Lisa Leslie on Saniya Chong

[bschwartz]

If Saniya gets the same soph boost as Breanna...

Bria had a tough junior year then had a spectacular senior year...if KML does the same...

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, oh what a party we'd have.
LINK

 

[EricLA]

I'm really hoping she works extra hard on her game this summer and sees a Moriah kind of boost going into next year - not that she will be as good as Moriah was as a sophomore, but that her improvement will be as noticeable. I also hope Saniya is disappointed in her inconsistencies this year and uses that as additional motivation to become the player we all hope she can be...

 

[jsloanjr]

She needs to get much stronger and just let her game come to her.......She is super talented.......

 

[Tonyc]

Saniya has all the tools needed she just has to do it. Ive seen her play. Im sure surrounded by the players on UConn is intimidating for a freshman however all she needs to do is drive the lane and get to the line. Everything else will fall into place.

 

[easttexastrash]

I just don't see the talent level that everyone keeps describing. I could see it in Jeffereson...it was pretty clear that she had the full package, but I have yet to see that in Chong. I see no comparison between Stewart and Chong other than that they both play for UCONN.

 

[phil sampieri]

I just don't see the talent level that everyone keeps describing. I could see it in Jeffereson...it was pretty clear that she had the full package, but I have yet to see that in Chong. I see no comparison between Stewart and Chong other than that they both play for UCONN.

I compare to Mojef

Almost as quick, better shooter, just a many basketball smarts- needs to become a better defender and rebounder. that hopefully will come by next year

 

[DavidinNaples]

I just don't see the talent level that everyone keeps describing. I could see it in Jeffereson...it was pretty clear that she had the full package, but I have yet to see that in Chong. I see no comparison between Stewart and Chong other than that they both play for UCONN.

Geno disagrees w/ your point of view. He coaches Saniya, sees her in practice every day and played her 632 minutes in games so far this year. He understands the adjustment freshman go through when they come to UConn. He has said several times this year she has special talents. I'm going to bet Geno's right and you are wrong.

 

[RadyLady]

Saniya is in the shadow of Moriah as well, which may cause her to hold back a bit. Perhaps this will change with one year and a summer full of work behind her. My money is on Saniya.

 

[JoePgh]

I compare to Mojef

Almost as quick, better shooter, just a many basketball smarts- needs to become a better defender and rebounder. that hopefully will come by next year

I would disagree with "better shooter". She may be a more accurate shooter, but she has not shown the same ability as MoJeff to get shots launched.

I agree with those who say that Mel Thomas and Tiffany Hayes had the same issue with a low release point, and overcame it after their freshman years. (And Bria had an issue with a low arc which she has overcome.) Still, I don't think either one had as high a ceiling on her offensive potential as Moriah. I'm sure Saniya will be a better shooter than she is now in an overall sense before she graduates, but not at the level of Moriah. Possibly at the level of Mel ...

 

[easttexastrash]

Geno disagrees w/ your point of view. He coaches Saniya, sees her in practice every day and played her 632 minutes in games so far this year. He understands the adjustment freshman go through when they come to UConn. He has said several times this year she has special talents. I'm going to bet Geno's right and you are wrong.

I am not saying that she has no talent, but based on current performance I don't see her as much more than a role player, especially when this new crop of guards hits the court next year.

 

[sawxfan23]

Geno disagrees w/ your point of view. He coaches Saniya, sees her in practice every day and played her 632 minutes in games so far this year. He understands the adjustment freshman go through when they come to UConn. He has said several times this year she has special talents. I'm going to bet Geno's right and you are wrong.

Who else did he have to play?

 

[sawxfan23]

I compare to Mojef

Almost as quick, better shooter, just a many basketball smarts- needs to become a better defender and rebounder. that hopefully will come by next year

Jefferson is a much much better player than Chong. Jefferson is the better shooter, ball handler, distributer, defender, penetrator, and overall better basketball player by a wide margin.

 

[Replicant]

I just don't see the talent level that everyone keeps describing.

I think most UConn fans are at peace with the fact that you "just don't see" it.

 

[Cheddie]

Moriah is a much improved shooter over last year. At this point, it's somewhat comparing apples and oranges. Chong is actually shooting better this year than Jefferson did as a freshman, and she will likely improve herself as she matures and works on her game.

 

[Icebear]

Jefferson is a much much better player than Chong. Jefferson is the better shooter, ball handler, distributer, defender, penetrator, and overall better basketball player by a wide margin.

Moriah is a sophomore, too. She frequently had periods of struggle last year.

 

[DobbsRover2]

As always, the usual Chong critics shooting the crap without bothering to pay enough respect to a player to check any stats. ett we can excuse because he never came up with an opinion yet that he thought needed a fact to back it. But for the supposed UConn fans comparing the #2 rated recruit Jefferson with the #75 Chong, taking the time to look at the stats from the freshman season might put some perspective on all the grand pronouncements about better shooter, ball handler, blah-blah, blah-blah for the two players in their first college seasons.

Shooting
Jeff (42.4% FG, 26.6% 3ptFG, 76.0% FT)
Chong (42.5% FG, 31.4% 3pt FG, 82.5% FT)

Peas in a pod for overall shooting except that Saniya has already taken more than 20 more 3s, which brings down the percentage. Far better 3-pt shooting and FTs gives Chong the clear advantage as a shooter in her freshman year.

The rest:
Jeff (1.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.3 spg, .05 bpg, 4.7 ppg, 1.4 a/to, 1.3 topg)
Chong (1.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.7 spg, .20 bpg, 5.3 ppg, 2.2 a/to, 0.8 topg)

So assists and points are relatively close, MoJeff has the advantage in steals, and Saniya has the advantage in rebounds, blocks and the assist-to-turnover and turnovers-per-game categories, some by huge amounts. Maybe call this all a wash, but Chong does seem to have more stats on her side.

I get that the Chong critics just want to spout without giving any facts to back up their unfortunate blurts, but we do owe it to the players to have a clue about what were talking about when we post. Unless we are trying to push some new voodoo math that says lower percentages make you a better shooter, stating that Chong was the worse shooter is ridiculous and just socks.

 

[Icebear]

Well said, Dobbs.

 

[intlzncster]

Counting on Chong to make a Jefferson leap in her sophomore year is a bit much. MJ improved at what appeared to be a greater leap than most kids normally do.

Chong plays 10minutes less per game, and ostensibly in less critical situations (especially against better quality opponents). I would hazard a guess that MoJeff handles the ball more often. Statistics are only one part of evaluating players, as context is everything. If you just look at stats, you miss the big picture. Otherwise, it would be simple to evaluate players and coaches/gms would not be as fallible.

Chongs's definitely not as good of a player at this point. Obviously there's the freshman vs soph component.

 

[Icebear]

Chongs's definitely not as good of a player at this point. Obviously there's the freshman vs soph component.

Other than saying that comparing freshman year statistics to show the weakness of the argument made by some against Chong's comparative ability the above is all that is being said. The facts are that Chong's freshman year was stronger than MoJeff by the numbers. No one can project the development path with great accuracy.

 

[intlzncster]

Other than saying that comparing freshman year statistics to show the weakness of the argument made by some against Chong's comparative ability the above is all that is being said. The facts are that Chong's freshman year was stronger than MoJeff by the numbers. No one can project the development path with great accuracy.

I just saw some posters saying a Stewart or Moriah type jump might occur. And I was saying that is not necessarily realistic, as those are abnormal imo. Also, let's face it, comparing anyone to Stewart is futile.

 

[Icebear]

It might. There is no way, however, to project that as true or false.

A jump of a similar order of magnitude to Stewie's or MoJett's is possible. That does no mean that Saniya's game will look like either of the other two. She won't, it will be based on her game and skills which are excellent. I cannot think of a single freshman in the past who valued and protected the rock, as well as, Saniya.

 

[Striper69]

Saniya is in the shadow of Moriah as well, which may cause her to hold back a bit. Perhaps this will change with one year and a summer full of work behind her. My money is on Saniya.

I think she has been in Hartley's shadow more than Jefferson's. Chong and Jefferson will be fun to watch play together next year.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I just saw some posters saying a Stewart or Moriah type jump might occur. And I was saying that is not necessarily realistic, as those are abnormal imo. Also, let's face it, comparing anyone to Stewart is futile.

But if your premise is you can just discard the stats and that you miss the picture by looking at them, then we can all paint whatever picture we want and call it a masterpiece even if it was done by an overdosed baboon. The question at this point was whether Chong and MoJeff had comparative years as freshman, and they did, and most impartial judges would say Chong has had the better numbers.

Now if you want to project Saniya's stats for next season already without any of those stats you dismiss as being misleading, and to deem that season of poor quality, obviously that is your right. And it's my right to believe you are disrespecting a player to be making any grand pronouncements based on nothing but your own guesses. Let her play out her sophomore year before you offer us your detailed analysis.

 

[intlzncster]

But if your premise is you can just discard the stats and that you miss the picture by looking at them, then we can all paint whatever picture we want and call it a masterpiece even if it was done by an overdosed baboon. The question at this point was whether Chong and MoJeff had comparative years as freshman, and they did, and most impartial judges would say Chong has had the better numbers.

But you can do that with stats too. People often use statistics to validate a point they have predetermined anyway (former statistician here). Not saying you did that.

As freshman, the players did not play on the same teams, and their relative stats are skewed by that. When they played their respective minutes, who they played with, and against, etc, all of that factors in. They even played in different basketball ball leagues. My point is that statistics alone don't necessarily tell which is the better player. Some of Taurasi's statistics weren't as impressive at others, but you knew, from the eye test, that she was the best player in the country.

Now if you want to project Saniya's stats for next season already without any of those stats you dismiss as being misleading, and to deem that season of poor quality, obviously that is your right. And it's my right to believe you are disrespecting a player to be making any grand pronouncements based on nothing but your own guesses. Let her play out her sophomore year before you offer us your detailed analysis.

Where did I deem Soniya's season as poor quality? I also don't see where I made any 'grand pronouncements'. I said that expecting a jump similar to MoJeff's or Stewart's was a bit much, because the vast majority of players don't make that kind of leap. MoJeff went from average player to an almost AA level. Could it happen? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not.

The original couple of posts were talking about projections to next year. Which is a guess. And that's half the fun of watching/discussing sports.

 

[DobbsRover2]

But you can do that with stats too. People often use statistics to validate a point they have predetermined anyway (former statistician here). Not saying you did that.

As freshman, the players did not play on the same teams, and their relative stats are skewed by that. When they played their respective minutes, who they played with, and against, etc, all of that factors in. They even played in different basketball ball leagues. My point is that statistics alone don't necessarily tell which is the better player. Some of Taurasi's statistics weren't as impressive at others, but you knew, from the eye test, that she was the best player in the country.



Where did I deem Soniya's season as poor quality? I also don't see where I made any 'grand pronouncements'. I said that expecting a jump similar to MoJeff's or Stewart's was a bit much, because the vast majority of players don't make that kind of leap. MoJeff went from average player to an almost AA level. Could it happen? Sure. Is it likely? Probably not.

The original couple of posts were talking about projections to next year. Which is a guess. And that's half the fun of watching/discussing sports.

Well, you were the one who stated that Saniya "is not as good a player at this point," which brought up a whole different skew than the OP stated. The hope was that Saniya would get the same boost as Stewie, which was quickly followed by ES pointing to MoJeff as another example of a big boost going into soph year. You say you don't think she's capable of it. Indeed, showing the huge type of progress that MoJeff has made this year is not easy, but I see no reason to relegate Saniya to the second tier as someone who can't make the cut in the Hunger Games. And who besides you is comparing Saniya to Stewie??? Saying that Saniya can have the same proportional leap as last year's NCAA MOP did to her present consistent status is not futile and has no connection with anyone saying she can be as good as Stewie. Our Ossining girl is quite capable of having the kind of huge boost that many other Huskies have had going into their soph year.

And again, you can't just throw out stats with the bath water just because they don't always tell a complete story or some posters misuse them. Until you get your perfect picture system set up, in this real world most of us will try to stick to the facts. You gave a classic case of inconsistency by saying that MoJeff probably handled the ball more, so what (if it is true)? Maybe she therefore picked up more TOs? Then why didn't she also pick up a proportionately higher number of assists? She just had rotten teammates last year on that NC team? And you also downplayed Saniya's "less critical" minutes when actually she played some important minutes when KML was out, like the 27 minute and 16 point effort against PSU. Both players also had big stretches of minutes in less pressure packed situations, but that's not a great reason to try to throw out the stats and say you just have a gut feeling that Saniya won't be next year's soph surprise. Sure if you want to go that route, but there were MoJeff detractors on the BY last year who stated all the obvious issues with her freshman year and said she just better get better. She did, and I'm hoping we can have those expectations for Saniya too.