Observations after watching USA-Chinese Taipei

[Drew8]

I tried to observe this game and couldn't. Not much one can take out of a game that is this lopsided.

 

[Alydar]

I tried to observe this game and couldn't. Not much one can take out of a game that is this lopsided.

How about overexuberant expectations.

 

[Bald Husky]

I tried to observe this game and couldn't. Not much one can take out of a game that is this lopsided.

Isn't that the UConn way??

 

[hoophuskee]

Nika is a great kid and highly competitive but the roster this year just has much more talent and many here are just diehard Nikaites insisting that she will start. As you rightly point out including her in the starting 5 means that at least one of the following will sit: Azzi, Evina, Liv, Aaliyah, or Dorka. IMHO unless Nika is dramatically improved this year, every one of those players brings more to the lineup than Nika.

I have no idea who will start - but in regards to Azzi - so you are no longer disappointed in her (with the exception of Spear 4-5 from 3- Azzi is leading team by a pretty big margin in 3pt%)? You mentioned on an another thread that she wasn't shooting with the precision that you've expected. But you no longer feel that way? And do you now feel with good ball movement she's going to be a terrific player?

 

[D J B]

Post players can be taught and “conditioned” not to bring the ball down. I was conditioned to not bring it down in less than a week. At the beginning of official BB practice my freshman year, I was bringing the ball down almost every time, sometimes getting it stripped. This infuriated my coach.

Then he began yelling at me: don’t bring it down. If I did after that, I ran laps on the spot. Every time I grabbed a rebound, he began to yell. Not only was it embarrassing to have coach yelling at me in front of my teammates, I got tired of running needless laps.

Well this went on for 3-4 days. Believe it or not, midway through the fourth day of getting yelled and screamed at, it clicked. I stopped bringing the ball down. I had become ”conditioned“ not to. It was something I didn’t have to think about anymore while in the heat of battle. It was now an unconscious reflex.

To this day, I love that man. He made me a better player. There was other areas of my game he helped me improve. He was a very demanding man. He knew basketball. He would not let you disrespect the game, cheat your potential or cheat the game. He loved to run, and didn’t care who scored. If you couldn’t or were unwilling to play defense, you couldn’t play for him.

The best BB coach I ever had. We were 18-20 year olds, so there was a lot of unabashed cussing during practice, but he had a very humorous side to him that few outside of the team ever saw. He genuinely cared about and protected his players. We stayed in touch for many years after that until his passing. Looking back, I consider it a privilege to have played for him. Post players can be taught/conditioned not to bring the ball down.

Great story. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Happydad745]

Nika not needed?? Are you kidding me, how can you just dismiss the contributions that she made to this team last year. You are counting on players that haven't taken the floor for us yet, and inserting current players that haven't made much of an impact when playing the point. Apparently you didn't watch the entire season last year, when the team seemed to jell and take off when Nika was inserted into the line up. Nika not needed, Bull .

Nika is a great teammate and cheerleader, but her lack of shooting skills and injuries put her on the outside of the starting 5...time will tell who is right-