Loyola Postgame Thread

[hoophuskee]

So there are a lot of knowledgable and perceptive posts above so I am only going to say one thing. Does everyone here realize what a weapon Blanca is? What I saw last night were a couple of moves that were W level and we have her for 4 years?

I'm surprised some fans found the game boring. or quite a few others complained/agreed with the complaints. And as far as Blanca, she handles the ball like a guard ,she has court vision like a guard, she passes like a guard, she penetrates in the lane like a guard, she appears to be a decent free throw shot like a guard, has the speed like a guard, with strength more like a power forward, while seems like being taller than Sarah, and yet wider built than Serah as though she is a small center, --- yeah but watching that type of player is really boring. Who wants to watch a young player from early on grow? LOL.

And I agree with you as well with Jana. My perception I think is in-line with yours. Jana looks much stronger than last year.

 

[1974yankees]

Sorry you missed her.

She came into game in 1st qtr. and very quickly she contributed.

One play she caught a pass in the backcourt went near coast-to-coast all-the-while two defenders tried to squeeze her at halfcourt. She drove between them and when she got close to the basket made a beauty bounce pass to Sarah but she blew the layup.

A short while later she made a very good steal by denying the low post pass, stole the ball, rushed up the court and made a beauty shovel pass to Sarah for a layup.

A short time later the opposing team had their forward dribble just past the halfcourt line. Blanca had her stop dribbling/made her pick up the ball then knocked the ball away from her for a steal/layup.

Late in the 1st half with about 5 seconds left she caught a pass from the right side of the floor, she was close to baseline than center of the court, she threw an opposite floor pass from right-to left to hit Allie who was on the left side of the floor in which Allie hit a 3 at the buzzer.

In the 2nd half it looked like she planned the move by dibbling on right side of the lane from the outside, she made a spin move in the lane and tossed up a short left shot in which she missed. You could hear the crowd gasping and the move was not out of control.

In the 2nd half she drilled her only 3. Unlike the exhibition game in which several 3's "bricked," the shot she took looked so soft the moment it left her hand. That shot looks easily repeatable.

Just off-topic -- your post is very odd. If you don't like blowouts then why bother to turn on the game? Did you really expect a close game? If it was a close game, would you have kept it on? If by some miracle it was close, it would have been an absolute horror of a game to watch, wouldn't it?

I love it when people misinterpret posts on social sites....Never did I say that I don't like blowouts. In fact I enjoy watching Uconn blowout teams.....

I said I missed Blanca and her 14 minutes of playing time because I was flipping channels since it was a blowout. (I had to check something else out)

I also missed most of the first quarter because I didn't get home until 8pm..

But I am glad she played well.

For the record I probably watched about 25 minutes of the 40 minute game.. Unfortunately, those were probably the minutes that Blanca wasn't in the game.

 

[mainerhuski]

I'm curious, do you consider this a good stat?
For layups, anything under 35 of 40 is sad, IMO.

Depends on how many of those misses led to foul shots.

 

[hoophuskee]

I love it when people misinterpret posts on social sites....Never did I say that I don't like blowouts. In fact I enjoy watching Uconn blowout teams.....

I said I missed Blanca and her 14 minutes of playing time because I was flipping channels since it was a blowout. (I had to check something else out)

I also missed most of the first quarter because I didn't get home until 8pm..

But I am glad she played well.

For the record I probably watched about 25 minutes of the 40 minute game.. Unfortunately, those were probably the minutes that Blanca wasn't in the game.

Not for nothing but you did say -- "I see she played 14 minutes, but I kept flipping channels because of the blowout." You made it sound like you didn't like blowouts. Anyhow that was a very small part of my post - but most of the other part regarding Blanca and the 14 minutes you missed - it sounds at least for now pretty exciting, doesn't it? Damn, she looks good!

 

[1974yankees]

Not for nothing but you did say -- "I see she played 14 minutes, but I kept flipping channels because of the blowout." You made it sound like you didn't like blowouts. Anyhow that was a very small part of my post - but most of the other part regarding Blanca and the 14 minutes you missed - it sounds at least for now pretty exciting, doesn't it? Damn, she looks good!

I liked the rest of your post because it filled me in on how Blanca did... I have yet to see her play .... She is all I have been hearing about for 6 months....

I do like Uconn blowouts lol. But I figured I wasn't going to miss much (especially against this opponent) if I finished a movie I was watching for a few minutes.

What really happened.. I missed most of the first quarter so as I am watching the game Uconn is blowing this team out.. So I figured she was still hurt. Thats the only reason I flipped the channel.

 

[BRS24]

Serah is making nice progress...she's still nowhere she'll be in April.
Great to see Blanca out there...full of vim and vigor.
Ayanna Patterson seems much more comfortable this year.

Doesn't it appear that Geno seems to be pushing Kelis to
get playing time? My guess is that he sees an effective
point guard coming at us...maybe sooner than later.

The point guard position is the hardest to learn at UConn. Unlike prior years where Geno had no choice to play freshmen (KK for one), perhaps he’s letting her get acclimated. With KK, Kayleigh, Sarah, and others that can bring the ball up and initiate the offense, I’m thinking that Kelis will be fine.

 

[Molisanos]

Sorry you missed her.

She came into game in 1st qtr. and very quickly she contributed.

One play she caught a pass in the backcourt went near coast-to-coast all-the-while two defenders tried to squeeze her at halfcourt. She drove between them and when she got close to the basket made a beauty bounce pass to Sarah but she blew the layup.

A short while later she made a very good steal by denying the low post pass, stole the ball, rushed up the court and made a beauty shovel pass to Sarah for a layup.

A short time later the opposing team had their forward dribble just past the halfcourt line. Blanca had her stop dribbling/made her pick up the ball then knocked the ball away from her for a steal/layup.

Late in the 1st half with about 5 seconds left she caught a pass from the right side of the floor, she was close to baseline than center of the court, she threw an opposite floor pass from right-to left to hit Allie who was on the left side of the floor in which Allie hit a 3 at the buzzer.

In the 2nd half it looked like she planned the move by dibbling on right side of the lane from the outside, she made a spin move in the lane and tossed up a short left shot in which she missed. You could hear the crowd gasping and the move was not out of control.

In the 2nd half she drilled her only 3. Unlike the exhibition game in which several 3's "bricked," the shot she took looked so soft the moment it left her hand. That shot looks easily repeatable.

Just off-topic -- your post is very odd. If you don't like blowouts then why bother to turn on the game? Did you really expect a close game? If it was a close game, would you have kept it on? If by some miracle it was close, it would have been an absolute horror of a game to watch, wouldn't it?

She made a quick move from the high post and seemed to draw two free throws, but the referee unexpectedly called an offensive foul, a decision that was hard to understand. Just to give the full picture, she was coming off two weeks without practice due to a shoulder issue, after also missing the exhibition game because of a twisted ankle. Give this girl time! 😅

 

[Vancat]

Slow down, just a bit, please. Blanca does not look close to starting for UCONN, much less moving to the pro level of the game. It is fun to watch her develop, and she may be ( as advertised ) a special talent. But she is an out of control player at the moment. Let's not cal her a bigger, faster Maya Moore just yet.

I didn't say any of that, I just said I was impressed.

 

[Molisanos]

I mean… Auriemma must be getting old. He put an ‘out-of-control player’ freshman coming from nowhere in as the first sub, after she missed summer practices, exhibition game and her first two games and practices and having nine other great players ready. He’s really losing it.

 

[TheGOAT23]

In addition to donating tickets UConn will on rare occasions to upgrade folks to the lower bowl. I was upgraded to a seat right behind Geno one time. If there wasn't a cop siting between me and Geno, I could have tapped him on the shoulder and given him some advice 🙂. By the way, if you want to watch the game, that's a miserable seat. I couldn't see the court, but I did feel like I was in every huddle. They talk in code.

If it wasn’t for your upgrade, the cop wouldn't have been there, Skeets. 🙃 😉

 

[Centerstream]

Depends on how many of those misses led to foul shots.

If a player is fouled while attempting a shot, I don't believe the shot is counted in the stats.

 

[Centerstream]

I didn't go back and review all these postgame posts, so maybe this has been mentioned.
I watched the replay last night and I noticed that in the 4th quarter, Caroline took a (serious, IMO) shot to the chin while setting a screen. I think the announcers missed it but the director didn't because they showed Sarah on the bench re-acting to it.
I am hoping that this doesn't impact Caroline and her continuing comeback.

 

[boontonbomber]

I didn't go back and review all these postgame posts, so maybe this has been mentioned.
I watched the replay last night and I noticed that in the 4th quarter, Caroline took a (serious, IMO) shot to the chin while setting a screen. I think the announcers missed it but the director didn't because they showed Sarah on the bench re-acting to it.
I am hoping that this doesn't impact Caroline and her continuing comeback.

That was a rather obvious, rather forceful shot that she took. How the refs missed it is beyond me. My reaction: oh no, not Caroline! She seemed to shake it off. Sarah certainly reacted to it. She doesn't miss anything that goes on out there.

 

[Blakeon18]

Centerstream is correct.

BTW: I think the NCAA...both men and women's games....now does not count
those tremendously long heaves at the end of quarters/halves/games as shots.
Hmm....maybe that is in the pros...or both?

Of course if the non-shot goes in then it is considered a shot.

 

[HopJim]

I have seen Betts, Beers and other top-rated players miss as many or more than three layups in a game and they are upper classmen. They also bring the ball down when they catch it, something Boneyarders constantly complain about Jana.

Most strong inside players have a technique where when they bring the ball up for the layup, they can avoid the defenders. Strong and even Azzi and KK are great examples where they can shoot layups over or around taller players. Area of development for Jana and Williams-they have no repeatable form and often just seem to throw the ball at basket. Often gets blocked by shorter players. Hoping we see improvement as the year goes on. Betts, Beers, etc. are not perfect but a force when they get the ball close to basket.

 

[Bills Fan]

I totally agree. She is much more aggressive this year and ready to have a 20 point game this year. Just needs a baby jumper to complete the array and a little more quickness and fluidity.

A 20 point game for Jana this year? Hopefully she is improved---playing the whole year as she did against UCLA, but a 20 point game? Not even close, unless she gets 30 minutes against one of the BEAST weakest teams

 

[Ralph]

Am I correct Ice did not play? Was she sick, hurt in practice? Getting sit down for a bad practice?

 

[YKCornelius]

She made a quick move from the high post and seemed to draw two free throws, but the referee unexpectedly called an offensive foul, a decision that was hard to understand. Just to give the full picture, she was coming off two weeks without practice due to a shoulder issue, after also missing the exhibition game because of a twisted ankle. Give this girl time! 😅

Molisanos, I had the same perplexity with Ed Sidlasky's offensive foul call on Blanca. I think the ref was surprised by having a player of Blanca's size make that move, and felt like he need to call something with two players falling to the floor.

Slow motion replay confirms what most people saw - the defensive player was not only moving, but extended her legs out trying to divert Blanca's path while simultaneously anticipating a pass to the player she was covering (Serah).

A bang-bang call for sure, but Sidlasky's rush to call something not only bailed the Loyola player out but, unfortunately, resulted in an offensive foul against Blanca.

I think it underscores the reality that WCBB needs some time to adjust to Blanca while she adjusts to WCBB. Reminds me of the WCBB environment when Diana Taurasi entered the scene her freshman year.

Going to be fun going forward!

 

[Bills Fan]

I didn't go back and review all these postgame posts, so maybe this has been mentioned.
I watched the replay last night and I noticed that in the 4th quarter, Caroline took a (serious, IMO) shot to the chin while setting a screen. I think the announcers missed it but the director didn't because they showed Sarah on the bench re-acting to it.
I am hoping that this doesn't impact Caroline and her continuing comeback.

That's not all the announcers missed! Especially the woman color announcer, who wanted to make sure we all knew everything about HER.

Why do game and color announcers all fail to mention subs as they come into games? They are only mentioned after making a play. Is this the new instruction announcers are given? ESPN/ABC, FOX, Tru/TNT and even SNY last year all seem to believe, who is in the game is no big deal.

 

[DRBackup]

There were times in the game when Azzi looked as if her mind was some other place. Also, I saw something that I don't think most people saw and it was very exciting. Something is happening right in front of us and, many cannot see it because they are thinking too much about what they don't see.

And you should definitely keep it a secret so nobody else knows who or what it is....

 

[DRBackup]

Did Blanca even play tonight? Unless I missed something, I didn't even see her on the court.

I see she played 14 minutes, but I kept flipping channels because of the blowout. It must have been the 14 that I missed.

Flipping channels is not how you see new players get in the game during blowouts.

 

[donalddoowop]

And you should definitely keep it a secret so nobody else knows who or what it is....

Why is that? They should know and then they would not complain so much.

 

[Longtime fan]

Geno said she has some inflammation in her knee but didn’t seem worried about it

many thanks.

 

[Longtime fan]

That was a rather obvious, rather forceful shot that she took. How the refs missed it is beyond me. My reaction: oh no, not Caroline! She seemed to shake it off. Sarah certainly reacted to it. She doesn't miss anything that goes on out there.

It would be our dream to see Caroline become the best player she can be, and wind up with lots of key minutes in the biggest games we play. She has that capacity. Time will tell. I think Geno sees it as well. I don't think Caroline will only play the last few minutes of blow outs

 

[BBallF]

A 20 point game for Jana this year? Hopefully she is improved---playing the whole year as she did against UCLA, but a 20 point game? Not even close, unless she gets 30 minutes against one of the BEAST weakest teams

Never say never. She was 3 for 8 against Loyola and should have been 6 for 8. She is learning how to create her own shots. I think she is undervalued in general. She is stronger and more aggressive this year and a defending national champion who loves Geno, her teammates and the school. I bet she comes close at least once this year.