Arizona Postgame Thread

[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 big 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 and I have come to expect it.

I know Geno has been quoted saying the Elite Eight game is the hardest to win, but I'd challenge him that the semi-final is the hardest to win. For some reason these teams have had big issues in this round, even when favored.

Great season by a young group. It was a really bright spot among all of this awful covid news. Hopefully the reinforcements we add next year can put this group over the top. That, and lots of layup drills!

His record of 11-10 in semifinals games speaks for itself and that is 3 in a row now. For me these last 3 games all had a striking similarity to them in that the team did not come out aggressively and focused.

 

[HopJim]

ONO is such an enigma to me. I don’t think the road to a championship runs through her in the post. I expect Bueckers to be incredible next year, and CW is a more than capable off guard. But until we get Edwards a legit counterpart, it’s hard to have an inside outside game. Fudd will address our outside shooting issue, but who is going to address our inside game. Edwards will be a great 4, but we need to find that great 5. From the film I’ve seen of Amari, I don’t know if that’s her. But it could be.

Agree but not worried about our future offense, too many clutch shooters next year. More concerned about being able to take on super quick guards like the ones who delivered losses to us this year. Would love to see a Mo Jeff type guard come in or have a more effective zone available for these games. Not optimistic for either but enjoyed watching Huskies this year and have a big smile waiting for them to come back next year.

 

[BRS24]

I predict many if not all our guys will drive themselves relentlessly to get batter after this tough lass.

Twenty (20!!!!!) years ago, a certain freshman had one of her worst shooting games of the season, and the team lost in the semi finals. The next year, the team, with its four core seniors, and this now sophomore, buzz-sawed through the entire season with that angry chip from the prior season.

We are a young team. I honestly was 40/60 on whether we would win. A lot had to go right, and it didn't. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this team develop over the course of the season.

 

[veryolddog]

No question, I and many others are quite disappointed with this loss. However, these young people came a long way, more than 60 oher teams in the tournament and more than most in this nation. I realized that these young people are down for the moment, but that will not last long. The new recruits will fill gaps and make this unit a better team and provide extra strength for improved competition for next year.

The game itself: they did not play as they have played during the latter part of the season and during the tournament. Somehow, a curse was placed on this team as they could not make layups, short shots, and 3 pointers. Now, Arizona played a great game. They were fast, defended well, made their shots, and hardly lost a moment to perform during this game. Credit is due to these folks, who helped to put UConn out of sorts.

Well, here's to next season. God willing, I will be around to see that one because it will probably be more spectacular than this one.

 

[SLY63]

The difference was simple. It wasn't McDonald, we were outplayed in the front court and missed 15-20 lay-ups. Again, I would have bet anything that our "Other 4" would have out-played theirs.

 

[BostonBay]

Watched the game replay. Was uglier than I thought. I have no idea what Geno was thinking with implementing the scheme he did. By playing the bigs at the point, all he did was play to AZ's strengths & negated our strengths. He slowed our offense down, used up a lot of energy by having our guards running all over the place, and just galvanized AZ as they kept pushing us out on the perimeter - that's AZ strength as they are super quick on passing lanes. It wasnt working from the opening tip. The fact that he didnt switch up in the 2nd half was also inexcusable.

We have the talent advantage, we have the size advantage. You need to simplify. He should have let Paige run the point, used the guards as picks, & kept the bigs down low. That frees Paige up to drive (you want the ball in her hands every possession), kick out to open shots including the posts if she is double/triple teamed, & it speeds up the game. It plays to our strengths. if you're going to lose, at least lose this way, not by playing AZ's game.

For those who say we missed layups, sure we did miss a lot. But, we lost by 10 to a team we were favored to win by 14. We never led. We never controlled the tempo. We lost because of a bad scheme & failure to adjust to our strengths.

 

[oldude]

Well, here's to next season. God willing, I will be around to see that one because it will probably be more spectacular than this one.

The good news is that God has no use for crusty old farts like you & me. So we’ll probably both be around for awhile. ?

 

[enigmatic]

The disappointment and distress of the loss still lingers (I'm honestly over it already) but now it's because I'm going to be agonizing myself with impatience for November to arrive to watch my favorite team in all of team sports compete again and go for another attempt at 12.

 

[Topsail]

The good news is that God has no use for crusty old farts like you & me. So we’ll probably both be around for awhile.

Here s to many more posts to write before you sleep.... I have to have something to look forward too.?

 

[oldude]

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.

After Crystal’s amazing success in the W this past season, I would have to take a serious look at McDonald with the #1 overall pick.

 

[hart2hart]

Geno will have a year-end meeting with all the kids.....What to working on etc over the summer.
The light has been lit for them to come back stronger and I bet Geno has all the kids practicing layups all summer long..........
Only 7 more months and we’re back!
I bet there will be competition now for the post. JMHO. Cheers to all the loyal BY’S- you guys rock!

 

[Twill]

AZ came out aggressive, punched us in the face and unfortunately we wilted. Disappointed, but not surprised by Liv’s poor performance. Paige and Aliyah are freshman and last night it finally showed, but they are excused because of the tremendous performances they exhibited all season. Based on the “aggressive” defensive trends against Paige, she has to get a lot stronger in the off season. They knocked her around quite a bit and she kept hitting the floor. It’s my opinion she was fouled multiple times, but the refs swallowed their whistles.

 

[scotty0330]

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.

He always does this to his best players. He has to push them, point out any possible short comings and get in their heads to get better/tougher. For Paige it’s more the later. No way is he going to let her become complacent or satisfied....it’s his job to form her into a killer (Kobe or MJ mentality) on the court and if kicking her around a little bit is what it’s gonna take he ain’t gonna shy away from it.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

We lost it in the post...and on defense.

I'm guessing that if DeBerry shows any promise next fall, ONO will find herself not starting by January. Going 0-7 and missing three of four free throws in a Final Four game means that she is just not up to it. And that poor performance came against a team all of whose players ONO had a minimum of three inches on. ONO has been a weak link for the past three years. Coach Geno did as much with her as he could, and covered up all the weaknesses he could, until a great Arizona team exposed them with strong defense.

Changes are coming next year in the front court.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Stanfords bigs won’t be so awful with layups

I've said all year that Stanford is a tremendously powerful and talented team. They have great bigs, great guards, and they're stronger than anyone they play. They collectively took Boston out of the game.

I don't think Stanford will lose to this Arizona team. Just too much height, strength, and all-around skills.

 

[eebmg]

Daniel shortened the quote and lost a bit of context I think.


“As good as Paige was this year, and she carried our team through most of the season, that’s not how you win championships, with one player having to do everything,” Auriemma said. “She needs to get a lot better. As good as you all think she is, and she’s really good, if we’re going to be here the next couple years with her at Connecticut, she needs to get a lot better. I don’t mean just on the court either.”

 

[Ron and Vida]

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

The actions of the past few weeks have clearly demonstrated that the old boys club aka the NCAA is a dinosaur and needs to be extinct

 

[Baroloboy]

CW just came out and said they maybe thought it would be easy and got flustered by how the start went

 

[Eagle4]

Defense has been sub par for most of the year and it really showed up tonight. However, the bigger problem by far was the performance of the bigs. This should have been an advanage for UCONN and it was a liability. When the going gets tough, you need to be able to pound it inside and get layups or fouls(and make the FT!). We really only had two scoring options tonight and at times Paige struggled looked like a freshman. Against top teams you need more scoring options and you need an inside game. We did not handle the pressure well. Look at the pace and movement of Stanford on offense. Look at their spacing and how they opened the floor and got to the basket. Thats how you have to play against pressure. Hopefully we can take the steps we need to take to advance next year. It is by no means going to be easy. There are going to be a lot of very strong teams to challenge us.

 

[Childhood]

I'm guessing that if DeBerry shows any promise next fall, ONO will find herself not starting by January. Going 0-7 and missing three of four free throws in a Final Four game means that she is just not up to it. And that poor performance came against a team all of whose players ONO had a minimum of three inches on. ONO has been a weak link for the past three years. Coach Geno did as much with her as he could, and covered up all the weaknesses he could, until a great Arizona team exposed them with strong defense.

Changes are coming next year in the front court.

I agree to have changes but do we have any options? we dont have players like Boston. The fact I don't want to admit that ONO is our best big at the moment.

 

[pvdoggy]

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

They play like some of Uconn teams in the Stewie era.

 

[UConn990411]

I agree to have changes but do we have any options? we dont have players like Boston. The fact I don't want to admit is that ONO is our best big at the moment.

I’m not sure that will be true next year if Edwards takes a step forward. She also needs to clean up some of the lazy fouls and her finishing around the rim, but her ability to impact the game every night is not something Nelson-Ododa has figured out.

But ONO seems more comfortable being a playmaking big than an offensive-minded one - which certainly isn’t a bad thing. For that reason, Edwards’ improvement next year could benefit both players.

 

[BostonBay]

I agree to have changes but do we have any options? we dont have players like Boston. The fact I don't want to admit is that ONO is our best big at the moment.

Boston selecting SC over UConn was a lose-lose for UConn & Boston. She's the physical presence that UConn definitely needs, and well, Boston did not develop this year as many thought she would. Why she played a lot on the perimeter is just a misuse of her talent. Losing Lauren Betts to Stanford is also huge - again the player UConn needs to complement the guard/small forwards. Geno needs to recruit big, physical players or the results will be the same - no more Titles.

 

[Martin]

Great coach but pretty bad look here

Replayed that a few times after the game I wasn’t sure what i saw

 

[JAMS]

The immaturity of the team - not the lack of skills or game plan cost us this game. Arizona'a seniors were the factor.
Thank you, UCONN for keeping us in conversation!