Georgia Tech Postgame Thread [Merged Thread]

[oldude]

After watching UConn lose to GT tonight and then noting that DePaul won at 14th ranked KY, I had a thought that I've never had before relative to UConn WBB. Thank God there's a conference tournament in March with an NCAA automatic qualifier to the winner.

 

[BrianUC]

Congratulations to GA Tech players and coaches for a great win.

 

[SLY63]

Quick (short) rant...

We started 3 top-five recruits, 1 Canadian Olympian and one All Big 10 player and were beaten soundly by an average team (at best). WOW.

 

[topogigio]

I know this is one game but for the last few years I’ve gotten more and more tired of seeing Geno’s lack of energy and effort coaching. It starts at the top, this is a team that clearly lacks confidence and I believe a lot of that is a symptom of Geno’s attitude and his obvious favoritism/reliance on Paige. At least we got to see Amari tonight, that and olivias game are my only positives.

Interesting take - might have something there, and I'm a huge Geno fan!

 

[Papa33]

soon as Amari got in the game the team flow changed... and then she got subbed out and Gtech went on a 10+ run. I don't understand that.

post hoc ergo propter hoc = a logical fallacy. Since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X. So you are right not to assert that Amari's departure was the reason GTech suddenly broke open a lead. I think the quality of UConn's play and loss was a team issue, not one person's poor play (or absence).

 

[victor64]

Counting Dorka UConn started four seniors and an Olympian. That is a lot of basketball experience. The disappearing act in the fourth quarter by seniors was unexplainable.

Check out CW's stat line. Why she played 40 minutes makes no sense. Probably the most jarring play by her (of the many) was the failure to box out her person as she followed her shot for a layup. Others would have gotten pulled immediately for that lack of hustle.

I wonder what happened that caused Aaliyah to completely lose confidence.

Caroliine was the only person in the fourth, until late to try and make a play. Unsuccessfully, but at least she tried.

Spare me the injuries excuse, again, these are experienced players that disappear when things get tough.

Mir must be hurt or just not performing in practice. Doesn't enter until the fourth?

GT did have more talent on the floor than UConn tonight. They played freer and with tons more confidence.

 

[gold2323]

I think CW was better her freshman year …I was criticized for saying I cringe when she shoots…she dribbles too much and forces shots too much….this is constructive criticism not being ugly. Dorka needs to be more aggressive and shoot with confidence…Caroline will get better she drives aggressively to the basket and her outside shooting will come when she gets more playing time….I liked Amari…she looks smooth and very fundamental.
Regardless the team will find its way when it counts. UCONN is UCONN….and the Georgia tech fans did not get to see the phenomenal Paige Bueckers.
We miss you Paige.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Biggest problem was offense. No creativity, few if any player screening, turnovers galore, even when open many shots didn't even hit iron. Where were offensive plays run by UConn? GT looked like a good team that knew what to do, and they could execute as well. Not sure Geno can create some basic offensive plays in short amount of time but that is what's needed.

Paige was the Basketball IQ of the team on the floor. Without her UConn is a router less ship. You don’t want CW or EWwith the ball in their hands trying to make decision. That’s not their strength.

 

[genzhusk]

They have the talent, not the work ethic. Maybe these losses will give them some humility. They need to play hard like paige isn’t coming back. These seniors really just going to throw their season away?

Cristyn
last year she said they truly didn’t see arizona as a threat so didn’t bring the energy. she still hasn’t learned that lesson in poor mentality. she’s not gonna make it far in the WNBA like that. Mentally lacking the intention. She has the talent, she just seems to cling to excuses.

Aaliyah
Have you guys noticed the body language all year? Even when playing well/making shots, she looks so unenthused. I’ve noticed it since the first game.

Evina
Slow. Every time she runs the point (even when paige is here) she dribbles so slow. pases the ball so slow. Not just this game but all year. Did she never fully recover from her injuries?

ONO
Shoots too much mid range which she is not successful at. Going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was trying to show boat for her
home game.

Dorka
if any post should be at the top of the key throwing up bricks it should be dorka (not ONO). dorka has the better shooting form. wish she would get back to her sophomore play in the B1G

Geno
Coach this team to play UConn basketball. That’s getting out fast in transition. Today the team was slow walking dribbling the ball up, slow pass, slow slow slow. Not looking ahead to score after rebounds. That is not UConn basketball. Regardless if Paige committed to UConn or not. Let them play UConn ball! Not liking Geno’s attitude just sitting down not coaching. Coach them through every play. It’s not just the players that need to work harder when 1/2 your team is down, the coaches have to work harder as well! Coach as if you’re not getting paige cause nothing is guaranteed. Don’t like the players dependence on paige but also don’t like the coach’s dependence on her too. this is such a bad look for high school recruits.

 

[LarryLegend]

DeBerry showed something, give her a chance moving forward. Cant be worse than Edwards or Dorka.

 

[Centerstream]

I'm going to keep things as neutral as possible, as I predict an onslaught of negative posts are going to follow.

• Tonight was the proof that our second 5 are not a top ten team, heck our 2-5 and a bench player looked like they'd struggle through the big east schedule. A lesson to a lot of posters to be more realistic with expectations and to respect the student athletes that play DI basketball, top to bottom. There's a lot more talent today than 20 years ago.
• I do think it is difficult to adjust to losing a NPOY, but to also simultaneously be without another 3 contributors is incredibly tough. It's going to take some time to figure things out, and we need to be patient.
• That being said, we still on paper brought a lot more talent to this matchup. How is it that our talent looked so bad? I am hopeful that those who played tonight take this loss very personally.
• I noticed we pretty much ran zero half court offense. This might be a scenario where we have to rely on sets to generate open looks. You can't play read and react when nobody is moving. Nothing to react to.
• I thought the turning point was the stretch where AE missed the wide open transition bucket, and then ONO went out with 3 fouls. After that point, we looked really bad offensively.
• The good news is that Amari looked pretty good to me. Caroline had a very up and down game. But I think we have to continue to give both minutes as they look like they can develop into reliable options.
• As for CW becoming our go to scorer? Not who I'd choose! But I guess what other option do we have?!

This whole season was supposed to taken personally, and then again after the SC game. Unfortunately, talking doesn't do it.

 

[UConnCat]

Good question. That missed layup was brutal.

 

[ucbart]

Here is my take. E isn't a PG. CW isn't a PG. Our PG is the best player in WCBB and she is hurt. We were losing this game the second Paige went down on Sunday. I don't care who is on the floor, you're only as good as your guards and no Paige changed everything about this team.

I mean-our 4 injured players could be 4 of our 5 starters next year. This is going to be an UGGGGGLLLLLYYYYYYY 6-8 weeks and we will probably lose 5 straight.

One last thing-does anyone else feel Rebecca tries really hard to not seem like a homer?

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I don't care if they have to lose more games...they need to get more minutes for reserves. They looked uncomfortable and out of sync on D. I would have left Amari in the game. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world. When she was in they flowed better. AE is frustrated. Show her some love. Something has shaken her confidence. Chin up, AE. It happens. CW and Evina were gassed by the 4th quarter. Olivia looked good. Growing pains here. I would not want to play Uconn once they adjust.

 

[Urshurak]

Are these seniors ever going to step up when needed? If not I'd rather watch the freshman go through their growing pains now rather than next season.

Nope. Ship sailed. Agree with you. Start the freshman and Mir. Sit all 5 “starters” against UCLA.

 

[hoopsfan22]

We just have to get through the next couple of games, then we play Marquette before getting a long break for the holidays. Hopefully as we flip the calendar to 2022 we'll have Azzi, Nika, and Aubrey back. I'll be pleased with 2-1 until then.

 

[LarryLegend]

Good question. That missed layup was brutal.

which one

 

[AmeriConn]

The question has to be asked. Is Paige that special (answer is yes) that she covers up the team's deficiencies except against the premier teams or is the remaining cast overrated, the incoming class excepted?
Separately, Edwards is in the Twilight Zone. She clearly is playing with a lack of confidence. She has too much ability and ceiling to be playing this way.

Agree. What is it though? Why can’t they make shots and why so many turnovers? Edwards is mind boggling.

 

[uconnfan68]

I think it's time for a serious discussion about just punting this season. Have Paige not comeback because she feels she needs to rush. If this is how the srs are going to play with no drive then what is the point. Not one sr ever steps up in the biggest moments.

Might be a little harsh. They really needed another point guard so EW and CW can play off the ball.

 

[Papa33]

What has happened to Ew the last few games. Her shooting is way off.Edwards is an enigma, Cw is inconsistent along with Ono.

As I watched, it seemed that for UConn, whoever had the ball was essentially going solo, often working alone to get room for a shot. It was not team offense, not often enough. Oddly enough, I thought Caroline, at least early on, was making aggressive cuts looking for passes. But by and large, much too much dribbling outside the arc and bad timing between screeners and dribbleers.

 

[msf22b]

I anticipated some issues and was not surprised that they lost
I was worried about only having 7 players...actually it turned out to be 8
Not the reason we lost.

Is it time to ask some serious questions of the staff?
1.Why is Dorka so ineffective...she was pretty fine the last season or 2
2. I've heard of sophmore slump...but Alaiyah played with pros all summer
hard to believe her seeming lack of confidence and total ineffectiveness
in this game
3. Why isn't Evina shooting more...at the end of the half, she was set up
for a 3, instead passed off to a much lesser shot by Williams.
4. There was a reasonable period in the 2nd half when passes into the interior
gave opportunities to the cutters...precious little in the 2nd half.

Terrible thing to say but team does not seemed well-coached, the foul approach was maybe ok at 3 minutes, embarrassing at 1

We could easily lose a couple of games in a row if the team doesn't figure out how to play to their individual and team potential.

And I certainly don't think we lost because of such wonderful D of tech
This was a self-inflicted loss.

 

[Rb335]

This whole season was supposed to taken personally, and then again after the SC game. Unfortunately, talking doesn't do it.

Agreed. You would think that CW would've taken losing her homecoming game to Arkansas personally. And thus not wanted Olivia to lose hers.

A fitting similarity for this senior class, who has never had to take much responsibility. Shielded by KLS, Collier, Walker, Dangerfield, and then the freshman Paige.

 

[Ardenque]

Can ANYONE make a shot?

 

[uconnfan68]

Quick (short) rant...

We started 3 top-five recruits, 1 Canadian Olympian and one All Big 10 player and were beaten soundly by an average team (at best). WOW.

We’ll be breaking a lot of UConn records in the next few games.