Arizona Postgame Thread

[Childhood]

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.

Naz Hillmon, Boston, Rhyne Howard, Haley Jones, all are team USA players. UConn gets none of them.

 

[Bliss]

I was hoping that Paige would eventually play as aggressively as Caitlin does.

 

[blackbird]

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.

perhaps he means in a leadership role.

 

[blackbird]

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.

She was 0-7, she’s not a low post threat. Her best asset as an offensive player is her passing.

 

[Bama fan]

Agree. That and missed free throws. Too many of each contributed.

Hats off to AZ. They were the better team tonight.

UConn and Arizona both shot about 70% at the charity stripe. But UConn took 20 and made 14. Arizona took 31 and made 22. On treys, UConn shot a better percentage (41.7) than Zona (36.8). But again ,Zona shot more attempts (19) than Uconn (12) did. Both teams had 20 made field goal attempts. UConn shot 32% on twos. Zona shot 42% of their twos. In the 4th quarter Zona scored 13 points at the stripe, and 8 points on the floor. UConn just never caught up after the quick start, and a couple more of this and less of that was the difference. Fouling late made it look worse scorewise, but Zona did just enough more than we did. Not sure I remember many games where our 3pt percentage was higher than our 2 pt percentage. Oh well. BTW, ONO had 11 attempts, including free throws, and made 1 point.

 

[darkstar1]

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.

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.

What nonsense. If the team makes half of the missed bunnies and wins, would the coaching have been successful? Of course the answer would be yes. There were obvious other factors mentioned ad nauseum, like the refs inconsistency, aggressive play allowed, but the simple fact is no matter the game plan, if you miss too many shots, you lose.

 

[freshler40]

No doubt about it; it wasn’t coaching or effort, it was missed shots.

Coaches don't shoot, players do but also have to practice from 3'. We also need to block out on rebounding and rebound with authority. This year was short on games but we also played five more games than AZ. Their coach did a great job and the point guard is amazing driving the bus.

 

[baggerbob]

Paige will never match Stewie. No one ever will really.

As more years go by the more people will appreciate how good Stewie really is. She may never lead a league in rebounding, points, assists, any any other. But she makes all her teammates better on both ends of the floor.
She wins anywhere she goes, a true champion.

 

[freshler40]

UConn and Arizona both shot about 70% at the charity stripe. But UConn took 20 and made 14. Arizona took 31 and made 22. On treys, UConn shot a better percentage (41.7) than Zona (36.8). But again ,Zona shot more attempts (19) than Uconn (12) did. Both teams had 20 made field goal attempts. UConn shot 32% on twos. Zona shot 42% of their twos. In the 4th quarter Zona scored 13 points at the stripe, and 8 points on the floor. UConn just never caught up after the quick start, and a couple more of this and less of that was the difference. Fouling late made it look worse scorewise, but Zona did just enough more than we did. Not sure I remember many games where our 3pt percentage was higher than our 2 pt percentage. Oh well. BTW, ONO had 11 attempts, including free throws, and made 1 point.

This was a strange stat board to look at but the dye was cast early with poor passing and missed layups, some of witch never hit the rim. Seems like we try to jam it in, not lay it in! Just too many early empty possessions.

 

[msf22b]

I was one with Geno in one respect:
At a certain point, I just couldn't watch any more...
Just didn't walk into the other room
Turned off the TV.

 

[cancontent]

Went down several notches in my book with that move. I hope Stanford blows them out.

The clip is taken out of context. If you read her lips, it's not directed at UCONN.

Was she flipping the bird to the NCAA for omitting them in the promo? Or to the Huskies? I suspect the NCAA.

I took it as the NCAA and overall experts myself. It looks like she says "everybody".

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I haven't seen a team miss that many layups since the last UConn men's game I watched this year.

Same kind of loss throughout.

MBB never recovered from Cole's injury in BE Tournament game against Creighton.

WBB never recovered from Nika's injury. EVERYBODY played better when she was coming into her own.

Mahomes couldn't beat Brady w/o 2 offensive line starters.

Michigan couldn't beat UCLA w/Livers.

Baylor couldn't beat Nika-less UConn w/o Richards.

Arizona's plan and execution worked. UConn never recovered from the first half dozen failed attempts to move through the post, and got into a hole they couldn't get out of. It happens.

LOVED watching this team develop from the moment I was given the heads up at about game 3. Unlike many here, I've never watched every game of a full season before. And I've been fully aware and seen most of the regular & post-season highlights each season since 1995.

 

[Scud49]

The clip is taken out of context. If you read her lips, it's not directed at UCONN.

I took it as the NCAA and overall experts myself. It looks like she says "everybody".

That last word didn't look multi-syllable to me - I think it was a "F Them"

 

[YourName]

What "hump" do you think UCONN basketball needs to get over??

I think they mean the hump of losing in the Final Four the past few years.

 

[cancontent]

That last word didn't look multi-syllable to me - I think it was a "F Them"

Still don't believe it's directed at UCONN. As per the additional quote I had in my reply, they were pissed at the NCAA and media to underestimating them. In my opinion, the "them" is the NCAA and media.

 

[Boreifs]

I know I keep saying it and saying here on this board... but Geno simply has to start running dedicated layup practice drills for his team., and keep doing it and doing it until making that shot becomes an act of muscle memory for the posts and a core competency for everybody else. There is no other pathway. Ono is a junior for heaven's sake.

Have you ever been to a game and watched their warmup drills?! Incredible amount of emphasis on layups.

 

[wolfe613]

a couple of notes, 1 when ppl compare Stewart to the current team keep in mind that team had veteran seniors on that team same with KLS when she was there as a freshman, this team has no veterans and next year I don't think it's going to change unless there are transfers coming in

 

[cancontent]

Someone posted Aaliyah's stats and I'm confused as to some comments about the post play in the game after reviewing them.

She was 50% from the field on 6 shots, had 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Her turnovers, ugh....no need for an answer on that. While I don't think it was an overall great performance from her, it wasn't horrible at the same time to me.

There are a lot of interesting viewpoints on the game. I'm asking as I'd like to better understand what everyone else were seeing.

 

[Florida Fan]

Went down several notches in my book with that move. I hope Stanford blows them out.

That "forget you" gesture was for the ncaa, not adding them to the promo video, not providing equal facilities, not hiring minority coaches and all the gender and minority issues we still need to focus on and overcome.

 

[loonsD]

I think they mean the hump of losing in the Final Four the past few years.

I see. That's a good problem to have, I suppose!

 

[Bama fan]

Until the very end CW matched McD in scoring, and their remaining players outscored ours (including PB). I would have bet the house (and lost it) against that happening.

Their remaining players in aggregate may have outscored Paige. But no one on Arizona squad but McD scored more than Paige. They had three players in double figures, and so did UConn. Our top four starters scored 56, their top four scored 57. But the rest of Uconn players scored 3. The balance of Zona scored 12. Our fifth starter disappeared and no one else could make up that gap.

 

[bantamlaker]

The immaturity of the team - not the lack of skills or game plan cost us this game.

CW commented that our team got flustered early on. Very little has been said about what the absence of Shea Ralph might have meant. We know Geno calls the shots but Shea is the coach for the guards and might have been a calming influence on the players she has worked most closely with. I guess we’ll never know but I wish she was there.

 

[Martin]

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.

Perhaps Geno should have said that erier in the season? Insult or challenge? The difference is PB has a higher ceiling than Ono. And woth Freshman POY comes tremendous responsibility. Or its payback for the ass-clap.

 

[veryolddog]

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. ?

Yes, but God needs Marines to guard the streets of Heaven.