DePaul Post-game Thread

[HopJim]

After watching the game for the third time (yes, it was just as good), a few nits no one else has commented on:
-In the beginning of the year, Dorka had her thumb wrapped and received a lot of criticism for not being able to hold the ball. Surprised that no one has noticed but her advanced play has come exactly at the same time her wrap came off and what seems to be a healed hand/thumb.
-Not sure if its coaching or player-based change, but both Williams and Muhl have spent the past few games charging down the court toward the basketball, rarely dribbling side to side as in the past. Muhl in particular has led a number of fast breaks, driven to the basket and changed the pace of play. Did not feel that the UConn offense bogged down the entire game - have not said that in years.
-Did anyone hear about Morrow before this year? I read the UConn, Notre Dame, and Tenn Boards and can't remember any mention. One of the few players I would want to see even without playing UConn.
-While I have not given up on this year, few teams next year will have two active, experienced bigs (Dorka and Edwards), 3-4 perimeter players who can all shoot and pass (Paige, Fudd, Caroline, and Muhl), and an entire team experienced in moving without the ball and creating its own offense. With some great frosh coming in and 2 6'5" Sophs, doubtful anyone will want to play UConn next year.

 

[JoePgh]

I can't see Paige, Azzi & Caroline as starters next year; I prefer Nika, Paige and Caroline, with Azzi coming off the bench for spark. Besides, Azzi is not the 'pure' shooter as some claim, she was 0-7 vs DePaul from the arc.
It's unfortunate that Nika has been stereotyped as not being fast enough even though I consider her & Liv to be our best defenders. And the sequence that pleases me the most is when Nika breaks out of the pack with the ball, beats everyone downcourt, and finishes with a 'no look' pass for a score. Paige always goes wild with this sequence, eh?

It seems that nearly every one of your recent posts has been to discourage Azzi in some way. In this one, you claim that she is not a pure shooter based on the fact that she was 0-7 in a single game??? What 3-point shooter do you know of who has not had occasional games where he/she couldn't buy a shot?

If you average together her 7-9 against Tennessee with her 0-7 against DePaul, you get 7-for-16, about 45%, which is around what most of us expect her long-term average from the arc will be.

Before she had even returned to playing status, you were saying that she "needs to bring her game, not her name". When she did go 7-for-9 against TN, you said (inaccurately) that it was all in garbage time and should be discounted.

What is your animus against Azzi?

 

[Jingo]

It seems that nearly every one of your recent posts has been to discourage Azzi in some way. In this one, you claim that she is not a pure shooter based on the fact that she was 0-7 in a single game??? What 3-point shooter do you know of who has not had occasional games where he/she couldn't buy a shot?

If you average together her 7-9 against Tennessee with her 0-7 against DePaul, you get 7-for-16, about 45%, which is around what most of us expect her long-term average from the arc will be.

Before she had even returned to playing status, you were saying that she "needs to bring her game, not her name". When she did go 7-for-9 against TN, you said (inaccurately) that it was all in garbage time and should be discounted.

What is your animus against Azzi?

No animus at all .. I LUV her!

 

[Littlemin]

It seems that nearly every one of your recent posts has been to discourage Azzi in some way. In this one, you claim that she is not a pure shooter based on the fact that she was 0-7 in a single game??? What 3-point shooter do you know of who has not had occasional games where he/she couldn't buy a shot?

If you average together her 7-9 against Tennessee with her 0-7 against DePaul, you get 7-for-16, about 45%, which is around what most of us expect her long-term average from the arc will be.

Before she had even returned to playing status, you were saying that she "needs to bring her game, not her name". When she did go 7-for-9 against TN, you said (inaccurately) that it was all in garbage time and should be discounted.

What is your animus against Azzi?

I am not answering for anyone else, just me. Bueckers and Fudd were both fawned about on this board before they ever played a game. People, like me, who commented on what they SAW, if not completely positive and gushing, were reacted to by many as if we had committed a mortal sin.
I think Bueckers is a terrific player, had a great freshman year but I have made no bones about my opinion of her not playing and developing the way the COACH wanted her to play last year and my further opinion that his direction was completely validated by the Arizona loss. That, and her obvious negative body language when taken out of games, has led me to have a somewhat different opinion of her than many. Again, none of that has anything to do with her physical talent.
As for Fudd, she played 4 very uneven (at best) games to start the year, had to be taken out of the SC game because she was such a liability on defense, which had shown up in the previous 3 games. So she sat for two months. Fine, she was hurt and I applaud her for trying to play, that’s what players do. But I and others questioned whether she was going to be quick enough to play at this level; a legitimate question IMO for someone who had only seen her play in college.
So she came back, has played very well and out of the woodwork comes posters (two in particular, who I have now chosen to ignore) with their ”what do you doubters think now” gloating. That “hero worship” attitude for some, certainly me, is a turn off, and IMO prevents real basketball oriented discussions to occur.
I don’t know how good Fudd or Bueckers will eventually be but the penchant for many on the board to blame any mistakes they make on other players or the coaches (run plays for her, they didn’t pass to her when she was open, etc.) or nit pick other players mistakes (see Muhl, Williams, Ono, Juhasz) with no understanding of roles on a team and intangibles is, as I said, very much a turn off.
Anyway, my two opinionated two cents.