Creighton Postgame Thread

[Bigboote]

I think that Mir might not be helping herself escape from the doghouse if she continues to shoot everytime she touches the ball. (Or that's how it appeared she played to me...and I am not complaining, just an observation. )

I was saying the same thing to my wife. Not only did she take it to the basket every time she touched the ball, on defense after her first miss, she just watched as her mark drove to the basket from about 20 feet.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

I believe for the time being, we are now seeing the "Core 7" rotation that Geno will be going with for the foreseeable future. These 7 will get the BULK of the minutes

 

[BostonBay]

Aubrey needs more minutes. She is a defensive stopper & great rebounder on both ends. That alone is valuable enough to earn her serious minutes. Anything on the offensive end is gravy. She had her best game of the season tonight.

 

[Littlemin]

Liv was by far the most productive. Paige had happy feet tonight and overall was steady but not WOW. Anna found her shot a bit tonight but between her and Paige they are the weak links on defense, Although overall the defense was pretty good tonight.

With all respect, not sure what games you are watching but Makurat is playing terrific defense; she is far from a weak link.

 

[ju6381]

I re-watched the previous game and Mir is being taught a lesson for sure. Doesn't mean she will stay there but she has to learn some things and also watch her body language. Just watch that video of Geno a few years ago talking about what he looks for in a player.

 

[JellyBean]

Pretty decent game. Looks like the more they play together, they are starting to figure out each others likes and dislikes. Like somebody stated earlier, really looking forward to that Edwards/ONO tandem on the floor at the same time. Glad to see my girl, Anna get some touches and finish. At 6'2ish, her coming off those flair screens and pin downs, is going to be something nice!!

 

[oldude]

Just a comment on Mir. While she played less than 3 minutes, and got into trouble a couple times in the paint on offense, there was one thing she did that I liked. In the few minutes she was on the court, she played really hard, unlike last game where she stood around at times.

The coaches can fix the mistakes, but as Geno has said many times, “We don’t teach effort at UConn.”

 

[Kaizen]

Paige looked almost ordinary tonight. That happens to freshmen. I know some think the Anna is a liability on defense but I don't see it. She usually provides good weak side help defense and in a couple of cases she "got beat" because weak side help didn't come h

Paige needs to learn not to walk ...

 

[huskyblooz]

Creighton's shooting was atrocious and Liv got ZERO defensive rebounds!!

 

[cbraarj]

She didn’t shoot enough......

Only 2 rebounds.

 

[ABCDFE]

Thoughts:

• Liv was a monster tonight, playing with confidence and the most important thing without hesitation. She easily could’ve broke her scoring record if she played the 4th quarter.
• CWill is playing really well all around. Her defense and willingness to sky for rebounds is a nice development this year. I hope that her shooting percentage can get better but she is building her all around game and it’s great to see
• Makurat is a really good passer and streaky shooter. She plays with nice euro savvy but defensively I think she can improve and believe she will when she gets in better shape and has more time with her teammates
• Paige - was pretty good. I think this game you could see there was a little more hesitation in her mind. I would like her to be a little more selfish because every time she touches I believe she can score. All three levels threat plus ability to draw fouls. I know she’s trying to get her teammate involved but I think as the season progresses she needs to be more selfish
• I thought E was very solid again. I mean she is just a smooth player, never lot of control. She is good defensively, and Will bit her open shots plus has the ability to drive and finish given her size. I just hold my breath that she doesn’t get hurt because defensively you can see she is so impactful and worry about her legs
• Aubrey played like Aubrey. Unfortunately I don’t think she has developed more than what we saw at end of last year. Her shot just takes so long to develop and she can get it off because no one is respecting the shot or expecting her to shoot. Not sure how that improves this year. As I’ve said before perhaps she could work her mid range game with her quickness and elevation
• AE was solids tonight again. I thought she missed a couple of layups she usually makes with contact but I think she won’t miss those much again
• Mir has so much ability. She can be such a demon on defense. I mean I just saw one possession where her quick feet and hands reminded me of Moriah J. Offensively she is aggressive and needs to be in control as opposed to just being a little reckless. But so much ability.
• Glad to see Piath and Autumn come in.
  
  
  

 

[Boreifs]

About the rotation. Nika is hurt and I think Mir is still in the doghouse so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Her two minutes in the game illustrated why.

 

[DEpup]

You do realize I was being sarcastic?

Just wait, eventially

Could’ve been a bigger presence on the boards.

Really? When you are playing a 3pt shooting team the rebounds deflect far from the basket. Not sure you can expect the same numbers.... haters gonna hate.

 

[CL82]

Just wait, eventially
Really? When you are playing a 3pt shooting team the rebounds deflect far from the basket. Not sure you can expect the same numbers.... haters gonna hate.

“You do realize I was being sarcastic?”

 

[Bama fan]

I’ll reserve judgment on that comment for the time being.

She just wants people to think that. It was a disinformation campaign she put forth tonight.

 

[TheGOAT23]

Just wait, eventially
Really? When you are playing a 3pt shooting team the rebounds deflect far from the basket. Not sure you can expect the same numbers.... haters gonna hate.

You beat me to it. “Long shots” usually means “long rebounds”. Hard to rebound those missed 3 point shots when you’re near the basket.

 

[DEpup]

I felt like Paige had too much going on between the ears tonight. It happens. And her freshman honeymoon is over. She put up some good scoring in the first two games so now she will be the focus of the defense.

 

[DEpup]

Agree

And so different than when she was at TN. She always appeared frantic there but now looks calm and mature with a plan. Good for her.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Aubrey needs more minutes. She is a defensive stopper & great rebounder on both ends. That alone is valuable enough to earn her serious minutes. Anything on the offensive end is gravy. She had her best game of the season tonight.

I honestly believe that the coaching staff has to figure out how to get Aubrey the ball where she can be effective. Historically there have been thousands of great basketball players who had suspect perimeter games. A legend from my area is Adrian Dantley, a 6’5” forward who roamed 12 feet around the basket. Without looking at basketball reference, I think he led the NBA in scoring at least once.
Think how often she gets the ball beyond the 3 point line. Especially on top. What’s she gunna do there. I want her to get post ups or at least get opportunities to drive from the wing. Then she’ll get scoring chances besides transition and follow ups.
I understand about ball movement and if plays are run through, openings for players develop. In my day coaches called it “continuity” or maybe “passing game”. There is also the idea of “quick hitters” or plays set up for getting the ball to specific individuals.

 

[Woof 101]

A few here. Team only three games in starting to look like things are gelling to a point but still early in the season.
Olivia will blossom over time, she showed the doubters tonight. But has to do more on the boards. Then again she only played 22 minutes.

Aaliyah has to be aware her reputation proceeds her with the officials. The fact they reviewed a foul for a flagrant while she was getting mauled just as much was not good. I understand the opponent on the floor might have took a hit the replays did not show but of her three fouls two looked like flops.
A fan already of her I hope she changes the hair stripes to UConn colors soon.

Chrystin looked the part tonight, kudos here.

Paige needs to learn not to walk ...

While I agree that depends on the officials. So much traveling is aloud in today's game it is ridiculous. Palming / carrying is never called and there is not a guard bringing the ball up the floor not doing it.
In the big picture for us Paige will adjust but I am sure it is hard when you move at the pace of a humming bird.

Creighton's shooting was atrocious and Liv got ZERO defensive rebounds!!

No attack but do be aware atrocious shooting can often be attributed to the opponents defense.

The box...
Women's Basketball vs Creighton on 12/17/2020 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

 

[BobbyJ]

Functionally, that is not a real distinction. She is (for practical purposes, such as getting minutes) in the doghouse precisely because she doesn't know or remember the offensive and defensive systems adequately. She might have fit in well with the Walker class of a few years ago, not with her teammates in this freshman class.

Not surprised at all with her struggles. Months ago while watching some of her HS game videos I noticed that she had very little defensive and offensive fundamental coaching. She’s still playing on just raw athleticism. Plus a lot of the opposition now is over 5-10.

 

[wbball novice]

Nice to see some improvement in key players. First half was a little like watching an SEC game when Westbrook was at Tenn. Haven't been watching the SEC channel recently, but in those days: tenacious defense, anemic offense.

ONO. Great to see her making FTs since I imagine she's going to get fouled a lot. In her previous games she was 50% at best. She can score away from the basket, if, to paraphrase Geno, she can get to her calm place. Might be more difficult with taller, more aggressive players defending, so not sure it's a shot she can rely on. Had a really good night close to the basket.

CW also greatly improved on FTs, again significant since she attacks the basket a lot & she hasn't always been succeeding as often with her amazing finishes as last year, & its an opportunity to salvage some scoring. I think she has improved incrementally in each of her 3 games. Defense has improved I'd say.

EW is another player improving in every game. Nice to see her scoring some. With Anna, EW, Beuckers, UConn passing game is impressive. From what I remember when EW was at Tenn, she scored a lot because no one else on Warlock's team could find the basket; with other UConn members having better offensive skills, she doesn't need to score as much & maybe she won't. Keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't get injured again.

Aubrey Griffin was a better sub than previously. Just so nice to have a deeper bench, especially with Nika injured.

Beuckers & Edwards not as good as in the 1st 2 games. Not sure why Edwards should be a lock for starter at this point. Still great to have her off the bench. Beuckers touch on floaters was off, & she missed her only FT. For both freshman, hopefully offense will in the long run be more consistent than turnovers & penalties. Paige's penalties probably due to playing more defense than she's used to, but traditionally Huskies took pride in keeping the penalties low. For both Edwards & Beuckers, still pretty good even if Creighton was an off game in comparison to earlier opponents.

The 3 pt efficiency isn't what it was; hard to match the KLS/Dangerfield production. If Anna can get in rhythm & PB has it in her...

 

[Monte]

We have seen a lot of good things in the 3 games so far. The big test is when we see how they fare against BAYLOR on January 7th.

 

[Carnac]

So who is going to hate on Liv tonight? I thought she was great.

When some posters comment on Liv’s play, they see what she’s doing, and what she’s not doing. They know her potential and stats she should be posting. It’s not hating on Liv, more like frustration. She only played 22 minutes tonight. She didn’t press, force anything or rush anything.

She played under control all night. No one expects her to score 24 every night, but as I suggested, 18 is not unreasonable. Meghan Culmo mentioned several times tonight that ONO could have a “field day” tonight. She did.

Would it be hating on ONO to say that many of us would like to see her play this way again Saturday? Or maybe say we expect her to play this way Saturday against 3-1 Xavier? No point expectations, just good solid smart play. Limit the fouls and no turnovers.

 

[Carnac]

Evina - Slowly starting to see her get more comfortable on offense, still like her defensive energy.

Olivia - Played like an All American. PERIOD. (Also I feel a little vindicated seeing her face up and pass from the high post after my post game assessment of her from last game)

Christyn - Definitely getting more and more assertive and her defensive focus is obvious she’s turning into a really good two way player IMO. Her shot already looks better than last year.

Anna - Anna never really jumps out at me unless she’s hitting tons of threes but another decent game for her. Knocked down a few nice shots and had a couple nice assists per usual.

Aubrey - Glad to see Aubrey the sixth woman once again, and exciting that Geno has given her a green light to start hitting some jumpers, she’ll need that going forward.

Paige - First game that Paige really showed she’s a freshman, not worried I’m sure Geno will sort things out, he’s very keen on coaching her.

Aaliyah - I’m sure the coaching staff are focusing on how not to foul going forward but she still brings something no one else can, didn’t have a crazy game but it’s only her third game. Still very excited to see her going forward this season.

Nika - Sorry to hear about the injury just hope she pushes through recovery and stays engaged.

Mir - Interesting to see her come off the bench with only a couple minutes left in the second half and then both possessions she was involved in she did not flatter herself. Maybe not showing up in practice and Genos sending a message?

Piath - Her box out looked better.

Summer - Still love how she carries herself!

I’m sure we’ll like what we see after about 10 games. Everyone will have settled in and settled down by then.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I felt like Paige had too much going on between the ears tonight. It happens. And her freshman honeymoon is over. She put up some good scoring in the first two games so now she will be the focus of the defense.

Not what I saw. She got enough opportunities to score 25 like she did the other night. She missed some shots she should make ( like Geno would say about a player as good as her), she turned it over, and we didn’t get the transition hoops that we got Tuesday. She’s got the shit to score on anybody. Creighton’s got nothing for Paige.

 

[MSGRET]

I felt like Paige had too much going on between the ears tonight. It happens. And her freshman honeymoon is over. She put up some good scoring in the first two games so now she will be the focus of the defense.

She went 4 for 10 and had 3 of those that she missed pop out, that would have been 7 for 10. Those two back to back traveling calls was because it looked like she was going to shoot then decided to dribble, a Freshman mistake.

 

[and one]

By this point in the thread most everything as been well covered so I'll be brief and just mention what stood out to me.

First and foremost UConn played and won handily. Yeah!

ONO did her job and then some. She isn't a bruiser and didn't have to deal with any good bigs, but she exploited the situation as well as could be done.

Paige didn't do much really well or really badly. If this is a bad Paige game I can live with it. She has 5 if the team's 17 assists and 5 if the team's turnovers.

Anna and Evina had similar solid efforts. Anna 5 for 9 FG, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers. Westbrook was 3 for 4 FG, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 steals.

Williams stayed active and isn't afraid to shoot or drive as she was last year. She just looks like she knows where she fits into this team and offense.

Edwards can't be accused of not giving it her all. There is just no doubt she will be the dominating big body we have lacked for awhile.

Griffin isn't where we hoped she would be and it isn't clear to me who between her and Mir will be the first to develop into a consistent starter quality player. Both are young and have high upsides once they figure things out.

17 assists in 30 FG can be improved on.

12 point and 16 point quarters (2nd and 4th respectively) will not do it against the top 5 type teams.

Nor will the lack of 3 point shooting. We take too few 3 pt shots, and make too few of those we take. No one has a catch and shoot 3 point shot and pass up the shot unless they are almost unguarded. Too often I'm thinking "shoot it" but the player hesitates and then it is too late.

 

[Crossover]

Functionally, that is not a real distinction. She is (for practical purposes, such as getting minutes) in the doghouse precisely because she doesn't know or remember the offensive and defensive systems adequately. She might have fit in well with the Walker class of a few years ago, not with her teammates in this freshman class.

Functionally not a real distinction. Psychologically a huge distinction. You realize, don't you, that these players are actual human beings, not automatons?

 

[uconnfan68]

To add to that comment, who was the poster who complained about Olivia's jump shooting form, and claimed that her makes in previous games were flukes? She took three or four jump shots tonight and made them all, with the same shooting form.

I was disappointed that we never saw Liv and Aaliyah in the game at the same time. I think that is the lineup of the near future. Maybe Geno hasn't fully worked up the offense to take advantage of that configuration.

I am concerned about the propensity of Paige, Olivia, and Aaliyah to commit stupid fouls. They all need to be available for 40 minutes. If any of them are on the bench because of foul trouble in a competitive game, UConn's ability to win the game will be significantly impaired.

Christyn's effort on the boards was commendable and much needed, but her shooting percentage (and offensive efficiency generally) is still not where it needs to be for the minutes that she plays.

Geno can’t play 2 posts against smaller teams that like to shoot 3s. Until tonight he had a lot of guards. Losing Muhl was a small blip, but it gave Evina a lot more minutes, and it helped her.