In DEFENSE of Liv

[CocoHusky]

I agree that the bashing of Liv is now out of control. I think we should forget about this and move on. Bottom line, Liv is a very good defensive player, has done very well against most teams, and not too bad against the good ones. Her problem is offence, we don't need a passing player consistency at the high post. Stymie got it right, learn to make lay ups, practice a baby hook, and develop a 15 ft jump shot ( not the 2 second release shot she has now). I don't know if she can do it, but lets wait and see what she has to offer in November. She knows by now where she needs to improve, lets give her the chance to show that she can.

The problem is many of us have been waiting since November of 2019.

 

[Kmoney]

Can be doesn't equal will be. CD has been working on her liabilities for 3 years, I have seen little progress on the items you brought up. I don't know why, maybe you do. That said, I have seen improvement in a number of areas which makes her a better player this year than last year.
I don't understand why comparing and contrasting any of our players to some is disrespectful on face value. I get it that some are disrespectful, they should be and are often called out for it. Many others are just posting opinions not bashing, but looking for hearty discussions. A good thing I think.

I mostly agree with you. There is nothing wrong with a constructive conversation. I just disagree with some of the immature comments on this thread. Anybody with one eye can see that Liv didn't play well against Arizona. There is no need to bury the young lady. Why not support her and wish her well? Next season when UConn wins the championship and Liv is crying tears of Joy, I will open an apology thread.

The best thing about losing is that it makes winning that much sweeter.

 

[Skeets]

You now what??? How would you like to be Olivas dad and reading this board???? How would you like it if your daughter was Oliva and you were reading this board. Thats all Im gonna say.

Tonyc, I said basically the same thing in another thread. Pointing out that Liv missed easy lay ups in the semi and that hurt UCONN is OK. But some comments go well beyond that. Harsh bordering on trashing. "Will not be tolerated" !! Really? That comes real close to hateful. CW, Nika, Anna all took a little bit of abuse on the BY, but nothing like what Liv is getting.

 

[oldude]

Some folks here on the BY have a tendency to make things too personal when it comes to the players. At the end of the day Liv doesn’t owe anything to any of us. Her responsibility is to her teammates, coaches, family and, most importantly, to herself. That’s quite a burden for any 20 year-old to bear, without shouldering the additional burden of the expectations of thousands of overzealous fans to boot.

 

[Littlemin]

Einstein’s definition of insanity comes into play here. Ono is a good player with strengths and flaws in her game. Uconn doesn’t beat Baylor without her dirty work. Her missed layups and Bueckers passivity, along with the team taking the opponent lightly, hurt against Arizona. And an aside, IMO and FWIW, if a coach has to get a team “ready to play” for a FF game, you are pretty much doomed from the start. That is where the loss of Muhl hurt BIG TIME.
Anyway, the abuse Ono has taken, along with that directed at Williams, Muhl and Makurat, reflects more on the posters than providing any real BB insight.

 

[oldhusky]

Geno was the one who made the statement regarding Ono, "If she doesn't improve, she will have a difficult senior season". Her inconsistent performances, especially in big games, will mean, that GENO ( not me, lol) will put her on the bench.
It should be noted, that in 20 minutes against Az, she took the same amount of shots per minute, that Paige took. Its a shame she didn't make any of them.

I think your comment about the last 20 minutes against Arizona is telling. It also raises a strategic question. Others have said that Liv can dominate inside against weak competition and I agree, but like others I think she can't do the same against top competition, and it is more than a bad game or two, there is an established relationship there.

So suppose Liv is doing fine against the Big East but now you are in the elite 8 or farther and playing a team with physical bigs that are good defenders. Do you bench a year long starter because you don't like her match-up in that game? Do you game-plan away from her offense and tell the team not to feed her down low, in essence give up on her offense but have her just concentrate on defense and rebounding? Do you start her but sub early and significantly reduce her minutes?

I think as a team we spend the season creating a well oiled machine to produce a high number of easy shots with largely the same strategy. I think it is frustrating to Geno that largely because of Liv, the year long strategy doesn't work against the great teams. It may be telling that in discussing Gorka he said Aaliyah might get the most touches down low next year, because she finishes well around the basket.

I think there is a middle ground here. Geno often tries to get his players to concentrate on what they do well, and eliminate the things they don't. That depends on the opposition. Instead of saying lets keep giving Liv the ball down low against a player like Boston or Brink expecting her to suddenly start making a high percentage of them, throw in the towel on that strategy. Don't give her the ball there against top defenders and tell her to kick it back out if she does get it.

But if Aaliyah or Gorka can score against top defenders down low, you can still pursue that, but tell Liv this game you job is rebounding and defense, and to her defense she has been ok against top competition there. But feeding her the ball as much as Paige against good bigs is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and probably a bad coaching decision as well, because that is asking someone to do something they cannot do well against that level of competition.

 

[CocoHusky]

Einstein’s definition of insanity comes into play here. Ono is a good player with strengths and flaws in her game. Uconn doesn’t beat Baylor without her dirty work. Her missed layups and Bueckers passivity, along with the team taking the opponent lightly, hurt against Arizona. And an aside, IMO and FWIW, if a coach has to get a team “ready to play” for a FF game, you are pretty much doomed from the start. That is where the loss of Muhl hurt BIG TIME.
Anyway, the abuse Ono has taken, along with that directed at Williams, Muhl and Makurat, reflects more on the posters than providing any real BB insight.

Muhl played 21 minutes in the Arizona game, the same amount of minutes as Liv and only slightly more impactful.

 

[my2cents]

I think your comment about the last 20 minutes against Arizona is telling. It also raises a strategic question. Others have said that Liv can dominate inside against weak competition and I agree, but like others I think she can't do the same against top competition, and it is more than a bad game or two, there is an established relationship there.

So suppose Liv is doing fine against the Big East but now you are in the elite 8 or farther and playing a team with physical bigs that are good defenders. Do you bench a year long starter because you don't like her match-up in that game? Do you game-plan away from her offense and tell the team not to feed her down low, in essence give up on her offense but have her just concentrate on defense and rebounding? Do you start her but sub early and significantly reduce her minutes?

I think as a team we spend the season creating a well oiled machine to produce a high number of easy shots with largely the same strategy. I think it is frustrating to Geno that largely because of Liv, the year long strategy doesn't work against the great teams. It may be telling that in discussing Gorka he said Aaliyah might get the most touches down low next year, because she finishes well around the basket.

I think there is a middle ground here. Geno often tries to get his players to concentrate on what they do well, and eliminate the things they don't. That depends on the opposition. Instead of saying lets keep giving Liv the ball down low against a player like Boston or Brink expecting her to suddenly start making a high percentage of them, throw in the towel on that strategy. Don't give her the ball there against top defenders and tell her to kick it back out if she does get it.

But if Aaliyah or Gorka can score against top defenders down low, you can still pursue that, but tell Liv this game you job is rebounding and defense, and to her defense she has been ok against top competition there. But feeding her the ball as much as Paige against good bigs is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and probably a bad coaching decision as well, because that is asking someone to do something they cannot do well against that level of competition.

You re making my point exactly.
My posts are nothing more than comments about the over all status of Uconn WBB, not based just on my observations, but Geno's comments and moves.
The two latest, bringing in a 6'4'' Dorka Juhasz...Why? What does she do for us? In commenting on that move is nothing more than reasonable observations, and nothing personal about another player.
Why did Anna leave? Thats easy...no playing time. After her injury, her shooting never came back and Geno didn't play her. Is that abuse? Hateful? NO, is just an observation that others can agree or disagree with.

 

[huskiemaniac]

Some folks here on the BY have a tendency to make things too personal when it comes to the players. At the end of the day Liv doesn’t owe anything to any of us. Her responsibility is to her teammates, coaches, family and, most importantly, to herself. That’s quite a burden for any 20 year-old to bear, without shouldering the additional burden of the expectations of thousands of overzealous fans to boot.

YinYangYinYangYinYang...it's UConn. The players come here knowing they get the circus. Crowds. Spectacle. The circus has magic and it has piles of elephant dung.

Imo, the fans who ask "how would you feel if she were your daughter" are the ones who take it too personally. As long as the critique/criticism is about basketball performance and abides by the Boneyard rules, so be it.

I don't think the players are concerned.

 

[Geesworld]

I would trade All American, All Big East and All tourney awards for a more well rounded team. This current team is constructed to be that well rounded team that is hard to defense. We have so many ways to win ball games and I love that about this team. Tired of the days winning by 70 and then shrinking in the biggest of biggest games because the Go To's have an off game.

Liv had a great season and I look forward to her expanding on where she left off. Liv will be a starter and she will be fine. DJ, Paith and DeBerry hopefully will add some flexibility and take some pressure off Liv and Aliyah, from having to do so much as an anchor to the back line. Maybe the coaching staff will occasionally allow the offense to go thru the inside for growth purposes throughout the season.

Hope our fan base can get back to loving the team and not just an individual or two
because on any given game a different player could have the spot light.