NCAA: EDD back to form

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[Olde Coach]

LINK

Great article. Thanks for the link.

There is a a lot of new information in this very informative and well written piece.
And it all adds to the respect I have had for Elena since I met her and her dad when she was a senior in high school.

Big props to the Delaware coach, too.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Some of the best players in the country last year look markedly better this year.

Elena looks stronger, tougher, and better. Bill Fennelley said she was the best player on Team USA.

Nneka appears to have taken her game to the next level. She is simply carrying the Stanford team and looks unstoppable.

Griner played against top competition and looks even better than last year.

Skylar looks more consistent and better.

Odyssey Sims plays like a senior, not a sophomore.

Bria Bartley has upped her game as well.

From what I have seen and read, I think Elena and Nneka may have impoved the most. And they were really good last year.

 

[Blakeon18]

Fascinating article!

There is a potentially fascinating game coming up on Thursday night at Maryland.
Maryland hosts a holiday tourney and will surely beat Lafayette on Wednesday advancing to the finals on Thursday. Maryland is undefeated and ranked somewhere around national # 6. UDel is undefeated [ranked around #19] and plays East Carolina on Wednesday.

Should UDel advance they would have the chance to make a huge national statement against Maryland. They already have defeated ranked Penn State but this would be a louder shout-out than that game.

A competitive loss won't hurt UDel at all....a blow-out loss would but they still would be on target for an at-large berth [imo] should they stumble in their conference tourney. A win over Maryland [at Maryland] might propel them to a borderline top 10 ranking....with a Dance seed awfully high.

If anyone spots that this game is being televised, please post the info.

Hopefully we will get some courtside wisdom from those in attendance.

 

[Icebear]

Battling Lyme Disease while trying to play basketball had to be incredibly tough for Elena. Having known several who have had the disease it can be devastating.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Battling Lyme Disease while trying to play basketball had to be incredibly tough for Elena. Having known several who have had the disease it can be devastating.

I fully agree. Playing while struggling with that is tough to imagine. She has to be feeling much stronger this year.

 

[pap49cba]

Battling Lyme Disease while trying to play basketball had to be incredibly tough for Elena. Having known several who have had the disease it can be devastating.

Totally agree. Have a relative who had it and he basically lost a full year out of his life. It is serious stuff.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Fascinating article!

There is a potentially fascinating game coming up on Thursday night at Maryland.
Maryland hosts a holiday tourney and will surely beat Lafayette on Wednesday advancing to the finals on Thursday. Maryland is undefeated and ranked somewhere around national # 6. UDel is undefeated [ranked around #19] and plays East Carolina on Wednesday.

Should UDel advance they would have the chance to make a huge national statement against Maryland. They already have defeated ranked Penn State but this would be a louder shout-out than that game.

A competitive loss won't hurt UDel at all....a blow-out loss would but they still would be on target for an at-large berth [imo] should they stumble in their conference tourney. A win over Maryland [at Maryland] might propel them to a borderline top 10 ranking....with a Dance seed awfully high.

If anyone spots that this game is being televised, please post the info.

Hopefully we will get some courtside wisdom from those in attendance.

Observations, yes; wisdom, well, for me that might be a stretch.

 

[EricLA]

one thing about this seems to be that one mantra UCONN fans have said is how a certain player of another team would have turned out much (or marginally) better had they attended UCONN. Elena's rise to the top seems to shoot that particular theory out the window. she seems to have developed into one of the top players in the nation in spite of playing for lowly Deleware.

it would be interesting top revisit the whole theory that Geno and his staff are the best in the game (which i agree with) but that players who opt to go elsewhere don't develop as well as they would have at UCONN.

 

[pinotbear]

one thing about this seems to be that one mantra UCONN fans have said is how a certain player of another team would have turned out much (or marginally) better had they attended UCONN. Elena's rise to the top seems to shoot that particular theory out the window. she seems to have developed into one of the top players in the nation in spite of playing for lowly Deleware.

it would be interesting top revisit the whole theory that Geno and his staff are the best in the game (which i agree with) but that players who opt to go elsewhere don't develop as well as they would have at UCONN.

I think it's a case-by-case situation, Eric. Some players likely would have turned out better. Some likely wouldn't have, or might have even suffered. Not every player will click at UConn. Basically, it's not an all-or-nothing proposition.

 

[nan linds]

I checked here... http://www.womensbasketballonline.com/wnbatv.html and only UConn seems scheduled for Thursday. Maybe holiday tournaments are posted?

 

[dannykuconn]

blakeon18, Today at 10:19 AM

Hopefully we will get some courtside wisdom from those in attendance.

My family and I are heading down to Maryland early tomorrow morning and will be at both games. It will be my first visit to the Comcast Center in Maryland. I will post pictures when we get back. My guess is that there will be a lot of Delaware fans there. Wednesday afternoon games probably won't be close but looking forward to Thursday nights game. Will be taping the UConn -Fairfield game and watch that on Friday.

 

[MilfordHusky]

blakeon18, Today at 10:19 AM

Hopefully we will get some courtside wisdom from those in attendance.

My family and I are heading down to Maryland early tomorrow morning and will be at both games. It will be my first visit to the Comcast Center in Maryland. I will post pictures when we get back. My guess is that there will be a lot of Delaware fans there. Wednesday afternoon games probably won't be close but looking forward to Thursday nights game. Will be taping the UConn -Fairfield game and watch that on Friday.

Danny, I'll be there on Thursday. The arena is very impressive. It seats about 18,000. I would expect maybe 5,000 there, maybe fewer because the students are on break. If Delaware brings lots of folks, it could be a bi-partisan crowd.

The Terps drew 4,000 for the regular season game v. Georgetown in November and 4,500 v. Georgetown in the NCAAs last March. The crowd was about 10,000 v. Duke in February. They draw well by women's standards, but not at the UConn level.

 

[earl the pearl]

Now we get a real gauge of how good EDD is. Think Maryland wins easy. Thinkj Nneka is the player of the year.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Now we get a real gauge of how good EDD is. Think Maryland wins easy. Thinkj Nneka is the player of the year.

I haven't decided on my NPOY, but I've narrowed it down to 3, maybe 4. We still have about 2/3 of a season to go before the NCAAs.

 

[DaddyChoc]

blakeon18, Today at 10:19 AM

Hopefully we will get some courtside wisdom from those in attendance.

My family and I are heading down to Maryland early tomorrow morning and will be at both games. It will be my first visit to the Comcast Center in Maryland. I will post pictures when we get back. My guess is that there will be a lot of Delaware fans there. Wednesday afternoon games probably won't be close but looking forward to Thursday nights game. Will be taping the UConn -Fairfield game and watch that on Friday.

missing out on UConn vs Fairfield for UDel & Maryland... some UConn fan you are.

 

[MilfordHusky]

missing out on UConn vs Fairfield for UDel & Maryland... some UConn fan you are.

I have an excuse--I can't get the UConn games on TV. I'll check on the score and BY via my phone from Comcast.

 

[UConn990411]

one thing about this seems to be that one mantra UCONN fans have said is how a certain player of another team would have turned out much (or marginally) better had they attended UCONN. Elena's rise to the top seems to shoot that particular theory out the window. she seems to have developed into one of the top players in the nation in spite of playing for lowly Deleware.

it would be interesting top revisit the whole theory that Geno and his staff are the best in the game (which i agree with) but that players who opt to go elsewhere don't develop as well as they would have at UCONN.

I feel pretty comfortable saying she would have been a much better player (maybe not a better scorer, but a better player) had she gone to UConn instead of lowly Delaware.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I feel pretty comfortable saying she would have been a much better player (maybe not a better scorer, but a better player) had she gone to UConn instead of lowly Delaware.

I'd be inclined to agree. But I also think that EDD is very self-motivated and improved as a result of work away from the team, perhaps as much as from practicing with Delaware and playing against their conference competition.

 

[Icebear]

I'd be inclined to agree. But I also think that EDD is very self-motivated and improved as a result of work away from the team, perhaps as much as from practicing with Delaware and playing against their conference competition.

That is true Milford, plus given the raves she had in her play for the WUG team it is becoming increasingly hard to believe she could have been too much better. She is averaging a double double this year.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Battling Lyme Disease while trying to play basketball had to be incredibly tough for Elena.[/B] Having known several who have had the disease it can be devastating.

Or not. That's one of the odd things about Lyme disease. Some who are afflicted have long term health issues while others are unaffected after treatment.

 

[Icebear]

Or not. That's one of the odd things about Lyme disease. Some who are afflicted have long term health issues while others are unaffected after treatment.

Yes, that is true, VCT, it was not the case for EDD who was having very debilitating symptoms. But yes, some people are asymptomatic.