DePaul Postgame Thread

[TB12]

I did think when we were down by 9 that they could not come back. I didn't think they had it in them, that they had to be ahead to play well. Very glad I was wrong and I won't doubt them again.. Three warm up games to work out the bugs, then we will be ready to beat #4 Tenn!

 

[jchusky]

Geno should give a thank you to Dawn for cancelling that game it would have gotten ugly. To be struggling against DEPAUL? Definitely not looking good.

 

[Littlemin]

Nika is a good player but we have a lot of good players. She started the season at number 8 or 9 in the rotation. When we are healthy that's probably where she ends up. We just have too much talent to rely on Nika for more PT than any other player today. She played more minutes today than anyone. My concern is what happens when we play top competition? Her game inevitably is less impactful. And I'm not liking how she handled the offense today. Too much time screwing around 35 feet from the basket, picking up her dribble, not doing much to create good shots. When she tries to drive to the basket God help us. Least likely player on the court to create a scoring opportunity on the drive. Shooting .389 for 2 and .250 from 3 so far and 3.9 points a game. Is that helping us? I'd rather have Paige, Azzi, Caroline, CW and Evina. That makes Nika injury depth. Why do I even have to say it? She's a good player on a team of great players.

Good thing the coach knows a little bit more about the game then you do. There is a reason she played major minutes against “top competition“ Arkansas and SC last year and she will continue to get them this year for the same reason.
Funny, she had six points driving to the basket last night including a very important one in the 4th quarter, she had two assists to Ducharme under 3 minutes, crunch time, one for a 3. She had 12 points and five assists.
But let’s remember and harp on only the bad things after a nice hard fought team win by the player who led the team in minutes and made some nice plays down the stretch when the game was on the line.

 

[cwaduke]

IF we make layups in the first half, this is a 14 point win.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Good thing the coach knows a little bit more about the game then you do. There is a reason she played major minutes against “top competition“ Arkansas and SC last year and she will continue to get them this year for the same reason.
Funny, she had six points driving to the basket last night including a very important one in the 4th quarter, she had two assists to Ducharme under 3 minutes, crunch time, one for a 3. She had 12 points and five assists.
But let’s remember and harp on only the bad things after a nice hard fought team win by the player who led the team in minutes and made some nice plays down the stretch when the game was on the line.

So you'd rather play Nika than Paige, Caroline, CW, Azzi and Evina. Got it. I rest my case. It's one thing to play well against Seton Hall and Xavier. It's a totally different situation against the top teams where you NEED more from that slot than 3.9 points a game and overall not great numbers. Nika had a really good game tonight and is a terrific person and is getting better recently. I'm happy for her. I hope she's fantastic the rest of this year and becomes Sue Bird but I'm playing Azzi, CW, Caroline, Paige and Evina more than I'm playing Nika unless something changes. It's nothing personal. It's about the team. They are a better team with better players on the floor. It's precisely why you make tough choices. It has nothing to do with whether you like a player or not. It's about the team being optimized for success. For one thing, I want Azzi on the floor for 30 minutes going forward and then what do you do when Paige comes back? Azzi looks healthy to me and adjusted to college ball. I was the one who said just a few days ago they should maybe go with 4 guards sometimes because they will have depth at guard. And what do they do the very next game? They went with 4 guards and Caroline at the 4 for around 15 minutes today. I guess that makes me a real dummy then doesn't it. I suggested they consider it and the very next game Geno does it. Guard will be a strength in a few weeks and may be already if Azzi is healthy. She was the #1 prospect in the country for a reason. It's for the good of the team. Azzi can knock down 3 pointers as well as anyone. Currently, at a .458 rate. We NEED that. She's shooting.500 for 2 pointers. This team needs that. It was a great game tonight by pretty much everyone. Let's keep the ball rolling forward.

 

[sun]

The game wouldn't have been as close without the bad calls.
But UConn does need to work on inbounding the ball better.
Nika ended up on the floor in pain again tonight, but she still held the team together by contributing in every facet of the game.
Depending on the team, Evina will be losing some minutes to Azzi who is now one of our top 3 guards.
With Azzi the team should be able to run a faster offense & score more points.
Geno did a good job with spreading around the PT.
Welcome back Azzi!

 

[MSGRET]

Nika is a good player but we have a lot of good players. She started the season at number 8 or 9 in the rotation. When we are healthy that's probably where she ends up. We just have too much talent to rely on Nika for more PT than any other player today. She played more minutes today than anyone. My concern is what happens when we play top competition? Her game inevitably is less impactful. And I'm not liking how she handled the offense today. Too much time screwing around 35 feet from the basket, picking up her dribble, not doing much to create good shots. When she tries to drive to the basket God help us. Least likely player on the court to create a scoring opportunity on the drive. Shooting .389 for 2 and .250 from 3 so far and 3.9 points a game. Is that helping us? I'd rather have Paige, Azzi, Caroline, CW and Evina. That makes Nika injury depth. Why do I even have to say it? She's a good player on a team of great players.

Funny that Geno disagrees with you on Nika, I guess the coach doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[jazz]

We won – not always pretty but we won! We grinded out a win on the road. I kind of like these types of games...more fun to watch...

First the bad: Ono was terrible. She can’t handle quickness and strength. She cost us 4 pts in a short stretch in Q1 bc she brings the ball down too low and missed her layups and FTs. Missed another layup in the third. Counting TOs, she cost us a lot of points and possessions. Tough matchup for her, but she seems to forget her fundamentals sometimes. How does CW miss that layup at half? Has anybody had a 17-0 run on Uconn? NM evened things out after an AA Q1 with a terrible Q2. Why didn’t a SR (CW or EW) step up in the second quarter when Depaul went on their 22-1 run? No answer for Morrow. She has some great quickness, size and anticipation. But, if we can’t deal with her, how are we to deal with SC’s bigs who are even bigger and there are several of them?

NM getting a taste of her own medicine against a player who plays as hard as she does and challenges everything…you could see it flustered NM at times. We still scored 80, but this also took us out of rhythm on offense several times. First time a team has done this to NM – she will need to handle this better going forward. Keep the dribble alive! NM constantly makes the mistake of going to the basket and then dragging her pivot foot when trying to stop and pass the ball. EW was ok but not assertive. AE can’t find herself. Just seems to be off everywhere.

The good: DJ made a big difference in the 3rd. Terrific game! NM had an AA type first quarter. She played well considering how much she was being harassed and she made shots…and her layups…seems not long ago, some were going to send her back to Croatia bc she was missing layups.

CW played really well and had a good game on defense as well. She can’t buy a midrange but she can certainly get to the rim. Good offensive game by in her first game back. CD was clutch when we needed it. We go to a freshman to win the game…I think that says it all really about who GA trusts to score.

The freshman - CD is playing faster. Seems like she is a junior already. She did miss an easy layup but then shows great hands once again for the 2 and she was fouled (not called). I keep forgetting to mention how impressive CD’s hands are. Sometimes passes to the post are not on target but CD gobbles them up anyway.

Terrific mi-range shot by ! Quick release on the threes. Uconn battled back in the third. I’ve noticed through the years, that Uconn has a propensity to lose the 3rd quarter against good teams, which I can’t understand, but not today. Outside shooting of made a huge difference. We should get used to teams selling out to stop the three from CD who passes to for a three or vice versa. Beautiful work!

Unfortunately, at this point is a liability on Defense at times– slow to close out and has a hard time keeping players in front of her. Same thing I saw before she went out with the injury. Only her first game back, but hopefully she can make improvements there like CD has. I remember CD being a defensive liability in her first several games of extended action, but now she seems to anticipate much better, even against quicker players. That said, CD’s lack of quickness on defense was exposed a few times in this game (as also evidenced by her 4 fouls) and this showed in the early 4th. GA will have to figure out how to hide this against quicker teams…maybe more zone. He has a similar issue with .

But one thing you can’t say enough, CD is a flat-out scorer…shoot the three, stop and pop, get to the rim, back door cuts, post-ups, floaters, get to the line. She does it all! I continue to be impressed with her growth from game to game. She has really improved leaps and bounds over the course of a month or two. I just worry about her defense.

Great offense by and it will get better. She will have a 30-point game this year. PB will make both CD and much better on offense than they already are.

CW may be one of the most explosive players in WBB. But she misses too many FTS (and three pointers). Great rebound by Ono at the end to get us a second possession and the layin by CW! I thought this was a turning point and then we had two horrible possessions. Terrible pass by . We had the game in the bag until this. doesn’t look comfortable taking the ball out. Why do we keep throwing it into Ono when it is obvious this is a problem for us? Good coaching by DePaul to spot our propensity to do this on the inbounds and then challenge it aggressively each time.

Two straight TOS after being up 3 with the ball and 50 secs left. We were lucky to win this one! Great play by CD against a quicker and stronger player to seal the win. She has a great feel for scoring the basketball.

A win is a win is a win, and this was a great win on the road, but GA has a lot to critique in the team’s film study!

 

[TeamFirst!]

Hartford Courant article on the game:

UConn women’s basketball rallies to beat DePaul 80-78 off Caroline Ducharme’s game-winner as Christyn Williams and Azzi Fudd make their returns

The No. 10 UConn women’s basketball team has had its share of inconsistency this season, including multiple fourth-quarter collapses that cost them games. But with two standout guards back in…

www.courant.com

 

[jazz]

Nika is a good player but we have a lot of good players. She started the season at number 8 or 9 in the rotation. When we are healthy that's probably where she ends up. We just have too much talent to rely on Nika for more PT than any other player today. She played more minutes today than anyone. My concern is what happens when we play top competition? Her game inevitably is less impactful. And I'm not liking how she handled the offense today. Too much time screwing around 35 feet from the basket, picking up her dribble, not doing much to create good shots. When she tries to drive to the basket God help us. Least likely player on the court to create a scoring opportunity on the drive. Shooting .389 for 2 and .250 from 3 so far and 3.9 points a game. Is that helping us? I'd rather have Paige, Azzi, Caroline, CW and Evina. That makes Nika injury depth. Why do I even have to say it? She's a good player on a team of great players.

you have some good points Team, but NM has become a fan favourite so it probably will not go down well. I think she was better than you give her credit today. Who else was going to run the offense? She did have a hard time dealing with pressure today, but she held up reasonably well...we still scored 80 and NM deserves some credit for that too. I do agree that when everybody is back, her minutes will probably drop to less than 10 in big games against some of the tougher competition. But that is only if the other players play great, in particular .

 

[Littlemin]

So you'd rather play Nika than Paige, Caroline, CW, Azzi and Evina. Got it. I rest my case. It's one thing to play well against Seton Hall and Xavier. It's a totally different situation against the top teams where you NEED more from that slot than 3.9 points a game and overall not great numbers. Nika had a really good game tonight and is a terrific person and is getting better recently. I'm happy for her. I hope she's fantastic the rest of this year and becomes Sue Bird but I'm playing Azzi, CW, Caroline, Paige and Evina more than I'm playing Nika unless something changes. It's nothing personal. It's about the team. They are a better team with better players on the floor. It's precisely why you make tough choices. It has nothing to do with whether you like a player or not. It's about the team being optimized for success. For one thing, I want Azzi on the floor for 30 minutes going forward and then what do you do when Paige comes back? Azzi looks healthy to me and adjusted to college ball. I was the one who said just a few days ago they should maybe go with 4 guards sometimes because they will have depth at guard. And what do they do the very next game? They went with 4 guards and Caroline at the 4 for around 15 minutes today. I guess that makes me a real dummy then doesn't it. I suggested they consider it and the very next game Geno does it. Guard will be a strength in a few weeks and may be already if Azzi is healthy. She was the #1 prospect in the country for a reason. It's for the good of the team. Azzi can knock down 3 pointers as well as anyone. Currently, at a .458 rate. We NEED that. She's shooting.500 for 2 pointers. This team needs that. It was a great game tonight by pretty much everyone. Let's keep the ball rolling forward.

No, I’d rather put the best TEAM on the court at any given time. If that includes Muhl, she should be on the court, if it doesn’t she shouldn’t, period, end of story. So far, last year and this, when healthy, Auriemma has very clearly thought that it does. Could that change, of course. But the best 5 players do not necessarily constitute your best team. And deciding who should get minutes by stats alone, IMO, is the province of people who don’t really understand the game.
And no, Nika is not getting better recently. She was the main reason the teams personality and persona changed last year and the team started playing better this year when she came back. Chemistry and intangibles count, if they didn’t we could just plug all the numbers into a computer, crunch them, let it decide the outcome, and not bother playing the games.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Connecticut Post:

Ducharme, No. 10 UConn top Morrow, DePaul 80-78

CHICAGO (AP) — UConn needed one more basket, and coach Geno Auriemma knew exactly where...

www.ctpost.com

 

[LETTERL]

This seemed like a game which was a shame not to be televised. I even checked out the WatchESPN app to see if it were available there. Was following along on the Warren Nolan scoreboard and it was thrilling to see the lead oscillate back and forth between the teams.

 

[TeamFirst!]

No, I’d rather put the best TEAM on the court at any given time. If that includes Muhl, she should be on the court, if it doesn’t she shouldn’t, period, end of story. So far, last year and this, when healthy, Auriemma has very clearly thought that it does. Could that change, of course. But the best 5 players do not necessarily constitute your best team. And deciding who should get minutes by stats alone, IMO, is the province of people who don’t really understand the game.
And no, Nika is not getting better recently. She was the main reason the teams personality and persona changed last year and the team started playing better this year when she came back. Chemistry and intangibles count, if they didn’t we could just plug all the numbers into a computer, crunch them, let it decide the outcome, and not bother playing the games.

I agree that the best TEAM is the way to go but we can disagree on what that is. I mean Nika no harm. Next year she will be even more important with Evina and CW gone. We need Nika now and we will need her even more then. Where would we be without Nika this year? Nika's a good player. I'm just noting that if everyone's healthy we need to adjust. Paige is gonna get PT and Caroline and CW and Azzi. If you have 6 guards and Paige, CW and Caroline are playing 35 minutes then there is not much time left over for the last 3 and I think Azzi needs to play. It's going to have to be addressed at some point if they are healthy. I confess to looking at metrics a lot in my analysis. I think they are very important. It's not a freaking popularity contest. It's about winning.

 

[cohenzone]

Can’t read through this whole thread so maybe someone has already said this, , but while everyone contributed, I’m pretty sure without Nika, the others would not have had nearly the chance to shine. She was THE principal ball handler and handled her role great. And Geno did a great job of reorganizing the troops after probably the worst quarter of basketball maybe any Geno team has played including in losses. Outside of that quarter, the team played fine. Edwards unfortunately is still struggling and Westbrook was secured to the bench during our final quarter. Go figure the younger players would be the glue.

DePaul as usual is really hard to play. Bruno is kind of the Andy Landers of the Big East. Good teams, stuck for most of his tenure being in a league with a great other program and for a while more than one, and never quite enough to be a national power (Georgia did sort of better at that at times. ). Someone on page 1 of the thread said they saw Morrow as a dirty player. To each their own, but I didn’t see her that way at all. She has great footwork, great instinct and great touch. Impressive as heck and I’m glad she wasn’t seriously injured. Just my view.

It was a great win for a team still trying to get the troops in order and the general will hopefully soon be back with the troops.

 

[Inthepaint]

Understatement of the year:
"We might see Azzi tonight"

 

[Childhood]

And how about AE and Evina? It seems that they have completely lost.

 

[BRS24]

Surprised that Geno didn't ask the refs to look at the video on that play. A flagrant would have given the ball back to UConn, effectively ending the game.

Time of play? We stream the game via the app so we cannot rewind (boo), so I'd like to see it on the replay vid posted

 

[BRS24]

On Evina-She is the player that is most affected by the absence of Paige, IMO. She is a great, great 5th option, utility player, but even with Nika running the point, it's just not the same for E. I really think that when Page comes back, the E we know will reappear.

As for ONO-I think she was legitimately surprised by Morrow's physicality, relentlessness, and borderline what I thought was dirty play. I am floored how much the refs let her get away with. She is ridiculous out there.

Before ONO fouled out, she looked at refs and asked something like, what the heck, look at my hair, and you know, she was right. Exactly how do you get hit in the head and your hair get really messed up and no foul?

 

[freshler40]

Azzi looked great though didn't she. One horrible pass but lots of solid plays. I would like to see her get 30 plus minutes. I think this was indicative of what she will give us. Real solid play overall. Few turnovers, great shooting and at least average defense overall. Making fewer mistakes would really help this team. I can't wait until Pige gets back because frankly, this team is loaded.

The horrible pass by Azzi should have gone to Nika but she was busy running to the opposite side of the court, not to the ball or just getting free in the backcourt. Strange sequence and a repeat of many times we had trouble putting the ball in play. This is a major fix that needs to happen quickly as other coaches will see this fault.
In the 2nd qtr we had too many players, with our small line-up, that didn't want the ball or turn their backs to it!!!!!

 

[powerplay]

Ducharme was Jimmy "I'll make it" Chitwood.

Love that movie

 

[JBBallfan]

First of all, I thought both Evina and AE were liabilities out there with turnovers, poor defense and lack of hustle. It is very upsetting especially because they were both better last year.

Morrow is a very strong and physical player but she had the benefit of very favorable refereeing and if you watch closely, she both fouls and walks and there were no calls. I think on an away or neutral court she can get into foul trouble easily. She is also undersized playing the 5 and against a strong player with height on her she will not fare as well. Liv was taken out of the game by her physicality tonight and she clearly is a very talented player.

DePaul fouls with great regularity in their guard play. They are very chippy and use body contact to slow progress forward which is by definition a foul. They didn't call a block until late in the game and DePaul was jumping into spaces without establishing vertical position but they were always charges at home. They won't be on the road.

I think the rotation has to be Azzi off the bench first if Dorka and Liv start with AE and Evina after. I am a big Evina fan but both she and AE were more effective last year. Hate to see it.

Finally, great to see Azzi show why she is Azzi. I was unaware of Morrow before tonight and it is clear that she is the probable FOY in the Big East and a probable First Team selection. Joining her on the Big East freshman team will be Caroline, who got the last laugh tonight.

Evian a liability? She’s the best one on one defender we have. Right now the only point guard we have as NM is not it. She’s a calming influence and sees the floor extremely well. Right now she seems to be lacking confidence. But NM is a complete liability. She cannot play defense, yes she will get steals against weak teams but last night she was blown by on a number of occasions. She is not strong in the ball and will play with her back to the basket - as a point guard you cannot do that. Also she was avoiding bringing up the ball at crunch time. Why do you think Depauls guards were all over her - they knew she was the weak link.

 

[Boreifs]

This seemed like a game which was a shame not to be televised. I even checked out the WatchESPN app to see if it were available there. Was following along on the Warren Nolan scoreboard and it was thrilling to see the lead oscillate back and forth between the teams.

It was televised, on SNY. It probably was also on the Fox app, but I didn’t need to check that out.