Lexi Gordon

[southofnorth]

Luckily we only have a couple of weeks to find out where she’s at when UConn opens against Ohio State (I know they have an exhibition before that, but I don’t think that’s a great judge of who can/will do what). It’s very possible that all the other headlines were just bigger and better than a bench player’s improvements. Walker’s 180, Lou healthy, Napheesa almost on a senior national team, Christyn’s bold prediction, etc. Unless Lexi suddenly became a DT-like player, I’d doubt we’d hear much about her. That said I hope she’s made a sizable jump and can be a consistent contributor.

 

[southofnorth]

And I believe that Diana was kicked out of practice at least once.

You are correct! I forget which video I saw it in, but they were discussing Diana Taurasi’s freshman year and how she just went about doing whatever she pleased. One day Geno got sick of it and told her to leave. Seems to have worked out in the long run I’d say

 

[DesertGnome]

Guess who’s missing from Geno’s discussion of the team in the Courant’s “Five takeaways from ESPN Media Day”: “Then we’ll get some great contributions from Kyla [Irwin], Mikayla [Coombs], Molly [Bent]. Olivia [Nelson-Ododa] will have some great moments, but other than those three that I mentioned at the beginning, we don’t have somebody who’s going to be pretty solid every day that we show up for practice.”

 

[Longtime fan]

Guess who’s missing from Geno’s discussion of the team in the Courant’s “Five takeaways from ESPN Media Day”: “Then we’ll get some great contributions from Kyla [Irwin], Mikayla [Coombs], Molly [Bent]. Olivia [Nelson-Ododa] will have some great moments, but other than those three that I mentioned at the beginning, we don’t have somebody who’s going to be pretty solid every day that we show up for practice.”

Embarrassing for Lexi. We can only hope it pisses her off and she becomes a tiger. Otherwise, she is dead meat.

 

[JoePgh]

Doesn't pretty much every UConn player go through this to some degree?

At first, the player can't do anything right, Geno won't play her, etc. Over time, if she commits to learning and improving, she figures it out, becomes a great player, and we forget all about the times that she struggled.

I don't doubt that it will come together for Lexi at some point. If not this year, perhaps next year.

I'm very excited for the "Why is Christyn in Geno's doghouse?" phase, personally. Because trust me, it will happen.

I can remember two freshmen who were never in Geno's doghouse (to my knowledge): Kelly Faris and Stef Dolson. Geno predicted before the first game that Kelly would never have a bad game at UConn (because the hustle and intelligence were always there even when her shot wasn't falling). She did have at least one bad game, against Duke in her freshman year, and although she was pulled from that game, she never got in Geno's doghouse.

If you recall, around January of Stef's freshman year, Geno said with some amazement that "Stef gets better by the week!"

 

[DEpup]

I can remember two freshmen who were never in Geno's doghouse (to my knowledge): Kelly Faris and Stef Dolson. Geno predicted before the first game that Kelly would never have a bad game at UConn (because the hustle and intelligence were always there even when her shot wasn't falling). She did have at least one bad game, against Duke in her freshman year, and although she was pulled from that game, she never got in Geno's doghouse.

If you recall, around January of Stef's freshman year, Geno said with some amazement that "Stef gets better by the week!"

But remember that year, he had no other option but Dolson. He had to build her up. I also think he realized it was her fitness not her skill and that the fitness was improving.

 

[JoePgh]

Kia Nurse was another freshman who, as far as I know, was never in Geno's doghouse. The common theme in all three cases was a consistent work ethic and a basketball IQ that enabled those players to learn quickly and accurately what Geno was teaching.

 

[oldude]

Kia Nurse was another freshman who, as far as I know, was never in Geno's doghouse. The common theme in all three cases was a consistent work ethic and a basketball IQ that enabled those players to learn quickly and accurately what Geno was teaching.

Never say never. I believe Kia had a game her junior year when she was something like 0-7 from the floor. When she came out of the game in the 4th qtr, a lopsided Husky victory, she broke down in tears on the bench, distraught with her performance.

Geno was very critical of her publicly, and I’m sure privately as well. His message was twofold. Kia did other things on the court that contributed to the win and her emotional display on the bench detracted from the team and the win.

Geno’s final message to Kia was simply, “Don’t ever do that again.” Message received. From that point on, Kia was completely, 100% all about the team.

 

[Charliebball]

[QUOTE="Orangutan, post: 2890802, member: 4946"

I'm very excited for the "Why is Christyn in Geno's doghouse?" phase, personally. Because trust me, it will happen.[/QUOTE]

I agree.................CW is getting way too much good press...............Geno will bring her down to earth probably sooner then later even if she's playing well

 

[VAMike23]

Kia Nurse was another freshman who, as far as I know, was never in Geno's doghouse. The common theme in all three cases was a consistent work ethic and a basketball IQ that enabled those players to learn quickly and accurately what Geno was teaching.

Ditto Kelly Faris, IIRC