defense of Lou, I'd like to state the obvious: she's a hybrid, neither a guard nor a forward. Because she isn't as short as most guards, her start-up speed is relatively slow; it's why smaller players are able to accelerate around her. But her height enables her to see the entire court better than most guards, she can shoot over most and she is an excellent passer. She doesn't play much inside, so her skills at blocking and rebounding aren't fully evolved. KLM had the same problem and received the same sort of criticism. It took Kaleena 3 years to learn to post-up effectively; Lou can already do that (and she's fast enough to drive to the basket). Given the choice of a 5th starter last year, Geno chose Lou because among Pheesa and Gabby, KLS is the most versatile.
On more than one occasion, Coach has pointed out that players are human, with all the limitations that status imposes on the best of us. When Lou starts dropping 3's like rain again, all the petty griping will stop. We're lucky to have our CA girl.

I agree. And I do not think Lou needs any defense. She has played great on the whole, and especially when needed. She does a lot of things, including running the floor, inbounding effectively and without turnovers, running the perimeter, slashing through the lane, driving on the basket and scoring, getting to the foul line, hitting her free throws, And hitting the three-point shot (lest we forget). She is also arguably the best "outlet pass" player in the college game. The only remaining criticism concerns her defense, which I think is fine. She uses her length effectively to keep perimeter players in check. Because of the presence of Collier and Williams, she becomes something of a match up problem for opposing teams. This occasionally puts her on a significantly shorter, though potentially faster, guard. She does not grab that many rebounds, but that is partially because of the presence of Gabby and Collier and (I think) the fairly regular low amount of shots taken by opposing teams.

How could anyone not love Katie Lou?

 

[tbabe72]

We need all hands on deck every game now! Watching the game it seemed KLS looked a little sluggish. not as a criticism of her just energy level seemed low. But she is explosive scorer that can lay 20 points on you in first half. i call KLS, Gabby, and Pheesa the strategic triad of Uconn.hit you from land,sea and the air.

Probably on wrong thread but major kudos to Soniya Chong for her performance in yesterdays game! Teams that overlook Soniya and Kia will get burned.

 

[TitleTown]

What happened in the second half of UCLA game? KLS disappeared Her shooting was horrendous, and she was not moving like in the first half. Also Geno said at Uconn in order to play you have to play defense , and not just be a scorer, the exception being Lou. Some people try or put an attempt at playing defense Lou doesn't even attempt to try. So why is Lou playing 40 mins during UCLA game, he didn't take her out for a breather like he did Gabby & Napheesa ?

Who else are you going to play if she is out of the game?

 

[TitleTown]

If Samuelson has proven anything it is that she is the epitome of a scorer. Misses don't bother her and she can catch fire at any moment. I am looking for her to come out on Monday night and have a BIG game.

 

[mntncougar]

Yes, she was credited with six (6) turnovers, but if you watched the game (or even the replay) it wasn't like she simply passed the ball out of bounds. In most cases (4 as I recall) she was hammered trying to take the ball between two defenders. Personally I believe she was fouled. Poor decisions on her part? Maybe, but she's done it before and we all cheered. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I guess we all agree Lou didn't have her best game, but I don't think it was terrible either. In particular, the turnovers are troublesome. But something that has been mentioned very little in this thread, except for the post above, is that she was getting beaten up all day on offense. That didn't stop her from trying either, but it definitely made her less effective and was the cause of most of the turnovers. Sometimes I get the impression she is getting accused of being "chicken", and that she most definitely is not. Stewie didn't like getting banged around either the first couple of years, and I think Lou has gotten over that more quickly than she did. In fact, I'd say she's probably more hard nosed than just about any one of the starters except Kia. Good thing too, with that whack in the face she took the previous game. And it didn't even phase her. And I'm very impressed by the fact that she never obviously retaliates, which proves she has more self-control than I would have.
Keep in mind, when she attracts that much attention, someone else is being ignored.

 

[huskeynut]

To the OP - why the rant on Lou?

Kia didn't have a great game yet no comment on that. I suggest you look at the box score. Most players and fans would be very happy with Lou's line - except for the turnovers.

Lou didn't have a great game but she did not have a poor game as you suggest.

 

[Bronxjeff]

The comcast guy was at our house getting us reconnected during the game, so I missed quite a bit going back and forth from online radio and snippets of the action. So I am looking forward to the replay to really see what happened, but I definitely saw Lou fouled a couple of times that weren't called and the ball turned over to UCLA.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Lou is one of the players that other teams have targeted.... they cover her like a second shadow to prevent her from going off 10-10 from behind the arc. She is being covered.... don't worry Chicken Little she will be fine.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

IMO, Lou played hard and contributed to another UCONN victory. No, not her best game of the year, but she was effective on defense against Korver and she scored, especially in the first half. How many times have we all seen teams adjust their defense in the 2nd half to take away a player... perhaps UCLA did that to reduce Lou's scoring opportunities. In any event, she was in the game, playing hard and helping the TEAM win... As for Geno's comments in the presser about her defense...I read that as "Button Pushing!!!" It also seems Lou follows so-so games with solid performances in the next game....i.e., vs Oregon!!! I would not trade her for anyone else! Let's Go Huskies!!!

 

[Geew1992]

Interesting talking about Lou not showing up, but Kia didn't do all that much either. Point being, with this team, every game someone else steps up, has a big game. And tomorrow is a new game. Who's turn will it be?

 

[HumblePie]

I think unbeknownst to us, Lou has been dealing with a series of injuries, each of which are hurting her performance. I think right now she is dealing with sore neck, shoulder, wrist, and hip. I of course have no inside info, but just watching her body language after landing on the floor, while covering on defense, and even after making shots I've note that she goes to touch certain parts of her body. Now, these aren't excuses, because every player in the tourney is playing with a bunch of nicks and bangs. But shooters are different animals than say cutters and post players like Pheese and Gabby. Little things upset their rhythm and can throw them off for months.

Excellent observations! I've been saying as much for weeks.

 

[huskeynut]

Interesting talking about Lou not showing up, but Kia didn't do all that much either. Point being, with this team, every game someone else steps up, has a big game. And tomorrow is a new game. Who's turn will it be?

And this is what every opponent has to deal with - who is up next?

We have 5 starters that can burn a team on any given night. Double somebody like Lou and someone else is open. Pick your poison.