UCONN-Texas Post Game Thread

[cancontent]

Okay, lots of shade being thrown at Gonzaga. Did any of you watch the game? They played extremely well. They would've beaten many teams today. And as far as being unranked, that's probably gonna change in the next poll. Kind of like after NC State beat UConn.

Agreed. They were leading even while Brink was on the court. Stanford is supposed to have some depth with players like Jump, Demetre and Lepolo to go along with Iriafen. Gonzaga has a great roster of players who can compete with anyone.

 

[Gordo]

Any game in which Paige does not score at least 25 points we are most likely going to lose.

 

[npignatjr]

Don't want to pick on Nika but if this is correct 0 rebounds in 36 minutes is not a good look. On this team when a 6-3 player is our tallest player guards have to rebound.

I'm not sure about the zero, seems to me she came away with at least 1. She is the shortest UConn player.

 

[Rowdy831]

I didn't like the loss. Fans shall come and with loses fans shall go. True Fan lick they wounds and move on. How can any fan blame Geno --he sits on the bench. Turnovers by inexperienced in College basketball --are learning. I've been more often than not when I say this: It is not where you are in early December it is where you are in March that matters. Wait and see. I don't expect an NC--there are some very good team this year. Elite 8, FF--that's fine with me--heck 20 wins is fine with me.

He decides who plays in the game. When you sit over there biting your nails while you are getting pounded on the offensive glass and you don't even try putting the only size in you have then you get some of the blame.

 

[Rowdy831]

If you watch UConn right now they are playing very soft half court defense and that allows teams with good penetrators to have their way with them. By contrast watch Texas play defense, they are playing tight man all over the court and suffocating the offense. Both these teams play a similar offense but notice where Texas was playing their rotations and compare that to where UConn is starting theirs. UConn right now is not doing the basics very good and until that changes they are going to struggle to score and keep the opponent from scoring.

If Geno can't figure out a way to get Amari into the game and contribute this team will have a long year. AE is playing tough but the have zero low post defense other than her and half of Texas's rebounds yesterday were offensive. That coupled with 20 turnovers makes it an impossible game to win.

It is fixable but will take some courage and patience.

 

[Jmsdawg]

My take, Texas is really good, Booker is the piece Vic needed and she is producing. I still consider UConn a really good team but they do not seem to have a core 5 to rely on and team chemistry just not there yet. Paige is back but she needs the other players to do their job. The team appears, at least to me, to rely too much on Paige to carry the load. Geno has not been able to get the team to play up to their potential, I realize injuries have slowed the team chemistry but we need a core 5 made up of the available players, finding that core 5 must come from Geno.

 

[Zonepress]

The “only size” has 0 rebounds in 9 minutes against Ucla and 0 rebounds in 5 minutes bs kansas

 

[Husky fanatic]

Actually, 38 minutes, and just two assists, no steals and 5 TOs... good thing she can shoot!

In order to have assists people need to score, not turn it over

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Texas was more talented, aggressive and deeper than UConn but UConn’s relentless fight made it a game. The fourth quarter no call when Aaliyah was mugged probably prevented a fabulous comeback.

-Nika could not handle Rori Harmon but I am not sure there are many guards who can.

-Still waiting for Ice Brady to show the ranking she had coming out of high school. Just too many mistakes on both ends of the floor.

-Aubrey is still disappearing for long stretches. As a senior in Geno’s program, she should be way more consistent than she has shown.

-Paige’s minutes may not be a concern to many but it does me. These games don’t mean much. I wish Geno would limit her minutes more. Especially since teams are just beating her up physically.

-He doesn’t like to, but this team should probably play more zone. I think they could rebound better out of zone.

-Q must be practicing poorly but with this group Geno can afford the same patience with Q as he does with Ice.

-I think Geno needs a pep talk of his own. He seems to be understandably frustrated with the injuries but these kids need him. This means doing something he has had not had to do much over the years. Bite the bullet and let the pups go through game time growing pains.

-Still love this program because the kids never strop playing hard. Their body language even when things are going poorly, is good. Turnovers, giving up second chance baskets and scoring from others besides Edwards and Paige will improve as the year goes on.

-Encouraged by the fourth quarter run with the three freshmen on the floor and Paige on the bench.

Wonder if Ice is hobbled, literally, by her serious knee injury. There is no reason whatsoever for her to be such a meager contributor to team performance- except if she's physically unable to perform. And it could be that Aubrey is once again suffering from her injured spine. Agree that Paige might be playing on borrowed time.

 

[RadfordRam]

It could be worse. UConn lost on the road to a top 10 team by 12, 8 really because they gave up 4 points on freebie free throws by fouling to stop the clock. #3 Stanford lost to unranked Gonzaga at home, 78-96.

Stanford is the 12th top 10 team to suffer a loss this season

Stanford was the road team.

 

[Centerstream]

Wonder if Ice is hobbled, literally, by her serious knee injury. There is no reason whatsoever for her to be such a meager contributor to team performance- except if she's physically unable to perform. And it could be that Aubrey is once again suffering from her injured spine. Agree that Paige might be playing on borrowed time.

If, if, if... interesting.
Ice is basically a freshman coming off a year long struggle to get back onto the court.

 

[mauconnfan]

I have watched UConn for 30 years. With the four injured players out, this could be the weakest team in that period. The fourth quarter was encouraging, but Paige has been completely upstaged by a guard on the other team in all three of their losses. Can one ever imagine that happening in the senior year of any of UConn’s past legends? The last run happened when she was on the bench and ended when she came back into the game.

Please think about “the other legends” and the players that surrounded them before you say things about a great player. Start with this legend is coming off 2 consecutive season ending surgeries. Now add to that she is surrounded by basically a team which will be lucky to see a Sweet 16 and win a BE championship. Watch the games closely she is being doubled (sometimes tripled) on any dribble penetration so her fantastic 12-15 foot mid range is being taken away mostly. Teams know her going off for 30 or more will be the only way they lose so make anyone else beat them.

She’s a legend no doubt, her team not close to any the others you mention played with.

 

[HuskyNan]

My take, Texas is really good, Booker is the piece Vic needed and she is producing. I still consider UConn a really good team but they do not seem to have a core 5 to rely on and team chemistry just not there yet. Paige is back but she needs the other players to do their job. The team appears, at least to me, to rely too much on Paige to carry the load. Geno has not been able to get the team to play up to their potential, I realize injuries have slowed the team chemistry but we need a core 5 made up of the available players, finding that core 5 must come from Geno.

UConn currently consists of 4 seniors, 4 freshmen, and 2 little used reserves. The freshmen are doing as well as we could have hoped 7 games into the season - it’s the seniors that need to find some consistency. But yes, Geno’s shifting lineups shows he’s try different combinations in an attempt to find an offensive flow while maintaining defensive intensity. He needs to learn what the freshmen can contribute consistently and how to have his seniors play to make the team run smoothly, like putting a puzzle together. Some years are easier than others, this year has a lot of question marks.

 

[jazz]

Game lost due to 21 TOs which cost us 21 possessions and gives the other team an additional 21 possessions, some of which could be easy layups in transition. Scoring was not a problem. We shot 60% as a team, even though our best scorer shot far worse. Texas must have had an additional 25 shots more than us when you count the difference in TOs and the offensive boards we gave up. We didn't have a lot of offensive boards since we didn't miss so much but Texas has an addition 16 or so possessions as a result. It is amazing that we didn't lose by 30 and we would have if the offense (outside of TOs) wasn't as efficient as it was. We played them even for all but 3 minutes of the game as well.

 

[HuskyNan]

Wonder if Ice is hobbled, literally, by her serious knee injury. There is no reason whatsoever for her to be such a meager contributor to team performance- except if she's physically unable to perform. And it could be that Aubrey is once again suffering from her injured spine. Agree that Paige might be playing on borrowed time.

Big girls take longer to adjust when moving up a level, it has always been so.

 

[Waquoit]

I have watched UConn for 30 years. With the four injured players out, this could be the weakest team in that period.

Not even close. The weakest team was the one a couple of years ago that started Ana Makurat and Kyla Irwin.

 

[Performance]

Crazy that Marquette may start the Big East season ranked higher than us.
My Huskies are built tough and I believe will be a whole lot better come tourney time. We are currently going to be a 4 to 5 seed and who wants to face us that early.
As a fan I say let's be patient as we have had the toughest schedule compared to other teams around the country and we have had a lot of valuable minutes in street clothes.

I totally agree!!!

 

[Centerstream]

I wish he had gone with them longer.

I agree, sort of.
KK played 24 minutes and picked up 4 fouls.
Ashlynn played 11 minutes and picked up 3 fouls
Qadence played 8 minutes and picked up 3 fouls.
Kinda hard to play them longer if they were going to keep getting called for fouls.
IMO.

 

[Boreifs]

Please think about “the other legends” and the players that surrounded them before you say things about a great player. Start with this legend is coming off 2 consecutive season ending surgeries. Now add to that she is surrounded by basically a team which will be lucky to see a Sweet 16 and win a BE championship. Watch the games closely she is being doubled (sometimes tripled) on any dribble penetration so her fantastic 12-15 foot mid range is being taken away mostly. Teams know her going off for 30 or more will be the only way they lose so make anyone else beat them.

She’s a legend no doubt, her team not close to any the others you mention played with.

I didn’t say she had a bad game, just that she was upstaged. Geno is the one who said she had a bad game.

 

[uconnfan68]

Not even close. The weakest team was the one a couple of years ago that started Ana Makurat and Kyla Irwin.

I think both would start for this team now too.

 

[mauconnfan]

I didn’t say she had a bad game, just that she was upstaged. Geno is the one who said she had a bad game.

Upstaged isn’t a bad game? She’s one of the best to ever don that uni she can have bad games they all do. But the predicament she’s in is unlike any others just be happy she’s on the court or they’d be mid to last place team in the Big East. None of the other legends had it so bad or even close.

Play the freshman as much as possible they need to become sophomores by February this year. Samuel needs to see the court more too she has potential no doubt. Let her learn on the court this year is unfortunately all about next year.

 

[HuskyNan]

Upstaged isn’t a bad game? She’s one of the best to ever don that uni she can have bad games they all do. But the predicament she’s in is unlike any others just be happy she’s on the court or they’d be mid to last place team in the Big East. None of the other legends had it so bad or even close.

Play the freshman as much as possible they need to become sophomores by February this year. Samuel needs to see the court more too she has potential no doubt. Let her learn on the court this year is unfortunately all about next year.

This year reminds me of 2002-03 where it was Taurasi, Maria Conlon, Jess Moore, and 4 talented freshmen. One huge difference from 20 years ago, though is that the top 10-15 ranked teams never worried about playing unranked team; parity simply didn’t exist. So, it was only a matter of getting by the few ranked teams on the schedule and then dominating the conference. Nowadays, fans are concerned about playing Creighton, Marquette, and Villanova, something that would have been unheard of back in 2002

 

[hoopsnloops32]

This year reminds me of 2002-03 where it was Taurasi, Jess Moore, and 4 talented freshmen. One huge difference from 20 years ago, though is that the top 10-15 ranked teams never worried about playing unranked team; parity simply didn’t exist. So, it was only a matter of getting by the few ranked teams on the schedule and then dominating the conference. Nowadays, fans are concerned about playing Creighton, Marquette, and Villanova, something that would have been unheard of back in 2002

Didn’t Villanova beat them us the BET in 2003 or 2004?

 

[HuskyNan]

Didn’t Villanova beat them us the BET in 2003 or 2004?

Yes, indeed, and to toot my own horn, I saw it coming. Diana was gimpy and her teammates weren’t playing well. I saw that miserable loss at the RAC :-(

Before the game, Boneyarders were expecting a 20 point win and I was doing my Cassandra prediction thing but got shouted down. No one saw it coming. These days, Boneyarders actually predict losses or potentially tough games but it’s new behavior by us fans

 

[Beemer]

I don't care how good your team is you cannot allow your opponent to build a 15-3 lead and expect to still win the game. I can't recall a UConn team ever doing this. The defense simply wasn't there & Texas ran away with the game. I don't want to hear about the near great comeback- if the Huskies had played the way they're capable of playing they wouldn't have had to attempt a comeback, they would have been right there with Texas.

My girl Nika looked like she'd never played defense in her entire career. Texas was both quicker & faster and Nika couldn't cope with it. Ditto her teammates and all of them were once again guilty of standing around waiting for Paige to pull a miracle out of her shorts.

Not a happy camper today.