UCONN - NC State post mortem thread

[maple]

Before we fall to pieces. Multiple choice question: would you rather have your worst one of the year early, on the road out of conference, or in March. Or in a tournament game.

Is the worst game an automatic loss? If so then November, obviously. But the really great teams can have their worst game of the season and still win. We used to be that team.

 

[luminosity]

Only Paige and Q showed up today for all 40. Aaliyah had points but she disappeared for two quarters. Everyone else stunk.

Caroline got completely outplayed by Q in all aspects of the game. Most disappointingly, she got out efforted by the rookie. If this continues, Q needs to start.

Azzi needs to stop being so tentative when things aren't falling for her. I wish Q could bottle her gumption and give it to Azzi.

NCST not being ranked is a joke. They played like a top 5 team today. They won that game as much as UCONN lost it.

Let's see if they can turn it around against Maryland.

 

[ucbart]

If no one else will say, I will.

The people who were worried when we didn’t get another Post out of the portal and the people who were worried that Paige & Nika playing together would be counterproductive are completely justified. After just the second game.

Agree. I don't care what anyone says, I don't like Paige off the ball. She is a PG, plain and simple.

And Azzi, where does one begin? Her talent is clear, her hunger is not. She is far too passive.

 

[REB1094]

First half - we missed a lot of open looks, they made a lot of tough looks. Managed to go into halftime with a lead anyway
Second half - we simply got outplayed. We were scared, they took advantage.

Great game for Paige, she was single handedly keeping us in it for most of the day. Really liking Qadence as well, she's a sniper

The scout is the same. Crash the boards, play physically, and you will put yourself in a position to beat UConn. I don't see a fix for that this year. Jana is out and Amari couldn't get 1 minute today. Focus on recruiting needs to be size and toughness because we play really really soft.

But Paige is Paige, Azzi and AE will be better, and we will always have a chance with those 3. As of today it looks like our potential is very limited because of the size issue. But luckily today is November 12 instead of March 12. Let's give the staff some time to make adjustments. We have a lot of really big games in the next month before BE play to show improvement

 

[uconnever]

Disagree. Qadence was poised and totally unafraid of the moment. She was a bright spot today

Yes, she sure was. Made mistakes but her mistakes are because she’s young. I just think that once we get to that elite 8 or final four area, we will just honestly be too small. Not that we can’t win it all, we can but I don’t think this team as constructed has what it needs.

 

[SportsFan92]

There not making the final four!! They won’t beat SC, UCLA, UNC, I will be very surprised if they win any games against ranked teams. They might not even beat Maryland on Thursday. The teams will multiple bigs will eat this team alive. We can’t defend guards going to the basket. Geno has done a horrendous job getting true bigs to come to UConn. Until this team can sign bigs this team will struggle. We have no depth. Edwards and that’s it. Brady was a non factor, and let’s just throw the towel on Amari. She will never be a impact player. She’s been at UConn long enough to figure it out. Guards can only take u so far. SC will absolutely kill is on the boards. UCLA is huge .. they will own the paint. UNC is huge as well. I hate to be a Debby downer but this team will struggle. I just don’t see them making a final four. Azzi was horrible.. the only ones that played well was the freshmen Samuels and Paige..everyone else was a non factor. Very disappointed. Enjoy the ride but sadly its going to be a very sad season.

 

[Bone Dog]

We got out rebounded, but it was mainly by their guards. We didn't lose this game because NC St was taller. Saniya had a tremendous game and was simply quicker or taller than whoever guarded her. And they hit their 3s. So much for the height issue. What is clear is that we are thin in the post and Geno was afraid to play Ice much. Aaliyah played like someone afraid of getting fouls on D, as if she also didn't want to turn over the post to Ice just yet. And it didn't help that Aubrey was injured in the 3rd Q.

We also looked tired. Why? Because we didn't play that deep rotation we saw against Dayton. We effectively played 5+2 with Ice and KK only getting occasional minutes. And once Aubrey went down, we were effectively reduced to 5+1. It showed in the 4th quarter.

I haven't seen a minutes breakdown yet, but I suspect Paige played 30+, Aaliyah too, and Qadence may have played 20. I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of Qadence in the next few games.

 

[Bigboote]

UConn looked like they did in many games last year. Rebounding was not good, and the offense just wasn’t moving much of the time. Holly said Geno was complaining about rebounding during timeouts. Why not try Ice and Aaliyah together, or how about putting Shade in?

Kudos to Wes and his players. Well done on State’s part.

 

[Centerstream]

Based on what I saw today, SC or Iowa will be the new #1. We could be ranked lower than LSU and ND. I hope we stay in the Top 10, but...
I could be wrong but I think getting called for 5 fouls in the first 2 minutes of the second half really shifted the momentum of the game and we didn't recover.

 

[uconnever]

Also I agree with the poster that hat said Nika and Paige either can’t start together, or they need to figure so things out. Caroline needs to figure things out too. We will get better just our foot speed and size is going to do is in.

 

[Aluminny69]

Contrary to what CD believes, Azzi's shot is NOT automatic.

 

[Rings R Us]

Only Paige and Quadence were aggressive.

Surprised Geno didn't give Ashlynn Shade any minutes to change things up. She's a pesky defender and seems pretty sound offensively as far as making cuts and getting in there for some rebounds too.

 

[Steelerone]

A few months ago I wrote a thread elaborating on the difference in women's basketball in just the past ten years, pointing out how the women's game has gotten bigger and that the one area we have not emphasized enough is our size. I was met with a barrage of negative criticism from people who felt our backcourt talent was more than enough to make up for the height difference. The name of the game is now rebounding and several of the teams we will play has made that their strength. Just saying, don't kill the messenger.

 

[EasyEd]

Oh how I miss Dorka and Lou, they were very dependable.

 

[Flyegirl]

I hope I'm wrong and this was a hiccup but I didn't see any sense of urgency except from Paige and Qadence

That's what was shocking to me. No sense of urgency.

 

[HuskyNan]

Eight points combined for the upperclassmen - Nika, Caroline, Aubrey. No bueno. But the team gave up 92 points. 92! I don’t blame the freshmen but the juniors and seniors should have done better.

Qadence and KK are the only ones with positive +/-

 

[maple]

Oh how I miss Dorka and Lou, they were very dependable.

They did so much for this team. Especially Dorka with rebounding.

 

[Aluminny69]

So much for the ten player rotation. Not that it would have helped, but Geno quickly went back to his old ways, using a seven player rotation.

 

[maple]

Eight points combined for the upperclassmen - Nika, Caroline, Aubrey. No bueno. But the team gave up 92 points. 92! I don’t blame the freshmen but the juniors, and seniors should have done better.

View attachment 93001

Hit the nail on the head. The upperclassmen HAVE to do better than that. And the defense was non-existent today.

I don’t want to hear excuses. JSUAW.

 

[UConnCat]

Paige was terrific and is back.
Q was aggressive and showed she deserves more playing time.
Team looked slow and played slow.
Defense was a mess with a ton of missed assignments.
Lack of toughness and hustle plays is troubling.

Azzi and Caroline seemed half-asleep.

 

[wingsfan055]

Major flaws with this team. No excuses to lose to an unranked team. It wasnt even that close for much of the 2nd half.

1). This team is undersized and has very little physical presence and athleticism. NC State could do whatever it wanted in the post. Meanwhile, we do everything on the perimeter, and if the shot doesn't drop, it's often one-and-done. The only reliable offense is when AE uses her body and skill inside. Paige also started to get her shot back throughout the game. But, that's it! We continue to be a finesse, perimeter team and that recipe often wont work against good teams, as we've seen seen the last few years.

2). Not only are we are undersized, but we are slow, slow, slow. So, we can't run fast-break on offense. And, we cant cover on defense. NC State had wide-open 3's all game, because our guards can't recover and move quickly. I'm sorry, but Fudd is becoming more and more of a liability. If her shots aren't dropping (they weren't today), and she is a bad defender, then how is she contributing? Time after time, she let her player beat her 1-on-1. It wasnt just her. C'mon Geno - send a message. Team defense is all about effort and intensity and it has been lacking of late.

3). This team needs to be more vocal and show more energy. They are too "nice". Again, I go back to a lack of physical presence.

4). I dont see any short-term fixes. It looks like it will be a slow ramp for Brady, which is disappointing. Losing Jana was crippling as she had physical size and presence and was very active in her games before her injury. Recruits for next year again seem to be more undersized guards and wings.

 

[Redux]

the really great teams can have their worst game of the season and still win. We used to be that team.

Certainly not against NC State shooting and otherwise playing the way they did today. Count on this: this will NOT be their biggest win of the year.

Also I'd add this to worst game (hopefully) of the year : a bizzarely called game. Against both sides; that didn't in itself anywhere near account for the loss, but it prevented any kind of rhythm and made it hard to play when you have absolutely no idea what today's definitions of traveling and charging are, for example.

 

[Blond D.]

There not making the final four!! They won’t beat SC, UCLA, UNC, I will be very surprised if they win any games against ranked teams. They might not even beat Maryland on Thursday. The teams will multiple bigs will eat this team alive. We can’t defend guards going to the basket. Geno has done a horrendous job getting true bigs to come to UConn. Until this team can sign bigs this team will struggle. We have no depth. Edwards and that’s it. Brady was a non factor, and let’s just throw the towel on Amari. She will never be a impact player. She’s been at UConn long enough to figure it out. Guards can only take u so far. SC will absolutely kill is on the boards. UCLA is huge .. they will own the paint. UNC is huge as well. I hate to be a Debby downer but this team will struggle. I just don’t see them making a final four. Azzi was horrible.. the only ones that played well was the freshmen Samuels and Paige..everyone else was a non factor. Very disappointed. Enjoy the ride but sadly its going to be a very sad season.

tell us how you REALLY feel.

 

[Aluminny69]

Too small, too slow, and poor shooting. Not the combo you want.

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

 

[aceboon]

The lack of quickness and athleticism on the perimeter is alarming