Should Christyn Come Off the Bench?

[ME Husky Fan]

The other moving part here, not knowing whether it's been stated or not, is the oft-time huge jump from AAU and high school to D1 basketball, not to mention a program and coach as what we have at UCONN. That jump can be a significant one even for a top notch BB player such as Christyn. Keep her part of the starting 5 where she belongs. Will be interested to see how she shows up against Louisville and South Carolina..

 

[oldude]

Not sure if this is the block you're talking about, but on one block, Yoko, I mean ONO, did bring her arms down, but did not foul the shooter. It was a bad call and I wonder if refs automatically call a foul if a defender brings her arms down, whether connecting to the shooter or not.

It was Liv’s 4th pf, occurring 14 seconds into the 4th qtr. I agree it was a close call. There was no contact with the body and Liv got mostly, or perhaps all, ball. But she did swing down, perhaps catching a little bit of arm, and perhaps not. If she doesn’t swing downward, the ref doesn’t blow his whistle, it’s a clean block and the Huskies are heading the other way on a fast break.

 

[oldude]

Christyn is a ticking time bomb who the opposing defenses have to account for.

They can slack off but at a risk.

Even ONO doesn’t provide an equal scare factor.

If CW hits 2-3 in a row watch the reaction from the opposing coach...betcha it’ll be a quick time out

I like the ticking time bomb analogy. However it happens for Christyn, I want that bomb to explode very soon, preferably this Thursday, and then consistently in game after game, all the way to a 12th championship.

 

['nuff sed]

I like the ticking time bomb analogy. However it happens for Christyn, I want that bomb to explode very soon, preferably this Thursday, and then consistently in game after game, all the way to a 12th championship.

Well they’ll need something out of her and a few mins from ONO most likely, both from the defensive side, Thurs nite.

That backcourt’s a problem and it’s not just Durr.

 

[EricSD]

Well they’ll need something out of her and a few mins from ONO most likely, both from the defensive side, Thurs nite.

That backcourt’s a problem and it’s not just Durr.

So is ours! Danger is a handful. Traditionally, UCONN has been a bad matchup for L'ville. last year was the first time I can remember that they hung with us. Durr is a load, and Feuhring is much improved and I think far better than her initial ranking coming out of high school (meaning she's developed nicely under Walz).

Traditionally, L'ville likes to play fast, get into passing lanes, disrupt on the defensive end, and run. They aren't huge (like Baylor or MSU), but have decent size, but still, most of the time, everything they like to do, we just do better. It will be interesting to see if they can build off the last 3 quarters (IIRC) from last year where they outplayed us (we jumped on them early and built a big lead which we rode thru the end of the game).

 

[Los24]

So if Lou and/or Christyn light it up this Thursday at Louisville, how are we going to explain it?

I agree, its not like Lou was not active or playing defense last year (I believe she was second in steals.) How about their sophomore year? Because they are better at certain things this year does not mean they were not exerting effort. Lou was running out more on breaks last year instead rebounding but that said, may times she was boxing out but Gabby and/or Phee would get the rebound.

I also agree with your point about Kia and even more so Gabby providing better passing that allowed her to be in a better position. I have seen her open many times but the pass coming late which allowed the defender to be on her.

Ultimately, she needs to fight through it regardless because a player of her caliber (that most of us hold her in) can not have any of the excuses provided to not improve her shooting efficiency. That said, I think she is contributing in many other ways outside that one terrible game.

 

[BroadwayVa]

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.

Are saying Geno does not want CW to score? That answers all the questions about why CW isn't scoring..If that is what Geno said/meant.

 

[CocoHusky]

So if Lou and/or Christyn light it up this Thursday at Louisville, how are we going to explain it?

These two players were a combined 7 of 21.

 

[CocoHusky]

No better time than now, before the NCAAs, to learn the non-scoring stuff.

I really admire how Christyn is handling this. She's treating her minutes and one-on-one sideline coaching as a golden opportunity - you can see it in her focus and chin up, direct eye contact. Sure, she's in her head a lot atm, but her progress in the non-scoring parts of the game is obvious.

Scoring, particularly in the way she did in ND, I'm not worried about. She described how her role in that game scoring-only in the postgame presser. I think if the coaching staff told her to do exactly that again in another game, she could. Easily and successfully.

Lastly - hi guys! - my first post here. I've been a lurker on rebkell since 2013, but never looked at the BY until recently because I thought it was Uconn-exclusive. Thanks for having me.

Welcome.

 

[oldude]

These two players were a combined 7 of 21.

And Megan & Crystal were a combined 10 of 30.

Cocoa, I’m surprised at you. It’s really bad form to go back several days, grab a post to say I told you so. I’ve already got a wife to do that.

Hey, here’s an idea. Maybe Christyn would be better if she came off the bench.

 

[OoImFancy]

Honestly, I would bench Williams a couple of games to wake her up even more. I like a bigger lineup with starting ONO to build her confidence up more. ONO is a good player but doesn’t play in games enough to know what to do really. We will need her along with others for the rest of the season. Williams will get out of this slump she’s in just as Stewie did her freshman year. Just food for thought.