KML aside, the other disturbing thing from the game, IMHO

[bschwartz]

Tough to put thoughts of KML aside. Other posts have commented on Kiah, which I thought was great. Can't wait to see if Kiah goes up against A. Thomas.

The one thing that bothered me a bit. Is it seemed Stef got a little too comfortable up at the top of the key. It is one thing to hit two treys against Hartford, but I can't imagine it is a good sign for someone with her height to play that far away from the basket even with the other height the Huskies have in the front court.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I didnt care for those clankers... post up damn it

 

[Icebear]

That is not the offensive structure UCONN is running. She'll spend most time in the high post like blast year because Geno wants to run the offense under her with room for the cutters. She likely will take one or two 3s per game. That does not mean she won't ever be in the low post just not consistently just like last year. Putting her in the low post stops her great picks and screens and clogs up space for the cutters.

You can want it all you want be you are unlikely to get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might just find you'll get what you need.

 

[msf22b]

There are just too many positives from this game to worry about this or that

Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[VAUConnFan]

That is not the offensive structure UCONN is running. She'll spend most time in the high post like blast year because Geno wants to run the offense under her with room for the cutters. She likely will take one or two 3s per game. That does not mean she won't ever be in the low post just not consistently just like last year. Putting her in the low post stops her great picks and screens and clogs up space for the cutters.

You can want it all you want be you are unlikely to get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might just find you'll get what you need.

Where have I heard that before?

 

[EricLA]

Ice is right. I'm with the first 2 posters - I'd much rather see Stef spend at least SOME time in the post - in the first 10 minutes of the game, it seemed like she spent no time there. But I also think she's playing the type of game Geno wants, and that's what we are going to see going forward.

 

[Icebear]

Where have I heard that before?

Glad you noticed.

 

[Icebear]

Ice is right. I'm with the first 2 posters - I'd much rather see Stef spend at least SOME time in the post - in the first 10 minutes of the game, it seemed like she spent no time there. But I also think she's playing the type of game Geno wants, and that's what we are going to see going forward.

We, also have other options to go low in Stewie, Kiah, and Morgan who can benfit from Stef's passing moving in and out of the low post.

 

[bschwartz]

Difference btw playing at the foul line to setup passes and the 3pt line. I get that when it comes within the flow of the offense, she should shoot. Thought her clankers tonight were rushed and not good shot selections because they seemed disjointed or taken before better shots could be found.

 

[Icebear]

It's not like she shot a lot worse than everyone or anyone else, however. My point is that she is not going to spend constant time in the post position.

Difference btw playing at the foul line to setup passes and the 3pt line. I get that when it comes within the flow of the offense, she should shoot. Thought her clankers tonight were rushed and not good shot selections because they seemed disjointed or taken before better shots could be found.

 

[rt bb fan]

One of the things I noticed is when Stef gets good position in the post the guards do not get her the ball soon enough

 

[DaddyChoc]

out at the elbow... is nowhere near where those clankers were coming from.

shot a few against UHart was cool but not against the #2-3 team in the country

 

[chrissaran]

Stef is effective out high because she does set rock solid picks and is an excellent passer; however, it doesn't mean she has to launch threes whenever she's out there. Give Saniya a chance. As she plays more minutes, she'll be the one to find Stef down low. The best passer UConn has. You'll see.

 

[UConnCat]

Well good. UConn beat the #3 team by 19 after overcoming the loss of its 2nd best player to fouls early in the 1st half and the loss of its best player to injury (with screams) early in the 2nd half. It was the second game of the season and already we're finding things to be disturbed about. The board is in mid-season form.

 

[bschwartz]

Well good. UConn beat the #3 team by 19 after overcoming the loss of its 2nd best player to fouls early in the 1st half and the loss of its best player to injury (with screams) early in the 2nd half. It was the second game of the season and already we're finding things to be disturbed about. The board is in mid-season form.

fan is short for fanatic for a reason...though the aspects of the game beside KML are a distraction. Sick about what happened...feel even worse bc I wrote bfore the game the the most important thing besides a win from tonight should be no injuries. We nit because we love.

 

[tomcat]

I think it will be interesting to see how Geno sets the team over the next few games without KML. because it's hard to believe (though we can hope) that she will immediately bounce back from whatever awful thing happened tonight. It was heartening to see how well Kiah did tonight -- didn't know she had it in her. She not only looked like she belonged, she looked like she'd been making those plays all the time. Chong's performance also was very encouraging. Jefferson and Stewart both came back from really bad starts to show a little of what they can do. Bria was, of course, spectacular, and if Stef didn't seem to be as much in the flow as she usually is, she at least played well, particularly on the defensive end.

One further thought -- Banks becomes that much more important to the team over the next few games. Let's hope she can move back toward the form she showed pre-injury.

 

[Icebear]

out at the elbow... is nowhere near where those clankers were coming from.

shot a few against UHart was cool but not against the #2-3 team in the country

No, it isn't but you better believe she wouldn't be out there without Geno's blessing and him having a reason.

 

[choochoo]

Well can you just imagine Uconns well oiled offense play against either Tenn or UNC after watching them run up and down the court like their pants are on fire for 40 minutes?

 

[jdubct]

As noted in one of the articles on the game, Stanford was not guarding Banks or Jefferson on the outside leaving them open for outside shots. Improvement the outside shooting by two players will make Uconn a much more difficult team to defend. Chong came in and made some clutch shots which augurs well for the future.

 

[cferraro04]

We've seen this before...Stef has a bad game shooting the foul line extended or the 3 point shot and people start fretting. Not to worry...Stef and Geno are smart people they will make adjustments and Stef will find the balance between outside shooting and going to the post. Her and Breanna Stewart will take turns going out to shoot and the other playing the post. There will be days when the shot is dropping and there will be days when it isn't. Stef will just have to find other ways to contribute when her shot isn't dropping... She has figured it out in the past...and, I have no doubt she will be fine this year too.

 

[CL82]

Steph rushed those shots. She can make them at a high enough percentage to justify a couple of shots a game.

 

[JoePgh]

I think she will and should take more than one or two jump shots per game -- I'd say more like 6 to 8, not necessarily all from 3-point range. I think tonight was just an aberration, of which there were a lot. She has to hit a reasonable percentage of them (maybe 35%) to keep the defense honest, so they don't just clog the paint and stop the cutters that way.

From where she sets up at the high post, she can also cut to the basket herself, and I think you will see a lot of that. Not many centers are quick enough to defend that move effectively against such a big player.

 

[EricLA]

We, also have other options to go low in Stewie, Kiah, and Morgan who can benfit from Stef's passing moving in and out of the low post.

Good points. I watched the game, but only till about 3 minutes into the 2nd half, then I really couldn't bring myself to watch much more. The team was rattled, but rallied well. Got the lead up to 20 shortly after KML's injury and held onto that lead for the rest of the game. I think it's hard to take much away from the game, especially in the 2nd half, but boy the team is impressive. And I have to say I thought Stanford's defense was very impressive as well. UCONN moved the ball really crisply and with intense purpose, but most of the time the Stanford defense was able to keep with them. However, they would make the smallest of mistakes and that's when UCONN would capitalize. It was really interesting to watch for me from that perspective.

 

[meganmatthews]

Well good. UConn beat the #3 team by 19 after overcoming the loss of its 2nd best player to fouls early in the 1st half and the loss of its best player to injury (with screams) early in the 2nd half. It was the second game of the season and already we're finding things to be disturbed about. The board is in mid-season form.

. . . and while we're at it - what's with the pretzels they were selling at Gampel? Waay too much salt on them!

 

[pppggg]

That is not the offensive structure UCONN is running. She'll spend most time in the high post like blast year because Geno wants to run the offense under her with room for the cutters. She likely will take one or two 3s per game. That does not mean she won't ever be in the low post just not consistently just like last year. Putting her in the low post stops her great picks and screens and clogs up space for the cutters.

You can want it all you want be you are unlikely to get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might just find you'll get what you need.

as usual the bear is right on. she did the same thing last year.