KLS

[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.

 

[CajunHusky]

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.

Lou played fine ... they all played fine .... I suppose I could quote you Geno when Kia had that zero for everything game last year but I won't. Suffice it to say there is a lot that players do in a game that don't get translated to stats.

UCLA had a great gameplan that was well educated. They virtually eliminated UConn's transition game especially in the second half. And they had fewer turnovers than UConn....

 

[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.

 

[chrissaran]

rt bb fan, she did play defense; however, she's often guarding guards who are a lot smaller and quicker than she is. She's not Gabby on defense and never will be. She has improved her rebounding getting 6 yesterday. Did you mention that other than Kia scoring 9 points, she had zero assists, zero rebounds and zero steals? They both had an off game. They will show up tomorrow. Get off KLS's back. Natalie will play tomorrow as Oregon has a couple of bigs. That should get the others a bit more rest.

 

[HumblePie]

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.

Don't understand why you made this post as a comment to what I said? Perhaps you should re-read what a person posts before directing your comments to them. I have no problem with anything you've. stated (good job), but it should have simply been posted as a "new" item.

 

[CajunHusky]

rt bb fan, she did play defense; however, she's often guarding guards who are a lot smaller and quicker than she is. She's not Gabby on defense and never will be. She has improved her rebounding getting 6 yesterday. Did you mention that other than Kia scoring 9 points, she had zero assists, zero rebounds and zero steals? They both had an off game. They will show up tomorrow. Get off KLS's back. Natalie will play tomorrow as Oregon has a couple of bigs. That should get the others a bit more rest.

yes ..... with Oregon playing two bigs it should open the outside. I expect lots of made threes for the team this game.

 

[Longtime fan]

You make some good points: they're good points because I thought the same at the time I didn't understand why Geno would take Gabby or Pheesa out, but not Lou. For example, with either Gabby or Pheesa out, and if the other shoots an outside shot, there is almost zero chance of UConn getting the offensive rebound.

But maybe we're looking at the wrong end of this. Precisely because Geno leaves Lou in so much, maybe, just maybe (I know it's a very long shot) it means that Geno actually might know more than you and me. Maybe Lou supplies intangibles that no one else can give the team. Despite her turnovers, missed shots, and sometimes being slow-footed in man defense, Lou is an incredibly smart player. She adds tremendous stability. In an investment portfolio, we'd say she was "low beta." For reasons that only that stupid and unsuccessful head coach of UConn knows, Geno trusts Lou.

C'mon folks, UCONN is only playing 6, so there is not a lot of room to sit down any regular. Katie is one of our best players and will remain so. Why Geno never sat her down, none of us will know until the book comes out. Or, if we beat Oregon, maybe HBO will ask Geno that question. I do agree with " Beercats'" ( above ) plea that Crystal show up again on offense. What happened to the Baylor game three point shooter? Crystal put up two airballs yesterday. Must be nerves. She is passing well, and drives to the hoop nicely . However, her turnovers remain inexcusable, and she cannot seem to score from the outside. This is really a limitation, when she is the only player who can come off the bench. Is it turning out to be true that this year's UCONN freshman class is really lame?

 

[Lynx23]

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?

You guys are a riot. Does defense count, because frankly there wasn't a whole lot of it after Kia went to the bench with two fouls? This board is often way too offense-minded as if that's all that matters.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I guess if you don't play any defense, you are not tired so playing 40 minutes is easy.

Every once in a while, Geno's hyperbole hit's a nerve of mine. I realize he wants to get under Lou's skin and she needs it but I do not see her not 'trying' to play defense. Some days are just less successful than others.

I do think it is still an issue that when her shooting starts off not very well, she tends to let it get into her head. I think her carelessness with the ball was a lot worse than her defense. The good news is she usually follows up a subpar performance with a good one.

The singular thing that I noticed, outside of her shot being a smidgen off in that 2nd half, was the turnovers and that is so atypical of Lou. She's usually appreciably better with her passes but not yesterday. She isn't a really good defender but she does move her feet and typically, with her length she makes things a bit difficult for whomever she's guarding. Small incremental improvements. I expect her to have a really good Elite Eight game tomorrow.

 

[CajunHusky]

The singular thing that I noticed, outside of her shot being a smidgen off in that 2nd half, was the turnovers and that is so atypical of Lou. She's usually appreciably better with her passes but not yesterday. She isn't a really good defender but she does move her feet and typically, with her length she makes things a bit difficult for whomever she's guarding. Small incremental improvements. I expect her to have a really good Elite Eight game tomorrow.

I think maybe you aren't giving UCLA enough credit ... I seem to remember the whole team contribute to an inordinate number of missed bunnies ..... you know what Geno says about missed layups!

maybe UCLA put up a good game?

 

[Buzzyboy]

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.

I'm inclined to think that you're right. I've seen some of the collisions she's been involved with and some of the horrific and obvious hatchet jobs that have been inflicted on her. It seems she's taken more of a pounding than anyone on the team and I think she's keeping a bit of the pain to herself so as not to be out of the lineup for any length of time and is silently fighting through aches and bruises that have an effect on her movement and to an extent, her stroke. What I think is that if UConn beats Oregon and I, of course, assume they will, she'll have a week to recharge her batteries and to heal a bit from the banging she's been subjected to. Yesterday she was really hammered on maybe the worst no call I've seen in a very, very long time. The officials were out of wack yesterday, to say the least.

 

[oldude]

I was at the game and after Lou got it going in the 1st half, UCLA played her more aggressively in the 2nd half. Whoever was guarding Lou would play her tight at the arc. Whenever Lou put the ball on the floor, and try to beat her defender off the dribble, a help defender (often Saniya's defender) would double her.

Lou dribbled into double-teams several times in the 2nd half leading to TO's, but also made several good passes leading to baskets.

UCLA was the most athletic team UConn played all season IMO. They were well coached and played good defense, and yet, as one BY'er pointed out, the 15 pt mov was the largest defeat for UCLA this season, including games at Baylor & SC. They also beat OR by 16 at home and beat Stanford on the road

What I expect Geno will tell her is that when a double-team comes she can't force it and needs to get the ball to one of her teammates.

 

[Los24]

She had a bad game. She had as many turnovers as rebounds, 6. She just seemed to be a little off. I would
think she will bounce back nicely on Monday evening.

Agreed. I will say that I was a bit dissappointed with Lou's play while watching the game. That said, I thought she got fouled a few times that were not called that led to a TO. And outside of having 4 more TO than Saniya their stats were similar. Plus both played a role in the full-court press. I recognize that Saniya played a better game, not doubt, but the difference in everyone going crazy over her play vs KLS having a terrible game is interesting. What is also interesting is Kia has zero assists, 0 rebounds and no FT attempts but nothing said of her play.

## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 Samuelson, Katie Lou f 5-12 2-8 3-4 1 5 6 1 15 2 6 0 1 40
11 Nurse, Kia.......... g 3-5 3-4 0-0 0 0 0 3 9 0 2 0 0 31
12 Chong, Saniya....... g 4-6 3-5 5-6 1 4 5 0 16 3 2 0 0 38

Trust me, I see the games and understand that Kia is a better defender. However, what is interesting is that Lou beats her in steals by quite a bit (51 vs 32,) blocks (8 vs 3 minimal but just pointing out,) and defensive rebounds (113 vs 55.) I realize stats do not tell the entire story but looking at defensive stats and Kia being a great defender and Lou being lousy seems someone is getting a bad wrap.

All that to say, if I were Lou I would train all summer on leg strength, agility, and jumping (pliometrics.) I would also study tape of Pheese in rebound and post positioning.