[cardfan1996]

In defense of Haley:

1. Sacrificing her game, possibly end season awards and WNBA draft stock and her best position (4) to play the 3 position because coaches have told her this is what is best for the team. She IS an All-American at the 4 spot, not 3 and sure as hell not the 1. And I think she is a better 4 than Kiki but Cam is emerging as the best 4 (not 5) of them all.

Is the 4 her natural spot?  She is glorious around the basket, but she is quite short for a 4, particularly against a team like South Carolina.  And I thought that her pro prospects would substantially improve as she proves her versatility--that is partly how the move was justified.

That said, the "positionless basketball" that we seem to be playing ought to favor a versatile player like her.  However, I am all for putting her in whatever position gets her out of her slump and lets her be the best she can be.  We need that.

Haley created matchup problems as a 4 against S.Carolina and Arizona in 2021 and UConn didn’t have an answer for her in 2022. More importantly, she is a 1st team All American at the 4 position

To move her to the 3, she has to be able to consistently hit a 3-pter and she is a career under 30% shooter. In fact, her 3-pt shot only magically came online in 2021 and quickly disappeared by 2022. That is not a strength in her game. Neither is defending a 3 player on the other team so yes, I think her natural position is a 4. She defends well-enough in the post and certainly she is a much better defender there than on the perimeter where she has to possibly chase after quicker players around brutal screens. And she has to do all this now, handling 40% of the ballhandling with ZERO rest. Yet she gets the criticism?


Edited to add: Having to account for Ashten on the perimeter on offense and Cam in the paint, allows Haley to operate in her zone if genius - driving to the basket.

[cardfan1996]

In defense of Haley:

1. Sacrificing her game, possibly end season awards and WNBA draft stock and her best position (4) to play the 3 position because coaches have told her this is what is best for the team. She IS an All-American at the 4 spot, not 3 and sure as hell not the 1. And I think she is a better 4 than Kiki but Cam is emerging as the best 4 (not 5) of them all.

Is the 4 her natural spot?  She is glorious around the basket, but she is quite short for a 4, particularly against a team like South Carolina.  And I thought that her pro prospects would substantially improve as she proves her versatility--that is partly how the move was justified.

That said, the "positionless basketball" that we seem to be playing ought to favor a versatile player like her.  However, I am all for putting her in whatever position gets her out of her slump and lets her be the best she can be.  We need that.

Haley created matchup problems as a 4 against S.Carolina and Arizona in 2021 and UConn didn’t have an answer for her in 2022. More importantly, she is a 1st team All American at the 4 position

To move her to the 3, she has to be able to consistently hit a 3-pter and she is a career under 30% shooter. In fact, her 3-pt shot only magically came online in 2021 and quickly disappeared by 2022. That is not a strength in her game. Neither is defending a 3 player on the other team so yes, I think her natural position is a 4. She defends well-enough in the post and certainly she is a much better defender there than on the perimeter where she has to possibly chase after quicker players around brutal screens. And she has to do all this now, handling 40% of the ballhandling with ZERO rest. Yet she gets the criticism?


Edited to add: Having to account for Ashten on the perimeter on offense and Cam in the paint, allows Haley to operate in her zone if genius - driving to the basket.