Marquette Postgame Thread

[Urshurak]

Should be interesting!

 

[BobbyJ]

Defense wasn’t good tonight. It’s been a strong point up until today. Lots and lots of easy baskets for MU.

like everyone is saying, tired I guess.

Not enough easy baskets for MU. They scored 53 points in 40 minutes. Eleven in the 4th quarter. Defense wasn’t good? Please. UConn’s offense kept MU in the game.

 

[jaundicedeye]

After a string of well played games by Christyn, you are going to make a decision like that because of one game? Man, UConn fans are unreasonable for sure.

donalddoowop, perhaps Waquoit and Urshurak have earned Boneyard Wet Blanket Awards?!

 

[Jingo]

Edwards is the 2nd best player on this team. I want Anna back!

AE is 3rd best .. 1st & 2nd are locked up!

 

[Blueballer]

Geno Postgame presser

 

[Gurleyman]

Also, Aaliyah Edwards now leads the nation in FG shooting at 70% which is inching close to the all time record of 72%. The goofs at the NCAA stats page need to put Edwards' name in there where it belongs instead of pretending she doesn't exist.

It doesn’t say it on the NCAA page, but there’s a minimum of 5FG made per game needed to qualify. She’s 10 short (95 FG in 21 games when she needs 105), but has a chance to make up the difference if she keeps getting buckets.

 

[Carnac]

Admittedly this was not a great game for UConn. They beat a team determined not to go down easy. Parts of this game was ugly. Parts of this game was nice. The reason this game was low scoring was because UConn got few if any easy baskets. They had to scrap and claw for every basket.

In kind, they made Marquette earn every basket they got as well. Marquette is averaging 72.6 ppg. Tonight UConn held them to 20 points below their average. I’d say that was one heck of a team effort. A tip o the turban to our girls not only for tonight’s game, but for the grit and hard work they displayed all year in this Covid plagued season.

Paige is excused. She’s stepped up for us every game this year, especially in the big one against South Carolina. Liv and Aaliyah stepped up tonight. The thing that impressed me most was how our team kept fighting hard to keep their man in front of them, and constantly disrupt MU’s offense. MU was frustrated all night. They didn’t get the looks they’re use to most of the night.

UConn fought very hard on the boards on both ends tonight. Marquette is not a scrub team. They are second in the conference only to UConn. They seldom get out rebounded. They got out rebounded tonight by a wide margin 43-25.

Games like this either build character or reveal it. I for one am very proud of the way our team fought and persevered on a night when they didn’t have their A game.

#25 DePaul got beat at home by unranked 3-16 Butler, the team we just vanquished. Crap happens. So glad it only happened to us once this season. Marquette tried very hard tonight as best they could to make it twice.

One more observation, there were no undefeated elite teams in Division 1 wcbb this season. Some of those losses were to unranked teams. Arkansas was ranked. UConn won all of the other games they were supposed to. Lest we forget that our team is still top heavy with freshmen. We fall way back to the pack if some of them don’t step up, and step up BIG. There was a tremendous amount of growth and development by our team this season.

We went undefeated in league play. We finished the regular season ranked number 1 in the country. We’ll be the overall 1 seed going into the NCAA tournament. Damn, what’s not to like?

 

[Papa33]

OK, this was a game for our bigs, who scored 16 of our 25 field goals, while our guards were 3 for 16 from outside the arc. (Williams, Muhl, Westbrook, and Page were, overall, 10 for 37). Were our guards forcing shots? Not that I saw; they had many open looks. Also, a very un-UConn low ratio of assists to made baskets: 12/28, in part because so many of those baskets were from offensive rebounds after misses. Why such poor shooting, especially from Page? I have no idea.
Defense, especially rebounding, was very strong, especially against an opponent that usually counts on an edge of offensive rebounds. Christyn's defense, by the way, has improved markedly.

 

[jaundicedeye]

Defense wasn’t good tonight. It’s been a strong point up until today. Lots and lots of easy baskets for MU.

like everyone is saying, tired I guess.

The other team was held to 53 pts while shooting 40/33% with UCONN adding 8 blocks and a big edge in defensive rebounds; but don't let the facts cloud your opinion.

 

[X conn]

Poor execution against a physical team, something that has been an issue for years. UConn lost in the assist column by 7 at home. When has that ever happened?

Much of UConn's offense comes off transition and there was little of that tonight. The few chances they got often ended in misfired passes or missed layups. Good as Liv was she's not a post player and this team has little to no post offense outside of Edwards. Westbrook's shooting has deteriorated to the point of being non-existent and with no Makurat around so much is left up to Bueckers. Unfortunately, Paige has hit a wall, shooting 38% her last four games and 26% from three.

This team will rely almost as heavily on Paige this tourney as the '04 team on Diana.

Livs

The team looked mentally grounded to paste by the 4th quarter...but a win's a win. Nice long break now, to prepare for what's next.

 

[Aluminny69]

One thing I noticed, passes that normally work against weaker teams, resulted in turnovers tonight. You have to worry that by playing weaker teams, UConn gets a false sense of what will work and what doesn't against the better teams.

 

[Boreifs]

Also, Aaliyah Edwards now leads the nation in FG shooting at 70% which is inching close to the all time record of 72%. The goofs at the NCAA stats page need to put Edwards' name in there where it belongs instead of pretending she doesn't exist.

She may not have played enough minutes to qualify.

 

[Boreifs]

Watching the replay right now this was a total ass kicking from the start. We could have won this game by 30 if we really wanted to.

Where did you find the replay?

 

[jaundicedeye]

This is a good game for us to win. Not playing our best, against a good aggressive team, and still coming out with a 10 point win.

I believe that is the proper perspective. As Geno said, learning how to grind out games is needed for March success.

 

[chrissaran]

The team needs to rest. Paige looked incredibly sluggish. Said earlier in the year not to wear her out. Not the performance of the number one team, but UConn still managed to win. Marquette wasn't going to play as poorly as last time. Nika regressing. Move your feet, Nika. Stop hitting the player you're guarding.

 

[Convert2016]

Rarely, in any team sport, do fans give credit to the opponents. It always seems to be an "internal" situation. Players are sluggish/tired, poor execution, overpassing, etc. The simple truth is BOTH teams played very tough defense tonight. Huskies will have nights down the road where they will shoot poorly because they will face teams that are quick, physical, and will force them to take tough shots. What will keep them in those games is that they play very tough D too and Liv/Aaliyah (especially) work non-stop. If they stay out of foul trouble, they can grind out those games. If not, well, they're very young..

 

[BobbyJ]

OK, this was a game for our bigs, who scored 16 of our 25 field goals, while our guards were 3 for 16 from outside the arc. (Williams, Muhl, Westbrook, and Page were, overall, 10 for 37). Were our guards forcing shots? Not that I saw; they had many open looks. Also, a very un-UConn low ratio of assists to made baskets: 12/28, in part because so many of those baskets were from offensive rebounds after misses. Why such poor shooting, especially from Page? I have no idea.
Defense, especially rebounding, was very strong, especially against an opponent that usually counts on an edge of offensive rebounds. Christyn's defense, by the way, has improved markedly.

I have an idea. When PB knows in advance that she is shooting, and is 100% committed to it she hits a high percentage. But her instinct to find others open is so strong that when in motion, coming off screens for curls etc. she often is still half expecting to pass as she goes up and isn't totally focused. I believe another factor is that for probably the first time in her career she's being physically challenged and bumped when going for shots in traffic and she needs to learn to expect contact and go up stronger, focused on the shot and braced for it. Mostly a mental adjustment.

 

[Twolf]

The team needs to rest. Paige looked incredibly sluggish. Said earlier in the year not to wear her out. Not the performance of the number one team, but UConn still managed to win. Marquette wasn't going to play as poorly as last time. Nika regressing. Move your feet, Nika. Stop hitting the player you're guarding.

I agree that Paige looked sluggish, her cuts and work without the ball weren’t nearly as sharp or aggressive as usual, but that could be expected given the fact that the team is coming off 5 road games in a row, and she is playing over 36 minutes a game. That would be playing the entire game plus over 4 minutes at the level she played at last year. Now add in the physicality, speed of the game, and travel that the college game demands and you can understand why strength and conditioning coaches work so hard at building endurance as much as strength, and try to couple that with enhanced nutrition. When the body says no it makes no difference what the mind wants, or as one of the best coaches I was ever around always said “fatigue makes a coward out of everyone”.

 

[uconnfan68]

About what you’d expect for the fourth game in 10 days, 3 on the road, and a young team.

Especially when the whistles were silent all night.

 

[BobbyJ]

I agree that Paige looked sluggish, her cuts and work without the ball weren’t nearly as sharp or aggressive as usual, but that could be expected given the fact that the team is coming off 5 road games in a row, and she is playing over 36 minutes a game. That would be playing the entire game plus over 4 minutes at the level she played at last year. Now add in the physicality, speed of the game, and travel that the college game demands and you can understand why strength and conditioning coaches work so hard at building endurance as much as strength, and try to couple that with enhanced nutrition. When the body says no it makes no difference what the mind wants, or as one of the best coaches I was ever around always said “fatigue makes a coward out of everyone”.

I agree. That's the one area I expected her to struggle some with before the season. She needs a full offseason of strength work to handle the bumping, holding, and to fight off screens and hold her spot when being posted or driven on. And she's such a finesse player that she needs to be stronger on the ball and protect it better now that she's being physically challenged for the first time in her career.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

It doesn’t say it on the NCAA page, but there’s a minimum of 5FG made per game needed to qualify. She’s 10 short (95 FG in 21 games when she needs 105), but has a chance to make up the difference if she keeps getting buckets.

Perhaps the most ridiculous standard I've ever seen. They've had Jade Williams of Duke on there all year. She made 20 field goals in the 4 games Duke played. Guess that's enough to lead the nation in shooting if the few in front of her fall off. Had Duke halt their season after one game Williams would've been the FG champ.

Jade Edwards of American is on the list despite playing 9 games. Anna Olsen is ranked having played 6 games. And there are others in this vein.

Let's not kid ourselves, Aaliyah Edwards leads the nation in FG% no matter what idiotic minimum the NCAA sets.

 

[Jingo]

Let's admit it. Marquette played us very tough. Let's tip our hat and leave it at that, eh?

 

[Dokey]

I agree. Was rooting hard for Nika all year - but her and Evina do not want to shoot. I also think Aubrey is a game changer and needs more than a few minutes come tournament time.

If you are complaining about players who don’t shoot why do you want more of a player who doesn’t shoot and probably shouldn’t. Aubrey has a role, an important one, and that is how she will spend her time at UConn.

 

[Carnac]

Guys, A windstorm took out my power right after the 1st quarter. I ended up following the gamecast on my phone. Not a very pretty game from what I could tell. So the BY is going to have to fill me in on the details.

OD, if you haven’t got your power back as of this post, I hope it’s restored soon.