– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Of all of the adjectives, comparisons and superlatives that have been and will be uttered by college basketball supporters upon gazing at the all-around arsenal that Connecticut freshman forward Sarah Strong brings to the floor, her own teammate used a descriptor in the wee hours of Sunday morning that, while apt, might have been the hardest thing the super frosh had to deal with at any point during her national breakout performance.
Just moments after seeing Strong put up 21 points (on 8-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three), eight rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in leading the No. 2-ranked Huskies to an 85-52 demolition of No. 22 Louisville during the inaugural Women’s Champions Classic inside the Barclays Center, senior All-American guard Paige Bueckers was asked in the press conference to describe Strong’s game and, as part of her answer, focused on the freshman’s wingspan that allows her to be a rebounding and defensive force.
“The underrated thing about Sarah is her hands. Her ‘Go-Go Gadget Arms,'” Bueckers said. “Whenever the ball comes off the rim, it could be five feet away and she just go grabs it and gets it. It shows up on the boards, on defense, getting deflections, getting tips, blocks, steals.”
When asked by A Lot of Sports Talk soon after Bueckers’ response if she had ever heard of the cartoon Inspector Gadget, whence the “Go-Go Gadget Arms” reference, Strong admitted she didn’t know what that was and, furthermore, in the middle of Bueckers answering a subsequent question, Connecticut women’s basketball media contact Anna LaBonte looked up the show on her cell phone and then stepped forward to show Strong at the podium.
“Nineteen eighty-three???,” Strong exclaimed, apparently upon seeing the year of Inspector Gadget‘s debut, eliciting a laugh from the assembled media.
Nothing about Strong’s on-court game is dated, and any reason to hop into the DeLorean and activate the flux capacitor upon reaching 88 miles per hour is to compare Strong to some of the great players that have come through Storrs in years past who played integral roles in creating, and then sustaining, the 30-year dynasty that continues to bring the best players in women’s basketball to play for the all-time winningest coach in the history of the sport. (P.S. This graph referenced scenes from the 1985 movie Back to the Future, in case those reading this article are Strong’s age and/or not 1980s pop culture savvy!)
“I don’t know that anyone has had the offensive skill set that Sarah has since Stewie (Breanna Stewart) was here,” Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma said. “Now, they’re completely different players. They’re built differently. They play the game differently, but they accomplish somewhat the same things.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by New York-based photographer Gregory Fisher. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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