Pheesa is on a Mission! | The Boneyard

Pheesa is on a Mission!

oldude

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UConn WBB is all about TEAM. 19 FF’s, 11 Championships and 3 of the longest winning streaks in the history of college basketball were built on teamwork. Geno and his staff have assembled some of the very best “ensemble casts” of players ever. But while UConn needed contributions from many players to achieve all their successes, there were several times when a single superstar carried the team on their shoulders to a championship.

DT’s 2nd and 3rd championships were examples of such a player, the GOAT, carrying her team. Maya had some great teammates, but her indomitable will drove UConn to two championships. More recently, Stewie had a run of four straight FF MOP’s. But it was the first one, when UConn was not the favorite, that Stewie first emerged from a phone booth in March as Supergirl, carrying her team on to a championship.

For UConn to win a record 12th banner this season, they will need Lou at 100% and Crystal to continue to be spectacular. UConn will need major contributions from relative newcomers Megan & Mikayla as well as freshmen Christyn & Liv. They will also need some breaks from the basketball gods. But make no mistake, for UConn to win it all this year, Pheesa will need to carry this team like she’s done much of the season and most notably during her spectacular performance at the AAC Tournament this past weekend.

If we’re being honest, many of us were more than a little worried about the AAC tournament once we learned that Lou would be out. But we shouldn’t have worried. With her fellow AA and BFF out for the tournament, Pheesa stepped up like never before, delivering one of the most dominating performances by a Husky ever in a conference tournament.

Pheesa averaged 35 mpg, set the tournament record with 85 total points, while pulling down 39 rebounds. She was everywhere blocking shots, making steals and setting up her teammates to score. The Holy Grail for shooters is 50/40/90 % shooting for FG/3pt/FT. For the tournament Pheesa shot 67/56/100, achieving the shooter’s Holy Grail for the tournament. But even more impressive, was the fact that Pheesa shot significantly better than her season average across the board (61/27/72).

While Pheesa’s stats were incredible, the best thing she did was take the pressure off her young teammates, making it abundantly clear that whatever UConn needed from her, she would deliver. As a result, Megan and Christyn began to play with more confidence and Liv and Mikayla both had breakout performances.

I watched Sabrina Ionescu on Sunday night, and she was great in Oregon’s loss to Stanford. But after watching Pheesa throughout the AAC tournament, and particularly on Monday night, there should be no doubt that Pheesa is the NPOY. No other player in the country does more for her team to be successful than Pheesa.

UConn is not the favorite to win it all this year. But I would not dare suggest that to Pheesa right now. She is clearly prepared to do whatever she must to carry this team all the way to a championship. PHEESA IS ON A MISSION!
 
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Another wonderful post by oldude. Thanks for sharing. I am full of anxiety and reservation about this NCAA tournament. Hopefully the team and Pheesa & Lou will be injury free and have the results they so richly deserved!!! This will be the most competitive and unpredictable tournament ever!!!!
 

oldude

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While NPOY is an individual award, it’s inextricably linked to a team’s performance. Voting for these awards typically runs through the 2nd weekend of the tournament. With so many top players from top teams under consideration for NPOY, it may simply come down to which teams make it to Orlando.

Geno has stated that this year it will be harder than ever for top teams to make it to the FF. He is absolutely correct. Pheesa has done so much to carry her team this season. It’s my sincere hope that her teammates will return the favor carrying Pheesa to the FF, another championship and NPOY.
 
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Pheesa's performance in the AAC Tournament was PHE-nomenal. :D:D And, we need her to continue that high level of play into the NCAA T... BUT, let's NOT forget, she has a very solid TEAM with her...Danger, MW, CW, Ono, MC, etc... and we're expecting the return of KLS :)...someone who, assuming she is playing close to 100% and has plenty of time to get her groove back, will be a major factor in UCONN's success. She may even feel that she has to "make up for lost time." Lou and Pheesa came in together, they are Besties, and they will feed off of each other in the NCAA T. No one player will be able to carry her Team through the NCAA T, especially starting in the Sweet 16 and beyond. It's gonna take them all...and Lou and Pheesa have the same TEAM Goal... to take UCONN to #12 and to leave UCONN as National Champions.

GO HUSKIES. :cool::):D
 
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There is a ground swell for Megan Gustafson after she led Iowa to the Big Ten Tournament championship. And she was great. But I didn't see any team take away the left lane from her. A large majority of her points came from left side drives, either a layup, a foul or both. I even heard one of ESPN's analysts say the same thing about how odd it was that teams were giving a lefty free reign on the left side. She's way more of a Johnny One Note on offense than Pheesa.
 

oldude

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There is a ground swell for Megan Gustafson after she led Iowa to the Big Ten Tournament championship. And she was great. But I didn't see any team take away the left lane from her. A large majority of her points came from left side drives, either a layup, a foul or both. I even heard one of ESPN's analysts say the same thing about how odd it was that teams were giving a lefty free reign on the left side. She's way more of a Johnny One Note on offense than Pheesa.
Gustafson is making a late push for sure, and she was great during the Big 10 championship, but she is nowhere near the complete player that Pheesa is.
 
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UConn WBB is all about TEAM. 19 FF’s, 11 Championships and 3 of the longest winning streaks in the history of college basketball were built on teamwork. Geno and his staff have assembled some of the very best “ensemble casts” of players ever. But while UConn needed contributions from many players to achieve all their successes, there were several times when a single superstar carried the team on their shoulders to a championship.

DT’s 2nd and 3rd championships were examples of such a player, the GOAT, carrying her team. Maya had some great teammates, but her indomitable will drove UConn to two championships. More recently, Stewie had a run of four straight FF MOP’s. But it was the first one, when UConn was not the favorite, that Stewie first emerged from a phone booth in March as Supergirl, carrying her team on to a championship.

For UConn to win a record 12th banner this season, they will need Lou at 100% and Crystal to continue to be spectacular. UConn will need major contributions from relative newcomers Megan & Mikayla as well as freshmen Christyn & Liv. They will also need some breaks from the basketball gods. But make no mistake, for UConn to win it all this year, Pheesa will need to carry this team like she’s done much of the season and most notably during her spectacular performance at the AAC Tournament this past weekend.

If we’re being honest, many of us were more than a little worried about the AAC tournament once we learned that Lou would be out. But we shouldn’t have worried. With her fellow AA and BFF out for the tournament, Pheesa stepped up like never before, delivering one of the most dominating performances by a Husky ever in a conference tournament.

Pheesa averaged 35 mpg, set the tournament record with 85 total points, while pulling down 39 rebounds. She was everywhere blocking shots, making steals and setting up her teammates to score. The Holy Grail for shooters is 50/40/90 % shooting for FG/3pt/FT. For the tournament Pheesa shot 67/56/100, achieving the shooter’s Holy Grail for the tournament. But even more impressive, was the fact that Pheesa shot significantly better than her season average across the board (61/27/72).

While Pheesa’s stats were incredible, the best thing she did was take the pressure off her young teammates, making it abundantly clear that whatever UConn needed from her, she would deliver. As a result, Megan and Christyn began to play with more confidence and Liv and Mikayla both had breakout performances.

I watched Sabrina Ionescu on Sunday night, and she was great in Oregon’s loss to Stanford. But after watching Pheesa throughout the AAC tournament, and particularly on Monday night, there should be no doubt that Pheesa is the NPOY. No other player in the country does more for her team to be successful than Pheesa.

UConn is not the favorite to win it all this year. But I would not dare suggest that to Pheesa right now. She is clearly prepared to do whatever she must to carry this team all the way to a championship. PHEESA IS ON A MISSION!
I agree with ALL you say. My concern is that every other team in the USA knows it is Napheesa (Precious) Collier that will carry this team or it's chances aren;t as great. Baylor went after her, Louisville went after her, the entire AAC went after her. Baylor stopped her, as much as anyone can. When she isn't doing the tough work and scoring the team seems to get in a funk. The psychology of having Precious running on all 15 cylinders is impressive.

On another note : Napheesa has her own special Cheerleader in KLS and Coach for the team after Geno does his thing again KLS.
 
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Pheesa's performance in the AAC Tournament was PHE-nomenal. :D:D And, we need her to continue that high level of play into the NCAA T... BUT, let's NOT forget, she has a very solid TEAM with her...Danger, MW, CW, Ono, MC, etc... and we're expecting the return of KLS :)...someone who, assuming she is playing close to 100% and has plenty of time to get her groove back, will be a major factor in UCONN's success. She may even feel that she has to "make up for lost time." Lou and Pheesa came in together, they are Besties, and they will feed off of each other in the NCAA T. No one player will be able to carry her Team through the NCAA T, especially starting in the Sweet 16 and beyond. It's gonna take them all...and Lou and Pheesa have the same TEAM Goal... to take UCONN to #12 and to leave UCONN as National Champions.

GO HUSKIES. :cool::):D

Exactly, right on. Geno is amazing at this time of the year. This time of the year he earns the name Motivator. If you don't see Megan and Chrystn take over games up to the FF then I have misjudged GEno.
 

oldude

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I agree with ALL you say. My concern is that every other team in the USA knows it is Napheesa (Precious) Collier that will carry this team or it's chances aren;t as great. Baylor went after her, Louisville went after her, the entire AAC went after her. Baylor stopped her, as much as anyone can. When she isn't doing the tough work and scoring the team seems to get in a funk. The psychology of having Precious running on all 15 cylinders is impressive.

On another note : Napheesa has her own special Cheerleader in KLS and Coach for the team after Geno does his thing again KLS.
You are correct. Every team that UConn faces in the Big Dance knows they have to stop Pheesa. But trying to stop Pheesa and actually stopping Pheesa are two different things.

Think back to a play Pheesa made against UCF. She caught the ball in the low post and was immediately swarmed on by no less than 4 UCF defenders. Pheesa is such a brilliant low post player that she was able to spin away from all the defenders for what amounted to an easy up and under layup.

Rebecca was astonished by the move and proceeded to draw it up on the telestrator, highlighting each of the 4 helpless UCF defenders.
 
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My concern is that every other team in the USA knows it is Napheesa (Precious) Collier that will carry this team or it's chances aren;t as great.
I think every team in the conference tournament knew Collier would have to carry us too and we saw how that worked. She’s too versatile & her activeness without the basketball make her the toughest guard in CBB. Oh & I fully expect our other AA & the best shooter in CBB to be ready to rumble, as well. Those two won’t go out without a fight with how the last two seasons ended.
 
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I agree with ALL you say. My concern is that every other team in the USA knows it is Napheesa (Precious) Collier that will carry this team or it's chances aren;t as great. Baylor went after her, Louisville went after her, the entire AAC went after her. Baylor stopped her, as much as anyone can. When she isn't doing the tough work and scoring the team seems to get in a funk. The psychology of having Precious running on all 15 cylinders is impressive.

On another note : Napheesa has her own special Cheerleader in KLS and Coach for the team after Geno does his thing again KLS.
My concern for Napheesa is the same with Crystal, that after carrying UConn for so long they are tiring out. Collier began missing easy jump shots short the past two games, a possible sign of fatigue. Great to have the break and Katy Lou coming back.
 

oldude

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My concern for Napheesa is the same with Crystal, that after carrying UConn for so long they are tiring out. Collier began missing easy jump shots short the past two games, a possible sign of fatigue. Great to have the break and Katy Lou coming back.
Pheesa was 9/14 & 9/15 respectively against USF & UCF, two teams that were swarming all over her in a futile effort to stop her. I’m not concerned about her getting fatigued.

She and her teammates will have 10-11 days to rest up, and the Huskies are the best conditioned team in WBB.
 
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My concern for Napheesa is the same with Crystal, that after carrying UConn for so long they are tiring out. Collier began missing easy jump shots short the past two games, a possible sign of fatigue. Great to have the break and Katy Lou coming back.
I had the same thought then I realized: The kids get more than a week nearly 2 off. The games are spaced with 2 or 3 days (forget how many) off between. They won't have tired legs. Geno, at this time of the year gives them as much rest as they need, but he needs to keep them sharp--this is when he is masterful
 
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Pheesa was 9/14 & 9/15 respectively against USF & UCF, two teams that were swarming all over her in a futile effort to stop her. I’m not concerned about her getting fatigued.

She and her teammates will have 10-11 days to rest up, and the Huskies are the best conditioned team in WBB.
Nice reply to JIM ---I didn't read your reply to JIM when I answered him. The other thing is GENO knows how to pace these kids with lots of rest and enough practices to stay sharp. That's Geno at his best.
 

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I had the same thought then I realized: The kids get more than a week nearly 2 off. The games are spaced with 2 or 3 days (forget how many) off between. They won't have tired legs. Geno, at this time of the year gives them as much rest as they need, but he needs to keep them sharp--this is when he is masterful
There is one day spaced between play, Thur - Sat, Fri - Sun the first week. Then I think it is Fri - Sun for the rest of the tournament.
 
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You are correct. Every team that UConn faces in the Big Dance knows they have to stop Pheesa. But trying to stop Pheesa and actually stopping Pheesa are two different things.

Think back to a play Pheesa made against UCF. She caught the ball in the low post and was immediately swarmed on by no less than 4 UCF defenders. Pheesa is such a brilliant low post player that she was able to spin away from all the defenders for what amounted to an easy up and under layup.

Rebecca was astonished by the move and proceeded to draw it up on the telestrator, highlighting each of the 4 helpless UCF defenders.
AND... trying to stop Pheesa means leaving some one... at least one someone OPEN. :D
 

donalddoowop

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What concerns me is if Collier has a less than stellar game, whether the team wins or not, some of the posters who are singing her praises now will quickly turn on her. It's happened before.
 
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UConn WBB is all about TEAM. 19 FF’s, 11 Championships and 3 of the longest winning streaks in the history of college basketball were built on teamwork. Geno and his staff have assembled some of the very best “ensemble casts” of players ever. But while UConn needed contributions from many players to achieve all their successes, there were several times when a single superstar carried the team on their shoulders to a championship.

DT’s 2nd and 3rd championships were examples of such a player, the GOAT, carrying her team. Maya had some great teammates, but her indomitable will drove UConn to two championships. More recently, Stewie had a run of four straight FF MOP’s. But it was the first one, when UConn was not the favorite, that Stewie first emerged from a phone booth in March as Supergirl, carrying her team on to a championship.

For UConn to win a record 12th banner this season, they will need Lou at 100% and Crystal to continue to be spectacular. UConn will need major contributions from relative newcomers Megan & Mikayla as well as freshmen Christyn & Liv. They will also need some breaks from the basketball gods. But make no mistake, for UConn to win it all this year, Pheesa will need to carry this team like she’s done much of the season and most notably during her spectacular performance at the AAC Tournament this past weekend.

If we’re being honest, many of us were more than a little worried about the AAC tournament once we learned that Lou would be out. But we shouldn’t have worried. With her fellow AA and BFF out for the tournament, Pheesa stepped up like never before, delivering one of the most dominating performances by a Husky ever in a conference tournament.

Pheesa averaged 35 mpg, set the tournament record with 85 total points, while pulling down 39 rebounds. She was everywhere blocking shots, making steals and setting up her teammates to score. The Holy Grail for shooters is 50/40/90 % shooting for FG/3pt/FT. For the tournament Pheesa shot 67/56/100, achieving the shooter’s Holy Grail for the tournament. But even more impressive, was the fact that Pheesa shot significantly better than her season average across the board (61/27/72).

While Pheesa’s stats were incredible, the best thing she did was take the pressure off her young teammates, making it abundantly clear that whatever UConn needed from her, she would deliver. As a result, Megan and Christyn began to play with more confidence and Liv and Mikayla both had breakout performances.

I watched Sabrina Ionescu on Sunday night, and she was great in Oregon’s loss to Stanford. But after watching Pheesa throughout the AAC tournament, and particularly on Monday night, there should be no doubt that Pheesa is the NPOY. No other player in the country does more for her team to be successful than Pheesa.

UConn is not the favorite to win it all this year. But I would not dare suggest that to Pheesa right now. She is clearly prepared to do whatever she must to carry this team all the way to a championship. PHEESA IS ON A MISSION!
Preach to us!
 
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UConn WBB is all about TEAM. 19 FF’s, 11 Championships and 3 of the longest winning streaks in the history of college basketball were built on teamwork. Geno and his staff have assembled some of the very best “ensemble casts” of players ever. But while UConn needed contributions from many players to achieve all their successes, there were several times when a single superstar carried the team on their shoulders to a championship.

DT’s 2nd and 3rd championships were examples of such a player, the GOAT, carrying her team. Maya had some great teammates, but her indomitable will drove UConn to two championships. More recently, Stewie had a run of four straight FF MOP’s. But it was the first one, when UConn was not the favorite, that Stewie first emerged from a phone booth in March as Supergirl, carrying her team on to a championship.

For UConn to win a record 12th banner this season, they will need Lou at 100% and Crystal to continue to be spectacular. UConn will need major contributions from relative newcomers Megan & Mikayla as well as freshmen Christyn & Liv. They will also need some breaks from the basketball gods. But make no mistake, for UConn to win it all this year, Pheesa will need to carry this team like she’s done much of the season and most notably during her spectacular performance at the AAC Tournament this past weekend.

If we’re being honest, many of us were more than a little worried about the AAC tournament once we learned that Lou would be out. But we shouldn’t have worried. With her fellow AA and BFF out for the tournament, Pheesa stepped up like never before, delivering one of the most dominating performances by a Husky ever in a conference tournament.

Pheesa averaged 35 mpg, set the tournament record with 85 total points, while pulling down 39 rebounds. She was everywhere blocking shots, making steals and setting up her teammates to score. The Holy Grail for shooters is 50/40/90 % shooting for FG/3pt/FT. For the tournament Pheesa shot 67/56/100, achieving the shooter’s Holy Grail for the tournament. But even more impressive, was the fact that Pheesa shot significantly better than her season average across the board (61/27/72).

While Pheesa’s stats were incredible, the best thing she did was take the pressure off her young teammates, making it abundantly clear that whatever UConn needed from her, she would deliver. As a result, Megan and Christyn began to play with more confidence and Liv and Mikayla both had breakout performances.

I watched Sabrina Ionescu on Sunday night, and she was great in Oregon’s loss to Stanford. But after watching Pheesa throughout the AAC tournament, and particularly on Monday night, there should be no doubt that Pheesa is the NPOY. No other player in the country does more for her team to be successful than Pheesa.

UConn is not the favorite to win it all this year. But I would not dare suggest that to Pheesa right now. She is clearly prepared to do whatever she must to carry this team all the way to a championship. PHEESA IS ON A MISSION!
Now we just need KLS to return the favor and go into the national tournament with a mission of her own to pay back her besty channeling all that frustration of being on the bench and #12 is in the bag!
 

oldude

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What concerns me is if Collier has a less than stellar game, whether the team wins or not, some of the posters who are singing her praises now will quickly turn on her. It's happened before.
The negative nellies are always out there ready to pounce at the first stumble. I choose to be positive. You can make the same choice.
 

eebmg

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I agree with ALL you say. My concern is that every other team in the USA knows it is Napheesa (Precious) Collier that will carry this team or it's chances aren;t as great. Baylor went after her, Louisville went after her, the entire AAC went after her. Baylor stopped her, as much as anyone can. When she isn't doing the tough work and scoring the team seems to get in a funk. The psychology of having Precious running on all 15 cylinders is impressive.

On another note : Napheesa has her own special Cheerleader in KLS and Coach for the team after Geno does his thing again KLS.

I think that around the time of the Baylor game, Pheesa's outside shot (not just 3pt shots) was out of whack. I think she felt too pressured to do to much inside against size and did not have confidence in the outside shot at the time. In the last Q of the season, I think her outside shooting has loosened up and the 'hitch' that everyone was concerned about has disappeared.
 
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Now we just need KLS to return the favor and go into the national tournament with a mission of her own to pay back her besty channeling all that frustration of being on the bench and #12 is in the bag!
@DEpup Katie Lou Samuelson has been on a MISSION since November. ONE of her problems was trying to be everything to everyone and especially the team. She cheer, she coached, she put them on her back and let the team ride her, in break moment in ALL the games she was in--she coached and directed in the Huddles. Freshman, sophs and Jr's all were told where they should be and what they should do. NOW that a girl with a Mission. If Uconn doesn't win an NC (KLS's determination) it won't be from lack of KLS effort.
 

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