The Dolson Conundrum

[RockyMTblue2]

Maybe it's not entirely their fault either. The passes are more difficult than they were last year because of the extra defensive attention being paid to Stef.

Here's where the absence of Maya is underestimated. Stef needs a genuine scoring threat at the 4 to free her up. She had it last year and doesn't now.

Maybe Kiah can grow into providing some of that -- needs to show a little more mid-range capability, which may be there -- though her main role is backup center.

Michala needs time and added strength. Heather obviously isn't adaptable to the needed role.

Next year, the void gets filled, big time, with BStew and Tuck. I think that pair will contribute right away, and as far as getting the ball inside, Stef and the guards will return to having some breathing room to operate.

Spot on JS.

 

[Icebear]

She's 6'5" and she is a not an aggressive rebounder. She is not the #2 rebounder on the team. She's #3. My point is that 6 rpg for a starting center is disappointing especially if the center isn't really lighting it up on offense.

Normalized for 40 minutes:
Dolson - 10.8 rpg
Stokes - 13.2 rpg
Buck - 14.8 rpg - a rebound machine!
Johnson - 10.0 rpg

Only when adjusted per minute. She is #1 per game and now #1 in total rebounds while playing only 21.8 minutes per game. Offensively, we have her often in the high post which limits her ability to rebound on that end of the court. Plus she regularly redirects rebounds to other players on the floor something UConn is doing too much lately.

UConn is a team this year that does not rely on a single player or two to rebound. We have four players rebounding at a rate of over 5 per game and three more getting 4.7, 4.1 and 4.5 (team rebounds) per game. We out rebound opponents by over 12 per game. We are not using a scheme that focuses on individual rebounders.

I would be glad to have Stef pull down more rebounds but there are many reasons besides her not being agressive enough on the boards. Stef is not and never will be quick to the ball but she knows how to use her particular skills to help the team reboud well by boxing out and tipping balls to open rebounders.

 

[magic]

AMEN to that!

 

[VAMike23]

LMAO love it !!!!

 

[VAMike23]

He said it once. ONCE. Message board fans have latched on to that and THEY were the ones holding her to that.

In fact, I'd like to see that quote. I wouldn't be surprised of the actual context of that statement was that she was the 2nd best at the end of last year and expected that to continue.

Have you found the [verbatim] quote yet?

 

[Icebear]

Have you found the [verbatim] quote yet?

It was on the first or second Geno Show of the year.

 

[VAMike23]

It was on the first or second Geno Show of the year.

Great - we'll let DD do the digging and he can report back at his convenience.

 

[doggydaddy]

Have you found the [verbatim] quote yet?

Nope. Did quick google and no luck.

I'll keep looking. Maybe someone else can find it?

 

[UcMiami]

"God she was awful . . . "??? Sorry UC but you could not be more wrong. Tina Charles was awesome for all 4 years at UConn. She just didn't play to Auriemma's expectations until her junior year. She was also injured for part of that time.
As Ozzie noted - it was an ironic openning paragraph - though if one went back to the message boards from those years you would find lots of posts after games complaining about what a waste of space Tina was in some particular game and 'deep' analysis of why she was struggling so much.

 

[Bestiarius]

Agree with all above, but I think the absolutely worst thing that could have happened to her was (and yes, here I am going to criticize He Who Must Not Be Criticized) for her coach to suggest she was the second-best center in the country.

Well, perhaps he should have said, "I couldn't think more highly of Stef", that way, we can look at it any way we want.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I remember the quote but not so clear on the context. I do seem to remember that it seemed genuine and I took it at face value. I thought he believed that and so did most of us here.

I know it wasn't a throw away like "she couldn't guard a chair".

 

[JoePgh]

I haven't done the research, but the comment was roughly, "There's a center down at Baylor is pretty good, but Stef has got to be the second best center in the country." It wasn't a throwaway comment. He stated that it was based on her improvement over the summer (including her conditioning) and her knowledge of the offense.

Like many such predictions (even by coaches), it didn't work out that way. I am apparently the only one to see a similarity between Stef and Meighan Simmons of Tennessee, both of whom had surprisingly good freshman years and were expected (by coaches and hometown fans) to be more reliable as sophomores than they have turned out to be. It happens.

Tina as a freshman and sophomore had more rebounds than Stef, and was more talented than Stef all around, but never had a grasp of the offense that would allow her to make passes from the high post to set up others. She showed enormous improvement when she matured personally, and it really began to show around the middle of her junior year.

Stef has some maturing to do, mainly just to take it more seriously (less as "just a game") than she has thus far. She still has a major upside when she gets it together. I don't think she will ever be the rebounder that Tina was, and probably will never be an Olympic player, but she will be very good -- at least at the Schumacher / J. Moore / K. Wolters level.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Interesting comparison to Wolters. A different era, but she dominated the paint. Once she got in shape and toughened up there was nobody better. I used to love that baby hook.

 

[jsloanjr]

I think Stef has hit the Soft wall.........She played BB all summer and she traveled to Europe twice once with UCONN. Her body is tired and the week from the XL ND game has 5 or 6 days rest.........All she needs is her batteries recharged

 

[rington]

Her comments of late suggest that she knows what she has to do. That's a good omen.
She will improve; she loves the game too much not to.

 

[doggydaddy]

I haven't done the research, but the comment was roughly, "There's a center down at Baylor is pretty good, but Stef has got to be the second best center in the country." It wasn't a throwaway comment.

Did he repeat that again? If not, it's a throwaway comment. And not something that poor Dolson has to play up to all year long. Even now, I see posters using that statement against her.

 

[magic]

Maybe it's not entirely their fault either. The passes are more difficult than they were last year because of the extra defensive attention being paid to Stef.

Here's where the absence of Maya is underestimated. Stef needs a genuine scoring threat at the 4 to free her up. She had it last year and doesn't now.

Maybe Kiah can grow into providing some of that -- needs to show a little more mid-range capability, which may be there -- though her main role is backup center.

Michala needs time and added strength. Heather obviously isn't adaptable to the needed role.

Next year, the void gets filled, big time, with BStew and Tuck. I think that pair will contribute right away, and as far as getting the ball inside, Stef and the guards will return to having some breathing room to operate.

Great teams have inside -outside balance.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Did he repeat that again? If not, it's a throwaway comment. And not something that poor Dolson has to play up to all year long. Even now, I see posters using that statement against her.

Remember that he made this comment very early on. Maybe he didn't repeat it because as the season wore on it became obvious that she wasn't progressing the way he expected.

 

[doggydaddy]

Remember that he made this comment very early on. Maybe he didn't repeat it because as the season wore on it became obvious that she wasn't progressing the way he expected.

Exactly. So why should she have to deal with the fan's latching on to that early season statement that he didn't repeat?

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

Exactly. So why should she have to deal with the fan's latching on to that early season statement that he didn't repeat?

I think it is fodder for those who wish to bash her.

 

[doggydaddy]

I think it is fodder for those who wish to bash her.

Exactly, Ozzie.

It's pretty pathetic.

 

[Icebear]

I think it is fodder for those who wish to bash her.

Yup, that is all it has become.

 

[AboutWeston]

Ditto

 

[vtcwbuff]

I just reread this entire thread and could not find a post that used that quote to "bash" her.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

If you guys really want to help WBB out, just send any of the other 300+ schools any of your players that you are unhappy with.

The idea reminds me of a Tina Charles related story in 2007. I guess you guys had a (relatively) tough time with Green Bay in the tourney; at the Final 4 we saw Kevin Borseth (who was coaching GB at the time) and he said he would have had a much better chance if he could have borrowed Kia Vaughn to play against Tina Charles.