Geno v Cori | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Geno v Cori

Zonepress said:
there was a play in the 2nd half when azzi cut to the basket without the ball and Kiki rice left guarding Sara and followed Azzi
it left Sara wide open and she made the 3
cannot believe that was the coaches stratrgy
The game was already over, but that play sure got my attention
Expand ...
some of us really do believe that Close DID tell them to double-team Azzi.
 
When the bulk of your offensive execution is to throw the ball down low, it makes playing defense a bit easier. I'd have to go back and look, but I don't recall Betts throwing the ball back outside once she was swarmed by the defense.
 
LwrcasefaN said:
The pacing is just one of my personal problems (lol). Hope my wife doesn’t read this. There are different levels to it, but in any case it can unsettle players. Close’s pacing seems to be nerves, whereas Mulkey’s pacing is just what drama queens do and what hype’s up other drama queens. lol. At least Close restricts her performance to the coach’s box unlike Mulkey who thinks the court is her personal runway.

Expand ...

She double F bombed the ref? How did she not get teed up for that?
 
hookshot said:
Chen is really solid and Jana is slowly developîng with a long way to go but surely ́neither was / is top 10 anythîng, nor do they need to be. ND arguably, top to bottom, had at least equal talent / experience but they unraveled. So, Geno and his coachîg team must be credited for developing a 9 deep rotation whose combîned talent masked the lack of a dominant point guard and post
Expand ...
I believe Jana was blessed by revitalization following her fasting. Her energy levels were off the charts yesterday. Now, we will see whether consistency will stick for two games in a row.

So much for the question of not scoring at the 5 spot. Do we include just Jana, Ice & Aubrey (6+5+2 =13)? 13 is better than Stokes's average in the FF. That 3/4 fronting scheme worked amazingly to create turnovers! Yes, Betts got her 26 pts, but two of the starters did NOT score as they were concentrating on getting the ball to Betts and NOTHING else. When it was time for them to shoot they had no rhythm (like a breadstick (family joke :D)).

Tomorrow looks like an "Everybody eats day!" The Big 3: 15 - 25 pts, two more with 8 - 12 pts, and the rest all score 2 - 6 pts. Defense so dialed in that USC (East) scores 5 points below their NCAA round 2 - FF average, even though they play well.

Paige collects the Wooden award & Honda trophy, and for the first time a tie for the MOP on the UConn side (not saying whom), but one of them will be in the "W" soon.

Go Huskies!!! Win #12 while defeating your 18th #1 seed in the tournament!!!
 
Cornell Lt said:
When the bulk of your offensive execution is to throw the ball down low, it makes playing defense a bit easier. I'd have to go back and look, but I don't recall Betts throwing the ball back outside once she was swarmed by the defense.
Expand ...
I think Betts was used to beating double & triple teams during the season, and being able to shove her way through without giving up an offensive foul, but was collecting "& ones" even though she was not so sharp at converting the free throw. Betts is very good at keeping the ball up above her head and scoring from inside 4 feet, but she was not aware that Jana was going to be able to mix it up by jumping to tip the incoming pass, and then be an immovable object as a redshirt Freshman.

While fasting the previous weekend, Jana was not as fast or able to hang onto the ball after rebounds. If Betts only watched the previous weekend film, Jana was completely different in person for last night's game. I also think Coach Close (also did not watch film other than last weekend's) was not able to help her team to adjust to the "fully fueled" and focused Jana who wore Betts down, which also made the job easier for ICE, Aubrey, and Sarah in the second half. I believe 22+ minutes was the longest that Jana was on the court in the post-season, and I expect good things from Jana tomorrow to show Geno that she can be trusted to be consistent to start next year correctly, and may be part of the "Big 3" for next year (at least alternating into the "Big 3" results on a continuing basis).

Jana's positive & consistent performances next year will also allow Gandy to ease into the rotation next year. Maybe Jana can get Paige to be her "Chef" for early morning breakfasts next year... :cool::D:cool:

Go Huskies!!! Win #12 tomorrow!!!
 
Zonepress said:
sure double team when she has the ball but double team on a cut to the basket?
Expand ...
yes, 'cause they felt she was so hot that her fellow players would feed the ball for a layup or a short jumper.
 
I'm late to the party on this thread but my $.02.

Geno had a game plan. Post player push Betts as far out of the lane as possible. As soon as she gets the ball AND STARTS HER MOVE TO THE BASKET, bring a double or even triple team. Knowing she'd pass the ball out, be ready to instantly sprint out to the 3 point shooter.

Sometimes full court press, sometimes denying Kiki the ball, switching on every screen if needed, and play defense like that one possession will decide the outcome of the game.

What you saw was exactly that. There were at least 3-4 plays where UConn did not bring help side defense, or Betts was just to quick, and she scored on EVERY PLAY. But the problem was when she passed the ball out, the UConn player was either already there, or closing out so fast, the 3 point shooter had to give up the ball. And UCLA had zero back up game plan. We did it over and over and over again - Betts got her 26, and the rest of the team scored 25 all together.

UCLA shot 4-16 from 3. Many of the 3's were airballs and missed everything. I think my thought on Close being outcoached is that she had literally no plan B, and when asked about it in Q3, rambled something about needing to play "more together". Really? That's all you got??

I also think UConn threw a lot of defensive looks at them - to my eyes, the zone was the most effective, but all the switches threw them off too. I think Geno's defensive game plan was brilliant.

On the offensive side, credit to them. They made adjustments and Azzi barely scored in H2, if at all. Paige's shot was off, but they had no answer for Sarah. And BTW we "only" jacked up 16 3's. Out of 60 shots. The midrange game was ON POINT and I think this was a brilliant example of UConn's motion offense creating open looks for a lot of players.

And the job that Jana and Ice did not only on Betts, but also their own scoring, was just awesome. Our post players had 11 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. To be fair most of that was Jana, but still, I'll take that every day and twice (hopefully) this Sunday LOL.

Our bench played a legit 50 minutes and Paige and Azzi only played 31 each. It was a complete team effort.
 
The game wasn't about what Close didn't do, but Geno's plan to push tempo was very effective. Truth is, there was also a huge talent disparity, and the same is true regarding experience.
 
Dublin said:
yes, 'cause they felt she was so hot that her fellow players would feed the ball for a layup or a short jumper.
Expand ...
you miss the point you double from off the ball
other than is high school when i’ve seen a player
doubled without the ball have never seen this on the college level
perhaps I wasn’t clear
this has to be a player error not a coaching strategy
 
I believe that Uconn was just too good vs UCLA. UCLA could of played their most perfect and best basketball game in program history, but yesterday's outcome would of been the same. Uconn is on another level in this tournament and no team has looked or played like Uconn as of yet.
 
Reposting this for reference: I really appreciated the self-reflection and props given to UConn. Some of the analysis she made about "body language" echoes Geno's "You ain't gonna play if your body language sucks." comment.
 
Not sure if the best coaches in WBB could have strategized to beat UCONN last night. The Huskies had too many weapons at the top of their game.
When UCONN was defeating South Carolina this season, Ashlynn Shade hit a long three pointer. The camera panned to Dawn Staley, who had a resigned look that said, "We can't double team EVERYBODY."
The next possession, Kaitlyn Chen hit another 3 pointer. If Dawn had a white flag, she would have waved it.
 
Cornell Lt said:
When the bulk of your offensive execution is to throw the ball down low, it makes playing defense a bit easier. I'd have to go back and look, but I don't recall Betts throwing the ball back outside once she was swarmed by the defense.
Expand ...
She did
 
TheFarmFan said:
I mean, UConn starts three number one recruits (Bueckers, Fudd, and Strong), Jana would probably be at least a top 10 if she had been American, and Chen is easily one of the 5-10 best PGs in the country. Apart from Betts and Rice, the UCLA starters are very good recruits but not the top of their classes.

While I totally agree Geno out outcoached Cori, I think UConn has the most talented starting 5 in the country, to say nothing of their deep bench.
Expand ...
Huh? You realize Betts was #1,
Rice was #2 and Barker was #3 in the 2022 class. Add in Gardner at 6, Jacquez at 19 and London Jones at 22 and that is a pretty talented Junior class. Just because you’re ranked high is sort of moot, you need to prove it as well and both teams have talent to spare. Cori WAS out coached and despite her timeouts had no answer to what UConn was doing. Part of coaching is understanding plan A, B or C and when to invoke them and Cori clearly had no plan B or C… she was outcoached and that has been her Achilles her whole career.
 
oldude said:
Here’s an element of coaching to consider. Close has developed an offense that practically forces the basketball into to low post, which is about all that UCLA did well last night.

Remember that Geno recruited Betts. Had she come to Storrs, UConn would never have put her in a similar offense. Geno runs a motion offense that spreads the floor and shares the ball.

That is not to suggest that Geno would never post up Betts and feed her the ball in the low post. It would be an option. But not an exclusive one.

What Geno knows, and Close has yet to understand, is that a one dimensional offense is much easier to stop than a multidimensional offense.
Expand ...
Pretty sure it was her first Final Four coaching experience.
 
Soxx said:
Pretty sure it was her first Final Four coaching experience.
Expand ...
Yes. But the question posed by the OP was whether or not Geno outcoached Close. For many reasons, including experience, I would argue that answer to the OP’s question is yes.
 
oldude said:
Yes. But the question posed by the OP was whether or not Geno outcoached Close. For many reasons, including experience, I would argue that answer to the OP’s question is yes.
Expand ...
I was responding to your wording about what Close “didn’t yet understand.” She is new to this stage.
 
Conndog said:
Maybe not out-coached per se, but certainly out-prepared
Expand ...
???

Isn’t preparation a significant part of coaching as opposed to just showing up and winging it?
 
Last edited:
Soxx said:
I was responding to your wording about what Close “didn’t yet understand.” She is new to this stage.
Expand ...
OK, and that’s a valid explanation of why Close was outcoached by an old guy who’s been at this for 40 years and is making his 24th visit to the final four.
 
The CDR-Ret said:
I believe Jana was blessed by revitalization following her fasting. Her energy levels were off the charts yesterday. Now, we will see whether consistency will stick for two games in a row.

So much for the question of not scoring at the 5 spot. Do we include just Jana, Ice & Aubrey (6+5+2 =13)? 13 is better than Stokes's average in the FF. That 3/4 fronting scheme worked amazingly to create turnovers! Yes, Betts got her 26 pts, but two of the starters did NOT score as they were concentrating on getting the ball to Betts and NOTHING else. When it was time for them to shoot they had no rhythm (like a breadstick (family joke :D)).

Tomorrow looks like an "Everybody eats day!" The Big 3: 15 - 25 pts, two more with 8 - 12 pts, and the rest all score 2 - 6 pts. Defense so dialed in that USC (East) scores 5 points below their NCAA round 2 - FF average, even though they play well.

Paige collects the Wooden award & Honda trophy, and for the first time a tie for the MOP on the UConn side (not saying whom), but one of them will be in the "W" soon.

Go Huskies!!! Win #12 while defeating your 18th #1 seed in the tournament!!!
Expand ...

The Wooden award has already gone to Watkins.
 
UCLA played anemic defense on our shooters. They did not adjust well in the second half
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Online statistics

Members online
37
Guests online
955
Total visitors
992
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Share This Page

Forum statistics

Threads
164,012
Messages
4,378,563
Members
10,170
Latest member
ctfb19382


.
..
Top Bottom