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Caroline

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Caroline isn't bashful, I'll give her that! And we need that, with so many other passive players. I do wish she would be a bit more careful with the ball, rather than driving into 3 or 4 players. We know she can shoot the 3 ball, so I'm not overly worried about the 1 for 8. However, if you watch her closely, you will see that her percentage is far better when she is set and facing the basket before she shoots the 3. Sometimes she is just not in good shooting position and yet still lets it fly. Given that she has really only played 6 games, I expect continued improvement from her. Overall, she has been a welcome surprise and should be a strong contributor even after Paige (and maybe Azzi?) return.
 
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I can’t believe people are throwing shade at Caroline for her shooting against Oregon. Yes, she was 1-8 from three but she was 9-13 from two with slashes to the basket, fast break points, jumpers, and that underhand flip shot that I haven’t seen a Husky make consistently since Maya graduated. Caroline can create her own shot, something that Paige can do, maybe Azzi, but no one else.

The kid is a freshman who just played her 12th college game. She is also, suddenly, a focus of the opponent’s defense, like Liv. While Caroline’s scoring hasn’t suffered due to the double teams and added attention, her shooting percentage has. That’s youth. In a year or two, she’ll learn how to use the defender’s aggressiveness to draw some fouls and get to the line - where she’s 85% from the FT line.

One more thing about the missed threes. She HAS to shoot those or else there will be 4 defenders on Liv in the paint. Opposing coaches know she’s a threat from the perimeter and has to be guarded. That adds real value to the team. Keep shooting, Caroline!
Yes on all counts. I also noticed in this game that there didn’t seem to be as many effective screens that set her up with just a second or so more time to set her shot. She keeps shooting even on an off day—sign of a winner. Determination.
 

Bald Husky

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This game was a disaster mostly because of the guard play. Caroline, our best current shooter, did what she does best, and that is being aggressive. Evina, a player I supported all season, was a complete bust. She has no fire, showing nothing that we need on the floor. The biggest question mark is Nika, a player that we need on the floor to keep the team focused on every play. In a game like this we needed her scoring, or at least, her putting up shots. Geno loves her for what she does bring to the team, and I agree that I love it when she is out there. We have been harping on her lack of shooting, because when you put up only 1-3 shots a game, it doesn't help us at all. Caroline needed 21 shots to get her 22 points, and I am not knocking her at all, just pointing out that Nika may be able to do close to that if she took that many. (ten shots would be enough for me) We really don't know because she won't take more than 3 a game so far. Whose fault is that, it has to be the coaching. Apparently, Geno just wants her to do what she is doing, otherwise why is she starting? They must be telling her just to run the team and play great defense. It's funny, I don't ever remember any member of the media ask Geno why Nika doesn't shoot. This is a mystery to me, and I know a lot of you would like to hear that answer. When everyone is back, this won't be a big issue, but for now, I think it is and I would like to know what he thinks of that question.
 

PvP

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10 for 21 is 48% shooting even with all the defensive attention. Hate to think where we'd be without the Charmer
This game was a disaster mostly because of the guard play. Caroline, our best current shooter, did what she does best, and that is being aggressive. Evina, a player I supported all season, was a complete bust. She has no fire, showing nothing that we need on the floor. The biggest question mark is Nika, a player that we need on the floor to keep the team focused on every play. In a game like this we needed her scoring, or at least, her putting up shots. Geno loves her for what she does bring to the team, and I agree that I love it when she is out there. We have been harping on her lack of shooting, because when you put up only 1-3 shots a game, it doesn't help us at all. Caroline needed 21 shots to get her 22 points, and I am not knocking her at all, just pointing out that Nika may be able to do close to that if she took that many. (ten shots would be enough for me) We really don't know because she won't take more than 3 a game so far. Whose fault is that, it has to be the coaching. Apparently, Geno just wants her to do what she is doing, otherwise why is she starting? They must be telling her just to run the team and play great defense. It's funny, I don't ever remember any member of the media ask Geno why Nika doesn't shoot. This is a mystery to me, and I know a lot of you would like to hear that answer. When everyone is back, this won't be a big issue, but for now, I think it is and I would like to know what he thinks of that question.
I wouldn't let her take even one shot a game! She couldn't even make an open layup. She is clearly the worst shooter routinely on the floor for UCONN. As Geno said "I can't wait for Paige to get back!"
 
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My two cents is at times she rushes her shots and doesn't always plant her feet. That's when you see the air balls. But as someone said above if she didn't take the shots then ONO would be swarmed all of the time.
 

Bald Husky

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10 for 21 is 48% shooting even with all the defensive attention. Hate to think where we'd be without the Charmer

I wouldn't let her take even one shot a game! She couldn't even make an open layup. She is clearly the worst shooter routinely on the floor for UCONN. As Geno said "I can't wait for Paige to get back!"
It's hard to get out of a shooting slump if you only take 1-3 shots a game. Layups, are you kidding me? They all are missing layups every game.
 

HuskyNan

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My two cents is at times she rushes her shots and doesn't always plant her feet. That's when you see the air balls. But as someone said above if she didn't take the shots then ONO would be swarmed all of the time.
She’s rushing because either the shot clock is expiring and her teammates passed her the ball, hoping for a miracle or the defense is draped on her and she’s trying to get the shot off before she doesn’t have the space.
 

sun

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If CW went 1-8 from 3 then she would get slammed, but since it's Caroline then that's okay, all understandable and excuses are made.
Double standards simply don't compute.
No excuses, the stat speaks for itself.
Caroline is great, but Geno said the loss was due to poor guard play and too many turnovers.
We can't trade baskets with an opponent if we turn the ball over too much which contributes to the margin of loss in the end.
 
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I can’t believe people are throwing shade at Caroline for her shooting against Oregon. Yes, she was 1-8 from three but she was 9-13 from two with slashes to the basket, fast break points, jumpers, and that underhand flip shot that I haven’t seen a Husky make consistently since Maya graduated. Caroline can create her own shot, something that Paige can do, maybe Azzi, but no one else.

The kid is a freshman who just played her 12th college game. She is also, suddenly, a focus of the opponent’s defense, like Liv. While Caroline’s scoring hasn’t suffered due to the double teams and added attention, her shooting percentage has. That’s youth. In a year or two, she’ll learn how to use the defender’s aggressiveness to draw some fouls and get to the line - where she’s 85% from the FT line.

One more thing about the missed threes. She HAS to shoot those or else there will be 4 defenders on Liv in the paint. Opposing coaches know she’s a threat from the perimeter and has to be guarded. That adds real value to the team. Keep shooting, Caroline!
Amen! I’ll take 2 more Caroline’s please.
 
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From a scoring point of view, I thought Caroline did damn well (as did Liv), considering that Oregon was able to play 5 defenders against our only 2 offensive threats. We'll be better once that ratio evens out via the return of one of our currently unavailable players (or via the resurgence of one of our currently available but non-scoring threat players, which I admit appears unlikely at this point in the season).
 

sun

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If Caroline needs a pick to shoot a 3 then she should tell Nika when they're in a huddle, they certainly huddle enough.
Or just yell at Nika on the floor to set a pick for her!
They need to communicate their needs to each other.
AFAIK Paige is the only one that's a mind reader.
Or maybe Azzi knows how to set things in motion by dribbling around to a pick when she needs to shoot 3.
 
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HuskyNan

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If CW went 1-8 from 3 then she would get slammed, but since it's Caroline then that's okay, all understandable and excuses are made.
Double standards simply don't compute.
No excuses, the stat speaks for itself.
Caroline is great, but Geno said the loss was due to poor guard play and too many turnovers.
We can't trade baskets with an opponent if we turn the ball over too much which contributes to the margin of loss in the end.
If you can’t tell the difference between an excuse and a reason, I can’t help you.

BTW, I started a thread in defense of Christyn yesterday. And somehow, I was able to defend Christyn without taking a shot at Caroline
 
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I can’t believe people are throwing shade at Caroline for her shooting against Oregon. Yes, she was 1-8 from three but she was 9-13 from two with slashes to the basket, fast break points, jumpers, and that underhand flip shot that I haven’t seen a Husky make consistently since Maya graduated. Caroline can create her own shot, something that Paige can do, maybe Azzi, but no one else.

The kid is a freshman who just played her 12th college game. She is also, suddenly, a focus of the opponent’s defense, like Liv. While Caroline’s scoring hasn’t suffered due to the double teams and added attention, her shooting percentage has. That’s youth. In a year or two, she’ll learn how to use the defender’s aggressiveness to draw some fouls and get to the line - where she’s 85% from the FT line.

One more thing about the missed threes. She HAS to shoot those or else there will be 4 defenders on Liv in the paint. Opposing coaches know she’s a threat from the perimeter and has to be guarded. That adds real value to the team. Keep shooting, Caroline!
Caroline is a Basketball player that can and does shoot. Anyone who believes Caroline does not have the Green light to shoot from GENO does not know Geno. We are sooo blessed to have the talent of Caroline playing at Uconn, especially with Paige injured. In that case Caroline is keeping Uconn in games. I agree, keep shooting kid.
 

vtcwbuff

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I can’t believe people are throwing shade at Caroline for her shooting against Oregon. Yes, she was 1-8 from three but she was 9-13 from two with slashes to the basket, fast break points, jumpers, and that underhand flip shot that I haven’t seen a Husky make consistently since Maya graduated. Caroline can create her own shot, something that Paige can do, maybe Azzi, but no one else.

The kid is a freshman who just played her 12th college game. She is also, suddenly, a focus of the opponent’s defense, like Liv. While Caroline’s scoring hasn’t suffered due to the double teams and added attention, her shooting percentage has. That’s youth. In a year or two, she’ll learn how to use the defender’s aggressiveness to draw some fouls and get to the line - where she’s 85% from the FT line.

One more thing about the missed threes. She HAS to shoot those or else there will be 4 defenders on Liv in the paint. Opposing coaches know she’s a threat from the perimeter and has to be guarded. That adds real value to the team. Keep shooting, Caroline!
Probably have to stop using that phrase when Ashlynn joins the team.
 

Majic Hands

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It's funny, I don't ever remember any member of the media ask Geno why Nika doesn't shoot.

No one asking Geno but Nika has answered the question. Most recently after the previous game.
Just after the 6 minute mark:
 
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This game was a disaster mostly because of the guard play. Caroline, our best current shooter, did what she does best, and that is being aggressive. Evina, a player I supported all season, was a complete bust. She has no fire, showing nothing that we need on the floor. The biggest question mark is Nika, a player that we need on the floor to keep the team focused on every play. In a game like this we needed her scoring, or at least, her putting up shots. Geno loves her for what she does bring to the team, and I agree that I love it when she is out there. We have been harping on her lack of shooting, because when you put up only 1-3 shots a game, it doesn't help us at all. Caroline needed 21 shots to get her 22 points, and I am not knocking her at all, just pointing out that Nika may be able to do close to that if she took that many. (ten shots would be enough for me) We really don't know because she won't take more than 3 a game so far. Whose fault is that, it has to be the coaching. Apparently, Geno just wants her to do what she is doing, otherwise why is she starting? They must be telling her just to run the team and play great defense. It's funny, I don't ever remember any member of the media ask Geno why Nika doesn't shoot. This is a mystery to me, and I know a lot of you would like to hear that answer. When everyone is back, this won't be a big issue, but for now, I think it is and I would like to know what he thinks of that question.
Remember when Geno was constantly harping on both Paige and Azzi to shoot more? The point being that this group routinely seems to either ignore him or at the very least, have a hard time executing his wishes. Now you want him to bench the only PG and play with five?

I really hate to say this but I look at him and I see a coach that has basically had it with certain players on this team. Not saying it’s right, just that’s what I see. I think we are looking at the cumulative effect of numerous errors, mistakes, bad luck, and Covid. Some were probably his own fault while others, perhaps, not so much.

I think he coached his a*# off from 2016-2019 with a group that he slowly realized just wasn’t good enough to break down the door and take the title. This forced him to use transfers and hope for a little luck. Well, he lost out on both fronts there, He’s finding through painful experience that the kids he has always won with, real down and dirty basketball savants, who would rather work on their game than anything else, who lived and breathed basketball, are becoming rarer and rarer. As a result he has had to make some reaches, some of which simply haven’t worked out. He’s missed out on at least one special recruit that likely would have rendered all this moot (one that he apparently was pretty sure of, mistakenly as it turned out).

Then, lo & behold, he gets “the one” gets Caroline, and miracle of miracles he gets another, potential “the one”! Things are looking up! He rolls up his sleeves, rejuvenated by the prospect of these “old school” kids. He is determined to work his rear off both to get off to a good start for Paige and company and to send his loyal, if somewhat underachieving seniors off with a bang.

Then came the pandemic! (I think this Covid thing has just sucked all the joy that was beginning to well up at the thought of this new group of old time players right out of the room) Then, insult to injury, Paige goes down! Azzi turns out to have injuries, Aubrey, a player he was counting on goes down with back problems, his highly touted post transfer turns out to need some work, Shea Ralph, a coach he could simply trust without question to maintain the defense and the guard play, leaves. Finally, just when he was beginning to put the pandemic behind him, here it is again! Meanwhile, throughout all these debilitating events, as UConn is in a (hopefully short) decline, women’s basketball is entering a renaissance with better and better players dispersing out well beyond the usual suspects.

Honestly, I’m surprised he hasn’t hung it up after all that! Some will say, “everybody had to go through the same stuff”. First, that’s not true, and second, so what if they did? They’re not Geno! It does concern me though when I hear comments like “our good guards aren’t playing” I find those to be both alarming and disappointing as I cannot see how they can be anything but hurtful to some players who, presumably, are trying heir best.

At this point, I just want the kids to get healthy, Geno to find his mojo again, (it seems as if he has gotten back on track with his recruiting) and to finish out this year on a high note. Whether that means top 16, 8, 4, 2, or #1 really doesn’t matter anymore. Just let’s get our mojo back and get ready for a new era starting in Fall, 2022! I hope he can get the joy of the game back that (to me) he seems to have lost.
 
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I thought she kept us in the game.
CD needs an occasional pick set after the pass into her. She also needs an occasional pump fake or side-step from the corner when shooting 3's. She just launches. Adding these features will greatly help. We have concentrated too much on spreading the court so the passer into CD retreats instead of setting an occasional pick for her. Perhaps we miss a big body here and would benefit if Dorka sets this pick. We had zero pick and rolls. In half-court offence we pass with little or no purpose, no cutting by the passer time and time again. Stagnate!

Our bigs also need to step toward the passer instead of just blocking the defender. We lost a lot of passes in deep because of this. We also fumble the ball way too much and need work in this area. Dorka especially doesn't handle the ball cleanly. There is a lot of fundamental basketball that seems to be missing in the past two years.
 
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They played a zone today and the team overall doesn't appear to be very good at zone defense. I didn't see many instances where Caroline hurt them on defense. We must be seeing a different game.
With the lack of ball handlers Geno played the best defense he though would work, reduce fouls and rest his on- court players. We only went 6 deep. We did get beat with 3 pointers in the early come-back by Oregon.

O was able to double CD a lot in this game on offense, stripped her many times when she put the ball on the court. Her ball handling needs to improve. That will be helped by the return of our starting guards.
 
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If CW went 1-8 from 3 then she would get slammed, but since it's Caroline then that's okay, all understandable and excuses are made.
Double standards simply don't compute.
No excuses, the stat speaks for itself.
Caroline is great, but Geno said the loss was due to poor guard play and too many turnovers.
We can't trade baskets with an opponent if we turn the ball over too much which contributes to the margin of loss in the end.
I have to disagree. If CW shot 1-8 and did nothing else, sure, she would be criticized. However, if she scored 19 other points, and made other contributions, then no, I don’t think so. Anyway, it’s difficult to compare them in that way as one has a career long record of inconsistent three point shooting while the other is widely accepted as being a good to very good one.
 
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They played a zone today and the team overall doesn't appear to be very good at zone defense. I didn't see many instances where Caroline hurt them on defense. We must be seeing a different game.
Caroline is a bit slow on one-on-one defense but suspect this is because she is having to guard faster guards in the current lineup. On the other hand, she has long arms and good anticipation, often blocking slots and disrupting the play when on help defense. As Geno has said, UConn could use 6 of her.
I don't understand the criticism of her offense. All shooters have off days - the key is to make up for missed 3 pointers with drives and mid-range shoots. This is exactly what Caroline did. On a day when Nika, Evina, Edwards and all seemed reluctant to shoot, Carolne was the only one manufacturing offense.
 
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Before the Oregon game, CD shot .347 from 3, on 17-49 shooting. That's exactly .020 points higher than Christyn, who has shot 17-52, for .327.

Yet, some fans seem to think CD, now at .316, is a better/much better long-range shooter.
 
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Before the Oregon game, CD shot .347 from 3, on 17-49 shooting. That's exactly .020 points higher than Christyn, who has shot 17-52, for .327.

Yet, some fans seem to think CD, now at .316, is a better/much better long-range shooter.
it’s also the context of shot selection. cristyn’s shots are all relatively wide open (the defender slacks and has to recover). while caroline‘s is being guarded more closely than any other guard. if you pay attention to shot selection, when caroline is wide open she makes them extremely consistently. coaching staff should address that and have the team set more screens for her.
 

Centerstream

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I can’t believe people are throwing shade at Caroline for her shooting against Oregon. Yes, she was 1-8 from three but she was 9-13 from two with slashes to the basket, fast break points, jumpers, and that underhand flip shot that I haven’t seen a Husky make consistently since Maya graduated. Caroline can create her own shot, something that Paige can do, maybe Azzi, but no one else.

The kid is a freshman who just played her 12th college game. She is also, suddenly, a focus of the opponent’s defense, like Liv. While Caroline’s scoring hasn’t suffered due to the double teams and added attention, her shooting percentage has. That’s youth. In a year or two, she’ll learn how to use the defender’s aggressiveness to draw some fouls and get to the line - where she’s 85% from the FT line.

One more thing about the missed threes. She HAS to shoot those or else there will be 4 defenders on Liv in the paint. Opposing coaches know she’s a threat from the perimeter and has to be guarded. That adds real value to the team. Keep shooting, Caroline!
Thanks for posting this thread @HuskyNan . After going through the post game thread, and the offshoot after the pg thread was locked, it was refreshing to see a positive thread about Caroline and the impact she had against the Ducks and every opponent when she was in the starting lineup. Of course there will be posts pointing out her "failures" but that is normal for the BY.
I am now waiting for an iconic still shot of Caroline that I can consider to replace my current "iconic" avatar.
Again, thank you.
 

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