Not to be negative, but... Mikayla Coombs

[BroadwayVa]

Said the kettle to the pot! He was asking others to help him understand why the poor kid can no longer score a point. I think it is a legitimate question. Coombs is a fine athlete and should be a real asset to the team. she plays hard, but has become an offensive liability. I hope someone can figure it out and help her, and the team.

Said a fella with a pot to the kettle---well sed. Kelly Faris played lots and lots of WBB for Geno and only as a Sr did she develop a fairly accurate 3. Geno lamented to the press often: With Kelly in games it is 4 playing against 5 offensively---point is he'll stay with Coombs she's a better defender than Faris was as a frosh/soph.

 

['nuff sed]

I do not disagree with most of what you say. But what exactly is an entitlement attitude? This is perhaps the third time you have used that phraseology. Becoming a buzzword ,and I don't understand it in this context.

uhhhh, only we can win an NC.....and expect it, and will accept nothing less to call our team successful

We HAVE to win - doesn't matter how

recruiting - every #1 should come here - if they don't its something about the coach
transfers- every top xfer should come here - regardless of accommodations that need to be made
expressing anti sentiments about other top programs - I'd prefer to root for my team than root against somebody else

Just me --- I ALWAYS want the toughest opponent to advance, not get knocked off on a lucky shot

I actually want Tennessee fixed and back in the hunt.

I actually want Geno not to take transfers

Maybe entitlement is an inaccurate depiction..just reminds me of Yankee fans proposing trading a low level AA prospect and a utility infielder for some other teams Cy Young winner.....and its all supposed to be reasonable

 

[boontonbomber]

Mikayla took a baseline jumper last night, and I thought her form in getting the shot off, and the actual shot , looked fine. She missed , but looked pretty confident putting it up. The 4 starters( not Williams) are the ones putting up the shots, and looks like everyone else is pretty much ignored. Don't know how you get the others to not be shy about shooting, but they no doubt are. It might help if Collier, Samuelson, and Dangerfield would make the extra pass and get those others shooting more, especially in games like last night , when they really could give up some shots to the shy ones. People here have commented about Walker's shooting style, also, but she's looking pretty good at the moment, especially from 3-land. I think Mikayla will be just fine.

 

[augustaTC]

I do not disagree with most of what you say. But what exactly is an entitlement attitude? This is perhaps the third time you have used that phraseology. Becoming a buzzword ,and I don't understand it in this context.

I guess he means the silly expectation that we'll always win a NC and the "chicken little" type panic if we aren't perfect. How many years did we go without the NC banners? And guess what, we've managed quite a few since. If the kids continue to play hard and keep improving it will be fine. In the meantime, I like watching the team evolve.

 

[Bama fan]

uhhhh, only we can win an NC.....and expect it, and will accept nothing less to call our team successful

We HAVE to win - doesn't matter how

recruiting - every #1 should come here - if they don't its something about the coach
transfers- every top xfer should come here - regardless of accommodations that need to be made
expressing anti sentiments about other top programs - I'd prefer to root for my team than root against somebody else

Just me --- I ALWAYS want the toughest opponent to advance, not get knocked off on a lucky shot

I actually want Tennessee fixed and back in the hunt.

I actually want Geno not to take transfers

Maybe entitlement is an inaccurate depiction..just reminds me of Yankee fans proposing trading a low level AA prospect and a utility infielder for some other teams Cy Young winner.....and its all supposed to be reasonable

I get that. Lot of those sentiments on the BY. Most just wishful, I think. Few ,if any here, truly believe that UConn has a right or privilege to all that. But certainly expectations are too high. That entitlements word has become so politically loaded that I would refrain form using it. I am a life long Steelers fan, having been born and raised there, and I am familiar with those sentiments you are proscribing! No Super Bowl title, no good as per many yinzers! Go Huskies! Get us to the the tournament with no injuries, and I like our chances.

 

[CL82]

I feel, and I haven't taken the time to qualify my feeling, that Mikayla is on the cusp of breaking through to being a effective player. I feel as if she is seeing the game reasonably well and just needs minutes.

 

[donalddoowop]

Faris also played on teams with Maya and Stewie. We no longer have players of that caliber on the team, and won't for the foreseeable future. Everyone must chip in on offense and defense.

There was still 4 on 5, offensively, when Faris was in the game until her senior season. If Coombs comes in with 4 of the 5 starters, her offense is not necessarily needed because she will be out there with four teammates who are averaging in double figures. Geno wants the subs to contribute in some way and Coombs can contribute defensively, as did Faris. Her offense will come.

 

[Bama fan]

I feel, and I haven't taken the time to qualify my feeling, that Mikayla is on the cusp of breaking through to being a effective player. I feel as if she is seeing the game reasonably well and just needs minutes.

I hope you are correct. She got 14:02 minutes last night. Second only to Kyla. This could happen often in our conference games. Let's hope your "feelers" are onto something.

 

[CocoHusky]

Did Faris hinder the UConn offense her first three years? She played good defense but was a liability on offense. Coombs is a sophomore who missed much of her freshman season. Man, give her some slack. If she has not shown improvement by the end of next season, then maybe there would be cause for concern. Some posters were saying that Molly would never improve as much as she has. Now some of those same posters are singing her praises. Give some of these players time to develop. They won't all develop at the same pace or at the pace some of you think they should.

Freshmen Faris did hinder the the UCONN offense precisely because she was a poor shooter 38% overall and 27% from deep. But when you have both Tina Charles and Maya Moore on the roster you can overcome a lot. Kelly improved her percentage every year and was deadly as a senior shooting 53% overall and 42% from deep. Mikayla is a sophomore if she were shooting half as well as Kelly Faris did as freshmen ( her worse year) this entire thread would be unnecessary. Mikayla is playing 10 minutes per game and her shooting is abysmal! Mikayla career numbers: 12 for 49 overall= 24% and 1 of 15 from deep for 6.6% So how much more time do you want to give her to develop? Sorry those numbers do not justify more playing time, unless you think UCONN is not trying to get a participation trophy at the end of the season.

 

[CocoHusky]

Faris also played on teams with Maya and Stewie. We no longer have players of that caliber on the team, and won't for the foreseeable future. Everyone must chip in on offense and defense.

Faris played along side of 3 UCONN mount rushmore players Maya, Tina and Stewie.
She also play with UCONN AAs Jefferson, Tuck, KML, Bria Hartley, & Stefanie Dolson.
She also played with these very good UCONN players: Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty, Kalana Greene, Lorin Dixon, Kiah stokes & Brianna Banks.

 

[CocoHusky]

We no longer have.....caliber....yadda yadda

I chalk that view up to lack of faith in the coaching staff.....not a good way to live IMO

So what.....I'm in the go as hard as you can for as long as you can with what you got camp.

There are some things that go on around here that I really scratch my head over.

Stat sheets over eyeballs, refusal to adjust expectations, the views that entitlement attitudes spawn, the Lou worship because she(and the team) NEEDS her UNCONTESTED shots to fill up the stat sheet, bench obsession..... geeezus

This team was just as much fun to watch 96-99 as it was when Stewie was racking up 4.

This team needs

• aggressive defense with no letdown
• Crystal to take charge of the offense if not the team on the floor

and everybody goes hard ---- do that and everything else will fall into place

that's enough for a Final 4 ticket IMO because when you come right down to it there's only a few teams that can beat them and some of them will knock each other off in the 8 round

The big problem, and i really do think this happened....is Baylor broke them for a while. Coach is fixing it now. The press last night was a start. The addition of Megans play, and now Crystal leading, makes them different.

You solution is to put them in a press and go hard for as long as you can? That's really going to help the team's shooting percentage and execution in the half court. The only thing that will cause to "fall in place" is more tired legs.

 

[HopJim]

Did you see Geno after Molly made a few bonehead plays and he pulled her he was not laying into her but he was NOT happy with a Junior playing more poorly than a frosh )( with the lack of pt and practice last year Coombs is still a frosh)? Molly is an up and down Pg. Geno needs a sub that is up all the time she is in.. My guess Molly may not be first off the bench next game. How many time do you get stuffed under the board before you take the jumper a few ft out??

Agree with MOST of your comments. Never said Molly was perfect, just that in the whole scheme of things, she has been outplaying the other options. Geno votes with minutes played and Molly appears to be ahead.

 

[HopJim]

Perplexing to be sure. Mikayla was not a great outside shooter in HS, but you can watch highlights of her games when she would knock down multiple 3’s as well as midrange jumpers, despite her unusual shooting stroke. Shooting mechanics are one issue, but the bigger issue imo is that she has lost all confidence in her ability to shoot the ball.

If she continues to play tough defense, set up her teammates and finish at the rim, Mikayla will earn PT, but her shooting woes will certainly restrict the amount of time she gets.

I do believe there could be an opportunity for Mikayla against Durr at Louisville, when Geno may want to put his best man defender on Durr as a changeup.

Dude, hope you are right that Mikayla's performance will warrant increased playing time. Having watched a lot of college basketball through the years, my impression is typically player's college shooting does not improve over high school. Defenders are bigger, faster, etc. While she took and made shots in HS, have not seen any indication she ever was a solid shooter. Hope she is the exception and by next year progresses out of the current funk.

 

[Charliebball]

Freshmen Faris did hinder the the UCONN offense precisely because she was a poor shooter 38% overall and 27% from deep. But when you have both Tina Charles and Maya Moore on the roster you can overcome a lot. Kelly improved her percentage every year and was deadly as a senior shooting 53% overall and 42% from deep. Mikayla is a sophomore if she were shooting half as well as Kelly Faris did as freshmen ( her worse year) this entire thread would be unnecessary. Mikayla is playing 10 minutes per game and her shooting is abysmal! Mikayla career numbers: 12 for 49 overall= 24% and 1 of 15 from deep for 6.6% So how much more time do you want to give her to develop? Sorry those numbers do not justify more playing time, unless you think UCONN is not trying to get a participation trophy at the end of the season.

I'd certainly continue giving her 14 -15 minutes per game during the AAC season and hope that she develops the confidence to split the defense from time to time and shoot a ten foot jump shot the way CW does.............if nothing else you can stick her on the other team's best offensive guard and know she'll do a pretty good job while she's on the court.......

 

['nuff sed]

You solution is to put them in a press and go hard for as long as you can? That's really going to help the team's shooting percentage and execution in the half court. The only thing that will cause to "fall in place" is more tired legs.

Sorry , Where did I say that ?

Oh, that’s right, I didn’t.

BTW: the coach called it, call him and complain TIP: turn off your caller ID.

I think the point was to avoid getting stuck in half court and generate some easier baskets. It worked.
Tired legs —— no excuse —-WTF tired legs

BTW: I like the 33 with the 1000 pts and 1000 boards who never had a deer in headlights look once In a close do or die game. That’s my 33.

 

[CocoHusky]

Sorry , Where did I say that ?
Oh, that’s right, I didn’t..

Yes you did. See the bolded parts of your post. Any chance you are reading what you are posting?

We no longer have.....caliber....yadda yadda
I chalk that view up to lack of faith in the coaching staff.....not a good way to live IMO
So what.....I'm in the go as hard as you can for as long as you can with what you got camp.

There are some things that go on around here that I really scratch my head over.

Stat sheets over eyeballs, refusal to adjust expectations, the views that entitlement attitudes spawn, the Lou worship because she(and the team) NEEDS her UNCONTESTED shots to fill up the stat sheet, bench obsession..... geeezus

This team was just as much fun to watch 96-99 as it was when Stewie was racking up 4.

This team needs

• aggressive defense with no letdown
• Crystal to take charge of the offense if not the team on the floor

and everybody goes hard ---- do that and everything else will fall into place

that's enough for a Final 4 ticket IMO because when you come right down to it there's only a few teams that can beat them and some of them will knock each other off in the 8 round

The big problem, and i really do think this happened....is Baylor broke them for a while. Coach is fixing it now. The press last night was a start. The addition of Megans play, and now Crystal leading, makes them different.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Agree with MOST of your comments. Never said Molly was perfect, just that in the whole scheme of things, she has been outplaying the other options. Geno votes with minutes played and Molly appears to be ahead.

Agree---I'd disagree with anyone called perfect--that's the beauty of being human--no on is perfect. You didn't say anyone was perfect. I agree Geno, seems, to give credit for hard practices with PT minutes. I re-watched that section of the SMU game when he pulled Molly, he sure seemed he was disappointed with her play--disappointed, not angry or unhappy or angry as he has been with CW--he expects much more from her, no so much from Molly.
Geno's dilemma is he needs 5 or 10 minutes from maybe 3 to rest and relief during foul troubles--who does it??? Coombs is getting the Most PT in games --it appears.
Please DON"t agree with most of my comments ---many are just idiotic and uninformed
I'm on the BY because I enjoy it, I have no special knowledge..

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Yeesh.

• Auriemma was not happy with sophomore Mikayla Coombs after practice on Saturday.

Question: Where’s Mikayla at?


Auriemma: “You should ask her where she is. And seriously, I don’t want to answer any questions about Mikayla. I’d rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”


UConn Women’s Basketball: Christyn Williams Trying to Push Through Freshman Wall

 

[CocoHusky]

Yeesh.

• Auriemma was not happy with sophomore Mikayla Coombs after practice on Saturday.

Question: Where’s Mikayla at?


Auriemma: “You should ask her where she is. And seriously, I don’t want to answer any questions about Mikayla. I’d rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”


UConn Women’s Basketball: Christyn Williams Trying to Push Through Freshman Wall

Yikes!

 

[pvdoggy]

Yeesh.

• Auriemma was not happy with sophomore Mikayla Coombs after practice on Saturday.

Question: Where’s Mikayla at?


Auriemma: “You should ask her where she is. And seriously, I don’t want to answer any questions about Mikayla. I’d rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”


UConn Women’s Basketball: Christyn Williams Trying to Push Through Freshman Wall

Sounds familiar.

 

[BobbyJ]

Yeesh.

• Auriemma was not happy with sophomore Mikayla Coombs after practice on Saturday.

Question: Where’s Mikayla at?


Auriemma: “You should ask her where she is. And seriously, I don’t want to answer any questions about Mikayla. I’d rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”


UConn Women’s Basketball: Christyn Williams Trying to Push Through Freshman Wall

This kid is a strange case. All the kids need to make physical improvements in their games, but when she came in I had her pegged as one of those who “gets it” between the ears. Now I just don’t know. It’s sink or swim time for her I guess.

 

[hoopsdiva]

This kid is a strange case. All the kids need to make physical improvements in their games, but when she came in I had her pegged as one of those who “gets it” between the ears. Now I just don’t know. It’s sink or swim time for her I guess.

I seriously hope it's swim. We could really use her on defense this year, and we'll need every body we can get next year.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Oops:

"Coombs is only 3-of-20 from the floor this season and 13-of-51 for her career, including just 1-of-15 on 3-point attempts.

“I think sometimes … I’ll pass up an open shot to drive and kick to somebody,” the 5-8 guard said. “I think it’s just finding the thin line of when to shoot and when to drive. That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now.”

Auriemma didn’t seem interested in discussing Coombs’ struggles Saturday, saying he’d “rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”

Women’s basketball gameday: UCF at No. 3 UConn

 

[pvdoggy]

Oops:

Auriemma didn’t seem interested in discussing Coombs’ struggles Saturday, saying he’d “rather talk about guys that are going to play a lot.”

Women’s basketball gameday: UCF at No. 3 UConn

and here I thought the sign of a good teacher is to help the student who struggles to become more successful.

 

[CocoHusky]

and here I thought the sign of a good teacher is to help the student who struggles to become more successful.

An here I thought we were done questioning the methods of instruction of this proven great teacher.