Game Thread, Baylor

[Replicant]

Disappointed of course, but the 5 point loss is exactly equal to home court advantage points. Should make for a great rematch on a neutral court going forward. Pretty tough to beat any top ten team when you're given 15 less FTAs.

Positives: HEATHER BUCK. I hope this was her gating point. No reason it can't be! Bria was amazing and fearless.

 

[Kevin G]

Despite losing I am very proud of our girls! Everyone played great and it was a great game.

I thought Mulkey's post game comments were classy and respectful.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Why was Geno blasting KML late in game? What did she do miss a pick?

 

[Enigma64]

Good Game.

 

[speedoo]

LOLOL.

I didn't say this team sucks - I said they choked a bit down the stretch, which they certainly did.

It's a semi-young team who's still trying to learn how to replace the best/second best player in school history. They'll learn from this.

But not everything can be sugarcoated, and tonight's game was an example of that.

They did not choke. Again, you have no clue.

 

[Olde Coach]

We should have stayed with what worked. Heather seems to be able to hold back Griner. I love Caroline but she wasn't quick enough for this game.

Ditto. CD missed her defensive responsibility on two three point shots. (Both of which Baylor made.) CD is a step slow. I don't think she took a shot all night. (She was too easy for the quick Baylor defenders to guard.) UConn didn't play very well at the start of the game and the start of the 2nd half. Things perked up when KML came in.

I'm Caroline's biggest fan; but I think it's time for KML to start.

 

[Gurleyman]

Just a guess, but perhaps she wasn't where she was supposed to be when we started pressing.

 

[uconn_nyc]

Well, I was hoping we could come out with a win, but Baylor is #1 for a reason. Nothing to be ashamed of. Take what you can from the game, learn from the mistakes. Wish Geno would have put Heather in for more of the second half. She played so well defensively.

Well said. Nothing to be ashamed of. I love the way Buck is rebounding and how she made BG work harder for her points.

 

[Olde Coach]

Well said. Nothing to be ashamed of. I love the way Buck is rebounding and how she made BG work harder for her points.

It was a great night for Heather!

 

[ASweet3781]

This loss may be disappointing but I am encouraged.

Baylor is clearly the best team in the country and we went down there in December and played them toe to toe woman to woman on their homecourt. I really thought there was a possiblity we could lose by double digits and have a poor performance. But we clearly showed we belong on the same court with them.

As both teams found out last year, it maybe better to lose a game in the regular season because you may meet that team down the road when it really counts. When both ran into Notre Dame and Texas A&M later in the NCAA's the revenge factor and basic percentages took over.

 

[uconn_nyc]

Heather should get more minutes during EVERY game. Her defense is there and with more playing time her offense could come around.

 

[UConnChapette]

Despite losing I am very proud of our girls! Everyone played great and it was a great game.

I thought Mulkey's post game comments were classy and respectful.

I have always found Kim to be classy and respectful all the time. No surprise there.

It was a great game, and an excellent game to represent the best of WCBB for a national broadcast.

We have been spoiled and it is not the end of the world that we lost. Yeah, losing hurts no matter when or to who. But the team played the best they could against a very good team. Tough to get points from the free throw line when you are relying so much on perimeter shots. When we did drive to the basket, Griner was there to swat it away.

May not be the last loss of the year. But there won't be many of them. I can live with that.

 

[UConnCat]

Why was Geno blasting KML late in game? What did she do miss a pick?

According to Doris (on sportscenter), she passed up an open shot. Doris said Geno wants to make sure she doesn't do that in March.

 

[speedoo]

This loss may be disappointing but I am encouraged.

Baylor is clearly the best team in the country and we went down there in December and played them toe to toe woman to woman on their homecourt. I really thought there was a possiblity we could lose by double digits and have a poor performance. But we clearly showed we belong on the same court with them.

As both teams found out last year, it maybe better to lose a game in the regular season because you may meet that team down the road when it really counts. When both ran into Notre Dame and Texas A&M later in the NCAA's the revenge factor and basic percentages took over.

Thanks for a sane post. Which I agree with. But I can't agree with some of the second guessing that goes on in these game threads when UConn is in a tough game.

 

[speedoo]

According to Doris (on sportscenter), she passed up an open shot. Doris said Geno wants to make sure she doesn't do that in March.

Yeah, I think it was just before that Bria three that Griner blocked. Kaleena had a shot but she passed it to Bria instead, and Griner had plenty of time to get out for the block. Even though she had been missing and Bria was hitting, Kaleena should have taken the shot in that situation.

 

[Cafe Poliziano]

We lost this game when Geno pulled Buck out toward the end and throughout the game, Dolsen was thoroughly ineffective against Griner and should have been off the court for the vast majority of the game, Geno screwed the pooch on this one, but its not the first time. That and like one (1) shooting foul against Baylor the whole game , Really? 3 free-throw shots vs 18 for Baylor, Really ?? And someone on this board is going to say this is an honest outcome...

 

[UConnChapette]

We lost this game when Geno pulled Buck out toward the end and throughout the game, Dolsen was thoroughly ineffective against Griner and should have been off the court for the vast majority of the game, Geno screwed the pooch on this one, but its not the first time. That and like one (1) shooting foul against Baylor the whole game , Really? 3 free-throw shots vs 18 for Baylor, Really ?? And someone on this board is going to say this is an honest outcome...

When you settle for mostly perimeter shots because the 6'8" Griner swats everything that gets close inside...yeah, that is an honest outcome. Just sayin...

And while Heather did play tough D on Griner, we also need to score points. Heather doesn't do that for us at this point. It is a tough balance.

 

[easttexastrash]

I have to ask, did Baylor look tired as it was repeatedly predicted that they would? Did they turn the ball over any more than UCONN? Did BG look slow, lazy and out of shape?

 

[cferraro04]

I think our girls played great especially since they were playing the number 1 team in the country on their home court. Coming off exams there was no rust...they moved the ball well and were smoking from three early. They had difficulty sustaining the three in the second half but the law of averages catches up with everyone. Griner was tough...as expected. I said she would get 25 and 12...so she got 25 and 10 and 9 rebounds to go with that...you can't stop her so you have to stop everyone else...outside of Sims our girls did that...Baylor only scored 66 points...that's some defense there. We should be proud of our women they played well...Bria, Kelly, Heather, Tiffany and KML did their job. Dolson may have gotten a wake-up call. She will have to use her body more effectively under the basket. Knowing Dolson from watching her remake herself last year after Samarie left the program...I believe she will internalize this game and she will use it to improve... Kiah...really needs to come along a little faster if she is going to help us later in the season. Outside of KML, our bench was non-existent today...Geno didn't feel confident to put them in the game...they need to gain Geno's confidence during practice because we will need them in March. We have to get better at drawing fouls and getting to the line...we only got to the line two times in the entire game...and I don't think the officiating was that bad...there were a few bad calls both ways...but for the most part UConn did not do enough to get themselves to the line.

 

[cferraro04]

I have to ask, did Baylor look tired as it was repeatedly predicted that they would? Did they turn the ball over any more than UCONN? Did BG look slow, lazy and out of shape?

No, Baylor is a well conditioned team...

 

[speedoo]

I have to ask, did Baylor look tired as it was repeatedly predicted that they would? Did they turn the ball over any more than UCONN? Did BG look slow, lazy and out of shape?

? Who made those predictions?

 

[speedoo]

I think our girls played great especially since they were playing the number 1 team in the country on their home court. Coming off exams there was no rust...they moved the ball well and were smoking from three early. They had difficulty sustaining the three in the second half but the law of averages catches up with everyone. Griner was tough...as expected. I said she would get 25 and 12...so she got 25 and 10 and 9 rebounds to go with that...you can't stop her so you have to stop everyone else...outside of Sims our girls did that...Baylor only scored 66 points...that's some defense there. We should be proud of our women they played well...Bria, Kelly, Heather, Tiffany and KML did their job. Dolson may have gotten a wake-up call. She will have to use her body more effectively under the basket. Knowing Dolson from watching her remake herself last year after Samarie left the program...I believe she will internalize this game and she will use it to improve... Kiah...really needs to come along a little faster if she is going to help us later in the season. Outside of KML, our bench was non-existent today...Geno didn't feel confident to put them in the game...they need to gain Geno's confidence during practice because we will need them in March. We have to get better at drawing fouls and getting to the line...we only got to the line two times in the entire game...and I don't think the officiating was that bad...there were a few bad calls both ways...but for the most part UConn did not do enough to get themselves to the line.

So Buck was non-existent?

 

[MilfordHusky]

We were on the short end of a 27-11 run to end the game. We hit a scoring drought and gave up 27 points in 7+ minutes. Very uncharacteristic. We proved we can play with Baylor. We need to take the next step.

 

[ASweet3781]

In defense of our team, Baylor has put that type of run on EVERYONE in the 2nd half. UCLA, Notre Dame, Tennessee, St. John's. That's the advantage of having the best player in the country on your team.

Hopefully now that we have faced it we will be better prepared to deal with it if we face them again when it counts for real.

 

[speedoo]

We were on the short end of a 27-11 run to end the game. We hit a scoring drought and gave up 27 points in 7+ minutes. Very uncharacteristic. We proved we can play with Baylor. We need to take the next step.

The good news is, the team has plenty of time and opportunity to correct the mistakes that were made during that run.

 

[CCinCT]

Geez, the announcer sure gets excited when Baylor scores...

OK - SO I'm not the only one who noticed that - I really hate it when a supposed professional raises the decibel level in favor of one team over another. I believe Joe Buck is a prime example in sports announcing.

 

[cferraro04]

So Buck was non-existent?

Really Speedo...give it a rest...of course, Buck did a great job on the defensive end...you would have to be blind to not to see it. I inadvertently neglected to mention her in my bench statement. I guess you missed this statement...We should be proud of our women they played well...Bria, Kelly, Heather, Tiffany and KML did their job.

 

[Cafe Poliziano]

When you settle for mostly perimeter shots because the 6'8" Griner swats everything that gets close inside...yeah, that is an honest outcome. Just sayin...

And while Heather did play tough D on Griner, we also need to score points. Heather doesn't do that for us at this point. It is a tough balance.

Not that tuff of a call in this circumstance, Griner went through Dolsen like a hot knife through butter all game long, that and Dolsens scoring was minor as compared to her lack of ability to slow Griner down, it made her a bigger liability during the game than Heather not scoring, that much was quite obvious. At least Heather slowed down Griners offense in a measurable fashion.

 

[easttexastrash]

? Who made those predictions?

LOL. Surely you're joking. It was predicted in almost every thread that UCONN's press would wear Baylor down.

 

[UConnCat]

? Who made those predictions?

It was exactly one poster on this board who made that prediction and I think Easttexas knows who it is. The poster was wrong and was told as much. Griner proved as much tonight. Hopefully that'll be the end of the discussion but somehow I doubt it.