DePaul Postgame Thread

[Rb335]

who expected depth? there are 6 frosh and 5 non-frosh. anyone who thought this team would have more than 7 or 8 at best was deluded.

Agreed. At this point we have two really good freshman who are ready to contribute. The rest I’m not sold on thus far.

 

[BobbyJ]

Has Anna ever driven into the lane and shot the ball one time in her career? It's almost painful to watch how hesitant she is to shoot the ball inside the arc. She gets in the lane every time, albeit not a lot, but enough to notice and passes. It's like she can't wait Tyler Phommachanh get rid of the ball. I've never seen anything like it.

Our FT shooting is going to bite this team in the you know what against good teams. It's just abysmal-but it makes sense. We can't hit from the outside and we can't hit FT's.

This was tough to watch. No rhythm from either team, no flow, constant whistles, ugly shots.

One more thing, has any UCONN team ever committed as many travelling violations as this one?

Regarding Makurat, I’ve mentioned before that she can’t get off a contested shot because she can’t leave the floor. She knows it and whenever in traffic will always pass. She won’t even shoot the 3 if anybody is close and teams have scouted it. It’s not going to change.

 

[HopJim]

Paige an off game and the kid is still the leading scorer

Don't like the offense when Evina brings the ball upcourt with Paige on the wing. Paige is exceptional at setting up the offense and intuitive in her decisions. Evina solid at cutting and getting open on the wing for 3Pointers. Not sure I understand Geno's reliance on this set up but seems to get everyone away from their strengths.

 

[MSGRET]

Here is a surprising factoid from the box score (which has just been put up on ESPN):

Aubrey played 6 minutes and had 3 assists (and one turnover). I remember one of her assists on a very highlight-reel pass under the offensive basket. I don't remember the other two. But that is a new aspect to Aubrey's game.

Another box score factoid: UConn had 21 assists on 29 made baskets. Given how ugly the offense sometimes looked, that is surprising to me. Furthermore, Paige had only 2 assists in 35 minutes (fewer than Aubrey in 6 minutes). Evina had 4 assists, Christyn had 5, and Olivia had 3.

Maybe Geno would like to see fewer assists and more shots.

Paige had at least 3 more assists if the players would've made the shots under or near the basket.

 

[HopJim]

I’ll give Squeaks and E the benefit of the doubt and place their play on the Christmas break.

I’ve been saying Aaliyah should be starting before the season began. Effort can’t be taught and Aaliyah is a prime example. She and Paige will be dynamic duo for years to come.

Everyone on the board loves Anna, but if she’s not hitting any 3s and is a liability on defense....well...

Anna has proven she can hit the 3 last year and the offense moves well with her cuts and passes. Unfortunately, things tend to slow down with others in. As always, Geno seems to be giving playing time based on match ups. Audrey, Mir and at times Edwards just stand around. OK against smaller teams but unlikely to work with SC, Baylor, etc.

 

[HopJim]

Regarding Makurat, I’ve mentioned before that she can’t get off a contested shot because she can’t leave the floor. She knows it and whenever in traffic will always pass. She won’t even shoot the 3 if anybody is close and teams have scouted it. It’s not going to change.

Don't disagree based on a few games but we saw this last year and by the end of the year she was the best 3 point shooter on the team. Considering the other options, appears giving her more time has merit.

 

[topogigio]

I feel for Anna, too - but it's going to be hard to keep Edwards on the bench if Anna is not contributing more. Also, thought Mir gave some great effort close to the basket, but just didn't finish. Her leaping ability is off the charts,

 

[RockyMTblue2]

 

[BostonBay]

Paige can make plays against bad defenses, and good ones, but not when there is a gang waiting for her. Her teammates have to keep moving so Paige has targets, when the defenses collapse on her. "Page time" is not the time to stand around watching PB get in a jam(b).

DePaul was very good at trapping Paige tonight. Paige blew buy the 1st defender but there was always someone there to pick her up quickly. Forced the ball out of her hands. She found her way of it most times, but it took away from the flow.

Still, she "over-passed" man times where it was better to shoot than force it inside or back to the perimeter. She has a sweet shot, so she needs to keep shooting to break down the zone & the collapse in the middle & under the basket. I think Geno made that point clear tonight!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

 

[RockyMTblue2]

 

[RockyMTblue2]

 

[BobbyJ]

Don't disagree based on a few games but we saw this last year and by the end of the year she was the best 3 point shooter on the team. Considering the other options, appears giving her more time has merit.

Like I said, teams have scouted her. Last year they let her shoot 3s. Now they know she can’t go by them and just stay close. The other option to me is starting Edwards. You start the game controlling the boards, and if they double ONO, Edwards gets 15 a game on cuts and garbage. Let Makurat give one or the other 4-5 minute breaks when you can afford it against good teams.

 

[Carnac]

Not a very pretty game tonight. Better second half. Great defense. Lots of nice individual play. ONO did a very fine job. Seems to get better every game. Christin has a lot of gumption and gusto. Shooting could have been better as I predicted 92 points and I was way off. Overall, the Team won, I am happy.

The most impressive thing ONO did tonight was to play under control, and staying in the game by staying out of foul trouble. A very quiet double double for ONO tonight. As I’ve said before, UConn is a different team when she’s on the floor.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Yeah. I think Evina's knee played a large part in her poor showing tonight. I think that perceived look on her face was frustration.

I saw a glimpse as she went to the bench. Said something to either the trainer or manager next to her, pulled her support down and moved her leg like she was trying to move some stiffness out of it. I think she might have been having a tough knee day.

 

[MD#12Fan]

College hoops during Christmas break. 10:00 Wake up in time for breakfast. 10:30-12 Go to the gym for shooting, weight training, 12:00 lunch, nap, go to the gym for taping, whirlpool, practice 2:30-6 (get on the floor early and work on your shot, stay after and work on your shot) , dinner, back to the gym for more shots, Netflix, bed. 500-1000 shots a day! Come on Ladies, Wake Up!! Couple shots we got today: CW open 6 footer, the time Paige missed like 4 chippies in a row- players of this calibre make 90% of those.

Not a highlight reel offensive game tonight which isn’t unusual after a few days off from games, an empty campus, holiday practices- very easy to get lethargic. This is the hardest part of a college season in many respects, especially for the freshmen players. Having said that, at the end of a game they never ask you how, just how many, & UConn had more than enough. My favorite play of the game was AE surrounded by 3 DePaul players trying to steal, or tie her up, and all 3 deciding that discretion was the better part of valor- message sent.
JMO

 

[BostonBay]

anna's defense was just plain poor, and this a point of priority for geno. she was getting beat off the dribble, left the floor on simple pump fakes, and was just too slow to get to loose balls. i like anna, but i think her minutes will trend down until she fixes her mistakes.

 

[Vowelguy]

. Not sure I understand Geno's reliance on this set up but seems to get everyone away from their strengths.

only a guess:
Geno has consistently said Paige isn’t shooting enough. Perhaps he is hoping that putting her at the 2 will push her to be more offensive minded. After that happens then he can move her back to PG full time.

also he likes his team to have lots of different looks so they’re not so predictable

 

[ABCDFE]

My observations:

• Liv was very active in the first and third quarters and got a lot accomplished in the game even with double/triple teams. If we can make shots then we can really make the defense pay, unfortunately we shot it very poorly
• CWill - didn’t shoot the ball well but she was active and played food defense. I’m happy with her aggressiveness this year both on defense and offense. Her shooting continues to be streaky.
• Paige was ok today by her standards. You could tell depauls plan was to pack the inside and foul line area and give us open shots. Thought Paige could’ve shot more instead of trying to facilitate, but understand she’s trying to get others involved
• Evina didn’t particularly shoot well but I thought was solid with everything else. She did make a couple of outside shots and she’s slowly feeling her way back offensively which is great. My hope is that she will shoot a bit better as the season progresses because we need some better shooters on the court. Especially given how Anna looks this far
• Anna continues to baffle me, it sure if she just doesn’t want to be aggressive but her shot doesn’t fall and she doesn’t even want to look at the basket. Shes a good passer and can rebound m, but was beaten a few times on defense. She needs to be more aggressive and get more confidence to add more shots to her game other than threes
• AE -beast as usual, another solid game. Once she gets her mid range shot going, wow will be so good
• Mir - same sample. Some good and some bad. I did think she played better than griffin
• Griffin - just looks lost out there most of the time. I’m beginning to think she doesn’t feel the game and flow well. I think some players have that and some don’t. She’s more of a one on one type offensive threat right now with no jump shot, which means she too predictable. Hoping she can build her game up as this season goes on
• Nika - was ok, I think she does some nice things but I don’t think she adds anything right now to the team other than another ball handler. Offense is limited and defense is good, but to be honest I thought it would be better
• Piath has some potential.
• Autumn at least took the open shot
  
  
  

 

[ccwarrior]

Regarding Makurat, I’ve mentioned before that she can’t get off a contested shot because she can’t leave the floor. She knows it and whenever in traffic will always pass. She won’t even shoot the 3 if anybody is close and teams have scouted it. It’s not going to change.

I agree, and she somehow looks less athletic this year. What I don’t like is camping on the wing or the corner (but a few of our players do that).

 

[Woof 101]

Don't like the offense when Evina brings the ball upcourt with Paige on the wing. Paige is exceptional at setting up the offense and intuitive in her decisions. Evina solid at cutting and getting open on the wing for 3Pointers. Not sure I understand Geno's reliance on this set up but seems to get everyone away from their strengths.

One has to believe, at least I do Geno is still tinkering. With no preseason games and so many games lost to the pandemic it's a different type of season. We have not had a game in danger of loosing so Geno is getting everything out of the situation, experimenting with combinations etc.

There are those 6 games in calling for Aaliyah to start ahead of Anna. I understand some of that but think for now it is better for Anna to find her shot and have Aaliyah in the bank should Ono get into foul trouble this while getting significant minutes. Olivia had a great game tonight but not with anyone her size on the court.
Geno has also made it a point to get them both on the floor at the same time because that time is coming.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Geno ends by expressing his appreciation for the media and wishes them a Happy New Year. Nice touch!

 

[rt bb fan]

As was pointed out in the broadcast, Olivia is a lot stronger this year than in the past. Must be working out in the weight room. She grabs a lot of rebounds, and never seems to get the ball stolen from her. She is also patient.

I don't know if I agree with never getting the ball stolen. Probably my issue with Olivia not keeping the ball high. She got a pass from Paige and brings the ball down and then goes up to the basket instead of having an easy basket now is surrounded by the defense.I am surprised the coaching staff has not corrected this issue.

 

[MD#12Fan]

anna's defense was just plain poor, and this a point of priority for geno. she was getting beat off the dribble, left the floor on simple pump fakes, and was just too slow to get to loose balls. i like anna, but i think her minutes will trend down until she fixes her mistakes.

100% Hate to jump on the bandwagon but Anna could be scoring double figures every night. Then we would forgive her one-on-one defensive woes. We've seen it. That + rebounding and passing, we'd all be happy clams.

 

[MilfordHusky]

If someone has a "weak" game when posting a line of 18/6/2/4, she must have high standards.