What improvement would you like to see from the returning Huskies ?

[SVCBeercats]

I don't know what Lou can do there, since everyone's different: But obviously, somehow Lou needs to get stronger or she'll continue to get hammered in college and especially when playing pro.

Read the above while replacing Lou with Stewie. Same ectomorphic body type. Stewie managed to get stronger so can Lou. Stewie is a driven person She wants to succeed. We will see if Lou has a similar drive to improve including strengthing her body. You are absolutely right about a strong core being the key. Not only are you stronger but you will develop better body control on and off the ground.

 

[JoePgh]

Azura isn't a post player - she's a wing/guard.

You keep saying that, and I think the implication that you seem to draw from it (that UConn will still be undersized in the paint) is completely wrong.

It is true that Azura has a diversified offensive game, and on offense, I'm sure Geno will take advantage of that, moving her all over the court as he did with Stewie. But on defense, her customary position (again as with Stewie) will be right under the basket, protecting the rim and blocking layup attempts by any quick guard who gets past Kia or Lou. She will also use her long arms to grab defensive rebounds in quantity. She may not get too many offensive rebounds (except of her own in-close misses), but she will get a full load of defensive rebounds.

When UConn plays South Carolina, Azura will guard A'ja Wilson, and will probably be guarded by A'ja. That will be a marquis matchup, and it is probably one that they will re-enact in the WNBA for the next 10 years or so.

I know that "there is only one Stewie" and that Azura is not Stewie, but there is enough similarity in their physiques and their games that it makes sense to use them similarly at both ends of the court.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Just considering the top 6 returnees:

Lou needs to be stronger and improve her defense. She used her length to get lots of steals late in the season. Hopefully, she can work on guarding one-on-one. She needs to be stronger and more assertive on the boards. I'd love to see her add a jump hook.

Pheesa needs to improve her defense. She probably could get a little stronger too. Her offense was really good, but further refinement and expanding her repertoire would be great.

Gabby needs to extend the range on her jump shot and also work on the jumper off the dribble. She has gotten quite proficient at the catch and shoot up to 16' or so. Maybe she could limit the low percentage passes.

Kia has become an elite shooter, so she just needs to maintain that. I'd like to see an expanded offensive repertoire. I like the pull-up bank shot. A little improvement on defense against quick guards would help.

Crystal is likely to make the biggest jump, based on her class status. I'd like to see her FT shooting at 80%. I'd also like to see her shoot closer to the arc. I think her floater is a huge weapon. I want her shooting a little more and probably dribbling a little less. More effort on defense would be a plus.

Nat needs to improve her footwork and her hands. I know those are not easy. I'd also like to see more upper body strength for rebounding and an improved vertical.

In general, there is not a huge amount of room for growth, but some improvement is normal and expected. A little more maturity across the board and leadership could help. Plus a short course in Badassery.

 

[UConnNick]

Win the national championship.

 

[UConnNick]

I noticed during the Miss State game when they were shooting fouls how ripped Pheesa, Gabby, and Kia are. The arm extensions when shooting revealed how strong they were in their core. This is always the essential area, since when the core weakens, posture starts to go, and that effects endurance, jumping, etc. I don't know what Lou can do there, since everyone's different: I could (and have) lifted for my arms until they almost fell off, and see no difference. But obviously, somehow Lou needs to get stronger or she'll continue to get hammered in college and especially when playing pro.

BTW, I know she didn't play a great game Friday, but it wasn't a bad game. She hit a big 3 when it counted, and she calmly sunk both free throws under extreme pressure and maybe some pain.

Lou played way better than Nurse or Collier did. I have no problem with her game on Friday.

 

[buddy]

Lou played way better than Nurse or Collier did. I have no problem with her game on Friday.

I think all three pretty much disappeared. If only one of them played like they were capable, the outcome would have been different.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Just considering the top 6 returnees:

Lou needs to be stronger and improve her defense. She used her length to get lots of steals late in the season. Hopefully, she can work on guarding one-on-one. She needs to be stronger and more assertive on the boards. I'd love to see her add a jump hook.

I don't know if this is realistic but I'd like to see her block more shots. I know a lot of that is innate timing and quick jumping, but still.

I wonder if Touly is a good shot-blocker?

 

[SVCBeercats]

ALL PLAYERS – integrate with Stevens; learn to play with her as a unit this summer before practice starts; help the coaches develop a bench which can significantly contribute in prime time; start teaching the frosh early and often this summer

Samuelson – emulate KML’s two years shooting of 49% from the arch; you were not recruited to be UCONN’s 3rd best 3FG shooter; be capable of leveraging your 6’3” inside the paint for offense, rebounds, and defense (10 blocks?); lift weights for strength not just to toned. Continue to improve at passing particularly passing into the post to Stevens

Dangerfield- Stop the high school dribble, dribble, dribble offense; get with the UCONN passing offense; be consistently very good, not intermittently; play the entire game hard; practice keeping your opponent in front of you, don’t let them dribble by at will; learn to read defenses and react appropriately; don’t worry about your points, you are the PG with scoring options galore; with this team you should be able to destroy the UCONN assists per year record not to mention the career record

Williams – continue to play with intensity but know you will make mistakes, don’t dwell on them; Geno will do that for you; be consistently confident, you are the best; practice intermediate jumper and 3FG (Geno may want the option at times to insert Stevens and Camara and move you to guard); watch film for ways to reduce TOs; practice with Collier, Stevens, and Camara learning to play the paint together; jump higher?!

Nurse – learn to make USA layups; same as Gabby, don’t dwell on mistakes; learn from them and move on; practice 2FG and 3FG jumpers to keep the edge you displayed this season; push KLS for best 3FG% (she needs the competition for motivation); watch film and practice PG position in case Crystal does not make the sophomore jump and to spell her

Collier – practice, practice, and practice with Stevens and Camara learning to share the post offensively and defensively; learn how to pass to each other plus integrate with Williams; work on developing a high/low game with Stevens and Williams; practice 2FG and 3FG jumpers; you may be taking more with Stevens in the paint; for God’s sake learn to defend someone (Geno made me type this)

Camara & Stevens – please be effective as early as possible; commit to learning to playing together as a whole with this season’s players

Megan Walker – we can only hope you are the 2nd coming of the MAYA! Even if in lower case.

Mikayla Coombs – hopefully your defense is as good as advertised; if so, you will see playing time

Lexie Gordon & Andra Espinoza-Hunter – at least one of you be offense of the bench

 

[MilfordHusky]

Hmmm, to me it is obvious:

1. Gabby needs to increase the reliability of her mid-range jump shot. it has already gotten fairly good, but it could be better, and then she would be unguardable. I don't think she needs to hit 3's.
2. Napheesa needs to defend without fouling. She has been in foul trouble in nearly every game this year against a Top 10 opponent, as well as some other games. All of those games were closer than they should have been solely because of that.
3. Lou needs to be less streaky in her 3-point shooting. I think that will happen just as a result of greater personal maturity and experience. KML was much more reliable and less streaky in her last two years than in her first two years, and I think the same thing will be true for Lou.
4. Molly needs to think less while she is playing, and play more instinctively. And her instincts should include shooting when she is open.

I completely disagree with those who say that Geno will never play more than eight players. Go back and watch some of the games from 2000 and 2001 if you think that. I think Azura will start, Batouly and Megan Walker will get major minutes comparable to what Lou and Napheesa got as freshmen, Crystal will be the backup PG and will play more and better than she did this year, and the other freshmen and bench players will get minutes as their performance in practice warrants.

If Gabby or Napheesa show any signs of still being prone to foul trouble next year, Geno will not hesitate to replace them with Batouly and Megan, and the team will probably do almost as well with that lineup as with the starters. Even the biggest teams will have trouble out-rebounding UConn next year, and opponents will find it nearly impossible to strategize about beating UConn by getting the front court players into foul trouble.

Joe, I agree on point 1. Improved reliability, not necessarily to 3-point range, but improved off the dribble as well as when set.

Point 2 is spot-on. Fouls hurt us a lot!!

On point 3, I'm not sure who was streakier, Lou or Kaleena, but K had a great sophomore season when she shot about 48% from the arc. Her junior season was marred by injury and illness. Her senior season was roughly comparable to her sophomore season.

 

[Los24]

Joe, I agree on point 1. Improved reliability, not necessarily to 3-point range, but improved off the dribble as well as when set.

Point 2 is spot-on. Fouls hurt us a lot!!

On point 3, I'm not sure who was streakier, Lou or Kaleena, but K had a great sophomore season when she shot about 48% from the arc. Her junior season was marred by injury and illness. Her senior season was roughly comparable to her sophomore season.

Did Lou have a great Soph season? She was 1st team AA and avg over 20pts a game...

 

[MilfordHusky]

Did Lou have a great Soph season? She was 1st team AA and avg over 20pts a game...

I think Lou had a great season. Her shooting was streaky, though. Joe and I would like to see a little more consistency.

 

[SVCBeercats]

KML was much more reliable and less streaky in her last two years than in her first two years

Actually KML’s 3FG% was FR 38%, SO 49%, JR 41%, SR 49%. She was streaky in frershman and junior years.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I don't know if this is realistic but I'd like to see her block more shots. I know a lot of that is innate timing and quick jumping, but still.

I wonder if Touly is a good shot-blocker?

Touly blocked 30 shots in 603 minutes for Kentucky last season. That's 1 block per 20 minutes. Some comparisons:

Napheesa this year: 1 block per 15 minutes

Napheesa last year: 1 block per 14 minutes

Azura last season: 1 block per 15 minutes

Stewie her senior year: 1 block per 9 minutes

Morgan her senior year: 1 block per 34 minutes

So, I think she is a decent shot blocker, but not Kiah Stokes or Stewie. Not quite at the Pheesa/Azura level.

 

[my2cents]

Samuelson- Improve her handle so she can blow by smaller defenders, and get her shots without picks.
Dangerfield- Beat her man off the dribble and get to the hoop to score or pass. She is too pass happy in the lanes
Collier- Offensively she has been really good
Williams- Foul shooting
Kia- More consistency

 

[chrissaran]

If UConn had hit its yearly percentage of foul shoots, they would have been tied, and the game would have gone into a second overtime.

 

[wallman]

This board is becoming somewhat of cough cough posters with tainted glasses. Did some of you watch the last game? Did some of you watch the games where some of your players were left open as the defense was focusing on other players? Did some of you notice which players cannot pass the ball on a cutter, or a post up by a cutter as they were unable to make quick decisions. Getting rebounds or assists for example does not define a player as a good defender or passer, you have to look at the points they are giving up around the basket, fouling or not boxing out, you have to look at the players who are not making those passes to the cutter especially on closely guarded players, that takes good decision making and a couple of your players are not good at that. In fact if anything, I would think Geno was trying to hide those flaws and they bit you in the butt in that last game.

 

[HopJim]

ALL PLAYERS – integrate with Stevens; learn to play with her as a unit this summer before practice starts; help the coaches develop a bench which can significantly contribute in prime time; start teaching the frosh early and often this summer

Samuelson – emulate KML’s two years shooting of 49% from the arch; you were not recruited to be UCONN’s 3rd best 3FG shooter; be capable of leveraging your 6’3” inside the paint for offense, rebounds, and defense (10 blocks?); lift weights for strength not just to toned. Continue to improve at passing particularly passing into the post to Stevens

Dangerfield- Stop the high school dribble, dribble, dribble offense; get with the UCONN passing offense; be consistently very good, not intermittently; play the entire game hard; practice keeping your opponent in front of you, don’t let them dribble by at will; learn to read defenses and react appropriately; don’t worry about your points, you are the PG with scoring options galore; with this team you should be able to destroy the UCONN assists per year record not to mention the career record

Williams – continue to play with intensity but know you will make mistakes, don’t dwell on them; Geno will do that for you; be consistently confident, you are the best; practice intermediate jumper and 3FG (Geno may want the option at times to insert Stevens and Camara and move you to guard); watch film for ways to reduce TOs; practice with Collier, Stevens, and Camara learning to play the paint together; jump higher?!

Nurse – learn to make USA layups; same as Gabby, don’t dwell on mistakes; learn from them and move on; practice 2FG and 3FG jumpers to keep the edge you displayed this season; push KLS for best 3FG% (she needs the competition for motivation); watch film and practice PG position in case Crystal does not make the sophomore jump and to spell her

Collier – practice, practice, and practice with Stevens and Camara learning to share the post offensively and defensively; learn how to pass to each other plus integrate with Williams; work on developing a high/low game with Stevens and Williams; practice 2FG and 3FG jumpers; you may be taking more with Stevens in the paint; for God’s sake learn to defend someone (Geno made me type this)

Camara & Stevens – please be effective as early as possible; commit to learning to playing together as a whole with this season’s players

Megan Walker – we can only hope you are the 2nd coming of the MAYA! Even if in lower case.

Mikayla Coombs – hopefully your defense is as good as advertised; if so, you will see playing time

Lexie Gordon & Andra Espinoza-Hunter – at least one of you be offense of the bench

Good feedback. Would add two points, both for Geno:
-Through this past year, most games we saw the lack of foot speed necessary to stop quick guards from getting to hoop. Haunted us with MS. Modify defense or find UConn shut down guard.
-Get KLS the ball inside circle. Earlier in year, most games saw an effective curl play where she came around picks and usually got open or shot over smaller defender. Money plus seemed to help her get reved up for 3-pointers. While my thought is Geno did not call these plays since he wanted to open middle for Gabby and Collier, this would have been an effective play against MS.

 

[Henry]

I'd like to see Crystal's defense improve. And Napheesa's. Some of the players need to develop some mental toughness. Geno hoped for an early loss because he wanted to see how they responded. Some players did not respond well during the last game. However, they are young and I'm sure that won't happen again.

 

[drweo]

I'd like to see Kia learn to shoot an American layup.

As I think someone mentioned above, I'd like to see Kia develop a post-up game. She's a big guard in college, and will be fairly big in the W. Take advantage of the Itty Bitties and the Cuevas-Moores of the game.

I was thinking about Kia's layups too, specifically when she drives to the hoop with a defender on her. She frequently succeeds in getting fouled (and she's terrific from the FT line) but almost just as frequently has her shot blocked in the process. THis always surprises me because she's pretty strong and I always expect to see the shot go up. She has reduced/eliminated her tendency to get an offensive foul in those situations, but I would like to see her improve in this area. Maybe learning an "American layup" would be the solution, but I'm not sure what that means, exactly.

 

[chrissaran]

They should have set more screens for Lou; she was being face guarded. She was 3 for 6 from 3, 2 for 4 from 2, and 2 for 2 from the foul line. Clutch two points to tie the game. Her best game - no; however, a few more shots for Lou and UConn may have won.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I was thinking about Kia's layups too, specifically when she drives to the hoop with a defender on her. She frequently succeeds in getting fouled (and she's terrific from the FT line) but almost just as frequently has her shot blocked in the process. THis always surprises me because she's pretty strong and I always expect to see the shot go up. She has reduced/eliminated her tendency to get an offensive foul in those situations, but I would like to see her improve in this area. Maybe learning an "American layup" would be the solution, but I'm not sure what that means, exactly.

We align well on the points you're making. The crack about an "American" layup comes from Geno. He was making fun of her recently based on the very things you're citing: she's good at going hard to the basket but "forgets" (Geno again) that when she gets there she has to shoot.

 

[Wally East]

Patience for Crystal.
Additional strength for KLS. She's going to continue to be bumped a lot.
Additional passing ability for Napheesa (not that she's a bad passer by any means)
Getting to actually play guard full time for Gabby
Kia hit 3s at 46% but only took 158. She should take at least 200 next year.

 

[Bestiarius]

It's ironic. Geno helped both their coaches: visiting and meeting with Vic, and having Dawn as an assistant coach in the Olympics. He just can't stop himself from improving people, even if it's the opposition.

 

[Los24]

This board is becoming somewhat of cough cough posters with tainted glasses. Did some of you watch the last game? Did some of you watch the games where some of your players were left open as the defense was focusing on other players? Did some of you notice which players cannot pass the ball on a cutter, or a post up by a cutter as they were unable to make quick decisions. Getting rebounds or assists for example does not define a player as a good defender or passer, you have to look at the points they are giving up around the basket, fouling or not boxing out, you have to look at the players who are not making those passes to the cutter especially on closely guarded players, that takes good decision making and a couple of your players are not good at that. In fact if anything, I would think Geno was trying to hide those flaws and they bit you in the butt in that last game.

I agree with your main point that many posters think players are a little better than they are, which is hard to see unless against top top competition. Now that said, one game does not over ride an entire season. Especially when the team went undefeated this season and have players on all or parts of 111 wins in a row. They had a bad game as a team it happens, for UConn it's only usually 1 or 2 times a year....... Also against the best teams in country.

 

[ktuck911]

If anybody doesn't think we'll be even stronger next year than we are now they're smoking some synthetic stuff...

I feel sorry for the rest of Women's College Basketball.. As bad as that loss hurt, That bad taste in their mouth won't be there come this time next year, trust...

TRUE UConn WBB fans understand this....