Creighton Post Game thread (merged thread)

[Centerstream]

I really wanted to be able to post only positive comments about this game, but giving away a 4th quarter 17 point lead is going to prevent that. It just amazed me that the point of the offense was to put the ball in Nika's hands when she continues to dribble into the sidelines and into double and triple teams...again, on the sidelines. It seemed like the other ball handlers didn't give her much help when Nika was getting trapped. And the ball she seemed to heave to the top of the key...luckily Aaliyah got it because if she didn't, the game outcome might have been different.
Love the game Caroline gave us and at different times, the "bigs" played very well!
Finally, another game where I am looking forward to @MJL243 posting it on YouTube. (I will not watch the replay of any game we didn't win.)

 

[Stymie]

My main takeaways;
Carolyn is a playa. Big time!
Dorka improving rapidly, especially on D end.
Nika played like she was healthy ( thank God).

 

[Boreifs]

UConn started four seniors and a Freshman was far and away the best player offensively and defensively. What conclusions should one draw from that circumstance?

 

[HuskyNan]

I understand this.
Sorry for your illness.
Despite the situation, they are seniors.
300% more turnovers than assists?
Not acceptable from players that have been playing top tier basketball for maybe 8-9 years?
I can cut Momma some leeway, she’s not a point guard and playing on 2 bad knees.
But CW?
Spitting the bit.

The post I responded to said the starting guards had 3 assists, 9 TOS, not the seniors so that’s what I responded to. In my head, I included Caroline with the guards. For the record, the 4 seniors (including Dorka) had 9 assist, 10 TOs

I agree the seniors need to play better and while I’m still hoping they will, I’m pinning my hopes on the young ‘uns.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Too many unforced turnovers by UCONN between lackadaisical passes and travels that stopped momentum or prevented baskets. These two errors are prevalent in all of this season's games. Why do supposedly talented players insist on doing the two-step? You are right passes are terrible. Perhaps this team is not as talented as we would like to believe.

The announcers said the Creighton coach planned to wear UCONN down with their depth and our lack of depth and figured they could keep it close and make a run in the 4th quarter. Why not? UCONN is now famous for swooning in Q4,

Dorka – Continued her strong play. I wonder if the “boo-birds” who said early on “All B10 team? How is that possible?”. Chalk it up to UCONN fan arrogance.

Aaliyah – is it possible that the Aaliyah that we saw last season who showed so much promise is back? Did she return home for Christmas? If so, perhaps Mom and Dad's Christmas present was some well chosen words of wisdom.

Caroline – Probably the best player on the floor today. AMEN!

Olivia – not a lot of scoring, but really solid on the defense. She’s athletic in a stilted manner. She does not flow like a truly athletic player.

Nika – I felt more comfortable watching her run the point than Evina or Christyn. Yea verily!

Christyn – Another unsurprising sub-par game. As Geno said at halftime “our guard play sucks”. Poor decision making, poor passing, Evina - not sure what is going on with her.
I truly believe the underclassmen should get many more of the upperclassmen's minutes. The team will be much better off in March. Underclassmen being Caroline, Azzi, Nika, and Amari.

 

[SARG 2011]

Well we finally had a game to watch....wasn't pretty but I think we all have to acknowledge that it won't be until the team plays more games and we get back some of the firepower on the bench. Some teams are on their 15-16 game today they played their 10th. As long as they get better each game come March they have as good a chance as anyone else.

 

[MilfordHusky]

They haven’t been able to practice much. They’ve had 5-6 available players and no practice players. There is a ton of rust

I’m recovering from Covid. The fatigue is unbelievable and it makes it difficult to focus. If the players were the same, I, personally, am giving them a pass.

Get well, Nan!

 

[hoopsfan22]

This was just the 4th game without Paige. Team is still finding its way without its best player. Hopefully today was a turning point for Aaliyah and we can have another dependable player.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Baby steps, but not to discount the psychology of a win after one thing after another.

 

[TCC Kid]

Some thoughts on the Creighton game:

• For diehard UConn WBB fans, a 21-day absence of games in the middle of the season feels like an eternity. Any game, including this one, is an extremely welcome occasion for Husky players, coaches and fans.
• I absolutely expected turnovers and some ugly play at times by the Huskies after the long layoff. An ugly win is a still a beautiful thing, and I will take it any day of the week.
• UConn played 7 players and got contributions from all 7 players. But Caroline is fast becoming the “MONEY” player for this team. With Paige out, Caroline has stepped up as the player who makes big plays in the clutch at both ends of the court. Caroline is also the best shot blocker with her off hand that I've seen at UConn since Pheesa.
• Evina is struggling with the pg role. She appears to feel more pressure than any other Husky right now. Hoping that Nika can take some of the pressure off her in the near term.
• Christyn with a decent game. I'm sure it all had to do with the new "do."
• Good to see Nika back on the court, particularly after she flattened an opposing player trying to set a screen during her first minute in the game, although we really do need her to cut down on fouls in order to actually stay on the court.
• This season is going to be a real grind. Right now, nobody that UConn plays will be afraid of this team. The Huskies need to get a little better every game and hopefully reap the rewards of their effort in March.

Agree! Especially about Caroline. This was "The Caroline Game" need a basket, a stop, a block, good defense, 4 blocks, call on Caroline. Geno says he wants more like her. The kid from a small school, small HS conference, she made all of us from those smalls proud. Caroline proves one of my theories---Basktball players know how to play. There are way too many wearing uniforms that don't play or forgot how to play. Gym Rats have it in their blood.
Dorka, It looked like, in the first half, I'd be proven wrong about Dorka. She made some very good moves, hit one 3, made a couple of layup drives. A bad pass or three, Caroline a few inches shorter blocked more, hit more shots, played better post defense. I guess the difference is ENERGY and Geno needs more Energy from the less than wounded 6.5 players he talks about. Nika, is energy without a purpose. Edwards ONO, Dorka, Caroline, played their best games yet.
If you want facts with knowledge, read OLDude.

 

[Littlemin]

I really wanted to be able to post only positive comments about this game, but giving away a 4th quarter 17 point lead is going to prevent that. It just amazed me that the point of the offense was to put the ball in Nika's hands when she continues to dribble into the sidelines and into double and triple teams...again, on the sidelines. It seemed like the other ball handlers didn't give her much help when Nika was getting trapped. And the ball she seemed to heave to the top of the key...luckily Aaliyah got it because if she didn't, the game outcome might have been different.
Love the game Caroline gave us and at different times, the "bigs" played very well!
Finally, another game where I am looking forward to @MJL243 posting it on YouTube. (I will not watch the replay of any game we didn't win.)

Agree wholeheartedly on Muhl not keeping the ball in the middle of the court. On the over the head pass, which is highly risky to say the least, I do think she knew Edwards was alone in the middle of the court, but obviously, I could be dead wrong.
Your point on no one helping her out goes even deeper IMO. In general, there is absolutely too much standing around and watching play by this team. Not ready for loose balls, long rebounds, not meeting the ball on passes, I could go on and on. One of the reasons Ducharme is so opportunistic is because she is constantly moving. Muhl is obviously an active player but the other five all spend too much time standing flat footed and “ball watching”, one of the main reasons Creighton got so many loose balls and uncontested layups.
As for the game, a win is a win is a win and I agree with Auriemma, Creighton, with their constant motion offense was a difficult matchup after the long layoff.

 

[Huskie02]

I'm really frustrated by EW and CW....for many reasons. The sooner we get PG back, the better. I hope develops as quickly as CD.

Glad to see AE playing better, let’s hope it continues.

 

[veryolddog]

Well.....63 points without Paidge. If Paige, then 83.... but had big lead in 3rd quarter and lost the advantage. Really glad to see Dorka, Edwards, and Caroline come to play. CD has her moments. Really good to see Nika. I think Geno knows he has an energy issue with CD and Evina and is glad Nike can come in and play. Like Nika's aggressiveness. We need to give Live and energy drink every quarter but I liked the way she made some outside shots. Can't fall apart and give back this game. Reasonably good defense except when losing the big lead.

At least a W and we have 3 real contributors.

 

[TCC Kid]

Baby steps, but not to discount the psychology of a win after one thing after another.

I never played for Uconn, although I have watched mens and women's teams for years--I didn't ever play one on TV. But the guys I played Basketball with and some against, if they were good, they were good years later (age adjusted). Point is Good HS or Great HS players know how to pass, there is only so many kinds of passes,know how to shoot a layup, guarded or unguarded, (smart players know they'll get hit and adjust for it. The Opponent C.U, kids all knew how to get open, shot layups, shot jumpers, defense was ok, not great and often stood under the basket and waited. Swarmed the bigs under the basket (Geno did that with Griner), point is good players don't become mediocre players without reason.

 

[freshler40]

This was a solid win marred by long stretches of lack of offense. We are about 4-5 games played behind most women's teams. That hurts. It shows. Several players seem to be playing in a funk. We are not who we will be in one + month.
I wish we could play more reactive basketball. Too much time is spent setting up our offense. Time and again we only seemed to want to play against a fully set defense. Edwards had great inside position early in much of the game but we got away from giving her the ball. The guards need to penetrate much more instead of settling with passing around the top of the key.

We lost nearly every long defensive rebound. UConn was out rebounded by a much smaller team! How does this happen?

 

[SLY63]

If you didn't see the stats, and think about who was involved in plays, were the topic of the announcers and stepped up, it felt like 2 groups:

CD, DJ, NM, AE: Brought energy and aggressiveness. Looked like they couldn't wait to play

CW, EW, ONO (Seniors): Low energy, not involved much. Felt more like role players than leaders.

I really think it will be interesting to see the minutes distribution once Azzi and Paige return. I think we will see the seniors minutes drop as we get to March.

 

[ucbart]

Tell that to @ucbart They were totally disgusted by the Huskies.

LOL-feel better?

 

[JBK]

I'm really frustrated by EW and CW....for many reasons. The sooner we get PG back, the better. I hope develops as quickly as CD.

I agree.
It is hard to believe Westbrook and Williams were picked as 1st round draft choices and Liv - 2nd round.
If they cannot score against Creighton, it will be very hard at the next level.
Hope they will turn the corner !!!

 

[Bald Husky]

Even though Nika didn't make her 3 pt shots, just having her out there made a huge difference IMHO. She proved last year that she can run the team, and right now until Paige gets back, she needs to be out there for at least 25 minutes when she gets the ok. Evina is getting worse, her passing is horrible, and it's funny but it looked like she was afraid to take a shot. She had twice as many turnovers as anyone else, and I don't think she has ever connected on the 3/4 court pass, a pass that Paige can consistently complete. I won't comment on the good things about Caroline and Dorka since they have already been posted, but the bottom line is that until Paige is back, Nika is the only one that may be able to organize our offence, and not trying to score herself, can concentrate to get the ball to the right people at the right time. Thats the true definition of a quality point guard.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

great game, great win, not a single complaint cuz they led wire to wire.
i just realized that i have no idea what 'wire to wire' means, just heard it used a lot. whatever. V for victory! (that's my grade for them today)

 

[TCC Kid]

Well.....63 points without Paidge. If Paige, then 83.... but had big lead in 3rd quarter and lost the advantage. Really glad to see Dorka, Edwards, and Caroline come to play. CD has her moments. Really good to see Nika. I think Geno knows he has an energy issue with CD and Evina and is glad Nike can come in and play. Like Nika's aggressiveness. We need to give Live and energy drink every quarter but I liked the way she made some outside shots. Can't fall apart and give back this game. Reasonably good defense except when losing the big lead.

At least a W and we have 3 real contributors.

Veryolddog: I agree on most of this. If Paige will account for 20 points more --and Geno has more highly ranked players than C.U. . Probably than CU had in their history. If teams like this that are often passed by, by the top 10 players can run a team with more top 10 players than I can count ( limited education). What is the element missing ? By the Ranking number on UCWBB team they should be Number 1 with no losses--something doesn't add up, and I hate stats. Ignoring ONE top player is injured/sidelined!!

 

[uconnfan68]

Starting guards:
9 turnovers
3 assists
And there the problem lies.

And nearly zero leadership. They look clueless sometimes. Almost all are very indecisive with the ball. It’s amazing what 1 player was able to bring out of them.

 

[Vowelguy]

Anyone think of Berube when they watch CD?
(in terms of demeanor)

 

[Vowelguy]

I know that coaches exaggerate to motivate players, and this may be more typical than I realize, but Geno having to give a very basic “do you even want to win?” admonishment seems not good.

 

[Boreifs]

Starting guards:
9 turnovers
3 assists
And there the problem lies.

And they are a senior and a graduate student