Louisville Postgame Thread (merged)

[Aluminny69]

An argument could easily be made she is. I think my hypothesis is that if any 2 of the big 3 have good games the team will win that night. If all 3 play well, no one in the country would be within 12.

It will be hard to promote Paige as POY if she is not the best player on her own team. I would say that for the last two games, Sarah has outplayed Paige. Will this keep up?

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

I think Azzi is ok.. On her last play, when she made that 3 point, she made a jump shot, which is a good sign. If she had taken that shot flat footed, meaning shooting it grounded on the floor, that would of been a concern for sure. But she made that jump shot and continued to go down the opposite side of the court to play defense. I'm not a doctor, but the jump shot was a good sign.

 

[fomalhaut]

Right now they look like the best team in the country by far, with three players who are unstoppable when they're on, and any one of the three capable of carrying the team along on a given night.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think Geno needs to dig into the refs on behalf of Ice and Jana. Some bogus fouls IMO.

 

[caseyb7]

Morgan Cheli continues to impress me, especially with her intensity and defense.

She reminds me of Nika Muhl per her energy.

Early on her she fouled a bit, last couple outings better.

I've been to a couple games in person and she looks bigger than her listed 6 2".

For someone of that size she hustles and gets to her positions and scambles for the ball.

I think we have several "developing stories" that the fans will love, Morgan will be one I watch.

 

[yhun89]

Ban Sue Bird from coming to these games, she’s a curse on Paige .

Notre Dame is probably offering her a free ticket after last night.

At the same time tho, we got a 30+ point win over a ranked team with a horrible night from Paige. Improvement.

LV isn’t even terrible, this is the same team who barely lost to OKL and UCLA at one point.

 

[GoingPostal]

You know what else tonight's game showed? When your shots aren't dropping you make something else happen. Paige ten rebounds and six assists. Lead by example.

 

[ubasketball]

For me, the most important question after every game is: Are we improving? For many of us, especially Geno, this team’s maturity is revealed through its ability to be consistent. Except for a brief lapse at the start of the second quarter, this was our most consistent game, with the bonus of that consistency displayed up and down what is proving to be a very deep bench. It was the best game of an elite team that is clearly getting better.

 

[Zarathustra]

The IOWA vs TENN game was also a " clinic". How
to collect turnovers and miss shots from 3 feet out.!!
And a playing style of "off to the races" and Platoon
substitutions. I've never seen anything like it. I'm betting that
it won't look like that when UCONN plays the VOLS.

 

[Zarathustra]

Morgan Cheli continues to impress me, especially with her intensity and defense.

She reminds me of Nika Muhl per her energy.

Early on her she fouled a bit, last couple outings better.

I've been to a couple games in person and she looks bigger than her listed 6 2".

For someone of that size she hustles and gets to her positions and scambles for the ball.

I think we have several "developing stories" that the fans will love, Morgan will be one I watch.

It's great to see the 6'2" hustle in Morgan. Then there is,
of course, Sarah, and imagine when Allie Z. gets into her flow.

 

[Soxx]

It will be hard to promote Paige as POY if she is not the best player on her own team. I would say that for the last two games, Sarah has outplayed Paige. Will this keep up?

I wondered this as well. But as Jeff W said in the presser, their number one goal was to stop Paige. Sarah and others can go off in large part because the opposing defense is double-playing her. Paige was off last night when she did shoot. I trust the coaches will figure out how to spring her more often from some of these defensive schemes.

 

[maple]

We honestly played fantastic. Feel like that’s my entire notes for the game!

Praying for Azzi. Hope it was just a tweak/scare.

I mentioned this in chat but wow has Chen really made me feel foolish for doubting her at the start of the season.

 

[yhun89]

We honestly played fantastic. Feel like that’s my entire notes for the game!

Praying for Azzi. Hope it was just a tweak/scare.

I mentioned this in chat but wow has Chen really made me feel foolish for doubting her at the start of the season.

Chen was adjusting for a while. It’s natural for her to look a bit lost early in the season.

 

[Gusaford]

Fun game to watch in person. The arena was about 2/3's full, mostly with UConn fans. Others on here have noted how great Azzi and Sarah were last night. They were indeed, but I'd like to give a shout-out to Shade. Her mid-range pull-up is a devastating shot. She played great last night on offense and defense. As for Azzi, she came out of the locker room in the third period and was sitting on the bench, smiling and kidding with her teammates. It was not the demeanor of someone who had re-injured her knee. I'm reading tea leaves, but it was a good sign.

 

[yhun89]

Paige shot terribly, but opened up opportunities for Sarah and Azzi. That’s why she’s such a threat. I wonder if ND is going to bother doing that, because they really don’t have anyone who can contain Sarah in the first place as it looks.

 

[Surly1]

I think there's an APB out on Paige's offense since she returned from the Bahamas. For the second game in a row, she's looked out of sorts on the offensive end, tentative, almost lethargic. Thankfully, her game is more evolved, and she contributes in so many other ways. If teams want to take her out of UConn's scheme, they'll have to pay for it by giving ample shooting room to Sarah, Azzi, and Ashlynn.

Unlike last year, UConn has 2 new elite scoring options with Sarah & Azzi. It says something about UConn's NC potential when Paige looked like the 4th scoring option last night and 4th best UConn player.

I feel ND will play tighter defense against UConn, particularly at home, and hopefully we'll see a return of a more aggressive Bueckers, similar to her play against NC & Ole Miss.

 

[veryolddog]

It is really disappointing to hear about a potential injury for Azzi. She has really tried to come back and play many times only to have an injury stop this year after year.

Paige has another role for the team: decoy.

 

[Mandoo]

It will be hard to promote Paige as POY if she is not the best player on her own team. I would say that for the last two games, Sarah has outplayed Paige. Will this keep up?

Teams know who the nerve center of UConn is. As such, they know if they shut her down, they have a teeny crack in UConn's armor possibly to attack. Of course, on this team you have to pick your spots as there's heavy firepower elsewhere on the roster. POY? If I had to choose right now, it would be Hidalgo. Lightning in a bottle.......Paige will never equal her freshman performance. Many reasons for that. She has altered her game and is now often the team's best rebounder. Go figure.

 

[PacoSwede]

I think there's an APB out on Paige's offense since she returned from the Bahamas. For the second game in a row, she's looked out of sorts on the offensive end, tentative, almost lethargic. Thankfully, her game is more evolved, and she contributes in so many other ways. If teams want to take her out of UConn's scheme, they'll have to pay for it by giving ample shooting room to Sarah, Azzi, and Ashlynn.

Unlike last year, UConn has 2 new elite scoring options with Sarah & Azzi. It says something about UConn's NC potential when Paige looked like the 4th scoring option last night and 4th best UConn player.

I feel ND will play tighter defense against UConn, particularly at home, and hopefully we'll see a return of a more aggressive Bueckers, similar to her play against NC & Ole Miss.

crap /... paige's shot has been off, so suddenly she's a mediocre player???!!!!!

i think we stick with her.

 

[Doctor G]

Fun game to watch in person. The arena was about 2/3's full, mostly with UConn fans. Others on here have noted how great Azzi and Sarah were last night. They were indeed, but I'd like to give a shout-out to Shade. Her mid-range pull-up is a devastating shot. She played great last night on offense and defense. As for Azzi, she came out of the locker room in the third period and was sitting on the bench, smiling and kidding with her teammates. It was not the demeanor of someone who had re-injured her knee. I'm reading tea leaves, but it was a good sign.

Encouraging observations on Azzi. Every b-ball fan is hoping for the best for that young lady. She seemed less stressed on TV, too.

Shade is learning from Azzi that you can’t be a shooting guard if you aren’t aggressive. Shade was the most aggressive she has been in forever last night. I think watching Azzi from the bench is the education Shade needs to be a killer for the rest of her career.

Ice, on the other hand, should not be playing at the top of the key if she isn’t going to be aggressive passing to the cutter and driving to the hoop. She is playing not to make mistakes and it shows. That’s not the worst thing but it is a sin in the UConn offense. L She missed Paige cutting every single time and when she had her defender at a disadvantage she didn’t press her advantage.

Teams will double Paige until they realize Strong, Chan, Azzi and Shade can kill them just as quickly.

Can’t wait until AG returns and gets incorporated into the rotation. Imagine an opponent trying to keep up when, say, her and Shade enter the game at the same time.
Amazing.

 

[SLY63]

This was as good of a complete team and 4 quarter effort as I've seen in a while.

Some thoughts::

1. In 30 years of watching UConn Women I have not seen a freshman make it look as effortless and play as smooth as SS. She does get the benefit of having all eyes on Paige, but she is phenomenal.
2. Azzi was as aggressive as I can remember. Her 1:1 take under the hoop was nasty. I can only hope she was not injured.
3. Shade's mid-range pull-up was also nasty last night. Her spark was huge.
4. Paige did not have a great game, but when an athletic team like Louisville makes you their #1 priority and double-teams you on every screen, you're not going to have a great shooting night.
5. Ice was solid and El-Alfy looked really strong and had a few really nice moves. We really need good D and rebounding from them as a combo at the 5.
6. Chen also had a really good game. Much more aggressive and the cross-over where she 'broke the ankles' of the L'ville player was awesome.
7. Supporting cast was solid. We hung tough in Q4 (except for a flurry of L'ville 3's) which most of the time got real ugly in the past.

 

[Forego]

I wondered this as well. But as Jeff W said in the presser, their number one goal was to stop Paige. Sarah and others can go off in large part because the opposing defense is double-playing her. Paige was off last night when she did shoot. I trust the coaches will figure out how to spring her more often from some of these defensive schemes.

Apparently Jeff W does not learn from his mistakes. He tried a similar strategy in 2009 in an attempt to shut down Maya and Rene. It didn’t work. Tiffany Hays and Kalana Greene had wide open shots and shot lights out. Tiffany scored 23 points. I believe she was making her first start replacing an injured Caroline Doty.

 

[UConnCat]

Great shot by Azzi but the pass by Paige was incredible. Tighter space than I initially thought.

 

[HuskyNan]

This was as good of a complete team and 4 quarter effort as I've seen in a while.

Some thoughts::

1. In 30 years of watching UConn Women I have not seen a freshman make it look as effortless and play as smooth as SS. She does get the benefit of having all eyes on Paige, but she is phenomenal.

(cough) Maya Moore

 

[Ozimoto]

Impressive win. I am not quite ready to grant them a waltz to the final four just yet especially if Azzi isn't 100%. A lot to like from this game and it was great to see that the "take Paige out of the game" did not work. There will be bumps in the road going forward and I hope all this enthusiasm doesn't turn to vitriol when that happens.