Fear of Failure

[Tonyc]

After what happened in the Michigan game Im looking for some changes today. This should be a game where we see a more balanced offense. More players taking shots. Im really looking forward to Allie getting going. With that point everybody needs to get their offense going. Poise is very important. Poise being, stop set and shoot. Dont think about it Poise is nothing more then executing your routine. I feel the reason we are not taking shots is because of the fear of missing them. We need to look for our shot and take it. The more shots we miss the more we learn how not to do it and about what we're doing wrong. We cant shoot if we have the fear of missing the shot. Ive learned when you fear something in sports do it more until you figure it out and then keep doing it until you build your confidence to the point where you dont fear it anymore. In golf I had a friend who everytime he got to the 17th hole he would hit it left into the woods. Finally one afternoon he was standing on the tee and said every time I get to this hole I hit it in the woods. He stepped up to the tee and hit it into the woods. He did exactly what he thought. His mind did exactly what he was thinking. He told his mind he was going to hit it into the woods and his body did it. So I said wait a minute. I dropped 10 old balls down and said hit these and stop worrying about where they go. After hitting 5 balls he hit one down the middle. His attitude changed. He believed. He worked it out. He made changes.

I feel part of the reason we fail is because we think we will fail. We need to know we can do it. We have to believe we can do it. We have to visually see it first. We become focused on making a shot and not missing. Just like Swords in the Michigan game. She missed some shots early on and then started knocking down every shot she took. Her focus changed. She was looking for her shot because time was running out. Making a couple of shots made her believe. Making a couple of shots changed her attitude and her belief. She just starting taking shots and not thinking about missing them instead thought about making them. She was focused on scoring and figuring out how to score.

I would like to see UConn do that in todays game. I will end with this. There are two types of people in the world.....those who think they can and those who think they cant and their both right

 

[Centerstream]

I am interested in seeing if Utah uses more zone defenses, if capable, against us...so we won't fear seeing them in future games.

 

[FanSince17]

I actually think overall we are playing too fast, or as Wooden described “in too big of a hurry”. I’m not advocating slow, just not as “frantic”. Even defensively.
I think Friday, it even affected Azzi and Sarah. Sarah got sped up a couple of times and Azzi missed a few easy shots. IMO the pace is definitely affecting Blanca, Ash, and Sarah among others.
A pace like last year’s.
I think he may be stressing this pace because he may not have felt that the team could replace Paige as the “conductor”. I think Sarah and Azzi have been doing a ton to replace Paige.
Now we need to get the rest of the team in sync.
If this was a band, we’d be hearing a few squeaks and missed beats.

 

[EricLA]

I'm not sure of the point here. On what planet do you think the players had a "fear of failure" vs. Michigan? I hardly think there is ANY advice a BY'er could give the players that is better than what the best coaching staff in the world could give. And no offense, but how do you know what Swords was thinking during the game? Great shooters practice a TON, as you yourself know being a great golfer, and they think EVERY shot is going in. Their belief doesn't suddenly change during a game.

Even freshman Blanca, when asked by Geno "do you really think that was a good shot you took", her answer was "I took the shot, so it was a good one". Not lacking for confidence, that one. Gonna be fun to see her develop!😁

 

[Ozimoto]

I don't think Friday night was a fear of failure. I think it was more of a case of "We're up by twenty at the half. This one is in the bag." Similar to the Louisville game. Michigan is a good team and will make noise in the B1G.

To their credit, the Huskies didn't fold and collapse against Michigan after "getting punched in the mouth." Big shots were made when needed and the defense tightened up in the fourth quarter. Yes, Michigan scored, but they had to work a lot harder to get their points compared to the third quarter.

The most important lesson to be learned from that game is that against better teams they need to play four complete quarters, not two.