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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4087921, member: 1131"] This is another oft-repeated point about Geno's coaching that (IMHO) is more often false than true -- although it [B]may[/B] have true in the first half of the Arizona game. His first comments after the game are revealing (unless you consider them totally self-serving and dismiss them for that reason, which I don't): [LIST] [*]He said that Arizona "blew up" the offensive actions that UConn usually prefers. He added that he felt the players should know how to react to that, but they didn't move to "Plan B" when he expected that they should. This is consistent with Adia Barnes's comments before the game that the pinch-post actions that UConn uses were something that her team had seen in the Pac-12, "so we ought to be ready for them." I have a hunch that UConn's preparation for AZ focused on the Wildcats' NCAA Tournament games rather than their Pac-12 games, so the UConn coaches may not have seen how AZ defended offenses similar to UConn's. [*]Geno also said that his team didn't have the maturity to deal with an unexpected defense by AZ. I think he meant that if Paige and Evina had more experience against top-flight defenses (something that they don't get in the Big East), they would have reacted more quickly and more correctly to what AZ was doing. Arizona definitely had the advantage of having played more varieties of high-level competition than UConn did. [/LIST] However, as I said in the original post above, UConn did get its offense humming in the second half of the game, scoring 37 points. Watching the second half, you could see that they were getting many more open 3-point shots (4-for-9 in 2nd half vs. 1-for-3 in first half). That by itself opened up the paint to more offensive action. I attribute this to the fact that Geno had enough time in the locker room at halftime to communicate how to attack the AZ defense. So his adjustment was late, but it did occur. If UConn had played offense the same way in the first half, it would have been a very close game that UConn probably would have won. I have watched a great many games over the years when UConn was surprised in the first quarter by an unusual defense or offense. In the Stewie years, this would result in a close game at the end of the first quarter, and then a wipeout after that. Almost always, the third quarter would be big for UConn as a result (I think) of Geno's halftime adjustments -- remember when Marina Mabrey torched UConn in the first half and then was shut down by a MoJeff faceguard in the third quarter?. That is why I think Geno is able to make in-game adjustments that work much more often than not. But of course, there are exceptions. I can also remember a number of games against good competition when Geno had a game plan that flummoxed the opponent, resulting in a first-quarter wipeout in UConn's favor. That looked like it was going to happen in the Baylor Elite Eight game last season until Baylor found its footing and made the game close. But I can recall a game (years ago) when UConn and Duke were #2 and #3 in the country when they played in January, and the score was 23-2 in favor of UConn in the first quarter. More recently, I remember a game against Louisville which was expected to be close, but was something like 26-7 at the end of one quarter, thanks largely to Gabby Williams. At the risk of sounding like [USER=9636]@Dokey[/USER], one mistake that I think Geno made in the AZ game was to keep Anna on the bench until the game was out of reach. I don't really understand why he did that, since she had the experience and passing ability to contend with AZ's defensive scheme. But I think it's a good thing for UConn that she stayed in Europe this year, since it will open up minutes for Caroline that she will need to develop her skills. As I have said before, I think Caroline and Anna are almost exactly the same kind of player, so having two of them would have been superfluous (just as having Aubrey and Mir on the current team makes it difficult to find adequate minutes for either one). [/QUOTE]

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