University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Caitlyn Tam
The Pieces All Fit
February 26, 2018 | Women's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
There's experience and leadership, youthful energy and spirit. There's a lot of talent, coming in a multiple of shapes, sizes and styles. All of that would have carried the Georgia women's basketball team pretty far this season, no question.
But the key ingredient to the No. 19-ranked Lady Bulldogs' 24-5 regular season, which ended Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum with a 20-point trouncing of Florida, is the elusive characteristic that all great teams share.
"The biggest thing I would say," third-year coach Joni Taylor said after the 63-43 victory, "is the chemistry we have,
"When all you can do is show up to practice and focus on practice and the game plan, and not worry about any outside distractions or managing things off the floor, it makes your job a lot easier — it makes them play a lot better.
"There's no tensions, no distractions, and we're fortunate to have a group of young ladies who put team before self and who manage themselves well, and that carries into everything that we do."
What the Lady Bulldogs have done, a season after going 16-15 and 7-9 in SEC play, is consistently play well together, consistently having fun playing well together. It's a much different lineup from last season, with three very impactful freshmen guards in Que Morrison, Gabby Connally and Maya Caldwell, and the addition of sophomore point guard Taja Cole, who redshirted last season.
"I mean, we're a completely different team this year," senior Simone Costa said. "We worked extremely hard this summer, into the fall, and I feel like our outside really improved a lot, and combining that with post players, I feel like we improved a lot in all the positions."
This is a team in which the pieces all fit, and that chemistry is the glue. That's why Georgia won 24 games, that's why it went 12-4 in SEC, tying for second place in the standings and earning the No. 3 seed in this week's SEC tournament in Nashville.
"I think just everyone has stepped up and embraced their role, and whenever they're called, they're ready," senior Mackenzie Engram said. "Last year I think we were dependent on two or three players and this year it's everyone, and you never know who's going to step up.
"That gives us a lot of weapons, that makes thing hard for the other teams; we just play together this year."
Last season, Pachis Roberts led the team with 14.5 points per game, with then-sophomore Caliya Robinson adding 13.7 and Engram 11.3. Nobody else averaged more than 6.7 a game.
Fast forward to this squad and the numbers are interesting. Robinson leads the team with 13.0, slightly less than she averaged a year ago, and Engram is next with a 12.9 average. Then comes Morrison at 8.5, Cole 7.9 and Connally 7.5. But those numbers don't tell the whole story.
Connally's average may be just 7.5, in 19.4 minutes per game, but she's also the player that lit up Texas A&M, in College Station, for 37 points. She also scored in double figures six other times, including 12 points against Florida Sunday.
In the season opener against Wofford, Morrison hit 8 of 12 shots and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. It was one of 10 double-digit scoring performances for Morrison, who started every game until Sunday, when the senior Costa got the nod.
Caldwell is averaging 13.3 minutes per game, but they're usually high-energy, productive minutes. In the second quarter Sunday, she scored eight points in an eight-minute span, hitting two 3-points and pulling up at the elbow for a 15-footer.
Connally and Caldwell can remind you of — warning, old reference alert! — Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson of the Detroit Pistons during their 1989-90 NBA championship years. Instant offense off the bench, instant energy, instant headache for the other team, especially if it has backup guards on the floor.
Connally said she just tries "to be a spark off the bench" when she takes the floor. All three of the newcomers, plus the addition of the aggressive and athletic Cole, have allowed this team to run more, get points in transition and be disruptive at the defensive end.
"They help a lot," senior guard Haley Clark said. "Just like Coach Joni says, you never know who's going to go off, because we have that freshman combo who can come in and do so much. Then we have returning players that can come and do so much, it makes it hard for people to guard us."
Meanwhile, Georgia is guarding opponents very well. Teams are shooting just 34.5 percent from the field against the Lady Dogs (the lowest mark in the league), 28.7 percent from 3, and Georgia is turning the ball over less than its opponents and getting more steals.
More good stats: led by Robinson's 3.0 blocks per game (second in the league), Georgia averages 6.0 a night, also second in the league; the squad's 16.2 assists per game shares the league lead with Missouri.
Again, all the pieces fit. Not that the team can't get better, even late in the season.
"I definitely think there's a lot more room to grow," Clark said. "I know we've had our early season where we feel like we peaked and then we kind of plateaued, and I feel like we're still waiting for that second peak because I feel like we have more to show."
Now, with the postseason starting Friday, would be a good time to make it happen.
Staff Writer
There's experience and leadership, youthful energy and spirit. There's a lot of talent, coming in a multiple of shapes, sizes and styles. All of that would have carried the Georgia women's basketball team pretty far this season, no question.
But the key ingredient to the No. 19-ranked Lady Bulldogs' 24-5 regular season, which ended Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum with a 20-point trouncing of Florida, is the elusive characteristic that all great teams share.
"The biggest thing I would say," third-year coach Joni Taylor said after the 63-43 victory, "is the chemistry we have,
"When all you can do is show up to practice and focus on practice and the game plan, and not worry about any outside distractions or managing things off the floor, it makes your job a lot easier — it makes them play a lot better.
"There's no tensions, no distractions, and we're fortunate to have a group of young ladies who put team before self and who manage themselves well, and that carries into everything that we do."
What the Lady Bulldogs have done, a season after going 16-15 and 7-9 in SEC play, is consistently play well together, consistently having fun playing well together. It's a much different lineup from last season, with three very impactful freshmen guards in Que Morrison, Gabby Connally and Maya Caldwell, and the addition of sophomore point guard Taja Cole, who redshirted last season.
"I mean, we're a completely different team this year," senior Simone Costa said. "We worked extremely hard this summer, into the fall, and I feel like our outside really improved a lot, and combining that with post players, I feel like we improved a lot in all the positions."
This is a team in which the pieces all fit, and that chemistry is the glue. That's why Georgia won 24 games, that's why it went 12-4 in SEC, tying for second place in the standings and earning the No. 3 seed in this week's SEC tournament in Nashville.
"I think just everyone has stepped up and embraced their role, and whenever they're called, they're ready," senior Mackenzie Engram said. "Last year I think we were dependent on two or three players and this year it's everyone, and you never know who's going to step up.
"That gives us a lot of weapons, that makes thing hard for the other teams; we just play together this year."
Last season, Pachis Roberts led the team with 14.5 points per game, with then-sophomore Caliya Robinson adding 13.7 and Engram 11.3. Nobody else averaged more than 6.7 a game.
Fast forward to this squad and the numbers are interesting. Robinson leads the team with 13.0, slightly less than she averaged a year ago, and Engram is next with a 12.9 average. Then comes Morrison at 8.5, Cole 7.9 and Connally 7.5. But those numbers don't tell the whole story.
Connally's average may be just 7.5, in 19.4 minutes per game, but she's also the player that lit up Texas A&M, in College Station, for 37 points. She also scored in double figures six other times, including 12 points against Florida Sunday.
In the season opener against Wofford, Morrison hit 8 of 12 shots and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. It was one of 10 double-digit scoring performances for Morrison, who started every game until Sunday, when the senior Costa got the nod.
Caldwell is averaging 13.3 minutes per game, but they're usually high-energy, productive minutes. In the second quarter Sunday, she scored eight points in an eight-minute span, hitting two 3-points and pulling up at the elbow for a 15-footer.
Connally and Caldwell can remind you of — warning, old reference alert! — Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson of the Detroit Pistons during their 1989-90 NBA championship years. Instant offense off the bench, instant energy, instant headache for the other team, especially if it has backup guards on the floor.
Connally said she just tries "to be a spark off the bench" when she takes the floor. All three of the newcomers, plus the addition of the aggressive and athletic Cole, have allowed this team to run more, get points in transition and be disruptive at the defensive end.
"They help a lot," senior guard Haley Clark said. "Just like Coach Joni says, you never know who's going to go off, because we have that freshman combo who can come in and do so much. Then we have returning players that can come and do so much, it makes it hard for people to guard us."
Meanwhile, Georgia is guarding opponents very well. Teams are shooting just 34.5 percent from the field against the Lady Dogs (the lowest mark in the league), 28.7 percent from 3, and Georgia is turning the ball over less than its opponents and getting more steals.
More good stats: led by Robinson's 3.0 blocks per game (second in the league), Georgia averages 6.0 a night, also second in the league; the squad's 16.2 assists per game shares the league lead with Missouri.
Again, all the pieces fit. Not that the team can't get better, even late in the season.
"I definitely think there's a lot more room to grow," Clark said. "I know we've had our early season where we feel like we peaked and then we kind of plateaued, and I feel like we're still waiting for that second peak because I feel like we have more to show."
Now, with the postseason starting Friday, would be a good time to make it happen.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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