Moore Room To Improve

The way Geno Auriemma talks about Maya Moore's recent struggles, it's almost as if the UConn coach is complimenting the freshman from Lawerencewille, Ga.

"In the last week or so, she's reminded me [that she's a freshman]," Auriemma said. "For a long stretch, she looked like a lost freshman."

Finally, it seems, Moore has hit the freshman wall. Finally, teams are adjusting to her and capitalizing on the few weaknesses in her game.

Finally, Auriemma can coach Moore and help her become the player she wants to be.

"Little by little, she's going to have to come to grips with the fact that this game is a lot harder than she's making it look," Auriemma said.

Such is life for the nation's top freshman. After wowing coaches, opposing players and the media for four months, Moore's output has dropped to "only" 34 points and 25 rebounds in the three games of the Big East tournament.

But while the stats show Moore to be an incredibly productive player of, she was chastised by Auriemma for settling for jump shots and forgoing her aggressiveness on offense.

"In order for Maya to become the player she wants to be, there's more things she has to do as well and it takes a long time to get to that point," Auriemma said. "One of them that we've been working on is 'Why aren't you a better rebounder?' It's just because you haven't decided that you want to be or you think it's adequate. Well, obviously, we're trying to show you it's not.

Auriemma said Sunday that it appeared as if Moore was back to normal.

But perhaps all of the internal and external pressures are finally getting to Moore. She's become one of the most hyped players in America overnight.

She's had major pieces written about her in the New York Times and the Boston Globe. During Sunday's selection special on ESPN, anchor Trey Wingo dedicated most of the program's first five minutes to the freshman.

Later Sunday night, Auriemma could be overheard mocking the media's new obsession with the star forward.

"The story that has to be created, and that's the story. Here's a freshman who came to Connecticut and is the reason why they're No. 1," he said to a group of five or six reporters. "They're the top seed in the tournament. It's something to think about it, it's something to keep an eye on and to monitor because her game isn't able to sustain this."

Ten feet away, almost a dozen reporters crowded around Moore to ask her questions.

"When people give their opinions of your personal game during the season, you have to be careful with how you take that. I need to make sure that my goals, my team and our goals and our program.," Moore said. "Coach makes sure that that stuff doesn't get to anybody they compliment, doesn't get to anyone's head."

Other distractions have surfaced in recent weeks: first, there was Auriemma's prodding during the Big East tournament.

Then, last week, ESPN reported that UConn committed a secondary violation in recruiting Moore when the school's athletic department set up a tour of ESPN for Moore and her mother in 2005.

"ESPN couldn't resist piling on the kid," Auriemma said.

Moore brushed the issue aside.

"Oh, that? I don't have any comments on that," she said. "I don't think that's an issue."

Moore has also been beset by physical pain, mostly from a fall at the hands of Rutgers' Epiphany Prince March 3. Late in the second half, with UConn well ahead of the Scarlet Knights, Moore ran a fast break for what looked like an easy lay-up.

Instead, Prince pulled her arm down, leading to a scary crash landing on Moore's lower back. Moore stayed down for a minute before popping up and leaving the game.

With two weeks to heal up, Moore sounded ready to go.

"I think the break definitely helped me heal up from some bumps and bruises," Moore said. "It happens when you play in the Big East, when you play three games in three days. I'm pretty sure everybody used our three days [off practice] to heal up."

If Moore can back up her words - proving that these distractions are temporary - she could be exactly as important as the talking heads believe.

Since being inserted in the starting lineup Dec. 21, Moore has averaged more than 18 points per game and has emerged as UConn's dominant offensive presence.

With as many as six games remaining, Moore is 110 points from setting a UConn record for most points in one season.

And oh yeah, the Huskies are potentially six wins away from their first national championship since 2004. No pressure.

"I'm excited," she said. "I try not to let nerves affect me in a negative way. I'm gonna fight through any nerves and just play."

Contact Kevin Meacham

at Kevin.Meacham

@UConn.edu.