CD post-game

[UConnCat]

That's why Bria being off really hurts.

Last year wasn't a problem with who was going to step up. We knew which player was going to dominate for Uconn. Bria. What we didn't know, was if anyone was going to help her. Usually Kelly did, but typically no on else would. (We'd win big games when Kaleena would help out.)

When discussing this season and the high expectations, I thought all of the returning players would be improved (to varying degrees) and that Stewart would make the difference (not win a championship but give us a shot at Baylor). As the season has unfolded, Dolson, Faris, Kaleena and Banks have improved and are playing well. Hartley is clearly not herself (lingering affects of injury and missing time, perhaps), Stewart has struggled against better competition and Stokes has been sidelined by injury.

How much this team wins and how far it goes will depend on Hartley, Stewart and, to a lesser extent, Stokes playing as expected. It's only January.

 

[MarlboroughMike]

My observations:

Bria does not appear hurt - continues to play across the court, instead of up the court.

Banks should start at point with Bria at two guard - hopefully that will help Bria's play.

Caroline would be more helpful running with Moriah, allowing Moriah to learn how to run a game. Moriah can then cover the faster point guards.

First half only KML and Kelly were ripping the rebounds down. It seemed that Stewart and Stef were trying to tip the ball on a rebound instead of grabbng it. May have been the correct action on some but not all.

McBride won the battle against Kelly.

Need someone who can to step up and take over a game.

KML and Stef played well, Kelly OK.

 

[bruinbball]

My observations:

Bria does not appear hurt - continues to play across the court, instead of up the court.

Banks should start at point with Bria at two guard - hopefully that will help Bria's play.

Caroline would be more helpful running with Moriah, allowing Moriah to learn how to run a game. Moriah can then cover the faster point guards.

First half only KML and Kelly were ripping the rebounds down. It seemed that Stewart and Stef were trying to tip the ball on a rebound instead of grabbng it. May have been the correct action on some but not all.

McBride won the battle against Kelly.

Need someone who can needs to step up and take over a game.

KML and Stef played well, Kelly OK.

Kelly had 3 rebounds in the first half, 8 in the second. Apparently, your observation skills are off.

 

[Vowelguy]

Caroline would be more helpful running with Moriah, allowing Moriah to learn how to run a game. Moriah can then cover the faster point guards.

The problem is then you've got two players on the floor who don't score.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno made a comment in his post-game pc that suggested Stewart is taking this loss hard.

There's no question she's struggling. But I can not help but think that she will come out of this adversity and be better for it. I just don't know when that will happen; I hope it's this season. There will be a lot of fans (especially of other teams) who will say Stewart has been over-hyped, she's not as good as some think, etc. The reality is that it's impossible to watch Stewart and not believe she'll be the tremendous player most expect her to be. But there's no question she's struggling right now. She doesn't have the same personality as Diana so Geno will need to handle her differently. It'll be fascinating to watch.

I saw her miss 2 or 3 layups from 1'. I could read the frustration on her face and I know she'll do what she needs to do to correct the problem, which I diagnosed as the Freshman Wall after the Oregon game. Anyway, after the second missed layup, I turned to my husband and said, "She won't be missing those shots probably next year but definitely not by her junior year."

I hope folks remember that post player take longer to develop, no matter how amazingly talented they are.

 

[MarlboroughMike]

Kelly had 3 rebounds in the first half, 8 in the second. Apparently, your observation skills are off.

Was not the number but the way in which they were hauled down. Apparently, your reading skills are off.

 

[MarlboroughMike]

The problem is then you've got two players on the floor who don't score.

Better the team off the bench than the starting team.

 

[Tonyc]

We need to penetrate and get the ball inside to Stef and Stewie. Bria, KML, BB, Doty, Faris need to get inside and draw fouls. . ND does get inside and there is no fear going up againest our bigs. The press killed us as ND threw over it and scored at least 10 pts on driving to the basket and there was no fear of our bigs. ND initciates contact with their guards. We need to too. A couple of plays late in the game couldve gone either way but no excuses . Hey it appears ND has our number. We are number 3 on Tuesday . Baylor ND and UConn Stanford Duke.

 

[cferraro04]

To say the least, this game was disappointing, I mean this is a team that lost Novesel, Peters, Mallory and Miller and we lost Tiffany Hayes. There was no way I thought Aconowa was going to be enough to stop UConn in the post...ND had other ideas... But, I am not that worried...It is January 5th...We have two months to go and this will be a wake-up call to this team. It will give Geno and his staff all the fodder they need to light a fire under this team. Breanna played like a freshman today...she still managed 10 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks in a sub-par game...almost a double-double and the dim glimmer of a triple double. ND was tough...they came to play...Diggins as much as I see her as a princess she showed she has heart...those two threes and that circus shot in the second half showed she wasn't going to let ND lose. McBride was the best player on the floor...it was all about desire and intensity...she is good but she played like an All American today. Kelly was off, Bria was off. We got a great game out of Stefanie, and a great game out of KML...yeah, she missed the last shot...but that game does not pivot on that shot alone...everybody had a hand in this loss. It does appear that both Bria and KML are still a little banged up from the West Coast Trip. We got 10 good minutes from Brianna Banks. I was a little surprised to see Moriah Jefferson get as many minutes as she got. We definitely need Kiah Stokes to get healthy.

Back to my thoughts on this game...It is frustrating watching ND get to the line as much as they do...it is just downright frustrating...they won this game from the line...no doubt about it...Diggins alone was 9 for 12. There were a couple of ticky-tac fouls but for the most part they were fouls and there was just a lot of stupid play...from our guys. When, Kelly missed that break-away-lay-up in the first half...I had a foreboding feeling in my stomach...I turned to TonyC and I said we could lose this game...of course, TonyC says, nah we are going to win by 20...

What was inexcusable in my mind was all the leak-out out of bounds plays that resulted in run-out lay-ups that allowed to ND to break our press...obviously, Muffet must have seen something in the game tape that told her the run-out was there for the taking and they took it...it was embarrassing and it could have been stopped. The run-outs on out of bounds plays had have been part of Muffet's game plan.

Bottom-line we have some work to do. It isn't the end of the season by any means...we will have tough games against Duke, Baylor and ND in South Bend and ND in the Big East tourney. The tough schedule should have this team pretty seasoned up, our Freshman should be playing like veterans by then, hopefully we will be healthier, our errors will be corrected and I think we will be in good shape for the post season.

This is an unfortunate bump in the road...we should drop to 3rd behind Baylor and Notre Dame. It will make winning the Big East Conference title a little tougher...but hey no one said it was going to be easier...now the target is off UConn's back and squarely on ND's back...