Kyla = TEAM

[DEpup]

Future coach in the making!!!!!

 

[oldude]

She was a joy to watch in the game. All aspects of her game shown brightly. But I was even more impressed with her post game interview. She was positively ebullient. And so aware of her role as a team mate. When she spoke, she was praising her team, the coaches, and the years of learning that led to the performance of her career. Humble and happy, she is just a fine young woman. And an exemplar of the UConn women's basketball tradition. And lastly, she got a boost in for her pal Molly. "Molly always finds me". Her interview was the brightest spot of the day for me.

I learned from the interview with Kyla that her dad made it to the game last night. I'm sure he was absolutely overjoyed with her performance.

 

[eebmg]

I learned from the interview with Kyla that her dad made it to the game last night. I'm sure he was absolutely overjoyed with her performance.

Maybe mom was too tired with her intense whistling in the Temple game.

 

[noirwestern]

I've always felt like she, well, I'll just let the long haired chap speak for me.

 

[Ron and Vida]

A fellow BY’er once remarked that they were worried that Kyla might hurt herself because she cheered so hard for her teammates. Kyla’s commitment to her team is unquestioned. From the moment she first arrived on campus, Kyla has worked diligently to do anything and everything to help her team succeed. A lot of superstars have passed through the doors at UConn. Their names hang along with the HOH in recognition of their incredible achievements. But UConn WBB has never been all about superstars. Megan Gardler, Maria Conlon, Saniya Chong and many others all contributed to great UConn teams by doing all the little things that translate into greatness for their team.

The conventional wisdom on Kyla is that she is an incredibly smart basketball player, that lacked the athleticism to be a key contributor at UConn. I confess that I was one of the people who held that belief. For three years, that wisdom has generally held true. But something remarkable occurred last night. After Liv had received some kind of cut that required bandaging, it appeared as if the refs would not allow Geno to put Liv back in the game immediately, so he waved at Kyla to replace Liv in the lineup. Kyla ripped off her sweats and ran out on the floor.

What happened next was wonderful. Kyla proceeded to have maybe the best 24 minutes of her life. She set picks, boxed out, took charges. Kyla filled up the stat sheet: 13 pts, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks. She made all her shots, including 2 from the arc. In fact, Kyla hasn’t missed a shot from the field so far this season. Clearly, Kyla is not going to spend her senior year in college just cheering for her teammates and playing mop up minutes. IMO, she’s earned Geno’s trust and will be part of the regular rotation going forward.

For UConn WBB, winning championships, setting records and earning AA honors are often the noteworthy achievements that we all tend to focus on. But Geno has always commented that his most important goal is to assure that the players he brings in achieve their potential. I think we are witnessing that with Kyla, and it is a beautiful thing to see. After the game Kyla commented, “I’m so happy that now I have this expectation that I’m going to come off the bench and do something.” Kyla has spent much of her first three years at UConn jumping up and cheering for her UConn teammates. Now I think we can all jump up and cheer for Kyla.

 

[Ron and Vida]

WOW
Old dude this time you really outduded yourself

 

[Bama fan]

WOW
Old dude this time you really outduded yourself

I am going to submit "outduded" to Merriam -Webster for inclusion in the unabridged dictionary. Great neologism! In this case, le mot juste!