DePaul Postgame Thread

[huskyd]

Don't know why, but DePaul games are always relaxing. I really never expect the Blue Devils to come out on top, but they're usually fun. This was no exception.
You could extrapolate the highlights (ie, whatever Paige was doing), OR you could do a Keystone Kops piece in which players do some of the silliest things evah. How about tossing the ball to the ref? How about faking a shot under the basket with no one around? Tripping, slipping, etc. Fun.
CW plays best by letting the game come to her. When she tries to initiate, it doesn't always work. If she just keeps moving, one of our passers will find her. I thought she was fine today.
Aaliyah needs to stay under control. She's often just diving into the scrum; it's awkward and generally unproductive. We'll reserve judgment on Saylor, but I worry about her hesitancy to shoot.
Some good chemistry at moments that stirs hope. And a lot of fun. Bring on 'dem Gamecocks!

 

[and one]

My takeaway of the day: most frosh have to get used to the level of college play. I think Paige just loves that she has skilled players around her and plays against skilled players. Rather than have to get used to the higher level of basketball Paige relishes it. oh yeah, nice game. CW did good.

 

[oldude]

FOX didn't cut away. Your local affiliate did.

Yes I understand, and if I was paying attention to the scroll, I would have known to go to Channel 1251 to pick up the game.

 

[UConn2SF]

3 players set career highs today:

CW - 29 points
PB - 10 assists
EW - 14 rebounds

 

[JellyBean]

Nice bounce back game. Just build on these types of games, win or lose, and come back strong for the next one. Several positive takeaways from this game. A few key ones were, I think Paige is finding when and how to assert herself more and more each game. Nika is going to be a nice bonus. She is not afraid!! I just lover her intensity!! Edwards. Again, the process is getting better and better. Her size and strength, plus fearlessness....OMG!! Overall, great bounce back game. Love it.

 

[ABCDFE]

Pleasantly surprised after the 1st quarter where I was pulling my hair out due to the defensive intensity. And then I saw the team take it up a notch and that was all the difference. Kudos to the team to bounce back with an excellent offensive and defensive game.

• CWill - Excellent game from her. This is what we need from her, aggressive driving, rebounding, and passing to open teammates. She doesn't need to shoot 10 threes to score 30 because if she does what she did tonight we have a chance of putting pressure on the defense and being more efficient on offense. So proud of her effort today.
• Liv - bounced back nicely. Good movement without the ball, effort on the boards and made some nice passes at the top of the key. We know she is not be that back to the basket pounder, so like CWill I will liked how she played to her strengths, defense, rebounding, and passing.
• Paige - I will say this right now. She to me is the best in college basketball. She was hyped and she continues to surpass my expectations on how she impacts the game in ALL aspects.
• Evina - I think played solid. continues to just be that rock for our team. great rebounding and continues to hit a decent 3 percentage, which is huge because we will need someone other than Paige to be a knock down 3 point shooter. Love her game.
• Aubrey - She had a solid game. Would like to see a bit more midrange game, but her energy and ability to affect shots was a nice rebound compared to Ark game. Hoping these starts and minutes will get Aubrey better on the offensive end, because we will need her to hit a few open shots against the top teams.
• Nika - had some nice passes and is playing better defense since the early season games. There are a few out of control drives some times, but at least she is taking shots and hitting some now, which will keep her on the floor. One embarrassing pass to the ref, but we can all laugh since it didn't affect the outcome of the game
• Aliyah - I think she had a nice bounce back game. Much more active and could see her comfort level today both offensively and defensively. Hope she can continue to work on the offensive fouls, but much better than the other night. I believe once she has a better feel of the game in the UCONN system, she is going to be pivotal with the pick and roll and cutting for layups.
• Mir - Liked her energy as usual and had a nice drive and played good defense.
• Piath - Her minutes were good. Good defensive possessions and seems to show lots of potential because of her athleticism at her size. Once she gets stronger and has confidence in her game she could be a nice contributor for us next year.

 

[huskeynut]

A much better performance. Saw the attitude needed to beat teams. A lot of pluses.
Team shot 57.7% from the floor. 25 assists on 41 baskets. 40% shooting from behind the arc.
Paige with a double double. Evina with a double double. 6 players in double figures.
Nika continues to play well. Very important down the stretch.
Liv played within herself - a big big plus!!
Take away CW's 2 for 4 from behind the arc and she shot 10 for 11 from the field.

Now I know DePaul was ahead after the first quarter, but remember back when is was two 20 minute halves. It almost always took UConn about 8 to 10 minutes to figure out a team then assert themselves.

This may have been the most complete game played this season.

 

[bluedevil]

6 had double digits

 

[eebmg]

Funky shot mechanics, though. That will be the project over the summer.

Maybe nerves? On the plus side, may have broken the record for fastest to three 3 pt shots since AEH.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Surprising thing, to me, about Aliyah is her soft hands. She catches everything.

 

[fomalhaut]

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.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Saylor begins 0 for Maryland . Looked kind of slow. Paige,Evian and Christyn all get A’s. Liv gets a B. Aubrey with a B- and Aaliya with a B-. Nika gets a shout out for trying to get a referee to play for her team. Overall good game but they sure are slow starters.

 

[Ron and Vida]

The game continued on 1251 on Spectrum. There was a flag at the bottom of the screen.

I was able to get it streamed on my iPad from Foxsports

 

[msf22b]

So what was the actual difference between the last two games?
OK, Arkansas is a little better...but vaguely similar in approach...
Both games started similarly with UConn playing like they were falling into the similar rut especially with Mamma E missing.

But in the 2nd quarter, Paige hit a bunch, some easy points were realized in transition the result of solid D...D'Oh? We're actually supposed to guard our man (Woman)...to a goodly extent highlighted, in (initiated) by Nika's efforts.
Then there was rebounding...(We're supposed to do that too?) much better eh?

Put it together and whatta you got?
A much better result.

Better D, better rebounding, slightly better...but not significantly different shooting percentage. And we were able to carve their heart out so that the 4th quarter was garbage time.

And Christyn played harder and attacked the rim to good effect
And the bigs had only 5 fouls between them and were far more aggressive and aware.

More the way its supposed to be...
The question is...Is the combination of intelligent aggression and reasonable fundamentals a consistent feature of Uconn's game going forward or will we relapse.

Stay tuned

 

[Vowelguy]

Great performance in Q2-Q3.

But still all about the middle. Liv's size and Paige's shooting was what helped open things up, which is what allowed CW to drive.
Can team still do that against a team that's taller/quick than DePaul? That's the key.

And note what Geno has been saying all along: "once Paige scores more, it will open up opportunities for a lot of other people."

 

[Vowelguy]

So what was the actual difference between the last two games?
OK, Arkansas is a little better...but vaguely similar in approach...

AR is not a little better.

 

[Hoops66]

Okay guys come in off the ledges.

Yes, it was getting really cold out there so I was glad to come in from the ledge. DePaul played the same kind of run and gun game as Arkansas, but they weren't as defensively aggressive. Ar. took their chances on fouls/contact being called and it paid off. Way to go Huskies!

 

[Kaizen]

7) Geno probably told Saylor to simply LAUNCH 'EM UP !!
8) Disappointing that Autumn didn't get a taste in the last 1:30 (no need for Paige to go back in, unless Autumn is in Geno's Chateau De Bow Wow)

Geno put Paige in probably to make Saylor more comfortable for her 1st college game.
And Geno to Saylor: Just make any shots you can. Don't worry if they are in or not

 

[hart2hart]

I Just Loved This Game! Smiled the Whole Game. The Game Flowed Much Better Than Arkansas. Paige, Evina and CW my players of the game. Can’t wait to see more of Saylor.
I was very impressed with all the gals today......in different ways!

 

[dtbtbtb]

1) One statement to sum up Paige "All-American"
2) Christyn Williams had a bounce back game. Shot looked good and she looked comfortable
3) a 5 for 6 from the Field and 8 Boards game for Aubrey Griffin was pretty effective (despite taking a AE shot to the head)
4) efficient game from Evina Westbrook. 12 Points and 14 Boards, nothing to sneeze about !
5) ONO's game was good but one would expect more from Olivia
6) AE's game off the bench was good, but that Shot that she gave to Aubrey in the 2nd Quarter could have been devastating. (more "Bull in the China Shop")
7) Geno probably told Saylor to simply LAUNCH 'EM UP !!
8) Disappointing that Autumn didn't get a taste in the last 1:30 (no need for Paige to go back in, unless Autumn is in Geno's Chateau De Bow Wow)

I think that Geno told Saylor to shoot every time she got the ball and put Paige back in to pass the ball to Saylor

 

[JordyG]

The APB put out for CW and ONO produced some good results. Might have been the best all around game CW has ever played in a UCONN uniform. Her defense on Morris was absolutely stellar.

For CW yes. For Liv, well, not as much. She still can't power through arms for the layup. She's still getting pushed well off the block. So much so that Geno had her on the elbow or on the perimeter from some of her minutes. The last two games she has not attempted an outside shot. She still has problems with her dribble on strong drives from the foul line. She is still frequently out of position on rebounds, and she doesn't really read the ball off the rim very well. She still brings the ball down after entry passes. She doesn't have the best power dribble. She still gives silly fouls after being out of position. When was the last time we've seen Liv shoot that fadaway? Liv does have many strong points. Liv does run the floor well. She has soft hands in the lane and in transition. She still alters shots in the lane. Her left leg drop is quicker this year than at any point. She does now occasionally drop that left leg. She does make nice passes from inside and at the elbow. She does occasionally make the 12 footer. Less occasionally, the 3. But it seems to me Liv has only done what is required in the weight room, and what she really needs is to be a weight room warrior. Unless her shot improves dramatically as well as her power dribble, and she takes the weight room more seriously she's going to have problems at the next level.

 

[Blue Huskie]

BTW Ark playing Auburn right now. Ark is 1-8 from three so far. It figures.

 

[donalddoowop]

Funky shot mechanics, though. That will be the project over the summer.

Come on man. She is an excellent shooter. Her mechanics are fine. Her shot mechanics are not a project.

 

[mbr33ct]

It was FOX on the local Spectrum Cable feed. When the game went off at half, I searched all my streaming services to no avail, so I ended up following the play by play text feed on the ESPN site.

If you have the FoxSports app on a roku, smart TV...etc...etc. you could have switched to the streaming FoxSports app and kept on watching bypassing your local Fox channel on Spectrum...but it's no use now...for future ref I suppose.

 

[CocoHusky]

Funky shot mechanics, though. That will be the project over the summer.

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

 

[oldude]

BTW Ark playing Auburn right now. Ark is 1-8 from three so far. It figures.

There are no easy games in the SEC. TN up 1 in the 4th vs FL. SC up 3 in the 2nd vs Bama. KY edges Mizzou by 6 and as you point out AR down 10 to Auburn.

 

[Cuango]

Nice bounce back game.

The announcers talked about Depaul being rusty after not playing for 10 days (I think they said it in Q3), but that wasn't the problem. They had a great Q1. UCONN just outplayed them. Maybe wore them down a bit. Maybe they got a bit demoralized. Our 3-point shooting was actually better than DePaul's - a shocker I know!!

Paige took 15 shots. YAY. Now go for 20. I liked seeing Nika in the game with her - made Paige more a 2G.

Have to give Christyn props. Best game I've seen from her in a long time. Aggressive to the hoop, and even shot 2-4 from deep. Really nice to see.

The other junior... I've given up on Olivia. Still with the tomahawk chop on blocking. Still with bringing the ball down to her waste and/or dribbling when not necessary, leaving herself open to be stripped. I'm ready to see a lot more of Liya and a lot less of ONO. Olivia is what she is. A decent post player. That is all.

I thought Nika did some really good things. Came in and right away TO, foul, etc. but gathered herself and played well.

SO GLAD to see Aubrey start the 2nd half. I was worried about concussion protocol on her - she got nailed in Q2. I LOVE her energy. She may not do everything perfect, but her improvement has been noticeable, and she brings a scoring pop that is fun to see.

Evina had an off shooting night, but 14 boards - holy crap! Loved the play at the end of Q2 where she stole the inbounds pas and was fouled with .5 left on the clock. I really really hope she comes back next season. She adds SO MUCH to this team, and I'm very concerned about Williams and ONO being the team leaders next season.

Liya has a lot of upside. For all that people worry about our play in the post, SHE is the future.

Piath is getting it. Also, loved seeing Poff in - she's not afraid to shoot, but she looks like she's moving thru molasses at this point. Of course, too small a sample size. Just getting reps is great for her. Had a nice almost steal at half-court.

Overall, a very nice bounceback game. Average Q1, but came on gangbusters in Q2 and Q3. Much better ball movement and movement without the ball...

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!

 

[uconnever]

It was FOX on the local Spectrum Cable feed. When the game went off at half, I searched all my streaming services to no avail, so I ended up following the play by play text feed on the ESPN site.

its on my fox in NY now the 4th just started. you believe this

 

[Bald Husky]

Great all around game, glad to see Paige more aggressive. We will need that going forward. Nika getting valuable PT, thinking she will be good when playing with Paige. ONA still not aggressive enough, doesn't display any emotion like the others. Doesn't seem to show any real strength down low, always loses the ball. Evena solid once again, Free Throws-UGH

 

[dtbtbtb]

Paige is an AA going on to be All World. She is so smooth