John A.: Some of Geno's quotes....

[UConnCat]

I don't know if Geno thought the kids weren't listening, but he should have more of their attention going forward.

Not just Kaleena, but Stef and Stewie looked gassed. It's time to refocus on conditioning.

Banks needs to be more careful. Maybe the screen was the bigger problem, because I thought the foul was very borderline, but she lost Geno's confidence in an instant.

Saniya must have done something wrong to get pulled so fast.

Rebounding can be improved, though Kiah was great.

Entry passes can improve.

We got beat down the floor about 3x in the second half, and we got out-hustled. Where were Maya and Kelly?

I actually think the team's conditioning is as good as ever, with the exception of KML. The up and down action typically does take a toll on the post players so I saw nothing wrt Stef and/or Stewie that concerned me at all. Stewie played a lot of minutes and she's fine. KML is not in good shape and it's showing on the court. When Mulkey's daughter makes you look silly off the dribble then you know there's a problem. She needs to address it.

Saniya played at the end of the first half and lost her mind at the end when the team had a chance to at least get a shot off before time ran out. She dribbled and seemed to have no idea of the time and situation. I'm sure that told Geno that her head wasn't where it needed to be in last night's game.

Geno clearly lost confidence in Banks. She went under the screen (for no reason) and then committed the silly foul.

CD sounded reasonably pleased with the rebounding effort. I thought Stewie and Kiah did a good job on the boards.

 

[pap49cba]

Geno clearly lost confidence in Banks. She went under the screen (for no reason) and then committed the silly foul.

I wish Banks could get last year's mojo back (pre-injury). She is really struggling to get her game back to where it was. We are going to need her when March rolls around.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Also, give Baylor a lot of credit. Their defense was generally excellent. John Altavilla says today that in their last 269 games, they have only allowed one team to reach 50% field goal percentage.

When you have Griner guarding the paint for 148 of those games, keeping teams under 50% is very doable.

Excellence is relative, as UConn tries to hold teams under 30%, which they have done 7 times this season, and just missed getting number 8 last night. Only Duke has shot above 40% with a 41.5% effort. So 17 of 18 games, teams have shot under 40% against the Huskies.

 

[RadyLady]

I wish Banks could get last year's mojo back (pre-injury). She is really struggling to get her game back to where it was. We are going to need her when March rolls around.

Hey - this quote: "Geno clearly lost confidence in Banks. She went under the screen (for no reason) and then committed the silly foul." tain't mine. Think it's Cat's

 

[Tidepool]

I am not saying anything about Baylor. I am simply saying last year, we were faced with three close and winnable games and lost all three. This year, they pulled out the W in a close game and in a hostile environment. By default, that implies that Baylor gave us a game. Let's not detract from my post about this accomplishment.

Maybe I don't understand, but I thought I was supporting what you said. If Baylor gave us a game (and they did), then doesn't that make the accomplishment of winning this close game even more satisfying and encouraging?

 

[Icebear]

Hey - this quote: "Geno clearly lost confidence in Banks. She went under the screen (for no reason) and then committed the silly foul." tain't mine. Think it's Cat's

It was indeed Cat's. I think saying Banks should have gone over top is true except for one thing. Sims ran her off a pair of screens and the first screen literally drove her down low on the pick with some movement so Banks had a hard time disengaging so that whether Banks went above or behind the second pick she was not going to be in good position.

 

[RadyLady]

Maybe I don't understand, but I thought I was supporting what you said. If Baylor gave us a game (and they did), then doesn't that make the accomplishment of winning this close game even more satisfying and encouraging?

I thought that it was obvious...

I said (and I went back to check to be sure): "But they won a close game in a hostile environment." Yes. Stated exactly the way I wanted it to sound, that is, without crowing about how well Baylor did. It was all about UConn.

 

[UcMiami]

On the conditioning front - it has been 6 weeks of fits and starts and players off from their routine and away from the gym for long stretches. Always a tough little window during the year. I think getting back to class and normal routine will help, but we are now in a geographically expanded contest with two more games in Texas to come. Traveling time zones and long flights can be pretty tiring for anybody at any age.