Moriah

[msf22b]

After the game today in the comments posted on the official UConn website
Geno acknowledged Moriah's outstanding game and both the coach and player frankly addressed her recent production fall-off

The statements were serious and informative except that we all know that the kid wants to excel and the exact nature of the kind of (shall we call it a) slump that she has been in is almost inexplicable and neither she nor Geno had precise answers.

Geno did mention that Stef took a lot of pressure off the guards; if good choices were not
materializing in any sequence, just pass the ball to Stef and things would work out.

This season, that option ids not available, except that the emergence of Gabby is helping some.

Hopefully tonight was a turning point and we may have to thank K for assisting in awakening Mo's instinctive competitiveness and bolstering her confidence.

 

[Sonny44]

Maybe she had been pressuring herself to do too much.
I think today she was much more relaxed as evidenced by how smoothly she sunk in all those 3's. Plus she didn't over-penetrate on her drives.

 

[UcMiami]

I think the absence of Stef cannot be over emphasized for all the returning players. She demanded attention from defenses whether at the high or low post, she was a great passer, a great screener, and the central figure in the offensive flow. Stewart misses her, KML misses her, and Moriah misses her. And the same kinds of issues occurred last year when she went to the bench that we have seen this year.
Kia is providing a fair semblance of what Bria provided last year - 4 assists and 14 points per game vs. 4 assists and 16 points for Bria, but while the statistical numbers are pretty close between Morgan/Gabby vs. Dolson, the 'presence' of the big girl is not something either is able to duplicate.
It is going to be a continuing learning experience for the whole team to create a new reality on offense. Getting into a more regular practice/game routine in January and having a generally fairly easy slate of games in conference should help as well as just more time to come to grips with the adjustments.
And ... the team will also have more struggles on defense without Stef in the center. We don't face many strong low post centers during the year, but when we do (and the Duke game may be interesting in that regard) there may be some issues.