Rich: Geno wants KML to be more aggressive

[pap49cba]

“I thought she played well,’’ Auriemma said. “I just think I’ve got to remind her all the time to be more aggressive on the offensive end. She has a tendency to just go, `Well, OK, it’s not my night.’ Well, I told her make it your night. Every night. Just be aggressive, and the more aggressive she is the more shots she’s going to get, the more assists she’s going to get and the better team we’re going to be.’’

LINK

 

[UConnCat]

[quote="pap49cba, post: 825127, member: 1160"“I just think I’ve got to remind her all the time to be more aggressive on the offensive end. [/quote]

Like you did during the timeout you called with 3 seconds left in the 1st half?

 

[UcMiami]

Ex

[quote="pap49cba, post: 825127, member: 1160"“I just think I’ve got to remind her all the time to be more aggressive on the offensive end.

Like you did during the timeout you called with 3 seconds left in the 1st half?[/quote]
Exactly! She had just hesitated to take a wide open lay-up letting the defense get back in position and passing the ball back out to the wing - she didn't even look at the basket when she caught the ballon the low block and that was what Geno was ranting about.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno is so sanguine these days!

I agree that K needs to be aggressive. She's the best shooter around.

Does anyone remember Geno telling Maya to shoot more? My memory fails me, but I can't.

 

[blackbird]

It's interesting how gentle Geno is with Kaleena, at least publicly.

She never had to be told to shoot before, so I'm guessing her confidence has waned after the injury as well. She'll get it back. Probably at the right time, like Bria last season.

 

[jsloanjr]

His pep talks will pay huge dividends on Wed night.

 

[cohenzone]

What's sorta funny about this is that the team is scoring a bunch of points anyway. I know why he wants KML to shoot more, but the kids who have been taking what could be her shots have been doing a pretty good job of picking up the slack. Worked okay when she missed all those games.

 

[Alydar]

Last season other teams made stopping her a prime directive. That made things a lot easier for the others. When you have an outside shooter who can shoot an effective fg% around 60% and a couple of posts who also shoot around 60%, you overwhelm most defenses.

I suspect that KML isn't over the injury in that she is still worried about re-injuring the elbow. This was her first significant injury and to me it looks like she is still gun shy about going inside, both as a driver and a rebounder. The same thing is more often seen with knees.

 

[pap49cba]

When you've got five players who can score if one is off on a given night it really doesn't matter. Geno has always said you need three players who can score. Having four is just a bonus.

 

[Geno-ista]

It's interesting how gentle Geno is with Kaleena, at least publicly.

She never had to be told to shoot before, so I'm guessing her confidence has waned after the injury as well. She'll get it back. Probably at the right time, like Bria last season.

I don't think Geno has had to call her out till now.
KML has been a consummate all around phenomenal player from day one.i think Kelly was her buddy and role model. I don't think he has ever had any reason to be all over her prior. Rebounds, shoots, sets awesome screens- facilitates offense and plays tough defense. This is her first slump to overcome. I think he genuinely does like her and respect her.

 

[Scotter]

Doesn't sound much different from what Geno used to say about Maya. Kaleena and Maya are fairly in their self-image as scorers, which was evident even when Kaleena was in high school. They're scorers, but perfectionists first. They want to score badly, but they only want to do it taking good shots based on good decisions. It's part of why they are pretty much the two players with the lowest turnover rate in UConn history along with extremely high shooting percentages.

 

[Geno-ista]

She is also a really super sweet and nice young lady to talk to. She is like a very gentle soul. Sat near her under the hoop at the Big East Tmts for two years. But with that disposition, I figure the coaching staff will figure out how to move her thru or around this wall. It really was painful watching her hesitate a few times at Rutgers. Some of those dishes were highlights. But make no mistake, Tmt- time, we need her shooting as much as possible- this point is almost irrefutable- if that is a word. She needs to be the GoTo player that she has been since day one at Uconn!!! End of story.

 

[wallman]

I wonder if Kaleena had not done so well in the Duke game maybe she would have been given more slack and people's expectations for her return to her usual ways may have been extended? She did exceptionally well coming off the injury against Duke, clearly from adrenaline, which is a great sign, that it became almost expected that she should be back to her normal self. Just a thought.

 

[Zorro]

The Ballhog Chick never had that problem, that I can recall.

 

[Kibitzer]

The Ballhog Chick never had that problem, that I can recall.

The only problem The Ballhog Chick ever had was

 

[DaddyChoc]

maybe Kaleena has hit that "junior wall"... like Bria did last season!

 

[DaddyChoc]

did Geno use to yell at Kaleena when he wanted to make a point to another player, saying she can take it!

 

[Geno-ista]

did Geno use to yell at Kaleena when he wanted to make a point to another player, saying she can take it!

That could be- they do use certain types of players like that to get messages to other players. U may b right!