Should Christyn Come Off the Bench?

[oldude]

It was fun to watch the return of the real UConn WBB team yesterday. You know, the UConn team that faces the 2nd best team in the conference, the one from FL, and runs them out of the gym. OK, it’s Central not South FL. But by the time Kyla hit that step back 3-pt shot in the 1st half, it was basically game over. Four of five starters played exceptionally well, and the Huskies got decent contributions from several reserves.

As UConn pulled away from UCF, I spent a lot of time focusing on the 5th starter. There is no doubt in my mind that Christyn is a tremendous talent and she is working very hard, but she has clearly lost some confidence in the past few weeks. Her shot is not falling. She’s turning the ball over, and she’s committing mistakes on defense. That would be par for the course for many UConn freshmen. But it’s difficult to reconcile with the freshman superstar who took over the game on the road in South Bend against the #1 team in the nation.

I have begun to wonder if the ND game didn’t do more harm than good to Christyn, perhaps by creating an impossible level of expectation by her for her own performance. I’ve also begun to wonder if it wouldn’t be better for Christyn, as well as the team, to take some pressure off by letting her come off the bench for a time, until she regains her confidence.

At this point, starting Kyla, who appears to fit in best with the other 4 starters, and letting Christyn come off the bench as the 6th man might just work wonders. I would expect that Christyn would get no less PT then she’s currently getting, but it would be coming off the bench, with a lot less pressure on her young shoulders. Before everyone trashes my absurd suggestion, please remember that is exactly what Geno did with Stewie her freshman year, and we all remember what Stewie did once she got to the Big Dance that year.

 

[BroadwayVa]

It was fun to watch the return of the real UConn WBB team yesterday. You know, the UConn team that faces the 2nd best team in the conference, the one from FL, and runs them out of the gym. OK, it’s Central not South FL. But by the time Kyla hit that step back 3-pt shot in the 1st half, it was basically game over. Four of five starters played exceptionally well, and the Huskies got decent contributions from several reserves.

As UConn pulled away from UCF, I spent a lot of time focusing on the 5th starter. There is no doubt in my mind that Christyn is a tremendous talent and she is working very hard, but she has clearly lost some confidence in the past few weeks. Her shot is not falling. She’s turning the ball over, and she’s committing mistakes on defense. That would be par for the course for many UConn freshmen. But it’s difficult to reconcile with the freshman superstar who took over the game on the road in South Bend against the #1 team in the nation.

I have begun to wonder if the ND game didn’t do more harm than good to Christyn, perhaps by creating an impossible level of expectation by her for her own performance. I’ve also begun to wonder if it wouldn’t be better for Christyn, as well as the team, to take some pressure off by letting her come off the bench for a time, until she regains her confidence.

At this point, starting Kyla, who appears to fit in best with the other 4 starters, and letting Christyn come off the bench as the 6th man might just work wonders. I would expect that Christyn would get no less PT then she’s currently getting, but it would be coming off the bench, with a lot less pressure on her young shoulders. Before everyone trashes my absurd suggestion, please remember that is exactly what Geno did with Stewie her freshman year, and we all remember what Stewie did once she got to the Big Dance that year.

@oldude, a lot to think about. I tend to agree with your---bring CW off the bench, i.e. give her time to feel the flow of the game. That has worked with really great players in the past.
Chrystin is thinking the game too much, looking towards the bench too much. This is totally new for her--usually, she just got into AAU or HS games and just took over. That is what she does best--i.e. ND.
Confidence is waning?? I know she is frustrated --she has never been coached this tightly ever. The big sigh as she sat on the bench told a loud story.
My personal ( no John Wooden ) belief is to tell her every time she has a path to the basket take it and score, every time she gets the ball in any corner--shoot it. She is NOT taking shots --that is her forte, and without that she is frustrated. just My personal view.

 

[CocoHusky]

No! The player that needs to be develop by tournament time is ONO specifically as a rebounding shot blocking presence. Kyla is a solid hard working player who in her first three years at UCONN has blocked a total of 1 shot. ONO on the other hand is almost averaging 1 block per game.

 

[Vowelguy]

No. Geno has already addressed this.

 

[oldude]

No! The player that needs to be develop by tournament time is ONO specifically as a rebounding shot blocking presence. Kyla is a solid hard working player who in her first three years at UCONN has blocked a total of 1 shot. ONO on the other hand is almost averaging 1 block per game.

I certainly agree that Liv also needs to be developed as well. The first thing she needs to learn, just like Z, is to stop swinging down when blocking shots. There was one foul she committed yesterday that really bothered me. The UCF post caught the ball in the blocks and spun into the lane to shoot. Liv’s defensive position and footwork were perfect. She was set up for an easy block. She got the ball but also incurred a foul by swinging down, sending the UCF player to the line

But getting back to my OP, while Liv is important, Christyn has the ability to carry the team to a championship when she plays like she did at ND. At the beginning of the season, Christyn’s greatest advantage was her confidence, and right now it’s just not there.

 

[oldude]

No. Geno has already addressed this.

When and how did Geno address this issue?

 

[CocoHusky]

I certainly agree that Liv also needs to be developed as well. The first thing she needs to learn, just like Z, is to stop swinging down when blocking shots. There was one foul she committed yesterday that really bothered me. The UCF post caught the ball in the blocks and spun into the lane to shoot. Liv’s defensive position and footwork were perfect. She was set up for an easy block. She got the ball but also incurred a foul by swinging down, sending the UCF player to the line

But getting back to my OP, while Liv is important, Christyn has the ability to carry the team to a championship when she plays like she did at ND. At the beginning of the season, Christyn’s greatest advantage was her confidence, and right now it’s just not there.

I guess I didn't state my objection clearly enough, so let me try again. If you are going to take Christyn out of the starting lineup it should only be to put Liv in. Some where down the line a rematch with ND, or Baylor looms as does a potential matchup with Mississippi State or Oregon. Liv will be needed. Kyla did not see the floor in either the Baylor or ND game-there is probably a good reason for that.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Probably not. Yes, her jump shots were off again yesterday, and it's clearly in her head because she wasn't taking some of the wide open threes she had available. I also believe that her conditioning needs to get better.

But she actually played a better game yesterday, getting more involved in the motion offense and or course making a couple good layups in transition. I think Geno's right, as soon as Christyn sees some outside shots fall, she will start to turn the corner. I believe she'll get through it faster than Megan did, I just hope it's in time to be an impact player come March.

 

[paisan]

It is fun to speculate,but Geno being Geno he is going to try to make t to the final four with 5 players doin 90 percent of the work. He doe not believe that they will wear out.

 

[FanHam]

I don't like that idea. She's shown a lot of good defense over the past few games. Inexplicably, she can't hit the broad side of a barn with her jump shot, but that can't go on forever. I think she should continue starting.

To me, she just seems a beat (or two) slow on the offensive end. Her cuts seldom get her open and she often passes up seemingly open passes to cutters. It's understandable. Megan is just now getting up to full speed and she's a sophomore.

 

[oldude]

Going back to Stewie's example. Geno didn't sit Stewie down as a freshman because she was playing badly. He sat her down because she wasn't playing up to her potential, which was to be GREAT. During the period of time when Stewie came off the bench, she had some of her very best games: playing as little as 20-25 minutes, going for 20+ pts, shooting better than 70%+, hauling in rebounds by the bushel and blocking a bunch of shots. It got her back into the starting lineup, and then to an entirely different level when a UConn team with 4 losses won a national championship with Stewie earning her 1st of 4 straight MOP's.

Christyn has that same potential. Everyone reacts differently to being benched. Geno is a master motivator and will certainly do what's best for the team and Christyn in the long run. But sometimes it helps to watch the game closely from the bench at the start, getting the big picture on what impact you can have once you get on the floor. I don't expect Christyn to be John Havlicek...….Then again, maybe I do.

 

[oldude]

I guess I didn't state my objection clearly enough, so let me try again. If you are going to take Christyn out of the starting lineup it should only be to put Liv in. Some where down the line a rematch with ND, or Baylor looms as does a potential matchup with Mississippi State or Oregon. Liv will be needed. Kyla did not see the floor in either the Baylor or ND game-there is probably a good reason for that.

Liv would have been my 2nd choice to start in place of Christyn. I lean towards Kyla because the offense is far more fluid with Kyla then Liv, at this point.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Christyn is being taken over the UCONN freshman hurdles, which include a hypercritical phase wherein she is asked to literally drink from a fire hose. This creates a high pace of learning, but tests the player's confidence. Before the tournament, this process generally shifts into a confidence building phase that has the player peaking as the tourney begins. Every player experiences this journey a little differently, but even the sublime Breanna Stewart went through it. I remember being so happy for her in one late Fenruary game where she actually finished with a big smile...

 

[huskeynut]

Christyn should continue to start. Last week she addressed the shooting woes. Its conditioning which she admits to. She stated playing defense UConn style is very tough. Her legs feel tired and her shot is off.

She'll get there.

 

['nuff sed]

It was fun to watch the return of the real UConn WBB team yesterday. You know, the UConn team that faces the 2nd best team in the conference, the one from FL, and runs them out of the gym. OK, it’s Central not South FL. But by the time Kyla hit that step back 3-pt shot in the 1st half, it was basically game over. Four of five starters played exceptionally well, and the Huskies got decent contributions from several reserves.

As UConn pulled away from UCF, I spent a lot of time focusing on the 5th starter. There is no doubt in my mind that Christyn is a tremendous talent and she is working very hard, but she has clearly lost some confidence in the past few weeks. Her shot is not falling. She’s turning the ball over, and she’s committing mistakes on defense. That would be par for the course for many UConn freshmen. But it’s difficult to reconcile with the freshman superstar who took over the game on the road in South Bend against the #1 team in the nation.

I have begun to wonder if the ND game didn’t do more harm than good to Christyn, perhaps by creating an impossible level of expectation by her for her own performance. I’ve also begun to wonder if it wouldn’t be better for Christyn, as well as the team, to take some pressure off by letting her come off the bench for a time, until she regains her confidence.

At this point, starting Kyla, who appears to fit in best with the other 4 starters, and letting Christyn come off the bench as the 6th man might just work wonders. I would expect that Christyn would get no less PT then she’s currently getting, but it would be coming off the bench, with a lot less pressure on her young shoulders. Before everyone trashes my absurd suggestion, please remember that is exactly what Geno did with Stewie her freshman year, and we all remember what Stewie did once she got to the Big Dance that year.

No, Christyn needs as much On the Job Training as possible. She getting more coaching during these games. The bench is just getting her on the spot coaching time.

Tournament Time crunch games I expect to see 5 starters pushing full mins with only ONO coming on.
Assuming no one is in foul trouble.

At some point fairly soon I think we'll see her start shooting again......her body language screams that she's not worried, the chin is always up. I don't see any confidence issues with her, at least not yet.

 

[Jaybird65]

Geno addressed this in one of his post game interviews several games ago. He stated that she thinks she needs to score. Bringing her off the bench would only reinforce her thought that she needs to score & that was exactly opposite of what they were trying to get her to understand.

 

[itsasport]

One of the many unfortunate results of Azura leaving was that it forced Christyn into the starting lineup. With Azura there, it would have been understandable to Christyn and everyone that she would be the 6th player and it would have been an easier transition.

 

[trisailin]

I see Christyn come off the bench each game already during starting line-up player introductions. She's doing just fine.

 

[CocoHusky]

Christyn should continue to start. Last week she addressed the shooting woes. Its conditioning which she admits to. She stated playing defense UConn style is very tough. Her legs feel tired and her shot is off.
She'll get there.

This is so important it definitely needs repeating. We have two players (KLS and Christyn Williams) that are struggling with their shot. You don't have to look very far for an explanation. CW is struggling because of the demands of playing UCONN style defense. The explanation for KLS is pretty much the same. KLS is averaging 7.2 RPG- More than 3 RPG above her career average of 3.9. There is a price to be paid for playing UCONN style defense and rebounding, that price often shows up the legs first.

 

[willtalk]

Every player has games where they are at the top of their form along with having games when they are not. Somewhat like a sliding scale. I always say no one is really as good as their bests game nor as bad as their worst. Players are not machines so their level of play will vary dependent on different variables which would include timing and match ups. Two examples of that were the Baylor vs ND game. Against Baylor she faced good parameter defenders against ND not so much. She was also feeling it against ND and not so much against Baylor. How one affected the other we do not really know.

My point is that she has not played enough top level D1 ball to give anyone a realistic assessment of her top end potential. Players can have games when they just can not miss and when you combine those games with opportunities to get open looks they will have great games. However when good defense does not give you those open looks it does not matter if the player is hot or not. The same thing might take place if the defense is not stellar but your shots are not dropping. Making your shots is not always reflective of the defense being played against you. That is why players miss free throws. It certainly isn't because of someone defending them on the line.

Posters are wondering why there has been a drop of in her production and are coming up with variable reasons. What they are forgetting is that they really do not have a real assessment of her particular sliding scale in respect to what constitutes her best -her average or below average performances. In reality that might take all season. No one really knows where her present playing level lies on that scale. People are just assuming that what they are seeing now is her bottom level. Probably because they assumed that her performance against ND and in the McDonalds game were her average games. If people remember the next All Star game she played in her shot was not dropping and she did not look as good. Her present assessment is also compounded by the fact that she is a freshman adapting not only to D1 level of competition and what is expected from her at Uconn. She also has to focus on elevating her defense.

I personally speculated that many posters on this site jumped the gun in respect to their expectations of her via a few good performances such as ND and the McDonalds games. She herself might have also fallen into that trap as well. She is what she is and only time will reveal what that will play out to be.

 

[oldude]

This is so important it definitely needs repeating. We have two players (KLS and Christyn Williams) that are struggling with their shot. You don't have to look very far for an explanation. CW is struggling because of the demands of playing UCONN style defense. The explanation for KLS is pretty much the same. KLS is averaging 7.2 RPG- More than 3 RPG above her career average of 3.9. There is a price to be paid for playing UCONN style defense and rebounding, that price often shows up the legs first.

So here’s my counter argument. If you are suggesting that Christyn & Lou are missing shots at the end of the half or at the end of the game because their legs are tired, I might accept that as a reasonable explanation. The problem is that they are both missing shots right out of the gate before they’ve had much of a chance to break a sweat. Lou runs hot and cold throughout the game.

Christyn has been cold of late, regardless of how long she’s been on the floor. As a reminder, Christyn played all 40 minutes against ND.

 

[UConnCat]

This is so important it definitely needs repeating. We have two players (KLS and Christyn Williams) that are struggling with their shot. You don't have to look very far for an explanation. CW is struggling because of the demands of playing UCONN style defense. The explanation for KLS is pretty much the same. KLS is averaging 7.2 RPG- More than 3 RPG above her career average of 3.9. There is a price to be paid for playing UCONN style defense and rebounding, that price often shows up the legs first.

Great point. Lou is expected to do a lot more this year than in previous years.

 

[CocoHusky]

So here’s my counter argument. If you are suggesting that Christyn & Lou are missing shots at the end of the half or at the end of the game because their legs are tired, I might accept that as a reasonable explanation. The problem is that they are both missing shots right out of the gate before they’ve had much of a chance to break a sweat. Lou runs hot and cold throughout the game. Christyn has been cold of late, regardless of how long she’s been on the floor. As a reminder, Christyn played all 40 minutes against ND.

The effect I'm speaking off is the accumulation over an entire season. ND game was almost two months ago.

 

[donalddoowop]

This is so important it definitely needs repeating. We have two players (KLS and Christyn Williams) that are struggling with their shot. You don't have to look very far for an explanation. CW is struggling because of the demands of playing UCONN style defense. The explanation for KLS is pretty much the same. KLS is averaging 7.2 RPG- More than 3 RPG above her career average of 3.9. There is a price to be paid for playing UCONN style defense and rebounding, that price often shows up the legs first.

That does not seem to be hindering Walker, Dangerfield, or Collier. Their legs seem to be holding up just fine. Also, I agree with what oldude said about it.

 

[oldude]

The effect I'm speaking off is the accumulation over an entire season. ND game was almost two months ago.

I believe Christyn is 18 and Lou is 21. They are both superbly conditioned athletes. Furthermore, they just started the 2nd semester, so other than practice and games, they’ve had a month to basically sit around and do nothing. No classes. No late night study sessions, and with the student body basically home for break, not even any college parties to attend. I have a difficult time buying into the argument that fatigue accumulated over half a college season is the culprit here.