Megan Walker - 25 minutes, 19 points, looked good. A redwood is emerging from the seedling.

[Bronx23]

The wishful thinking and unrealistic interpretations of MW and her play continually amaze me.
She came into the game with the starters and she did nothing. She plays with the subs and did nothing. In HS she was easily the best player on her team and excelled. Why shouldn't she be able to do the same now. While Q played a really good game and did all they could, they are steps below U Conn on a skill level. I'm amazed MW can't exploit this.
Some here are still blaming Geno for his handling of her yet they love the 11 championships and the program and culture he built. Folks you can't have it both ways!! She won't and shouldn't play much more (barring an injury or foul trouble) and she hasn't earned it.
I'm so tired of the cheerleading and pampering that I hear mostly about poor MW.
She needs to continue to be held to those high standards and expectations and when she does meet them, she not only will play more,she will play much better.
Redwoods, stardom, AA status are not in the cards right now. Maybe down the road, I hope!
Bronx23

 

[VivaLsVgs]

Ouch....someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed! I agree that her 19 point game should be placed in context with the opponent and the pace of the game, but “pampering” is not something I see people doing on here. Most just want to see her succeed and play well. It seems that many of us on The Boneyard acknowledge that she’s had a rough freshman season and did not adjust to the rigors of the college game like some would have hoped. We have 4 games left at the most and my hopes for MW are that she can contribute and cap off the year with the National Championship. No one believes she is going to miraculously become Chennedy Carter in the tournament.

 

[Iowafan61]

Well in the same token the sophmores and point gaurd could be leader as well

 

[HuskylnSC]

No one believes she is going to miraculously become Chennedy Carter in the tournament.

And I hope she never becomes Chennedy Carter. The amount of success she has achieved playing as a one player gang will make it incredibly difficult for her to merge into the high assist team concept that has become UConn. I firmly believe MW and MC and LG will all become the great team players that make the UConn engine go on for a while longer

 

[SVCBeercats]

I am fully confident, that by next December, the latest, Geno will be lavishing the same praise, or at least, nearly the same praise as he did this year on the unbelievable progress of Crystal Dangerfield. Megan Walker was never suppose to be a star this year. Yes, like many great UCONN players, her freshman year is a work in progress. However, next year is the real start of her career at UCONN. And with the cast that will surround her - it is going to be fun to watch a team with three number one picks and Z playing together.

After the Quinnipiac game how confident are you? There were more than enough Boneyard folks in November believing Walker would star this season. Back pedaling? How many seasons will you say "work in progress" and wait next season she will start up? When she consistently plays well I will believe it. It will be interesting to see if next season's frosh pressure this season's frosh for playing time. Yo Walker, macht schnell, macht schnell!

 

[bags27]

2020-2021 NPOY. I'll keep saying that until they count the votes and announce her name.

 

[Bronx23]

Ouch....someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed! I agree that her 19 point game should be placed in context with the opponent and the pace of the game, but “pampering” is not something I see people doing on here. Most just want to see her succeed and play well. It seems that many of us on The Boneyard acknowledge that she’s had a rough freshman season and did not adjust to the rigors of the college game like some would have hoped. We have 4 games left at the most and my hopes for MW are that she can contribute and cap off the year with the National Championship. No one believes she is going to miraculously become Chennedy Carter in the tournament.

Like your comments and sentiments, which I agree with completely.

I am fully confident, that by next December, the latest, Geno will be lavishing the same praise, or at least, nearly the same praise as he did this year on the unbelievable progress of Crystal Dangerfield. Megan Walker was never suppose to be a star this year. Yes, like many great UCONN players, her freshman year is a work in progress. However, next year is the real start of her career at UCONN. And with the cast that will surround her - it is going to be fun to watch a team with three number one picks and Z playing together.

After the Quinnipiac game how confident are you? There were more than enough Boneyard folks in November believing Walker would star this season. Back pedaling? How many seasons will you say "work in progress" and wait next season she will start up? When she consistently plays well I will believe it. It will be interesting to see if next season's frosh pressure this season's frosh for playing time. Yo Walker, macht schnell, macht schnell!

WOW!
A bit of realism! Someone just doesn't jump from a rough freshman to a major piece or to an AA cause magically the light goes on.
Let's see her begin to show evidence of it, these last few games or next year on a consistent basis!
Thank you SVC as I'm glad I'm not completely nuts just yet!
Bronx23

 

[Bronx23]

2020-2021 NPOY. I'll keep saying that until they count the votes and announce her name.

Bags I normally love your posts and look forward to them!
Please let me not deter you from dreaming on!
Bronx23

 

[Longtime fan]

Redwoods are like weeds and can easily grow from nothing to 10ft in a year. They are one of the fastest growing trees on the planet. I have a lot of them in the yard, so keeping them under control requires a chain saw to prevent them from spreading, blocking all the light, clogging all external drains and damaging the house.

This is a wonderful metaphor and I hope ( we hope ) it proves prophetic. Do you live in California?

 

[SVCBeercats]

2020-2021 NPOY. I'll keep saying that until they count the votes and announce her name.

With justification since she was the 2017 HS NPOY and will remain so through 2020-2021. I hope you are correct. If so, then UCONN will have had an excellent season.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Like your comments and sentiments, which I agree with completely.

WOW!
A bit of realism! Someone just doesn't jump from a rough freshman to a major piece or to an AA cause magically the light goes on.
Let's see her begin to show evidence of it, these last few games or next year on a consistent basis!
Thank you SVC as I'm glad I'm not completely nuts just yet!
Bronx23

Perhaps you are completely nuts and I am simply providing empathetic company.

 

[Bronx23]

Perhaps you are completely nuts and I am simply providing empathetic company.

You maybe right! You're hardly the first who has said or implied that!
Bronx23

 

[TWG236]

Wow, Bronx23 I really enjoy reading your comments. But surprised you are coming down hard on Megan for the Quinnipiac game. How about coming down on Lou, 8 points, no assist, Gabby 6 points and Crystal 5 points. Our two leading scorers, were Napheesa and Azura, both post players, who had a distinctive advantage over their defensive players. Getting the ball into the paint was clearly Geno's game plan for this game. Lou, Kia and Crystal were all open numerous times for open three's, but instead the ball went inside to Napheesa and Azura. Kia made 3 three's, but two were passes from post players from inside the lane.

Megan is not an inside post player and her strong suit is driving, shooting and rebounding and she did contribute 3 rebounds. As with Crystal last year, when playing with the starters, she seems to defer from shooting unless she is wide open. I for one don't understand how hard it is to go from high school to the most demanding college program. But I do remember Crystal was also a highly rated high school player and that she struggled her entire freshman year. So I for one am willing to give Megan the benefit of the doubt and hope that she to understands what she needs to work on during the summer and makes a dynamic leap next year.

 

[Bronx23]

Wow, Bronx23 I really enjoy reading your comments. But surprised you are coming down hard on Megan for the Quinnipiac game. How about coming down on Lou, 8 points, no assist, Gabby 6 points and Crystal 5 points. Our two leading scorers, were Napheesa and Azura, both post players, who had a distinctive advantage over their defensive players. Getting the ball into the paint was clearly Geno's game plan for this game. Lou, Kia and Crystal were all open numerous times for open three's, but instead the ball went inside to Napheesa and Azura. Kia made 3 three's, but two were passes from post players from inside the lane.

Megan is not an inside post player and her strong suit is driving, shooting and rebounding and she did contribute 3 rebounds. As with Crystal last year, when playing with the starters, she seems to defer from shooting unless she is wide open. I for one don't understand how hard it is to go from high school to the most demanding college program. But I do remember Crystal was also a highly rated high school player and that she struggled her entire freshman year. So I for one am willing to give Megan the benefit of the doubt and hope that she too understands what she needs to work on during the summer and makes a dynamic leap next year.

First of all, I was rather disappointed in KLS play this game as she was so passive offensively. This I think happens with her periodically and she needs to work to overcome it and that may be the difference for her from getting closer to the very best we have seen here.
As to why I am seemingly so negative about MW we can begin with the title of this thread. To simplify it she's becoming an emerging Redwood. PLEASE! I read regular, consistent comments from posters here claiming she will be a star, AA and even NPOY.
Lets first solidify consistently being the 7th player and a regular, meaningful contributor, which every person here has been waiting for and is badly needed. Yes CD had a similar rough freshman year and I had similar concerns about her last season. Yes maybe she was #3-7 of the top HS players and not #1 but there wasn't the blind hopefulness I read that exists with MW. Obviously she has put it all together and now she is an essential part of this team and one of the better point guards in the country. I, and most if not all of us, don't know the work and effort, as well as mental energy she put in last spring and summer to emerge where she now is. I very much hope for the same from MW but it shouldn't be just handed to her. She needs to earn it. In both cases, I think maybe 75% is the emotional / psychological aspects of the game that held both of them back. Almost always Geno, CD and the other coaches are very focused on this aspect of a players HS career, their psychological /emotional make up and even the manner in which their parents respond and engage in their daughters development as bb players and human beings. So that is actually the main thing that makes me, give MW the benefit of the doubt, that the light will come on and she will fulfill her potential. A small part of me, which also sees her strength as those aspects you described, wonder if they fully translate at the top of the women's college game.
I apologize for harping on this but this program and culture is built on meeting extremely high expectations; assumed constant great effort from each player every moment; ones demeanor, involvement in the game and their responses when one is on the bench; and many other things. No one ever gets a pass, even when they were the best player in HS. I just want to see it from her consistently on and off the court. Also I fully get she's a freshman and this is a process that seems to take almost everyone that has come here, except for the great ones, a year to put together and that I buy and even embrace. So I hope she can do this, likely it will be seen, when she arrives on campus next fall, raring and ready to go, just like CD did this year. And maybe it even takes her a bit longer or maybe she doesn't reach the BYers and her expectations, that too while disappointing will be ok.
Bronx23