UConn-Duke postgame thread

[RSHERMVIKES]

as I mentioned in chat, end of third quarter reminded of a game years ago, D's freshman year in the tourney. we led Notre Dame by about 15 with a few seconds left in the half. Cruising. Then we commit a turnover and ND scores a 3 just before buzzer. Gives the a little momentum and they are only down 12 as they talk in the locker room at halftime. They proceeded to blitz us in the second half and knocked us out of the tourney. Here we gave up 5 points at end of third, including a 3, a turnover and a final 2. Gave Duke confidence, we can come back once again, and they were down 15 instead of 20. Down 20 entering the fourth, a team figures its over. Down 15, tough but we can do this.

Ralph- - The back story to the 2001 collapse is after that 3 pointer by ND's Alicia Ratay at the end of the first 1/2 Geno went berserk in the locker room screaming and tossed something some of the players were so shocked they were crying and as everyone knows they gave up the 12 point lead and lost with one of the great UConn teams!
I know this to be true when Geno several years ago had a GENO SHOW on SNY with guest Sue Bird, and near the end he said, "Do you forgive me for 2001! One of my worst coaching moments!"
And Sue said "You have nothing to apologize for, we should have handled it better!"
Geno said Thanks!
And we all know it set the stage for the greatness of their 2002 season!

 

[Centerstream]

Geno HAS to play the guys on the bench, just for a minute or 2 for the starters here and there. There were numerous boneheaded plays by some of the starters that wouldn’t look much worse from someone else.

And yet he didn't play either of them...that should speak volumes to every one of us. And as I posted elsewhere, I like both players but not in these game situations. The question is "can either one do things differently in the limited practices left to change Geno's mind?"
My bet is no.

 

[WiseWillie]

Ayanna is 6’2” and is clearly a “big.” It’s more about strength than height. And I think we just saw Aaliyah at 6’3” prevent Kennedy Brown at 6’6” from dominating (or doing much of anything) in the lane. Alyssa Pili is barely 6’1” and is clearly a big.

Tall skinny kids will dread stepping into the lane against shorter stronger kids. Out front court next season will be formidable and intimidating at 6’5” 6’3” 6’3” 6’2” 6’2” (if we count Morgan in the front court) and our guards/wings will also be intimidating at 6’1 6’0” 5’11” 5’11” 5’10” 5’10” 5’9” 5’9”. We will be one of the larger teams in D1 next season.

Sometimes the NC goes to teams like SC with 6’7 6’5” 6’4” and sometimes it goes to teams like LSU with 6’3” 6’2” 6’2”. And just yesterday UCLA just got eliminated with 6’7” 6’5” 6’4”. And don’t get me started about Stanford.

I agree. Height on this forum is sometimes being discussed like it is the entire answer. Height alone doesn't cut it at the post position. There has to be a lot more than that, like quick footwork, good handles, sheer anticipation of where to position yourself for a rebound and more. Jamelle who works with our post players I'm sure would add being 6'5" plus is not a guarantee of what will make a good or great post player. One of the key ingredients is a sheer will to dominate. For me and many others I'm sure, Aaliyah at 6'3" as an AA matches all of the key ingredients. She has a will to win that is infectious and the rest of the team feels it. I'll take that over height any day.

 

[FormerCTrez]

I was referring to her second foul with 2+ minutes left in the first half. Left her in,foul #3. Makes no sense. I don't think he understands that it isn't just a matter of being careful in an emotional game, partly because he never played the game at any high level.

I see what you’re saying.

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[Forego]

hasn’t really been acknowledged in the thread yet but have to give Nika props. No fouls and played hard all 40 minutes. Three O boards, 6 total, 8 assists and 4 steals.

Everyone knows that Nika doesn’t foul. I guess the refs just got the memo.

 

[Centerstream]

Geno has always said that the E8 game is the toughest to win, as you are so close to the final four. For our team this year, I thought yesterday's S16 game was going to be the biggest hurdle, mostly mental. Although Edwards and Muhl were the only ones that played vs OSU, Paige, Azzi, Ice, Amari, Caroline, Aubrey, Ayanna, Jana, and Ines all experienced the absolute shock of losing. That's a huge collective burden that only five of them were available this year that could remedy last year's bad experience.

Agree with you.
Which of the remaining 7 teams are playing with a roster that has 5 really (potentially in 2 cases), really good players sitting on the bench, unable to play due to injuries????
Think about it.

 

[Longtime fan]

SO... Does anyone think we won the Sarah Strong Sweepstakes with the win over Duke? Sure hope so. Another big for next year sure would be good.

Don't think the game outcome has any bearing. Both schools offer a lot for a star BB player. UCONN may need her more but that wont be the deciding factor either.

 

[Geesworld]

False. If true, why were they sitting on the bench?

You know what it is. But we'll leave that alone and appreciate the wisdom of great.

 

[Longtime fan]

We won with 4 players on the floor at the end of the game that could barely lift their arms BUT THEY DID!!!!
So happy for the best 6 player team (regardless of why there are only 6!!!!!!!!) in the world. They never gave up and never looked like they were panicking.
I also discovered tonight that my nerves have an impact on my blood glucose levels, and not in a good way. It happened last Monday too but I missed the correlation.

I agree. This was a noble, if not heroic, effort. We built a 20 point lead out of " sticks and stones," and hung on until Duke ran out of time. An amazing effort. Monday's game seems less a reward than a punishment for this weary group of battlers. I wish them well. No one thought we would get this far with 6 players.

 

[hoophuskee]

With you completely. The team with six players is going to the elite 8 by beating a team that took out a 2 seed on the road and with paige not shooting
Her normal percentage!!
A GREAT WIN!!

Yes -- and how about Paage. Wow what a player!!!!!!!!!!!! What a person to root for. I recall a couple years ago she told Geno "I'm different." At one point she was outscoring the entire Duke team. She scores in any manner anyhwhere on the floor. And thatt no-look pass she made to KK for a layup. it's a reminder if UCONN had a full roster in which we would be pressing more - what an even more brutal threat Paige would be in the open floor. Wer'e on to the E8 with a supposed
1--- Too small center. And a suppsoed backup too small center! playing her 1st year
2-- a supposed sr guard that can't shoot
3-- Other freshmen that normally would have breen 3/4/5 on the depth chart.
. . . And Paige. . . . !!!

 

[Rowdy831]

Tight defense makes you compete at both ends of the floor and when you are only going to play 5 players that will wear you down. The good news is USC is not a great defense and they run an offense that stands around a lot so fatigue shouldn't be as much a factor.

Two players have to play much better though. AE played great while she was on the floor but had some really dumb fouls and she is vital for UConn to beat USC. She represents the only size inside UConn has and she will be needed. The second is Paige. She missed at least 6 shots she usually doesn't miss and I think that was before she really got tired. I expect she will have an amazing game on Monday and based on her comments after the game maybe the team didn't rest properly before this game.

KK played a great game on defense but it was also the first time she contributed on offense for a whole game. She drove the ball, she shot the ball and she had some nice passes. Shade had a tough game but against a good defense she will struggle a little since her shot is a little on the slow side. She also needs to hit a couple short shots to get her confidence up before she starts shooting 3s.

In the end they will win if they get 30 points from plays outside of AE and Paige. I really think the scoring will be much easier on Monday.

 

[Fore!]

Trying to run out the clock almost cost them but survive and advance..

This wasn’t a case of trying to run out the clock; rather, it was a team that was running out of gas due the extended minutes they had played. Fatigue impacts both physical and mental performance.

 

[Jbigfan]

Ralph- - The back story to the 2001 collapse is after that 3 pointer by ND's Alicia Ratay at the end of the first 1/2 Geno went berserk in the locker room screaming and tossed something some of the players were so shocked they were crying and as everyone knows they gave up the 12 point lead and lost with one of the great UConn teams!
I know this to be true when Geno several years ago had a GENO SHOW on SNY with guest Sue Bird, and near the end he said, "Do you forgive me for 2001! One of my worst coaching moments!"
And Sue said "You have nothing to apologize for, we should have handled it better!"
Geno said Thanks!
And we all know it set the stage for the greatness of their 2002 season!

Another back story from that game: When we were waiting at airport for the flight home to Bradley, the ESPN crew that covered the tournament sitting near us talked about being in ND locker room doing interview. The team could not stop singing the jingle “who let the dogs out…RUTH..RUTH”. Fun time for ND…not so much for us

 

[Fore!]

hasn’t really been acknowledged in the thread yet but have to give Nika props. No fouls and played hard all 40 minutes. Three O boards, 6 total, 8 assists and 4 steals.

CD made a point in her post game interview to praise Nika for having played a terrific game.

 

[hoophuskee]

False. Duke just played 9 players against us. No way there bench is that deep. You coach kids for their roles and you live with a mistake the same way you live with your starters who make mistakes. Q provides a 3 point threat that is why you play her for limited minutes.

I'm not sure at the point of argument for this - I'm just going through last pages. so I'm not arguing either way - but I just want to say Duke's intention ta the beginning was to win the game. They lost the game. Their strategy didn't work. For example maybe if they did have 8 players play 10 minutes or more but gave extra minutes to Okananwa - then maybe they could have won. But with their strategy of 8 players with 10 or more minutes didn't get them the win.

As far as UCONN bench - I understand both. Up by 20 why not give some players a breather? On the flipside giving the bench minutes could also change the entire momentum of the game. For example, Q is a .354 3pt shooter- that is not a lockdown 3pt shooter. Thus her 3pt shooting is with risk. But her passing is not very good - so it’s not like Duke is going to say "Go ahead Q and take that wide pen 3 and we aren't going to pressure you at all doing things that you aren’t' comfortable with offensively . . ."

And then on Defense - she is another wildcard imo. She could get steals and get rebounds etc but on the flipside she can blow assignments which results in potentially eaise4r baskets or putting our thin team in additional foul trouble.

Anyway I get both ways on here. But another point not directly related to Q but it is in a way implied but more to the Duke team vs UCONN. IMO when you have the superstar- Paige-- imo that is always much more preferable than a deep bench without a superstar. OFC its bets to have more of a bench than UCNN has but anyhow the superstar is the difference maker as it was shown yet again for this recent game. This game was won by the superstar. Not by Duke’s deeper bench.

 

[uconnfan68]

And yet he didn't play either of them...that should speak volumes to every one of us. And as I posted elsewhere, I like both players but not in these game situations. The question is "can either one do things differently in the limited practices left to change Geno's mind?"
My bet is no.

3 straight mistakes by a sub isn’t any better or worse than 3 straight mistakes by a starter. That’s my only point. The plus comes in test for the starter.

 

[Fore!]

Aaliyah’s jumpshot there at the end was huge! I’m not sure we could have held on much longer! They were exhausted! Duke’s defense is something else! Luckily our offense was good enough to get the points we needed and their’s was not! Our defense was able to stop their offense more than theirs could stop ours. Even so, if that game had gone for three to five more minutes, I don’t think we win. Kudos to Brady for giving us just enough to cover for Aaliyah’s foul trouble. If Kara can upgrade her roster they’re gonna be a big problem! KK really stepped up in this game! They basically put a blanket over Ash but she still gave it her best effort. Paige, well, what can you say about her except that she refused to let us lose! Nika gave us 3 points, 6 boards, 8 assists, & 4 steals along with about three very bad turnovers. I’ll take that though. What a brutal game! Onward and upward! Hope they all sleep late tomorrow.

I hope Ms Strong doesn’t read your post and conclude she’s that missing piece

 

[hoophuskee]

This wasn’t a case of trying to run out the clock; rather, it was a team that was running out of gas due the extended minutes they had played. Fatigue impacts both physical and mental performance.

IIMO it also had to do with atrocious refereeing (Nika imo got destroyed on a reverse layup and KK got wiped out on a layup for another play) which imo were so obvious, and two plays which Chris D remarked that KK and Aaliya probably thought they were going to get fouled which imo has nothing to with fatigue. And unlike an 84-80 game - these points or free throws might have meant much more. And that play KK tried to drive through three players - I'm not so sure that was fatigue but rather a poor decision. How can you tell which is which? KK was able to drive very well in this game.

 

[hoophuskee]

3 straight mistakes by a sub isn’t any better or worse than 3 straight mistakes by a starter. That’s my only point. The plus comes in test for the starter.

It could be worse. The mistakes could be more stolen passes or steals leading directly to immediate layups. And at the other end their defense could be worse. And do we factor in just the 3 mistakes what about how long after are you keeping them in in which they could potentially do more "damage?"

 

[Martin]

SO... Does anyone think we won the Sarah Strong Sweepstakes with the win over Duke? Sure hope so. Another big for next year sure would be good.

Was wondering the same was she there? Lol

 

[MSGRET]

I believe that UConn would have won by at least 15 points if the refs hadn't swallowed their whistles in the 4th. If you are going to call the game one way in the first 3 quarters, you need to call it in the 4th quarter also.

 

[hoophuskee]

I believe that UConn would have won by at least 15 points if the refs hadn't swallowed their whistles in the 4th. If you are going to call the game one way in the first 3 quarters, you need to call it in the 4th quarter also.

I recall two specific plays late i remarked on another post. They were layups which UCONN got hammered. They should have been obvious calls.

 

[Centerstream]

In regards to refereeing games...on at least a couple of occasions in the tournament, Paige has gone to the floor after a loose ball. On each occasion, one or two opponents have ended up on her back and gained "co-possession" of the ball.
How is this not a foul? No way was there no contact prior to trying to tie up the ball.

 

[MSGRET]

In regards to refereeing games...on at least a couple of occasions in the tournament, Paige has gone to the floor after a loose ball. On each occasion, one or two opponents have ended up on her back and gained "co-possession" of the ball.
How is this not a foul? No way was there no contact prior to trying to tie up the ball.

It's hard enough playing with at max 7 players and the other team has 10 to 12, but having the refs help out by not calling those fouls is just wrong.