While it is great to see others step up to the state in her absence, let’s not forget who we are talking about: the reigning POY. It‘s not a case of having to find 25-30 minutes for Paige, but finding ways to limit her time to 25-30 minutes per game, once she‘s 100%. One way that can happen is Caroline & Azzi fly & continue to play as they did last nite.
I have made the suggestion that Aaliyah’s summer away from UConn with the Canadian national team hurt her development as a basketball player. She missed much of the off-season strength and conditioning work with Andrea Hudy and she really didn’t get much of an opportunity to play practice or real games as the last player on Canada’s 12 player roster.
Yea...Nika is rough.
A&M demolished that team by 20. They look good because they play in the Big East, in the Sec they would be an under 500 team. Again people inflating the Big East, but when Uconn plays another legit ranked opponent will go back to square one.
It is not illegal to be moving when guarding a player, otherwise it would be impossible to play defense. A player can move backwards or sideways as long as they beat the offensive player to the spot and square up. In the plays you refer to, the players, imo, did not get there in time and were not squared up. I agree they should not have been called a charge.
I'm pretty sure she was working her butt off playing for Canada, whether she started or played or not. If she played like she is now, that's why she didn't see the floor for Canada.
UConn games that are not carried by ESPN/CBS Sports are usually available on Fox Sports website. As long as your internet provider carries FS1 you'll have access to the Games. FOX Sports News, Scores, Schedules, Odds, Shows, Streams & Videos | FOX Sports I've found the games aren't listed until right before scheduled tip off time.
Referees: Joseph Vaszily, Billy Smith, Katie Lukanich…Vaszily has been at multiple final fours. This was not a group of high school refs.
I'm sure her minutes are being monitored after a long injury layoff.
Geno would disagree with you. He says the team plays better when Nika is on the floor. But, I guess you know better than he does.
Had to laugh on this (not laughing at you) the comment hit my funny bone, you're probably right like Nika's minutes were supposed to be monitored/limited. How many minutes did Nika (was it Nika?) play on her first game back?
Different kind of work with a national team made up largely of professionals versus a college team. I doubt Aaliyah spent anywhere near as much time on strength and conditioning or developing individual skills as she would have at UConn. Getting ready for the Olympics involves setting up a rotation and spending a lot of time getting those players to work together effectively.
I think it may be the last minute. But it is play on and not a time out. The opposing player must quickly come and pick up the ball and then has 5 seconds to inbound. In this game the ref under the basket signaled time out right away as the basket was made. The refs met at the scorers table. The announcers were confused as to what they could be doing. That sure looks like a homer move.
Geno likes Nika getting the team started. We can't deny the team just runs more smoothly when she's in there. Like I said I have no idea why that's the case which is why I'm not a hall of fame coach, but we have two seasons worth of evidence now. Last year the team seemed to really get its act together after Nika was inserted into the lineup in January, and we saw it again two weeks ago when she came back from her injury. Maybe that's all a big coincidence, but why mess with something that seems to work well? Once Paige is back he could go back to last year's lineup for the most part except for Evina who could be replaced by Caroline or Dorka or Azzi or whomever the matchup calls for.
True, but you can't be leaning in because that's not legal guarding position. Thanks for clarifying that.
I agree. I think it’s up to the shot clock operator to stop the clock until the ball is inbounded. Unless the shot clock continued to run after Caroline’s made shot, there was no reason for the refs to stop the game.
Gotcha. Makes sense and now I remember! I just figured they wanted to get the clock stoppage correct, similar to if there's < 1 sec left, it tells them what can be allowed from a last "sec" shot.I agree. I think it’s up to the shot clock operator to stop the clock until the ball is inbounded. Unless the shot clock continued to run after Caroline’s made shot, there was no reason for the refs to stop the game.
You can look at this from the other side as well. Let’s say there was 5-10 seconds left on the clock after Caroline’s basket. Without any time outs, DePaul would want to get the ball in play immediately to one of their guards in order to push the ball up the court for a shot before UConn set their defense.
By stopping play, the refs also allow the defense to get set up as well. All’s well that ends well, I guess…
Just think Carnac, they will have to deal with Caroline and Azzi for the next four years and they will be surrounded by really good support players, at least one of them great.Agreed. We've got to look at, and deal with her for the next 4 years.Think for a moment how good and dynamic she's going to be as a junior. She's a double now EVERY GAME!! If Bruno can find some support players to surround her with, DePaul will become a top ten team for sure, because they won't lose that many games. SHE is the type of player you can build a team around because she brings it EVERY game. You see what she did against us, 30 points, 14 rebounds.
She knows how to get to the free throw line, and she makes her FT, she's NOT afraid of contact under the basket, she has a nose for the ball, she's everywhere on the court. She's the type of player that YOU KNOW what you're going to get from her night in and night out.
All she has to do is stay healthy. I think we could use a clone of her for sure.
We heard about her from afar. Now we've seen her up close. Some like her, some don't. You think she could play for SC, Texas, Louisville, Maryland, ND, LSU, Tennessee or any other top 10 program? That's a rhetorical question.Of course she could. I knew she had a lot of points last night, but I was surprised to see that she had 30. I said this before and I'll say it again here, there are a lot of WCBB players that play 4 years and NEVER score 30 points in a game. She did it effortlessly in the flow of the game. She's going to get bigger, stronger and more mature (savy) as she grows. She's only 18. What's she going to look/play like when she's 20?
Bruno has truly found a diamond in the rough in Morrow. She'll be a household name and an ALL-American for sure by the end of next year if she can keep up this pace.
Playing normal UCONN offense requires much more energy than playing our current defense.
He SAYS a lot of things. The key is to watch what he does. He was saying the same thing about Muhl during the latter part of last season. And what were her minutes starting this season before her injury? I don't buy that it was a continuation of last year's sprained ankle, she was fine in the preseason. I would say watch what her minutes become once Bueckers, Fudd, and Williams are all available prior to the tournaments.
So, an 8 degree night in Chicago would not get her going?Maybe she misses the weather back home.
