Arizona Postgame Thread

[Huskyfan63]

What was that dig by Geno on Paige - she needs to get better & not just on the court?!? Does he mean practice, prep...Very insulting, imo. Paige is the only Freshman NPOY. Geno needs to call out ONO for not showing up, instead of Paige. UConn is barely a Top 15 or 20 team this year without Paige.

Just stoking the fire in Paige's belly I think....hit the gym, come back stronger because everyone's going to be knocking you around next year. Need to fight through the harassment of players like Carrington and McDonald, and use your size and strength to overpower them.

 

[Vowelguy]

What was that dig by Geno on Paige - she needs to get better & not just on the court?!? Does he mean practice, prep...Very insulting, imo. Paige is the only Freshman NPOY. Geno needs to call out ONO for not showing up, instead of Paige. UConn is barely a Top 15 or 20 team this year without Paige.

Read his other quote about players pouting. I think Paige was complaining about fouls.

 

[Sakibomb25]

Not to mention, ESPN disrespected them by leaving the Wildcats out of the hype video. I’d be pissed to. That was more about no one believing in them than about UConn.

 

[BrianUC]

Not to mention, ESPN disrespected them by leaving the Wildcats out of the hype video. I’d be pissed to. That was more about no one believing in them than about UConn.

That was the NCAA disrespecting them. ESPN is the one that disrespects UConn (had to say that!!)

 

[jaydee602]

The betting line was ~15 points.

Arizona is getting disrespected again. The opening line is Stanford (-10).

 

[hoopsfan22]

Just stoking the fire in Paige's belly I think....hit the gym, come back stronger because everyone's going to be knocking you around next year. Need to fight through the harassment of players like Carrington and McDonald, and use your size and strength to overpower them.

Geno knows she has it in her, so that's why he does it. I'll bet she agrees with everything he is saying too.

 

[Vowelguy]

Arizona is getting disrespected again. The opening line is Stanford (-10).

I'd give the points big time.
They lost to Stanford by 14 and 27. I dont expect anything different this time.

 

[STLCardinal]

Why can’t our defenders do to other scorers what other teams do to Paige? This isn’t a new issue?
Also, where are all the layup apologists now?

I was one of the people defending them after the missed layups post after their opening game. I defended them because as a team they are young. To make the Final Four with a team that has only five players that have played college basketball is impressive. Criticizing a team so young for not winning a game in the Final Four, not so much.

 

[GreatValue]

Oh come on. Like Geno has never used expletives? No one gave them a chance to win this game. I mean a 14 pt 'dog in a national semi-final? Yeah, I'd probably give a big F-U too.

I agree & believe -U was to the ncaa for not including them in the Final Four promo video. A video which the ncaa admitted the error & since has removed. So I’m with Coach Barnes in this

 

[Geesworld]

Nooooooooooo. The UCONN posts just need to be able to hit layups. If they can't hit layups you aren't going to win.

There is a difference if Paige is going 0-7 vs Liv. If Curry goes 0-7 he is supposed to stop shooting?

You go down losing with your best. Your best is Paige. If she goes 0-15 so be it. And if you ever want a Paige type again as a recruit and if you want to play the exciting running style -- you better not let her be an afterthought in a big game.

Liv and AE were mismatches all night. Start with and end with, inside presence when you have the advantage.

To act as if Liv or AE missed basket early and often is false. We needed every shot by all players who were missing early and often. The diet of Liv and Aliyah is SPRINKLED thru out the game yet is most magnified when they fail on random attempts. Geno ran from the post game early in the season and never went back. Liv was effective early season and often had high attempts and points. Her posting up was more frequent and deliberate. Early January is when we we Started playing Liv more High post and less post up. Inside presence is something you must cultivate. It's a rythm thing.


Yes Paige is our best and you are right you go down with your best. But paige isn't a gun slinger. So the force to make her one caught up to us. UCONN is to good for that. ONO struggled tonight so the blame is on her just as much as it is for the rest of the team who didn't play well offensively.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Liv and Edwards were a non factor tonight. They played like they didn't have the height advantage, Liv missed so many shots underneath. Her shots looked rushed and seemed like she expected it to be blocked so it looked forced all night.

 

[Fore!]

CW was toasted on D. That hurt despite her offense.

The entire team was toasted on D by AZ.

 

[hoophuskee]

Liv and AE were mismatches all night. Start with and end with, inside presence when you have the advantage.

To act as if Liv or AE missed basket early and often is false. We needed every shot by all players who were missing early and often. The diet of Liv and Aliyah is SPRINKLED thru out the game yet is most magnified when they fail on random attempts. Geno ran from the post game early in the season and never went back. Liv was effective early season and often had high attempts and points. Her posting up was more frequent and deliberate. Early January is when we we Started playing Liv more High post and less post up. Inside presence is something you must cultivate. It's a rythm thing.


Yes Paige is our best and you are right you go down with your best. But paige isn't a gun slinger. So the force to make her one caught up to us. UCONN is to good for that. ONO struggled tonight so the blame is on her just as much as it is for the rest of the team who didn't play well offensively.

Paige Buckers is a mismatch. Liv is not a scorer. Paige Buckers is.

Liv and Ae did miss easy baskets inside. They hit better percentages the less aggressive AZ can be on the outside.

Inside presence has ot do with also with ability. Her ability to score inside is lacking. You search for team strengths during the year and develop a rhythm from your team strengths. By taking the ball out of your superstar hand's with a much less talented player is not cultivation; it's a blunder.

 

[Geesworld]

Paige Buckers is a mismatch. Liv is not a scorer. Paige Buckers is.

Liv and Ae did miss easy baskets inside. They hit better percentages the less aggressive AZ can be on the outside.

Inside presence has ot do with also with ability. Her ability to score inside is lacking. You search for team strengths during the year and develop a rhythm from your team strengths. By taking the ball out of your superstar hand's with a much less talented player is not cultivation; it's a blunder.

You might want to go back and watch again. Paige wasn't close to being a mismatch tonight.

Liv and Aliyah weren't the only players not handling pressure and turning the Ball over. Yes they missed shots as did everyone. They definitely didn't put us in the whole solely.

If you understand basketball you most certainly do Cultivate a culture when it comes to inside presence. Perhaps if Geno took the ball inside early, miss or make and established a mindset then you would see how mentality changes over time. I also give credit to Arizona because they played great defense.

Not going to keep posting on this because I support all UCONN players and I wouldn't take anyone over them. See ya Next season.

 

[hoophuskee]

You might want to go back and watch again. Paige wasn't close to being a mismatch.

Liv and Aliyah weren't the only players not handling pressure and turning the Ball over. Yes they missed shots as did everyone. They definitely didn't put us in the whole solely.

If you understand basketball you most certainly do Cultivate a culture when it comes to inside presence. Perhaps if Geno took the ball inside early, miss or make and established a mindset then you would see how mentality changes over time. I also give credit to Arizona because they played great defense.

Not going to keep posting on this because I support all UCONN players and I wouldn't take anyone over them. See ya Next season.

I can say the same about you and your belief in Liv.

So to start the game you knew Arizona would shut her down? Of course Michael Jordan and LeBron James and Curry were never stopped either? And those silly coaches should've told them to stop shooting and get the ball to a center?

If you understand basketball you would understand that teams can play outside in.

I guess the Golden State Warriors played inside out? I guess LeBron James all these years was a low post player? I guess in 08-09 with Tina, Maya, and Renee the offense win through Tina? I guess in Stewie's frosh year she was primarily scoring inside?
I guess during Dt's last two years they played inside out?

 

[bballnut90]

You could see it tonight with Nika/Paige getting frustrated and complaining at many calls that didn't go their way in the 2nd half. Should get better with time but I think if UCONN elevates to the next level in 2021-22, they need someone to step up and help snap players out of frustration spirals.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Remember that when you struggle next year.

I suspect the finger related to the NCAA's treatment of Arizona, not UConn, unless someone is a lip-reader and can prove otherwise. I cannot tell you how angry Adia was that Arizona was excluded from the Final Four promotion video, which featured the other 3 teams. Angry enough to bring it up to Holly in the post-game interview.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Not to mention, ESPN disrespected them by leaving the Wildcats out of the hype video. I’d be pissed to. That was more about no one believing in them than about UConn.

I wish it was ESPN. I don't know if ESPN produced it for them, but that was our beloved NCAA that did that.

 

[Geesworld]

I can say the same about you and your belief in Liv.

So to start the game you knew Arizona would shut her down? Of course Michael Jordan and LeBron James and Curry were never stopped either? And those silly coaches should've told them to stop shooting and get the ball to a center?

If you understand basketball you would understand that teams can play outside in.

I guess the Golden State Warriors played inside out? I guess LeBron James all these years was a low post player? I guess in 08-09 with Tina, Maya, and Renee the offense win through Tina? I guess in Stewie's frosh year she was primarily scoring inside?
I guess during Dt's last two years they played inside out?

Well guess what buddy. Outside in didn't go so well in this game did it?
Lebron James, Steph Curry, Michael Jordan and Warriors! ??‍♂️
The mere fact that you mention style of play from the past tells me you're stuck on not making adjustments.

You watched Arizona all night take the ball out of perimeter players hands and made them uncomfortable. But since it worked in the past we should just stick with old philosophy verses adding wrinkles. Man I'm out on this convo. ??‍♂️
Your last retort wins.

 

[Husky fanatic]

The phantom call is trending on Twitter. Dee Kantner went to the replay to find out who committed the foul. When she saw that nobody touched McDonald, she had to call it on someone. Boom... 5th foul on Chrysten. LOL...Nobody roots for UCONN, but EVERYONE admits the officiating is disgraceful.

Did not see that Lebron tweeted “That’s not a foul”

 

[hoophuskee]

Well guess what buddy. Outside in didn't go so well in this game did it?
Lebron James, Steph Curry, Michael Jordan and Warriors! ??‍♂️
The mere fact that you mention style of play from the past tells me you're stuck on not making adjustments.

You watched Arizona all night take the ball out of perimeter players hands and made them uncomfortable. But since it worked in the past we should just stick with old philosophy verses adding wrinkles. Man I'm out on this convo. ??‍♂️
Your last retort wins.

Yeah one game we lose and we should change our entire philosophy? We got to the Final Four playing this way- playing to our strength. I guess Michael Jordan should have never tried to shooting the ball so much after his team lost a game and he took a lot of shots?

The mere fact that you are mentioning to go inside to a player that is offensively challenged and away from UCON's strength which is their guard play tells me you are stuck in an era of 30- 40 years ago.

I watched UCONN miss a lot of layups.

You can leave all you want but your belief is recency-bias of one lousy game and you are stuck on an era of hoop long gone. You are only winning with inside play when you have the talent. To go away from your superstars --no sane coach would do.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

This game reminds me in some ways of 2008 when Maya's freshman squad lost to Stanford. Uconn was rolling along and got back to the FF after a 3 year absence. Maya was electrifying and had everyone talking. Stanford though had Candice Wiggins and she dominated. UConn was never really a threat in the game. Stanford knocks them out and loses to Parker and UT in the finals.

We all know after that Uconn went on a 2.5 year winning streak and won the next 2 NCs with Maya and Tina. Next season Fudd arrives with every bit as much hype as PB and on paper Uconn will have all the key pieces back plus some new faces who will be major factors.

I've said this before after a FF loss, Uconn is still the class of women's basketball. This loss is different than the previous three. in 17 and 18 Uconn had legit arguments for being the best team but suffered final second losses in the FF in games that could have easily gone their way. No doubt this one hurts but look at this stacked roster, excellent coaching staff, and there is no reason to be upset. 13 straight is unreal and there is no sign of it slowing down.

 

[Littlemin]

Arizona was superior from the outset. They were faster and more hungry. No one can stop McDonald. Arizona shut down Paige and made it impossible for anyone to get a reasonable shot. Olivia proved that she is a good rebounder but awful as an offensive player. She missed lay-ups, put backs and fade away jumpers. Just no use at all. Williams was well defensed and did what she could, but had one of those games where she was way off early, and it affects her mentally. I don't know why coach played Muhl, she looked slow and helped not at all. Aubrey couldn't find the basket, and mis-used her athleticism on drives. The idea is to miss running into the defenders on the way to the hoop. Edwards needs more to her game, too. She needs to light it up from distance.

I believe Arizona can beat Stanford, if they play like this. But the likelihood is; they burned all their juice on this game.

As others have said, the Lady Huskies gave us a great year. The win over Baylor will remain a classic. Many of us ( including me ) felt the elite 8 would be our ceiling this year, and we actually went one level over that . And the future is bright. We need more speed, better defense, and more fire power.

All on the way.

But give credit to Arizona....they played amazing defense, and had a player who could score at will from anywhere on the court. They deserved the win. No arguments.

Over analyze much?
All the layups we missed were not “reasonable” shots? And how was Muhl able to push the ball as she did while looking “slow“? McDonald shot 7-17 while “no one” could stop her and “could score at will from anywhere on the court” but Williams was “well defensed” and affected “mentally” while shooting the same 7-17.
The difference in the game was our missed shots. We shot 15-44 from 2, barely 33%, many from point blank range. Bueckers got few open shots but missed a couple wide open jumpers that all season went in, it happens. Our poor shooting was pretty much the game, pure and simple.

 

[Soxx]

Great coach but pretty bad look here

Wish the camera didn’t catch that. She coached a great game. Why do this on such a public stage?

 

[Jim R]

Team is 0 for 4 in last 4 FF games. Main reason is lack of post , size & physical play. It got a little better this year with AE, but not good enough. Geno is finally starting to recruit these types of players, but it takes time. As for tonight, just a horrible game from the opening tip. No cadence on either side of the ball. Team seemed very unprepared for the team speed & toughness of AZ & that's what ultimately dictated the game. As for ONO, I'm sorry but you you cant go 0 for 7 in the area of the game we were supposed to have an advantage. She is who she is at this point I guess. As for Geno, he needs to take a lot of blame. You dont be 14 point favorites & let tempo & scheme dictate the ENTIRE game. Team was just not ready. Paige, AE had great years & CW took a step up. But, just not good enough to win #12.

Ditto - yes, Ono had a very rough game. But, the staff had plenty of Arizona film to watch, and as you said, “the team seemed very unprepared.... for Arizona”. That’s on the coaches. Had they prepared for traps off of screens? Arizona seemed much better prepared.
Learn from it and press on, and Kudos to the team for an outstanding year??