Georgia Tech Postgame Thread [Merged Thread]

[NEforceUConn]

Darkest before sunrise. Someone will step up. Not quite sure who, but that's why you play the games.

 

[pvdoggy]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??

***rudderless

the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor????

 

[HuskyNan]

Lack of joy seems to be a common observation but it is just a symptom of the immense pressure our team is under and especially the 3 seniors who have their own concerns regarding professional prospects. And that pressure is clearly on the coaching staff and is only going to build. Paige not only bailed them out countless times but her enthusiastic demeanor helped ease some of that pressure.

Do you think the fans that have fits over every missed layup, every win less than 40 points, or every player’s scoreless game have anything to do with added pressure? Maybe Christyn has seen all the posts calling for her to get pulled for some freshman? Could it be constant drip, drip, drip of fans’ complaints about the lack of, well, perfection that‘s adding to the stress?

The weight of expectations is enormous for UConn players.

 

[JBK]

Darkest before sunrise. Someone will step up. Not quite sure who, but that's why you play the games.

We will rise again. - need to play our game and get in transition
Georgia tech was big and slow and we played their game - not ours.

 

[ABCDFE]

Wow. I mean I thought we would struggle but it to this extent. Goes to show you Paige is MVP POY whatever you want to call her. Looks like without her and Azzi it’s like seeing players who never played organized basketball before. I mean come on. Can’t make any shots can’t finish any layups and defend can’t outhustle unranked team. Two positives: Liv and Amari. Others are just beyond what I can say right now.

CW please stop shooting threes work on your mid range. Ducharme is a nice player but if she has to be one of your top shooting options we will be in big trouble even with BE opponents. AE looks like she has no passion for the game any more and no confidence. How does that happen? Evina, I think she played better last year on a bum leg.

I saw the look on Geno and coach Ong staff face and the product we are putting out there is just so bad for UConn standards. Give Amari more time at least her shot looks nice and she rebounds and can finish. Let Mir play more, she’s got better post moves than Dorka or AE right now. I guess we have to play Caroline more. Maybe set more plays for her to shoot so CW doesn’t. Let’s see if she can get to 35% three point shooting because Williams can drive only.

Never thought I’d see this type of ineptitude from a UConn team.

Done with rant. Gnite

 

[BobbyJ]

View attachment 71714 I never thought I’d see UConn WBB athletes unable or unwilling to discuss a game with the media, tough loss notwithstanding.

Smart move. Those kids would have a tough time trying to answer the questions they'd be asked after a game like that. Nothing to be gained.

 

[jdote33]

its interesting everyone is saying the fun is gone. that definitely happens when there are a lot of expectations. also happens when there is so much competition no one feels comfortable in their respective roles. this team knows its the last hurrah for the seniors and also still have the stain of last years upset. even Paige has mentioned just winning a national championship is all thats missing and is the only goal. But u cant win one in December. More importantly they r kids living out there dream. I wish they could enjoy it more and set smaller goals. Its not that serious, just playing the game they love. I really do think the team will be fine though by end of the month.

 

[SECbbfan24]

UCONN isn’t my primary team but I follow them because I respect Geno a lot but what the heck happened to Edwards? Feels like she has regressed a bit.

 

[eebmg]

Smart move. Those kids would have a tough time trying to answer the questions they'd be asked after a game like that. Nothing to be gained.

and maybe CD should handle the presser.

 

[Martin]

Might be a little harsh. They really needed another point guard so EW and CW can play off the ball.

There is an exponential negative affect on each of those players without a quality point guard. That’s the whole game really. Geno can’t teach anyone not named Paige to be a quality PG in 2 weeks.

 

[Veteran]

I think it's time for a serious discussion about just punting this season. Have Paige not comeback because she feels she needs to rush. If this is how the srs are going to play with no drive then what is the point. Not one sr ever steps up in the biggest moments.

Just out of curiosity, how many of the players do you think want to give up competing and punt?

 

[boontonbomber]

The coaches have got an unbelievably challenging situation facing them. Going to be really interesting to see how they handle it. The players can't be in a very good place, don't see any of the players as the type to shake things up, so it falls to the coaches. Hope they're up to it.

 

[Postie]

Thanks for pointing out something that should be obvious to anyone who understands the game, but still seems to be difficult for a lot of folks to grasp. HS rankings mean nothing in the college game. Dominating 16-17 year old kids, most of which are basically rec league level talent does not equate to having 18-22 year olds who take the game seriously up in your face competing. College coaches don't care how many points you scored in HS. As soon as they see you're not that good they're going to expose you. As for your comments on recruiting and also on development, have at it. It's a fair question that HS rankings can't answer.

CW has a thick body and was able to over power girls in High School she is a slasher scorer who is at her best in transition.Taking 3 pt shots is not her strong point.CW was ranked #1 in HS is she now the #1 senior? Westbrook was#2 in her class is she a top senior?Players must keep improving every year.

 

[JBK]

Do you think the fans that have fits over every missed layup, every win less than 40 points, or every player’s scoreless game have anything to do with added pressure? Maybe Christyn has seen all the posts calling for her to get pulled for some freshman? Could it be constant drip, drip, drip of fans’ complaints about the lack of, well, perfection that‘s adding to the stress?

The weight of expectations is enormous for UConn players.

Well said. Way too much pressure for most —-

 

[baggerbob]

Other than Amari giving some good minutes, and a pretty good game from Liv - the rest was just embarrassing. There were 4 returning players who started in the freakin' final 4 last year, plus one all Big 10 veteran player. I'm sorry, don't blame the injuries - most of those who played considerable minutes tonight just did not get it done. No excuses!

Anyone who says Dorka is comparable to Cardoso should now understand there is none.

 

[BobbyJ]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??

***rudderless

So when did the Germans bomb Pearl Harbor?

 

[JBK]

Anyone who says Dorka is comparable to Cardoso should now understand there is none.

The only excuse is they look lost on offense. Did you see their offensive movement tonight ?
One field goal in the 4th Q
Great leaders make adjustments.

 

[RPM101370]

I wish everybody could just take a breath here. Losing your do-everything player of the year is tough. Also losing her backup is devastating. Point guard is the most important position. No, the offense didn’t look great even with Paige playing. But they had only four practice days to adjust to her absence and to Nika’s absence. How good would Tampa Bay look in their next road game if Brady went down? How good would Golden State look in their next road game if Curry went down?

Please, everyone, give them the time and space to adjust. None of our high-school all-Americans are true point guards. We can’t expect Evina to play power forward one minute and then be a point guard the next. Uconn runs a very complex read-and-react offense. You can’t just change that to “plays” for specific players in four days. You also can’t manufacture guards out of thin air to spell the starters. Of course the fourth quarter results are going to suck, the same players have been run into the ground. And this isn’t a ”Geno” or “Saylor” issue. We are down our THREE best guards.

Geno successfully recruited the #1 high school recruit to solve our outside shooting woes. Oh yeah, she’s also injured. This is a road game against a great/experienced coach, against a good (not great) team. We SUCKED (offensively) and we lost. Life goes on. This was Georgia Tech’s SuperBowl. Credit to them, they were amped and they won. Sometimes the other team wins. We’re so spoiled. Give our team the time and space to work through this. I’m not saying don’t be disappointed. But I am saying don’t lash out and don’t trash our coaches and players. Support your team. They clearly need that support most right now.

Note, on the men’s side #1 Purdue lost tonight to un-ranked and lowly Rutgers (blech, lol). On the women’s side Stanford also already has two losses this year. Neither of their seasons are “over“ and neither team is now considered a pushover borderline tournament team.

 

[huskiemaniac]

GEEZ..It's one of the most famous comedic cinematic lines, from Animal House.

 

[JBK]

This is not the time for the coach to be critical or dismissive of his kids.
Aside from one player this isn’t the most confident group of players he has ever assembled.
Even if he has to fake it, Geno needs to pump them up and applaud their good plays.
”You can do it Kippy!”

He can - he is the best of all time, but must go back to the days that he built this program - I hope he can remember those days.
He still did not have similar talent and yet won.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I was wrong in my projections. I thought they were Notre Dame without Paige but maybe at least temporarily that is a stretch. Overall though this game was to be expected. Georgia Tech had over 7000 fans and this might be their biggest game of the year and they smelled blood in the water. They were "up" for the game. Uconn lost by far their best player and now have had a series of lost players making endurance and depth an issue. Uconn was not "up" for this game and that's coaching as much as anything. It's no surprise they got discouraged and tired and tanked in the 4th quarter. They have been overplaying their starters all year. They also have been under too much pressure.

Overall I think Liv and Evina had decent games. Deberry had a solid game but you could see lots of confusion in the defensive assignments when she was in there. We had next to no dribble penetration because we have no penetrating guards. We have fast break guards and perimeter shooters and some that are not even good perimeter shooters. It's a weakness. They are supplementary players overall, not players who can make plays against top competition. They are all role players but Paige is the play maker. The person who can score against top competiton. The pressure they are under only magnifies the problem. So what do they do now? Reducing the pressure should be job one.

Just being the #1 rated recruit does not mean you are the #1 player in college. I think Paige was and I think Betts will be next year and Haley Jones was to a degree and Boston was but recruitment should not be about recruiting by a hoopgirls rating. It's about projecting the player at the college level. I think South Carolina got 2 recruits this past year better than any we recruited. We are not necessarily recruiting the best players currently. With Paige though this is still a very good team and as we go through this period I think it only makes this team better for March. We certainly have enough good players to maybe win it all.

Geno needs to do something about the pressure and maybe he is already starting that with the no press conference tonight. Few players thrive under that sort of pressure. Look at MLB. The Yankees sometimes choke under pressure while the team with the relaxed coach has his team playing loosely. I would say Paige is the only Uconn player able to deal with it well overall. These players worry about missing shots and messing up a pass and ...bingo, it happens. They are freaked out about screwing up.

I think the game plan tonight was to get the ball in the paint but with that high post offense the big players rarely receive the ball in a position to do a normal post move. Liv finally made some set shots but those were not good shot opportunities for her. This team is flawed in many areas without Paige. Lack of dribble penetration from the Point guard ( why not try CW there? ). If our guards do penetrate the opposing players just say go ahead and shoot because we have to get all the way to the basket to convert. We have a consistent lack of good positioning to receive the ball in the post area. Lack of outside shooting. Too many turnovers. Paige helps all of those areas and they do not have a replacement.

They need to try something else because tonight's lineup wasn't going to get it done even in an average night. Might as well keep throwing Caroline out there for similar PT and find some PT for Deberry too ( 10 minutes? ). At least both should improve from the experience. Sink or swim with Caroline. Having even a limping Azzi would help some.

 

[Orc]

Amari did more in a few minutes than Edwards and Dorka in many, many minutes. Edwards is clearly having some kind of mental block. Dorka is just not a player for this level of competition. I can't see how she succeeded in the Big 10. Amari must get much more opportunity.

Impressed with what I saw from Amari tonight. I hope she gets more minutes but doubt it with Genos stubborn ways

 

[huskiemaniac]

My thought re: the shirking of their postgame presser responsibilities is: if you revel in the confetti and the trophies and caps, etc., when things are going your way, you should face the music when they aren't. It was a poor choice, imo.

Here's hoping tonight was rock bottom.

 

[SCGamecock]

GT is a REALLY good defensive team. This was a trap game for a UConn team still figuring out things without Paige. Not dismissing the L because you all still have A LOT of talent and probably should've won, but this result doesn't surprise me. GT took us to the wire last year in the S16 and they pretty much returned that entire team. They are unranked, but you didn't lose to scrubs.

I still expect UConn to figure it out. Not sure when, but they will. Hold serve, no need to abandon the season. Huskies still in my final four.

 

[Newfie]

So when did the Germans bomb Pearl Harbor?

It was pointed out already, but it’s a line from Animal House, I think it was John Belushi. Great movie.