Creighton Postgame thread [Merged]

[MSGRET]

I saw them play at Stanford. Same kind of effort. Maly is like 3-28 in those 2 games combined. Jensen only getting 10 shots a game. Players get it inside and they don’t have the game to do anything with it.
Prediction: Creighton is a major surprise in the Big East. Getting overtaken by upstart teams: St Johns, Providence? Sub 500 in the league. No bid to NCAA. I’m watching this team with my 2 eyes. It’s ugly.

Except for the first quarter against Stanford the Bluejays basically played them even up for rest of the game, outscoring them 49 to 45. Also, @Urshurak and @cferraro04 the game against Marquette this Saturday is at Gampel not in Marquette, so there is no "on to Marquette".

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Haley Jones is not having a first team AA season.

 

[Crossover]

Unless decisions are based on how players play this year, not last year.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

I agree with you. What Browns notes is that some players have prior awards and greater name recognition, which help them for current season awards, but I would hope that voters would focus on the current season only. It should be noted that neither Aaliyah Boston nor Haley Jones leads their team in scoring. Cooke and Brink do.

Thank you. It should also be noted that Brink and Jones currently average 13 points per game or less... hardly the kind of season Aaliyah ( for example) is having.

I gotta believe the "experts" that vote on AA and such are not swayed by past performance, but rather consider the current season as most important. I mean, if I were a voter, that's how I would operate.

 

[Boreifs]

Massey once again has UConn at number two.

 

[jabstep]

1. Did anyone see Ines switching on the perimeter. She was really playing D. I think she has got it. With our limited amount of players and up by thirty would love to see her run the offense. She looks like a quick learner. Nika is always getting bumped and banged. Its a long season.
2. Edwards mid range has made her unstoppable. If they layoff her she hits those shots with consistency. They come up on her and she drives around them. Always making moves in the low post and not just straight up like her first two years. AP will learn just like AE has.
3. Dorka played like a real post player. The high low game we are developing will take us a long way.

 

[Skeets]

Is it really that simple??? Such as, get on a list last year and that blocks others from passing you the next year??? I always thought it was based on performance in the season of record...ie. performance this season is what matters for AA for 22 - 23 season. I have not looked at the stats for this season for non-UCONN players. But if they have better years, then good on them. But. I have heard some are not playing at same level as last season.

Captain, you should be correct in a perfect world, however I said this in another thread, that there is a certain amount of "polling inertia" (for lack of a better term) involved. The Annointed Ones tend to stay there until they absolutely prove that they shouldn't be there. It's tough to jump over them if they are playing OK. The people who decide these things hate to be wrong because they are the "experts".

 

[veryolddog]

I am gratified that they achieved a win with only 7 players. I expected 20 points from Lou but I am glad that the ball was shared with Edwards and Dorka. I do hope that the healing process will continue and that little by little, our injured players will rejoin Team play. Good words for Ines and she is a very good find and this is proving itself in BE play.

 

[Shenandoah]

Terrific effort by Dorka and Aailyah. Gritty effort from the rest. You're up 30 in the 3rd Q - put Inez in and let her get some valuable minutes, especially when you only have 7 players. Then again, what the heck do I know!

...after Nika banged her head off of the floor, hard. Concussions are cumulative. Take her out, and have her checked.

 

[BBallF]

All about Dorka and Aaliyah last night and great defense combined with surprisingly horrible shooting from an Elite 8 team last year at home in only the third sold out women's game there. Aaliyah just continues to improve and impress and that deft move with the left from the right side of the lane was just a Wow. Dorka was the complete player last night and is also getting better each game back.

Lou and Caroline had off shooting nights and CD wound up with 11 points and 8 boards. She is rushing her shots and just needs to let the game come to her more. She is cutting and posting up well and made a nice pull up but some shots she was just not set on with her feet. I also thought Creighton's perimeter defense was tight and that impacted on our wing players.

Ayanna has to receive the ball stronger by going to meet it and has to find a comfortable place to set up under the basket with a go to move she can use. Nika is Nika and just has to be more careful out there at times to protect herself. She is the motor for this team.

All in all, in a game that many of us thought would be difficult, it was a solid victory from start to finish. As soon as Nika hit that 3 to start the game, you knew we were going to be strong. We knew we had the physical advantage underneath but the games Dorka and Aaliyah played were plain and simple of All American caliber with All American numbers. Just pure domination underneath. Great to be a fan of this team.

 

[freshler40]

Dorka was really great. She played so big. Caught passes in traffic, really tried to finish through contact. She hasn't really found her touch from outside but it doesnt really matter. All American Aaliyah was great as well.
I thought Lou and Caroline got good looks but couldn't convert. But the fact that they both had double figures is a good sign imo.
This was just about as impressive as the Duke win. this was a classic UConn win. dominated a ranked team on the road with seven players, down their best (2 really). I don't think other programs do stuff like this.

We went with our strength. Dorka is rebounding like every ball belongs to her. WOW! With this being only her 5th game of the season, she has shown incredible growth with both bigs being complements to each other. If Amari can join the rebounding party, our front line will be difficult to handle.

 

[freshler40]

I've lost all objectivity about her as I think she's great and I may just be making excuses for her in my mind.

But I think she's just missing. Not just her shots (and some of her misses are absolutely defying the laws of gravity) but in every other aspect of her game. Beautiful passes just barely tipped, rebounds she's perfectly positioned for and tracking that get barely finger-tipped away from her, tough passes to her she just can't quite get the handle on, foul calls against her that aren't even close enough to be phantom! These close plays, over & over, would frustrate anyone and that frustration is compounding her lack of progress.

If she were just getting luck of the draw on some of these close plays I think it would have a huge impact on her confidence and overall positive attitude and I think her game would soar.

But despite all that I think she's making a decent contribution, as a Freshman and under difficult circumstances. I think her minutes are positive and we'd be hurting without them. I'm just not seeing the progress I expected: from marginally contributing to becoming a major asset.

I still think that's coming. This season.

Seems like Paterson is several layups away from being an important piece of our team. It should happen soon. Would be good to see her really elevate on rebounds and move more toward the ball on passes to her. Her game needs more passion. Perhaps this is due to her playing quality minutes with proven players that she is deferring to too much. Hope the coaches can change that. Both she and Caroline need to slow their game down from 120 MPH to 90 when shooting.

 

[Bald Husky]

One thing I observed that I haven't seen for a while was the quietness of the crowd. That was a sold out arena, and from the opening tip til the end, it sounded as if there was no crowd at all. They came to see their Blue Jays beat up on UConn for the first time, but nothing at all went their way. For the entire game you could hear the players talking to each other on the floor, and the crowd, gosh, I almost felt sorry for them. The camera shots showed people just sitting there, stunned in what they were seeing. Even in our hey days when the home people knew they were going to be blown out, the crowd was more active and into the game. The old UConn way and I loved it.

 

[Cornell Lt]

The Huskies performance should put the scheduling nonsense to bed.

It was a very good performance against a team that seemed out of their comfort zone on their home court for whatever reason. What I liked most is that Huskies stomped on them early and then continued for the duration of the game, never letting up.

A 20/20 game from AE...double awesome. And Dorka was only 2 rebounds for another 20/20 stat line

 

[Bigboote]

As Bone Dog said, what a great image. It says so much. Aaliyah is stuck in a positive feedback loop. She’s playing great, so she’s playing with joy. She’s playing with joy, so she’s playing great.

Last year, she just never quite worked up to either.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Taking bets on who had a hand in Ines getting stitches.

 

[Jim]

Dorka was down on the ground a bit more than I'd like to see. The first time (after the nifty pass from Nika) it didn't seem so bad. It kinda looked like she was slow to get up because she was taking the opportunity to rest a while. But the other two floor visits did not look so pleasant. The one where she fell and a Creighton player fell on top of her, I thought she might have badly injured her lower back or hip. She seemed to be grimacing in pain when she went to the free throw line. And the one where she went to her knees, it looked like she again hurt her back. Maybe it is just me being overly sensitive, but it seems she has been through so much and I just want her to remain healthy for the rest of her UConn career.

 

[HopJim]

This game was a great example of the maturity of this year's team:
-Instead of the normal fast break points, Huskies got the ball inside to Dorka at exactly the right spot throughout the game. Great use of mismatch. Rarely did the half court offense bog down.
-Edwards got her 20 rebounds by going over, under and through Creighton without her normal offensive foul or 2. Totally under control the entire game.
-Althought Caroline and Lou had off nights shooting, both played strong defense and got their points via drives or backcuts. CD in particular seemed gased as times but never stopped moving.
-While Muhl was hacked throughout the game, for the most part she stayed under control and did not retaliate.
-Did not like to see Muhl's head hitting the floor, Caroline taking a hard elbow to the head, or Dorka rubbing her hip and back after falling on it for what seemed like the tenth time, but you never want to teach a player to be less aggressive.

 

[Blakeon18]

Aaliyah with 20 rebounds...Dorka with 18.

I wonder if a UConn duo has ever had that many in the same game?
Perhaps Lobo and Wolters?

Sure hope all the ice pack and bumped around players are ready for Marquette.
Somewhere in the last couple of days I read that Geno said that Aubrey 'might' play on Saturday.

 

[Ozimoto]

The way Dorka played last night was remarkable considering she still has a cast on her thumb.

 

[Bone Dog]

Aaliyah just continues to improve and impress and that deft move with the left from the right side of the lane was just a Wow.

I saw the same thing you did. Aaliyah has been feasting on that right side baseline drive. When Ronsiek closed off the baseline I wondered for a second if Aaliyah would pass it back out. But she gathered herself without hurrying, pivoted left and went around her to score. Wow, indeed! That was an AA level move. Both efficient and effective.

On the unrelated topic of AA voting, I’m no expert and have no inside info, but from what I’ve seen the voters seem to like surprising stories. Same with NPOY voting. That’s how Paige won two years ago even though Clark had flashier stats. Every one of the voters will have all the stats in front of them with the players ranked accordingly. And each of them will look for other factors so as not to merely vote according to an abstract list.

For example, even if Boston’s stats aren’t the best, if she is dominant in the head to head games with her rivals, she’ll get the nod and deserve it. We’ll play SC soon enough, and if Dorka doesn’t have a great game against Boston head to head, she won’t get 1st team AA honors. Same for AE: if she dominates against rivals, like Morrow, Amihere or Saxton, she’ll get recognized. If not, not. She may not get a chance to go up against all her rivals. But she already dominated against Czinano, Hobby, Boyd, Jones, Moore, Brown, etc. I think she has a good shot.