KLS's Mom Calls out Sky Management

[Orangutan]

If they keep moving Gabby around the 1, 2, 3, 4 spots, she will never be able to master any of the skills for those spots. I think Gabby is athletic enough that if you are willing to leave her in one position and keep her there, she will flourish. Same goes for Lou or anybody else.

If she doesn't learn how to shoot, she will never master any of those spots. The Sky have Ndour and Dolson draining 3s and Williams can't make anything outside of 15 ft. That's the hard truth.

Yes, it's hard to be a great point guard if you are also playing the 3 in the same game. I see that. But she will always be capped at "adequate" at any position if her jump shot doesn't come together.

Right now, she's the equivalent of an athletic utility guy who can play every spot in the infield but doesn't start because she hits .200.

 

[Reypl21]

If they keep moving Gabby around the 1, 2, 3, 4 spots, she will never be able to master any of the skills for those spots. I think Gabby is athletic enough that if you are willing to leave her in one position and keep her there, she will flourish. Same goes for Lou or anybody else.

Wade has been there one year. Gabby has had two coaches in her first two years. The Sky coach last year tried to play her at the 4, and that didn't work at all. She should have improved her shooting when she was in college. I'm sure coaches would love to play her on the wing, but it's her fault for not developing those to be effective. Backup pg seemed like a legit role for her because she is a good passer. If she wants her role to expand, she needs to expand her game.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

How are they shooting the messenger? They had an issue with the article that Madeline Kenney wrote in which she(according to KLS mom) misquoted, omitted certain other quotes, and took KLS completely out of context. Samuelson comes from UConn, where kids are drilled from Day 1 on how to engage with the media. She is very careful in what she says and how she says it!

Completely agree... I have seen only a few the on camera interviews with KLS and it's always about the TEAM, Being Ready when she gets the call, and doing everything she can to help the TEAM Win. She never bites on the questions about playing time, or those trying to bait her into making some "negative" comments about any part of the Sky. Likewise her Instagram posts are always the most positive about the Team and how excited she is to be part of it.
as a fan, I would like to see her in the games and contributing more, but I fully understand she is trying to replace seasoned veterans at the positions she plays, that she had the broken wrist early in the year to slow her development, and so on...but through it all, she remains positive and team oriented.

 

[Orangutan]

How are they shooting the messenger? They had an issue with the article that Madeline Kenney wrote in which she(according to KLS mom) misquoted, omitted certain other quotes, and took KLS completely out of context. Samuelson comes from UConn, where kids are drilled from Day 1 on how to engage with the media. She is very careful in what she says and how she says it!

As far as I can tell, they didn't have a problem with Kenney misquoting Lou or taking her out of context. They only had a problem after Kenney wrote the article discussing Lou's mom trashing James Wade on social media.

There would be no story if "Mother Jones" kept her thoughts to herself. Instead, she showed up in the reporter's mentions trashing Wade. Kenney was simply doing her job.

Yes, in one of the twitter threads, she took issue with Kenney's interpretation of a Lou quote about how playing in France could help her. But that interpretation wasn't in the article itself, just in a tweet to "Mother Jones". And there's no basis at all to suggest that Lou was misquoted, nor has anyone directly asserted that.

 

[Dillon77]

If she doesn't learn how to shoot, she will never master any of those spots. The Sky have Ndour and Dolson draining 3s and Williams can't make anything outside of 15 ft. That's the hard truth.

Yes, it's hard to be a great point guard if you are also playing the 3 in the same game. I see that. But she will always be capped at "adequate" at any position if her jump shot doesn't come together.

Right now, she's the equivalent of an athletic utility guy who can play every spot in the infield but doesn't start because she hits .200.

Williams is a jack of all trades, master of none. There is always room for that player in WCBB, but in the WNBA you need to do at least one thing really really well. Add to that that she's something of a tweener, size wise, and it leaves her without a clear role to fill. I agree that her best role is as a 2 SG or 3 W, but she doesn't have enough shooting power to break out in those roles.

Gabby is a superb athlete who also has good court vision and an intuitive sense of what to do when she sees a development, particuarly when it's on defense or 50/50's. And, as FarmFan pointed out, she can play a lot of positions and be all over the court, which helped UConn immensely. Those skills were hell on Notre Dame in many a regular-season game. (I regularly wrote in posts how much her presence concerned me whenever the Irish and Huskies clashed.)

The WNBA is obviously a step up from the NCAA and the competition is just as/nearly as fast and athletic as Gabby is, so those advantages are minimized. She's got to develop that dependable jumper to round out her team's offense. And to do that, she's got to gain confidence in the jumper.
Maybe she can get the keys to the gym whereever she plays international ball this year and fine tune that J. I'm a fan and would like to see her nailing the outside jumper next year.

 

[Waquoit]

Being named coach of the year and what mother jones is complaining about (right or wrong) are two totally different issues, not mutually exclusive.

Nuts to that. One reason you get a COY award is because you made good decisions, like who plays and who sits.

 

[phil sampieri]

Her lack of athleticism, and inability to create for herself, were 2 of the reasons why I thought KLS would struggle in the WNBA. She is going to need to play in the right system in order to be successful at this level.

And what young lady were you watching, who could’t Create for her shot, could not play. Defense and was not athletic. I am sure her name c@nnot be Katie Lou

 

[Zanzman]

And what young lady were you watching, who could’t Create for her shot, could not play. Defense and was not athletic. I am sure her name c@nnot be Katie Lou

It is

 

[Geew1992]

So Gabby should have picked up the point guard position after playing how many months? How about giving her time? I mean, Sloot couldn’t pass till she got to college

 

[soxfan23]

And what young lady were you watching, who could’t Create for her shot, could not play. Defense and was not athletic. I am sure her name c@nnot be Katie Lou

I'm not sure if this is a joke, but yes, that is exactly who I am referring to.

 

[trb123]

Gabby's problem is that she spent 4 yrs in school learning height and very little shooting.

 

[BobbyJ]

Gabby is a superb athlete who also has good court vision and an intuitive sense of what to do when she sees a development, particuarly when it's on defense or 50/50's. And, as FarmFan pointed out, she can play a lot of positions and be all over the court, which helped UConn immensely. Those skills were hell on Notre Dame in many a regular-season game. (I regularly wrote in posts how much her presence concerned me whenever the Irish and Huskies clashed.)

The WNBA is obviously a step up from the NCAA and the competition is just as/nearly as fast and athletic as Gabby is, so those advantages are minimized. She's got to develop that dependable jumper to round out her team's offense. And to do that, she's got to gain confidence in the jumper.
Maybe she can get the keys to the gym whereever she plays international ball this year and fine tune that J. I'm a fan and would like to see her nailing the outside jumper next year.

I agree. She needs to invest in a good shooting coach and there are several out there. After all, it's a career now. That should be one of the first things a pro coach advises them on if they need it. And that's assuming the pro coach knows what he or she is looking at. This is like going to a doctor when you're sick.

 

[tazmaz]

No sugarcoating Gabby’s game on this board. I’m impressed with the objectivity. Not criticism just constructive observations.

 

[baggerbob]

If they keep moving Gabby around the 1, 2, 3, 4 spots, she will never be able to master any of the skills for those spots. I think Gabby is athletic enough that if you are willing to leave her in one position and keep her there, she will flourish. Same goes for Lou or anybody else.

She could be like an Alisha Clark for Seattle, if she could shoot the 3 a bit better.

 

[nwhoopfan]

She could be like an Alisha Clark for Seattle, if she could shoot the 3 a bit better.

A bit better? Gabby shot 17% this season, 21% for her career. That's awful. Clark is shooting 38% for her career and just led the league at 48% this season. I would say "a bit better" is a drastic understatement.

 

[DICKG]

Katie Lou Samuelson’s mom calls out Sky coach James Wade on Twitter

Tweets center on first-round pick’s limited playing time this season.

chicago.suntimes.com

Would the Sky get a #1 Draft pick, if they traded KLS during next years draft?

Maybe a low number one.

 

[Huskygamble19]

She is a rookie and not quick enough for the game right now. She had some minutes, but they were fighting for the playoffs and she isn't good enough right now to achieve that goal. Pheesa, on the other hand moved right in seemlessly and was the main reason for Minnesota's success. Mom needs to understand that Coach Wade didn't get coach of the year for being foolish. she had some injury problems also if i can recall. Next year(if she is still there) she will get more playing time.