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.
Makurat took shots yesterday that were not open looks. She is not that good of a shooter whereby she makes everything, under any circumstances. She needs that timing where she is open, gets the ball, sets her feet, gets a good look at the basket and releases the shot. I think Cincinnati put a really good defense on her. Eventually, she tired of not contributing offensively, and put up some shots where she was not really in the best position to do so. Hence, she clanked them all. But she still contributed with defense, crisp passing and tough rebounding.
Aubrey is still like a baby gazelle out there. She had amazing success in HS by relying on pure athleticism. At this level, she needs to be more of a basketball player. Sometimes, she needs to fake " going up" for the shot, let the defender over-commit, and then elevate. She missed 5 lay-ups yesterday, because she just elevated. The defender did the same thing and threw off her shot. She needs to spend more time watching really good players use that technique. It can develop pretty naturally. And I will say this: against a top quality team, when the score is always close, her unwillingness ( or inability ) to shoot the ball will become a liability. She will still add some benefit through her defense and rebounding, but teams will leave her wide open with the ball and double down on everyone else. In the remaining AAC games, she has to "make like Olivia" and start shooting the damn ball. She won't be asked or encouraged to do this against Oregon, because she appears to have zero confidence as a shooter. And the Oregon game, if UCONN plays really well, will be close all the way.
The wild card for us remains Christen Williams. We know she can shoot the daylights out of the ball. We have seen her do it. But if she misses her first shot of the night, she goes wiggy and can't make anything. That has to change. She is far too good a player to not have the shooting arrow in her quiver. We will not win the biggest games depending only upon Megan and Dangerfield to score all our points. Ania, who we also are learning can shoot, is still a freshman and subject to volatile play. And Olivia is " experimenting" with her shot and, thankfully, having some success. But I don't expect to see her do that a lot against the Ducks.
There remains a nice timetable for growth and improvement. Don't expect " the world" against Oregon, but don't be surprised either. This is going to be a valid measuring stick.
