No more crying over missed shots for Kia

[UConnCat]

Story by Rich Elliott. Geno reacted strongly to Kia's tears on the bench during the Tulane game. He helped Kia straighten out her priorities and she's now playing her best ball of the season.

Sophomore guard Kia Nurse underwent her own battle last month. Her focus was not in the right place in a team-first system. It was on scoring. And when she suffered through a scoreless outing at Tulane Feb. 3, her reaction was unexpected for a player wearing a UConn uniform.

``We’re trying to teach our players to kind of act your age,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. ``Like when you’re 15 don’t walk around and act like you’re 20. And when you’re 20 don’t act like you’re 15. So in that Tulane game she acted like a junior high kid. It was embarrassing. Because she shot the ball poorly she became a mess on the bench and everybody saw it. It’s not how you act at Connecticut. And I think it hit her pretty good.’’

``There’s more to life than just making shots,’’ Auriemma said. ``Lots of people don’t make shots. How are you going to react to that and how you respond to that says lot about who you are and what your priorities are. So once we got that straightened out things changed like they always do. Once you get your priorities straight and once you see the big picture of why you’re here and what we’re trying to do then everything seems to fall into place for you. And it certainly has for her.’’

http://litchfieldcountysports.com/s...ime-for-huskies-by-rich-elliott/#.VvRxuhIrLR1

 

[Scud49]

Regarding her missed shots- it seems to me (at least on TV anyway) that many of her shots are flat without much arc.

Stewie, MoJeff, KLS, by comparison, seem to hoist up some very nicely arced shots which drop through quite more often % wise.

Anybody else think this might be part of the issue at hand?

 

[Sonny44]

That's her style; not sure messing with it would turn out well. Maybe during the off season she could experiment with it.
KML had a great arc; must have tortured the opposition waiting to see if it would fall.

 

[HuskyNan]

Story by Rich Elliott. Geno reacted strongly to Kia's tears on the bench during the Tulane game. He helped Kia straighten out her priorities and she's now playing her best ball of the season.

Sophomore guard Kia Nurse underwent her own battle last month. Her focus was not in the right place in a team-first system. It was on scoring. And when she suffered through a scoreless outing at Tulane Feb. 3, her reaction was unexpected for a player wearing a UConn uniform.

``We’re trying to teach our players to kind of act your age,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. ``Like when you’re 15 don’t walk around and act like you’re 20. And when you’re 20 don’t act like you’re 15. So in that Tulane game she acted like a junior high kid. It was embarrassing. Because she shot the ball poorly she became a mess on the bench and everybody saw it. It’s not how you act at Connecticut. And I think it hit her pretty good.’’

``There’s more to life than just making shots,’’ Auriemma said. ``Lots of people don’t make shots. How are you going to react to that and how you respond to that says lot about who you are and what your priorities are. So once we got that straightened out things changed like they always do. Once you get your priorities straight and once you see the big picture of why you’re here and what we’re trying to do then everything seems to fall into place for you. And it certainly has for her.’’

http://litchfieldcountysports.com/s...ime-for-huskies-by-rich-elliott/#.VvRxuhIrLR1

The kids come to UConn because they want to win championships; the parents like UConn because Geno offers to teach their children more than just basketball. He has a relationship with his players that I'm not sure everyone understands. Coach and players truly care for each other and that's a big component of the team's chemistry. Well done, Geno.

 

[Jeff H]

I really enjoyed seeing her dancing and singing during warmups and on the bench in the fourth quarter at the Duquense game. She looked like she was as loose as could be and having fun. But she's definitely all business on the court.

 

[msf22b]

The kids come to UConn because they want to win championships; the parents like UConn because Geno offers to teach their children more than just basketball. He has a relationship with his players that I'm not sure everyone understands. Coach and players truly care for each other and that's a big component of the team's chemistry. Well done, Geno.

I find the article and the commentary above (not just Nan's) somewhat confusing, somewhat unfocused on the issue (whatever that is).

When I read the piece, the main issue seems to be Kia's mini-emotional breakdown on the bench after a bad shooting night.
Rather than getting sympathy from the coaching staff, she was rather reminded of UConn standards of behavior which include

1. No overt negative displays of emotion on the bench (positive displays permitted) BTW: Does anyone mind the inconsistency of that...or...was Geno (more subtly) pointing out that she had impacted the game positively despite her missed shots and the display was uncalled for...
2. That Geno equates such behavior as chlidish (JHS) and unworthy of a 20-year-old (act your age).

OT: By the way..I'm not 100% sure I completely agree with Geno's reaction, recallimg the tears of pain and frustration of Kayla McBride at the conclusion of our Senior group's first National Championship and her inability to even speak at the post-game presser...Whatever I thought at that moment it was not that she was babyish. A fierce competitor (much like our Kia) who on that occasion, did not prevail. no matter how hard she competed.

Back to my point (excuse the digression)...the article then goes on to note that Moriah (and others) also spoke to her (more on that later) and that Kia realized the error of her ways and went on to rediscover her game, has played wonderfully since, yada, yada.

Now, I do get, that she has come to realize that scoring isn't everything, that a player impacts a game in many ways, But I kinda thought that Kia understood that before as well...I mean does anyone think that she wasn't concerned about other aspects of her game besides shooting and now...only now, she has come to realize that they are important as well...Let's get real here. We're talking about a complete player.

And Moriah's comments are pretty strange too:

``Obviously, I talked to her,’’ UConn senior guard Moriah Jefferson said. ``She’s a tough kid and she really doesn’t need it from us. She knew exactly what it was. She wasn’t happy with the way she performed, by the way she acted. So she came out and she changed it.’’

Is Moriah saying that Kia told them to shut up and leave her alone...she's worked it out with Geno?

And did anyone not expect such a terrific talent as Kia to bounce back from a bad game just like all great players do
Perhaps Geno's (surprise?) reaction helped her getting over her momentary self-indulgence?

My point: I'm not sure what this whole piece is about...nor what even actually transpired, nor why its of any consequence.
And I really don't believe that whatever transpired (at least as described above) has much
(or anything)to do with her playing her best ball of the season.

On edit: It's ok for Stewie's and Geno's tears of joy (and whatever in Geno's case) but not Kia's tears of frustration?
Double Standard?
Or perhaps not on the bench, or positive displays permitted.

 

[Crossover]

Geno's point isn't that crying is unacceptable. His concern was that Kia was focused on her own performance rather than that of the team, and so consumed by her shooting woes that she failed to attend to the other dimensions of the game.

 

[UcMiami]

msf22b - I think you miss the point of the article and most of the comments - there is nothing about emotional displays, it is about equating performance to personal shooting percentage and allowing yourself to feel sorry for yourself when you actually played well and the team played well and won big. Two issues for the team:
1. It is a team game and any particular personal statistic is secondary to team goals.
2. Rating your own performance simply on whether you made open shots that you were supposed to be taking to the point of having a mini-beeakdown putting too much emphasis on one statistic and is 'selfish'. Be annoyed, be frustrated and spend an extra hour in the gym - cool, but get emotional about it, not cool.

In a few games in the last month Uconn has gotten off to very slow starts shooting the ball, and Geno is usually very calm about it - he recognizes that sometimes shots don't fall and as long as the shots taken are the right ones, there is nothing the coaching staff can do about it. He will get really angry about stupid passes, and bad shots being taken, and lack of rebounding, or effort on the defensive end, or poor spacing or all those things he can control and expects his players to execute with skill and intelligence - but missing shots is 'fate'.

 

[Lynx23]

Maybe she read the Boneyard and began to believe some posters that if her shots didn't start falling she should be benched (this is sarcasm). Personally, it's probably much ado about nothing. She's a competitor and simply had a strong emotional reaction to her own frustration at being unable to contribute more on the offensive end. I'm sure her coaches and teammates were just being supportive. It's already old news. I'm surprised it's a story once again.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Does anyone have the tape where Auriemma made the comment? I think it was in an All Access or Geno Show. Just before (I think it was before) he commented CD said something that struck me as odd. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what it was.

 

[easttexastrash]

That's her style; not sure messing with it would turn out well. Maybe during the off season she could experiment with it.
KML had a great arc; must have tortured the opposition waiting to see if it would fall.

I was seldom in a state of suspense wondering if the shot would fall when she shot.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Does anyone have the tape where Auriemma made the comment? I think it was in an All Access or Geno Show. Just before (I think it was before) he commented CD said something that struck me as odd. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what it was.

CD said something like "Of course I know what it was," and then added "I'm not going to tell you."

Struck me as odd, too. To me it hinted at some outside-of-basketball issue. At first I thought the latter point was strange for an on-video interview--as in: You're media and I'm not going to let you in on this. I wonder though if she meant "I don't have to tell you" as in "You already know what it is."

Anyway . . . not going to worry about it. The only thing I'm worried about regarding Kia is whether her shots are going to fall.

 

[Aluminny69]

I wonder what Geno said to DT after the 2001 Notre Dame game? DT was more than a little upset....

 

[JoePgh]

Regarding the point about displays of positive emotion being welcome but not displays of negative emotion, that is true in life and not just in basketball. Young children get a pass on that, and maybe even adolescents, but by college age people are expected to show positive emotions such as appreciation for someone else's success, gratitude for personal recognition, and enthusiasm about success, but avoid negative manifestations such as anger, jealousy, self-pity, or even insecurity about one's place on the team / work group / family or whatever.

Kayla McBride was mortified by her team's failure to win an NC, not (we must assume) by her personal contribution to that result. In 2012, after UConn lost to ND in the National Semifinal, even Kelly Faris showed some tears (surprising me, since I had never seen anything like that from her in her previous time at UConn). But again, that was over the team's disappointment and not her personal performance.

I think what we saw from Kia in the last couple of months were the last flickers of basketball (and perhaps personal) adolescence, and the emergence of an adult focus that will last for the next two years and beyond. I fully expect that she will be a rock of strength on next year's team like Moriah and Morgan have been for the last two years. I also think she will be the second-leading scorer (assuming Morgan does not return) behind KLS, and that she will average 15-18 points per game despite opponents' focus on her as the second most lethal offensive threat on the Husky roster.

 

[easttexastrash]

Regarding the point about displays of positive emotion being welcome but not displays of negative emotion, that is true in life and not just in basketball. Young children get a pass on that, and maybe even adolescents, but by college age people are expected to show positive emotions such as appreciation for someone else's success, gratitude for personal recognition, and enthusiasm about success, but avoid negative manifestations such as anger, jealousy, self-pity, or even insecurity about one's place on the team / work group / family or whatever.

Kayla McBride was mortified by her team's failure to win an NC, not (we must assume) by her personal contribution to that result. In 2012, after UConn lost to ND in the National Semifinal, even Kelly Faris showed some tears (surprising me, since I had never seen anything like that from her in her previous time at UConn). But again, that was over the team's disappointment and not her personal performance.

I think what we saw from Kia in the last couple of months were the last flickers of basketball (and perhaps personal) adolescence, and the emergence of an adult focus that will last for the next two years and beyond. I fully expect that she will be a rock of strength on next year's team like Moriah and Morgan have been for the last two years. I also think she will be the second-leading scorer (assuming Morgan does not return) behind KLS, and that she will average 15-18 points per game despite opponents' focus on her as the second most lethal offensive threat on the Husky roster.

It has been reported that Niya Johnson was in tears when Baylor lost to Okie Lite this season, a game in which she did not even play. And reportedly some of her younger teammates tried to make her feel better by reminding her that it was just one game and her response was "no, you don't understand, this is Baylor and we do no accept losing lightly." It was a moment of leadership and surely a lasting moment for the younger players on the team, and one which showed immense pride in continuing what Mulkey is building. It made my respect for Johnson increase even more.

 

[HuskyNan]

It has been reported that Niya Johnson was in tears when Baylor lost to Okie Lite this season, a game in which she did not even play. And reportedly some of her younger teammates tried to make her feel better by reminding her that it was just one game and her response was "no, you don't understand, this is Baylor and we do no accept losing lightly." It was a moment of leadership and surely a lasting moment for the younger players on the team, and one which showed immense pride in continuing what Mulkey is building. It made my respect for Johnson increase even more.

How did a thread about Kia turn into a thread about a Baylor player?

 

[Woof 101]

CD said something like "Of course I know what it was," and then added "I'm not going to tell you."

Struck me as odd, too. To me it hinted at some outside-of-basketball issue. At first I thought the latter point was strange for an on-video interview--as in: You're media and I'm not going to let you in on this. I wonder though if she meant "I don't have to tell you" as in "You already know what it is."

Anyway . . . not going to worry about it. The only thing I'm worried about regarding Kia is whether her shots are going to fall.

Gus I reply to your response on this topic because you probably get it, this with you stating some outside-of-basketball issue.
As an amateur coach of young ladies back in the day, being a male it took me a little while and some reminding from a parent to wake up and smell the coffee. For lack of a better term. Young women have periods of time in the calendar month when their bodies and emotions may not be what many see as the norm. Not worried about Kia at all she only proved UConn women are human too.
Sounds like CD had the understanding of the breakdown and Geno did not. If he did, tough love is his style so we move on.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Gus I reply to your response on this topic because you probably get it, this with you stating some outside-of-basketball issue.
As an amateur coach of young ladies back in the day, being a male it took me a little while and some reminding from a parent to wake up and smell the coffee. For lack of a better term. Young women have periods of time in the calendar month when their bodies and emotions may not be what many see as the norm. Not worried about Kia at all she only proved UConn women are human too.
Sounds like CD had the understanding of the breakdown and Geno did not. If he did, tough love is his style so we move on.

The players are certainly human and it behooves us all to remember that. Here's hoping she has a gang-busters regional and final four.