alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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I thought the Geno Show discussion about Stef really crystalized the thoughts I've seen about her game this season on the board.
The most salient points were:
Between her having an increased comfort level with her expanded role and the additional size we'll have next season (Breanna and Kiah if she progresses), I think Stef will really get to shine like many people thought she would this year.
One other note in case you missed it: Geno called Breanna Stewart an evolutionary Rebecca Lobo, basically the kind of player Rebecca would have been if she were an ultra-elite athlete. He can't wait to coach her, and, not that it matters, but he guarantees she'll dunk in her college career.
Geno's going to have a Swiss army knife next year, and not a cheapo one; we're talking about the oversized model with every single option you might need in any situation. Imagine something like the picture, except each tool is a different type of player. That's UConn in 2012-13. UConn may field more dominant teams in subsequent seasons, but versatility-wise 2012-13 is going to be hard to top:
The most salient points were:
- Geno loves Stef. He said she's the kind of kid that if he could consistently have on the team, he'd want to coach for another 20 years. So, um...can we maybe find some more Stef Dolsons out there?
- If you've been critical of her game this year, it's partially on Stef, but it's mostly not.
- Here's the part that Stef's responsibility- she needs to be more assertive. Just get to a spot, and know what she's going to do with the ball when she gets it. Right now , she's thinking too much, putting the ball on the floor around guards instead of using her 6'5" height, etc.
- However, you have to take into account that she's being asked to a lot of things she wasn't last year. She's in the high post and doing a number of other things outside her comfort zone from last season.
- Last season, she was essentially asked to do a few specific things that suited her abilities AND she happened to have an especially gifted entry passer in Maya Moore. So she benefitted from Maya's passing, as well as the fact that every opposing defense had Maya as the primary focus. If you look at how little space she had against ND this season compared to when she buried them in the BET final, that difference is obvious.
- By the way, no one on the team is an especially gifted entry passer like Maya was.
Between her having an increased comfort level with her expanded role and the additional size we'll have next season (Breanna and Kiah if she progresses), I think Stef will really get to shine like many people thought she would this year.
One other note in case you missed it: Geno called Breanna Stewart an evolutionary Rebecca Lobo, basically the kind of player Rebecca would have been if she were an ultra-elite athlete. He can't wait to coach her, and, not that it matters, but he guarantees she'll dunk in her college career.
Geno's going to have a Swiss army knife next year, and not a cheapo one; we're talking about the oversized model with every single option you might need in any situation. Imagine something like the picture, except each tool is a different type of player. That's UConn in 2012-13. UConn may field more dominant teams in subsequent seasons, but versatility-wise 2012-13 is going to be hard to top: