Marquette Postgame Thread

[jazz]

That was me...hahaha. and no you can't say that about a lot of players. You are again generalising/exaggerating.

Nobody could guard Chelsea that day. Since you like to listen to GA and think he makes all the right moves, then why did he put AG on Dungee in the first place? I mean Dungee is a savy SR guard and AG is still an underclassman?? Also, GA is always raving about AG, so I guess he has lead the hype-train a time or three!

For the record and you might need to refresh your memory on the game, AG played pretty well against Dungee...not perfect but she made her work for everything! When Dungee had other players guarding her, it was a quick blow-by and two points. When AG was on her, she had to work her ass off to get a shot. AG played her tough, but Dungee was better....

 

[donalddoowop]

OK. I’m not asking why Aubrey, or any other Husky doesn’t get more PT. I never have, nor will I ever do so. I figure that’s why Geno gets the big bucks.

Maybe you should start asking. There's nothing wrong with you making the big bucks.

 

[pacific 44]

There is a team in the big east that has had their men's and women's teams go 15-0 in national championship games against all other leagues across the country. I would conclude that the big east, over the years has prepared the eventual winner quite well.

 

[Florida Fan]

Exactly, this year she is what she is and we love her defense and rebounding. this offseason she needs to figure out how she can get better offensively. Foul line jumper, taking her big outside and driving to the rim because she is very quick. Just have some way to consistently score on offense.

Sometimes, when Aubrey drives to the rim, against the trees, that access is denied. That's when the pop-up jumper could pay dividends, like it did for Dangerfield.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Nice analysis. So here’s a loaded question for you. Better HC: Niele Ivey or Megan Duffy? ?

Duffy for sure. She has a track record of success

 

[jazz]

I don't believe better was an understatement. AG played her tough and most of Dungee's points came against other players who where guarding her AND she made it look easy. AG had no help, even when Ark cleared out the side and Dungee had all day to give AG three moves going to the basket. They might as well had been playing one on one in the back yard. This play probably made all the ESPN highlights in the US which is why people assume it was AG who got torched all game....not so!!!

I'm not interested in the analogies with other sports.

The benching of Stewie....I can't remember what I thought but it is very possible that many or even most coaches would not have benched Stewie and still would have won the championship that year. Different ways to motivate playes...GA has his way and it works and others do as well.

I am aware of GA's role and the fact he actually coaches and watches them in practice. So does GA have his reasons...well I think it is abundantly obvious he does. But, it doesn't mean I agree with them.

Actually who the hell cares about practice if you ball out in the game?? Since you love to tell me about GA, then you would know that he called Shea the worst practice player he ever had.....but yet he still played her meaningful minutes.......

 

[jazz]

My problem is with the motion offense as well. Of course I preface any comments with the fact that Geno has 1100 more wins than me. Got that out of the way! Sometimes Geno doesn't make adjustments. Is it because he wants the team to fight through the problems? Arkansas, he knows 500 ways to stop Dungee, but he chose not to do anything about her. Is this "tough love" or is he a step slow now.
IMO he can run his motion from a million different sets. Even my dull coaching brain had 4-5 sets. For example, you can start out 4 high, 2 wings and 2 high posts at the elbows. Then you start your action. 4 low, wings are in the corners and posts are on the blocks. Then you start your action. I still love the 4 starting on the blocks with screens to free up the wings. That 5th grade action would have freed up our wings for shots, drives, post passes. And screeners always show to the ball. Then the flashes high come with pick and roll action etc.
Marquette IMO is a really good YMCA team. We're UConn. They just happen to be the best team in the BE after us. There are physically talented teams in the NCAA. What happens now, going forward, if teams overplay our guards, go under screens, forcing players to shoot and they leave our post alone at the high post and 1 on 1 inside. Liv played good but .... she may not be one of our best players and teams are going to make her beat them. Come on Geno, break out your bag of tricks. If I never see another hand-off..... Thanks BY. I feel better now!

He is not infallible. He has been out-coached before. Also, and this is going to cause an uproar, but I've noticed through the last few years, when the team has a timeout and GA draws up a play, it doesn't work very often. Also, he has lost the second half more than he should in my opinion, when coaches make adjustments at halftime.

I think a lot of coaches have caught up to him which is natural. We don't have that huge coaching advantage that we used to have. I think we still have an advantage, but the gap has narrowed.

GA set the standard a long time ago with his ingenuity in the women's game that wasn't really there before so he had a tactical advantage over other coaches. Even with some of the great past coaches (I'll leave out the names), it was more: play hard, hustle and rebound, whereas GA was/is a genius at Xs and Os and matchups as well.

 

[Carnac]

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.

THAT sir is why playing THIS team was so timely and important. You want to finish with the strongest team in your conference going into the post season. UConn did that. The problems they faced last night will be addressed and corrected. While Marquette is a good team, they are not an elite top 5 team, and thus should not be expected to perform like one. Every team has warts. If they didn't, there would have been a plethora of undefeated teams this year.

#1 Stanford loss to unranked Colorado 77-72 in OT. #3 Louisville loss to unranked Florida State 68-59. Can you imagine the bedlam and chaos that would have ensued here in the yard if UConn had loss to say unranked Seton Hall or perhaps Creighton? There would have been dozens of "Chicken Littles" scurrying around all over the place predicting that the end is near.

MU did the best they could, UConn did the best they could given they had an "off" night. #25 DePaul had an off night too, they lost to a 3-16 "bottom dweller." In the 11 team Big East Conference, Butler is only 1 conference win better than last place Georgetown at 2-14. How embarrassing was it for DePaul to have one of the worse teams in the conference open up a can on you on your floor?

I can assure you that as bad as some folks think they played, there are a lot of teams that would love to trade places with UConn today. Undefeated in league play, the consensus #1 team in the country, and the overall #1 seed going into the NCAA Tournament.

I'm sorry folks, It just doesn't get any better than that. Geno and staff has this team exactly where they want them at this time of the year. How many teams do you think would relish the thought of playing UConn in the first or second round of the tournament?

 

[MD#12Fan]

He is not infallible. He has been out-coached before. Also, and this is going to cause an uproar, but I've noticed through the last few years, when the team has a timeout and GA draws up a play, it doesn't work very often. Also, he has lost the second half more than he should in my opinion, when coaches make adjustments at halftime.

I think a lot of coaches have caught up to him which is natural. We don't have that huge coaching advantage that we used to have. I think we still have an advantage, but the gap has narrowed.

GA set the standard a long time ago with his ingenuity in the women's game that wasn't really there before so he had a tactical advantage over other coaches. Even with some of the great past coaches (I'll eave out the names), it was more: play hard, hustle and rebound, whereas GA was/is a genius at Xs and Os and matchups as well.

I'm with you! What about the "tough love" idea? That Arkansas loss was truly a "good loss". Remember with Gabby, Lou, and Phees he "wanted" to lose. Turned out he was right.
IMO he could have built some sort of wall to keep Dungee out of the middle. Like what the Celtics did against Giannis the 1st couple of games a couple of years ago. Doesn't he have zones to go to? And all he had to do was spot up on the short girl- Ramirez? Does he think his program should always win out without adjustments?
Was he "showing" Paige that WCBB isn't as easy as once thought. How can Marquette, a good YMCA team, rough up PB and SC and Tennessee not be able to. Because he did not adjust to what Marquette was doing.
A coach's responsibility is to put their players in position to be effective. IMO it's not right to "teach your players lessons" on the court during a game. In chess, there are two players, white and black, and they are both doing whatever they can do to win.

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

There is a good summary below from LA...but I will add this. Paige was way off her game. What that translates into is; she still excelled on defense and in her passing/assists game. She looked " worn out," and I almost thought she might be ill. He shooting was way off and her energy level, while 99 miles an hour, was not her usual 110mph. Our game was defense and the two "bigs." I think what others see when they scout us is:

1. Clog up the middle ( as much as possible ) and force UCONN to win from the arc.
2. Give Olivia and Edwards the 15 footers until they prove they are efficient shooting them.
3. Double up on Paige knowing; Muhl will avoid shooting wherever possible, Williams is inconsistent and gets demoralized if she launches a three and misses, and Evina is not confident with her three either.
4. When Aubrey is in the game, give her open threes from anywhere on the court.
5. The "slacking off" areas on defense allows increased pressure on Paige and inside.

To win, UCONN needs defense to create offense, thus avoiding too much time in a half court offense, which is pretty lame. Paige has to be all world. And I do think the combination of Olivia and Edwards can devastate.
Williams needs to play her usual high energy great defense; lead on breaks, and drive to the hoop if there is any opening ( mostly, there will not be ).

It will be fun to watch. But we do need a reliable threat from the outside whose name isn't Paige.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm not understanding the shade a hustling bench player is getting from this poster and others.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I figure that’s why Geno gets the big bucks.

Amen... I'm still hoping he figures this coaching stuff out.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

There is a good summary below from LA...but I will add this. Paige was way off her game. What that translates into is; she still excelled on defense and in her passing/assists game. She looked " worn out," and I almost thought she might be ill. He shooting was way off and her energy level, while 99 miles an hour, was not her usual 110mph. Our game was defense and the two "bigs." I think what others see when they scout us is:

1. Clog up the middle ( as much as possible ) and force UCONN to win from the arc.
2. Give Olivia and Edwards the 15 footers until they prove they are efficient shooting them.
3. Double up on Paige knowing; Muhl will avoid shooting wherever possible, Williams is inconsistent and gets demoralized if she launches a three and misses, and Evina is not confident with her three either.
4. When Aubrey is in the game, give her open threes from anywhere on the court.
5. The "slacking off" areas on defense allows increased pressure on Paige and inside.

To win, UCONN needs defense to create offense, thus avoiding too much time in a half court offense, which is pretty lame. Paige has to be all world. And I do think the combination of Olivia and Edwards can devastate.
Williams needs to play her usual high energy great defense; lead on breaks, and drive to the hoop if there is any opening ( mostly, there will not be ).

It will be fun to watch. But we do need a reliable threat from the outside whose name isn't Paige.

Sadly, I fear (and I hope I am wrong), that UCONN's "Flaws" notably on the offensive side of the game, with a lack of a consistent outside threat (outside of Paige) will be exposed when they get to the Elite 8

 

[MD#12Fan]

There is a good summary below from LA...but I will add this. Paige was way off her game. What that translates into is; she still excelled on defense and in her passing/assists game. She looked " worn out," and I almost thought she might be ill. He shooting was way off and her energy level, while 99 miles an hour, was not her usual 110mph. Our game was defense and the two "bigs." I think what others see when they scout us is:

1. Clog up the middle ( as much as possible ) and force UCONN to win from the arc.
2. Give Olivia and Edwards the 15 footers until they prove they are efficient shooting them.
3. Double up on Paige knowing; Muhl will avoid shooting wherever possible, Williams is inconsistent and gets demoralized if she launches a three and misses, and Evina is not confident with her three either.
4. When Aubrey is in the game, give her open threes from anywhere on the court.
5. The "slacking off" areas on defense allows increased pressure on Paige and inside.

To win, UCONN needs defense to create offense, thus avoiding too much time in a half court offense, which is pretty lame. Paige has to be all world. And I do think the combination of Olivia and Edwards can devastate.
Williams needs to play her usual high energy great defense; lead on breaks, and drive to the hoop if there is any opening ( mostly, there will not be ).

It will be fun to watch. But we do need a reliable threat from the outside whose name isn't Paige.

Good stuff!
Throw out a point of view: You play with what you got! Like cards, you don't have 3 aces, you play with what you got. Like chess, you lost your queen, a rook, and a bishop, you play with what you got.
Players need to be put in positions that they can be successful. AG IMO can be a huge contributor without being a shooter. I cringe every time Liv gets the ball at the high post. She's a 60% FT shooter and a 40% (?) shooter at the top. Newsflash: UConn cannot accept 40% from there. So, IMO get her out of there. Get her the ball on the block or on the dashed line, where she's a 60% shooter. Round peg, square hole.
There's a reason Geno and his son had a successful AAU team. Because he is a hoops savant! Now, give this UConn program a little room to breathe like your glass of Merlot and get these young people in positions to be successful!

 

[jazz]

My point was not motivation but that he said Shea was a very poor practice player but yet he still played her meaningful minutes. He has said this about other players as well but their names escape at the moment. You mentioned that he isn't playing AG because of what GA sees in practice but yet he played Shea and others.

As far as motivation: a lot of people would disagree that negative forms of motivation are good or long lasting. But that is for another discussion.

 

[GRIFFBIFF20]

My point was not motivation but that he said Shea was a very poor practice player but yet he still played her meaningful minutes. He has said this about other players as well but their names escape at the moment. You mentioned that he isn't playing AG because of what GA sees in practice but yet he played Shea and others.

As far as motivation: a lot of people would disagree that negative forms of motivation are good or long lasting. But that is for another discussion.

Jazz - Geno has been quoted as saying what a great practice player, Aubrey Griffin has been throughout her 2 years at UCONN. So, for anyone to say that AG might not be a good practice player, might be mistaken

 

[jazz]

It did but other motivational techniques could and probably would have done the same. I'm not against that type of coaching, just pointing out that there are are other ways to do things that other coaches have done and got the same results. The one thing that nobody does better than GA is consistently recruit great players.

 

[MD#12Fan]

My point was not motivation but that he said Shea was a very poor practice player but yet he still played her meaningful minutes. He has said this about other players as well but their names escape at the moment. You mentioned that he isn't playing AG because of what GA sees in practice but yet he played Shea and others.

As far as motivation: a lot of people would disagree that negative forms of motivation are good or long lasting. But that is for another discussion.

Yes, I think we've gotten in this "Mindspeak" that a basketball player, even a UConn player, is one or two flavors. People are definitely more like Baskin and Robbins, 31 flavors. We blend together to form a successful organization and with greater diversity, one gets even more success. NEVER do I see AG in the game and think about whether she knows the offense or cannot at this point shoot 3's. I think about what she gives us defensively, rebounding, and how she's going to get to the tin.
I'm not interested in seeing this squad play a piano concerto in A-minor. I want to see these young women play off each other like in a jazz improvisation. The latter takes a "broader" set of aural and technical skills. Not as pinpoint as the former.

 

[Tonyc]

You have to learn to win when your not playing well. We did that. The game is over.....NEXT. When you look at the rankings you see UConn number 1. We are a much better team right now then we were a few weeks, months ago. We have one loss when we were on the road and in foul trouble and only lost by one point. Perhaps thats why Arkansas shot so well. Its tuff to play good defense when your in foul trouble. Now its tournament time and we're ready. Alot of cellar dwellers have gotten better and will win games against ranked teams. That aint gonna happen to UConn. We're in a good place right now and we have 4 days to rest. We will be ready because thats the kind of team we are.

 

[jazz]

Jazz - Geno has been quoted as saying what a great practice player, Aubrey Griffin has been throughout her 2 years at UCONN. So, for anyone to say that AG might not be a good practice player, might be mistaken

hmmmm. It was not said but implied as some kind of empirical evidence as to why she isn't playing more.

Anyway, I think she should play more in general and in the last game for certain. I love to hear what GA would say, but that doesn't mean I would agree. She just does things immediately that affect the game and does it every time. Why wouldn't you give her a little more playing time? Why does EW and CW in particular need to play 35 plus minutes. There are different ways to win and AG can be a way to help us win.

 

[JoePgh]

hmmmm. It was not said but implied as some kind of empirical evidence as to why she isn't playing more.

Anyway, I think she should play more in general and in the last game for certain. I love to hear what GA would say, but that doesn't mean I would agree. She just does things immediately that affect the game and does it every time. Why wouldn't you give her a little more playing time? Why does EW and CW in particular need to play 35 plus minutes. There are different ways to win and AG can be a way to help us win.

Geno has answered questions about Aubrey's minutes on several occasions, and he always says the same thing. He says that if you watch Aubrey play, she does many things that make you say, "She should be playing 40 minutes every game", and she also does many things that make you say, "She ought to be put at the end of the bench until she stops doing that crazy stuff". He said he is trying to get more of the "good Aubrey" and less of the "bad Aubrey".

But this late in the season, with the stakes so high, I don't expect her minutes to increase unless she demonstrates that the "bad Aubrey" has been put to bed.

BTW, someone here said that Saylor isn't picking up the offense and defense despite practicing for a while now. I see no evidence of that. To my amateur eyes, she is doing what she is supposed to do on both offense and defense (at least as well as anyone who isn't a regular starter can be expected to do). She may not be doing it with a great deal of skill yet -- and I must admit that she doesn't seem to have the athleticism that I would have expected from such a highly ranked high school player. In high school highlight reels, her movements looked more fluid than they do in current games. I think it's more than possible that her movements seem wooden and tentative because she is thinking so much and trying too hard to avoid mistakes, not unlike Molly Bent used to do. But I don't see any indication that she is "not getting it" (in the sense that seems to apply to Mir this year and Aubrey last year).