Boston University Postgame Thread | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Boston University Postgame Thread

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Stagnant said:
I didn’t understand when people didn’t think strong was going to be a starter.
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The board is reluctant to anoint anyone a starter, even a #1 recruit. Also Geno has rarely started freshman stars right out of the gate, especially with a bigger roster.

You'll note the board isn't even sure if Azzi will start when she returns.
 
NycUcWbbFan said:
Game 1: UConn vs Boston University: W 86-32
Enjoyable game. And the team will only get (scary) better.
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Thank you for such nice summary.
 
The first half was impressive. Granted it was BU, but still.

Geno playing different line ups. Something that he hasn't been able to do in at least 4 years. This team can play and they can shoot. He slowed it down in the second half to wortk on the half court sets.

Kudos to Sarah and Jana. Sarah is a skilled, intelligent player. Much quicker and faster than many think. Excellent defense and quick hands. Jana - what a difference from the Fort Hayes game. She played under control. showed she can board with anyone. Very impressed with her moves around the basket. Defense was much better. Her first of many double/ doubles. These two are going to be a combo to be reconed with as the season goes on.

Ash is miss consistency. Not flashy but steady, tough and smart.

Kaitlyn looking good. Ice looked good defensively. The offense will come.

KK coming back from the ankle. Not worried about her.

Morgan, Ali and Q - they come to play. 3 more sharp shooters. Q has improved her game.

Paige - is Paige. A very efficient game. Not a night when she had to light it up. Keep her teammates involved in the game.
 
and one said:
In the first half when they were pushing the ball, making great passes and playing active D it was just like old times. Sure the competition was lacking but still. In the second half Geno slooooowed things down and ran some half court offensive with various line- ups. That still needs work.

It looks like 4 of 5 starters are set, at least until Azzi returns. Paige, Ash, Jana and Sarah are locks. KK and Chen will have to battle it out for starting PG. The rest will get decent minutes.

All in all I'm feeling really good about this team.
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I think when Azzi returns, Ash will go to the bench and will join KK on the second team. I project the second team, at least until Aubry returns, will be Ash, KK, Jana, Q, and Allie/Morgan.
 
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The fact that she did not have a spectacular game should not take away from Kaitlin's vet steadiness in the 1st half. She allows Paige to be the off-guard and find more ops to score w/o having the responsibility of running the team...quiet, but fine game

The thing about Jana is: we've haven't seen such freshman footwork around the hoop for more than a decade; possibly two...A real well schooled kid who is an immediate threat...She's gonna be a killer.
She'll make some mistakes but there are moves she made that are hard to teach

And don't get me started about Sarah.
 
bkart1978 said:
Q is still a work in progress but I think she has already shown impressive improvement year-to-year and if the trajectory continues then she’ll definitely be a contributor.
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Q played the least minutes. I thought maybe Geno got frustrated with her.

But she also hit some timely buckets when the offense was sputtering. No one can really deny that.
 
I was happy to be able to see the team in person.

Paige didn't shoot as much as she did on Sunday, but I think she could have done whatever she wanted.

Sarah may be the 3rd best player when Azzi comes back, but she is stellar and has a complete game.

Q is showing more variety on offense. She missed a couple of layups, but she'll get them.

I had a feeling that Jana would look much better than last game. She can clearly score inside. A double-double machine?

I think B.U. is supposed to be better than Fort Hays State, but our defense was much better.

On the topic of some teams starting the season slowly:

Illinois 83
#19 Florida State 74

Harvard 72
#25 Indiana 68
 
After the exhibition, I thought UConn has a fantastic back court. I'm still of that opinion, but the front court has won me over too. The guards are shooting well and getting the bigs the ball where they need it. But that one pass from Strong to El Alfy (I think it was Bone Dog who cited it above) was an absolute thing of beauty. I still don't know how she got that ball through two defenders.

I'm strapped in for the season. Hoping that Fox fixes the bugs so that I don't miss half the first quarter trying to find something that works.
 
Sarah is the real deal. And that's an understatement. The best comp is Madison Booker. But Sarah has 2 inches on Madison and probably is a better shooter and distributor. She's incredible. I need to be talked down on how good she is. She can be so much better than she played tonight and I am confident she will be. My goodness Geno what a get.
 
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bkart1978 said:
Q is still a work in progress but I think she has already shown impressive improvement year-to-year and if the trajectory continues then she’ll definitely be a contributor.
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She looked good! She HAS to make those layups, though. She only got 10 minutes playing time; the least of anyone. She does need more time to keep the improvement going.
 
Topdawg said:
Great to see a game where every player scored and every player had a rebound. The team was one short of every player having an assist. Teamwork, aggressive defense and an attacking style of play will keep the wins coming. Looking forward to more players getting back to the team!
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Morgan should have had an assist, but I think it was Jana that had the ball go in and out.
 
Stagnant said:
I didn’t understand when people didn’t think strong was going to be a starter.
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obviously a lot of people have been here and watching this team long before I have. The women’s game is moving fast and people are used to freshman coming in and ”waiting their turn”. These girls are growing up ballers now. They are ready to play. People had reservations on how much paige would play freshman year and she put the whole team on her back. The notion that freshman who are top recruits will come off the bench is starting to look kind of stale.
 
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Surly1 said:
.... Jana is the best low post presence UConn has had in some time.
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If you mean in some time since April 5th of this year when Aaliyah Edwards played her last game then sure....Or Olivia Nelson Ododa who happens to be in the WNBA when she last played April 3, 2022 or Pheesa Collier who last played April 5, 2019 but yeah, sure, it's been some time since UConn had a low post presence....Seriously, where do these people come up with these inane stances? :confused:

Frankly the game was much better (and the opponent much worse) than Sunday. I liked the ball movement in the first half, especially after KK came in and overall we had 28 assists against only 12 turnovers (and 25 steals) but imagine if we could make the 7 or was 8 layups we missed? The assists would have been higher. Yes, Jana had 17 points but she did not play great (albeit significantly better than Sunday) as she still had some bad fouls. Sarah was really good as was Ash. Paige did Paige things and her limited time in the second half is what slowed the half court down.

Onto USF on Sunday who while better than BU, is not a good team of our old rivalry brethren. I expect more of the same as this team gains confidence.
 
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MSGRET said:
Well when 8 of the 10 players are first or second year players and the other two players were seniors who went 7-12 and only played 44 of a possible 200 minutes, what did you expect.
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They just posted a stat? Why are you being defensive
 
Stagnant said:
Q played the least minutes. I thought maybe Geno got frustrated with her.

But she also hit some timely buckets when the offense was sputtering. No one can really deny that.
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One thing is becoming clear to me, I will never have to yell "shoot the damn ball" when either Q or Allie have an open shot. I did yell that, only once, when Paige had a decent shot and passed the ball. Paige should shoot the ball every time she has a decent shot and when UConn is in position to rebound. The "more aggressive" Paige needs to embrace the idea that often she is the best shot rather than looking for someone who may, or may not, have a better shot.
 
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It is always better to comment after listening to Geno postgame regarding team strategy and goals for the game. In this one it helped explain why the first half went the way it did as the objective was to press, defend and transition (needless to say very successful) with the full complement of players and why the second half was totally different as the objective was to experiment with a slower half court methodology without Paige and some experimentation with certain groupings of players (much more difficult).
 
MSGRET said:
Well when 8 of the 10 players are first or second year players and the other two players were seniors who went 7-12 and only played 44 of a possible 200 minutes, what did you expect.
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They could spit the bit. They didn’t.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Sarah may be the 3rd best player when Azzi comes back, but she is stellar and has a complete game.
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I know you love Azzi, Milford, but by the time she comes back, Sarah will likely already have established herself as one of the nation's top players... Azzi's got a lot of work ahead of her to reach that realm, if she can even get to that level of play, and the assets she could contribute are now present on the team with several other players, which wasn't the case last time Azzi was able to play.

I sure hope the expectations you and others here on the BY have for Azzi can be realized. She's a great young woman.
 
and one said:
In the first half when they were pushing the ball, making great passes and playing active D it was just like old times. Sure the competition was lacking but still. In the second half Geno slooooowed things down and ran some half court offensive with various line- ups. That still needs work.

It looks like 4 of 5 starters are set, at least until Azzi returns. Paige, Ash, Jana and Sarah are locks. KK and Chen will have to battle it out for starting PG. The rest will get decent minutes.

All in all I'm feeling really good about this team.
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IMHO ..In the short term Ice will continue to start at center
 
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