One reason I really like this team

[EricLA]

Was super evident from the bench play. I thought it took Chong about 4 minutes to find her footing, but after that the entire bench was really productive today. That means that Geno can go a legit 8 deep with very little drop off from the starters, especially since the bench players bring something unique and different.

I realize UCLA was really over matched, but they hustle and play hard, even if they aren't as talented as UCONN. Their future looks bright, but honestly, compare their freshmen to ours.

Caldwell, Drummer, Hayes, Billings and Canada
21 total points, 6 assists, 12 boards, and 10 TO's

Nurse, Williams
23 points, 8 assists, 8 boards and 1 TO

I'm not saying the UCLA kids won't be terrific but the announcers mentioned several times how "young" UCLA is with 7 underclassmen.

Well UCONN has 4 if you include Tuck and Chong and I'll take our 4 over their 7. Add in the trio coming in next year and honestly, UCLA may challenge other teams, it just won't be UCONN (IMHO)...

 

[Stinger92860]

It has UCONN on the front of their jerseys?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Couldn't agree more. Had to walk away from second half, but checked the box score and loved what I saw. The score sheet represents a nightmare for opposing coaching staffs. Nurse and Williams are an absolute blast. Saniya got her head into it (or out of it - I suspect the latter). Kiah stuck it for 10 in addition to her extraordinary D. Tonight a happy Husky fan.

 

[tomcat]

There was a lot for this cynic to like in this game. Kiah is looking more and more like a major leaguer. Saniya had a darn good game, although those line-drive three-pointers are heart attack-inducing. Has she never heard of an arc? Williams is just a force out there, getting better with every game. When she adds some muscle to be able to play among the tall trees, she'll be even better, but what's wonderful at this point is the game-to-game progress she's making. Stewie seems to have gotten her rhythm back -- she started out slowly, but wound up with a good game. Kaleena was not having a good game, but kept her head in the game with defense.

There still were stupid plays early on -- busted plays, passes to nowhere, mental lapses -- but things are coming together pretty well. This team might actually win a few.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Only one reason? Yes, good bench play, and if you watch the replays of these UConn games you'll see that to a great extent, Chong is the glue that helps to hold this team together when they struggle early. Game tied, game close, and she comes in, often with Kiah, and suddenly the Huskies are breezing and on their way to a 15 to 20 point halftime margin.

For Kiah, what can you say except yowza x 10, and we should feel privileged to watch an expert dominator in action. Just lovely. For Saniya, just smart heady play with a great A\TO ratio, long arms that frustrate the other team's guards, and basically she keeps the ball in play with a few gorgeous but mainly non-dangerous passes for a team that shoots 0ver 50%, and she is the stopper at the back of the offense that needs to shift back on defense and thwart the opponent's attacker with her crazy stutter-step feint and psyche-job defense. Wonderful.

And at least SanCho shot 67% in the game and popped for 8 points, and we hopefully know there will not be a "What happened to Chong's yada, yada, yada," tomorrow.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Eric- That announcer was Dave O'Brien and he always makes excuses when UConn pounds opponents. In last year's NC game, he focused on ND's loss of Achonwa too many times to count and speculated relentlessly that the result might have been different had she been healthy (though Doris Burke quickly disabused him of that dumb notion). This year, when we handled ND by 18 in their house, O'Brien declared 4 or 5 times that with the injured B.Turner, ND might have won. Perhaps, but injuries are part of the game- ask KLM and Morgan- the game is played with the kids on the court. What if, what if. But he beat that dead horse on and on, rarely giving adequate credit to the UConn kids. Today his refusal to give UConn due praise came in the form of endless whiny excuses for UCLA- "well ummm, Rebecca, UCLA travelled lots, had so many road games, had exams, is loaded with 7 freshmen." He babbles on about stats, guess he has those numbers handy, but he doesn't grasp the game's nuances well, nor the magnificent team-play exhibited on both ends of the court by our kids. He should stick to baseball. Can't stand that guy.

 

[CTyankee]

We go 8 deep, mix our offense and defense, screw up our opponents on both ends, and add 30 points... How good it is!!!

Our bench: 30 pts, 17 rebounds...

Any coach has to be thrilled with those results...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Tomcat said re Williams: "When she adds some muscle to be able to play among the tall trees, she'll be even better." Gotta disagree. She is perfect the way she is. Just needs practice, coaching and playing time. The last thing you want to do is add bulk to this superb athlete. She is not about banging on trees!

 

[tbabe72]

Tomcat said re Williams: "When she adds some muscle to be able to play among the tall trees, she'll be even better." Gotta disagree. She is perfect the way she is. Just needs practice, coaching and playing time. The last thing you want to do is add bulk to this superb athlete. She is not about banging on trees!

agree on Gabby a very strong athlete who does not need more bulk, but playing time. very adept at getting her shot off because she is so quick off her feet. You can tell she feels much more confident in herself when on the floor. The sky is the limit for her. I love the way she runs upcourt on her tippy toes like she is approaching the highbar.

 

[j66kicker]

Tomcat said re Williams: "When she adds some muscle to be able to play among the tall trees, she'll be even better." Gotta disagree. She is perfect the way she is. Just needs practice, coaching and playing time. The last thing you want to do is add bulk to this superb athlete. She is not about banging on trees!

She's already pretty buff. Don't think she should get 'big'.

 

[boontonbomber]

Was super evident from the bench play. I thought it took Chong about 4 minutes to find her footing, but after that the entire bench was really productive today. That means that Geno can go a legit 8 deep with very little drop off from the starters, especially since the bench players bring something unique and different.

I realize UCLA was really over matched, but they hustle and play hard, even if they aren't as talented as UCONN. Their future looks bright, but honestly, compare their freshmen to ours.

Caldwell, Drummer, Hayes, Billings and Canada
21 total points, 6 assists, 12 boards, and 10 TO's

Nurse, Williams
23 points, 8 assists, 8 boards and 1 TO

I'm not saying the UCLA kids won't be terrific but the announcers mentioned several times how "young" UCLA is with 7 underclassmen.

Well UCONN has 4 if you include Tuck and Chong and I'll take our 4 over their 7. Add in the trio coming in next year and honestly, UCLA may challenge other teams, it just won't be UCONN (IMHO)...

Our frosh are better , but don't use stats to prove your point. Easier to fill the stat sheet when playing with Breanna, KML, Morgan, and Moriah. Wonder what Canada's stats would be like if she was playing with them. She's rather impressive.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Nope, never use stats for anything, because it's far easier to speculate what some player from some other team would do if she by chance had come to UConn. Why if Brianna Turner had come to UConn instead of ND the Huskies might have won by 30 if she was healthy and been playing.

Or maybe sticking to reality is the best way to go. The UConn freshman are doing very nicely and adding to the UConn margin and making sure that non-Huskies like Canada don't post great results. And you can bet that Kia Nurse wants to make sure that no one named Canada has a great game.

 

[msf22b]

About the last game, I hypothesized that Gabby's aggression may mentor Kiah's O.
Sure looked like it today.

 

[j66kicker]

About the last game, I hypothesized that Gabby's aggression may mentor Kiah's O.
Sure looked like it today.

All this freshman leadership - somebody forget to tell them they're supposed to be intimidated and subservient. Love it!

 

[Geno-ista]

Was super evident from the bench play. I thought it took Chong about 4 minutes to find her footing, but after that the entire bench was really productive today. That means that Geno can go a legit 8 deep with very little drop off from the starters, especially since the bench players bring something unique and different.

I realize UCLA was really over matched, but they hustle and play hard, even if they aren't as talented as UCONN. Their future looks bright, but honestly, compare their freshmen to ours.

Caldwell, Drummer, Hayes, Billings and Canada
21 total points, 6 assists, 12 boards, and 10 TO's

Nurse, Williams
23 points, 8 assists, 8 boards and 1 TO

I'm not saying the UCLA kids won't be terrific but the announcers mentioned several times how "young" UCLA is with 7 underclassmen.

Well UCONN has 4 if you include Tuck and Chong and I'll take our 4 over their 7. Add in the trio coming in next year and honestly, UCLA may challenge other teams, it just won't be UCONN (IMHO)...

I'd take Canada if we can get her- in a heartbeat. There are a lot of McDonalds All Americans in that group- I think. They were athletic and talented. Caldwell looked good. I think we recruited Drummer for a while?

 

[Geno-ista]

Tomcat said re Williams: "When she adds some muscle to be able to play among the tall trees, she'll be even better." Gotta disagree. She is perfect the way she is. Just needs practice, coaching and playing time. The last thing you want to do is add bulk to this superb athlete. She is not about banging on trees!

She's a physical specimen. Seeing her right up close live last two games- she is something. Watching her post up in the open practice was blowing me away.

 

[Geno-ista]

Our frosh are better , but don't use stats to prove your point. Easier to fill the stat sheet when playing with Breanna, KML, Morgan, and Moriah. Wonder what Canada's stats would be like if she was playing with them. She's rather impressive.

Right on point. Canada could take our team to a NC IMO !

 

[alexrgct]

I love how adept Gabby has gotten at putting the ball on the floor and driving gracefully by emphatically to the basket. She is a joy to watch and will be a very effective forward for this team for three and two-thirds more years.

 

[meyers7]

Eric- That announcer was Dave O'Brien and he always makes excuses when UConn pounds opponents. In last year's NC game, he focused on ND's loss of Achonwa too many times to count and speculated relentlessly that the result might have been different had she been healthy (though Doris Burke quickly disabused him of that dumb notion). This year, when we handled ND by 18 in their house, O'Brien declared 4 or 5 times that with the injured B.Turner, ND might have won. Perhaps, but injuries are part of the game- ask KLM and Morgan- the game is played with the kids on the court. What if, what if. But he beat that dead horse on and on, rarely giving adequate credit to the UConn kids. Today his refusal to give UConn due praise came in the form of endless whiny excuses for UCLA- "well ummm, Rebecca, UCLA travelled lots, had so many road games, had exams, is loaded with 7 freshmen." He babbles on about stats, guess he has those numbers handy, but he doesn't grasp the game's nuances well, nor the magnificent team-play exhibited on both ends of the court by our kids. He should stick to baseball. Can't stand that guy.

I think he is mostly used for his voice (which is a great radio voice). You think he's bad at basketball, we had to endure him at the 2006 World Cup. Brutal.

 

[Intpseeker]

I love how adept Gabby has gotten at putting the ball on the floor and driving gracefully by emphatically to the basket. She is a joy to watch and will be a very effective forward for this team for three and two-thirds more years.

Watched some replays of Gabby's offense. She is aggressively smooth with her first step towards the hoop, and her elevation is superb. Watch were her hand is on her release in relation to the other bigs. She has some serious ups.

 

[Intpseeker]

Gabby in the last two games: In 36 minutes, 26 pts on 12/17 shooting (71%)(.9/ minute), 14 reb, 5 assists.

And she is really just learning to play the game. Amazing physical talent with super instincts.

Projecting into March, with everyone healthy, for the first time in my long hoops-watching career, I cannot picture the level of play to which this team will rise. Of course it will be great, but there are so many pieces to the team that have shown potential/performance that if their play continues to develop, we are all in for an historic ride.