Iowa Postgame Thread

[HopJim]

I thought she was not effective in her minutes. Wasn’t surprised at her lack of time.

Big fan of K9 but the first two times she was subed in, she almost immediately threw the ball away. Anyone who has followed Geno should not be surprised that her time on court was limited after the second turnover.

 

[HopJim]

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.

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.

 

[JellyBean]

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.

 

[VA Huskie]

PS: As excited as I am about BQ...Kelis Fisher is going to be really good....

But only when she stops taking a shot a minute and gets that speed under control.

 

[dtbtbtb]

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!

 

[sun]

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.

 

[JellyBean]

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!!

 

[my2cents]

Nobody is beating this team.

 

[1974yankees]

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.

 

[Stagnant]

Big fan of K9 but the first two times she was subed in, she almost immediately threw the ball away. Anyone who has followed Geno should not be surprised that her time on court was limited after the second turnover.

She only had one turnover

 

[oldude]

She (Blanca) is definitely not a secret anymore

So does this mean I can no longer refer to Blanca as the X-FACTOR? 🙁

 

[MilfordHusky]

I enjoyed being in NYC for the holidays and watching Tennessee lose by 20+ and UConn win by 20+.

I was impressed by Iowa. There are a talented, well-coached team. But UConn was a lot better. Sarah Strong dominated the first half. I though she could go for 40. Azzi heated up in the second half. As Geno notes, she has the ability to break open games. That's exactly what she did. Blanca is a menace!

Iowa shot 49/47/75, which is usually a winning line. But 26 turnovers can undo good shooting.

Congrats to the Huskies and Happy Holidays to all!

 

[MilfordHusky]

So does this mean I can no longer refer to Blanca as the X-FACTOR? 🙁

She's the Q-factor!

 

[Cornell Lt]

So does this mean I can no longer refer to Blanca as the X-FACTOR? 🙁

Not at all, I would classify her status as an X-factor and not a secret weapon at this point

 

[SVCBeercats]

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.

Too talented? Yes! Too deep? No! Geno has 6 players he trusts in Top 25 games. All the other players get ten or less minutes of garbage time. Geno is still trying to find 2-3 more players to trust. Probably would be happy with one more. Potential is there but no one is stepping up. I would like to see the Guppy make some strides to push others such as K9. Jana needs to produce in the Big East games to gain Geno's trust for the tough games. Maybe Allie will begin to be the three-maker when Fudd is off. Allie needs to work on her whole game. She is shooting 44% from 3.

 

[SVCBeercats]

-Iowa had 26 TOs. I wonder how many UConn causes on the average per game. DavidInNaples?

Post in thread 'Iowa Postgame Thread'

Yesterday at 3:46 PM

-20 pts, 5 steals, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 0 TOs. Great game right? Nope. Strong’s first half stats. We won’t see a better first half from anybody all year.

-Azzi’s 3-9 first half shooting is misleading. All three of her 3 balls went in and out. It is actually a positive that she didn’t hesitate in the second half until it finally clicked in. Man did it click in.

-Iowa’s zone bothered UConn some. Still don’t understand why more teams don’t try it.

-KK making threes is just another part of the great season she is putting together.

-Blanca for Ash is probably Geno’s version of...

• DavidinNaples

• 
• 

 

[ec33]

I thought she was not effective in her minutes. Wasn’t surprised at her lack of time.

It seems like the K9's lack of effectiveness is due to communication errors between her and her teammates (her and Sarah in the first half). That is something that can only be helped with more time on the court together. If you note, she, Blanca, and Allie mesh well -- as they get time together.

Geno knows what he is doing and I wouldn't want to take KK all that much either, but I hope he finds more ways for her to get reps on the court with the starters. At some point (like against Michigan), KK and Ash aren't going to be contributing all that much and the KK led offense isn't generating great shots for Sarah and Azzi. In that moment, it would be nice if K9 and Allie were better positioned to provide alternatives.

 

[Bone Dog]

Too deep? No! Geno has 6 players he trusts in Top 25 games. All the other players get ten or less minutes of garbage time. Geno is still trying to find 2-3 more players to trust. Probably would be happy with one more. Potential is there but no one is stepping up.

I get your point, but I think you aren’t giving Kayleigh Allie and Blanca enough credit. It looks to me like those three are already in the process of stepping up. This is especially true of Allie and Blanca. Kayleigh may have a bit further to go to get fully up to speed. But her role is inevitably going to be more complicated than theirs. Anyway, this says to me that Geno has an 8-deep rotation already shaping up nicely. The only question is whether he can find two more.

 

[Geew1992]

Can we talk about KK!?

32 minutes. 6 assists and ZERO turnovers.

 

[Geew1992]

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.

Who is serah edwards?? And what does Joyce Edwards have to do with this game

 

[Bills Fan]

After listening to the Iowa HC, I now put her in the same category, class wise, as Megan Duffy.

They both were able to take some of the blame for their mistakes after getting blown away by the Huskies. And just as importantly they both gave Geno and UCONN a tremendous amount of credit and praise; saying at least once that UCONN is the standard and that Geno recruits kids that enjoy playing together.

I especially liked Jansen's closing remark at the end of her presser as she was departing, saying to the media, "Thanks for covering our sport". Classy.

 

[Vowelguy]

That is something that can only be helped with more time on the court together.

Can get a lot of that In practice

 

[Bone Dog]

One thing that disappoints me is the ESPN recap (courtesy of AP): "Azzi Fudd scored 27 points and Sarah Strong added 23 to help No. 1 UConn beat 11th-ranked Iowa 90-64 on Saturday in the Women's Champions Classic."

It would be a lot more accurate to say Sarah carried UConn to a substantial lead in the first half, and Azzi helped hold off Iowa in the second half.

 

[SVCBeercats]

I get your point, but I think you aren’t giving Kayleigh Allie and Blanca enough credit. It looks to me like those three are already in the process of stepping up. This is especially true of Allie and Blanca. Kayleigh may have a bit further to go to get fully up to speed. But her role is inevitably going to be more complicated than theirs. Anyway, this says to me that Geno has an 8-deep rotation already shaping up nicely. The only question is whether he can find two more.

Not talking about if the "untrusted" players are giving it their all. I am saying right now Geno plays Fudd, Strong, Williams, KK, Shade, and Quinonez exclusively against Top 25 teams except for garbage time. This tells me who he trusts in crunch time. When a 7th player gets 12-15 minutes while the tough games are still even somewhat competitive then I will believe there may be trust forming in Geno's mind. I am certain 2 or three will achieve trust but I don't believe it is there as of now.

 

[SVCBeercats]

I get your point, but I think you aren’t giving Kayleigh Allie and Blanca enough credit. It looks to me like those three are already in the process of stepping up. This is especially true of Allie and Blanca. Kayleigh may have a bit further to go to get fully up to speed. But her role is inevitably going to be more complicated than theirs. Anyway, this says to me that Geno has an 8-deep rotation already shaping up nicely. The only question is whether he can find two more.

Actually I am giving Blanca credit. Again the 6 players with Geno's trust are Fudd, Strong, Williams, KK, Shade, and Quinonez. Quinonez as in Blanca Quinonez.