DePaul Postgame Thread

[RockyMTblue2]

You could let your imagination go wild studying Paige's expression in the presser today. Alternates funeral sorrow with blank poker face. I liked that she took ownership of getting her game going too late at Arkansas and she was going to shoot today whether they fell or not. She has the best shot on the team obviously and Geno now has her as a believer. Poor Paige, she thought she was here to pass the ball!

 

[Vowelguy]

Ditto everything above, but why no Autumn. Is she hurt, in the doghouse? If not, come on' Geno, you're up over 30 points with 5 min to play, put the kid in!

Geno is not running a soup kitchen.

this was the first time in a while that the offense was really clicking — important for the players to get a lot of reps against competitin
Particularly this year when rhythm and consistency have been hindered by all the game cancellations.
players like nika AE mir need game minutes as they will/ might be called on down the line.

 

[topogigio]

Why Autumn? Being up 30- no reason to not give minutes to Mir and Piath and others. Mir and Piath and Saylor can play when we're up 30. Every minute for Nika is good as well as Griff etc.

Respectfully disagree, if kid is practicing hard everyday, supportive team mate. et. al - put her in. Realistically, it's garbage time, nobody's learning anything being out there. Bruno emptied his bench.

 

[HopJim]

Best job by Geno this year. A number of small but significant changes:
-Williams stayed closer to basket, rarely shooting 3 pointers. She had the ability to overpower her defender and did.
-ONO and Aubrey not shooting 3's.
-Inserted Aliyah early, giving the team the energy it needed. When she plays hard, it seems the team plays hard. When she went in for layups, appeared DePaul defenders got out of the way.
-Took Aubrey out off and on throughout game. Not playing bad but few steals, average defense and little offense. Team seemed to respond positively and went on run.

Other than keeping Paige and her bad ankle in the game until about 5 minutes left (give that ankle a rest with 40 point lead), Geno pushed all the right buttons.

 

[BobbyJ]

That was the worst sports telecast I've seen in ten or twenty years. The camera work was awful (they completely missed a number of plays), the announcers were incompetent (was there even a play-by-play announcer? It sounded like two people watching the game while having a conversation), and my local affiliate (in Maryland) cut away every half hour for a five-minute weather (snow) update.

After the first quarter, I was sensing a replay of the Arkansas game, and fearing back-to-back losses for the first time (in over 1000 games, I think). But they pulled it together with great 2nd and 3rd quarters. I'm liking Nika Muhl more and more: I think they play better when she's out there.

Have you ever listened to Carolyn Peck and her partner?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I like Paige on Saylor She did tell Saylor the ball was coming to her and shoot it. " In practice she shoots it really, really well from anywhere." And Saylor is really 6'4" but she's pretty quick. Okay, that last statement is a total fabrication.

 

[JordyG]

I agree with all of this @JordyG. Geno put her out there to stop the painful inside experience and see if she could be better outside and, alas, the results were very disappointing.

But there is another thing that I failed to mention. In basketball it's a known adage that you surround your posts with shooters. That takes the pressure off the inside and eliminates the defense from collapsing their interior defense. Liv's problems this year continues to be UConn's poor shooting. I can think of only two centers in all of basketball that were able to successfully score when double and triple teamed and they were named Wilt and Shaq. Posts need consistent shooting from the perimeter and in today's modern game that means from the arc.

Also there was Saylor. She did miss all of her attempts today. But every shot left me very pleased. Why? Because they were all short. Usually when a player enters the game for their new team for the first time they are over hyped and ready, and they usually overshoot. They hit the backboard, the back of the rim, or they miss altogether. I once saw a player shoot the ball over the backboard. Saylor was short. Now, when I see a player hitting the front of the rim it's usually the sign of not enough legs, and it happens a lot late in games when a player legs are tired. Saylor to me showed tired legs, and that's a sign of someone who isn't quite in game condition. But her shots were consistently all on the mark. So when she does get her legs under her she'll be fine.

 

[BobbyJ]

Yea definitely not the shot I remembered from Saylor HS tapes.
I went back to look, shot is completely different. That's concerning because I also found this quote from her mother.

“I think it impacted her shooting,” Amy Poffenbarger said. “You could just tell that her 3-point shot was different, probably because she was compensating for [the bad hip].”

Poffenbarger on the mend from hip surgery

Right around the time the ball dropped to usher in a new year, Saylor Poffenbarger felt a familiar twinge.

www.fredericknewspost.com

Yeah, I didn't remember a lean left shot put either. Good work Inspector.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

But there is another thing that I failed to mention. In basketball it's a known adage that you surround your posts with shooters. That takes the pressure off the inside and eliminates the defense from collapsing their interior defense. Liv's problems this year continues to be UConn's poor shooting. I can think of only two centers in all of basketball that were able to successfully score when double and triple teamed and they were named Wilt and Shaq. Posts need consistent shooting from the perimeter and in today's modern game that means from the arc.

Another thing was Saylor. She did miss all of her attempts today. But every shot left me very pleased. Why? Because they were all short. Usually when a player enters the game for their new team for the first time they are over hyped and ready, and they usually overshoot. They hit the backboard, the back of the rim, or they miss altogether. I once saw a player shoot the ball over the backboard. Saylor was short. Now, when I see a player hitting the front of the rim it's usually the sign of not enough legs, and it happens a lot late in games when a player legs are tired. Saylor to me showed tired legs, and that's a sign of someone who isn't quite in game condition. But her shots were consistently on all on the mark. So when she does get her legs under her she'll be fine.

I mentioned this already, but good news is worth repeating and talent recognises talent AND in her postgame chit chat Paige said Saylor in pratice is a "really, really good shooter from everywhere really" and when she said that a big, wide grin was suddenly on my face.

 

[Hoops66]

One of Paige's best passes was from the tip-off, which led to the fastest first points of the year.

 

[my2cents]

Saylor needs to get her sea legs under her.
How can any UConn fan have any negatives what-so-ever about that game?
Always a headscratcher for me.

 

[FridaFriend]

Jewel Loyd is a student coach for DePaul. She is finishing her degree there.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

Not much to or say besides, "great overall effort against a ranked team"

My stat of the game -- AE 15 minutes, (only) 2 fouls

Any one nasty shot to Aubrey's head (albeit totally accidental).

 

[rt bb fan]

I’m still pulling for Liv. I still believe she will get better and be a force for us before she leaves. AE brings a different dynamic inside but is still having difficulty with fouls and until she gets a handle on that, it will be difficult to rely on her. I’m sure SC will attack her relentlessly. She and Liv are going to have to stay on the floor if we are to win that game. This is what we have been looking for from Christyn! Less threes more of everything else. Was pulling for Paige to get three more rebounds but once again, she showed how fortunate we are to have her on our team. What a great player!

Maybe in her senior year like Saniya Chong,

 

[NOI33]

Jewel Loyd is a student coach for DePaul. She is finishing her degree there.

Nice! She gets to spend time in her home town and rest/train after a superb championship season.
I remember how candid she was about her struggles with dyslexia growing up, and then while at ND. Her resilience and determination to finish her degree are very admirable.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Paige double double, 22 pts 10 asts, CW 29 pts and Evina double double, 14 rebs, 12 pts.

After Paige got to 10 assists, she picked up one on a pass to E in the corner and on on a break to Aaliyah, but got credit for neither.

 

[nickp91]

Paige Bueckers is well on track to be to be the next name to be hanging in the rafters in Gampel

 

[JordyG]

After Paige got to 10 assists, she picked up one on a pass to E in the corner and on on a break to Aaliyah, but got credit for neither.

Good pickup.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Outstanding start!

 

[MilfordHusky]

To a point. I hope CW finally realizes she can drive to the basket like few others. I still do not like how we match up with SC physically. Not that impressed with Liv's game and I think Boston will look at Liv like a chicken tender, The play where she got a Paige dime on the baseline 2 feet from the basket and still found the need to dribble is just mind numbing.

Paige may need to go for 30+ and dial up Steph Curry range.

Boston shot 2-10 today. She did have 13 boards, 6 assists, and 3 blocks, but only 6 points.

 

[veryolddog]

Well, it is a win. Doug Bruno must be scratching his head as why his team quit during the second quarter. I thought that UConn defense was intense in the first 3 minutes of the game. I thought that this was going to continue all the way. Paige impressed as did Chrystin and Evina with key baskets and important rebounds. They swarmed Liv, but in few instances they were drawn out and I don't remember what triggered that but it sure did free up Liv for some easy layups. All in all, it was a satisfactory showing but I wonder how this would have fared against an Arkansas that plays with a lot more intensity than DePaul.

 

[CocoHusky]

Yeah, I didn't remember a lean left shot put either. Good work Inspector.

Yea I even took it a step further and and now I'm more worried. I looked back at the way she was shooting at USA basketball U16 in summer of 2019. That shot was text book with exceptional elevation & follow through. She got a lot of work to get back that fluid shot.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

Best job by Geno this year. A number of small but significant changes:
-Williams stayed closer to basket, rarely shooting 3 pointers. She had the ability to overpower her defender and did.
-ONO and Aubrey not shooting 3's.
-Inserted Aliyah early, giving the team the energy it needed. When she plays hard, it seems the team plays hard. When she went in for layups, appeared DePaul defenders got out of the way.
-Took Aubrey out off and on throughout game. Not playing bad but few steals, average defense and little offense. Team seemed to respond positively and went on run.

Other than keeping Paige and her bad ankle in the game until about 5 minutes left (give that ankle a rest with 40 point lead), Geno pushed all the right buttons.

Not even close to Geno's best job this year. (Putting Paige back in with about 1:30 left in the game, and up by over 30 points, with Paige playing on a bum ankle, made ZERO sense). Geno (and staff) need to continue to "coach" Olivia to step up her game and play like she is capable of. For this team to succeed come during the Big Dance, they are going to need "meaningful minutes" from Olivia, Aubrey, Anna and AE (along with Paige, Christyn, and Evina).

 

[SVCBeercats]

Some thoughts on the DePaul game:

• Interesting graphic showing UConn with the top five FG% shooters in the Big East…..and then the Huskies open the game shooting 20% for the first qtr. Go figure.
• OK, this is going to be news to absolutely no one: Paige needs to shoot more.
• Not one of Evina’s most efficient games, but she was a rebounding force with 11 in the 1st half alone and 14 overall.
• Christyn is so much more effective when she is attacking the basket, like she was today, as opposed to roaming the perimeter.
• Aubrey with some solid minutes and it appears that Liv picked it up in the 2nd half. Some decent minutes from Aaliyah as well, but I think for all of UConn’s C/F’s consistency has to be the goal right now.
• Saylor gets her 1st minutes and fires up three shots from the arc. The fact that she missed them all was probably for the best. I could just see the BY discussions now if she had knocked them down.
• To my absolute amazement, FOX cut away from the game at halftime to cover a Telethon for the Disabled. Now I absolutely support that great cause, but you have got to be kidding me? So you guys are going to have to fill me in on the 2nd half.

FOX or your local service provider? I watched the game on FOX with no interuption whatsoever. Of course I am in west central PA.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Saylor hasn't played any meaningful games in a year. She has to get used to the speed of the game again and I think she was rushing her shot to beat what I'm sure everyone is telling her are the faster closeouts she will see in the college game. She'll be fine once she get used to the speed of the game.

She doesn't look fast running but if you look at the amount of ground she covers with each stride she covers ground. Glides more than pounds.

Remember, it's her first game and she just started practicing with the team less than a week ago.

Saylor missed the AAU season. Her last games were in a mid-level high school conference. She'll get acclimated in time.

Saylor is not slow. She really covers ground with her long strides. She definitely glides.