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

[Shenandoah]

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

Natalie Butler: Hands...Not to rush when the ball is passed in to her. She's like a baseball hitter trying to hit a 5 run home run. Stay within yourself, and use what tools you have; Size, and a decent 12 foot jumper. Work on boxing out.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Natalie Butler: Hands...Not to rush when the ball is passed in to her. She's like a baseball hitter trying to hit a 5 run home run. Stay within yourself, and use what tools you have; Size, and a decent 12 foot jumper. Work on boxing out.

I must admit I really had great hopes and expectations for Butler. I tried to will the kid to success in every game. But not anymore. If she made even a modest improvement, it would be an amazing miracle. I would be gobsmacked! I expect nothing from Molly Bent or Kyla Irwin.

 

[oldude]

I must admit I really had great hopes and expectations for Butler. I tried to will the kid to success in every game. But not anymore. If she made even a modest improvement, it would be an amazing miracle. I would be gobsmacked!

I pulled for Nat all season as well. The difficulty for Nat next year is that even if she continues to improve, Geno has many more options: Z, Batouly, Pheeza or Gabby can all play the 4/5 spots. Kyla should also improve and there are four talented freshmen that are all going to be pushing for playing time.

Nat averaged 15.9 minutes per game this past season. It's difficult to see Nat getting that many minutes next season.

 

[CTrefugee]

Natalie: practice moving her feet on D.
Natalie: practice jumping so feet leave the floor.
Natalie: more hand strength.
Kyla: get stronger (I want to see that smile on the court more often).
Molly: practice taking every shot when open.

The rest are just fine and as they mature, decisions will get even better (they are great now).

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Do not throw pretzels at Geno.

 

[Mainiac]

Nat made a difference in that game and it wasn't a positive one. Her physical skills were severely challenged. In the limited time she was in the game, she was a liability. I've never seen her not give her best effort but the Huskies needed more than she could provide, to say the least.

Not sure I agree with this quote. The only stats that mater is scoring more then the other team. Not saying she alone made a difference but it appears MS was stopped for a while and UCONN closes the gap while Nat plays her 6 minutes. MS figured something out and started to score again 4 minutes later.

The game stats clearly show the MS game was lost in the paint.

 

[JSB60]

Crystal Dangerfield--The will to use her speed to become a defensive stopper.

Kia--Senior leadership, taking over games down the stretch.

Collier--Stepping up at the final four, she will get that chance and I believe take full advantage.

Gabby--Adjusting to moving to the wing on offense (she's already fine there on defense), being comfortable with the midrange jumper.

KLS--Consistency.

Butler--Hands. This can be improved, that was the big difference that allowed Napheesa to make the enormous gains she made this year. If she does this, she can earn significant minutes despite the deeper roster.

Bent--Confidence in her shot. She doesn't see big minutes next year, but could compete for them in her last two years.

Kyla--Continuing to develop strength and rebounding. May be more of a career long logjam for her, but she can become the kind of bench player that a coach can have full confidence won't hurt the team when called on.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Can't agree more on the confidence thing with Crystal. She was very tentative as the ball handler during the MSU game and it was as big a part for the loss as anything. I could care less if Gabby spends one second developing a three point shot. If Nat hasn't further developed her hand/eye coordination by now, as well as any sort of foot speed, it ain't never going to happen. Lazy passes, coming to the ball, fending off defenders to receive passes are things which need addressing. And yes, defending that quick guard - Mitchell, William, etc. is something that needs attention, if we're even physically able. Other than that we're good to go for 2017-18..