I find it odd how many injuries UCONN has..
- Thread starter cmhawks99
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FIFY. The contact allowed in the women’s game that gets whistled in the men’s game is startling.
It’s effing bizarre…and the run in from the side, knock a girl backwards, grab the ball and get a “jump ball” on a micro-second whistle has always amazed me.
Yeah but you may want to see how many girls they have had out. There's normal injuries, wear and tear and then there's UCONN that has major, season ending injuries almost every year recently.
While I agree that the injury bug hit UConn especially hard over recent years ... I don't think that there is any particularly nefarious cause for it. When you have a sport where there is a lot of accelerating bodies and contact ... that can lead to all sorts of tears and pulls.
When you especially have some really talented ladies like Fudd and Bueckers ... they're hyper competitive and have the highest of expectations ... which can lead to high-level competition where athletes maybe push themselves TOO hard. I could see that potentially be the case ... but it also could also be a completely freak random deal. Probability for events occurring with a small sample can behave in ways that can betray our intuition.
When you especially have some really talented ladies like Fudd and Bueckers ... they're hyper competitive and have the highest of expectations ... which can lead to high-level competition where athletes maybe push themselves TOO hard. I could see that potentially be the case ... but it also could also be a completely freak random deal. Probability for events occurring with a small sample can behave in ways that can betray our intuition.
Following is a chronology of UConn women's injuries for the 2021 2022-23 seasons. It does seem like an inordinate number of disabling injuries. I did not include illness, game-to-game, or minor injuries teams incur.
I'm not implying anything nefarious or questionable ethics.
Oct 2021 Griffin, ankle, out indefinitely
Nov 2021 Fudd, Foot, missed 11 games
Dec 2021, Bueckers, tibia, missed 19 games
Muhl, foot, missed 3 games
Jan 2022 Griffin, Back surgery missed 2021-2022 seasons
Juhasz, foot, misses 2 games
Feb 2022 Ducharme, head, misses 4 games
Nelson-Ododa groin, misses 3 games
Mar 2022 Juhasz, wrist fracture
Apr 2022 Ducharme, hip surgery
Aug 2022 Bueckers, ACL, Missed 2022 season
Oct 22 Edwards, dislocated patella, misses 2022 season
Dec 2022 Muhl, concussion, misses next game (Uconn only had 7 players vs MD Dex 11 due to injuries)
Ines Bettencourt, sprained ankle, misses game
Jan 2023 Patterson, concussion, misses 4 games
Ducharme. concussion, misses 13 games
UConn forfeits game due to lack of eligible players he to injuries
Fudd returns from knee injury abd reinjures. Misses remainder of season.
Feb 2023 Juhazs, sprained ankle, missed next game, reg, season finale and remainder of season.
Mar 2023 Ducharme, hits in head, missing game times in NCAA tourney
Griffin, back spasms, limited to 6.5 minutes in NCAA tourney
Senechal, soreness, heavy world load. knee injury
Apr 2023 Senechal, knee surgery (post season)
Man/June 2023 DeBerry , back surgery (post season)
Patterson, knee procedure (post season)
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So many said CC was too frail to play pro ball. Bueckers is a shadow of Caitlin on a cloudy day.
Clark has absorbed some ferocious blows, and she has the physique to take the shots. How long will Bueckers last if they don't call off the dogs as they haven't with Caitlin. Or maybe there's enough resentment they don't have to initiate the new kid on the block
Clark has absorbed some ferocious blows, and she has the physique to take the shots. How long will Bueckers last if they don't call off the dogs as they haven't with Caitlin. Or maybe there's enough resentment they don't have to initiate the new kid on the block
Yes it’s insane! I don’t propose anything particularly nefarious either, outside of a curse or evening of the field…🥸 It’s been 11 years since they’ve won an NC and their recruitment is still just as good
Interesting thing on that note, she is injury prone, but she’s also not the athlete CC is, nor is JuJu. I’ve watched them all 3 play a lot.
PB is a better defender, higher % shooter, strong RBer and a solid PG. she is NOT a high volume 3pt shooter, doesn’t have the range, is not as fast or as quick and does not have the vision or the passing ability CC does.
Juju is not nearly as efficient a shooter as CC, isn’t as fast or quick, likely a more rugged interior force and rebounder, but not in any way a PG/revolutionary ball distributor.
There are assumptions out there they are both better athletes than CC (I’m assuming Juju, because she’s black, another biased/race assumption) but not sure why for PB🤷♂️
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On the basis of previous posts, you are not reticent to enter race conversations, but I can assure you I have no negative attitude when it comes to race. If you pay attention to my posts my accolades re: CC applies to her all-round contribution to the sport more than her pure athletic ability. This is what separates her from anyone that has come before her, which is why she is so highly regarded.
If Paige or JuJu try to emulate Caitlin's ambassadorial persona, it would be emulation. She's setting the ceiling on class on demeanor in a pro league with WWE behavior perceived reputation.
I've honestly never been convinced that CC22 is "a better athlete" then many of her contemporaries. I think her edge comes from her extremely sharp Basketball IQ. She scores or creates her own shot even against players that are probably "more athletic" because she knows how to get them leaning, off balance, wrong foot forward etc.. She has a quick first step, but more so she knows how to create angles, and do get her shoulder past the defender, and thats all she needs to get to the rim. Her use of footwork and her handles, allow her to set players up for her step back/side step threes. She creates space unlike anyone we've seen. Her length also helps her get those shots off. As I said I think thats the main reason she can score on almost anyone, WHEN she has the ball in her hands. Its on defense that you can see that she's at somewhat of a disadvantage against quicker players.
Caitlin played one year of high school soccer as a 9th grader at Dowling. She was voted 1st team all-state. After watching her play golf, I'm convinced she could have gone to the top in that sport too. I think she may be the best athlete I've every seen - man or women. Having muscles, speed, and quickness do not equal athleticism IMO.
I think were disagreeing over semantics here. Yes she's a really good athlete. Saying that speed and quickness doesn't equal athleticism is kind of a strange statement to be honest. Just in terms of basketball if you had them run lines on the court, I'd guarantee you there are players that would beat her down the court. Jumping for balls at the rim, I'd guarantee you that players could out jump her. I'd bet that Hannah would best her in both by a decent margin. What seperates Clark is as much her mind and her motor as anything else.
She is NOT an “uber-athlete” for example Chennedy Carter or even Kelsey Mitchell (to be fair they are 5-9 ⬇️ which is a different dynamic entirely) but the point is this… You must be reading places where people are suggesting she’s a great athlete and I’m reading things routinely where people suggest she isn’t….
I can assure you, if you line that girl up with 100 women in the WNBA she’s gonna finish in the top 10 or 15% in a sprint and I think shed finished pretty highly in a jumping drill.
Her lateral quickness on the other hand is pretty average in my opinion.
And it is most assuredly her IQ and vision that makes her special. But the point remains if you’ve ever watched juju Smith play she’s not what I would consider a high twitch athlete. Nor is Paige Bueckers.
But there are very few women I’ve seen get up and down the court dribbling a basketball as fast as Caitlin Clark does.
I would be looking long and hard into their strength and conditioning program if I were them. Obviously some of these injuries happen quickly in the moment and would have occurred regardless of the player’s strength or conditioning. There are some things like back and hip issues that can be prevented with good strength training in young athletes though. And as someone suggested, making sure players have adequate rest. Could be some are training too hard in the off season too. Or maybe just a run of bad luck too?
You're right - we have different definitions of athletic. In my book an athlete is as an athlete does. For example, Steve Largent is a great athlete in my world. I heard an interview with a Hall of Fame DB who played against him who sum up Largent's lack of objective athleticism by saying "you try to cover him."
Catlin Clark is a great athlete. Her hand-eye coordination, agility, vision, balance, deph percertion, quick feet, muscle memory, and ball handling are the best I've seen.
Great analogy using Largent (I saw that interview) as an example is exactly what @kceasthawk was saying.
And although I agree per se, I propose she is faster and quicker (heard all WNBA season shes faster/stronger than she looks) her heart, motor, IQ, passion is unrivaled… She’s also a good deal, faster, and more “athletic” then people assume stepping on the court with a tall, thin white girl,
I’m routinely surprised how fast she can run, how strong she is and how high she can jump. But once again she could stand to spend some time on lateral quickness in the gym, especially as it relates to defense like. @kceasthawk said.
I think you're both right. Her basketball IQ is off the charts, and her aggregate "athleticism" is something special. Her presence on the court exudes grace with deceptive speed and strength. A 155 pounder shouldn't be capable of a 55% rate of success 3-point shooting from 25(+) feet, which she accomplished in her Senior year. That's incredible. The significance of 3-point shot can be undermined but the psychical demand can't. Combine this with her passing and ball handling ability and I'll defy everyone to find a comparison (well, OK, Curry, MAYBE).
She could have taken 5 or 10, or however many more shots per game. We all saw her pass up shots. How could Bluder have said no. As prolific a scorer as she was, she could have been in another universe. And she could have added another year to make her records unattainable.
Remember last season for the Fever when late in a game Caitlin jumped up and dislodged the ball that was wedged between the backboard and the rim? The announcers were pretty impressed as was I.
Did we ever discuss that here? Don't think we did. I wonder if she can touch the rim? Probably could get real close, at least.
OTOH, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised as she's shown the ability to get several, several blocks in the W. Good on her.
Absolutely… I remember that well and remember being somewhat surprised that she got up there and knocked it out. We’ve all seen plenty of women try, thinking they could get it and not come close.
