Some thoughts after the game

[cohenzone]

This responds to the first post. First of all, the suggestion that this team might not go UNBEATEN, shows how spoiled our program can make people. In the history of women's college hoops, how many have gone unbeaten? It is harder than GA's teams have made it seem at times. Second, these last two games weren't against chopped liver. They are very good teams (National champs, no, but very good) intent on taking us out of our game. And they did. And they both lost by 15 points, a margin against a good team that used to pass for a blowout. Neither had any chance of winning inside of 3 minutes or more. Third, we are a team of very mixed experience, it is early in the season, and the younger group is just catching on, although as much as our frosh are ballyhooed, our soph class need not be overlooked. I kind of like it that they are overlooked. KML might be the best all around player this early in her career that we have had, only Maya and Diana might have been equal, but maybe not, and she is totally undemonstrative, which makes her easy to take for granted. As for the team not liking contact, I'm not sure that's exactly true. Stewart is still adjusting, but was good at the foul line yesterday. Banks runs right into contact and Dolson was abused the last two games. Bottom line, going unbeaten isn't the bottom line, but there are only a few teams out there capable of beating us and we are capable of beating them..

 

[chrissaran]

Kiah needs

My thoughts, as if anyone cares.

Banks improvement is nothing short of astonishing. Kudos to her for her hard work. She may be my favorite UCONN player. I respect what she has done with her game.

KML's offense is a thing of beauty. She is a pure shooter, maybe the best pure shooter I've seen in a UCONN jersey.

Stewart has never been pushed and shoved before and it is frustrating her. I'm sure that she will get pushed and shoved the rest of her career like BG has. Weight training will be required. I think Lobo was a bit over zealous proclaiming her WNBA ready. But man she has mad skills! And her arms are longer than a west Texas highway.

Hartley will come around. I think there is some undue criticism. Give her a little time...she's a gamer and will be ready when needed.

Dolson is more fit but her footwork and speed look about the same to me. Her stats against MD and PSU were very similar to the past two years, with an average of 10 points. She will need to be more dominant. But the way she whipped Bone's ass in the TAMU game gave me great delight. She needs to play like that on a nightly basis.

Faris reminds me so much of Melissa Jones. She does all the hard work. I would want her on my side in a bar fight, especially if we're fighting over a basketball.

I'm not sure how much production UCONN will get out of Stokes and Tuck. Tuck seems to be a tweener who will need to find her niche with the team. I'm not sure that Stokes is as talented as many seem to believe. I think that Stokes' lack of development could be the biggest pitfall down the road should Dolson be in foul trouble since Stewart isn't dealing well with physical play.

Doty is a steady player who most likely will not win or lose a game for you, but every team needs a player like that.

Kiah needs more confidence in her shot, which she won't get by not playing. Her defense is already excellent and will only get better.

 

[boontonbomber]

we need to see more of tuck and stokes, and a bit less of dolson. don't understand why, with her better condition, she's falling down more than tiff did. as kara wolters said last night, there was no low post game. dolson doesn't seem to be very effective against stronger, physical defenders. i don't understand dolson playing 30 minutes in that kind of game, and tuck(6) and and stokes(8) combined for 14 minutes. dolson literally had trouble standing up at times. tuck certainly has the strength and moves to operate in the post. kml shows that size is not needed to operate effectively down low, if you're strong and have some moves. to me, tuck always seems to do good things when she's on the floor. she's quick, she's seems to really understand the game, she can handle the ball, and she's confident. i really hope that she gets more minutes.

 

[sarals24]

KML also usually has smaller players guarding her.

I agree that Stef needs to stop falling so much. She is often off-balance with her shots, as opposed to Tiff, who was out of control on drives. I think if she improved her balance she would make more layups as well.

 

[JoePgh]

About Kiah again:

Late in the first half, Penn State had gotten several offensive rebounds in a row against Stef and Stewie, and Geno finally put Kiah in. There was a noticeable difference -- Kiah started cleaning the defensive boards, and Penn State was limited to one shot. I was puzzled as to why Kiah wasn't playing more, and why (early in the second half with Stef in foul trouble) Morgan was playing with four guards.

Then, rather late in the game but before it was decided, Kiah came in again, and it was apparent why she hadn't been playing. She was a complete non-factor on every offensive possession. With her in the game, offensive execution DID break down (even though by that point the refs weren't blowing their whistles constantly). Kiah seems comfortable on defense and on the boards, but hasn't grasped the offense or made it instinctive. That will certainly limit the minutes that Geno can play her.

 

[easttexastrash]

And I think Sagarin has a better handle on this than you do.. It's 4 points.

LOL. Thanks for playing.

 

[sarals24]

I would venture that home court advantage is less tangible than saying a number of points. Playing UConn is tough enough, much less at UConn. Maybe not for teams in the top 10, but for teams who never play in front of big crowds, that can be unnerving.

That said, I think sometimes the opposite occurs; teams play much better against UConn than they do in other games. Purdue hit a crazy number of threes, and I thought PSU looked much better last night than they have the whole year.

 

[bruinbball]

BTW, I have met Sagarin on a couple of occasions, he is an Indiana guy. All I have to say is wow! The first time I met him was in 2002 through a friend. At this friends wedding in 2007, I saw him again and he remembered my name and date of birth. Apparently, that is one of his many gifts. Super nice guy, awkward, but a really nice guy.

 

[rjp172]

LOL. Thanks for playing.

Actually, you were correct. Some home courts have a higher advantage. On average the advantage is 4 pts, but that's applied across all teams/courts. Obviously there is going to be fluctuation. It is not an absolute. It's a nice betting guide based on mathematical/computer averages when you have to assess an actual number of points. It's also not definitive because the lower scoring the game the lower the advantage and vice versa. Home court advantage has also been shown to change at different points in the season. The home court advantage is different between leagues of the same sport. The NBA is 3pts while the NCAA is 4pts. The catch here is that I haven't ever found a thing that indicates that the 4 pt figure has been calculated to women's ncaa basketball. I've only seen the 4 pt in reference to men.