Lack of Team Depth and Team Maturity Cost UCONN vs. Miss. State

[Chong-Master]

First off, Kudos to Mississippi State. You can try to place the blame on this person or that person, but in my opinion, the lack of depth and team maturity on this team ultimately cost the team this year. It was remarkable that this team was able to go this long into the season without a defeat. The starting five last evening, looked tired and flat all game. It appeared as if they had that Energy". I enjoy watching all of the girls, but everyone was saying all season that the lack of depth was this team's shortcoming. Natalie was essentially in effective and Crystal, being about the same size as and in comparison to MSST's William, looked totally in a different league. The human body can only go so far, especially over a long season, no matter how well conditioned it may be. If this team had the quality "Extremely Strong" Bench Depth, that Geno could feel comfortable in using, like he will next season, this game could have been a different story. If you look back to the recruiting classes in the past, the year that Saniya Chong was recruited, she was the only one in this year's class recruited. AND, one could question what the outcome would have been this season if UCONN had Brianna Banks, De’Janae Boykin, and Sadie Edwards?

I suspect that UCONN will go on, at least, a 2 year run of excellence (or beyond), starting next season with the quality players coming into this team, added to Nurse, Collier, KLS, Williams, and Dangerfield.

 

[Sonny44]

First off, Kudos to Mississippi State. You can try to place the blame on this person or that person, but in my opinion, the lack of depth and team maturity on this team ultimately cost the team this year. It was remarkable that this team was able to go this long into the season without a defeat. The starting five last evening, looked tired and flat all game. It appeared as if they had that Energy". I enjoy watching all of the girls, but everyone was saying all season that the lack of depth was this team's shortcoming. Natalie was essentially in effective and Crystal, being about the same size as and in comparison to MSST's William, looked totally in a different league. The human body can only go so far, especially over a long season, no matter how well conditioned it may be. If this team had the quality "Extremely Strong" Bench Depth, that Geno could feel comfortable in using, like he will next season, this game could have been a different story. If you look back to the recruiting classes in the past, the year that Saniya Chong was recruited, she was the only one in this year's class recruited. AND, one could question what the outcome would have been this season if UCONN had Brianna Banks, De’Janae Boykin, and Sadie Edwards?

I suspect that UCONN will go on, at least, a 2 year run of excellence (or beyond), starting next season with the quality players coming into this team, added to Nurse, Collier, KLS, Williams, and Dangerfield.

Yes, I always feared that 2013 would come back to haunt us. Even if we had picked up just one or two in the range of 25 - 50 or so they would have become solid contributors this year.

 

[Florida Fan]

And haunt us it did. Running into a disruptive defense that kept the pressure on was a new experience. With all that perceived awkwardness, we were still in a position to pull out a hard-fought, chaotic victory. Yet for MSU'S diminutive, no quit guard, we probably would have.

 

[Chong-Master]

I think that Geno was not surprised at all on the outcome last evening and looks at it as now having a new start with a new group of individuals to begin the quest to try to beat the 111 games.

 

[Cheddie]

I don't think the team was tired. I do think the pressure got to them in the 1st quarter, including all the expectations of the 111 game streak, going for 5 in a row, living up to last year's team, etc. They looked pretty tight at first, and then a bit rattled by MS's pressure. Interesting at times to see visible concern on Shea and Marisa's faces. MS came into the game unafraid, and you could see their confidence build minute by minute. Combine that with a great game plan, and voila. UConn had more turnovers than assists. It's usually a 2-1 margin in the positive direction. I saw mistakes that you never see the Huskies make.

I do think the lack of depth hurt in that Geno didn't have many options on the bench when starters struggled. Next year he'll have a lot more answers on his roster.

 

[buddy]

They need exactly what the UConn men need. A tall post player. That will take the pressure off of the others. I believe that they will have one for next season. Also, in my opinion, they seem soft at times and need to toughen up. I thought MSU out physicalled then for whatever reason and that was the game. Hold your heads up high. You had an amazing season.

 

[Chong-Master]

Hopefully Natalie Butler will come into her Senior Year, as motivated and in a position to contribute much more greatly to next seasons team, as Saniya Chong was as she entered her Senior Year this past season

 

[Sluconn Husky]

I don't believe depth had anything to do with it. They were the best team by any measure with the same amount of depth all year. They simply did not match MSS's intensity and played a poor game. Colllier, Nurse, and to a large extent Samuelson had poor games. How often does that trio struggle at the same time?

 

[HuskyNan]

Hopefully Natalie Butler will come into her Senior Year, as motivated and in a position to contribute much more greatly to next seasons team, as Saniya Chong was as she entered her Senior Year this past season

I think Batouley Camara can be quite effective. Natalie won't have to be the full time center

 

[Longtime fan]

First off, Kudos to Mississippi State. You can try to place the blame on this person or that person, but in my opinion, the lack of depth and team maturity on this team ultimately cost the team this year. It was remarkable that this team was able to go this long into the season without a defeat. The starting five last evening, looked tired and flat all game. It appeared as if they had that Energy". I enjoy watching all of the girls, but everyone was saying all season that the lack of depth was this team's shortcoming. Natalie was essentially in effective and Crystal, being about the same size as and in comparison to MSST's William, looked totally in a different league. The human body can only go so far, especially over a long season, no matter how well conditioned it may be. If this team had the quality "Extremely Strong" Bench Depth, that Geno could feel comfortable in using, like he will next season, this game could have been a different story. If you look back to the recruiting classes in the past, the year that Saniya Chong was recruited, she was the only one in this year's class recruited. AND, one could question what the outcome would have been this season if UCONN had Brianna Banks, De’Janae Boykin, and Sadie Edwards?

I suspect that UCONN will go on, at least, a 2 year run of excellence (or beyond), starting next season with the quality players coming into this team, added to Nurse, Collier, KLS, Williams, and Dangerfield.

Which brings up a point no one has yet discussed; this year's freshman recruits seem among the worst classes UCONN has attracted in quite a while. Crystal is well below the level of several freshmen point guards already starting on highly prominent teams ( Maryland, South Carolina, etc ), and Kyla and Molly made no impression at all. Nat is not a player at this level. She can provide some useful minutes only against non competitive teams. So, recruiting her was in a panic move, I think, as UCONN experienced no success in their efforts to obtain a quality, big player. If it wasn't for the shake-ups at Duke and Kentucky, we would still be in that position.

 

[VAMike23]

I think that Geno was not surprised at all on the outcome last evening and looks at it as now having a new start with a new group of individuals to begin the quest to try to beat the 111 games.

New quest and new group yes, but IMO the quest is to simply have a season that is theirs and theirs alone without any extra baggage. It will be nice in a lot of ways for the team. No need to manufacture motivation , rather they can keep the loss in mind like almost everyone else does and use it to sharpen the mind.

 

[Longtime fan]

I think Batouley Camara can be quite effective. Natalie won't have to be the full time center

Nat won't play at all. Nor should she. Azura Stevens will be the post player.

 

[HuskyNan]

Nat won't play at all. Nor should she. Azura Stevens will be the post player.

Azura is not a center. She's a wing/guard, like Elena DelleDonne.

 

[bertieboy]

I don't believe depth had anything to do with it. They were the best team by any measure with the same amount of depth all year. They simply did not match MSS's intensity and played a poor game. Colllier, Nurse, and to a large extent Samuelson had poor games. How often does that trio struggle at the same time?

Depth had almost nothing to do with the loss and neither did maturity. What did us in was MS defense and lack of a big to counter MS bigs. I was at the game and I noted that Morgan William was really fast, faster than anyone Uconn had, including Crystal Dangerfield. Because of their defense the whole game was played at their pace, not ours. That was the telling difference. SC has a big to counter those of MS, A'ja Wilson [she had 19 rebounds against Stanford], and perhaps that is why they have beaten them two times already this year. Will they do it again? I don't know, but I will be watching.

I could not be more proud of our team. No one expected us to do as well as we did. After the 2 point win against Florida State in the first game of the year I thought we would lose four or five games. I live one hour from the AA Center where the game was played but I did not pre-buy tickets because I questioned if UCONN would actually get to the final four. Of course, as the season went on it became obvious they would. By the time I shopped for tickets they were quite expensive. The three of us bought tickets to the semifinal games from three Texas A&M alums in a sports bar right next to the site.

But like I said before, I could not be prouder of this team!

 

[Buzzyboy]

They need exactly what the UConn men need. A tall post player. That will take the pressure off of the others. I believe that they will have one for next season. Also, in my opinion, they seem soft at times and need to toughen up. I thought MSU out physicalled then for whatever reason and that was the game. Hold your heads up high. You had an amazing season.

This team was (is) more of a finesse team and it seemed there were numerous teams that tried to use physicality against us. KLS was mugged multiple times this year and others took major hits, as well. This MSU team played very well and was very physical and I commend their defense. The only big issue for me was the loss of composure that contributed to them building a major lead by the middle of the 2nd quarter. We actually came back and went ahead but I'm sure that took some serious energy out of the team. Butler and Crystal Dangerfield didn't provide what we would have wanted and everyone seemed to be a bit off. I was out watching the game at a club (when I could) and might have missed some stuff but I was shocked to see Saniya attempting a shot with 12 seconds left in overtime and the shot clock off. Totally shocked, though I did think she was fouled. Why???????

 

[Buzzyboy]

Depth had almost nothing to do with the loss and neither did maturity. What did us in was MS defense and lack of a big to counter MS bigs. I was at the game and I noted that Morgan William was really fast, faster than anyone Uconn had, including Crystal Dangerfield. Because of their defense the whole game was played at their pace, not ours. That was the telling difference. SC has a big to counter those of MS, A'ja Wilson [she had 19 rebounds against Stanford], and perhaps that is why they have beaten them two times already this year. Will they do it again? I don't know, but I will be watching.

I could not be more proud of our team. No one expected us to do as well as we did. After the 2 point win against Florida State in the first game of the year I thought we would lose four or five games. I live one hour from the AA Center where the game was played but I did not pre-buy tickets because I questioned if UCONN would actually get to the final four. Of course, as the season went on it became obvious they would. By the time I shopped for tickets they were quite expensive. The three of us bought tickets to the semifinal games from three Texas A&M alums in a sports bar right next to the site.

But like I said before, I could not be prouder of this team!

I wasn't able to watch every moment of the game but I saw when UConn was totally flustered and extraordinarily sloppy, contributing to that big MSU run that opened up a 16 or 17 point lead. In that run, there were numerous turnovers and KLS was responsible for a couple of them but other than that, I thought she was a bright spot for the team and played a very, very nice game and was a key for our almost pulling the game out. I'm not sure why she was included as one of the Huskies having a poor game.

 

[Stinger92860]

I think Batouley Camara can be quite effective. Natalie won't have to be the full time center

She may have trouble getting meaningful minutes.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Which brings up a point no one has yet discussed; this year's freshman recruits seem among the worst classes UCONN has attracted in quite a while. Crystal is well below the level of several freshmen point guards already starting on highly prominent teams ( Maryland, South Carolina, etc ), and Kyla and Molly made no impression at all. Nat is not a player at this level. She can provide some useful minutes only against non competitive teams. So, recruiting her was in a panic move, I think, as UCONN experienced no success in their efforts to obtain a quality, big player. If it wasn't for the shake-ups at Duke and Kentucky, we would still be in that position.

Nat is not very athletic or quick, at all. Her movements are quite robotic but against some teams, she can be effective and help give others some rest. She's a good teammate but is surely not the answer to some of the very big athletic and skilled big girls that are out there.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Because of their defense the whole game was played at their pace, not ours. That was the telling difference.

It was mostly played at MSS's pace because UConn allowed them to stand and hold the ball for 20 seconds over and over. I kept waiting for a trap to come at William as she stood 10 feet behind the line but it never did. Why Geno refused to speed the game up is anyone's guess. Practically no fast break points and much of that a result of allowing William to hold the ball every possession.

 

[CocoHusky]

It was mostly played at MSS's pace because UConn allowed them to stand and hold the ball for 20 seconds over and over. I kept waiting for a trap to come at William as she stood 10 feet behind the line but it never did. Why Geno refused to speed the game up is anyone's guess. Practically no fast break points and much of that a result of allowing William to hold the ball every possession.

Geno did not have the reliable defensive talent to "speed up MSU or William. This team has not really sped up anyone this year: Brown (in backup PG role) was not sped up at FSU, Jones of Baylor was certainly not sped up, nor was Allen of ND or Slocum of MD. Even Freshmen Harris of SC was not sped up as the tempo and limited UCONN possession were exactly where Dawn wanted it.

 

[AussieHusky]

If not speed them up at least deny Williams the ball. In the last possession we seem to try to deny her the ball but then we inextricably backed off.

 

[UConn990411]

Azura is not a center. She's a wing/guard, like Elena DelleDonne.

While true, she averaged 9.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game as a sophomore. Considering their roster construction for next year, I'd expect her to play on the interior for this team, at least on the defensive end.

 

[Roger G]

The minutes Natalie was in there they did a bit better. Geno is brilliant but I wish he had put her in there a little more. Her presence changes things and the shots for the other team do not fall as easily. There was one shot by Viviens which would have been an easy one yet Natalie was there so she had to go around and the ball rimmed out. One more time like that and they would have won. Of course, one more free throw made, one more shot made....

 

[Vowelguy]

It was mostly played at MSS's pace because UConn allowed them to stand and hold the ball for 20 seconds over and over. I kept waiting for a trap to come at William as she stood 10 feet behind the line but it never did. Why Geno refused to speed the game up is anyone's guess. Practically no fast break points and much of that a result of allowing William to hold the ball every possession.

My guess is that he was worried that a trap would lead to 1-on-1 for McCowan which we could not stop. Still I would've liked to see it tested once or twice.
I also don't know why we couldn't get more 3 attempts for our shooters.

 

[Vowelguy]

Fatigue and lack of depth were absolutely a factor. Gabbys 2 missed free throws in OT were clearly fatigue.

The other thing depth does is it gives more options and looks when things aren't going well.