Marquette Postgame Thread

[jaundicedeye]

37 minutes and just 8 rebounds for a 6'5" post player? Seriously? ONO is really underperforming.

..and 7 assists. Not too shabby. Gabby was extremely effective passing from the high post.

 

[jaundicedeye]

I will be extatic when. . .
1. When she hasn't a lane for a lay-up, pass the ball.
2. Cut until one of the other 4 players passes her the ball for a lay-up or jump shot.
3. Defend & rebound.

I thought that tonight she had an excellent game. Would have been perfect if she hasn't shot the 3s. Might have had 4 more points if she had taken two steps inside the line and took a shot within her range.

CW is a very strong rebounder who is not afraid to mix it up down low.

 

[King Kong]

Geno was prepping for So Carolina and it seems he found a lineup in which he’s got confidence.

The Gamecocks have seen Liv but they haven’t met Aaliyah Edwards yet. 😎

Last year Liv had 10 points (to Aliyah Boston's 13), but Christyn was 2 of 12 in that South Carolina game. It seems that Christyn's penetrating drives today was a reorienting of her playing style, orchestrated by Geno, & it was successful. I love the tandem feeling I'm getting from Nika & Paige, Liya & Liv, & the 2 hand grenades, Mir & Aubrey. If this team of "4 freshmen & a high school kid" turns out to be one of Geno's greatest, it will only be that until next year. What a back court of Nika, Paige, & Azzi will be.... Today, in listening to the game, I felt the tune up progressing exceedingly well.

 

[Carnac]

Some thoughts on the Marquette game:

• The Golden Eagles are a physical, well-coached team that plays really hard. This was a nice road win for the Huskies.
• Nika is one BADASS defender with an attitude. She harassed Marquette all game long.
• Paige with a “ho-hum” 30 pts on 12/18 shooting. When she made that reverse layup switching the ball from her left hand to her right hand in mid-air, the entire Marquette bench did a doubletake in amazement.
• Christyn continues to attack the basket effectively, which raises her game to another level.
• Aaliyah picks up her first of what will undoubtedly be multiple purple hearts at UConn.
• UConn has now fielded 6 different starting lineups in, I believe 14 games. This is a rarity for a Geno Auriemma coached team. In part it is the result of some injuries, but it also reflects the depth this team possesses.
• Saylor knocks down the first of what will hopefully be many treys.
• Bring on the Gamecocks!!!

Excellent post (observations) as usual OD.

 

[JellyBean]

Great win and Paige is not looking or playing like a Freshmen. Paige is built for this!

 

[Bigboote]

I really like Nika as the point guard and Paige at shooting guard. With Evina also able to handle the pg duties, Paige can roam around until she decides where she wants to make her next shot from. I was thinking it would take a year for the freshmen to settle in but, wow, this team could be scary good by tournament time this year.

This is what I've been expecting, but it's come a little earlier than I would have expected a few weeks ago. Paige wasn't even a pure point guard in high school. They had another guard who shared PG duties with Paige and most often brought the ball up the court. Paige is a natural scorer, while Nika just scores to keep the defense honest.

I said it after the last game, I love the combination of E, Paige, and Nika. And Olivia is really passing the ball well lately, too. I think we may see a lot of her in the high post and Aaliyah in the low post.

If this team improves as much in the next five games as they have in the last five, they can make a very deep run in the postseason.

I loved a couple of Geno's remarks in the postgame interview with Meg. "When Nika sets a screen to get someone free, she acts like she just sank a game-winning three pointer." "Aalihah's Canadian. I'm sure she's spent some time on the ice."

 

[Bills Fan]

When Alijah is on the court with her, Liv is so much more effective because she doesn’t have to be that down low bruiser.

AE is also a very smart player. She knows when to help out and or switch and then switch back. She is going to be a force for the next 3 years let alone the rest of this year. I love the way she plays!

 

[King Kong]

Nice post-game by Nika. Paige in the background yelling "yeahhhhh Nikaaaa!!"

.....And laughing together in the interview after the game. This team is full of wonderful chemistry.

 

[cbraarj]

I hope the refs don’t ruin the SC game. If they make poor calls early we could be in trouble. We need AE in particular to stay out of foul trouble.

Bria was injured

And she stepped aside for Doty.

 

[Bigboote]

Nika has basically picked up Anna's minutes. So, when Anna is ready to come back, what then?

Easy. It gives Geno flexibility and gives the starters more rest. You've got a lot of players averaging over 30 minutes a game over the last several games, so with an extra wing, everyone can get to 25-30 and be rested for the show.

 

[j66kicker]

Geno post-game presser...

 

[King Kong]

It seems that Liya & Liv are better together in their new rendition of good cop, bad cop. Liv is smooth & sophisticated, Liya is brute force, in process of fine-tuning, eliminating the dumb fouls.

 

[Golden Husky]

Geno post-game presser...

Thank you @j66kicker. Much appreciated.

 

[Nicvan07]

Is the replay up yet? Can’t sleep and looking for something to watch lol!

 

[Carnac]

Hopefully Nika is teaching some people that you can’t judge a freshman off a few games after an injury and limited practice. A Rizzotti type warrior. A definite plus.

Paige is ridiculous

We don’t have to concer ourselves with Nika anymore. She had to adjust to living in a new country, playing with new teammates in a new and more challenging system, and playing by different rules.

She’s made all of those adjustments. The more she plays, the faster her confidence will grow. She now knows without a doubt that she can play at this “elite” level, and prosper.

 

[NEforceUConn]

This team is really fun to watch!

Amen brother, says it all.

 

[Papa33]

Directly after the St John's game I noted that UConn's offense benefitted from the best player and ball movement of the season, and that it occurred without Christyn on the floor. Well, CW was on the floor tonight, and again the offense featured very quick ball movement and many well-timed cuts through the defense. And many of you noted that she had, tonight, spent little time lingering on the perimeter or wasting her dribble going nowhere. We can all hope that she is finding the real strength of her game with decisive penetration for layups and short jumpers. She's just got to be happy with that kind of success and the sense that she is contributing real offensive value to her team. Well done, Christyn!

 

[Carnac]

Tell you what though. AE is probably going to be playing with a mouth guard for the rest of the season and maybe for the duration of her career.

Damn JordyG, I was thinking the same exact thing. It’s that kind of injury that make players wear mouth guards.

 

[npignatjr]

Don't forget we could be stuck in the AAC. There are a few good teams in the BE and others will improve, just like the first time they hung around with the Huskies.

The best team in the AAC is better than DePaul, next UCF would play UConn closer than Marquette, always does. With the exception of UConn Big least a conference of small private schools, small on campus venues. AAC mostly large public universities with newer facilities.

 

[MSGRET]

Damn JordyG, I was thinking the same exact thing. It’s that kind of injury that make players wear mouth guards.

That should have been a Technical foul, the girl lowered her shoulder when she went into AE.

 

[cbraarj]

Ofc some might be taking some of "those people's" comments out of context when "some of those other people" said they were "skeptical." But ofc I guess "skeptical" means she could definitely NOT play any defense.? OFC only super quick players can play good defense too, right? Way to go.

Way to go-- the team has been playing super and you want to go back to posts from early in the season on a night when they were tremendous.

You also want to bring up there were those suggesting Paige shouldn't start too? And who else do you want to go back on?

C'mon.

Why did they offer Geno a contract, LMAO!

 

[npignatjr]

She will have to earn some minutes back. She wasn’t exactly doing an awful lot with the minute she was getting before she was injured so no guarantee she gets them back. Nika has earned it.

Well she was dealing with the injury all or most of the season according to coach, but was not improving so they decided to shut her down.

 

[j66kicker]

Paige & Nika postgame...

 

[cbraarj]

Someone on Twitter said that Saylor's release is as quick as KML and Lou. Lou might be a better 3-pt shooter but Saylor has a much quicker release. There is no gathering of the ball before the shot.

ESPN compared Mayas release to a rattlesnake strike! It was that quick!

 

[Cecil9]

Paige shooting 76% from 3 the past 4 games. I’m no expert, but that seems good to me

No Kidding. A lot of players can't make that percentage with free throws