Last Rodeo for Kyla Irwin

[UcMiami]

I've had several sports injuries, but luckily have never had to wear an appliance while playing. At least not anything like Morgan was wearing. But, you have to admit that the timing is curious. Morgan sat and rested the knee for 2 weeks, because of soreness. Then , she is playing without a brace, and no complaints about her knee. Just when we all know WNBA scouts are really fine tuning decisions by watching players down the stretch. My guess is the soreness must have been caused by the appliance itself. Still, you would think she'd be wearing something.

Whether she is wearing the brace or not, does not change the medical prognosis for her knee, nor does it alter her draft stock. Wearing a brace when the structure of a joint is sound is a trade off between comfort/mobility, and confidence/insurance - Morgan was constantly having comfort issues with the brace, constantly trying to adjust it both on the court and on the bench, and she had gone through quite a few different ones I believe, as the staff tried to improve the comfort and fit. She was not playing up to her standards in a series of games and decided (as athletes do all the time) that her play was struggling because of the brace. She tried playing without it and played better, so now psychologically her better play is directly connected to not wearing the brace, and for the next six games she is not putting it back on. Those six games and her play is all she is thinking about, and not what some GMs are thinking about her long term prognosis or her draft position.

 

[PhillyCoach]

With Butler's experience at Georgetown and one red-shirt year of practice with UConn--I expected Butler to be at a "starters level." The lack of live game experience for one plus year and the hand injury really threw everything out of kilter. To be honest, I was disappointed with Butler's play this season. Even taking in the negative circumstances. However, there was one factor that I (and some others) overlooked this season.
Geno has stated a few times that the starters work together as a team and need numerous reps to get into the flow. In the beginning of the year, each new starter got all the reps with the other 4 starters from last year. Just like the NFL when the # 2 or #3 players don't get the attention or the time. For Geno, it is a closed shop. Natalie got nothing during the injury and coming back slowly she probably was working with the last group who would see little floor time. In games, when Natalie played with "her group" she looked a little better. With a top group, she seemed unsure and a half-step slow. MY POINT - next year if/when Nat gets time with the starters she will smooth out and be much more effective. We do know that she can shoot the mid-range shot and she can pass the ball well. Her rebound average is pretty good too. The glass looks half full from here.

 

[UcMiami]

With Butler's experience at Georgetown and one red-shirt year of practice with UConn--I expected Butler to be at a "starters level." The lack of live game experience for one plus year and the hand injury really threw everything out of kilter. To be honest, I was disappointed with Butler's play this season. Even taking in the negative circumstances. However, there was one factor that I (and some others) overlooked this season.
Geno has stated a few times that the starters work together as a team and need numerous reps to get into the flow. In the beginning of the year, each new starter got all the reps with the other 4 starters from last year. Just like the NFL when the # 2 or #3 players don't get the attention or the time. For Geno, it is a closed shop. Natalie got nothing during the injury and coming back slowly she probably was working with the last group who would see little floor time. In games, when Natalie played with "her group" she looked a little better. With a top group, she seemed unsure and a half-step slow. MY POINT - next year if/when Nat gets time with the starters she will smooth out and be much more effective. We do know that she can shoot the mid-range shot and she can pass the ball well. Her rebound average is pretty good too. The glass looks half full from here.

Nicely put.
I think there is another significant factor in play with Natalie - she has a unique skill set that is very different from anyone else on the team. She will never be as quick or mobile as Tuck, Stewart, Williams, Collier, and Samuelson, the other players that have played 'post/forward' roles on this team. And with 2 months lost to her injury the team moved on from whatever systems they had started to put in to utilize her strengths of height and size. Returning mid-season there was nothing in the motion and cutting offense or the switching defense that matched up with her skills or the chemistry that had been established during the season. It would have been different if she was coming into a team built around Stef, a player she more closely resembles in strengths and weaknesses, but this team is two and a half years removed from that style of play at both ends of the floor.

We think of Kiah and her struggles her first two years as being a product of having difficulty adapting to Geno's system and college ball, and and there was certainly some of that, as well as some nagging injuries. But there was also a stylistic problem for her - she was a very different player from Dolson, the player she most often replaced. On defense she could fill the Dolson role pretty well, but on offense the wheels fell off - she could neither fill the high post passing/shooting of Stef, nor the low post scoring threat, and the whole team struggled. When Stef graduated and the offense by necessity had to change to revolve around a very different set of skills on the team, she suddenly came into her own. She was still coming off the bench, but the team was running cuts and motion that better suited her skills. She could replace Stewart or Tuck and not look like a fish out of water, and she could join them in a three big alignment that the team practiced from the start of training camp.

 

[PhillyCoach]

Uc = I appreciate your insights and peeling the onion down to that next level. You nailed it again on this issue. Now the question for next year will be---What style of offense and defense will Geno/CD settle on as the "best road to another final four?" The high post pass/shoot of the Stef mold (which Butler has pretty well) or a continuation of this motion offense and switch defense (which Collier & Gabby could handle very well.)

 

[Mdoggie]

So now that you mentioned Kyla in the "Kyla" thread. I am looking forward to her development.

 

[JRRRJ]

With Butler's experience at Georgetown and one red-shirt year of practice with UConn--I expected Butler to be at a "starters level." The lack of live game experience for one plus year and the hand injury really threw everything out of kilter. To be honest, I was disappointed with Butler's play this season. Even taking in the negative circumstances. However, there was one factor that I (and some others) overlooked this season.
Geno has stated a few times that the starters work together as a team and need numerous reps to get into the flow. In the beginning of the year, each new starter got all the reps with the other 4 starters from last year. Just like the NFL when the # 2 or #3 players don't get the attention or the time. For Geno, it is a closed shop. Natalie got nothing during the injury and coming back slowly she probably was working with the last group who would see little floor time. In games, when Natalie played with "her group" she looked a little better. With a top group, she seemed unsure and a half-step slow. MY POINT - next year if/when Nat gets time with the starters she will smooth out and be much more effective. We do know that she can shoot the mid-range shot and she can pass the ball well. Her rebound average is pretty good too. The glass looks half full from here.

I wonder which of Butler's games people have been watching.
For the season:
FG% 59.3 (2nd on the team)
Avg RB: 4.72 (4th on the team in the 8th most minutes)
FGA per 40: 14.39 (3rd on the team) Not much hesitancy here.
FGM per 40: 8.54 (2nd on the team)
Pts per 40: 20.08 (2nd on the team)
OR per 40: 5.22 (2nd on the team)
DR per 40: 8.22 (2nd on the team)
TR per 40: 13.44 (1st on the team)
BRATS per 40: 14.7 (4th on the team)

We'd love to have fewer turnovers, but what the heck were you expecting from the backup center? Perfection?

 

[Mdoggie]

I wonder which of Butler's games people have been watching.
For the season:
FG% 59.3 (2nd on the team)
Avg RB: 4.72 (4th on the team in the 8th most minutes)
FGA per 40: 14.39 (3rd on the team) Not much hesitancy here.
FGM per 40: 8.54 (2nd on the team)
Pts per 40: 20.08 (2nd on the team)
OR per 40: 5.22 (2nd on the team)
DR per 40: 8.22 (2nd on the team)
TR per 40: 13.44 (1st on the team)
BRATS per 40: 14.7 (4th on the team)

We'd love to have fewer turnovers, but what the heck were you expecting from the backup center? Perfection?

But what about Kyla? Lol

 

[JordyG]

Uc = I appreciate your insights and peeling the onion down to that next level. You nailed it again on this issue. Now the question for next year will be---What style of offense and defense will Geno/CD settle on as the "best road to another final four?" The high post pass/shoot of the Stef mold (which Butler has pretty well) or a continuation of this motion offense and switch defense (which Collier & Gabby could handle very well.)

A great group of posts by you guys. I think the secret is in the smaller, quick, gritty, versatile players that Geno seems to be recruiting. If and unless the wonderful Jade from The Colony makes and appearance I think this is going to be a continuation of a motion/switching high octane offense. Even with Jade I think it will remain so.

 

[Mdoggie]

A great group of posts by you guys. I think the secret is in the smaller, quick, gritty, versatile players that Geno seems to be recruiting. If and unless the wonderful Jade from The Colony makes and appearance I think this is going to be a continuation of a motion/switching high octane offense. Even with Jade I think it will remain so.

I hope next years offense is centered on what Kyla brings to the table. lol

 

[cbraarj]

I hope next years offense is centered on what Kyla brings to the table. lol

I have to ask.Are you related or family friend of Kyla Irwin?

 

[Mdoggie]

I have to ask.Are you related or family friend of Kyla Irwin?

No. I just assumed the discussion who be about her since the thread bares her name. . Why do you ask the family question?