Morgan Tuck

[Hongster]

this might sound crazy but if we were picking teams for a game of pick up, i'd take Tuck over Stewart. Stewart is clearly the more physically imposing player but Tuck has the killer instinct that i love. i don't think UCONN would have won 3 straight titles without her.

Yeah! But without Stewie there will be none NC.

 

[msf22b]

As much a fan of Geno that I am, I must admit that I am continually surprised that the offense does not focus more often than it does on working the ball into Morgan in the low paint. She is a load to handle defensively down there...her raw power and strength is undeniable, resulting inevitably in high percentage shot opportunities, and her ability to draw fouls and convert resulting free throws is among the team's best. Too often, I think, as part of its up-tempo game, the team relies on the quick opportunity from behind the arc rather than working the shot clock more patiently and getting the ball down low to its star.

I always thought, that if the team has a discernible weakness, it is passing to open or available posts, even guards inside.
How many times have we seen beautiful cuts into space unrewarded.
Can't have everything I suppose.

 

[HoopsFan21]

this might sound crazy but if we were picking teams for a game of pick up, i'd take Tuck over Stewart. Stewart is clearly the more physically imposing player but Tuck has the killer instinct that i love. i don't think UCONN would have won 3 straight titles without her.

You don't have to think whether or not UConn would win 3 straight titles without Tuck. We already know the answer since she was redshirted in 2014 and I think they would have been OK in 2013 when she was a freshman and her and Mo were bench players.

 

[reno tony]

To quote Courtney Williams during the presser... "She's a beast."

 

[UcMiami]

A couple of things:
Joking reference to using Tuck's last name - gets to the practice/game names being short and easy to yell out - and the team had two possible 'Mo' players - Moriah and Morgan, but the second options for those two were definitely not equal - Tuck vs. Jefferson (Jeff was just not that appealing) - so Moriah got Mo, and Morgan was left as Tuck.

I get frustrated when watching Uconn on offense when open post players are missed, but sometimes the player with the ball is concentrating on something else and they just don't see them. The other issue is one of team philosophy - as Geno has mentioned a few times in post game - he has a team that shoots 50% so every turnover costs the team 1 - 1.5 points. Making a 50/50 pass into the paint costs the team on average 0.5-0.75 points. Early in the shot clock, that is not that good a trade off, so you run more offense in the hopes of getting the pass percentage up to 75/25 or better, whereas late in the shot clock maybe you go ahead and make the 50/50 pass.
Against teams that pack in to the paint, and most teams do that against Uconn, the player being 'open' posting up is not as open as it may look from the camera angle, since there are usually two other defenders who might get finger tips on a pass into the posting player.

Morgan is great, and her post moves are almost unguardable, but she is most effective in motion and threatening a defense from all over the court - the same could be said for Stewart. I have also liked what I am seeing from Lou in the past few games where she has also started posting up smaller defenders - she has been attacking the defense from more places on the court which can only help her whole game.

 

[UcMiami]

Forgot to post one other thought on Morgan's knee - I have had surgery on knee and back, and both repairs respond to changes in air pressure and moisture content. I suspect some of Morgan's issues will be lifelong, and not just weather related. The air pressure change on long flights is significant and I suspect that may also play into the way her knee feels - Houston I believe was the longest flight of the year and might have played into her sitting out.

(Airplane travel I suspect is similar to the results of divers rising from scuba dives - with the air pressure for the flight the equivalent of being taken a mile high in about 15 minutes I am sure some gases are released from fluids in the body and fill voids in joints. Not all of that gas is reabsorbed immediately into the fluids during decent. It isn't anywhere like the danger from rising from the extreme pressures of diving, but it can cause a little added discomfort I think.)

 

[cbraarj]

I would like to see Morgan come back for her 5th year of ball and get her Masters Degree.I think she should talk to her Drs.,Geno,Rosemary and most important,her parents to figure what is best for her.Her health comes first and seeing Shea on the bench is a reminder to what can happen at any given time.Morgan is a talented,smart,confident and a beautiful young women who will be successful in everything she does!