Megan Walker | The Boneyard

Megan Walker

I thought that she played poorly against Tulane (lots of minutes and nothing to show for it) but significantly better against Cincinnati last night. We will see what she does against South Florida tonight.

During the 4th quarter against Cincinnati, playing solely with other bench players, it looked as if she was trying to be The Scorer, which is a proper role considering who else was on the floor with her. I wonder if Geno told her to do that.

I also wonder if he told Molly to look to pass to Megan. It was very frustrating to watch Molly catch pass after pass when she was momentarily open, act like she was thinking about shooting, and then decide to pass to somebody. I know she isn't KLS or Kia (who were a combined 2-for-12 last night from 3-point range, by the way), but I think Molly should (once in a while) try jacking up a jump shot quickly when she gets one of those passes. Who knows? It might go in.
 
CL82 said:
Has the light come on for her? She's playing much better at time when will need her to be productive. I'm happy for her, and for us.
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I'll wait and see and hold off an evaluation until Uconn completes the first three games of the tournament. If Megan demonstrates during those games consistency then I think one could determine whether she'd play much going forward in the tournament. After all, GA didn't play Crystal Dangerfield much against Mississippi State last tournament because he didn't think he could count on her.
 
Megan shot it well against Cincinnati but for this level of play, she is only an average shooter. I think she will develop into an excellent defender and rebounder, and a decent scorer but a streaky shooter.

Molly does hesitate, probably a perfectionist prone to overthinking. But I think it is also a mechanical thing, she is a slow shooter. She should work on a quicker release.
 
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Megan's a freshman, but more than that, even our seniors have good and bad shooting nights. Heck, Lou and Kia were both 1-6 from beyond the arc, and Kia only scored 5 points yet we aren't questioning if the light has gone on or off for them.

I do get it because Megan has had such an up and down season, and as some said, it remains to be seen what she can do against better competition. Keep in mind that even if Kia scores 0 points, her value is measured by what else she does, especially assists and defense. Megan is capable of playing really solid defense, and as Geno has stressed, "focus on what you do well" at this time of the season. I'm rooting for her!!
 
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EricLA said:
Megan's a freshman, but more than that, even our seniors have good and bad shooting nights. Heck, Lou and Kia were both 1-6 from beyond the arc, and Kia only scored 5 points yet we aren't questioning if the light has gone on or off for them.

I do get it because Megan has had such an up and down season, and as some said, it remains to be seen what she can do against better competition. Keep in mind that even if Kia scores 0 points, her value is measured by what else she does, especially assists and defense. Megan is capable of playing really solid defense, and as Geno has stressed, "focus on what you do well" at this time of the season. I'm rooting for her!!
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If she were a better defender, she would be playing a lot more. Not only does she struggle guarding a chair, but she too often fouls the chair.
 
Huskee11 said:
Megan shot it well against Cincinnati but for this level of play, she is only an average shooter. I think she will develop into an excellent defender and rebounder, and a decent scorer but a streaky shooter.

Molly does hesitate but I think it is also a mechanical thing, she is a slow shooter. She should work on a quicker release.
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I think it is a confidence thing. Fear of making a mistake. I'll tell you she looked terrific on that drive to the basket, didn't she?
 
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The one thing I did notice about MW last night is that she’s getting better on the defensive end. She got a hand on a couple passes, forcing at least one turnover. She seems to better understand where she’s supposed to be on defense, and made several nice defensive switches. I even like the time she drew a foul by flattening a Cincy player who was attempting to set a screen on her.

She did get beat a couple times off the dribble, but given her overall improvement on defense, I was very pleased.
 
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oldude said:
The one thing I did notice about MW last night is that she’s getting better on the defensive end. She got a hand on a couple passes, forcing at least one turnover. She seems to better understand where she’s supposed to be on defense, and made several nice defensive switches. I even like the time she drew a foul by flattening a Cincy player who was attempting to set a screen on her.

She did get beat a couple times off the dribble, but given her overall improvement on defense, I was very pleased.
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I was generally pleased with her defense as well. Not to mention Z's defense. Meg still has a problem with touch fouls while she's guarding off the dribble. A common problem with freshmen. That will improve.

Yeah, she's an inconsistent shooter. Something I noted while watching her in HS and in the HS all star games. This too will improve. Just ask Kia about that. Her size at the 2 next year will make her such a handful though. In fact UConn's size on the perimeter will be a handful for whoever they face.
 
CL82 said:
I think it is a confidence thing. Fear of making a mistake. I'll tell you she looked terrific on that drive to the basket, didn't she?
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When Meagan has had minutes, she usually has stepped up. Knowing you were going to be taken out after 4-6 minutes if you make mistake has got to play with your mind.
Without trying to start a controversial thread ;), I sometimes wonder of the affect Molly's reluctance to shoot has on those in game with her. Other team must know this tendency and appears to often play 5 against the other 4. Since Meagan is often the best shooter in with the subs, noticed she has been doubled when Molly in game. I know-opinions vary.
 
oldude said:
The one thing I did notice about MW last night is that she’s getting better on the defensive end. She got a hand on a couple passes, forcing at least one turnover. She seems to better understand where she’s supposed to be on defense, and made several nice defensive switches. I even like the time she drew a foul by flattening a Cincy player who was attempting to set a screen on her.

She did get beat a couple times off the dribble, but given her overall improvement on defense, I was very pleased.
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I agree. She has improved her defense in the last couple of games. Meghan made a few really nice plays last night. Her hands were up and she seemed vocally engaged . She is a physically gifted player. I liked her non hesitation 3 right in front of Geno . She moved around more on offense and took open shots when available. Exactly what she should be doing with experienced talent on this team. Meghan looks to be more of a slasher/rebounder who can shoot a 3. I expect a huge jump next season.
 
bags27 said:
game-to-game performance and assessment is just noise. My prediction remains: 2020-21 NPOY.
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One additional comment about MW’s defense. While she’s not a great defender yet, her size, strength and athleticism will eventually allow her to do something that only Gabby can do right now; defend all 1-5 players on the opposing team.

NPOY would be great, but I wouldn’t be surprised if NDPOY is in MS Walker’s future.
 
"Let's see what she can do against better competition"? Really? The kid has shown spurts of the kind of top level talent she has. Give her a break: she's a freshman. As someone else mentioned previously: Geno had so little confidence in Crystal Dangerfield, that she hardly played against MSU. I wonder what ever became of her?
 
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oldude said:
One additional comment about MW’s defense. While she’s not a great defender yet, her size, strength and athleticism will eventually allow her to do something that only Gabby can do right now; defend all 1-5 players on the opposing team.

NPOY would be great, but I wouldn’t be surprised if NDPOY is in MS Walker’s future.
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Especially since the best 2's she'll face, such as ND's Jackie Young, will be overmatched because of her size, quickness, athleticism.
 
Shenandoah said:
"Let's see what she can do against better competition"? Really? The kid has shown spurts of the kind of top level talent she has. Give her a break: she's a freshman. As someone else mentioned previously: Geno had so little confidence in Crystal Dangerfield, that she hardly played against MSU. I wonder what ever became of her?
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How soon they forget the ND game.

Meg has shown flashes of brilliance. She just needs to sustain them for longer periods of time
 
JordyG said:
Especially since the best 2's she'll face, such as ND's Jackie Young, will be overmatched because of her size, quickness, athleticism.
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I just don't see MW as 6'1. I think she's a solid 5'11. She's supposed to be as tall as Napheesa, and Napheesa looks a lot longer and taller than her.
 
JoePgh said:
I thought that she played poorly against Tulane (lots of minutes and nothing to show for it) but significantly better against Cincinnati last night. We will see what she does against South Florida tonight.

During the 4th quarter against Cincinnati, playing solely with other bench players, it looked as if she was trying to be The Scorer, which is a proper role considering who else was on the floor with her. I wonder if Geno told her to do that.

I also wonder if he told Molly to look to pass to Megan. It was very frustrating to watch Molly catch pass after pass when she was momentarily open, act like she was thinking about shooting, and then decide to pass to somebody. I know she isn't KLS or Kia (who were a combined 2-for-12 last night from 3-point range, by the way), but I think Molly should (once in a while) try jacking up a jump shot quickly when she gets one of those passes. Who knows? It might go in.
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Agree, she keeps passing up open shots. I keep yelling at the TV, damn girl, shoot already!

Of course a lot of them (bench players, 2nd string, scrubs :rolleyes:) pass up open shots. Sometimes it's like they are so intent on trying to run the offense, they forget the object of running the offense is to get open shots and take them.
 
CL82 said:
Has the light come on for her? She's playing much better at time when will need her to be productive. I'm happy for her, and for us.
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Mo vs. Megan Freshman years
Mo 182 points, Megan 162
Mo FG Pct .424 Megan .440
Mo 3PTS Pct. .266 Megan .323

Sure glad no one gave up on Mo.................................
 
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Reypl21 said:
I just don't see MW as 6'1. I think she's a solid 5'11. She's supposed to be as tall as Napheesa, and Napheesa looks a lot longer and taller than her.
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MW looked more like 6'2 or slightly taller in recent team photo I saw recently. I remember seeing and thinking she looked to be right between Phees and KLS as far as height. I just can't remember where I saw the photo within the last week.
 
Huskee11 said:
Megan shot it well against Cincinnati but for this level of play, she is only an average shooter. I think she will develop into a decent defender and an excellent rebounder, and a good scorer but a streaky shooter.
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FYP
slug25 said:
If she were a better defender, she would be playing a lot more. Not only does she struggle guarding a chair, but she too often fouls the chair.
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CL82 said:
I think it is a confidence thing. Fear of making a mistake. I'll tell you she looked terrific on that drive to the basket, didn't she?
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I agree with these. I think she'll be especially good in the open floor on breaks with her athleticism as she progresses through the program.

The Starting 5 (Core 4 and Dangerfield) have the switching defense pretty down pat. Stevens and Walker still get lost once in awhile. I think they'll get there eventually though.
 
JordyG said:
I was generally pleased with her defense as well. Not to mention Z's defense. Meg still has a problem with touch fouls while she's guarding off the dribble. A common problem with freshmen. That will improve.

Yeah, she's an inconsistent shooter. Something I noted while watching her in HS and in the HS all star games. This too will improve. Just ask Kia about that. Her size at the 2 next year will make her such a handful though. In fact UConn's size on the perimeter will be a handful for whoever they face.
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Impossible to prove except for what I've seen over the years and that is the refs will call a foul on a freshman that they wouldn't on an upperclassman.
 
ME Husky Fan said:
Impossible to prove except for what I've seen over the years and that is the refs will call a foul on a freshman that they wouldn't on an upperclassman.
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Yea, it seems that way doesn't it.
 
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