Creighton Postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Creighton Postgame Thread

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One of the things that seems crazy to me is that Uconn effectively has four point guards sometimes on the floor at the same time. Paige, Azzi, Kaitlyn and KK are all point guards . Why then does it sometimes feel like the offense is disjointed? I know Azzi hasn’t really played at the point at UConn, but she was certainly one coming out of high school. I think it’s her natural position. I think maybe coach needs to tell one player “you are running the offense”. It seemed like there was less confusion last year when Nika was clearly the point guard.
That would be a very accurate assessment
 
KK was a demon on defense. Azzi was a no show. Ash was a no show. Morgan didn't see the floor in the 2nd half (I think). Paige & Sarah was the offense. Not sure why Jana was vanished to the bench. A win is a win, but gotta do better to compete with Tennessee and SC.
I felt that Azzi’s shots weren’t dropping early on, but she still brought defensive intensity. Late in the game, she seemed a bit lost. Hope she’s well.
 
If UConn had shot at their normal percentage, especially from distance, tonight's game could easily have had about a 30-point MOV. I would prefer to say that UConn beat a good team on the road by double digits (barely) despite a shooting slump by several of its players, notably Azzi.

UConn's largest lead in this game was 20, and Creighton never led after 3-0.
Granted Azzi and Kaitlyn were off, but their were many comments about the rims being too tight. Baskets were going in only if they were perfect, anything else rimmed out.
 
Creighton is pretty good. We did what I thought we could do defensively. Keyed in on Maly and Jensen and really limited them.

I wasn’t thrilled by Chen passing up shots though. That worries me long term.
Chen passed up open shots and was 0-6 on the 3pt attempts she did take. The last one was an air ball, and Geno yanked her after that one.
 
Dang. Somehow I had the game on Sunday, so it's replay for me. Sarah is playing like an All American. I can't wait to see it.
 
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Strong might just be our best player, don’t think anyone saw that as possible preseason given the existence of Paige.

Thought the Creighton game plan appeared to be to play off of both KK and Chen on the perimeter, and lock in on Paige/Azzi. Chen took a lot of shots on Q1, albeit all open looks, but missed most. You want players to take the open look, but sometimes there needs to be an effort to make sure the right players are taking shots. I thought this contributed to the really close Q1 score line, and will be a trend to watch for from opposing teams. She did a better job in the second of passing up the 3 in favor of driving to score/set up teammates.

Paige came to life in the 2nd half, and had a few shots rim out. She generates a lot of attempts for herself, so when she doesn’t touch the ball she isn’t going to be as big of a factor. She and Sarah make a very formidable duo, and played a lot of effective 2 woman game. We have to get Azzi engaged consistently to take that next step in turning the dynamic duo into the triple threat.

I thought Ice gave some solid minutes, I’ve noticed she helps Paige’s flow offensively. She looks for Paige and they work well on the handoff.

Shade also played good defense and was aggressive on the boards.

Good win on the road against the best the big east has to offer.
“I thought Ice gave some solid minutes, I’ve noticed she helps Paige’s flow offensively. She looks for Paige and they work well on the handoff.” I agree, why does it seem that only Sarah, and sometimes Ice, set solid high screens for Paige?
 
I felt that Azzi’s shots weren’t dropping early on, but she still brought defensive intensity. Late in the game, she seemed a bit lost. Hope she’s well.
Something is off, shots are short, low trajectory, she doesn't seem to have the speed to get clear to post up or drive to the basket when closely guarded. Whether it's mental or physical she is just not the old Azzi. Geno seems to want to play her out of it, so let's hope it's soon.
 
“I thought Ice gave some solid minutes, I’ve noticed she helps Paige’s flow offensively. She looks for Paige and they work well on the handoff.” I agree, why does it seem that only Sarah, and sometimes Ice, set solid high screens for Paige?
That hi-lo pass from Ice to Paige for an easy score was pretty.
 
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There are too many positive posts. Did we watch the same game? From the eye test we did not play up to the standards that will have us as one of the best teams in the country. I’ve said this before if our shots are not falling we are a very vulnerable team. Outside of Sarah and Paige (also KK) who played up to their ability. Yes Chen had 9 points but she missed every wide open three image able. Azzi is still a shell of herself offensively. The bench comes in and watches for Paige and Sarah to make a play. When we had the four guards out there several plays we had guys almost running into each other or getting in each others way. I mean this dribble dribble hand off and then high screen hand off and shoot is great if we have Paige shoot every shot. Right now I’m not sure what to say expect don’t be surprised if we get destroyed by Tennessee or South Carolina. Most likely It won’t be because Paige and and Sarah but we need more dawgs to go out there and bring some fight damn it! So tired of seeing the same ole same ole. I hope that this team shows some urgency. There’s just no urgency in how we play. Sorry for the rant, but we should’ve won by 25.
 
Something is off, shots are short, low trajectory, she doesn't seem to have the speed to get clear to post up or drive to the basket when closely guarded. Whether it's mental or physical she is just not the old Azzi. Geno seems to want to play her out of it, so let's hope it's soon.
Very worrisome, whatever it is.
 
Is Creighton a very good team? How did they get smoked by UCLA by 29 pts?
Kansas State also completely demolished Creighton. Having a dominant large post player was a major factor and is something we quite notoriously lack. UCLA just seemed far more athletic and skilled at every position, and that was without Betts on the court.

For what it’s worth, Creighton is pulling votes at 27th in both the AP & Coaches polls. As for losing at UCLA by 29, you will recall that SC lost at UCLA by 15.
Creighton and UCLA played on a neutral court, and Betts did not play that game.
 
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I love KK to death for her defense but the drives into the lane are killing me. It just isn’t productive.
Totally disagree....she's gotten a lot better at driving and finishing this year and and her drives moves and collapses the defense plus draws fouls......she had 0 turnovers along with her velcro defense. Out of curiosity wht would you have her do?
 
The hot shooting of the last couple of games was bound to cool off at some point and today was that point. Sarah and Paige kept up.the pace, the rest of the crew not so much. The sound of the ball hitting those rims was like the sound of a dentists drill, which is to say unpleasant. They were tight rims. If a shot wasn't a swish it was probably a miss.

I know the rotation tightened but no minutes for Aubrey? Was there a reason for that I wasn't aware of?
 
  • Sarah great. Paige finally woke up. And KK continues to play well. Just need a few more shots to drop. Some good mins from Ice.
  • I said it was hard to evaluate the Villanova game bc the Cats aren’t very good. Creighton is a better team, but still not a top 15 team. This won’t cut it against SC.
  • As much as I love Azzi, she has these games where she disappears. :( [which oddly, fans seem to forget about]
Interestingly, Sarah has quietly delivered on her top recruit rep whereas Azzi is nominally relevant. Would not have imagined that having watched her in HS
 
The hot shooting of the last couple of games was bound to cool off at some point and today was that point. Sarah and Paige kept up.the pace, the rest of the crew not so much. The sound of the ball hitting those rims was like the sound of a dentists drill, which is to say unpleasant. They were tight rims. If a shot wasn't a swish it was probably a miss.

I know the rotation tightened but no minutes for Aubrey? Was there a reason for that I wasn't aware of?
She's just not ready. Not for a tough, highly contested game. Just look at Azzi, she's back a lot more than Aubrey and she's still not back to her old self. Apparently its a rough adjustment, both mentally and physically to come back like before. We all just need more patience.
 
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I just noticed the Creighton roster. They’re loaded with seniors and grad students. Their freshmen played a total 2 minutes (no sophomore on the team). UConn’s freshmen and sophomores played 104 minutes, more than half the team’s minutes. Several of the grad students have been at Creighton for 5 years and are using their Covid year. That’s a long time playing together

IMG_3555.jpeg
 
“I thought Ice gave some solid minutes, I’ve noticed she helps Paige’s flow offensively. She looks for Paige and they work well on the handoff.” I agree, why does it seem that only Sarah, and sometimes Ice, set solid high screens for Paige?
Morgan does as well, but didn't get the chance in this game.
 
If UConn had shot at their normal percentage, especially from distance, tonight's game could easily have had about a 30-point MOV.

Perhaps the opponent had something to do with the shooting percentage?

Folks see UConn shoot well against the big east dregs and seem to think that’s automatically going to carry over to better opponents.
 
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