Kansas State Game Thread

[StephStorrs]

Some bright sides* to look at so we aren't harping on the negatives:

• 3 huskies with 5 assists: Kia, Gabby, and Crystal Dangerfield!
• Napheesa had 6 steals and 5 blocks!
• 4 huskies had 4 or more rebounds: Kia and Crystal Dangerfield with 4 a piece (1 offensive, 3 defensive), Pheese with 8 (2 offensive, 6 defensive), and Gabby with 10 (3 offensive, 7 defensive).
• 3 huskies in double digits! It's not the full squad we were hoping to see, but Kia put up 13, Pheese put up 22, and Katie put up 26.
• Kia and Butler only allowed 1 turnover!

* I know ESPN's boxscores aren't the best, but this is the boxscore I was able to find and the boxscore I'm referencing.

There's some bright sides here, and some positives despite the overall negative / disappointed feelings about this game. It wasn't a pretty win, but with having a short bench and Chong going through protocol, I'm comfortable saying a win is a win.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I'm running with Geno ... never settle.

I don't think I said settle. However, we can't expect, at this point, the same flow that last year's team had. I never said settle.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno said he's proud of the team today.

"They've logged a lot of minutes between today and Notre Dame."

 

[HoopsFan21]

How many players didn't make the trip? From the sounds of it seems like a lot of people weren't available today.

 

[psconn]

"a LITTLE better" Geno's such a jerk.

 

[TitleTown]

To get a hard fought win like this on the road as tired as UConn was,with the vast number of teachable moments, is only going to make them a better team come March.

 

[VAMike23]

Kind of reminded me of playing at West Virginia in the old Big East. Not quite *that* physical, but still a lot of effort from a well-coached opponent and a lot of ups and downs throughout the game. We had teams that went on to win NC's that had to grind out 10-15 point wins at gyms like that earlier in the season.

 

[phil sampieri]

Sloppiest win to date. Now go take an 8 day nap and com out firing on at least 7 cylinders

First, I think our kids were tired. Also, Butler was not good at all on defense, never jumps,doesn't move her feet on defense,leans in and worst of all they were fronting the big girl with success but she played behind her slowing the easy entry pass. Sorry

 

[TitleTown]

How many players didn't make the trip? From the sounds of it seems like a lot of people weren't available today.

Just Chong

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I will say that K-State is better than some of the teams in front of them in the rankings.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Okay. Great win considering the circumstances. Next trap game is at Nebraska 48 hrs after Maryland at home.

Nebraska is nowhere near as good as K State. We'll win by 30. (and it's 48 hours after OSU, not Md.)

 

[Blueballer]

Sloppiest win to date. Now go take an 8 day nap and com out firing on at least 7 cylinders

I don't think I agree. A couple of the first games were too. I do agree that the 4th quarter of this game was the sloppiest quarter. The way this game started with the huge lead lends itself to let downs. Especially after the events of the past week. Lots of other teams would have completely blown the lead. Especially being short handed as K-State kept up the pace. I was very impressed with their zone. Smart and well coached. Good energy. Eager to see them play some other ranked teams.

 

[oldude]

KState is a solid, well coached team, and the huskies were a little flat and short handed, but the game was never really close after the 1st qtr. This game reminded me of the LSU game.

 

[Kmoney]

Wow. FS1 post game show just did about an 8 minute infomercial for UCONN basketball. that was all great to hear.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

"a LITTLE better" Geno's such a jerk.

What! He said she's one of the best in the nation and she gets a little better every day!!! Lou is so in control. She figures it out and gets about it. Geno's just afraid if he gives her a big kiss she'll go all California on him.

 

[Schoup]

What! He said she's one of the best in the nation and she gets a little better every day!!! Lou is so in control. She figures it out and gets about it. Geno's just afraid if he gives her a big kiss she'll go all California on him.

Geno's comment was right on. KLS lost her defensive assignment several times that led to a 3 on 2 occasions. The thing that she always needed to work on was her defense. She improved thru last season, but still has work to do. She is one of the best players in the country, if she wants to be the best it will come from her defensive improvements over time.

 

[Plebe]

I will say that K-State is better than some of the teams in front of them in the rankings.

The polls on which the "rankings" are based are heavily colored by, among other things, the starting position of each team in the preseason poll. Take Oklahoma, which was preseason #16 and has losses to then-#17 Kentucky and to unranked Oral Roberts. Despite no wins over the "ranked" teams (its best win so far is probably over South Dakota State), Oklahoma is now #19.

Kansas State, meanwhile, has a win over then-#23 Auburn as well as solid wins over LSU and NC State. But because K State was nowhere on the polling radar in the preseason, their 9-0 start has only brought them to #27 in the vote count.

 

[VAMike23]

Butler is obviously trying hard but she is going to have to take a couple of big steps mentally to get where she wants to be.

Several times over the last couple of games she has had the ball facing the basket at close range and has turned away at the slightest challenge by the defender or else *waited* for a defender to appear rather than attack the basket. I know she is not gifted with much of a vertical but this stuff is mental.

Morgan Tuck showed that a lot of work can be done if you know how to move your feet and use your body in the trenches. CD showed Lou tapes of Rip, now she or Marisa needs to show Nat tapes of Morgan. Just as no one expects Lou to do everything Rip did, no one should expect Nat to do everything Morgan did. That's not the point. The point is the rest of the squad has taken some pretty big leaps so far in this young season , while Nat, IMO, has shown more limited improvement. Time for some woodshedding in a few focused areas so she can gain more confidence. Increased confidence would take care of a lot of things.

 

[hoophuskee]

Yeah, She only has 22 points, 8 boards, 6 steals 4 assists. and 5 blocks. Gonna have to step up.

I thought her game was off too in terms of passing and maybe some blown defensive assignments. Not sure about it. Could be wrong.

 

[VAMike23]

Did anybody else really like that sweet little baseline runner from Danger toward the end ?

So pretty ... so effortless(!)...you watch her dish out those little gems now and again and you realize that there is a MONSTER game being held in abeyance while she figures things out this year. Not sure when the monster will come out but when it does, look out world!!! And yes I am aware of what she did at Baylor. That was an outstanding game but it still just scratched the surface IMO.

 

[pinotbear]

Sloppiest win to date. Now go take an 8 day nap and com out firing on at least 7 cylinders

I'm not sure the kids - remember, most of the team is frosh and sophs - consider final exams to be "an 8-day nap". Sometimes, some of us forget that these are college students, many still in their teens.

 

[hoophuskee]

Butler is obviously trying hard but she is going to have to take a couple of big steps mentally to get where she wants to be.

Several times over the last couple of games she has had the ball facing the basket at close range and has turned away at the slightest challenge by the defender or else *waited* for a defender to appear rather than attack the basket. I know she is not gifted with much of a vertical but this stuff is mental.

Morgan Tuck showed that a lot of work can be done if you know how to move your feet and use your body in the trenches. CD showed Lou tapes of Rip, now she or Marisa needs to show Nat tapes of Morgan. Just as no one expects Lou to do everything Rip did, no one should expect Nat to do everything Morgan did. That's not the point. The point is the rest of the squad has taken some pretty big leaps so far in this young season , while Nat, IMO, has shown more limited improvement. Time for some woodshedding in a few focused areas so she can gain more confidence. Increased confidence would take care of a lot of things.

All the other players were high school all-americans for a reason. You can't turn Dennis Rodman into LeBron James.

 

[NewCorn]

I thought her game was off too in terms of passing and maybe some blown defensive assignments. Not sure about it. Could be wrong.

If the whole team had had an off game like Pheesa, we would have won by 60.

 

[Buzzyboy]

UConn is clearly tired yet they're up by 21 points. Some people are acting like someone is going to come shoot their dog if UConn loses.

I think there's just an expectation that they'll play consistently and it appears that wasn't the case today. They are kids and as has been mentioned, they've played lots of minutes, had finals and probably dealing with a bit of jet lag but most people aren't aware of some of the things that people deal with along the way. When you run into a friend that's a bit grumpy, you might be taken aback without realizing they may have had some awful issues to deal with. Same thing here!

 

[Chong-Master]

Not the prettiest wins so far this year, having to play with a very short bench, but a win none the less. Thank goodness for the upcoming week break, to rest up and get healthy. I don't want to EVER hear another negative comment about Saniya Chong's worth to this team, from Doris "Miss EPSN" Burke. She is as important a player on this year's team than anyone, and having her today would have meant an even wider margin of victory. (Give me Rebecca Lobo or Kara Lawson any day !!)