Arizona Postgame Thread

[Soxx]

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

I saw that as well and was surprised to see her shaking her head, etc.

 

[Soxx]

I keep waiting fir Griffin to show all that she could be. So physically gifted. First time down the court tonight, she plows a defender over and gets called for the offensive. She has incredible leaping ability. I remember commentators saying she’d be the next Gabby, but I don’t see this happening now. Disappointed that she wasn’t able to contribute more as she did against Baylor.

 

[dogpause]

Interesting quote, I wonder what he is referring to?

 

[jabstep]

Some observations from the game.
1. Arizona has seen UConn's offense already because Stanford runs similar sets. 2. The traps on the screens were very effective.
3. Playing our bigs at the top of the key when we have the big height advantage was a mistake.
4. We have to teach Paige to run into players then fall down. It worked for Carrington and for MacDonald.
5. Can't believe that after the refs missed the phantom foul call on Christyn they reviewed and didn't wave off the foul call. That was more embarrassing not to admit the mistake.
6. We were definitely physically younger than Arizona.
7. Thank you Huskies for helping me thru the pandemic and can't wait for next year.

 

[dogpause]

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

I would jump on that.

 

[jabstep]

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

WCBB will never let her forget it.

 

[dogpause]

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

She was preparing her team for the Championship Game, and it was an incredibly emotional moment. I don't have a problem with what she did.

 

[eebmg]

She was preparing her team for the Championship Game, and it was an incredibly emotional moment. I don't have a problem with what she did.

Maybe but now I know who I am rooting for. ?

 

[dogpause]

How does Geno not get a big share of blame for this loss? He certainly deserves it. Despite a substantial size advantage, and having the nation's top offensive rebounding team, Geno failed to put a Big into the low post until about 2 minutes were left in the game. Inexcusable playing your bigs at the top of the circle, jamming the lane for any penetration. No screens, no scoring, and barely any assists...and no adjustment until there were two minutes left. I realize ONO really struggles with layups (maybe she needs to wear a pair of readers for closeup work) but the ultra high post strategy was simply not working.

And then to throw Paige under the bus with that cryptic comment is simply ridiculous.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

She was preparing her team for the Championship Game, and it was an incredibly emotional moment. I don't have a problem with what she did.

I am willing to let that one slide. Face it, not putting a first time FF participant in the hype video was a major screw up. How many people actually thought Arizona would win? I would say 95% of those who pay attention figured it was another banner for the Huskies given how PB is the best player in America and has been touted as such by the media (and I agree she is).

 

[MSSportsGuy]

How does Geno not get a big share of blame for this loss? He certainly deserves it. Despite a substantial size advantage, and having the nation's top offensive rebounding team, Geno failed to put a Big into the low post until about 2 minutes were left in the game. Inexcusable playing your bigs at the top of the circle, jamming the lane for any penetration. No screens, no scoring, and barely any assists...and no adjustment until there were two minutes left. And then to throw Paige under the bus with a cryptic comment is simply ridiculous.

When I watched earlier this season I was confused why ONO was at the high post given her size. She is a good passer for her size and being there allows for more free movement on offense with PB, Williams, Westbrook but it seems odd to neutralize a height advantage like that.

 

[dogpause]

Maybe but now I know who I am rooting for. ?

Me too, Arizona. Aari McDonald was Kemba-like, or a female Iverson. Hard not to cheer for her. I'd make her a top 3 draft choice.

 

[Kevin G]

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

Hmmmm... i dont know. Stanford’s post players know how to make layups so I definitely see Stanford winning by double digits.

 

[Littlemin]

How does Geno not get a big share of blame for this loss? He certainly deserves it. Despite a substantial size advantage, and having the nation's top offensive rebounding team, Geno failed to put a Big into the low post until about 2 minutes were left in the game. Inexcusable playing your bigs at the top of the circle, jamming the lane for any penetration. No screens, no scoring, and barely any assists...and no adjustment until there were two minutes left. I realize ONO really struggles with layups (maybe she needs to wear a pair of readers for closeup work) but the ultra high post strategy was simply not working.

And then to throw Paige under the bus with that cryptic comment is simply ridiculous.

The difference in the game was Uconn missed shots from in close, layups. No assists because of the missed shots, not offensive strategy. Arizona played good D, no question, but Uconn had their chances. As for Bueckers, who knows what the comment was about and why he said it, maybe Bueckers is the only one. But the idea that she should be above criticism is nonsense.

 

[eebmg]

Hmmmm... i dont know. Stanford’s post players know how to make layups so I definitely see Stanford winning by double digits.

From a pure fan perspective, I really enjoyed how Stanford plays. They have so many unique pieces and they play free. Jones, Brink and Lexie Hull in particular and super-sub Pretchel

 

[BBallF]

Why? Can you read lips? Maybe it was for the press that did not pick Arizona, or a huge majority of fans who did not pick Arizona, or winning despite the poor refereeing, or the betting line with had them +14, or some other reason?

I don't care who it was directed to. If you think that is appropriate behavior from a head coach then we just disagree.

 

[freshler40]

Credit has to be given to Arizona and Barnes. Their team doesn't bristle with offensive weapons or height. But what they can do, they do well.

But that only counts for some of it. As I said in chat, UConn should be capable of exceeding 60 points with ease against any team, and only a bit more than that would've been enough tonight.

It just seems that whether it was nerves or whether it was a letdown from that emotional Baylor game, we had a letdown game on top of what Arizona was doing. Some of the misses up close were unfathomable. You just need five of those dozen+ misses to go in, and it's tied.

This one will sting for sure. Of course, at this time of year all the losses do. But lots of players will be able to look back and this one and ask about what more could've been given. I give passes to Paige (who did the best she could under that defensive swarming with little help) and CW before that weird 5th foul. And scarcely anyone else tonight, sadly.

Ah well, it happens. Good season, team.

The game slipped away in the first quarter because of so many missed point blank layups and short pull up misses. We rushed our layups and also took some strange shots as we matched the slow pace of AZ. We let them dictate the game, never shut down their amazing guard, she ran the floor and stepped through double teams like they weren't there. Our game plan apparently was to keep a slow pace, the opposite of the pulse we normally run. Sure, AZ had something to do with that but the Baylor experience, with their breaking up down court passes, seemed to carry over into our offense. Repeatedly we took our time setting up Williams or Beuckers. Our weak early passes into the post in the first quarter didn't help. We had a lot of wasted offensive plays that drained our spirit early while AZ feed off of this. There also seemed like a major lack of offensive rebounding. This hurt a lot as we repeatedly missed inside. AZ swarmed the boards and came away with most defensive rebounds.

This game was called very tight, even against AZ early. The refs surely didn't let them play. To lose Williams on a poor late 4th quarter call zapped our comeback efforts. Credit to AZ, they slayed the Dragon in good style. Hopefully we can grow from this and the Baylor game.

 

[cohenzone]

Olivia was terrible. Happens too often against good teams. Every shot she took was point blank, a big height advantage, made none and was 1/4 from the line. That hurt us big time even with Arizona’s excellent D.

in addition to Christyn fouling out when she hacked nothing, she was called for a block that was a charge. She was our most effective player and got whistled into oblivion. Not saying it made all the difference, but it sure didn’t help. Of course a terrible non call helped Stanford, even more obvious than any UConn foul against Baylor. Women’s game reffing makes men’s hoops lousy refs look great.

 

[BBallF]

I would jump on that.

I wouldn't. It will be a blow out. They will kill Arizona underneath.

 

[BBallF]

Olivia was terrible. Happens too often against good teams. Every shot she took was point blank, a big height advantage, made none and was 1/4 from the line. That hurt us big time even with Arizona’s excellent D.

in addition to Christyn fouling out when she hacked nothing, she was called for a block that was a charge. She was our most effective player and got whistled into oblivion. Not saying it made all the difference, but it sure didn’t help. Of course a terrible non call helped Stanford, even more obvious than any UConn foul against Baylor. Women’s game reffing makes men’s hoops lousy refs look great.

The men's game rarely makes blatant mistakes like the women's game. I don't understand why it is so difficult to get these calls right, especially the one on CW when you have a replay.

 

[faithfulfan]

So not going to be a Mulkey, Congrats to Arizona!
OK just one Mulkey moment,,,UCONN had 11 fewer foul shots,,,,ok
,,,,,,and this game had 14 FEWER fouls then the bloodbath against Baylor, seriously,,,,ok
I'm done,,,,congrats again Arizona, and to the UConn youth who gave us an entertaining year, and something to look forward to next year with our class of freshman coming in!

 

[Replicant]

Hat tip to Arizona. We were outplayed and outcoached from the opening tip. I'll be rooting hard for them to take down Stanford.

What a great season for UConn Womens Basketball! It exceeded any/all expectations I had for this year and augers well for next season with the experience gained and the new talent arriving.

 

[faithfulfan]

Proud of the season and there’s a lot to look forward to, but man that one hurts.

Can’t leave 30 points in layups on the floor and win. I wish we at least put up a better fight, but that was just a horrible way to go out.

Being such a young team finally caught up, mistakes made by all except maybe CW, doesn't win in the tournament, you gotta bring your A game to the final 4, and UCONN played a C- game! Some was certainly the Arizona D, some was the refs, most was UCONN played a bad game!

 

[HopJim]

When I watched earlier this season I was confused why ONO was at the high post given her size. She is a good passer for her size and being there allows for more free movement on offense with PB, Williams, Westbrook but it seems odd to neutralize a height advantage like that.

If we gave whatever low post big UConn had a pick, they would have been open all night. Typically, Edwards had to bull her way open without help, tough job with the no calls. Clogged middle and took away many of our drives that worked so well in previous games.

 

[BBallF]

How does Geno not get a big share of blame for this loss? He certainly deserves it. Despite a substantial size advantage, and having the nation's top offensive rebounding team, Geno failed to put a Big into the low post until about 2 minutes were left in the game. Inexcusable playing your bigs at the top of the circle, jamming the lane for any penetration. No screens, no scoring, and barely any assists...and no adjustment until there were two minutes left. I realize ONO really struggles with layups (maybe she needs to wear a pair of readers for closeup work) but the ultra high post strategy was simply not working.

And then to throw Paige under the bus with that cryptic comment is simply ridiculous.

He should get a big share of it. It is his responsibility to have his team ready to play. AZ certainly was. I thought there was no sign of preparation for this game. I assume there was in actuality but the team was not up for this game mentally or physically. I hate the high post offense when you have a size advantage. It doesn't work. We also gave our biggest weapon, our transition game, away, by playing a half court game at their pace. All we needed was one other player besides Paige and CW to have a really good game, like Evina, AE or Liv and we would have been okay. I was especially disappointed in Evina. She is a senior in age but disappeared offensively for large stretches. Liv has been having this type of performance in high profile games her whole career. It's a nervous mentality that you can't explain and I have come to expect it. 0-7 is just abysmal when you are by far the tallest player on the court.