Cinncinnati Postgame Thread

[victor64]

Victor, UConn is a 19-1 ELITE top 5 team!! I judge their success on games they play against other elite top 10 ranked teams, not AAC teams or weaker unranked opponents. Being a UConn fan, I love to see them win, and will take any win we can get................ugly or other wise.

I expect UConn to beat AAC teams like Cincinnati in similar fashion, but I'm not going to break out my happy dance and assume they are going to have this kind of success against all comers going forward. I want UConn to become bad for wcbb again, and the sooner, the better!!

Here's the rub - The upcoming games against #3 Oregon and #1 South Carolina will tell us all we need to know about our team's current "state". These are the types of teams UConn will meet and have to beat to advance to play that final weekend, especially if they are awarded a 2 seed.

The team looked sluggish against Memphis and UCF on the road. You must admit, they have progressed significantly since then. (Griffin and Makurat's progress for example). The staff has a great game plan in place for Oregon, just like they did for Baylor. If they make shots, they will beat Oregon.

I think with this year's group, any win by 30 is good win. I choose to enjoy the positives (Evelyn for example) and let the rest take care of itself.

 

[Boreifs]

30 point win with just 3 points from Griffin and 0 points from Makurat. These 2 need to step it up against Oregon, for us to have a shot.

I sit courtside, and Makurat was the most vocal player on the team. Her plus/minus stats must be off the charts! That is the best game I have ever seen anyone play who scored zero points. It is really unbelievable how many times she is wide open in the corner and the ball goes the other way. At one point, she shouted at a teammate for not even looking at her.
The best example of this was two back to back plays in the third or fourth quarter. The ball was rotated to the weak side elbow behind the three-point line to Anna, who immediately passed it to Williams for an open corner three, which she missed (of course). The very next play, the player's positions were reversed; Williams received the pass and, instead of rotating to a wide open Anna in the corner, chucked up a three over the hand of a defender that again missed (of course).
The rest of the team has to look for a player who has the best court vision on the team and is, when hot, the best three-point shooter they have. The fact that she only took four or five shots all game, a couple out of frustration, is just totally ridiculous.

 

[Plebe]

Am I missing something? Uconn just beat a UC team that has an outside chance of making the tournament by 30. Tough crowd.

Not sure if you mean the WNIT or NCAA tournament.

 

[pvdoggy]

I sit courtside, and Makurat was the most vocal player on the team. Her plus/minus stats must be off the charts! That is the best game I have ever seen anyone play who scored zero points. It is really unbelievable how many times she is wide open in the corner and the ball goes the other way. At one point, she shouted at a teammate for not even looking at her.
The best example of this was two back to back plays in the third or fourth quarter. The ball was rotated to the weak side elbow behind the three-point line to Anna, who immediately passed it to Williams for an open corner three, which she missed (of course). The very next play, the player's positions were reversed; Williams received the pass and, instead of rotating to a wide open Anna in the corner, chucked up a three over the hand of a defender that again missed (of course).
The rest of the team has to look for a player who has the best court vision on the team and is, when hot, the best three-point shooter they have. The fact that she only took four or five shots all game, a couple out of frustration, is just totally ridiculous.

I don't get it either. This has been a recurring theme that quite a few people have brought up, but my guess is the coaching staff must not be seeing the same thing otherwise it would have been rectified by now.

 

[Boreifs]

I don't get it either. This has been a recurring theme that quite a few people have brought up, but my guess is the coaching staff must not be seeing the same thing otherwise it would have been rectified by now.

I wonder if any other Freshman has ever hit 8-10 threes in a game?

 

[Dokey]

I sit courtside, and Makurat was the most vocal player on the team. Her plus/minus stats must be off the charts! That is the best game I have ever seen anyone play who scored zero points. It is really unbelievable how many times she is wide open in the corner and the ball goes the other way. At one point, she shouted at a teammate for not even looking at her.
The best example of this was two back to back plays in the third or fourth quarter. The ball was rotated to the weak side elbow behind the three-point line to Anna, who immediately passed it to Williams for an open corner three, which she missed (of course). The very next play, the player's positions were reversed; Williams received the pass and, instead of rotating to a wide open Anna in the corner, chucked up a three over the hand of a defender that again missed (of course).
The rest of the team has to look for a player who has the best court vision on the team and is, when hot, the best three-point shooter they have. The fact that she only took four or five shots all game, a couple out of frustration, is just totally ridiculous.

I couldn’t agree more. No points but 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and four assists with 0 turnovers. And as I said earlier, the assists would have been higher with better finishes. And I too saw her being ignored when open. My thought is that Paige won’t ignore her and these two will be the driving force next year.

 

[donalddoowop]

Kyla and Griffin seems to pass to her when she is open. She does not hesitate to pass to an open teammate.

 

[Boreifs]

Kyla and Griffin seems to pass her when she is open. She does not hesitate to pass to an open teammate.

You have to go back a long way to find a Freshman with her court vision. She didn’t miss an open teammate all night. My only criticism is that when she drives into the lane, she is looking to pass. That is admirable, but she passes up a lot of pull up jumpers in doing so. As a 6’ 3” player off the dribble, she is almost indefensible when she gets into the lane.

 

[eebmg]

Am I missing something? Uconn just beat a UC team that has an outside chance of making the tournament by 30. Tough crowd.

the 2Q. Maybe the rules can be changed so we get to pick the best 3 out of 4

 

[Tonyc]

Hey guys we scored 80 pts and had a bad 2ed qtr and Griff and Anna were silent. Not bad. Oregon will key on CD and Meg. Liv needs to stay out of foul trouble. UConn will double down in the middle if Oregon bigs get hot and someone will guard Sabrina like a blanket. Will be a different game then what we've been seeing. The good news is we have more scorers then we did against Baylor. Should be a tuff game and grind it out game. If we score 80 pts against Oregon we win, However I think the score will be in the high 60's maybe low 70's. UConns defense will make sure of it .

 

[Boreifs]

Hey guys we scored 80 pts and had a bad 2ed qtr and Griff and Anna were silent. Not bad. Oregon will key on CD and Meg. Liv needs to stay out of foul trouble. UConn will double down in the middle if Oregon bigs get hot and someone will guard Sabrina like a blanket. Will be a different game then what we've been seeing. The good news is we have more scorers then we did against Baylor. Should be a tuff game and grind it out game. If we score 80 pts against Oregon we win, However I think the score will be in the high 60's maybe low 70's. UConns defense will make sure of it .

Who will guard her like a blanket?

 

[Dokey]

I don't get it either. This has been a recurring theme that quite a few people have brought up, but my guess is the coaching staff must not be seeing the same thing otherwise it would have been rectified by now.

Geno always favors his older players and his recruits, partly why Stevens, a transfer, was under used.

 

[Ozimoto]

This team is not an offensive juggernaut. To inconsistent. They will go as far as defense takes them. Like the other AAC teams that have given us trouble, Cincinnati bailed on going for offensive rebounds and instead emphasized getting back on defense to prevent UConn from running in transition.

 

[FanFromMaine]

Victor, UConn is a 19-1 ELITE top 5 team!! I judge their success on games they play against other elite top 10 ranked teams, not AAC teams or weaker unranked opponents. Being a UConn fan, I love to see them win, and will take any win we can get................ugly or other wise.

I expect UConn to beat AAC teams like Cincinnati in similar fashion, but I'm not going to break out my happy dance and assume they are going to have this kind of success against all comers going forward. I want UConn to become bad for wcbb again, and the sooner, the better!!

Here's the rub - The upcoming games against #3 Oregon and #1 South Carolina will tell us all we need to know about our team's current "state". These are the types of teams UConn will meet and have to beat to advance to play that final weekend, especially if they are awarded a 2 seed. As a #2 seed, they will face a #1 seed in the regional final (unless the #1 seed gets knocked off in an earlier round) for the championship.

The nice thing about the Massey Ratings, as opposed to say Sagarin, is that it gives both an expected score and therefore an expected spread. So whatever level team UConn is playing, the score and the spread take that into account.

Yesterday Massey predicted a 79-57 score. So, according to its algorithm, UConn slightly surpassed expectations.

You can certainly question the algorithm or prefer the eye test. But if you agree with Massey, it was a good win in toto just as was the game against Tennessee.

I too wish for more consistency but, given the new parts and the young team, I’ll take the final score.

 

[Argonaut]

Who will guard her like a blanket?

I think it'll be a rotation of CD and Megan (and maybe Aubrey if she isn't having a freshman game...) assigned to face guard her unless one can shut her down (unlikely).

 

[hoophuskee]

T When we beat them when Sebrina was younger I think Geno had Gabby on her and she had some difficulty with a taller player. Maybe he will put Aubrey on her for a bit. I can't wait for the game Monday.

This is a great dilemma. If he uses Aubrey on her - is Liv in the game? If Liv and AG are in the game - then the offense suffers, right? As it is, it's not a great offense.

 

[oldude]

This team is not an offensive juggernaut. To inconsistent. They will go as far as defense takes them. Like the other AAC teams that have given us trouble, Cincinnati bailed on going for offensive rebounds and instead emphasized getting back on defense to prevent UConn from running in transition.

While this year’s UConn team has been inconsistent to say the least, they have consistently played solid defense against everyone. Last night the Huskies held the Bearcats to 20 pts less than their season average.

On Monday UConn will face the ultimate test. Oregon leads the nation at 87 ppg. While I fully expect the Huskies to hold the Ducks to something less than that, how much less will determine whether or not UConn can prevail against a really talented Oregon team.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

UConn missed 10 layups for the game, including 5 in the second quarter that Cincinnati won. Needs to get sharper in that area.

Real dependability from Crystal and Megan.

 

[Boreifs]

UConn missed 10 layups for the game, including 5 in the second quarter that Cincinnati won. Needs to get sharper in that area.

Real dependability from Crystal and Megan.

There were two plays in a row where Ana grabbed the rebound, led the break on the dribble and made a perfect pass, only to have someone blow a wide open layup. Maybe Geno should spend an hour in practice doing 3 on 2 drills?

 

[pvdoggy]

Geno always favors his older players and his recruits, partly why Stevens, a transfer, was under used.

So Anna is not one of his recruits then?

 

[stamfordhusky]

The nice thing about the Massey Ratings, as opposed to say Sagarin, is that it gives both an expected score and therefore an expected spread.

It was always very simple to calculate an expected margin from the Sagarin ratings. Unfortunately he no longer does them for women’s basketball. But it is still very simple to calculate an expected margin on the men’s side.

 

[Dokey]

While this year’s UConn team has been inconsistent to say the least, they have consistently played solid defense against everyone. Last night the Huskies held the Bearcats to 20 pts less than their season average.

On Monday UConn will face the ultimate test. Oregon leads the nation at 87 ppg. While I fully expect the Huskies to hold the Ducks to something less than that, how much less will determine whether or not UConn can prevail against a really talented Oregon team.

My Colorado team plays them this weekend. We likely will wear them out as they race to one score after another. No thanks needed.

 

[oldude]

My Colorado team plays them this weekend. We likely will wear them out as they race to one score after another. No thanks needed.

Sounds like a Buffalo stampede.....

 

[Dokey]

So Anna is not one of his recruits then?

By that I was referring to transfers, which is why I illustrated with Stevens, though you could add Evelyn, I suppose, first recruited elsewhere. We’ll see if it holds with Evina.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Not sure if you mean the WNIT or NCAA tournament.

Cincinnati has no chance of making the NCAA tournament, unless they win the AAC tournament. Their RPI is 98 and they have seven losses - including ones to St. Louis, Bucknell, and Tulane.

Their chances of even making the NIT right now are not very good – unless they run the table and manage to get the number two seed and an automatic bid.

 

[eebmg]

Thank god CO its a marijuana state

 

[Dokey]

Sounds like a Buffalo stampede.....

I’m afraid we will be the ones stampeded unless they allow Ralphie on the court. Of course Ralphie is being replaced by a new Ralphie. The most recent Ralphie so loved racing around the football field that she was outrunning her handlers. But could she guard Sabrina?

 

[oldude]

Cincinnati has no chance of making the NCAA tournament, unless they win the AAC tournament. Their RPI is 98 and they have seven losses - including ones to St. Louis, Bucknell, and Tulane.

Their chances of even making the NIT right now are not very good – unless they run the table and manage to get the number two seed and an automatic bid.

Unfortunately, aside from UConn, there is no other AAC team that appears likely to make the Big Dance. Tulane is currently 2nd in the conference at 7-1, but they have 9 losses overall. USF & UCF both have 8 losses and, as noted, Cincinnati now has 7 losses.

It’s very likely that every AAC team not named UConn will have 10 or more losses. With multiple teams from Big 5 conferences and auto-bids from mid-majors, I just don’t see a 10 loss AAC team making it into the tournament.

 

[hart2hart]

Anna would have had a lot of assists if the lay ups were not missed. Too many missed!
They need to play like they did against USA to win Monday! Just play as Geno says!

 

[FanFromMaine]

It was always very simple to calculate an expected margin from the Sagarin ratings. Unfortunately he no longer does them for women’s basketball. But it is still very simple to calculate an expected margin on the men’s side.

I miss the Sagarin women’s rating as well. It did provide a spread and review of games versus groups of teams: top 10, 25 and 50 if memory serves. Plebe noted in another topic how that helps him.

After the Sagarin women’s rating moved to USA Today and now seems to have disappeared, I had to look for another system. Someone on the Boneyard mentioned Massey.

As I said earlier I like that it includes a score prediction as well as spread. And by this point in the season, it includes enough data to make many predictions eerily accurate.