Arkansas Postgame Thread

[boontonbomber]

UConn needs one more $200,000+ coach to keep track of player fouls.

 

[donalddoowop]

South Carolina, Stanford, UCLA, Louisville
NC St maybe when they get Cunane back

All those teams have had close games against inferior teams and Stanford has lost two, one to an unranked team.

 

[Brad Palmer]

Somebody explain that 0 on the shot clock with 4.3 to go and then only 0.3 at the end?

Clock continues running on a missed shot and UConn never called a timeout until 0.3 seconds remained.

 

[Bama fan]

That’s an ESPN article, not vowelguy’s list

You are cluttering up a rant with facts. Not in fashion these days.

 

[browns]

A terrible game to watch.Where is our great defense? When is the last time a team shot over 50% on us.The coaches knew what Arkansas does but all night long they were hitting uncontested 3's.I've rooted for Liv for 3 yrs.now but let's face it..she is just soft.Look at the way Arkansas battled for rebounds and kept boxing out..They completly out hustled us too.
All the people that said AG could guard Dungee..not ..she blew by Aubrey easily
On a positive note the freshmen looked good.Nika had some good plays and is only going to get better
Paige in the 4th was looking like an AA..I think the record for consecutive final fours stops this year.
When we play SC can you imagine what Boston will do in the paint..Sure AE will battle her for a half but then foul out
As depressing as it was to watch a Uconn team with atrocious defense it was fun watching the freshmen and E play their hearts out and make it close to the end

 

[boontonbomber]

C'mon, ya got 4 other Canon, who also could have yelled for the timeout.

Canon!?

 

[mhshuskies]

Result did not surprise me, this was the biggest game Arkansas has ever played, geared up to “establish” their program. By the end of the season where will they be? Geno will need to put this team on the backs of their leaders, Paige and E!

 

[Luckystrike]

Gross! Thought we had some good moments but overall the defense on Dungee was garbage (even though I thought they could’ve called at least two offensive fouls on her). We didn’t learn and adjust very well from quarter to quarter either (speaks to our inexperience). I needed more from Paige in the first half but was happy to see her be aggressive in their second half. Love ONO and I always root for her (I live about an hour from where she went to HS) but she needs to wake up! She has been almost non existent vs. ranked opponents in her career at Uconn. Proud of our freshmen! AE needs to continue working on being aggressive while staying out of foul trouble (most of her fouls were super dumb). Not sad about this lost really.. I thought we deserved to lose & also think this will be a good developmental tool for the team (or at least I hope so). The future looks bright though!!

 

[oldhusky]

Hmmm, when was the last time UCONN lost to a team ranked (or unranked) out of the top 10?

St. John's in 2011-2012?

That makes this loss a little more depressing.

 

[Pie43]

Get well, Anna—quick.

Get well, Anna—quick.

She would of played 2 minutes tonight

 

[boontonbomber]

Hard to believe, but UConn actually outshot them, 55% to 51%.

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

Very disappointed in our juniors.... CW and ONO should be leaders, and they fell far short tonight (again). Arkansas has no bigs, yet ONO was mostly useless... CW made her first few shots, then was horrible... her misses weren't even close... couldn't even hit free throws... Paige was awesome, and needs to be assertive earlier... Usually, UConn takes the opponents best option away, but they had no answer for Dungee...not sure why... partly because ONO wasn't in the game to protect the rim... hard to understand how we shot better than 50 % from 3pt and from the field and still lost... and we outrebounded them... turnovers were part of that.... in the end, it just seemed that Arkansas wanted ti more... heart, mental toughness... whatever you want to call it

 

[Carnac]

Hard fought game tonight. It came down to the last shot. If you look at the box score, you’d think UConn won. We shot over 50% from the field and beyond the arc.

Arkansas shot 56.5% from 3. Some of them from way behind the arc. It’s extremely hard to beat a team that has that kind of proficiency. They were in sync tonight, period. It was a team win tonight for Arkansas.

We couldn’t guard everyone, so when their players got the chance to make a play, they did. Their defense was just good enough to get the job done.

A tip o the turban to Chelsea Dungee who came up HUGE in a big game against a top 5 opponent. It took a Herculean effort by her for UConn to lose. I doubt we’ll see anymore 30 point games from an opponent this season, or a team feed us a “90” burger.

Dungee is perceived by some as the real deal, and proved it tonight. She was getting anything she wanted. It was obvious early on that we were not going to be able to contain her, as she had 15 points in the first quarter.

North Carolina State also lost tonight in overtime leaving Louisville as the only undefeated team in the top 25. Next up, DePaul in Chicago on Sunday.

 

[Cuango]

Why wasn’t that a shot clock violation with 4 seconds back on the clock? Interesting. But uconn had many opportunities to put themselves in a better situation, so that’s the bigger issue.

I think I’m ready to invest more playing time in the freshman. Our freshman really showed emotion and fight, but need to stop fouling so much.

I’m not sure at this point how to fix the abysmal shooting of CW or the disappearing act of ONO. Its the third season of this, and it may sound harsh, but I don’t think the solution to getting our next NC is them. It’s the youth we have on this and next years rosters.

Christyn was playing (and scoring) well and then (as she has several times this season) decided she should be a three point shooter, promptly missed four and then fell apart. I think she should never shoot more than four threes unless she makes at least two of her first four! She is not and probably will never be a great shooter! However, she could be a very good scorer. Why not play to your strengths?

 

[mhshuskies]

When was UCONN NOT in the top ten ranking?

 

[Pie43]

I thought the freshmen were great. I don’t know that we could have expected more from them.

Nan your looking really good

 

[cbraarj]

I really thought Aubrey was our best defender and was not sure why she did not play most of the 2nd half. I would never question our amazing coaches, but was wondering why we were playing so much 2 / 3 zone against a great shooting team.

Dungee went right by her too. Her spacing on offense made it easier to double down low.

 

[Fore!]

**Dungee is not a pro talent. She will have trouble making a roster, IMO. She is crafty, but that doesn't work in the pros.

**I'm convinced that all of Christyn's problems are between the ears. How does a guard, that's her caliber, and brick so many layups and miss that many FT's?

Inconsistent shooting mechanics

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I am holding my counsel a day and then I may have something constructive to say.

 

[Pie43]

Missed the game. Had a death in family unfortunately. Not sure I want to watch a replay........

Real good game, yes we lost but a lot of good to see

 

[Lorcan]

Crazy thing is this is the first legit upset UCONN has had in almost 10 years. Every other loss since St John's was against a top 10 caliber team. Anyway, fun game.

#14 Stanford from the 2014-2015 season says hello. It doesn't really take away from your point though.

 

[Plebe]

First of all, I'm glad UConn got to play this last-minute-scheduled game, even if it did result in a loss. UConn desperately needs minutes and reps after all the cancellations and pauses.

The result only confirms what many of us already knew, though perhaps some of us refrained, in varying degrees, from expressing it overtly: UConn is simply a lot more beatable, and a bit closer to ordinary than exceptional, than we've been accustomed to seeing in quite a few years. Last year we got our clock cleaned by three #1 seeds but, with a very light schedule otherwise, were not exposed in any other losses. Well, this was no #1 seed we lost to tonight. No hiding from it now.

As @vowelguy and others are pointing out, there are causes for optimism and hope to go with the requisite calls for soul-searching and self-flagellation.

I don't mean to pile on with his question, as I'm genuinely curious: When was the last time UConn gave up 31 in a quarter? Maybe in a Notre Dame game?

By all means, congrats are due to Arkansas for a great win, by any measure a historic one for their program. I appreciate Coach Neighbors for making this happen.

And so it goes.

 

[msf22b]

Folks are comparing this game to the St John's game
Bad comparison.

Arkansas may be unranked because they've played a ridiculous
schedule and lost to some pretty good teams they might have beaten.

St John's was no where close to their class. That was just a terrible loss.
In this case, Arkansas, a darned good team, showed up.

 

[cbraarj]

In all serious, what would have Anna done? She's shot the ball poor this entire season so far and her defense is lackluster at best. Anna has never showed up in a big game for us so far in her 2 years... just curious where you're going with that assessment

Offense runs better with her in there instead of Aubrey and Mir.

 

[donalddoowop]

Georgia had a great post presence in Jenna Staiti 6'6" and sturdy she had 20 and 13 in that game.

Staiti sat on the bench most of the game. The coach did not play her much even in the second half.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Some thoughts on the Arkansas game:

• UConn shoots 59% in the first half and heads to the locker room with a 2-pt lead. At that point I knew UConn was in trouble. Arkansas is one tough team to play against, and Dungee belongs in the pros, although I’m not crazy about that flying chicken-wing of hers.
• Every time UConn threw the ball into the post, Arkansas swarmed all over it, generally neutralizing UConn’s size advantage.
• Pleased with Nika’s minutes off the bench. She didn’t try to do too much or play too fast, and she knocked down several key shots.
• I guess we’re back to playing with another 5’11” center?
• Paige and Evina both came up big tonight, but it wasn't enough
• I know there will be criticism about players, coaching strategy, etc., but the simple truth is that Arkansas was a better team than UConn tonight. They shot it well, took better care of the ball, played tough team defense, boxed out and hit the boards. They earned the W.

Arkansas lives and dies by the 3s. Tonight they were on and it would have been difficult for any team to beat them. Dungee is in shape this year and IMHO would be my number one pick if I were a WNBA GM. UConn is a very good team and is a FF pick for me.

 

[Glenn]

Poor defensive results by our guards. Gave up 90 points. that was our problem, no Cw's shooting or lack of Anna, or free throws, It wasn't our offense, we gave up 90 points

 

[SCGamecock]

Arkansas had UConn right where they wanted them the entire game. The match was definitely played at their pace which is HUGE mistake against a team like Arkansas that can match any team in the country point for point. To beat Arkansas you need transition and a dominating post game. You have to demoralize and frustrate them. Make them play defense and those shots get harder to make. Going shot for shot is literally the worst thing you can do, and that's what UConn was doing. I thought UConn's freshman post player had the right mindset, just needed more from a few other players.

Arkansas is never a game I look forward to.

 

[Pie43]

I feel your pain UConn fans!

No pain it was a great game, lot of good things

 

[Pie43]

I thought the freshmen were great. I don’t know that we could have expected more from them.

Was a great game