Sadie Edwards - GREAT game vs. Oregon State...

[EricLA]

Watched her vs. UCLA last week and while she had a modest start to her USC career over the first several games, she broke out tonight and was the only player in double figures scoring 20 in a loss to top 10 Oregon State.

I have no idea what went on with her reason for transferring - it seemed like she could not get off the bench at UCONN. For whatever reason, Geno would not play her. And I know 1 game does not make a college career, but she's a starting guard on a decent Pac 10 team. UCONN lost a good one, and USC landed a good one.

Good for Sadie - looks like she landed at a place where her talents could be developed differently and where she could blossom in her own particular way.

 

[hoophuskee]

Watched her vs. UCLA last week and while she had a modest start to her USC career over the first several games, she broke out tonight and was the only player in double figures scoring 20 in a loss to top 10 Oregon State.

I have no idea what went on with her reason for transferring - it seemed like she could not get off the bench at UCONN. For whatever reason, Geno would not play her. And I know 1 game does not make a college career, but she's a starting guard on a decent Pac 10 team. UCONN lost a good one, and USC landed a good one.

Good for Sadie - looks like she landed at a place where her talents could be developed differently and where she could blossom in her own particular way.

Who would you expect her to play over last year? Last year at the 1-3 positions we had MoJeff, Nurse, KML, and Chong. And when KML went out sometimes Tuck or BS would take her spot because we had Stokes and Gabby. So she was 7th on the overall depth chart. What other reason is there that anyone should really care about?

 

[alexrgct]

Thanks for the update. Nice to see a Connecticut girl doing well, albeit not at UConn.

 

[pvdoggy]

This is why it is tough to be a good (not great) player and come to UConn. I don't know if you are better off in the long run to be able to play even 15 min a game at UConn as a role player behind players like Stewie, Tuck, Jefferson, KML, etc... or getting to play tons of minutes without any restriction. If Sadie is still at UConn, I seriously doubt that she even sees 15 min a game this season.

 

[hoophuskee]

This is why it is tough to be a good (not great) player and come to UConn. I don't know if you are better off in the long run to be able to play even 15 min a game at UConn as a role player behind players like Stewie, Tuck, Jefferson, KML, etc... or getting to play tons of minutes without any restriction. If Sadie is still at UConn, I seriously doubt that she even sees 15 min a game this season.

The thing is- when you play 15 minutes say 18 like Stokes- Geno was getting criticized all because Bill Laimbeer over-exaggerated what Stokes was. It's not meant to be a slam on Bill- he made the correct move and moved up and drafted her because there were some bozos that thought Stokes was a player that couldn't produce any offense.

But - it's like if you are a bench player at UCONN - Geno can be damned if he does - damned if he doesn't. Play her fewer than near 25 minutes "She's not improving" or you get the pre-season over-exaggerations like Bill did. Play her more minutes maybe Gabby sees less which might impact future recruits or maybe even take away minutes from Morgan Tuck" so when the next "Morgan Tuck" comes up (she averaged 25.5 minutes) - she says - "what? I'm see under 25 minutes and I'm ne of the best player's in the nation? And how can I improve?" What is that magical number that a player improved with big minutes? On the men's side Corny T and Mike M didn't improve in any significant manner with additional years/ minutes.

Stewie only averaged 28.3 minutes. SO could she have somewhere else too and gotten more minutes and been better? Where do u draw the line? The answer is - there isn't much of a line. But when you are 7th on the depth chart - you're not going to get a lot of time.

 

[pvdoggy]

The thing is- when you play 15 minutes say 18 like Stokes- Geno was getting criticized all because Bill Laimbeer over-exaggerated what Stokes was. It's not meant to be a slam on Bill- he made the correct move and moved up and drafted her because there were some bozos that thought Stokes was a player that couldn't produce any offense.

But - it's like if you are a bench player at UCONN - Geno can be damned if he does - damned if he doesn't. Play her fewer than near 25 minutes "She's not improving" or you get the pre-season over-exaggerations like Bill did. Play her more minutes maybe Gabby sees less which might impact future recruits or maybe even take away minutes from Morgan Tuck" so when the next "Morgan Tuck" comes up (she averaged 25.5 minutes) - she says - "what? I'm see under 25 minutes and I'm ne of the best player's in the nation? And how can I improve?" What is that magical number that a player improved with big minutes? On the men's side Corny T and Mike M didn't improve in any significant manner with additional years/ minutes.

Stewie only averaged 28.3 minutes. SO could she have somewhere else too and gotten more minutes and been better? Where do u draw the line? The answer is - there isn't much of a line. But when you are 7th on the depth chart - you're not going to get a lot of time.

I was talking primarily about players who may be good, but not really elite. If you are just good, I am not sure you will see a lot of min and will always be role players at UConn. Even within the team concept at UConn, there is still a hierarchy of key players and role players whether you admit it or not. As a good but not elite player, is it more fun to get a lot of unrestricted playing time on an OK team or getting very little time with Uconn potential championship team, I don't really know. The chance of you making it to the next level w/o being a player with some very special skill is pretty much slim to none anyway.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Wouldn't appear she's a PG anymore, or at least not at the moment. She had struggled mightily prior to Saturday.

 

[HuskyNan]

I was talking primarily about players who may be good, but not really elite. If you are just good, I am not sure you will see a lot of min and will always be role players at UConn. Even within the team concept at UConn, there is still a hierarchy of key players and role players whether you admit it or not. As a good but not elite player, is it more fun to get a lot of unrestricted playing time on an OK team or getting very little time with Uconn potential championship team, I don't really know. The chance of you making it to the next level w/o being a player with some very special skill is pretty much slim to none anyway.

I don't know, Maria Conlon had a pretty good career as a Husky. So did Kelly Faris, Pam Webber, Kelly Hunt, and a slew of others. Role players are invaluable at UConn, always have been.

 

[CocoHusky]

Geno would not play her. And I know 1 game does not make a college career, but she's a starting guard on a decent Pac 10 team. UCONN lost a good one, and USC landed a good one.

Eric good to see Sadie doing well. To say that " Geno would not play her" is very unfair IMO because we both know that not how it works at UCONN and that even the best starting guard on top Pac 10 team may still not be good enough to earn minutes at UCONN. If that sounds like an elitist statement, it is. If it sounds like a slam against Sadie, it is not intended to be. Some might echo the old sentiment that Geno should not have signed 4 guards in that class. My response is that Geno would have been crazy not to sign Gabby and Kia no matter how many other guards he had committed. Banks and Sadie decided to leave and I wish them well but I can't fault Geno in either case.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Not sure how well Sadie will do at USC.
First off she is a starting guard at USC only because Jordan Adams is out with a bad foot.
Next, I dont know how she will develop under a coach that has no real half court offense, or at least none that I can see since she has been there. Sadie will score, but her overall game may not grow. After seeing USC against UCLA and now OSU, I dont think they will do that well in this season Pac 12 conference play. Right now around .500 after 18 games might seem about right.
We shall see after Mondays game vs Oregon.

 

[TWG236]

As CocoHusky just wrote, it is not fair to say that Geno would not play her. And yes HuskyNan is right that role players are invaluable to the success of every UCONN women's team. But, as I said before, as a player you have to be able to accept your role on the team and there is nothing worse for team chemistry then to have a player on the team who can't accept their new limited role. As such, there have been several UCONN players who have decided to transfer and go elsewhere solely for more playing time. Most have been able to increase their playing time, but if my memory is right, none have gone on to become "great" collegiate players. By all accounts Sadie was a great person and team player, who decided that she wanted more playing time and that she wasn't going to be able to take away minutes from Stewie, Mo, Saniya, Gabby KLM, Morgan or both Kias. There are only so many minute in a game. My hope is that Sadie has a fantastic career and experience at USC, but that if they ever meet UCONN in the NCAA Tournament, we end their season. Courtney on the other hand appears to have the belief that she has the ability to become a better player and will eventually be able to earn additional playing time. Ironically with Saniya's injury, Sadie might have been able to increase her minutes earlier this year and who knows what could have happened.

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

It is good to see Sadie doing well. However, she didn't have the talent level that demanded a move into the regular playing lineup, and was unwilling to put in the time and effort necessary to earn the minutes she wanted at UConn, so she left. Others have made this decision in the past, and to my knowledge only two (Liz Sherwood at Vanderbilt and Samarie Walker at Kentucky) did anything significant once they left.

Brianna Banks is the one we should be talking about. I put her in a different category than others who left, since she left to get as much playing time as she could get given her history of injuries; why risk more practicing the way UConn does, and for only a few minutes a night? She's having a GREAT season for Penn State, who just beat #14 Northwestern; she had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 dimes, 3 steals!

Geno, CD, and the UConn Way isn't for everybody. This is a good thing, IMO.

 

[CocoHusky]

It is good to see Sadie doing well. However, she didn't have the talent level that demanded a move into the regular playing lineup, and was unwilling to put in the time and effort necessary to earn the minutes she wanted at UConn, so she left. Others have made this decision in the past, and to my knowledge only two (Liz Sherwood at Vanderbilt and Samarie Walker at Kentucky) did anything significant once they left.

Brianna Banks is the one we should be talking about. I put her in a different category than others who left, since she left to get as much playing time as she could get given her history of injuries; why risk more practicing the way UConn does, and for only a few minutes a night? She's having a GREAT season for Penn State, who just beat #14 Northwestern; she had 25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 dimes, 3 steals!

Geno, CD, and the UConn Way isn't for everybody. This is a good thing, IMO.

There was no indication that Sadie was "unwilling to put in the time and effort necessary to earn the minutes she wanted at UConn" or that this (lack of effort) was the reason she left UCONN or that better "effort" would have resulted in more playing time. As you correctly sated, Sadie's talent compared to the other players was the discriminator not effort-same with Banks.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Wouldn't appear she's a PG anymore, or at least not at the moment. She had struggled mightily prior to Saturday.

As you say, she had definitely struggled. In her previous three games, she played 72 minutes. Scored 15 points, while shooting 3-11 on twos and 3-13 on threes. Had 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 turnovers, and 1 steal.

 

[hoophuskee]

I was talking primarily about players who may be good, but not really elite. If you are just good, I am not sure you will see a lot of min and will always be role players at UConn. Even within the team concept at UConn, there is still a hierarchy of key players and role players whether you admit it or not. As a good but not elite player, is it more fun to get a lot of unrestricted playing time on an OK team or getting very little time with UCONN potential championship team, I don't really know. The chance of you making it to the next level w/o being a player with some very special skill is pretty much slim to none anyway.

It's all difficult. What is "good" but not "elite?" Who had the better WNBA season, Stokes or KML? How did Stokes turn out without a lot of minutes while KML got a lot? So what does it really mean with "minutes?" And I think many great teams have hierarchies. And while you mention about fun, is it also more fun to win a ton - go to the final four compete daily vs the best in the world in your age bracket vs. playing on a team that might not be very good and you are experiencing the frustration of losing and which you might not be seeing your game evolve? Many of these kids have won a ton in their life in high school. They are competitors that want to win AND want to compete vs the best to see where they stand.

For example, if you were a pretty good low post player on a mediocre power conference team. Is it "fun" that teams will double team you so your shots are mostly with 2 players on you and you really can't go 15 feet and out to work on that part of your game because the team needs every possession to get the ball to you on the inside? Thus you aren't developing your game, then there is decent chance you aren't getting in the NCAA Tourney and you aren't going to any pro level afterwards because you never developed in that your team needed you so baldy to be effective inside. That might not be "fun" too.

But I do get your point I think. For me Brianna Banks may be the type you are speaking of too? I would have liked to see her get more minutes. BUT - if I recall when she came back from the last time from her injury in her last year- her shot went to hell. So maybe - not. If a player breaks down in practices and in games then they are apt to be limited in some manner. I guess playing is more "fun" for her at Penn State whether it be not as much pressure to win or she gets more minutes and shoots more to see how she can compete vs other quality programs and feels like she is contributing more. However regarding Stokes I thought she contributed a lot to UCONN and didn't get a lot of minutes. Faris wasn't an elite talent and got plenty of minutes.

 

[iamcbs]

I don't know, Maria Conlon had a pretty good career as a Husky. So did Kelly Faris, Pam Webber, Kelly Hunt, and a slew of others. Role players are invaluable at UConn, always have been.

Not to mention Caroline Doty and Tiffany Hayes...

 

[HuskyNan]

It is good to see Sadie doing well. However, she didn't have the talent level that demanded a move into the regular playing lineup, and was unwilling to put in the time and effort necessary to earn the minutes she wanted at UConn, so she left

Is this fact and, if, so, what is your source? If this is just speculation on your part, I would suggest you read the rules linked in the thread tacked to the top of the board.

I will say I haven't heard anything about Sadie's lack of effort at UConn.

 

[VAMike23]

Is this fact and, if, so, what is your source? If this is just speculation on your part, I would suggest you read the rules linked in the thread tacked to the top of the board. I will say I haven't heard anything about Sadie's lack of effort at UConn.

I had the same impression re: Sadie's commitment level so I am a little surprised at the reaction in this thread.

We don't often (ever?) see official pronouncements dissing a player, but I just seem to remember that between the Horde's coverage and Geno's own quotes, there were indications of something less than the requisite level of intensity from Sadie in practices and that this was apparent from the early stages.

I wish her well and am happy to see her picking it up lately at USoCal

 

[Go/huskies]

I think it comes down to wanting to play at the next level or not, she might not make it as a pro anyway, but playing at USC and getting minutes will help her chances vs being a role/ bench player at Uconn.
Players like Chong and Williams might not make it to the wnba for this very reason.

 

[CocoHusky]

I think it comes down to wanting to play at the next level or not, she might not make it as a pro anyway, but playing at USC and getting minutes will help her chances vs being a role/ bench player at Uconn.
Players like Chong and Williams might not make it to the wnba for this very reason.

And Kiah Stokes?

 

[Go/huskies]

And Kiah Stokes?

And who else ?

 

[PalPa]

I think it comes down to wanting to play at the next level or not, she might not make it as a pro anyway, but playing at USC and getting minutes will help her chances vs being a role/ bench player at Uconn.
Players like Chong and Williams might not make it to the wnba for this very reason.

I agree Chong znd Williams might not make it to the WNBA, but not because they are role players at UConn. The WNBA scouts recognize talent and how a players skills would match their teams needs. Certainly there are a lot of WNBA scouts following the Huskies, and UConn role players have been drafted in the past. I'm not so sure USC attracts the same attention from the scouts that UConn does.

 

[CocoHusky]

And who else ?

No one. No other program put a impactful Non- Starting player in the WNBA last year. Sadie is only starting because Adams is hurt.

 

[JoePgh]

Ashley Battle had a multi -year WNBA career despite never being a starter at UConn. Wilnett Crockett lasted about a year despite being mostly a bench player at UConn. Barbara Turner was never a regular starter at UConn but played for two or three years in the W.

I think Gabby and Saniya will at least get a serious look in a WNBA team's training camp, and will have a chance to make a team.

 

[EricLA]

Ashley Battle had a multi -year WNBA career despite never being a starter at UConn. Wilnett Crockett lasted about a year despite being mostly a bench player at UConn. Barbara Turner was never a regular starter at UConn but played for two or three years in the W.

I think Gabby and Saniya will at least get a serious look in a WNBA team's training camp, and will have a chance to make a team.

Agree more on Saniya than Gabby at this point - mainly because Gabby is 5'10 or 5'11". She needs to be a wing/guard, not a forward to succeed at the next level, IMHO. But plenty of time for her to develop and it's hard to know what she will be like as a senior. Still, I agree both will get serious looks and probably get drafted, if for no other reason than they are from UCONN.

I don't mean for that to sound arrogant, but there have been many quotes from coaches and GM's in the WNBA that laud the fitness, intensity, and hard work ethic of former UCONN players. That generally translates to at least giving the player a shot...