HuskylnSC
North is a direction; South is a lifestyle
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You’re too pretty and you know how the game should be playedHow do you know I'm not Mechelle Voepel?
Arkansas Postgame Thread
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HuskylnSC
North is a direction; South is a lifestyle
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Anna has been dealing with this issue for some time. No fan knows how long. Does it affect her lift throwing off her shot. I don’t know I’m a fan. Does it affect her lateral movement. I don’t know I’m a fan. Does it affect her speed, stamina, confidence. I don’t know I’m a fan. So unless you know get off the lady’s back. Let get well and then see how she plays. OK
Yep,
Count how often players get the ball in the offense in a position in which they are ineffective. CW 25 feet from the hoop. She needs to get it 15 feet from the hoop at the most. Pull up J’s or take to the hoop with either hand, minimal dribbles. Liv does not belong at the high post beyond the 3 point line. She should be on the blocks or no higher than free throw line. You ever see Robert Parish out there? No, because he never was. Aubrey same thing. Players must get the ball in positions they can be effective.
Old time offense: double low post. Liv and Aubrey (and AE). They work together to get open, on the blocks, short corner, or FT line if they flash high. A point and two wings. Posts can come out and back screen putting them on the wing, but that’s it for them being that high. Old school.
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As I recall, Geno has been telling us all season that we are not a good defensive team. Maybe people will believe him now. I think the hopeful thing is that despite letting Arkansas shoot well over 50% from the field, we only lost by three. Our defense will get better, especially now because they will listen. I would bet that Doug Bruno is very unhappy about this loss!
Okay, that’s reasonable. Did she make any free throws? If you drive the ball - you must make free throws. Practice is good. Confidence? I’m no expert but, a shooter is supposed to keep shooting - right? Anna was missing as well - that hurt. M no coach - but some things are obvious. I thought It was desired to have three solid shooters on the wing - so as to spread the floor. I don’t know. I hope this lights a fire under them and get well Anna!
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Yes .. very good .. 'old school' .. I agree 100%!
bballnut90
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There's a lot of evidence that UCONN hasn't performed well in close games the last decade. From my late night research, the only games where it has been single possession with under a minute to go are:
2021 Arkansas: poor management down the stretch, lost by 3
2021 Tennessee: big 3 hit by Bueckers with shot clock expiring, won by 6
2019 Notre Dame: Final Four, missed 4 shots in final minute trying to come back, lost by 5
2018 Notre Dame: Final Four, executed really well at moments down the stretch and really poorly at others, lost by 2
2018 Texas: missed free throws in final minute and committed a bad out of bounds foul, was able to win by 4.
2017 Mississippi State: the ill advised shot by Chong that gave MSU a shot to win at the end. Lost by 2.
2017 Tulane: missed 4 of 6 free throws in final minute, won by 3
2017 Florida State: really botched final minute, fouled opposing shooter on a 3 when up by 3. She missed a FT and UCONN held on and won by 2.
2015 Stanford: gave up wide open 3 to Orrange to sent it to OT, down 3 in OT opted for a layup with 3 seconds left rather than taking a 3, then dribbled out the clock without getting a shot up.
2013 ND @ UCONN: missed 6 shots in final minute and a half
2013 UCONN @ ND: regulation: 2 turnovers in final 33 seconds, 1st OT: up 4 with 30 seconds left, missed 2 front end of 1 and 1s in last 30 seconds and 1 of 2 FTs on a different trip, ND ties it up and sends it to double OT. 2nd OT: turnover with about 30 seconds left, gave ND last look at basket in tie game.
2013 Big East Title: lazy pass leads to TO and layup with 2 seconds left to give ND the lead and game
2012 Final Four vs ND: wild finish to regulation with both teams making big plays and mistakes
2012 St Johns: gave up a 3 in last 10 seconds, missed a good look on the other end
2012 UCONN @ ND: had ball up 2 with under 30 seconds to go, turned it over and gave up a layup which tied game. Then with chance to win at the end they turned it over again. Lost in OT.
That's 15 games, with a 4-11 record. Even in the wins UCONN made big errors down the stretch. I don't think that's a coincidence, it comes from lack of experience in pressure situations since UCONN rarely faces them. Coaches burden responsibility too, as they've made several puzzling decisions down the stretch. Prior to this decade UCONN won many close games down the stretch and had some epic buzzer beaters (Taurasi vs. Tennessee, Bird in BE title, Turner vs Georgia, etc). Execution down the stretch is something to keep an eye on in the future.
bballnut90
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Arkansas played with a ton of motivation and executed a strong game plan, but they weren't playing out of their minds aside from Dungee. They didn't hit circus shots, they straight up capitalized on UCONN giving them a ton of open looks from 3 and knocked down a good percentage of them, just like UCONN capitalized on open looks too. Slocum didn't have a good game and the team missed 9 of 20 free throws. Defensively they really focused on making ONO's life difficult inside to negate the height advantage and it worked. They also benefitted from UCONN committing 6 offensive fouls.
Arkansas definitely played well, but it wasn't some perfect storm or collapse that led to the upset like UCONN/Mississippi State in 2017 or Baylor/Louisville in 2013.
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Vowel guy not vowel galHow do you know I'm not Mechelle Voepel?
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SMH! Amazing how many people on this board undervalue Anna. I guarantee that she would have played a lot more than 2 minutes!
Players play; teams that win close games have players that make plays at the end of games. Players that make plays both physically and mentally. Uconn has had those players and have won close games. They also have NOT had those players and lost.
As Uconn developed their dynasty, they created a very unique dynamic for themselves, namely, that they played in very few competitive games; running roughshod over uncompetitive, weaker teams does absolutely nothing to develop the mental toughness required in those high pressure end game situations.
I posted much earlier in the season that Muhl may turn out to be a very important player for Uconn because of her reputation for toughness on the court. For all the abuse she has gotten on this board, she did a credible job when face guarding Dungee, much, much better than Griffin, who has become a de facto ‘stopper” to many in the board with no credible evidence to back up that claim. Griffin remains a tremendous athlete but her effectiveness goes down exponentially when matched with other athletic players who she cannot dominate physically.
The fact is, IMO, Auriemma saw early on what this team was and wasn’t and told us so; a weak defensive team that also needed Bueckers to look for her own. That view was offered for games like last night, not Butler and Georgetown. People wondered why he sat Ono for long stretches of time, IMO, it was to try and get ready for games like last night. It turns out last night was some pretty solid evidence he knew what he was talking about and knew what he was doing.
One last point, it is an old basketball axiom that some players always seem open to shoot because they can’t shoot and last night was an example of that with Griffin and Williams who went 1 for 8 from 3. Bueckers and Westbrook went 8 of 10. Williams took 5 wide open 3’s and I don’t think any of them were even in the cylinder to have a chance. Bottom line, I have seen enough of this team to know whose roles I would curtail and whose I would expand to have a legitimate shot at the promised land.
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Crackerjack game! You win some of those, you lose some.
I was proud of UConn for coming back time after time - a few times when it seemed for sure the game was lost. Until Evina's three clanked at :00, the game was still up for grabs.
I'm sure Geno and Chris will be holding intense defense school at the next practice. Chelsea Dungee may have looked like Steph Curry last night, but she's not.
I liked our ball movement - most of the time. It flowed the best I've seen it this year.
Olivia's disappearance was disturbing and puzzling. She still hasn't learned when she doesn't keep the ball up high, the shortest person on the floor can tie her up or take the ball away. There was a listlessness to her play.
Kudos to everyone else. They ran up 87 points on a very good team. Unfortunately, they gave up 90.
I was proud of UConn for coming back time after time - a few times when it seemed for sure the game was lost. Until Evina's three clanked at :00, the game was still up for grabs.
I'm sure Geno and Chris will be holding intense defense school at the next practice. Chelsea Dungee may have looked like Steph Curry last night, but she's not.
I liked our ball movement - most of the time. It flowed the best I've seen it this year.
Olivia's disappearance was disturbing and puzzling. She still hasn't learned when she doesn't keep the ball up high, the shortest person on the floor can tie her up or take the ball away. There was a listlessness to her play.
Kudos to everyone else. They ran up 87 points on a very good team. Unfortunately, they gave up 90.
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UConnCat
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Imagine going back and picking apart a team’s losses over a decade to make a point. No need to imagine it. It’s been done. This is insane.
The moral of the story is that the University of Connecticut should have never lost a basketball game the last 10 years. Or, perhaps it would have been better if each loss were a blowout.
Why is every loss a cataclysmic event around here? Why must there be some greater meaning attached to a 3-point loss in a basketball game? Why do fans of so many other teams feel compelled to offer thoughts on why UConn lost a basketball game to a team that shot lights out and scored more points? It’s remarkable. Maybe I’m suffering from Pandemic Perspective.
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A couple of positives tonight were Nika minutes. She looked like a Totally different player who was looking to hit her outside shot, run the offense, and was in control. Big jump for her. Mir played with serious fire. She also hit a three. Paige looked like an All American. Evina played great in all phases. Looked really smooth on the catch and shoot . She needs to become with Paige our main scorers. We need the competion to prepare us for the NCaa tourney. Aubrey is gaining some confidence in her outside shot. Little steps all in the right direction. Calling timeout at the end of the game with be on the teaching list for all today. We don't play many close games. It shows sometimes. In both games recent games we showed grit and fight but Chelsea Dungee was amazing she went left she went right and she hit outside shots. She banged anything ion her way to the basket and fought for everything.She is the best player I have seen in Wcbb and I watch a lot of PAC, SEC and ACC games.
Carnac
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Agreed. This is exactly what a dark horse looks like. Nobody pays any attention to them at the outset until they knock off a much higher seed. It’s easy to play fast and loose when you’re not expected to go beyond the second round. We all saw the game, and we all know who played well and who didn't. I'm going to lean on that old adage that you win and lose as a team. Dungee stepped up, had a monster game and carried her team today. If she had scored her average of 21 points, Arkansas loses by 16 points. What's done is done. What want to see is how UConn responds Sunday when they travel to Chicago to play DePaul. You can bet, DePaul will be pumped to play them after seeing Arkansas hand them a loss. They'll also want to avenge an earlier loss.
Let's go back to the beginning of the season before any games were canceled. Looking at the top 10 OOC teams on the schedule, how many of us REALISTCALLY in our heart of hearts, felt this team would (not could) go undefeated? Not me. All of the other elites have lost, some twice. I knew Baylor is not the team they were last year, but they would still be very formidable. They've lost twice. South Carolina lost two seniors, but I didn't think there would be that much of a drop off as their freshmen would come back more experienced and aggressive. They've lost once. Stanford who was ranked number one for a couple of weeks has lost back to back games. Louisville (the last undefeated top 125 team) to this point is playing and performing as expected. They still have NC State and Notre Dame twice on their schedule.
What impressed me most in this game was how UConn fought back to take a 2 point lead after being down by 11. The problem was they couldn’t hold the lead. Arkansas regrouped and came back with another run. As bad as we played, and as well as Arkansas played, the outcome came down to the last shot. I’m not happy about the loss, but I am taking mental notes on HOW they lost. Look what a team had to do to beat them by only 3 points.
This is the type of game that builds character and confidence, not 20 point blowouts of an inferior team. Iron sharpens iron. Our girls must/will learn that there are other players at this level that are just as good as they are, and are not afraid or intimidated by the name on the front of their jersey. I believe they will.
As another poster said, good players make plays late in games. That was illustrated by Paige when she made the shot late in the final seconds at Tennessee that sealed the win for us. The bench is an excellent teacher, but so is experience. This is not the end of the world. The sun will rise tomorrow. I would love to see Arkansas again in the tournament.
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huskeynut
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The Bad:
Liv didn't show up. Don't know what her problem is but something needs to be done. I'm, not giving up on her but she needs something to get her going.
CW - what you see is what you get. She is an inconsistent shooter. I don't expect any change for the better.
For all those who were picking on Anna - she was the type of player we needed on the floor tonight.
Team wise - poor team defense tonight. No defense of the rim at all. Arkansas pulled us out on offense and then had a clear driving lane to the basket. That use to be a UConn trademark.
The Good:
Paige and Evina and Nika played well.
Coming back from 11 or so down in the 4th. Couldn't finish it tonight but the team did not quit.
The Ugly:
A lot of home cooking for Arkansas tonight. Ramirez, Dungee and Slocum sure like to use the forearm to push off and get clearance.
This is/ has been a crazy season. Not surprised Arkansas got us and it may have been their best game of the season. No consistency in game schedule has really hurt. They say you learn more from a loss than a win. Let's see if that's true.
Liv didn't show up. Don't know what her problem is but something needs to be done. I'm, not giving up on her but she needs something to get her going.
CW - what you see is what you get. She is an inconsistent shooter. I don't expect any change for the better.
For all those who were picking on Anna - she was the type of player we needed on the floor tonight.
Team wise - poor team defense tonight. No defense of the rim at all. Arkansas pulled us out on offense and then had a clear driving lane to the basket. That use to be a UConn trademark.
The Good:
Paige and Evina and Nika played well.
Coming back from 11 or so down in the 4th. Couldn't finish it tonight but the team did not quit.
The Ugly:
A lot of home cooking for Arkansas tonight. Ramirez, Dungee and Slocum sure like to use the forearm to push off and get clearance.
This is/ has been a crazy season. Not surprised Arkansas got us and it may have been their best game of the season. No consistency in game schedule has really hurt. They say you learn more from a loss than a win. Let's see if that's true.
HuskyNan
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Criticism from a Tennessee fan about UConn losing games it shouldn’t, no less.
I wonder if the SEC fans would be so sanguine about a flood of UConn fans on their board immediately after a loss?
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Well, she is clearly not a good 3 point shooter if she is shooting 28% for the year. A shooter should keep on shooting if she is a great or good shooter, like Paige or Evina. A poor shooter shouldn't. We had CW go through this last year also. It's not a funk, it's a weakness in her game and it needs to be reigned in. I also thought that her miss on the FT to put us down 3 not 2 was critical. Great shooters don't miss those.
Plebe
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Well, it's a "good vibes" early morning here in Texas because, according to this dossier, UConn's record in close games has improved quite drastically from 0-7 in the 2012-25 period to 4-4 in 2017-21.
So maybe it was the old Big East that was somehow causing UConn to lose an inordinate percentage of its close games, whereas our affiliation with the AAC and new Big East has, contrary to a current of popular opinion, leveled out our fate by mysterious means of metaphysical persuasion.
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I was also puzzled why Geno didn't try a box and 1 on Dungee and face guard her or a triangle and 2 on Dungee and Ramirez. I also didn't understand why he didn't call timeout in the second half when Arkansas first went up 5, not wait till 9 or 11. Also, letting them run down the shot clock all the way at the end with a 4+ second differential when you are down 3 is very risky and turned out to be fatal. What if there is an offensive rebound? Game over. I was expecting them to double the ball early when Dungee had it and then foul away from the ball or foul someone besides Dungee. They didn't call a single push off on her or the team the whole game. When Georgia was down against Arkansas in their last game they just pounded it under the basket to their bigs and it turned the game. That was not an option for us. I think we have to be very circumspect about the limitations we have with Liv and CW. They both have real weaknesses that are not going to change. It is better to work around them by limiting CW's 3s and having her drive and pull up, and planting Liv on the low block and telling her to receive the ball and get rid of it ahead of the double team instead of trying to dribble into it. I agree that Geno seemed detached last night but I am wondering if that was intentional since he wanted to see things play out to figure out a long range plan for the season. Finally, I hope we have put to rest the negativity about Nika. She played well in a high pressure game and is clearly "getting it".
Does Liv have the bulk to get position down low consistenly?
cohenzone
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Arkansas is a ranked team that plays well on its home court and scores against almost everyone. Our 3rd quarter D was possibly the worst in Geno’s tenure. And we lost by a bucket. Believe it or not, It is really hard to go unbeaten and for UConn’s erratic schedule doubly hard.
Nobody will ever know if Anna would have made any sort of difference. Of greater concern is how Olivia too often doesn’t show up against tough opponents on offense. Defense is a different issue. Bigs often have trouble against smaller, quicker teams that don’t have a true center. Aliyah was much more aggressive than Liv on O. She just needs to learn how to control her aggression. The sun still shines.
Nobody will ever know if Anna would have made any sort of difference. Of greater concern is how Olivia too often doesn’t show up against tough opponents on offense. Defense is a different issue. Bigs often have trouble against smaller, quicker teams that don’t have a true center. Aliyah was much more aggressive than Liv on O. She just needs to learn how to control her aggression. The sun still shines.
meyers7
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Stanford was rated #6 in both polls.
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Agree with the post, particularly the clutch efforts by Paige and Evina. Stepped up when the pressure was on.
Would expand your Geno comments:
-Talk to Williams/help her play under control. Depressing to watch her try to take over game and miss, and miss, and miss. Under pressure, the game seems to speed up for her.
-Get ONO some help down low. While this could have been her worst game at UConn, giving her a pick would have lessened the double teams and given her open 5 footers. Have the open player immediately cut for basket. Just having her stand there waiting for pass played into Arkansas's defense.
-Help Griffin. Her offense is based on steals and offensive rebounds. We saw that a disciplined team can eliminate both and a quick guard is difficult for her handle. Every time Geno took her out, UConn came back. Not sure what to do so she doesn't bog down offense - picks/cuts to basket, etc?
-Don't keep switching back to man to man when opposition keeps driving to basket. Not a stellar coaching effort.
Papa33
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. . . does not play "like a team at all"?! Bit of an exaggeration?
And I can imagine that as the youngsters settle into the demands of the college game, this UConn team stands a very good chance of getting at least to the sweet sixteen.
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Sorry, but the current exchange rate would reduce the 5 to 3 (possibly 2.5).
Sigh......for those heady days when it was on par......fun times.
UCONN is solid in every phase of the game. The recruiting has not suffered...it's been spread around. The high school programs are developing more and better players and UCONN can only take a few of those each season. The parity is good and I stated in another thread, UCONN is the reason WBB is a big part of the national scene. The UCONN 101 game streak brought national attention. The 11 titles in the broad national media age brought even more attention to WBB on every level. Parity is good now for WBB, where as UCONN's dominance was good for it the years prior. UCONN is going to be UCONN for years to come. They are just going to have to share the championships now with other programs. UCONN will be fine....
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A little perspective is in order. Over the past decade:
UConn 356-20
Baylor 340-25
ND 323-49
Stanford 301-58
South Carolina 281-65
Tennessee 254-89
UConn 356-20
Baylor 340-25
ND 323-49
Stanford 301-58
South Carolina 281-65
Tennessee 254-89
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All these comments about what Geno could have done, should have done, etc are nothing new. But I remember after a game this season (Georgetown or TN maybe) Geno stated that the guys just can't be coached. Geno can only prepare them for certain scenarios but the guys have to execute. I think one thing that we are learning (or have learned) is that if anyone is not executing, they will find themselves sitting. And I think this tends to lead to every player's "over the shoulder" or "deer in the headlights" attitudes. Meaning if they know that they just messed up, they spend the next few minutes looking over at the scorer's table to see if they are going to be sitting. It's a UConn fact of life. So I guess the solution is for the guys to just try a little bit harder to execute each and every play, offense and defense. But, alas easier said than done, especially for the underclassmen.
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