Today's practice

[huskybill]

Isn't there an open practice for season ticket holders today? Anyone going to it?

 

[THC]

Bill, I'll pick you up on my way. I'll roll a joint for the drive.

 

[JoePgh]

I'm at the practice (just starting), but Morgan and Kiah are not present. Did anyone hear about any nagging injuries that they might have?

 

[cferraro04]

Morgan and Kiah are not present. Did anyone hear about any nagging injuries that they might have?


Better check the swimming pool...

 

[VAMike23]

I'm at the practice (just starting), but Morgan and Kiah are not present. Did anyone hear about any nagging injuries that they might have?

Guessing they had some Finals that could not be taken early?

 

[UConnChapette]

Guessing they had some Finals that could not be taken early?

That would be my guess as well.

 

[JoePgh]

Geno to Caroline after she passed up an open corner three and made a poor pass to KML instead:

"Why would you rather turn the ball over than shoot? Five years wasn't enough. Five more and you'll shoot the ball."

 

[winlots]

GUYS: that's IT??? A couple/few folks at a PRACTICE, and that's IT???? Lovin' the detail on the Geno quote. But that's IT????????????? Who looked how????? Some pluses and minuses????? Did the missing appear? This CAN'T be IT?????

 

[JoePgh]

Can't provide too much detail from an iPhone. Hopefully more later when I have a real keyboard.

 

[JoePgh]

After practice while Geno was addressing the audience, Morgan and Kiah did appear and join the team. Kiah had what looked like an ankle brace on her right leg.

I'm guessing they had minor injuries and were doing rehab.

 

[wire chief]

Bill, I'll pick you up on my way. I'll roll a joint for the drive.

 

[JoePgh]

Geno confirmed that Kiah and Morgan have injuries. Morgan's knee is occasionally painful and they are waiting for a brace for her. Kiah does have a non-serious ankle issue and will be out a week or two.

He thinks both injuries are minor.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Thanks. I don't like the sound of Morgan's knee. She had a major injury about 3 years ago.

If you have a recent iPhone, use Siri instead of typing. I'm sure she can spell "Auriemma" correctly.

 

[huskybill]

GUYS: that's IT??? A couple/few folks at a PRACTICE, and that's IT???? Lovin' the detail on the Geno quote. But that's IT????????????? Who looked how????? Some pluses and minuses????? Did the missing appear? This CAN'T be IT?????

Bria looked like she's coming along. Not 100% yet, but certainly she looked faster at the beginning of practice than she has in games. Geno worked the team over 2 hours and everyone seemed tired at the end. The left Bank continued her hot shooting in practice and even the boy practice players haven't figured out she's lefthanded yet as she made several nice layups. Kaleena hit lots of threes. She also made a blatant offensive foul that had everyone laughing Mo showed off her speed and hit some shots. Stewie missed quite a few layups. Heather played some time with the mens team as well as some with the women. Kelly was Kelly although she didn't shoot as well in this practice as she has in games this year. Stef seemed to have a hard time condition-wise in this practice. Geno's comments about Carolyn needing 5 more years to learn when to shoot was probably the funniest scene in the practice. One thing that seems obvious is that the boys practice group will challenge the women as it is a tough group with some nice shooters. They are also tall enough to bother Stef and Stewie.

Geno spoke and answered questions for a long time after the practice and I think it ran from 4 to 7:20 befor we left Gampel.

 

[sTu]

A very interesting practice. Most of the practice was devoted to the offense, some tuning of the press, and doubling in the half court defense. It was informative watching going from the two on two and three on three drills to seeing those plays used in full court action. A lot of effort went into spacing. The emphasis was on going from defense to offense at TOP speed. After a make or turnover the ball is being really pushed up court and the team gets into the offense immediately.

 

[Blakeon18]

Some of this may be repetitive but here goes:

As usual there was a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm throughout. Lots of yelling, clapping and encouragment....Geno tends to be rather low-key in his instructions and/or sarcasm. The kids work hard and it was a long practice to boot. Both Morgan and Kiah did some stationary bicycle stuff. Their ailments didn't sound serious though 1-2 weeks for Kiah might put her very close to the Stanford game [D29].

The strength coach ran some warm-up exercises. They were not particularly strenuous but just watching Kelly do her stuff with such grace makes it very easy to understand why Geno calls her the best athlete on the team. A very cute lil' 3 year old....daughter of the coach?...was out there being adorable....particularly her interaction with KML.

They did a lot of 2 on 2 [guys defending]...then 3 on 3....then 5 on 5. Overall the shooting was fair at best. Notable exception was KML who was pretty much an ATM machine [money!] from trey-land. She also showed her varied offensive game with some drives and post moves. Brianna Banks was solid....several gorgeous drives to the basket...a couple of treys...a couple of pull-up jumpers. She gets serious elevation on her 'j'....serious! Moriah struggled at the start with shooting but seemed to get better as the practice went on...she has a lot of arc on her outside shot....a lot! I'm not sure there is the consistency in that respect that you would want.

Maybe around 200 people in attendance.

Geno said that Saniya Chong was a good kid....shot whenever she touched the ball...was a good passer...and a good scorer. Regarding the conference mess: he said he didn't think in the short term it would have a negative effect on his recruiting. I sure hope that is true....I do wonder about it especially given the possible break of the basketball schools in the next few days.

Remember the SNY preseason special? They showed a kid being interviewed for a possible walk-on role this year. It turned out that she has some kind of medical issue and can't play. I swear I saw her on the sidelines...just watching. If that was her I would guess she is earning mucho points with Geno for caring that much about a possible role next year. Good for her!

Geno should wear a mike for these events....you could not hear much of what he was saying during the practice.

Sitting down low near the court gives you a much better sense of the overall speed and energy out on the court.

Geno tried to downplay the role of the frosh this year...saying that any championships are not won with freshmen but upperclassmen. He clearly was trying to lower some expectations that some fans have [me for one]....with special mention of Breanna Stewart in his remarks. Breanna didn't have a particularly good shooting afternoon but also made some plays that only she can make with long-armed putbacks and drives. Just imo...we need her bigtime in April....frosh or not.

'Twas a great afternoon....thanks to Geno for allowing fans that access.

 

[meyers7]

Notable exception was KML who was pretty much an ATM machine [money!] from trey-land. She also showed her varied offensive game with some drives and post moves.

She's so money and she doesn't even know it.

Remember the SNY preseason special? They showed a kid being interviewed for a possible walk-on role this year. It turned out that she has some kind of medical issue and can't play. I swear I saw her on the sidelines...just watching. If that was her I would guess she is earning mucho points with Geno for caring that much about a possible role next year. Good for her!

Becca Pope. Yea I hope she is able to walk-on next year.

And thanks blake, nice recap.

 

[winlots]

Bria looked like she's coming along. Not 100% yet, but certainly she looked faster at the beginning of practice than she has in games. Geno worked the team over 2 hours and everyone seemed tired at the end. The left Bank continued her hot shooting in practice and even the boy practice players haven't figured out she's lefthanded yet as she made several nice layups. Kaleena hit lots of threes. She also made a blatant offensive foul that had everyone laughing Mo showed off her speed and hit some shots. Stewie missed quite a few layups. Heather played some time with the mens team as well as some with the women. Kelly was Kelly although she didn't shoot as well in this practice as she has in games this year. Stef seemed to have a hard time condition-wise in this practice. Geno's comments about Carolyn needing 5 more years to learn when to shoot was probably the funniest scene in the practice. One thing that seems obvious is that the boys practice group will challenge the women as it is a tough group with some nice shooters. They are also tall enough to bother Stef and Stewie.

Geno spoke and answered questions for a long time after the practice and I think it ran from 4 to 7:20 befor we left Gampel.

HUSKY: NOW we're talkin. Very good suff......helpful and interesting details....pros AND cons....covers everybody who played INCLUDING the men. Kinda like bein there......and a hard-to-beat early Christmas present. A tip o the cap - and a Merry Christmas in return.

 

[winlots]

Some of this may be repetitive but here goes:

As usual there was a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm throughout. Lots of yelling, clapping and encouragment....Geno tends to be rather low-key in his instructions and/or sarcasm. The kids work hard and it was a long practice to boot. Both Morgan and Kiah did some stationary bicycle stuff. Their ailments didn't sound serious though 1-2 weeks for Kiah might put her very close to the Stanford game [D29].

The strength coach ran some warm-up exercises. They were not particularly strenuous but just watching Kelly do her stuff with such grace makes it very easy to understand why Geno calls her the best athlete on the team. A very cute lil' 3 year old....daughter of the coach?...was out there being adorable....particularly her interaction with KML.

They did a lot of 2 on 2 [guys defending]...then 3 on 3....then 5 on 5. Overall the shooting was fair at best. Notable exception was KML who was pretty much an ATM machine [money!] from trey-land. She also showed her varied offensive game with some drives and post moves. Brianna Banks was solid....several gorgeous drives to the basket...a couple of treys...a couple of pull-up jumpers. She gets serious elevation on her 'j'....serious! Moriah struggled at the start with shooting but seemed to get better as the practice went on...she has a lot of arc on her outside shot....a lot! I'm not sure there is the consistency in that respect that you would want.

Maybe around 200 people in attendance.

Geno said that Saniya Chong was a good kid....shot whenever she touched the ball...was a good passer...and a good scorer. Regarding the conference mess: he said he didn't think in the short term it would have a negative effect on his recruiting. I sure hope that is true....I do wonder about it especially given the possible break of the basketball schools in the next few days.

Remember the SNY preseason special? They showed a kid being interviewed for a possible walk-on role this year. It turned out that she has some kind of medical issue and can't play. I swear I saw her on the sidelines...just watching. If that was her I would guess she is earning mucho points with Geno for caring that much about a possible role next year. Good for her!

Geno should wear a mike for these events....you could not hear much of what he was saying during the practice.

Sitting down low near the court gives you a much better sense of the overall speed and energy out on the court.

Geno tried to downplay the role of the frosh this year...saying that any championships are not won with freshmen but upperclassmen. He clearly was trying to lower some expectations that some fans have [me for one]....with special mention of Breanna Stewart in his remarks. Breanna didn't have a particularly good shooting afternoon but also made some plays that only she can make with long-armed putbacks and drives. Just imo...we need her bigtime in April....frosh or not.

'Twas a great afternoon....thanks to Geno for allowing fans that access.[/quot

BLAKE: 'Twas also like the night before Xmas...thank you. Merry Christmas to one of the best.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Thanks everyone...great thread!

 

[JSB60]

Great reporting! I love Geno on Saniya being a great passer but shoots whenever she gets the ball.

 

[JoePgh]

One of Geno's comments in the post-practice Q&A particularly struck me. I forgot what it was in response to. He said that he had been somewhere where all the fans were asking about Breanna Stewart and how good she was going to be. After listening to this, he said, "Do you guys know who #23 on our team is?" And they said, "Isn't she that kid from California?" He was amazed that they couldn't remember KML's name this year, when last year (when she was the new freshman) everyone was expecting her to be the next Maya Moore.

Apparently it's the nature of fans to be always focused on the new person, whoever she may be, and to forget quickly about "old" members of the team even when they are just sophomores.

 

[pinotbear]

One of Geno's comments in the post-practice Q&A particularly struck me. I forgot what it was in response to. He said that he had been somewhere where all the fans were asking about Breanna Stewart and how good she was going to be. After listening to this, he said, "Do you guys know who #23 on our team is?" And they said, "Isn't she that kid from California?" He was amazed that they couldn't remember KML's name this year, when last year (when she was the new freshman) everyone was expecting her to be the next Maya Moore.

Apparently it's the nature of fans to be always focused on the new person, whoever she may be, and to forget quickly about "old" members of the team even when they are just sophomores.

 

[jplotinus]

Thanks everyone...great thread!

True that

 

[itsasport]

From a quick Internet search, Becca is currently a starting guard at UConn Avery Point. She seems to be a decent Div. III player.

However, perhaps her most outstanding quality,to Geno, could be what she called her favorite food- "ANYTHING ITALIAN."