Cincinnati Game Thread

[donalddoowop]

Butler with a block

With her left (injured) hand. She has about five to six more games to play before SC, so that gives her time to get in better shape.

 

[chrissaran]

HoopsFan21, you couldn't be more right. How do you work on moves with one hand. The conditioning is not just about running up and down the court. It's about leaning on and having other players lean on you. It will take some time, but look out South Carolina. You're bigs just got Natralized.

 

[Kaizen]

Cincinnati is not a bad team. At least their ball handling are excellent.

 

[Bestiarius]

Geno reiterating his past stance that KLS needs to play harder and do more than wait for threes in the postgame interview.

Yup. No worries. Just a case of KLS getting the training she came to UConn for.

 

[pvdoggy]

In the post-game interview Geno said she needs to learn to play harder and that she's not just a shooter.

May be I have been watching all the wrong games but I have always thought she tried hard in other facets of the game when she was in there. I don't think she just camps out in 3pt line waiting for the ball. May be something happened in practice yesterday that triggered the message that Geno is trying to send.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

May be something happened in practice yesterday that triggered the message that Geno is trying to send.

He's made the same point a few times already. This was in yesterday's Courant:

"I didn't see her play every game in high school, but I have to believe she did more than stand there and shoot the ball," Auriemma said recently. "I have to believe she rebounded, played a little defense and passed the ball some."

Auriemma believes she will be very capable of doing all of those things very well once she puts enough pressure on herself to do them all the time. The Huskies want her to apply the same intensity she applies to finding her shots to everything else on the floor.

 

[pvdoggy]

He's made the same point a few times already. This was in yesterday's Courant:

"I didn't see her play every game in high school, but I have to believe she did more than stand there and shoot the ball," Auriemma said recently. "I have to believe she rebounded, played a little defense and passed the ball some."

Auriemma believes she will be very capable of doing all of those things very well once she puts enough pressure on herself to do them all the time. The Huskies want her to apply the same intensity she applies to finding her shots to everything else on the floor.

All I am saying is from the game that I have watched her played at UConn, it seems to be like she does play defense, and she is a good passer. She may not be able to get some of the rebounds because she is not strong enough, for the same reason Collier does not seem to be able to finish a lot of shot near the basket after rebound because she too is not strong enough even if she has like 25 lbs on KLS. I am speculating that something happened in practice yesterday or this morning that led to this "benching" tonight for the early part of the game because otherwise he would not have played her for long stretch in the 3rd and 4th qtr of the Maryland game when the game is still on the line.

 

[hoophuskee]

Geno reiterating his past stance that KLS needs to play harder and do more than wait for threes in the postgame interview.

Yes he said she needs to play harder and do other things ALONG WITH when her three isn't hitting. She doesn't defend well. She doesn't rebound well. She doesn't finish well in the lane when bumped. But she still is hoisting up 3's like today and a total of 6 shots in 12 minutes. She's got competition now that Chong is playing well and Butler looked real good. If she doesn't hit her 3's - she's not often "better" option off the bench. But as Geno also said - can't lose their confidence. She's gotta also keep trying to nail the 3 as she tried today.

 

[Huskies Rule]

A final thought- Jamelle Elliott is one of my all-time favorite (and toughest) Huskies, and I bet she's one of Geno's, too. I was hoping (but not expecting) for better from her Cincy team, but they were completely overmatched. Here's hoping Jamelle can one day soon bring in a few top kids because no matter how good a coach she is, she can't get it done without the horses. I have long rooted for Jamelle's success and will continue to do so...for all that she accomplished at UConn. She was one helluva player and coach.

 

[Gus Mahler]

A final thought- Jamelle Elliott is one of my all-time favorite (and toughest) Huskies, and I bet she's one of Geno's, too. I was hoping (but not expecting) for better from her Cincy team, but they were completely overmatched. Here's hoping Jamelle can one day soon bring in a few top kids because no matter how good a coach she is, she can't get it done without the horses. I have long rooted for Jamelle's success and will continue to do so...for all that she accomplished at UConn. She was one helluva player and coach.

Yup. I was hoping this year's Cincy team would be much improved. I see where a couple of her better scorers transferred out, a 6'2 player to Western Michigan and another to walk on at Kentucky (Cann). She gained a transfer or two but it looks to be a net loss. I don't know how long the AD will feel like he can go with her.

 

[Carnac]

Yup. I was hoping this year's Cincy team would be much improved. I see where a couple of her better scorers transferred out, a 6'2 player to Western Michigan and another to walk on at Kentucky (Cann). She gained a transfer or two but it looks to be a net loss. I don't know how long the AD will feel like he can go with her.

You may have something Gus. She's been there 7 years. Not much improvement to date. Maybe a change of venue could be just what the doctor ordered.
She was with Geno long enough to learn his system, and the drills he uses. If she can't attract the kind of players that can help her get her program moving in the right direction, then she may have to figure something else out. I too would like to see her program gain more notoriety, and move into the top 25.

Why do recruits choose the colleges they do? Is it the school, or the coach?

I'll bet she's glad to get UConn out of the way early so that she can concentrate on the rest of the conference opponents, and try and get some wins. I'm guessing none of the other teams in the AAC look forward to playing UConn, knowing they'll probably get blown out by 40 +.

 

[Tonyc]

As far as Im concerned this season is over. UConn will not lost barring injuries or crazy foul trouble. Next season will be next season and I think UConn looks really good as they develop for next season. UConn is playing as a unit. They are all on the same page and UConn can take players out and put players in and they know how to run the plays as part of that unit. Most opponents cant say that or do that. As well as ND DePaul and MD played they all lost by double digits. All those games were on the road. MD the next time will find that Jones wont go off, ND will find that Mabrey 2 wont go off and DePaul wont shoot 60+ % from 3. They were all good games but I never thought for a minute UConn would loose. I think we will all begin to see the real Saniya. The explosive player on both sides of the ball that I saw in HS. Saniya is a great defender and a great scorer from anywhere on the court. We are beginning to see signs of that now. Remember Mojeff and Stewie really took a giant step in their junior year. That's where Saniya is right now. As she continues to get better and more confidence you may be looking at another AA. Maybe a comment that is a little premature but Ive seen this girl play in HS and shes looking a lot like that the past two games.