Iowa State Postgame Thread

[Nolefan]

I am not recommending gambling here. But I do look at some of the odds every once in a while.

And I can’t believe Sarah Strong national player of the year odds aren’t better. You could go on to draft kings and bet $1 on Sarah Strong winning national player of the year; and if she won it… your payout would be $250. That seems like great value. It makes me think nationally… not everyone is clued in to how great Sarah has been.

Because she’s not flashy she doesn’t flex and thump her chest every time she scores .. she does have the look at me mentality like some players on other teams have .. she’s boring to the media imo

 

[ERWUC65]

Thanks jaydum I look forward to reading the other thread you created. Have to run but will deifinitely look at. Thanks!

I saw that too. They aren't really crowding Ash and Chen for example shooting 3's, but it's nothing like what they were doing with Ice yesterday and she wasn't far past the free throw line.

She is afraid to shoot, I guess lack of confidence, but she actually is pretty good at top of key. In my opinion this could be a big plus should she start to score more here forcing the opposition to cover her and free up our other players.

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[RockyMTblue2]

It was the AAC's championship game against USF where she went 10 for 10 on threes. Still PO'd that Geno took her out with over 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, she would have broken Sales' game high scoring record.

Sales would care ... a lot! I wonder if Geno ... no, he'd never do that. Right?

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

That rebound and put back by Sara vs Brooks was just brutal. This is only a freshman folks. Just wow.. Sara has to absolutely bring it vs So cal on Saturday. I don't think anyone can guard her on that team.

 

[Zarathustra]

A VERY NICE highlight clip! I recommend it.

 

[BBallF]

This did not want to be found, but finally ... Bill classey guy. Funny in speaking about Sarah. After the fun he said he was pretty surprised at how much she looked like a UConn player after 11 games.



Is it the Big 12 we want to join and destroy?

This guy is really funny. "She (Sarah) make the game look easy. It really pisses me off". He also said "Showing up is a skill". Very interesting observation. Wish him and them well. He took some blame for subjecting his team to a difficult OOC schedule including us, Iowa and South Carolina. When asked about the effect of that schedule on March he said the key word is "hopefully" it has an impact.

 

[AzzisBraids]

If Jana fronted Crooks rather than behind her she might have, like Ice in the second half shut her down. Ice created a lot of steals by stepping in front of Crooks and tipping the entry pass. This was a great coaching change after half time. Cheli was very active inside and our guards, with their quick feet and hands disrupted Crooks.

Credit Crooks with solid deep positioning and great shooting under pressure. This game was a window on our future. We are very deep. Our young team is getting comfortable with each other. Eight turnovers against a good Iowa State team are impressive.

Some strange calls for sure. Some calls seemed to happen before anything happened!

Love this and agree. You cannot stay behind a big like her. Ice even pulled the chair and few times and that threw Crooks off. She mixed it up just enough to throw her off kilter so she wasn't a primary factor. Even Geno noted she had a great game.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Great win but on your comment regarding Jana she was very effective on defense when Crooks wasn't in. Frankly, once Crooks has the ball near the basket (and the most effective D for her is to prevent her from getting the ball in the first place) there isn't much that can be done to prevent her from turning, banking in a shot and scoring and Jana looked nervous because she didn't want to foul out. (Crooks also knows how to create space for herself with her non shooting arm thrusts or hard push into the chest of a defender which is something that the refs definitely must see but mostly overlook) What really was needed and it worked well on several occasions was help side defense when one of the guards or wings came to try ti get the ball out of her hands and assist in defending. I for one am a fan of Jana. I love her passion and enthusiasm. She has some very good skills for a big and will refine them. CD and Jamelle are working with her. Let's give her some time and BY support.

Now back to this win. Great juggernaut by the three Atomic Dogs. Happy for Ash (and maybe she put to rest comments about her 'mechanics") and Paige looked great. As far as Sarah, she plays with so much poise and control. Acts like a senior. Very mature. Nothing seems to faze her. What a future. We Husky fans are lucky.

Now we need to make it Atomic Dogs Plus 2 and put the pedal on the Trojans. I'll be there with some old diehard Huskies doing the UConn cheer. Come on out. Let's keep the UConn Spirit, Pride and Tradition going.

You made some very valid points and I think we're speaking parallel. I can both be a fan of Jana but realize the statistics of the game that showed that Crooks had her way against her. She's a freshman and will learn from this. But saying Jana was effective when Crooks was out is like saying a guard is great against UConn without Bueckers. I like your posts and appreciate the friendly dialog.

 

[hoophuskee]

Any minute now we will have Azzi back and hopefully durable. Then we may have 4 deadeyes on the floor now and then. You never know. Rebounding will improve with only a big and no forward on the floor. But if you become a team with no opportunities for bigs to score, the whole issue will go away. No big worth anything will come to your program.

Or we could flip this around using this past game and last year as a perfect example why an elite Big would be out her mind not to consider UCONN very highly if location was not an issue. Which imo is more of the case.

If I were Geno and you are the recruit I’d use this past game as an example.

1--- You see my teams open up the floor because we’re a great passing team and shooting team. Do you think with an open floor giving you room to operate that you can excel?

2--- Incidentally, you know our team is positioned to again be near the top as we are every year. And in 2025 we have this player named Sarah Strong, have you heard of her? Well I can tell you one thing that Sarh Strong loves to do, not only win, but she loves to win while passing the ball. I’m sure you saw our latest game vs. Iowa state, didn’t you? I know you saw all the 3’s but did you notice that in our 1st qtr when we scored 34 points that at 8:42 she passed the ball to Shade who hits for a 2? How about at 7:39 she passed to Paige for a layup which she missed. At 4:24 she passes to Paige who hits for a 3. At 3:19 she passes to Shade who hits for a 3. At 2:52 she passes Paige who hits for a 3. At 1:35 she passes to Jana who is wide open for a 15 footer but she misses. And in regard to Jana she also receive a pass from Paige and has layup which she misses. But do you get the points here? That my best players are passers too. Because we can open the floor like few others can for a player like you that's able operate free of double teams provided you can hit layups and shoot better than 35% or so from the free throw line. Do you think you can hit layups in which you’ll get many opportunities and hit free throws at least better than 35% or so? I know you can! And this was all in 1 qtr!

3--- By the way, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking but Coach, nearly all those passes were to other guards. While true, we have to remember that even Duke graduates that initially wait on tables can figure out the basics of simple math as it relates to efficiency. Right now our top 6 efficient players are not our Bigs. And as we discussed before that if you can hit layups and makes a decent % of free throws, right? So, all you’d have to do is prove it. Because if you can do that, then even the Duke graduate can look back as recently as last year to see that my 2nd leading scorer was an all-American and number 2 in shot attempts and number 2 in efficiency. So, why would any successful coach or team want to ignore efficiency? I certainly don't. I was making sure our 2nd most efficient player and best low post player was getting the nd most shot attempts. Why do my critics ignore this?

4--- Speaking of this, do you know there has been some negative recruiting being used against our Program with the production regarding our Bigs. Well, as mentioned before Aaliyah Edwards was about a 15th ranked recruit before she got here and ended up going 5th in the draft. And I'll mention again. And again. She was the 2nd most efficient player. And 2nd in shot attempts. And 2 years prior when we reached the Finals the coaches at Indiana and Stanford remarked how physical we were. And a few years prior to that we had Azura Stevens coming from Duke who was more of a sf/pf but she is now in the WNBA as a successful 4/5. And prior to that I turned a Guard out of High School into a 1st team All-American inside player in Gabby Willaims. Ohh ,and by the way, currently I have a couple of pretty good WNBA post players in the WNBA. Maybe you heard of their names? Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier?

5--- By the way, my critics want to ignore that we’re playing for it all the last weekend nearly 95% the time. Ignore that I helped out successful big time posts in the WNBA. Ignore the basics of the game such as hitting layups and making free throws. As long as you can prove you can hit layups and make some free throws, and I’ll teach you Defense just like I did this past year in which we lost in the Final Four because we didn’t have that 3rd scorer but our Defense was terrific throughout the NCAA’s , then what is there not to love?

 

[TheGOAT23]

I realize that Jana and Ice are works in progress, particularly Jana. But this "mu hands were straight up" business is just silly. Here's what I saw, more than once: Their hands are somewhere between upright and halfway down when the opposing player approaches and initiates contact. As they separate, our player raises her arms to straight up and looks at the ref in wonderment.
Really?

This is so true. A lot of players do that - past and present. I laugh while looking at them in wonderment. You know good and well that your arms/ hands were not straight at the time of contact.

 

[BB Dawg]

-this was the same team that was 3-16 from three against ND. School game for threes made in a game. What a treat to watch.

-Ash must have read all the wonderful tips found in Nan’s thread on her mechanics.

-In 11 games, I would guess that I have counted less than 5 times Sarah has made a bad choice on the floor. Great seeing her get hot from three.

-Crooks is a nice player, could she help UConn?

-I do think though that Ice held her own against her.

-I feel bad for Jana. Obviously busting her butt but with little to show for it. Geno must see something in practice because she continues to get minutes.

-As great as the first quarter was, the Huskies are still struggling with gaps where their defense struggles defending the three.

-BY historians, when was the last time the Huskies have three players score at least 27 in a game?

Many family & friends, big stage near her home town @ ND - Seemed out of focus - She looked focused when she was shooting against Iowa State.

 

[BB Dawg]

What a night of great basketbal by the Huskies
Ashlynn jump shot reminds me of Bill Bradley ….old timers will know this reference View attachment 105528 View attachment 105529

I see the comparisons as undersized forwards with great shots - However, Shade appears to be in better condition than Bradley.

 

[BB Dawg]

This happened last year around this time to Ashlyn Shade. She was not shooting particularly well then they played Toronto up in Canada and she could not miss that game. She had taken off since then last season.

 

[BB Dawg]

Wow, just wow. With the offensive onslaught let’s not lose sight of the great D played by Ice on Ms. Crooks.

Yes, absolutely played well against Crooks. - They have history playing against each other in HS

 

[GoUconn7961]

The best defensive play against Crooks was when Ice took two steps back as Crooks was trying to push back causing her to travel. More of that please.

 

[BBallF]

I am not recommending gambling here. But I do look at some of the odds every once in a while.

And I can’t believe Sarah Strong national player of the year odds aren’t better. You could go on to draft kings and bet $1 on Sarah Strong winning national player of the year; and if she won it… your payout would be $250. That seems like great value. It makes me think nationally… not everyone is clued in to how great Sarah has been.

You have Paige, Hidalgo and JuJu. You are right that fans are just getting to know Sarah but I would save the buck!

 

[HuskyNan]

Closing this thread since it’s no longer discussing the game