Sarah Strong - A Generational Talent

[jazz]

My thought too. I'll say that Strong was the key to both wins in the FF and for the win at SCar in Feb. Not due to her great scoring but with her rebounding. In the 1st period of the 1st SCar game. She had 6 defensive rebounds while SCar had 6 offensive boards in the entire game to Sara's 15 drbs. SCar's offense (79pts/game) lived off 2nd chance pts and pts off To's. Strong took away the 1st and UConn's low TO rate took away the 2nd. The Gamecocks' 79pt offense got 58 & 59 in the 2 games largely because SCar's front court was physically dominated by a freshman and I think it damaged their confidence going into the 2nd game, where Strong did it to them again. Staley and most fans pointed to UConn's thirteen 3pters as the key in Feb. and SCar worked between the 2 games to stop those and did a great job at it in the final. But UConn's 3 stars can all score at 3 levels and by drawing SCar's defenders out to the arc there was a gap from 8-15 feet and UConn exploited it.

Well said.

Sarah was the catalyst in these games. Threes make the highlights and deservingly so, but Sarah just dominated SC on both ends of the floor. He defence was terrific as well and that doesn't always show up in the box score. She started to draw attention more and more from the defence and then we exploited this with threes in the first game and mid range in the second. Then you throw in the assists, steals and a block or two.... She was outstanding.

 

[PJCLaw]

How many points per game does Blanca Q have against D-I competition?

How many did Sarah have before this past season? How did that work out?

 

[CL82]

The more that I watched Sarah play this past season, the more I was mesmerized by all the things she does really well on the court

I agree. As I have said many times over the course of the season, keep in mind that her freshman year is probably the worst we will ever see her play. If you are an opposing team, that ought to frighten you.

 

[CL82]

The difference? Barkley in college was known as the "Round Mound of Rebound". He remade his body as a pro. Strong's stamina and conditioning were never a factor.

I feel as if that nickname came later when he was a pro and had beefed up a little bit.

 

[DRR25]

A part of me thinks they didn't want to put Sarah in the spotlight and then when they interview her, she'll get nervous and give one word direct answers. Azzi is more talkative and makes for a better interview.

I watched the game three time and Uconn wins every time!! yeah! But, each time I come away with the feeling that SC had no answer for Sarah and she dominated both FF games more than any player I can remember. I do remember Stewie's 28 in the FF, but I have to remind myself that Sarah's 24 is a mere 4 points less in a game that was not close.

Anyway, it is very nice that we can debate over who the MVP should have been!

I'll put it out there now, Sarah will win player of the year next year, averaging 22 and 12 per game. Big games, she will do even better. This is another reason to like Sarah. In big games and as a freshman, she took her game even higher and completely dominated in all phases.

Who knows what each person who has a vote takes into account but if any part of the voting was due to SS not being the best interview, that's very lazy work on the part of the media who make the decision. I don't enjoy interviews with SS and it'll be interesting to see how she develops her interview skills in the next few years but she is hands down one of the best players in the game and I love watching her play.

 

[jazz]

Vindication for all who agreed!

I think a certain poster in this thread needs to inform Geno that he is being lazy when saying Sarah reminds him of Barkley. Also, for others, Geno apparently had a hard time finding a female player to compare Sarah with.

I found this on the net (my bold highlights added for emphasis considering pushback in this thread):

Auriemma said he saw this in Strong when he watched her as a 10th grader.

“When I saw Sarah play in high school, in 10th grade, I couldn’t think of a woman’s player to compare her to,” Auriemma said. “I said, ‘She’s Charles Barkley.’ I said, ‘This kid’s great on her feet, great hands. She knows the game. She competes. She plays passionately every game.’

 

[oldude]

Vindication for all who agreed!

I think a certain poster in this thread needs to inform Geno that he is being lazy when saying Sarah reminds him of Barkley. Also, for others, Geno apparently had a hard time finding a female player to compare Sarah with.

I found this on the net (my bold highlights added for emphasis considering pushback in this thread):

Auriemma said he saw this in Strong when he watched her as a 10th grader.

“When I saw Sarah play in high school, in 10th grade, I couldn’t think of a woman’s player to compare her to,” Auriemma said. “I said, ‘She’s Charles Barkley.’ I said, ‘This kid’s great on her feet, great hands. She knows the game. She competes. She plays passionately every game.’

Geno also compared Sarah to DT, i.e. the G.O.A.T. of WBB.

 

[jazz]

Geno also compared Sarah to DT, i.e. the G.O.A.T. of WBB.

Can you share the context of this?

ok so I decided to google this and GA made a reference that they were similar in that everybody knew who the best player on the court was. This is obviously not the same, and I'm sure you can see the huge difference as compared to GA flat out saying:

When I saw Sarah play in high school, in 10th grade, I couldn’t think of a woman’s player to compare her to,” Auriemma said. “I said, ‘She’s Charles Barkley.’ I said, ‘This kid’s great on her feet, great hands. She knows the game. She competes. She plays passionately every game.’

BTW, DT compared Sarah to 'Nikola Jokić for her dominance this season'.

We will need to forgive DT and Geno for the lack of detailed female comparisons...

 

[oldude]

Can you share the context of this?

In February, during one of his press gaggles, Geno was talking about DT’s retirement, when he compared her to Sarah. The gist of his remarks were that as freshmen both DT & Sarah were somewhat reserved, not wanting to outshine the upperclassmen.

But there was an inevitable moment during practice when everyone in the gym realized that they (DT & Sarah) were the best players in the gym. Consider for a moment the players who would have also been in the gym when DT & Sarah were freshmen.

 

[my2cents]

Geez, can this thread just die already. lol.

 

[jazz]

Geez, can this thread just die already. lol.

There is no obligation for you to read it...

 

[jazz]

In February, during one of his press gaggles, Geno was talking about DT’s retirement, when he compared her to Sarah. The gist of his remarks were that as freshmen both DT & Sarah were somewhat reserved, not wanting to outshine the upperclassmen.

But there was an inevitable moment during practice when everyone in the gym realized that they (DT & Sarah) were the best players in the gym. Consider for a moment the players who would have also been in the gym when DT & Sarah were freshmen.

This is exactly what I was referencing. He is talking about how good they are, not that DT and SS have comparable styles...as opposed to his comment that Sarah is Charles Barkley, in which he was obviously comparing style of play.

 

[my2cents]

There is no obligation for you to read it...

you are correct. IGNORING you will be my pleasure.

 

[dtbtbtb]

Here is the thing about Sarah: She's got all the skills (amazing hands, feel for the basket, great great rebounder, great shooter from all 3 levels, composed under pressure, great passer, moves around the basket, great hand eye coordination which allows her to steal balls, great positional defender, great help defender, quick, strong, etc.). All she needs to improve on is gain more experience and practice public speaking. I don't know that we had such a player in WBB since Maya Moore (and Sarah is a better passer than Maya).

 

[uconnfan68]

i see little to
no comparison to Barkley

Other than rebounding and scoring?

 

[mainerhuski]

None. Do you want us to calculate how many points she has vs WNBA players instead?

Yes, please, I’d love to see that stat. I am very excited to see Blanca in tv, and hopefully in person, this year!

 

[Pharos]

This is more or less true. The problem is we’ve seen so little of her game.

In the games we did get to see, Ayanna was an immovable object in the low post on defense, a fierce rebounder, scored mainly on putbacks, had quick feet and she ran the floor well for a big. And she can finish at the rim in transition.

But she has no midrange game in the halfcourt offense to speak of. She is not an equivalent talent to what Aaliyah was. Or even what Kiah Stokes was, though she might be able to develop similarly over the next couple seasons.

Still, if she merely begins in the same place she did freshman year this fall, but avoids injury, she may provide valuable post depth and maybe even an anchor for the small-ball lineup next to Sarah. Plus, she has some understanding of Geno’s schemes that could be invaluable.

Don't you love how Kiah Stokes has developed as a pro?!

 

[jazz]

you are correct. IGNORING you will be my pleasure.

enjoy yourself!

 

[Zonepress]

Other than rebounding and scoring?

sure but SS is so much more
imho what makes her great is she can score inside,
mid range,3 pt guard all 5 positions
while an all time great never had the versatilyi
of SS
honestly no one in the women’s game that
i see her comparable to

 

[Molisanos]

None. Do you want us to calculate how many points she has vs WNBA players instead?

More than 1000 in 4 years because I have to say that pretty much all the players of the Italian basketball league can play in the Big East conference and that she is playing against them since she was 14 against players at least 6 years older than her... We can open a discussion about her impact in games against top programs in her freshman year... For the rest Uconn picked the best one available

 

[Rowdy831]

The term "generational talent" is way over used. All the players on the list are very good if not great basketball players but not generational talents. Michael Jordan was a generational talent, DT was a generational talent but the others on the list were just really good players that played on very good teams. They all had the "it" factor when the game was on the line but none of them other than DT (in my opinion) changed the game of basketball and that is my opinion of how you beome a "generational talent".

Sarah is a great player but she hasn't had to carry the load for the team to this point so anything other than her being a good player would be very premature. You can't be generational when you aren't even the best in game at the current time which nobody outside of Storrs things of Sarah. She is great, she might end up being one of the greats to play at UConn but right now it is too soon to put any more pressure than that on her shoulders.

I am a huge fan of UConn and have been as long as WCBB has had Geno so it isn't about being a hater, it is just about being measured in my eveluation of what a player has contributed, at least so far. In the end I hope she is the greatest of all time and changes that game and if that happens I will be the first to serve up some crow and enjoy her accomplishments.

 

[Lafayette]

"Generational" is ESPN's lazy writing.. Ever notice they throw that tag on someone every year? Same way they automatically call a team "stunned" if they lose as the favorite.

These are just symptoms of a company that tries to do everything but comes up short on many things (e.g., recruiting news, inspiring journalism, even putting in the effort on articles would be nice).

 

[Bone Dog]

You can't be generational when you aren't even the best in game at the current time which nobody outside of Storrs things of Sarah.

I don’t mean to pick, since I share your doubts about the term ‘generational,’ as well as your concern about judging players prematurely. We all have hopes about Sarah, and some of them might be fulfilled. But it’s too early to anoint her. There will be plenty of time for that over the next few years.

I’m just wondering how Diana seemed during and after her freshman season. In hindsight, it’s easy to see the seeds of her eventual career. But she was merely a rotation player at first. It took an injury to get her a starting spot. And like Lou Gehrig, there was no looking back once she was in the starting lineup. Sarah had a slightly smoother path to that lineup, though injuries did have an indirect role in it. Had Ayanna and Carol not been out of competition, Sarah may have had to wait at least a little while to reveal her virtues. Those virtues are still unfolding and we don’t know exactly where they’ll lead her and UConn.

I will gladly wait with you to see what actually unfolds and share a bit of that crow pie.

 

[oldude]

As I stated in my OP, the term “generational talent” is overused. I also indicated a more subtle definition of the term to indicate “an athlete doing remarkable things at a level that we’ve never quite seen before.” On that basis, I stand by my OP that DT, Maya, Stewie, Paige & Sarah all qualify as generational talents.

If anyone disagrees then I would ask you to offer up your suggestions as to which specific WBB players are generational talents, from UConn or anywhere, without reverting to MJ, some other MBB player or someone from another sport. Then we can all have a spirited debate, kind of like the annual “all time UConn starting 5” debate that rolls around every offseason.

 

[BobbyJ]

I don’t mean to pick, since I share your doubts about the term ‘generational,’ as well as your concern about judging players prematurely. We all have hopes about Sarah, and some of them might be fulfilled. But it’s too early to anoint her. There will be plenty of time for that over the next few years.

I’m just wondering how Diana seemed during and after her freshman season. In hindsight, it’s easy to see the seeds of her eventual career. But she was merely a rotation player at first. It took an injury to get her a starting spot. And like Lou Gehrig, there was no looking back once she was in the starting lineup. Sarah had a slightly smoother path to that lineup, though injuries did have an indirect role in it. Had Ayanna and Carol not been out of competition, Sarah may have had to wait at least a little while to reveal her virtues. Those virtues are still unfolding and we don’t know exactly where they’ll lead her and UConn.

I will gladly wait with you to see what actually unfolds and share a bit of that crow pie.

I believe that wait would've been no more than about 48 hours. Auriemma knew exactly what he had in Strong and that she was already better than both of those kids when she got to campus and had a couple of workouts.