Shout out to Molly

[uconnfan68]

Thought she was great today. Just the spark Geno wants to give Crystal some extra rest.

 

[JoePgh]

It will be interesting, given Geno's comments about the stress on Crystal of feeling that she can't come out because there is no one to replace her even temporarily, whether Geno gives Molly some "relief" minutes in close games against reasonably good teams, starting with Tennessee next Thursday. It seems to me that she has earned the right to play those minutes.

 

[PacoSwede]

when crystal was out injured for 2 games, molly started and played, what?, about 30 minutes both games. ... she handled the job very well, so those comments about crystal suffering so much added stress of having no decent backup seem bogus and a royal rip at molly

it puzzles me. ... i know some -- maybe a lot of BYers -- don't trust molly's play, but i think she has proven she is fully able to fill in when called upon. she' s been really solid as a senior, and there a need, according to geno. ... puzzling

 

[Steelerone]

Sorry to disagree. No one is questioning their effort or their dedication to the team. That is obvious. But for the past three and a half years we have seen the same thing from both Kyla and Molly when they have been in games whether for three or thirty minutes. The ball is passed to them, they are wide open, they immediately look for someone to pass to. This, again, creates a situation where the defense collapses on the othernfour players, making it more difficult for them to get an open shot and at the level of teams Uconn plays you just cannot condone it. "Handling the job" is one thing against Tulsa. Doing it against teams that are not 5-12 is another.

 

[bluedevil]

The only one who will decide this argument is Molly

 

[CL82]

Molly would start for Tulsa. She's D1 talent just not top 10 D1 talent.

 

[64Zcode]

It will be interesting, given Geno's comments about the stress on Crystal of feeling that she can't come out because there is no one to replace her even temporarily, whether Geno gives Molly some "relief" minutes in close games against reasonably good teams, starting with Tennessee next Thursday. It seems to me that she has earned the right to play those minutes.

I remember reading a quote from Crystal right after she came back after sitting out a couple games. She was asked about Molly’s performance in her absence and her reply was something like “Coach is always getting on Molly for playing too fast, but I think she’s solid”. That is how I remember it, but I can’t find the article online, maybe it was in print only. Pretty sure it was from a blurb in the Waterbury Rep-Am and I probably didn’t get the quote 100% accurate.

Molly has been playing aggressive defense in the last few games that she’s been in and created some good things with her hustle. Still passing up some open shots, and that’s unfortunate, but her defensive energy has been very good, IMO. She’s been successful at disrupting the opponent’s playing numerous times, often leading to good things at the other end of the court.

Just because I had some time, I went back to look at the “Top 5 Plays” that were posted for the games that Molly played in more than a minute or two, including the exhibition games.
Surprisingly, a play that included Molly was in more than half of those videos, a couple of them were deemed the #1 play. I thought that I remembered her showing up in a lot of those.

Granted, none of this can be considered ‘hard data’ and I’m sure that someone can whip up a spreadsheet or formula to beat me over the head with to prove that she is of little value to the team.

I, however, enjoy watching the game a little more when Molly is playing, Molly having the ball is no longer a guaranteed turnover. (Hopefully I didn’t just jinx things by saying it out loud)
At the risk of sounding all “sunshine and lollipops”, I think she brings something positive (although maybe sometimes intangible) to the big picture, something that isn’t measured necessarily under a column of numbers.

Still a Molly fan here.

 

[asuwish]

Thought she was great today. Just the spark Geno wants to give Crystal some extra rest.

The perfect place to use someome like Molly is to put her in with about a minute left in the 1st quarter. If we want to control the tempo that means only 2 or 3 possessions, outside maybe 4. It also means 2 to maybe even 5 minutes of extra rest depending on how much stoppage of play (a foul with shots takes up time). Maybe we get lucky and something gets reviewed. Add in the time between quarters and that should be enough rest to get to half time. Same thing potentially at the end of 3rd quarter. It also gives time for coaches to go over adjustments with the floor general.

 

[Roger G]

I thoroughly hope Molly can be a more significant contributor, but Geno is seeing more than the rest of us. He's not infallible, but he sees a lot more than we do. From what I've seen, her history of not making some big mistakes when playing is short. Nevertheless, let's hope she has really turned a corner and Geno recognizes that she has.

 

[Dokey]

I see her playing like a girl who realizes this may be it and that has translated into some big plays. She would start for a hundred or more D-1 programs.