Another point of view

[HuskyNan]

The Huskies are young and this is an emotional team. It needed a kick in the pants to get past Baylor and it took just about everything to do it. It’s not unusual for a team, any team, to have a letdown after an emotional win like the Baylor game and this UConn team seems more susceptible to a letdown than other Husky squads. We’ve never seen a UConn team this young and inexperienced in big games. I wasn’t at all surprised that they lost last night.

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

For the literalists in our group- it was a metaphorical punch.

 

[Centerstream]

Agree with you 💯%. And I think the majority of the WBB Forum posters that are here during the season do too. But it seems to me that as the tournament progresses, more and more "new" posters arrive and they are not as supportive. I hope that they are sticking around and read your OP.
Just my opinion.

 

[bantamlaker]

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

Unfortunately, we don’t get enough experience in competitive games against teams with different styles of play in our weak conference. Missing what probably would have been competitive games in the regular season against Louisville and Baylor to covid didn’t help.
This team certainly gave us a lot of enjoyment this season. As Nan said they will learn and we can look forward to an exciting future for our favorite team.

 

[SallyH]

I agree and I also might add that this team accomplished a lot more than I ever expected.

 

[Aluminny69]

Geno attributed it to immaturity. I think he hit the nail on the head. It's great to be a fun loving group where everybody loves each other, but you still have to learn how to react in the face of adversity. Hopefully, they will learn from this.

But as Geno pointed out, next year there will be ten freshmen and sophomores on the team. And teams like Stanford, South Carolina, and Baylor are not going away. It doesn't help that we have to play so many games against the weak Big East.

 

[BannerTown]

The Huskies are young and this is an emotional team. It needed a kick in the pants to get past Baylor and it took just about everything to do it. It’s not unusual for a team, any team, to have a letdown after an emotional win like the Baylor game and this UConn team seems more susceptible to a letdown than other Husky squads. We’ve never seen a UConn team this young and inexperienced in big games. I wasn’t at all surprised that they lost last night.

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

For the literalists in our group- it was a metaphorical punch.

In the moment, I was surprised that they lost. But upon reflection it wasn't that shocking. Their youth, the pandemic getting in the way of two major out-of-conference match-ups, the emotional roller coaster of the Baylor win, the early tournament absence of Geno, then Shea - those all took a toll.

But I really like this team's energy and panache. I think great things are still to come!

 

[VA Huskie]

In the moment, I was surprised that they lost. But upon reflection it wasn't that shocking. Their youth, the pandemic getting the way of two major out-of-conference match-ups, the emotional roller coaster of the Baylor win, the early tournament absence of Geno, then Shea - those all took a toll.

But I really like this team's energy and panache. I think great things are still to come!

I really like your thoughts. Welcome to the board. GO HUSKIES!

 

[SLY63]

One of the observations over the last few seasons is we are predominantly a finesse team without ultra-athletic guard. No team has every thing, but these gaps have hurt us over the past few years. Outside of AE we haven't had a physical presence inside since Dolson/Tuck, and we haven't had an athletic guard since Jefferson/Nurse. I am looking forward to AE filling one of those gaps.

 

[BannerTown]

I really like your thoughts. Welcome to the board. GO HUSKIES!

Thanks, VA Huskie. Glad to be here. Go Huskies - the future is bright!

 

[GoUconn7961]

Geno attributed it to immaturity. I think he hit the nail on the head. It's great to be a fun loving group where everybody loves each other, but you still have to learn how to react in the face of adversity. Hopefully, they will learn from this.

But as Geno pointed out, next year there will be ten freshmen and sophomores on the team. And teams like Stanford, South Carolina, and Baylor are not going away. It doesn't help that we have to play so many games against the weak Big East.

Would you prefer they AAC? Comparatively the Big East is a heck of a lot better. Also I would hope they schedule some strong non-conference games. This season was still odd due to COVID.

 

[freshler40]

Geno attributed it to immaturity. I think he hit the nail on the head. It's great to be a fun loving group where everybody loves each other, but you still have to learn how to react in the face of adversity. Hopefully, they will learn from this.

But as Geno pointed out, next year there will be ten freshmen and sophomores on the team. And teams like Stanford, South Carolina, and Baylor are not going away. It doesn't help that we have to play so many games against the weak Big East.

Good point that the current quality of our conference is a drawback during these late season periods. We haven't played enough tough games for a team for so young. Having said that, the Jr's on the team had good experience and missed a ton of layups that established the confidence of the other team. This is a basic shot. We tend to rush it most of the time thinking it might get blocked. This is one major area that needs work. Foul shooting is another.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The conference has little to do with it. This season we still beat Baylor, South Carolina, Tennessee on the road, and Iowa. Sure it would have been nice to play Louisville as well, but I'm not sure what else people are looking for. Geno tries to schedule the top teams in different conferences. South Carolina plays in the vaunted SEC and still couldn't find a way to get past the semi-final. No ACC teams made it to the final four. No B1G teams made it to the final four. No Big 12 teams made it to the final four.

 

[jabstep]

Ari MacDonald was playing with a chip on her shoulder for being snubbed for accolades probably due her to her performance in this year's tournament. I think she is a fifth-year senior. A tremendously quick defense player. She is the only player to keep up with Paige around the picks set for her this year. She fronted Paige when they tried to Post her up. She was the MVP in all ways. It's true we were out muscled and the Arizona intensity level we could not match. Let's get them next year, girls!!!!

 

[NEforceUConn]

Dare I watch the replay?
When playing with one big why have them positioned at top of the key?
Hats off to Arizona, they were very good.

Ps: Thank god there’s not a consolation game, SC looked awesome

 

[msf22b]

Experience (or the lack thereof) was certainly a big part of the story.
Absence of an effective post presence on offense (noted in Tony's thread)
was a surely a factor as well.

If we were effective inside as in some of our games,
it would have caused Arizona to double and triple more; leaving more space and
opportunity for the perimeter.

 

[donalddoowop]

I think some of the teams had a lot more fire and emotion than UConn had. Did you see how Brink yelled and stared after blocking a shot. It was strange how this was Arizona's first FF and UConn's 13th straight and Arizona's coaches seemed to adjust better than UConn's. Next season maybe the more experienced players will play better against the elite teams.

 

[msf22b]

A question for which I have no answer.....perhaps there is no answer:

Did the absence of Shea hurt our perimeter play?

 

[Boreifs]

A question for which I have no answer.....perhaps there is no answer:

Did the absence of Shea hurt our perimeter play?

Seeing as how we lost the game due to ineffective post play, I would say no. The stats from 1-3 were pretty even; 4-5 was a disaster.

 

[Sonny44]

Young and emotional, Yes.
This was a game where we needed the "upperclasswomen" to take charge and show the youngsters the way. Unfortunately, they were not able.

 

[my2cents]

I know we are young and will come back stronger. But, the juniors were the ones missing most of the layups.....when can we expect that to stop?
Also, the "Punch in the mouth" seem to be getting closer to being literal rather than figurative.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I know we are young and will come back stronger. But, the juniors were the ones missing most of the layups.....when can we expect that to stop?
Also, the "Punch in the mouth" seem to be getting closer to being literal rather than figurative.

It was so strange to watch Liv miss so many shots underneath. It felt like she was expecting her shots to be blocked when she had the height advantage. I don't think she will ever be a physical player like AE,

 

[Stinger92860]

The Huskies are young and this is an emotional team. It needed a kick in the pants to get past Baylor and it took just about everything to do it. It’s not unusual for a team, any team, to have a letdown after an emotional win like the Baylor game and this UConn team seems more susceptible to a letdown than other Husky squads. We’ve never seen a UConn team this young and inexperienced in big games. I wasn’t at all surprised that they lost last night.

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

For the literalists in our group- it was a metaphorical punch.

unfortunately, 3 of our starters have just played their 3rd year. Learning to punch back should have been learned already.

 

[Kaizen]

We don't have depth. The benches only scored 2 pts yesterday. Then when your starters couldn't score you are in a big trouble.

We are still young and honestly I don't believe we can beat Stanford, so to lose early or late seems no difference.

We have done our best and next year will be a strong team with so many talent players. I still have confident next year.

 

[ABCDFE]

there’s a lot to like of this team and I think we get tougher next year. What we are missing is a savvy and crafty post player with a midrange game like Pheesa or Tuck. I think our guard play and defense will be fine but we just don’t have that crafty smart post player that will fight for 14 points and get us critical baskets down low in tough games. I don’t think we get that next year as the class doesn’t have that player so we will need AE to develop more moves and have a better feel around the basket to eliminate fouls and finish better. With Azzi it will certainly help give more opportunities for the bigs. I believe Geno should consider looking at the portal for a crafty big, I think we are missing that for the team.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

The Huskies are young and this is an emotional team. It needed a kick in the pants to get past Baylor and it took just about everything to do it. It’s not unusual for a team, any team, to have a letdown after an emotional win like the Baylor game and this UConn team seems more susceptible to a letdown than other Husky squads. We’ve never seen a UConn team this young and inexperienced in big games. I wasn’t at all surprised that they lost last night.

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

For the literalists in our group- it was a metaphorical punch.

Good post! Agree 100%, but I will say if Nika never turns her ankle, I think we win this game. We definitely dropped a notch when she went down. Though she did play a few minutes, it was clear to me she was not 100%.

 

[Puppy Love]

For those of you worried about the quality of play in the Big East, think about what the Big East was like when Uconn was winning its first championships. Mostly, it was absolutely horrible. I’d venture to guess it was worse than it is today. For me, what hurt us the most were bad recruiting years that preceded the good classes that we have today. The entire class that would’ve been seniors is gone. When Uconn has been dominant, it has had the luxury of playing the starters for perhaps three quarters at most and then subbing in the bench. When you have kids on the bench who are ‘almost ready‘ and have some experience, it’s a lot easier to sit someone for a while if they aren’t playing particularly well. I would think next year we should be a lot better, just because of the benefit of the year of experience. If everyone stays, (no early departures, transfers or key injuries) two years from now I would expect us to be back to really winning form.

 

[Charliebball]

there’s a lot to like of this team and I think we get tougher next year. What we are missing is a savvy and crafty post player with a midrange game like Pheesa or Tuck. I think our guard play and defense will be fine but we just don’t have that crafty smart post player that will fight for 14 points and get us critical baskets down low in tough games. I don’t think we get that next year as the class doesn’t have that player so we will need AE to develop more moves and have a better feel around the basket to eliminate fouls and finish better. With Azzi it will certainly help give more opportunities for the bigs. I believe Geno should consider looking at the portal for a crafty big, I think we are missing that for the team.

Amari DeBerry is an athletic 6'5" forward/post with plenty of offensive weapons..............unlikely Geno will be looking for another big body with such a packed bench but with the current transfer situation who knows what talented players may pop up.......

 

[huskies29]

It was so strange to watch Liv miss so many shots underneath. It felt like she was expecting her shots to be blocked when she had the height advantage. I don't think she will ever be a physical player like AE,

What was so strange? Liv shot layups like this all season long.

 

[LoboDays]

The Huskies are young and this is an emotional team. It needed a kick in the pants to get past Baylor and it took just about everything to do it. It’s not unusual for a team, any team, to have a letdown after an emotional win like the Baylor game and this UConn team seems more susceptible to a letdown than other Husky squads. We’ve never seen a UConn team this young and inexperienced in big games. I wasn’t at all surprised that they lost last night.

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

For the literalists in our group- it was a metaphorical punch.

The ability to punch back comes from training and practice. This team is not trained that way. They are coached to run a very clean and choreographed offense and a disciplined defense with no contact and minimum fouls called against them. This team will always come in second in a street fight. Last night they had no plan B. They continued to play a losing plan and never adjusted. Was it a failure in coaching? Partly. Was it the players not being able to see and adjust to what was happening on the floor? Partly.

I’m less inclined to chalk it up to “ a young team” or “immature” as Geno said in the post game presser. But more inclined to both credit Arizona for a great game plan, especially on defense. And the inability to adjust. This game wasn’t only lost on the floor. It was lost in the coach’s chair.

I remember a sequence in the 4th Quarter with UCONN still close enough to catch up and both of Arizona’s bigs with 4 fouls each. UCONN with the ball and both ONO and AE were hanging out around the 3 point line rather than being underneath to draw a foul or have an uncontested bunny. I Know they probably would have missed the bunny but you can’t abandon that strategy since the guards had been rendered all but useless.

The game has changed since Geno had his string on NC’s. The players are bigger, stronger and more talented. Better teams can bully their way to success now. Geno needs to adjust to that and have his team able move to a different plan when They are getting beaten up. If you are fortunate enough to have someone like Paige on your team, let her take over by doing what AM did last night against them. Give her the damn ball and let her make it happen. Last night, Paige must have ran 100 miles without the ball trying to get open based on the same offensive scheme they use against Butler and Sister Mary’s School for Wayward Girls ( they’re in the BIG EAST right?) . The game has changed. Change with it or perish.

 

[BRS24]

I remember years ago Shea talking about a game where the team had to come back and win. Her quote was something like, “we got punched in the mouth last year and fell apart. This year we got punched and we punched them back”. Unfortunately, it takes experience to learn how to punch back. They will learn.

Yes, 1999 ------> 2000, 2001 ------> 2002