Louisville Postgame Thread

[ballerfan]

This is not a serious suggestion, so please don't take it as such. But it would be highly entertaining to watch a game played by a freshman/sophomore team of Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Piath, and Amari and coached by Paige.

 

[eebmg]

It's official:
Caroline is no longer "Caroline Ducharme".
She is THE "CD"
And as much as she may dislike the song "Sweet Caroline".....
I have to say "So good! So good! so good!"

That dude's clips dont match his words. I know he was the first real Paige analyzer but now he is not doing it well now

Here is a well done Caroline Highlight clip. Enjoy like I did. Includes her post game presser

 

[SVCBeercats]

He had Amari and Piath, both too inexperienced to put into a close game against a top team, and that was the extent of the bench yesterday

Why are they too inexperience to play in a close game because Geno doesn't play them enough in other games. He doesn't seem to realize the seniors aren't sufficient to win the championship or he is way too loyal to the seniors.

 

[SVCBeercats]

This is not a serious suggestion, so please don't take it as such. But it would be highly entertaining to watch a game played by a freshman/sophomore team of Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Piath, and Amari and coached by Paige.

I would love to see Geno coach the seniors, Dorka, and with God's help Aubrey against Paige and her team. Betcha he would not dare do this.

 

[Rb335]

There are no guards on the bench and the options are not good ones, but there is an option. Basically Aaliyah plays all the backup minutes for the guards, with her just playing the 3 with two of the three guards with her. You rotate the sitting of the three starters while Aaliyah is in.

One problem is because Aaliyah will have major stretches at the 3, she will usually not be available to help in the three big rotation with Liv and Dorka. If Aubrey was available that would be the answer, but in her absence that is where Amari potentially helps as the new third member of a three big rotation.

If you do those things the guards can get some rest. You have to be very precise rotating the guards for rest, Aaliyah and Evina are not playing their natural position, and you have to commit time to an untested freshmen, but clearly we cannot expect to win many fourth quarters against good teams. Being outplayed down the stretch with this 6 player rotation is not a fluke.

The trade off of course is this strategy might give you a better chance in the fourth quarter, but you might be trailing by a few more points heading into the final stretch if Amari fails etc., but I think it is a pretty low bar for her to get over and therefore a decent gamble. If she is just mediocre, that could be as good as our starters when their tank reads empty.

Agreed, I'd expect to see that against our next few big east opponents. Yesterday, we were trying to get a win over a top 10 team. The caveat is that Dorka needs to continue to hit jump shots. If she is playing alongside AE and ONO and two guards, we need to be able to keep defenses honest.

All may be a moot point, as Muhl or Fudd could return in the next few weeks.

 

[VA Huskie]

Caroline continues to look like KLS to me in many tangible ways.

I think more aggressive offensively and better at getting to the basket. Not as good a 3 point shooter as of now. Overall I think CD will be a better pro.

 

[Kmoney]

I find it unsavory to be overly critical of female athletes. That is a flaw I am glad to have. I have respect for any girl that picks up a ball or a puck at a young age to play a “Boys” game.


With that said, I think there 2 kinds of basketball players. There are players and there are passengers. Players play. They pull or push themselves and their teammates to the level they need for success. Players often fail but it’s not due to effort or courage. Passengers are along for the ride. You can coach a passenger to be a Player, but they’ll often revert back to a passenger when you need them the most. While Players eventually develop past a hurdle and move on the next step in development, Passengers have to cross that hurdle over and over. Every game is full of highs and lows, emotionally, mentally, physically, and tactically. I don’t fault passengers. They are fine if you don’t ask too much of them, especially lead. Passenger always remind me of the story of the scorpion crossing the stream on the turtles back. If you take a scorpion for a ride, you will end up stung.

Basketball and Soccer are very similar when in it comes to passengers. In soccer they often refer to it as “Hiding”. A player that shy away from the ball, tackles, or generally plays it safe is Hiding (basically any Arsenal player last season).

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I understand what you're saying about Geno wanting to win the game, but comparably speaking, Liv got 5 points and 5 rebounds in nearly 30 minutes of playing time, and 3 fouls. I'm sorry but I feel Amari can equal this performance. I know she has her defensive lapses, but the Cards didn't really hurt us inside. I think Geno is going to be willing to give Amari more playing time very soon... Honestly, I think he's grown tired of seniors underperforming --the three of them played 105 collective minutes and scored all of 21 points...

Yes. How does he not put DeBerry on the court? And with the front line, including Edwards, having all racked up at least three fouls each, how does the highly ranked freshman keep glued to the bench? And at what time does Gabriel- yes, the 6'5" post- get a chance? Just wonder when Coach Geno gives players a chance to come in and fight? Just like Ducharmes got the chance to prove herself?

 

[HuskylnSC]

To be the contrarian --- CW did not; "have a terrible game", "jut disappeared for long stretches", "Couldn't create her own shot"

CW was the focal point of their defense. What I saw was Walz had a two prong defense; 1) Stop CW with a wave of defenders and 2) out muscle the bigs underneath.

CW consistently beat her man off the dribble only to be met by defender after defender. She fell into Walz's trap by continuing to try to beat the second and third defenders resulting in wild shots as the clock ran down. If she had recognized the second defenders were coming and been able to pass out of the double things might have been different.

Play under the hoop needed a cop not a ref. It was give and take on both sides but if the macro aggression had not been allowed, Dorka and Liv are too skilled to be stopped by the Louisville bigs.

The game was lost by the disparity of 3 point and free throw scoring. UConn went 3 for 15 and 7 for 10 for a total of 16 points while L'ville went 8 for 15 and 17 for 20 for 33 points. Tough to overcome that discrepancy.

 

[VA Huskie]

Also Rebecca Lobi is getting hard to listen to. It seems she goes out of her way to to be impartial. Over complimentary towards UConns opposition. Complimenting the Louisville guard Robinson like she was all world all game while she did absolutely nothing for them. I’m sure she is a good defensive player for them but cmon, really.

Robinson is really tough defensively.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

This is not a serious suggestion, so please don't take it as such. But it would be highly entertaining to watch a game played by a freshman/sophomore team of Azzi, Nika, Caroline, Piath, and Amari and coached by Paige.

Not sure we won't get there in a couple of weeks. With Dorka, of course. At least sometime during a game, I can't help thinking that Coach Geno will go with desire and fight over listless performances. Paige might not be "coaching," but she could be rooting from the sideline for several more weeks while these players return and demand their chance to step up.

 

[eebmg]

Ok, not too early to get some NIL ideas going

" Tough spills? , reach for but please don't squeeze the Ducharmin"

 

[Littlemin]

Hubby commented that CD traveled before the charge, so who knows?

Hubby was right, it was pretty obvious to me also.

 

[BBallF]

Just a few observations. First, they full court pressed the entire game which had the desired effect of tiring Evina. She is not a 35 minute or more player to begin with unless she is just distributing and when pressed, it took her out of the game offensively in the sense that her shooting percentage and scoring plummeted and so did her assists. There was just no way to stop it since there was no bench.

Second, the double high post offense just doesn't work with the personnel we have. When we had 3 bigs in there I thought we should have been in the zone and kept pounding it inside to the one big who had the physical advantage. In fact, the zone was a good way to conserve energy and I'm sorry we went to the man to man. Van Lith was too quick and she killed us in the second half against the man defense.

Third, our seniors are not going to change. We need a new offense and we need Azzi big time because our offensive production is very limited now. With Paige we knew where we could get the baskets to win a game. Now, it's really difficult and at times non-existent.

I'm very happy for CD. We knew she was a player and I am not surprised at all at what happened yesterday.

 

[Littlemin]

I find it unsavory to be overly critical of female athletes. That is a flaw I am glad to have. I have respect for any girl that picks up a ball or a puck at a young age to play a “Boys” game.


With that said, I think there 2 kinds of basketball players. There are players and there are passengers. Players play. They pull or push themselves and their teammates to the level they need for success. Players often fail but it’s not due to effort or courage. Passengers are along for the ride. You can coach a passenger to be a Player, but they’ll often revert back to a passenger when you need them the most. While Players eventually develop past a hurdle and move on the next step in development, Passengers have to cross that hurdle over and over. Every game is full of highs and lows, emotionally, mentally, physically, and tactically. I don’t fault passengers. They are fine if you don’t ask too much of them, especially lead. Passenger always remind me of the story of the scorpion crossing the stream on the turtles back. If you take a scorpion for a ride, you will end up stung.

Basketball and Soccer are very similar when in it comes to passengers. In soccer they often refer to it as “Hiding”. A player that shy away from the ball, tackles, or generally plays it safe is Hiding (basically any Arsenal player last season).

What does any of that have to do with gender? Those are not “Boys” games at all!

 

[eyeroll]

Yes. How does he not put DeBerry on the court? And with the front line, including Edwards, having all racked up at least three fouls each, how does the highly ranked freshman keep glued to the bench? And at what time does Gabriel- yes, the 6'5" post- get a chance? Just wonder when Coach Geno gives players a chance to come in and fight? Just like Ducharmes got the chance to prove herself?

Outside of this game specifically, I do think that is something Geno will have to adapt to with his approach. Yes, we all know what he's done, but the landscape is different now. The gap in raw ability between the high/mid tier players has shrunk, and the expectations of the players have changed. I agree that it feels like he's going to have to start taking more chances with playing time in some of these games.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

My one big solace in the game is, of course, Caroline. In addition to a wide range of scoring skills and defensive scrappiness she has a big heart, some of which translates into a ton of competitive fire, a trait missing from a couple of her team mates.

 

[tchalla1]

To be the contrarian --- CW did not; "have a terrible game", "jut disappeared for long stretches", "Couldn't create her own shot"

CW was the focal point of their defense. What I saw was Walz had a two prong defense; 1) Stop CW with a wave of defenders and 2) out muscle the bigs underneath.

CW consistently beat her man off the dribble only to be met by defender after defender. She fell into Walz's trap by continuing to try to beat the second and third defenders resulting in wild shots as the clock ran down. If she had recognized the second defenders were coming and been able to pass out of the double things might have been different.

Play under the hoop needed a cop not a ref. It was give and take on both sides but if the macro aggression had not been allowed, Dorka and Liv are too skilled to be stopped by the Louisville bigs.

The game was lost by the disparity of 3 point and free throw scoring. UConn went 3 for 15 and 7 for 10 for a total of 16 points while L'ville went 8 for 15 and 17 for 20 for 33 points. Tough to overcome that discrepancy.

All of what you say reflects accurately the accounts of CW during the L'Ville game: her failure to recognize the defenses, suitably compensate and adjust--so the times that they had these waves of defenders on her, unless they snuck additional players in their line up, that means someone's got to be open and CW did not recognize this--instead she kept pounding the rock--when Geno tells her to "make something happen" that doesn't mean go one on five with L'Ville. Time and time again, CW fails to suitably react--if some of you feel that this is too much to ask of a pre-season Big East and Honorable Mention All-American and we are setting the bar too high, then I respectfully understand... But 10 points in 40 minutes is not even marginal in my estimation...

 

[GoUconn7961]

I hope the players never ever come to the boneyard. It'll destroy them.

 

[sun]

What does any of that have to do with gender? Those are not “Boys” games at all!

I can't speak for the poster, but in fact the WBB players do play the boys BB game since they use a smaller size basketball than men, one that's used for young boys, girls and youth.

Is 28.5 a women's ball?
28.5" Basketballs
Women, girls ages 12+, and boys ages 12-14 use basketballs that measure 28.5" in circumference and weigh 20 ounces. 28.5" basketballs are also referred to as "intermediate" or "size 6" balls. Women's leagues including the WNBA, college and high school use 28.5" basketballs.


There are other rule differences between the mens and womens game too.

Difference Between Men's & Women's Basketball

There are several differences between the way men and women play basketball. Some of the differences have to do with rules, while others are related to general style of play. Some major differences can be observed at the professional level where season length and pay scale are hugely different...

www.sportsrec.com

 

[Littlemin]

I can't speak for the poster, but in fact the WBB players do play the boys BB game since they use a smaller size basketball than men, one that's used for young boys, girls and youth.

Is 28.5 a women's ball?
28.5" Basketballs
Women, girls ages 12+, and boys ages 12-14 use basketballs that measure 28.5" in circumference and weigh 20 ounces. 28.5" basketballs are also referred to as "intermediate" or "size 6" balls. Women's leagues including the WNBA, college and high school use 28.5" basketballs.


There are other rule differences between the mens and womens game too.

Difference Between Men's & Women's Basketball

There are several differences between the way men and women play basketball. Some of the differences have to do with rules, while others are related to general style of play. Some major differences can be observed at the professional level where season length and pay scale are hugely different...

www.sportsrec.com

Nonsense, so it is a “boys” game because females use a smaller ball? Why not, the “boys” play a “girls” game? Give it up, gender has no business even being discussed, especially in the context the original poster presented about being so concerned about their psyches he could not bear to criticize females, just absolute utter nonsense.

 

[eebmg]

I hope the players never ever come to the boneyard. It'll destroy them.

Maybe a warning label on some threads such as "Not suitable for UConn Player Viewing"

 

[HuskyNan]

I find it unsavory to be overly critical of female athletes. That is a flaw I am glad to have. I have respect for any girl that picks up a ball or a puck at a young age to play a “Boys” game.


With that said, I think there 2 kinds of basketball players. There are players and there are passengers. Players play. They pull or push themselves and their teammates to the level they need for success. Players often fail but it’s not due to effort or courage. Passengers are along for the ride. You can coach a passenger to be a Player, but they’ll often revert back to a passenger when you need them the most. While Players eventually develop past a hurdle and move on the next step in development, Passengers have to cross that hurdle over and over. Every game is full of highs and lows, emotionally, mentally, physically, and tactically. I don’t fault passengers. They are fine if you don’t ask too much of them, especially lead. Passenger always remind me of the story of the scorpion crossing the stream on the turtles back. If you take a scorpion for a ride, you will end up stung.

Basketball and Soccer are very similar when in it comes to passengers. In soccer they often refer to it as “Hiding”. A player that shy away from the ball, tackles, or generally plays it safe is Hiding (basically any Arsenal player last season).

I find paternalism and condescending attitudes towards women unsavory.

 

[Skeets]

Hubby was right, it was pretty obvious to me also.

We could be talking about 2 different plays. The charge I'm talking about was in transition going to the basket with 1 defender between her and the hoop. Definitely not 2 defenders, and I didn't see any traveling. She was going in for a simple layup in transition.

 

[sun]

Nonsense, so it is a “boys” game because females use a smaller ball? Why not, the “boys” play a “girls” game? Give it up, gender has no business even being discussed, especially in the context the original poster presented about being so concerned about their psyches he could not bear to criticize females, just absolute utter nonsense.

I think the poster was referring to the lack of some of our women players attacking the basket in order to score points.
While not criticizing women per se, he seems to be inferring that some players don't have the mindset required to be aggressive scorers that they should have or need.
Geno seems to also be at a quandry about why some of his players don't seem to "get it."
I personally don't believe that how some players choose to play the game has to do with testosterone, but many folks do seem to think that many women generally have a different outlook or method of processing their thoughts than many men generally do.
Again, that has nothing to do with testosterone per se that I know of or care to speculate about.

There's research about how men and women have different perspectives and outlooks about how to solve problems whether the problems are of a human or technical nature.

I don't know if women make better soldiers during war or not.
But I can tell you this, that the Equal Rights Amendment was never pased and one of the reasons was because the voters didn't want women to be drafted into the military in the event of a war.
Some folks recognize or theorize or acknowledge that there are differences between the sexes.
So what if some women may not have the killer instinct?
We celebrate and honor American women.
His post didn't promote inequality and wasn't derogatory.
Prior to the creation of the WNBA in 1996 men and women used the same basketball.
IN 2004, international rules were changed to use the smaller ball.
That can be recognized without being bigoted or offense being taken.