Butler Postgame Thread

[YKCornelius]

Agree with all of the posters who understood the utility of playing zone in the third quarter with a 25 point lead. Going forward against the very good teams, it is important to be able to switch looks throughout the game: big line-ups, small line-ups, full-court pressing, half-court coverages, man-to-man and zone sets.

This team has the talent/experience - and coaching staff behind them - to hone all of these different defensive schemes. To be frank, being able to mix-up defensive looks during the game is one of the advantages of playing in the Big East. How many P4 teams are able to do the same in a league game without risking defeat?

And, yeah, if there are aspects of the zone that need work, I fully expect Geno to be getting vocal at that moment.

 

[FairView]

Yeah, it was a head scratcher to me why he would switch to zone in the 3rd quarter and then get mad when Butler's threes started falling. IMO Butler would have not even scored 40 points if they stayed man-to-man in the 3rd.

Perhaps he went zone to get some practice with it in a real-game situation and/or to evaluate the team's capability. It's not a bad idea in a game UConn was clearly going to win.

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn played zone against South Carolina at times. Mixing up defenses is a useful strategy

 

[WiseWillie]

My Bad.

We'll all excuse you OldDude because you contributed a lot more good than bad over the many years on the BY so keep up the good work.

 

[victor64]

I rewatched the third quarter.

1. The Huskies played zone for just over three minutes of the third quarter.
2. The wings, (Paige and Sarah), were slow to rotate and close out to the wings on ball reversal.
3. Butler could get the ball inside with little effort. Easy to do when the defenders hands are down.
4. A good zone should force a team out higher and make getting to perimeter shooters easier. Not against Butler.
5. They looked on their heels and not totally committed to playing zone.
6. UConn successfully played zone against SC and Seton Hall. I thought it was especially effective against Seton Hall.
7. The mistakes made yesterday are fixable.
8. Geno wants to play zone some the rest of the season because as stated before you want teams to have to prepare for a bunch of looks. I thought it was understandable that he was annoyed with the effort, even with the lead.

 

[JellyBean]

I hope everyone realizes that I was sarcastic,

You being sarcastic?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Let another day go by before I said this. I know the spread was enormous and that is what came to pass. But I wasn't crazy about our energy in this game and Azzi better not do that in either tournament. Ash is our new energizer bunny and she is always giving a ton of effort. This is thee time of yeara for everyone to be giving that.

 

[HuskieDawg]

Love seeing the team fully hitting its stride as we close in on tourney time and embracing the grind that a long season can have.

One of the things I am most encouraged by watching post Tennessee game UConn is how their offense and individual production is coming within the general flow of the game and their core motion offense sets. Nothing seems forced. Everyone is eating or taking a bite when it’s their turn.

Azzi didn’t shoot much in the first half and normally I would be like ’get some shots up’, but in this case I didn’t because the offense was just so efficient (IMO) that the flow of it just didn’t work her way. Now in bigger games against tough type teams maybe you force it a bit, but in some games you just go with the flow.

Ash coming on is a huge plus as well. Her shot has been more consistent lately and if that stays what a weapon she will be with all the other things she does.

Best part of the game was seeing Ducharme come out on the court. Unbelievable moment for an unbelievably talented and dedicated athlete.

 

[boontonbomber]

Another well-coached team. Really are some good coaches in the Big East. Unfortunately, except for UConn, these coaches can't get the best players; the best players want to play in the more competitive conferences. Probably be the same thing at UConn after Auriemma retires.

 

[HuskyNan]

Let another day go by before I said this. I know the spread was enormous and that is what came to pass. But I wasn't crazy about our energy in this game and Azzi better not do that in either tournament. Ash is our new energizer bunny and she is always giving a ton of effort. This is thee time of yeara for everyone to be giving that.

The Butler defense was all over Azzi. That’s how Paige, and especially Sarah, were so open. I was shocked that Sarah was pretty much ignored by Butler but she did get their attention after making some shots

 

[oldude]

The Butler defense was all over Azzi. That’s how Paige, and especially Sarah, were so open. I was shocked that Sarah was pretty much ignored by Butler but she did get their attention after making some shots

Pick your poison…

 

[Bone Dog]

The Butler defense was all over Azzi. That’s how Paige, and especially Sarah, were so open. I was shocked that Sarah was pretty much ignored by Butler but she did get their attention after making some shots

I was also struck by how much Sarah intimidated Jaynes, Carter and Makalusky. Those guys really didn't even want to shoot in the low post if Sarah was on them.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The Butler defense was all over Azzi. That’s how Paige, and especially Sarah, were so open. I was shocked that Sarah was pretty much ignored by Butler but she did get their attention after making some shots

A failing of mine. If I am not at the game and just looking on the screen I have a hard time taking all the play in. Thanks

 

[HuskyNan]

A failing of mine. If I am not at the game and just looking on the screen I have a hard time taking all the play in. Thanks

I was just rewatching the first half - the Huskies didn’t work very hard to get the ball to Azzi since Paige had the hot hand.

 

[Dogdude]

The point of having a three-headed monster on offense (and sometimes five when KC and Ash are hitting) is not that all three will score 20 every night, but that any one or two could, which makes defending so difficult. When you have the advantage of three talented scorers, you don't waste precious time feeding one in particular, you simply let the hot one of the moment take over. That leaves at least one or the other with fewer shots, but who cares? Next game, it might be entirely different. Wins are why the players come here, not the anticipation of well-rounded stat lines every game. We might root for that, but shouldn't ever expect it if we're truly interested in winning.

 

[Centerstream]

Let another day go by before I said this. I know the spread was enormous and that is what came to pass. But I wasn't crazy about our energy in this game and Azzi better not do that in either tournament. Ash is our new energizer bunny and she is always giving a ton of effort. This is thee time of yeara for everyone to be giving that.

It's my opinion that in the 2nd half, Ashlynn, and to a lesser extent KK, were given the "green light" on the offensive sets due to them having family and friends in the stands and they were being effective.
I was also surprised that the coaching staff let Paige stay in the game to get her double double after not doing that in the previous game against Seton Hall.
Not sure why they didn't do the same for Sarah.
(I know that the staff doesn't necessarily do that kind of thing, but after the SH game, CD said that they were really not aware that Paige was only one rebound away.)

 

[donalddoowop]

When you play teams that can't compete with you there is a tendency to prepare for other opponents during the game. I am sure that Geno thinks they will need an effective zone to get a win and my guess it today was practice for that time.

UConn played some zone against South Carolina.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

It's my opinion that in the 2nd half, Ashlynn, and to a lesser extent KK, were given the "green light" on the offensive sets due to them having family and friends in the stands and they were being effective.
I was also surprised that the coaching staff let Paige stay in the game to get her double double after not doing that in the previous game against Seton Hall.
Not sure why they didn't do the same for Sarah.
(I know that the staff doesn't necessarily do that kind of thing, but after the SH game, CD said that they were really not aware that Paige was only one rebound away.)

I find CD a little shaky on that. There is a staffer recording stats in real time. Of course the staff might not have appreciated what Paige was 1 away from.

 

[Centerstream]

I find CD a little shaky on that. There is a staffer recording stats in real time. Of course the staff might not have appreciated what Paige was 1 away from.

I looked back at the SH Postgame thread and I guess I was making stuff up (again ). The post said that CD was hoping for her to get the double double.

 

[cabbie191]

If you take away the 4 consecutive 3’s Butler made in Q3, they shot 26% long range. So why not use a zone and give the opponent a bit more open space if during the first half they didn’t shoot particularly well from behind the arc? (Yes, I realize the man defense contributed to the low success rate but Butler missed a lot of open looks during Q1 and Q2.)

 

[Ozimoto]

My only concern was the 50% free throw shooting. Yes, it was a small sample size, but still...

 

[Centerstream]

I just watched the replay and right before tip off, the camera panned the UConn bench and Caroline was walking the sideline and you could clearly see that she wasn't in her sweatpants. Also in a few other bench shots, she was clearly in the shot.
I would have had a much more enjoyable viewing experience if I was only paying more attention to the game.