Most physical UConn player ever

[Vowelguy]

My list: Jamelle, Wilnett, Ashja, Shea, and Barbara Turner. (And Rizzotti would have run right through you if it meant she could get to the ball.) Tina, like Stef and Hansmeyer, grew into (no pun) their physicality-- but they weren't always that physical.

Hansmeyer grew into her physicality? She was called Bam Bam - by the fans - as a frosh.

 

[Sargassoc]

Hansmeyer grew into her physicality? She was called Bam Bam - by the fans - as a frosh.

Maybe I should not have said "physicality," which suggests (to me) a large and/or looming and/or finessed use of size. BamBam lost her starting role to Svet in the early winter of her sophomore year (?) and her 4-year stats, if this is correct, LINK HERE don't suggest she was dominating in the same way as, say, Jamelle. Having said that, I always liked Stacy Hansmeyer, I liked when she came in and asserted herself, and I sure as heck wouldn't want to come up against her in a game (as if I could). I just don't think she was one of our most physical players, but then again, perhaps I needed to define my terms before I began.

 

[uconn34]

Shea

 

[DaddyChoc]

Shea

Shea who?

 

[VAMike23]

Maya could really mix it up as well--besides playing the 4 a lot she was also the focus of the defense night in and night out wherever she was on the floor, so if she hadn't been physical when she started at UCONN she quickly learned how to be.

Remember the game at Stanford when they beat us to break the streak? She got beat up relentlessly by their bigs all night, but she gave as good as she got . . . . . .

"One thing I specifically remember is to just, you know, be physical with [Moore]," Pohlen recalled of the game plan. "Don't give her anything easy. If someone else has to switch on her, same thing. Be physical with her, make sure she's not getting what she wants."

Although Ogwumike had the primary responsibility for guarding Moore, Stanford heavily rotated with her sister Nneka, Kayla Pedersen, and JoslynTinkle. "We were like glue," Tinkle said. "We didn't let her out of our sight."

LINK to story on Vice Sports

 

[FridaFriend]

I would like to nominate Kiah Stokes. A number of her blocks involved a transfer of force from the ball to the player to the floor. I can recall announcers saying, "You don't feel good after that kind of block (unless you are Kiah)." I remember one block in particular, at the Green Bay game (November 2014), after Geno was assessed a technical foul. Kiah rejected a shot with authority and her teammates celebrated.

The incident I remember most was a play where Moriah (I think it was Moriah; I couldn't find the game) was bringing the ball up court and being pressed. Moriah ran the player into Kiah and the player went down, got up slowly, shook herself, and left the game. The announcers said that she's going to feel that. I think the player came back in later and ran into a Kiah screen.

 

[eebmg]

Maya could really mix it up as well--besides playing the 4 a lot she was also the focus of the defense night in and night out wherever she was on the floor, so if she hadn't been physical when she started at UCONN she quickly learned how to be.

Remember the game at Stanford when they beat us to break the streak? She got beat up relentlessly by their bigs all night, but she gave as good as she got . . . . . .

"One thing I specifically remember is to just, you know, be physical with [Moore]," Pohlen recalled of the game plan. "Don't give her anything easy. If someone else has to switch on her, same thing. Be physical with her, make sure she's not getting what she wants."

Although Ogwumike had the primary responsibility for guarding Moore, Stanford heavily rotated with her sister Nneka, Kayla Pedersen, and JoslynTinkle. "We were like glue," Tinkle said. "We didn't let her out of our sight."

LINK to story on Vice Sports

I always found this quote (from the linked article) very illuminating.

Did breaking the longest winning streak in basketball history really mean nothing to her (sic. Tara) ? After ten minutes of prodding VanDerveer about this, she seemed to grow a little frustrated, albeit with extreme politeness. "I want to make sure you understand," she said with a good-natured sense of assurance. "What they did was special. Winning 90 games is special. That's incredible. What we did was, we played a very good game on one night. To win 90 games is being consistent. We didn't win 90 games. They did."



Now extrapolate to 30 years.

 

[reno tony]

Dang girl.... that looked like it hurt.

 

[reno tony]

Surprised no one mentioned Gabby. She had to battle with 6'5" players and was successful at it. Same time, physically able to leap over Turner of ND... pretty physical.

Gabby can't be considered in this quest because she is no mere mortal. Someone who defies the laws of gravity has a distinct advantage. Plus, she is from Reno.