MoJeff: 'aggressive, talented, hungry'

[Tonyc]

yes..you can play as a freshman if you are better than the players ahead of you! and not just better but can show you have earned Geno's trust.. so recruits should pay a lot of attention to the roster/depth chart.. you have at least three rising sophomores that aren't likely to give up much playing time in the future

You may not start as a freshman but you should get some playtime as your developed and earn it. As far as the 3 sophs that aren't likely togive up much playing time. I will disagree with you. Because UConn is that good there will be a lot of playtime for everybody as most games will be blowouts and IMO this team with its 8-9 in depth will steamroll most teams. I will say this with confidence. The only real challenges should be MD and Duke and if they don't play great defense the game could be over at half time. I will continue to say this all season. This team has the ability to score approx. 100 pts a game but I don't think Geno will allow them to run it up if he has any control over it.

 

[slimmer56]

It sounds to me as if Mojeff is getting to where Stewie was at the end of last year. Not thinking, but just letting it flow. If so.... LOOK OUT !

 

[Waquoit]

Jefferson is going to be a star this year. She will make "the leap".

 

[alexrgct]

Well , thank God she's not passive, untalented, and well-fed.

 

[msf22b]

How do you know this? Were you sitting on the bench too?

If you're writing fiction, let's label it as such.

I would wager a fair amount that Moriah was very aware of "what she did wrong," if in fact she did something wrong.

You can engage your own lipreader.

 

[msf22b]

In looking at the play by play, I see another area that mfs22b might have been referring too.

At 6:55, Jefferson is put back into the game. She gets called for a very curious blocking foul. I thought it was a terrible call. On defense the next time down, she lost her man and let her get a wide open three. I think Geno saw that and pulled her again.

What happened next is a matter of opinion and I certainly don't agree that she was upset with being pulled so quickly. TO me it looked like she was talking about that bad foul call and CD poo poo'd it with a flick of her hand saying "forget about it" if my lip reading skills are correct.

So, this was closer to what mfs22b was talking about. But you have to get looking for something negative to find issues with how the coaching staff handled it.

She played much better in the 2nd half with 3 points 3 assists and only 1 TO in 11 minutes. So maybe the coaches know what they are doing?

I think we're speaking of the same place, when Doty came back in
The smallish blond missed the three-pointer and Moriah was playing off her to assist with the real??scorers.
My lip reader has a quite different interpretation of the exchange with CD, quite clearly seen, almost full frontal.
Absolutely agree that she did better in the 2nd half. Upon arrival, through one away to complete the cycle of virtually everyone throwing the ball to the other side (that Geno complained about in a quicky time-out interview), but then was terrif for the remainder of her stint.

NOT TRYING OR LOOKING TO BE NEGATIVE: Just interested in the most accurate depiction of what actually happened.
I am very optimistic…very…about the prospects for Moriah's growth and acceptance, as well as all the others.

 

[Geno-ista]

Yes about Tuck, but MoJeff was unceremoniously pulled after the briefest appearance and returned dismayed to the bench asking CD what she did wrong, for which there was no answer.


Killjoy!

I love Mo Jeff - but Skylar picked her pocket and cruised to a lay up. Geno wasn't going to let the flood gates open. She was showing signs and if tonight at First Night was an indication- she's going to be fine!

History only in your mind. Let me show you the light.....

"MoJeff was unceremoniously pulled after the briefest appearance and returned dismayed to the bench asking CD what she did wrong, for which there was no answer. "

Let's just break down your comment.

"unceremoniously pulled."

Did you expect a ceremony? Seriously, I don't know why you would use this description of what happened. Jefferson was taken out after a foul in the post on UConn. Stewart was taken out at the same time. It looked liked every other substitution.

"briefest appearance"

It was definitely brief. 1:36. But certainly not the briefest. I've seen briefer...lol.

"returned dismayed to the bench "

Now this is just some made up thing in your head. First of all, the camera angle when she was taken out was the fixed camera from the rafters of the arena. There was no way you could see her expression. You could barley tell it was Jefferson. And by the time you saw her return to the bench from a closer angle she was highfiving her way to her seat. Dismay? Never happened.

"asking CD what she did wrong"

Nope. Again, made up in your head. She never even talked to CD.

"for which there was no answer"

Do you know if they talked while the game started again after Jefferson was pulled? They didn't show the bench again once play started. You have no idea if she asked or was given an answer.

But I'll tell you why I think she was pulled.

She went in at 15:05. With 16 seconds left on the shot clock she took a three. I'm pretty sure that was not the shot Geno wanted her to take.

At 14:05, she was ahead on a fast break and lost control of an easy layup.

10 seconds later, she let her man get by her for a back door cut and who compounded the mistake by trailing the player and then fouling on the shot attempt.

It was then that Geno decided to take her out of the game.

It was clear she had a freshman 1:36 and struggled. Geno did what every good coach would do.

Please don't rewrite history to fit your continuing agenda to prove yourself right when you say that Geno could have gotten more from the freshman and earlier in the season.

are you guys talking about the semi finals when Mo Jef got her pocket picked by Skylar and got yanked quickly?

 

[Geno-ista]

You may not start as a freshman but you should get some playtime as your developed and earn it. As far as the 3 sophs that aren't likely togive up much playing time. I will disagree with you. Because UConn is that good there will be a lot of playtime for everybody as most games will be blowouts and IMO this team with its 8-9 in depth will steamroll most teams. I will say this with confidence. The only real challenges should be MD and Duke and if they don't play great defense the game could be over at half time. I will continue to say this all season. This team has the ability to score approx. 100 pts a game but I don't think Geno will allow them to run it up if he has any control over it.

This years team could be one of the best UC teams ever- and that's saying something!!!!

 

[Kibitzer]

In looking at the play by play, I see another area that mfs22b might have been referring too.

At 6:55, Jefferson is put back into the game. She gets called for a very curious blocking foul. I thought it was a terrible call. On defense the next time down, she lost her man and let her get a wide open three. I think Geno saw that and pulled her again.

What happened next is a matter of opinion and I certainly don't agree that she was upset with being pulled so quickly. TO me it looked like she was talking about that bad foul call and CD poo poo'd it with a flick of her hand saying "forget about it" if my lip reading skills are correct.

So, this was closer to what mfs22b was talking about. But you have to get looking for something negative to find issues with how the coaching staff handled it.

She played much better in the 2nd half with 3 points 3 assists and only 1 TO in 11 minutes. So maybe the coaches know what they are doing?

Here it is, only "First Night" and DD is in mid-season, make that NCAA Tournament, form!

When DD smacks someone down, they are down for the full count!

I'm proud of him!

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Here it is, only "First Night" and DD is in mid-season, make that NCAA Tournament, form!

When DD smacks someone down, they are down for the full count!

I'm proud of him!

No Foggy in Doggy...

 

[ciarlante]

Good points Eric - I just went back over the last 4 years for average starter minutes (using top five players so not Doty for this past year for example even though she started some games.)
2013 - 27.4
2012 - 28.9
2011 - 30.8
2010 - 26.6
The 2011 season was an aberration because of the bench - it consisted of Dixon who average 22 minutes, Walker (freshman) who average 19 (in a total of 17 games) and then Buck and freshman Engeln and Johnson - Geno didn't have much to turn to there after the graduation of Charles, Gardler, Greene, McLaren, and Fernandes and he was already starting Stef and Bria as Freshman.
So ... in an average year there are 60+ minutes available for bench play every game - if a freshman or bench player is good enough they should be able to get 15-20 of those minutes and if they are exceptional and/or flexible in position and/or desperately needed because of previous year graduations, they can get starter minutes in the 20-30 minute range. Ideally Geno would probably prefer 70+ minutes for his bench, but he is unwilling to run garbage time garbage basketball so failing talent on the bench he'll leave more starters on the floor to keep the flow on offense and defense. A bench player with potential will learn a lot more playing with a couple of starters than they will learn freewheeling with no one knowing what they are doing.
ON Edit -
Just a comparison to the Olympic team when Geno had a really solid bench ...
Bird led minutes per game with 24.9 and there were two other starters with more than 20 minutes - DT at 24.1 and Charles with 21.3. Then there were another 5 players in the 17.4-19.8 range and two more at 14.9 and 10.3 and Fowles and Cash with 9.6 and 8.3. So if Geno has some bench talent they get their minutes.

These stats are nice but we all know kids want to play when it matters.. minutes are minutes but playing in mop up time when your up by 30 is not the same as playing when the games on the line..one would have to go back and check the minutes in games like ND and the tourney.. the bench gets squeezed just a little!

 

[VAMike23]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

 

[pinotbear]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

"ahhh: crouching Husky, middle-school dragon"

 

[UcMiami]

These stats are nice but we all know kids want to play when it matters.. minutes are minutes but playing in mop up time when your up by 30 is not the same as playing when the games on the line..one would have to go back and check the minutes in games like ND and the tourney.. the bench gets squeezed just a little!

True - but that is where skill comes in - the bench gets squeezed down to the players who are good enough to play at the highest level - it is self selective. On that Olympic team everyone including Fowles and Cash got minutes in the competitive games because they had the skill and ability to play. On a college team the roster gets squeezed because there are sections of the bench that are not advanced enough to contribute at a high level - some because they are still learning, others because they are not quite good enough. And most of the players we are talking about should have enough skill to compete, whether they are advanced enough is a matter of age and speed of assimilation of Geno's system. And they have a choice - more minutes playing for a lesser team that plays fewer 'important' games, or fewer minutes as freshman but the chance to play in the last two games of the year almost every year and with a fighting chance to win every game they play.
The history of WCBB recruiting for the last 15 years is full of top recruits 'wanting to blaze their own trail' which is great for the competitiveness of the women's game, but while they have gotten a lot more minutes on the court than they might have at other schools, I contend that a lot of those minutes have come in 'garbage time' but on the losing end of that garbage time. And they have played in fewer meaningful games than they would have at Uconn for sure and a few other schools as well.

 

[UcMiami]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

This and the return encounter at the other end were two of my favorite moments in the scrimmage. And everyone on and off the court seemed to really enjoy them as well.

 

[Icebear]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

Clearly, TLaw is already having an impact on the team skills.

 

[Geno-ista]

This and the return encounter at the other end were two of my favorite moments in the scrimmage. And everyone on and off the court seemed to really enjoy them as well.

Mo and Napier was a terrific one on one show- Mo's crossover was really electric- or it appeared so from my seat. Can't wait to see it again on video1

 

[Geno-ista]

Geno charging the court after time was called and the refs gave the made 3 pt shot to Team Ollie- at first he was really arguing the call- and then he made it funnier and light hearted and went animated for fun. It was also good that they cut off the game stuff at center court when they did. It was really killing the mo jo of the night after a while!

 

[Phil]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

Those two put on a show.

 

[Goodgood]

Either a Kimura or she is trying to grab something that stopped Shabazz on his track.

 

[msf22b]

When DD smacks someone down, they are down for the full count!
!

Nah, this is just the regular back and forth between us.
Plenty more to come.

 

[doggydaddy]

Nah, this is just the regular back and forth between us.
Plenty more to come.

Nah, as the Rock would say "I laid the smack down on ya"

If you can take it, I can keep lay in' it on you.

 

[msf22b]

Doggy
I appreciate your modifying post to the effect that my argument was not "made up out of whole cloth."
If that's the extent of "smack down, " no prob.

 

[Goodgood]

You two should get a room! lol!

 

[EricLA]

Was Mo trying out some kind of top secret jiujitsu move on Shabazz..????

I love Mo's attitude, demeanor, and obvious comfort level so far this year. From the 1st night, and other comments, it seems like she's having a great time, has worked really hard in the offseason, and is poised for a big time year. I saw some of the highlights of the scrimmage, and Mo's quickness and speed even faked out some of the guards on the men's side. I'm excited to see how that works out on the women's side. Can you imagine Schimmel trying to guard Mo??!! I expect to see a lot of other teams need instant help defense when Mo blows past primary defenders leaving at least 1 UCONN player wide open.