ECU Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the ECU game:

• Any win is a good win. Clearly, ECU is not a good team, so I will temper my enthusiasm somewhat while pointing out some things that were nice to see in this game.
• I’m not sure who was wearing #13 for UConn, but she reminded me a lot of that kid Williams who played last year as a freshman. Christyn was shooting the ball a little flat in prior games. Today her mechanics looked much better.
• Good to see Evelyn provide some quality minutes.
• ASSIST OF THE SEASON!!! Anna’s backwards, up in the air, behind the back feed to a streaking Christyn. Please may I have some Polish mustard on my hotdog?
• Once again Geno starts the two freshmen in the second half. Both play well, and once again UConn goes on a run to start the 3rd qtr. Trend?
• Anna was so hot shooting the ball, someone should have called the fire department on her. When she gets in that zone, there is most definitely a KLS quality about her.
• Kyla starting over Anna or Aubrey will continue to generate discussion. Here’s my take. Geno believes he gets better minutes from the freshmen off the bench right now, and he’s not confident how they will react as starters. In addition, if Geno starts either freshman, he basically has a 6-player rotation in big games. That may ultimately be where UConn ends up, but for now, starting Kyla extends UConn’s bench to at least 7.

 

[Kaizen]

If Geno let CW play sold 40 mins she will have 45 - 50 points today.
Anna is 8 - 10 from 3 pts, solid 24 pts.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The whole Kyla starting thing is moot. She's a starter in name only, and for the second game in a row did not start the second half. She starts the game, then at the first stoppage, whether that's three or five minutes in, she is replaced by Anna. Kyla is having her minutes taken by Anna and Aubrey, and rightfully so.

 

[msf22b]

IF (let me repeat) if...
Folks weren't passing to Anna

They're passing to her now...

 

[msf22b]

The whole Kyla starting thing is moot. She's a starter in name only, and for the second game in a row did not start the second half. She starts the game, then at the first stoppage, whether that's three or five minutes in, she is replaced by Anna. Kyla is having her minutes taken by Anna and Aubrey, and rightfully so.

It's like what Geno did with Caroline Doty.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

The 2 Freshman were again OUTSTANDING !!!

 

[victor64]

From the "cup half empty department", Liv continues to get the consequences of unsatisfactory play. Geno will challenge your mental toughness. No doubt about that.

 

[Kaizen]

Aubrey has 12 pts, 8 rebs and 5 asts. So proud of our freshmen ...

 

[Blakeon18]

To a lesser degree: similar situation in big games with Pam Weber and off the bench Nykesha Sales.

 

[oldude]

From the "cup half empty department", Liv continues to get the consequences of unsatisfactory play. Geno will challenge your mental toughness. No doubt about that.

She continues to be an enigma.

 

[hoopsfan22]

It's like what Geno did with Caroline Doty.

Yep my thoughts exactly. Doty starts, Bria comes in after a couple of minutes.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Anna was in a preChristmas malaise....No more. 8 for 10 from 3! That's the stroke I remember. One blemish on the stat sheet: 5 TOs. Interesting tid bit in Bob Joyce interview: How did she learn about UConn? She started following DT as a pro and dug into her background and found UConn.

 

[Carnac]

IF (let me repeat) if...
Folks weren't passing to Anna

They're passing to her now...

Uh, yeah. Anna has been looking for her "stroke" since she arrived here form Poland. She knew she brought it with her. She's finally found it. She definitely was in sync today. She knew the ball was going in when it left her hands.

 

[Dokey]

Hail, hail, the gang’s all here. Anna, Aubrey, Chriystn, Meg, Crystal.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Another fun game!!!! Anna was definitely LOU"ish"today with a spiffy behind the back pass to CW. Welcome back to the offense CW. Imagine if Aubrey made all her layups. WOW!! Only down side was Liv. Her body language when she returned in the 4th qtr was not good. No fire burning today

 

[huskeynut]

Some positive points:

Kyla starts and UConn has a solid 7 player rotation. No need to change up.

Anna going 8 - 10 from 3 point land. This is huge. Her comfort level is showing. Anna is showing she has a very compete game.

Aubrey was Aubrey. She will get better.

Evelyn with very good minutes. Loved her catch & shoot for a 3 from the corner. Major development.

Liked the way the team got aggressive against ECU's press. UConn showed they can play physical ball. Good offense flow. 28 assists on 37 buckets is excellent. Two games in a row were defensive is generating offense. Lots of fast break points.

One negative - Liv with another not so good game. She will play through this and be stronger and better.

 

[UConn2SF]

From the "cup half empty department", Liv continues to get the consequences of unsatisfactory play. Geno will challenge your mental toughness. No doubt about that.

Still, I cannt help but feel bad for her. Long-term itll pay off but gotta be a short-term hit to her confidence.

 

[EasyEd]

She continues to be an enigma.

I expected a more mature Olivia after her summer experience. And I know bigs take longer to develop than guard/wing players, but she needs to start playing closer to her potential if we expect to go far in the tournament this year.

 

[jabstep]

Defense Defense Defense. Shooting comes and goes. Hustle was again there today. Desire to battle and win are some of the consistent things by this team. Love the effort keep it up, girls.

 

[oldude]

I expected a more mature Olivia after her summer experience. And I know bigs take longer to develop than guard/wing players, but she needs to start playing closer to her potential if we expect to go far in the tournament this year.

Liv is going through something that Tina Charles once did. With all her ability, Tina was one of the most frustrating Bigs that Geno ever coached through her sophomore season. She would have periods of great play and then she would disappear for large periods of the game. It all came together for Tina in her junior season. I continue to hope that it all clicks for Liv this season, but it may just take longer with LIv. Unfortunately, UConn's ultimate performance in the Big Dance this season will depend on how well Liv performs.

 

[pghhuskydoc]

She continues to be an enigma.

The thing I(we) forget about Liv is that she’s a sophomore. Many post players take 3-4 years to develop.

 

[Dokey]

Some positive points:

Kyla starts and UConn has a solid 7 player rotation. No need to change up.

Anna going 8 - 10 from 3 point land. This is huge. Her comfort level is showing. Anna is showing she has a very compete game.

Aubrey was Aubrey. She will get better.

Evelyn with very good minutes. Loved her catch & shoot for a 3 from the corner. Major development.

Liked the way the team got aggressive against ECU's press. UConn showed they can play physical ball. Good offense flow. 28 assists on 37 buckets is excellent. Two games in a row were defensive is generating offense. Lots of fast break points.

One negative - Liv with another not so good game. She will play through this and be stronger and better.

Anna has been the starter past few games—she’s just slow getting off the bench.

 

[veryolddog]

I am glad for the Freshman. Good that we have them. Good that they play with enthusiasm and vigor. Good that they make a difference. Elizabeth helped out as well. Good. I am glad that UConn women do not have to play ECU next year. They need to be challenged as much as possible in every game and earn their victories.

 

[Charliebball]

Liv is going through something that Tina Charles once did. With all her ability, Tina was one of the most frustrating Bigs that Geno ever coached through her sophomore season. She would have periods of great play and then she would disappear for large periods of the game. It all came together for Tina in her junior season. I continue to hope that it all clicks for Liv this season, but it may just take longer with LIv. Unfortunately, UConn's ultimate performance in the Big Dance this season will depend on how well Liv performs.

these quick fouls whether legit or not are putting a damper on her playing time...............unless she is dogging it I think Geno has to give her more minutes with the starters where they try to get her the ball as a second or third option............today's game was maybe a bit chippy and aggressive for her to be effective at the high post so they might positioned her down low where ECU had no answer for her height or ability............that said I was happy to see Evelyn have another solid effort coming off the bench

 

[Carnac]

I expected a more mature Olivia after her summer experience. And I know bigs take longer to develop than guard/wing players, but she needs to start playing closer to her potential if we expect to go far in the tournament this year.

Me too. Next year, I expect her to have put on more muscle over the summer, as it should be obvious to her by now that she needs to bulk up a bit to be able to wrestle (and hold her own) against the elite BIGS she's going to encounter in March. I also fully expect her to have a "junior year" leap similar to which Megan had this year. I'm talking about getting noticeably bigger (arms and shoulders)

She also has to abandon that fly swatting technique she still uses. THAT is imperative!!! The only thing that technique will get her is time more on the bench. I'm really surprised that the coaching staff has been unable to break her of that habit this far into her development. She won't stop doing that until she is convinced that she can effectively block shots without fly swatting. She's got to be made to understand that THAT technique does not and will not work for her long term. It will only send her to the bench in the first quarter.

6-5 Piath Gabriel will be on the roster, but it has been said that she will be a project for some time, and will probably not be ready to seriously back-up ONO until mid-January. So what do you do in the mean time when UConn plays all of its toughest competition during the first 2 months of the season?