Marquette Postgame Thread

[hoopsfan22]

I'm worried that we've seen the best Christyn Williams already. This game cried out for her to step up.

She's effectively a senior a month from now. If Azzi is half as good as people say, CW's minutes will be way down next season.

 

[hoopsfan22]

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

Who are you benching for Anna?

 

[huskeynut]

A win is a win. Especially this season. Team just came off a difficult stretch.

Give Marquette some credit. They are a decent team. Played our guards tough. Shades of ND offense and defense from Duffy.

Great games from Liv and Aaliyah.

Time to rest up.

 

[Sanka541]

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.

I’m not the one who said this but I think the criticism I’ve seen aimed at CW is that against lower teams she will have good scoring games and we all think she’s turned a corner but then in a tougher game, in a closer game where others are struggling she doesn’t step up and is nowhere to be seen offensively.

 

[Waquoit]

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.

A string of JV games, big deal. Tonight against a decent team when the star was gassed, some leadership from the 3rd year player would have been nice. Instead we get 2-8 and one defensive rebound.

 

[Florida Fan]

What a mess of a game. After winning the 1st Q by 11, basically a totally even game for the remaining 30 minutes (outscored by 1). I get that Marquette is no slouch, but this is not the performance anyone wanted to see heading into the tourneys.

Lack of energy and purpose, lousy shooting nights for Paige, Evina and Christyn. In fact, Paige had 1 assist and 4 turnovers. The way this team played, I can't see how they have confidence or feelings of momentum entering the BET. Not sure what the answer is. I mean, Geno has always said the team builds to March for the tourneys. So THIS is what they built to?!

Nika, Christyn and Evina shot 4-20. Not good at all for our 3 starting guards. Paige not much better at 6-17. 12 assists on 28 made baskets. The guards just didn't have it tonight.

On the good side, Liv didn't have the greatest shooting night, but 9-18, 19 points, 3 assists, 6 blocks and 10 rebounds is really solid. Double double - yay!

Liya - love everything about her. 0 fouls, 16 points, 8 boards, 7-9 shooting. I love me some Nika, but frankly, I think we are better when Liya and Liv are on the floor and one of our guards sits.

Our rebounding was strong. 43-25 including 18 O-boards. So that's a positive also... But...

Overall a sad game and lousy way to end the regular season. On Senior Night. If this Evina's last home game, UGH. Hoping Evina is OK. Thoughts and prayers...

When nobody on the outside wants to shoot when open, then they turn to Paige. The defense figures that out so Paige will at least be doubled. Aubrey is afraid to shoot, Nika needs a confidence boost, Evina looked like she was run over by a truck, and then she WAS run over by a truck at the end. Marquette packed it in, but our guards were not able to penetrate in space so they could stop and pop. I agree with Geno, they need the rest, AND shooting when open practice. Tonight we really missed Anna.

 

[uconnever]

Aubrey still has problems working within the offense. Geno doesn’t need another player that won‘t score

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.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

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.

 

[topogigio]

Who are you benching for Anna?

Just want her back, but I would put her in before Muhl.

 

[Urshurak]

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.

 

[Centerstream]

1. Great game for Liv
2. Where was AE when we played UCF 3x last year
3. Outrebounded them 43-25
4. CW + EW + Nika = 11 pts

Your point number 2 was what I was thinking except more in line that Marquette appears to be the BE's UCF. I thought a couple of our players kept getting mugged (esp. Paige) and the refs swallowed their whistles.
I think it was an off night for Nika because she was called on a couple fouls that she didn't like, which is normal, but she seemed a bit more madder early tonight.
Another reason about getting mugged (or whatever you want to call it), most times that Liv was near the basket without the ball, from the start of the game, their defender had her forearm up against Liv's back and it was never called. FFW to the 3rd or 4th quarter, Nika did a quick hand check and was blown for a foul. But these didn't affect the game, I guess...

I usually look forward to the replays of our game wins, but I may have to skip tonight's game...

 

[PJCLaw]

Not one of Geno's best games. Marquette was playing tough man-to-man defense on the perimeter & there was no spacing or room to shoot. So, a lot of purposeless passing on the perimeter. No adjustments at all at halftime. Our offense was basically controlling the boards for easy put-backs. That wont work in the tournament.

Give me a break. I didn't realize Geno was shooting the ball, passing the ball, or doing anything on the floor. The team, no, the guards, shot terribly, so how was that Geno's fault? If 10 more shots went in we win by 30 and you don't say anything about Geno. He can't coach and play too.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

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.

 

[housekeys]

I saw nothing wrong with the effort Bueckers and Muhl gave, the only thing you control is how hard you play and I think both played very hard, not well but hard.

It's not what they did that was the problem. It was what they did not do. Not aggressive enough. Too hesitant to shoot.

Not so much an issue of effort, more of a mental shock that the team they beat handily the first time, did not cooperate this time around. As many have correctly pointed out, a lot of games in a short period, is the probable cause. They are also young and this is normal.

 

[PJCLaw]

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.

Yeah, but we outrebounded a very good rebounding team by more than 15 and outscored them on second chance points by a large margin. That probably accounted for a good bit of the low assists total. Let's put this game in the ugly column and move on rather than the typical doom and gloom I see from this Board whenever the team doesn't play well. BY's are spoiled beyond belief!!

 

[msf22b]

Not one poster has mentioned that:
though they did a good job stopping us.....
We did a pretty good job stopping them as well
with the exception of a few soft stretches.

Lott, they're top scorer was held to 6 points
and had a heck of a time getting an open shot.
So the best shooters on both teams were more or less neutralized
and our forward stepped up...on O but especially on D
Geno understands the effort put in on the defensive end.
That's what won the game.

 

[paulied]

Like I say a win is a win is a win. Nobody is going to remember this game in 2 weeks. Liv had her best game a a Husky fabulous. I just wish she would shoot more when she's open. She has to take and knock down those shots at the top of the key. Lets see what happens when The bigs come to play. Should be interesting. Hard to gauge how good this team is

 

[Littlemin]

It's not what they did that was the problem. It was what they did not do. Not aggressive enough. Too hesitant to shoot.

Not so much an issue of effort, more of a mental shock that the team they beat handily the first time, did not cooperate this time around. As many have correctly pointed out, a lot of games in a short period, is the probable cause. They are also young and this is normal.

We just disagree; Muhl’s biggest weakness is a reluctance to shoot, this game was no different than all her other ones in that regard. Bueckers took 17 shots so I don’t think she was reluctant. As for “mental shock”, IMO, there was no shock, they just didn’t play well.

 

[SARG 2011]

Ugly game for sure but as always a win is a win. Still lots to work on as we move into the next part of the season...getting Anna back should help

 

[Fairfield Fan]

The Huskies will very likely get another shot at the Golden Eagles in the BE finals. Let’s hope they’re better prepared.

Lets hope they're not so tired.

 

[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!

 

[Blue Huskie]

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.