Holy Cross Postgame Thread

[HopJim]

Maybe. It was noticeable that she was on the floor a lot with the starters and not just bench players.

One thing I like about her performance today is that she didn’t foul. Most young and inexperienced players are foul magnets.

Alot of us are starting to notice Morgan. Provides an interesting option for Geno since she appears to be quick enough to switch onto guards and is tall and strong enough to rebound as needed. She is often taller than her defender and can get her shots off. Morgan can come in and do a good job in most situations.

 

[yhun89]

I blame the pig in the Bahamas. Stole Paige's basketball powers temporarily, but she'll help us cook LV.

I've been high on Mo's chances since BU. She really looks like a solid role player.

 

[FormerCTrez]

The second half was better. The first half was painful to watch.

Geno says "We're a very immature team." And he's right.

In the second half, Sarah was on fire, getting rebounds, steals, shooting 9-12, 4-5 from 3.
And Ice really came on, especially in the 4th quarter
Azzi only played 18 minutes, shooting 3-6 with 2 steals
And Kaitlyn scored a season high 14 pts on 5-9, with 3-5 from 3 and 7 assists.
Morgan looked good in her 18 minutes with 8 points on 3-5 shooting and 2-4 from 3

So, there were high points and low points. I'm going to focus on the high points until we play Louisville.

PS: Aubrey participated in the pre-game shoot-around

I loved that she was able to do some warm up drills. She’s surely missed from the team.

 

[BobbyJ]

No. Go watch the NBA where the best players in the world play perfect games for 4 qtrs. and the players give 100% effort every night. Except when they don't. LMAO.

 

[huskeynut]

Well you are entitled to your opinion.

Geno still working various combos on the court - as he should. Big stretch coming up with 4 of the 5 teams ranked. He needs to know the combos that work. I think all of us can see the rotation is a viable 8 to 9 players. That is smart coaching.

Look at the ranked teams that are playing "cupcakes" and not always playing to their percieved levels.

 

[HuskyNan]

No. Go watch the NBA where the best players in the world play perfect games for 4 qtrs. and the players give 100% effort every night. Except when they don't. LMAO.

My Orlando Magic certainly didn’t get the “4 perfect quarters” memo last night

 

[cohenzone]

I was at the UCLA/South Carolina game. USC played a lousy first half. I am not comparing Holy Cross to UCLA, just for whatever reason even in a big game, USC was flat as a pancake in the first half. Because it was UCLA, the game was over by halftime. Because it was HC, we were ahead at the half. We beat the two ranked teams we have played by double digits. It would be nice to avoid dead spots in a game, but it happens and overall we are a young team plus apparently Azzi was under the weather. Our team is in the process of jelling and will have Aubrey back. I am guessing the dead spots will become fewer. We shall see.

 

[jabstep]

All 11 players got to play. We won by 36. We know now that others can score if Paige is being slowed down. It is great that no one played over 30 min and we are not wearing down our players like last year. Now we will be tested soon let's see if we can rise to the occasion.

 

[Conndog]

I’m still hoping that point production from bigs will improve and become a real strength. I know it takes longer for bigs to develop, and I’m liking what I see from Ice, but I’m hoping to see more aggressiveness going to the basket. Besides extra points, it’ll get other team’s bigs in foul trouble.

 

[BBallF]

Some thoughts on the Holy Cross game:

• For those of us who have been counting the days, it has been 387 days since Paige and Azzi started a game together for the Huskies. I fully expect that they will both start the next 33 games this season.
• Not sure what to make of UConn’s 1st half. At the start of the game the whole team was laying bricks. There was a stretch when the entire team got hot followed by more bricks. Holy Cross outshot UConn in the 1st half and Geno was not pleased. The 2nd half was considerably better.
• While there were some head scratching moments for UConn, Sarah came up BIG the entire game, putting up 22 points on 9/12 shooting, along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
• I know it didn't feel like it, But UConn shot a sizzling 47% from the arc on 14/30 shooting. Go figure.
• I really liked Morgan's PT off the bench.
• I also love the way KK attacks the basket off the dribble. Now if she can only knock down her 3's.
• Once again, Geno ran out a lot of different lineups. That will change in the near future.
• The next 18 days will be critical for UConn with 4 games vs ranked teams, including a visit to South Bend on December 12. At the end of the month, the Huskies will have a much better idea of who they are and what they can accomplish this season. GO HUSKIES!!!

Great analysis. KK of course needs a mid range pull up which will transform her into an impossible defend. She always gets the first step but often she can't finish due to post defenders underneath.

As far as I am concerned, the most important words came in the post game show by Gary Apple: "They are as good as anyone else in the country". He is right. When this "immature team" becomes "mature", and it will be come March, we should all savor the moments of watching it.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I am adequately whelmed. Not overwhelmed, to be certain, but definitely whelmed.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Nice win, but slow starts aren’t going to cut moving forward.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I’m still hoping that point production from bigs will improve and become a real strength. I know it takes longer for bigs to develop, and I’m liking what I see from Ice, but I’m hoping to see more aggressiveness going to the basket. Besides extra points, it’ll get other team’s bigs in foul trouble.

I think it's going to be mostly down to put backs for Jana and Ice. We're not running a lot of back-to-the-basket post ups.

 

[Stagnant]

Great analysis. KK of course needs a mid range pull up which will transform her into an impossible defend. She always gets the first step but often she can't finish due to post defenders underneath.

As far as I am concerned, the most important words came in the post game show by Gary Apple: "They are as good as anyone else in the country". He is right. When this "immature team" becomes "mature", and it will be come March, we should all savor the moments of watching it.

i hope KK is practicing her three point shooting the way Nika did. Geno was talking about how much Chen worked on her three point shooting. And Geno stressed the importance of being a threat from behind the arc in the modern game. And what he said definitely applies to KK as well.

Right now when she attempts a three pointer; I never believe it is going in.

 

[Zonepress]

One of my favorite players, Ashlynn Shade, did not have a good game. Did you see her get yanked, "Jim Calhoun style" after being on the court for all of 15 seconds? I don't recall Geno ever doing that in the past. To her credit she took it well and played better when she did get back in the game.

Yeah, she got beat badly on a drive to the basket
Unlike the last few years, if you don’t play well you’re coming out
Agree she came back in and played well
She wasn’t the only one who got pulled for bad play It was just very obvious with her.

 

[Zonepress]

In addition to the great drive described above by Q I thought she played some
energetic defense.

Ice has continued to make progress...late last year...and another jump this year.
She is headed toward 'solid'. Wonder if at some point in Geno's juggling [which will continue to
happen...especially in conference games] he will put both Ice and Jana on
the court at the same time in prep for rebounding troubles against elite teams?

Don’t see that combination this year anyway
If Aubrey returns to form that will help rebounding
I don’t think giving off offensive rebounds. Does he use issue but we get very few offensive rebounds ourselves.
That’s something Aubrey has historically, been very good at

 

[Stagnant]

I think this is an interesting perspective.

 

[Majic Hands]

I feel like I got to observe an honest to goodness UConn Women’s Basketball practice.

An inside peek at what Geno & CD do to have the best team possible for Conference & NCAA tournament at the end of the season

CooL!

 

[Zarathustra]

Sarah 22 and Kaitlyn 14 total of 36 pts..

Two very nice additions to a NCAA FINAL FOUR team!!

 

[Zarathustra]

I get the sense that Morgan is playing her way into the regular rotation...against
all teams including the elite ones.

AND... IMHO... Morgan looks even better being viewed in "live action" beyond
what any stats reveal... The Hustle, the "visual" little and big things that
are best seen in "live action".

 

[rubymae4]

What a luxury for Geno to be able to “bench” some players for lack of (whatever he was looking for—in the first quarter, I suspect defense). I enjoyed watching everyone get some minutes.

The game was played quickly. Holy Cross played with a good pace and didn’t allow UConn to get set up in their half court plays. Good for them. Also another reason I’m happy we have a bench this year. It allowed everyone to get breaks. I’m also sure the first half will provide some good film to watch.

Kaitlyn started the game with two ill advised drives to the basket—a tendency many of us have noticed. I thought, Oh NO!, not a good start. But she improved over the course of the game. It seems some Boneyarders are frustrated with her as point guard. Best to remember that she is taking on the hardest role in Geno’s system and she is a first-year player in that sense. Each game she is improving in decision making. She’s likely never going to look like a “UConn point guard” that has 4 years in the system. She brings her own strengths though, and Geno clearly trusts her over KK.

Speaking of KK (who also sometimes fall back on ill-advised drives), I thought she was very smart in her drives in the second half.

Shade (my favorite player at the moment) seemed to struggle coming off the bench for the first time in a long time. It’s a different role for her, and it will take a few games to learn how to quickly get up to speed in the middle of a quarter. She’ll figure it out.

 

[diggerfoot]

Whether we were nice or not in 2010, this very type of post was made that year when performance lapsed. In 2011 we lost in the FF, or are you just concerned about how much the team beats up on overmatched opponents? Or let’s bring up 2002, who Auriemma viewed as the best team ever, but ”only” beat Virginia Tech by single digits that year. Yessir, the team’s performance was questioned then.

The character of teams may differ from year to year, but the reliability of some posters to complain about lapses in performance no matter the season never waivers.

 

[BBallF]

i hope KK is practicing her three point shooting the way Nika did. Geno was talking about how much Chen worked on her three point shooting. And Geno stressed the importance of being a threat from behind the arc in the modern game. And what he said definitely applies to KK as well.

Right now when she attempts a three pointer; I never believe it is going in.

Me too. That's why she is open often on the 3. She is 0-7 this year from the arc. If I am the opposing coach, let her shoot them all day. Her strength is her quickness and handle. She can beat the defender but then what? Against HC she could finish, probably not going to happen much in the next string of games.

The pull up is the one devastating move in basketball. You the offensive player know when you are pulling up, the defender usually doesn't. With her speed she can get open after one or two dribbles. It takes strength and beaucoup muscle memory but when Paige, Azzi or Sarah does it, it looks like an easy wide open shot, because it is.

 

[Dugway]

I think it fair to say the UConn played "Overwhelming" at points throughout the game. It is also fair to say that we were also very "Underwhelming" at points throughout the game!

The first item I have been listing in the "List 3 things you want to see in the upcoming game" thread that goes around: A total team wide, 40-min effort, no let downs or slip ups. Continuous solid defense every trip down the court, and efficient offense. Well, we are 7 & 0, but thus far, this UConn team has not been close to achieving this '40-minute' effort.

Here is what Auriemma had to say about that point after the game:
"So yeah, an effort like this, against those teams ('really, really good teams' - four of the next six games on the schedule), and we won't be in the Top 25," he continued. "Holy Cross played in the first half like they were No. 5 in the country, and we played like we were unranked, which may be the case come December 21."