Geno on Next Year's Roster - Interesting Comments RE: Liv

[phil sampieri]

Great article indeed. This was a great end to the article:

Auriemma toyed with the idea of extending the Huskies’ style of play during the season, going more full court, but decided against it. Westbrook, who announced after the Final Four that she will return for her final season of eligibility, wasn’t 100 percent for much of the season after missing the summer while recovering from knee surgery. Also, Anna Makurat, the sophomore guard who has announced plans to transfer, missed 13 games with a stress fracture in her leg.

“Next year,” Auriemma said. “I won't have that problem. I hope. We're going to have an opportunity to play differently.”

So he's already planning a more active and intense defense starting when the opponents inbound the ball. That will be so fun to watch.

And in a way, gauntlet thrown for Liv. Add to her game and fix the thing she needs to fix. To me that means a baby hook. and continue to work on getting stronger. Not sure what Geno means, but I have no doubt he discussed it with Liv.

Add in Juhasz as a post player and Liv may well be pushed out. No more missed bunnies and scoring 5 points in a game. Produce, or someone else will replace you. Can Liv do it? Absolutely. Will she? We will see!!

You hit the nail on the head baby hook, more arc on her foul shots and for me release her layups at the height of her leap .I think this young lady
knows what she needs to do. Look how much she improved her shot blocking and rebounding.

 

[DEpup]

So I gotta add my 2 cents since one of my posts was used in the defending Liv string.

I actually think Liv did a great defensive job against Baylor and was mentally and or physically spent for AZ.

If Liv was a freshman or even sophomore, I would be right there with you all and have been there in the past.

However, as a junior knowing you are playing for the best program ever where pressure is a privilege and have a freshman backing you up, in big games you gotta put the big girl pants on and get at least 10 pts to go with the assists and rebounds. It is what it is. No apologies.

Truth be told, Aaliyah also lost her nerve as the tournament went on but she was a freshman so it's somewhat expected. If you are a coach, you gotta be able to depend on your upperclassmen to have your back and also realize the freshman will need support and go out and take care of business in big games. I thought Chrystin really did her part in the tournament. With Dorka, Geno is not only sending a message to Liv but also doing his job and trying to find the front court upperclassman he can depend on in big games. If this move leads to both of them being that person then he'll be laughing all the way to a championship as the crazy like a fox button pusher that he is.

Its not nice, pretty, or fair but it's UConn and I reiterate where pressure is a privilege.

 

[FanFromMaine]

So I gotta add my 2 cents since one of my posts was used in the defending Liv string.

I actually think Liv did a great defensive job against Baylor and was mentally and or physically spent for AZ.

If Liv was a freshman or even sophomore, I would be right there with you all and have been there in the past.

However, as a junior knowing you are playing for the best program ever where pressure is a privilege and have a freshman backing you up, in big games you gotta put the big girl pants on and get at least 10 pts to go with the assists and rebounds. It is what it is. No apologies.

Truth be told, Aaliyah also lost her nerve as the tournament went on but she was a freshman so it's somewhat expected. If you are a coach, you gotta be able to depend on your upperclassmen to have your back and also realize the freshman will need support and go out and take care of business in big games. I thought Chrystin really did her part in the tournament. With Dorka, Geno is not only sending a message to Liv but also doing his job and trying to find the front court upperclassman he can depend on in big games. If this move leads to both of them being that person then he'll be laughing all the way to a championship as the crazy like a fox button pusher that he is.

Its not nice, pretty, or fair but it's UConn and I reiterate where pressure is a privilege.

About a third of the way into the season, Geno moved Liv to the high post more often. IMHO it was a good idea as, to me, Liv will never be a great back-to-basket player.

So it was disappointing but not surprising to see Liv so sped up in the Baylor game. She doesn’t yet have the reps evidently to act without thinking. Hopefully, Liv can learn that position more in the coming season because it appears to me where she can have the best success at UConn and in the pros.

 

[Monty]

I really liked this year's team. I loved watching their progress. They started to move the ball and find the open "person". but that seemed to dissipate a little in the later games. yes, I know the defense was tougher but....
I must say I liked Arizona's very crisp passing that was a hallmark of UCONN in the past. JIMO
Ok, I am an old "TEAM" offense/defense kind of guy you loved to watch Bradley and Havilcek (knicks and celtics... find the open man...person) chase each other around and that is why I watch women's college basketball today and the Huskies style!!!
Oh, I am so looking forward to next year Kick butt (I can't say the other word) Go Huskies!

 

[UcMiami]

So I gotta add my 2 cents since one of my posts was used in the defending Liv string.

I actually think Liv did a great defensive job against Baylor and was mentally and or physically spent for AZ.

If Liv was a freshman or even sophomore, I would be right there with you all and have been there in the past.

However, as a junior knowing you are playing for the best program ever where pressure is a privilege and have a freshman backing you up, in big games you gotta put the big girl pants on and get at least 10 pts to go with the assists and rebounds. It is what it is. No apologies.

Truth be told, Aaliyah also lost her nerve as the tournament went on but she was a freshman so it's somewhat expected. If you are a coach, you gotta be able to depend on your upperclassmen to have your back and also realize the freshman will need support and go out and take care of business in big games. I thought Chrystin really did her part in the tournament. With Dorka, Geno is not only sending a message to Liv but also doing his job and trying to find the front court upperclassman he can depend on in big games. If this move leads to both of them being that person then he'll be laughing all the way to a championship as the crazy like a fox button pusher that he is.

Its not nice, pretty, or fair but it's UConn and I reiterate where pressure is a privilege.

I know ONO is a Junior and Uconn always plays in the Regionals and FF, but do you actual realize how many minutes ONO has played in regional games and the FF? 2019 as a freshman she played 21 total minutes in S16 and E8 games with a stat line of 1-2 shooting and 2 pts, 2 PF, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. She was the only player to see minutes off the bench. In the one FF game she had 15 minutes, shot 2-4 for 4 points and 5 rebounds, 1 PF and 1 block. And she only played those minutes because Megan Walker was picking up 4 fouls. Christyn Williams her classmate played 118 minutes in those three games scoring 49 pts. She actually has experience.

And of course neither played an NCAA in 2020. ONO may be a junior, but she doesn't actually have much experience preparing or playing in NCAA tournaments, having been the only alternative on Uconn's bench for a player in foul trouble in her freshman year. When fouls weren't an issue in those critical games (all decided by single digits) the starters all played 40 minutes.

 

[CocoHusky]

I know ONO is a Junior and Uconn always plays in the Regionals and FF, but do you actual realize how many minutes ONO has played in regional games and the FF? 2019 as a freshman she played 21 total minutes in S16 and E8 games with a stat line of 1-2 shooting and 2 pts, 2 PF, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. She was the only player to see minutes off the bench. In the one FF game she had 15 minutes, shot 2-4 for 4 points and 5 rebounds, 1 PF and 1 block. And she only played those minutes because Megan Walker was picking up 4 fouls. Christyn Williams her classmate played 118 minutes in those three games scoring 49 pts. She actually has experience.

And of course neither played an NCAA in 2020. ONO may be a junior, but she doesn't actually have much experience preparing or playing in NCAA tournaments, having been the only alternative on Uconn's bench for a player in foul trouble in her freshman year. When fouls weren't an issue in those critical games (all decided by single digits) the starters all played 40 minutes.

21 minutes of tournament experience sure doesn't sound like a lot of experience until you compare it to zero which was the total amount of experience that the Arizona players had. ONO is also a junior and had played in plenty of big games for UCONN so that nerves should not have been an issue.

 

[warbler1055]

I hope we can all agree that ONO is a very good teammate and has a very nice personality. One only have to look at her during huddle and/or timeouts. As UCMiami so eloquently put it, it was a team loss because of defense and rebounding and other things. But it was offence that lost the AZ game. Unhappily ONO was a big part of that. May be she will fix what she knows must be fixed this year.