UConn - Minnesota post game thread

[Longtime fan]

As nice as the Maryland game felt, this one not so much. UCONN outscored Minny by 15 in the third quarter. The rest of the game (Q's 1,2, &4) by 3 total. There were some nice things done by individual players, but the offense never really seemed to find its' groove save for some stretches in the 3rd quarter...

Defense on the other hand - that was strong! Also some good experience for the newbies! On to the next game... Credit to Minny for holding us to 62 points total (altho I think our sloppy offense helped with that). Will be very curious what the horde asks Geno about this game and what he has to say about it - he's usually more complimentary after games than many fans so I look forward to his comments!

For some reason, we couldn't score. Missed a bunch of "routine" shots. I think it was an odd game due to the Paige Becker " re-union" with her home state. Paige, herself, was not herself. The intensity from the Maryland game never arrived. As for the positive; I agree than Muhl can be more of a scoring force this season, if she chooses to. I am more confident with her three point shots than I am with AZZI's. Edwards had a very inconsistent game. The energy was there but the conversions often were not. I hope Geno speaks with Aubrey about her outside shot ( ie. take it when you are open ). On the very first play sequence, she had a wide open three, thought about it, did a head fake and dribble to get closer to the hoop, and then ( can't remember ) either threw up a brick or passed off to someone who was covered. In other words, all her maturity and confidence seems to have regressed to her freshman year. If we are to be without AZZI , we have to get scoring elsewhere. Aubrey can shoot. Only she does not think so. Ice was wonderful and her ability to shoot from the outside is going to perplex a lot of defenses. I agree that UCONN may often find it advantageous to have Edwards and Ice on the floor together. KK started a bit slower than usual, but her " floater for three" lit up the arena. She is a force already. And Q had a very nice few minutes. She rebounded, hit from outside and defended. Ash was her usual tenacious defender. I am glad she made that shot at the end ( even though game was over, Manny was still defending hard ). She needs to regain that confidence in her offense. she is really a good scorer. Caroline still seems a player not well integrated into the offense. Does anyone have some clever way we can watch the Flo-Hoops (TV ) games (e.g UCLA etc ) without signing on to the service?

 

[Cuango]

paige was recruited to be a scoring machine. Nika was recruited to be a point, play defense and probably come off the bench with some energy. If that is true and I would think it is, Nika has outplayed GA's expectations.

Plays are run specifically for paige and she normally delivers. Nika is supposed to find scorers and be an opportunistic scorer, which in general, I thinks she has been, along with being a premier defensive player, hence her AA status. You think GA thought he recruited a potential AA in nika...doubtful. No doubt he thought he recruited a generational talent in paige.

Not sure where I said she was a potential AA? What AA status? As I said, I’m very happy with Nika, I was just pointing out that using one game’s performance to declare that she has suddenly become a consistent offensive contributor simply does not work. Having said that, she clearly has worked on both her pull up and three point shots and is much more of a threat than she was in previous season! That is a good thing for this team and I give her full credit for her work!

 

[HuskyNan]

Are we done discussing the game?

 

[Longtime fan]

I'm okay with this game. It was physical from the start and the refs were consistent and let them play. I love working in the freshman in these early games for more than the usual 2-3 minutes...if that. Defensive identity has been established. My feeling is that all these different lineups is in search of the best offense, in the best situation and opponent. The offense struggled, but realistically it happens, but you can still win.

So far, our offense is better when the starters are mixed in with certain bench players. In other words, our starting five is not our best five. I think it will take a while but, by March, it would not surprise me to see Carolin and Aubrey come off the bench. Aubrey can, of course, suddenly become unstoppable. Not so sure if Caroline can any longer. Hope so. But I worry about her head. I worry too much, period.

 

[Gordo]

Sure Nan, lets move on.

 

[sun]

The last & only time that UConn played Minnesota was in 2021-22 in their very first game at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The main difference was that C. Williams scored 31 points which led to the final blowout score of 88-58.

Women's Basketball vs Minnesota on 11/20/2021 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs Minnesota on 11/20/2021

uconnhuskies.com

 

[OldSchooler]

Geno once said, our 3PT defense is running at the wide open shooter with our arms in the air and yelling miss. I guess that defense finally worked in the first half. If Minnesota connected on more of those threes it would have been much closer.

NC State did; Minnesota didn't. Either way, they got those shots off uncontested.

 

[HuskyNan]

The last & only time that UConn played Minnesota was in 2021-22 in their very first game at the Battle 4 Atlantis.
The main difference was that C. Williams scored 31 points which led to the final blowout score of 88-58.

Women's Basketball vs Minnesota on 11/20/2021 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs Minnesota on 11/20/2021

uconnhuskies.com

Yesterday was the fourth time the teams have played

 

[jazz]

Not sure where I said she was a potential AA? What AA status? As I said, I’m very happy with Nika, I was just pointing out that using one game’s performance to declare that she has suddenly become a consistent offensive contributor simply does not work. Having said that, she clearly has worked on both her pull up and three point shots and is much more of a threat than she was in previous season! That is a good thing for this team and I give her full credit for her work!

NM = AA..did you now know this? im not sure anybody was implying that 1 game makes consistent offensive contributor. anyway, NM had a hell of a game and as long as she continues to do what she does and pitch in with 5-6 points, I think that should be enough. It is very rare to have a great defender and a great scorer and NM was not meant to be that. She plays her role as good or better than the rest of the team plays their role at the moment.

NM was pretty good as a freshie as well...check out her shooting stats from three. She has been consistent at roughly 35% plus each year. Now she has a little mid range here and there and takes it to the basket here and there. I wish and hope to see more of that, but I think we should be happy with what she does bring to the game...which is substantial already adn why she was an AA last year.