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Iowa Postgame Thread

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Only 6 players got double-digit minutes. This doesn't seem right compared to previous games. Heckel seemed to be getting into rhythm with her teammates in recent games.
Today, she only played for 8 minutes.
 
Surly1 said:
It may be a case of recency bias on my part, but given her current trajectory, Sarah Strong is playing her way onto the pantheon of UConn greats. I honestly can't recall a player of her size with such nimble hands. Her basketball IQ is off the charts and the only true comparison I have for her is Maya Moore.

Blanca is far from a finished product, but under Geno's tutelage, the final version might turn into the ultimate nightmare for UConn opponents. Once she harnesses her natural talents and tightens up her game, she will be an unstoppable force.
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Geno quiped, but probably meant he's angry all the time at Bianca. I look at her and thoroughbred pops in my head.
 
Surly1 said:
Blanca is far from a finished product, but under Geno's tutelage, the final version might turn into the ultimate nightmare for UConn opponents. Once she harnesses her natural talents and tightens up her game, she will be an unstoppable force.
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Blanca is such a fascinating mix of things. Goofy mistakes followed by awe-inspiring plays. This just means she hasn't fully mastered her role in the system, but sometimes makes up for it through the immensity of her raw talent. And the intensity of her drive to the rim is amazing. She misses a bunch pf those dives, but the relentlessness of it is what catches the eye. I loved one wraparound steal that she spun out of to get a runout. And when she missed on one runout layup, she got a steal a second later to finish the conversion. That sequence was classic Blanca.

And for all the concerns folks had about her 3pt shooting -- include me in that group -- I trust we've all relented on that reservation.
 
oldude said:
Some postgame thoughts on the Iowa game:
  • Iowa is very good and the 11th ranked team in the nation. But like a lot of other good teams, the Hawkeyes could not keep pace with a UConn team that is too deep, too talented and too well-coached.
  • With Azzi’s shot a little off early, it felt like UConn needed someone to step up and take control. That would be Sarah who once again looked every bit like the NPOY with 20 pts in 20 minutes on 9/13 shooting, along with 3 rbs, 3 ast, 5 steals & 1 block all in the 1st half. 🤩
  • Before the game, Geno praised Iowa’s Bigs: Heiden & Stuelke, and it’s clear that the Hawkeyes want to run their offense through the low post. With a few exceptions UConn took away a lot of what Iowa was attempting to do down low.
  • The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Huskies by 9. But Iowa more than gave back those extra possessions as UConn forced 26 turnovers (+17).
  • KK didn’t fill up the stat sheet. But I thought she played a beautiful, composed floor game today, and when she knocks down open 3’s, defenders can’t really back off her.
  • Clearly, Geno shortened the rotation today as the starters played big minutes, with only Blanca getting double-digit minutes off the bench.
  • Blanca gets this look on her face when she sees an opponent, handling the basketball a little carelessly....kinda like the eyes of a snake looking at a plump, juicy mouse.......🐍
  • Today’s game was something of a homecoming for Serah who was born and raised in Brooklyn before her family moved to Canada when she was 14. I wonder how many tickets she needed? ☺️
  • On to Indiana next for a BE game against Butler.
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Just want to second your comments on KK. She is really turning into the perfect point guard for this team. Her ball control and game management skills keep improving. But it’s her lock down defense that causes the opponents to hurry their games which result in TO’s. The Iowa coach at half time was pushing her players to pass normal speed. Easy to say.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
Geno quiped, but probably meant he's angry all the time at Bianca. I look at her and thoroughbred pops in my head.
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If you look at her typical game stats without seeing Blanca, you think "Hey, that's pretty good, but not Sportscenter-worthy."

But I've been noticing that she's been building a really strong "presser question ratio." That is, the media asks coaches, players, etc. about her far more often than you'd expect for someone with her average stats. Even Iowa's coach Jensen got a question about her.

So it's not just us. She just makes even non-UConn fans do mental double-takes when they see her.
 
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Bone Dog said:
Blanca is such a fascinating mix of things. Goofy mistakes followed by awe-inspiring plays. This just means she hasn't fully mastered her role in the system, but sometimes makes up for it through the immensity of her raw talent.
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There was a stretch of a minute or two in which on four trips down the floor, Iowa sank three wide-open shots because Blanca missed an assignment. I was saying that she needed to be taken out, then she got a couple of quick steals.

This was Geno putting into practice what he said a few weeks ago about letting Blanca play through her mistakes.
 
I find Blanca to be a huge secret weapon; especially as an on ball defensive player on the perimeter. I think stremlow is pretty good. But she will be pleased to know that she won’t have to see Blanca anymore this season. Blanca gave her fits.
 
Stagnant said:
I find Blanca to be a huge secret weapon; especially as an on ball defensive player on the perimeter. I think stremlow is pretty good. But she will be pleased to know that she won’t have to see Blanca anymore this season. Blanca gave her fits.
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Speaking of Blanca, I mean I had a terrible vantage point on the TV set but when she made that steal and dribbled down the court in the first half and was called for an offense foul it seemed to me that the Iowa player just broke away from her.
 
Impressive game, beating 11th ranked Iowa by 26. Sarah Strong is very much like Maya Moore, quite the gifted player, and once Azzi finds her mark, every shot is a wow! Defense will win UConn another championship, most teams have lots of offensive talent, but not too many look this good on both sides of the court. I wish the continuous talk about going undefeated would stop, that is just another stat, winning the NC is what is most important.
 
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Monte said:
Only 6 players got double-digit minutes. This doesn't seem right compared to previous games. Heckel seemed to be getting into rhythm with her teammates in recent games.
Today, she only played for 8 minutes.
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Vowelguy said:
I thought she was not effective in her minutes. Wasn’t surprised at her lack of time.
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When K9 came in during first half, I agree that she wasn't effective, and if I'm remembering correctly, KK came back in. When K9 subbed for KK with 2-3 mins left to go in 3rd Q, I ifigure Geno was just trying to steal some rest minutes for KK, as he used to do for Paige last year. K9 did well in those 2 mins to end the quarter.
 
A good win. Not surprised that Geno basically played eight. Iowa is a good team who hung in there for 20 minutes.

Defense again leads the way. Iowa likes to run their offense thru their bigs. Uconn made that very difficult today. Iowa won the rebound total, but way too many turnovers to stay with UConn.

Sarah was Sarah doing Sarah things. Azzi was having an off shooting game until late. Blanca is the perfect player to coming off the bench and create havoc.

KK continues to run the offense and her defense is a joy to watch.
 
Bone Dog said:
An odd rhythm to this game. We led the whole way, but at times seemed to be sputtering – cold shooting, getting out-rebounded, giving up some good passes and shots to Iowa. But in the end, Azzi and Sarah put the game away when it mattered.

Kudos to Iowa for a competitive game – even though they never really threatened. And a special tip of the hat to Hannah Stuelke and Chit Chat Wright. They played really well. And as a whole Iowa played their usual hard-nosed, ball-hawking game.

And to put a real spin on it, even though Azzi was ice cold for much of the game, she ended up with another NPOY-worthy game: 27 pts, 5-13 from 3, 3 assists and 4 steals. It's hard to argue with that, though you wouldn't have expected it from the first half.
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AZZI warmed up in second half, going 4-4 from deep at one point.
 
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JDForever said:
Speaking of Blanca, I mean I had a terrible vantage point on the TV set but when she made that steal and dribbled down the court in the first half and was called for an offense foul it seemed to me that the Iowa player just broke away from her.
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Obvious push off. My seat had a perfect angle to see that. I thought Imalready commented on that.
 
I am surprised Geno played the starters so much in the 4th quarter. Maybe he was thinking about the Michigan game? I do think he should have stuck with Heckel to start the 4th quarter. The decision to bring back KK meant she was only in the game for like 2 minutes; she gets some really short spurts sometimes.
 
oldude said:
Some postgame thoughts on the Iowa game:
  • Iowa is very good and the 11th ranked team in the nation. But like a lot of other good teams, the Hawkeyes could not keep pace with a UConn team that is too deep, too talented and too well-coached.
  • With Azzi’s shot a little off early, it felt like UConn needed someone to step up and take control. That would be Sarah who once again looked every bit like the NPOY with 20 pts in 20 minutes on 9/13 shooting, along with 3 rbs, 3 ast, 5 steals & 1 block all in the 1st half. 🤩
  • Before the game, Geno praised Iowa’s Bigs: Heiden & Stuelke, and it’s clear that the Hawkeyes want to run their offense through the low post. With a few exceptions UConn took away a lot of what Iowa was attempting to do down low.
  • The Hawkeyes outrebounded the Huskies by 9. But Iowa more than gave back those extra possessions as UConn forced 26 turnovers (+17).
  • KK didn’t fill up the stat sheet. But I thought she played a beautiful, composed floor game today, and when she knocks down open 3’s, defenders can’t really back off her.
  • Clearly, Geno shortened the rotation today as the starters played big minutes, with only Blanca getting double-digit minutes off the bench.
  • Blanca gets this look on her face when she sees an opponent, handling the basketball a little carelessly....kinda like the eyes of a snake looking at a plump, juicy mouse.......🐍
  • Today’s game was something of a homecoming for Serah who was born and raised in Brooklyn before her family moved to Canada when she was 14. I wonder how many tickets she needed? ☺️
  • On to Indiana next for a BE game against Butler.
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Saw a bit of South Carolina and Joyce Edwards play today . She is the real deal. That being said, Serah Edward's shot blocking showcase gives me confidence should we meet SC in the playoffs. Serah may have only been credited with 3 blocks, but she easily changed another 5-8 shots. One of the better shot blocking displays by a UConn player in several years. Best offensive game of the year for Serah as well. Strong had the best UConn 1st half performance but Williams was a major contributor as well throughout the game.
 
oldude said:
Here’s a stat. With 6 assists and 0 turnovers today, KK’s A/TO ratio is now a ridiculous 5.5, which puts her 2nd in the nation to Rori Harmon at TX who’s at 5.67.
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Fanning The Daily Show GIF by CTV Comedy Channel
 
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What a fun game to watch!
few thoughts:
*Respect to Iowa who everyone can see that they are a good team, solid front court, good coach, disciplined, Chit chat in an exciting player, good 3-point shooters, good rebounding team. Today they went against the team with the probably best defense in the county which rattled them (26 turnovers,41 point so of turnovers for UConn-crazy).
*Sarah Strong: that performance in the first half was the most impressive half by a player, I've seen in a long long time.
*Azzi: her shots looked good but in the first half seem to get in and out and i was thinking that the rims are hard...as UConn was not getting offensive rebounds (Iowa boxes out very nicely), every one of her misses got Iowa to be relatively close to UConn. In the second Half Azzi became the Azzi we know. It is great that despite missing all those shots in the first half, she continued shooting and redeemed her self in the second (21 points in the second half - wow).
*Blanca: whenever she gets in the game there is a feeling that something special is about to happen. The kid got the IT factor and it will be shocking to me, if next season she is not an AA.
*KK: great great game by her. I love the maturation of her game. I didn't think that for her first 2 years but now she is a great PG! her decision making is so good now.
*Serah: had a good game. Just wish she'll get stronger physically.
*Ash: while didn't score much, had her usual hard nose defense and going for offensive rebounds. I was of the opinion that she should be replaced in the stating 5 by Blanca but now i actually like the starting 5 as is with Blanca coming from the bench to change the game.
*K9: had a poor first half but recovered in the second half.
*Allie: loved her aggressiveness and while probably will never be a great defender, she works really hard on defense.
*Kellis: played very little but it's easy to see that she belongs.
On to Butler!
 
IMO major credit for this blowout belongs to the bench players
They scored 21 points out of a 26 point MOV with Blanca and Allie leading the way with a combined 17 points.
Its pretty clear that UConn need these 2 players (and the rest of the bench) to make their shots in order for UConn to be able to continue to romp over the highest ranked teams.
I think it shows that Geno realizes that that it benefits the team's scoring efficiency to give the starters a rest during the game.
Todays bench points were an important offensive contribution.
 
I will definitely have to watch the full game. Had to dip out after the first half. I was looking over the stat sheet. Another nice win for the program. Well done, UConn!!
 
I don't see how anyone can nitpick about anything.

This Uconn team is a well oiled machine. They have weapons all over the place too..

It's interesting that only a few weeks ago people were debating about who that "third scorer would be".. or where are we gonna get that third scorer....

Nobody is gonna beat this Uconn team. They WILL go undefeated unless they fall asleep at the wheel..

I haven't seen a Uconn team this loaded and deep in years...And not just deep on paper...

I am really blown away at how good Azzi is too. I never in a million years expected her to be the same after those injuries.
 
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