Marquette Postgame Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Marquette Postgame Thread

The one downside was only one BIG showed up today. While Aaliya did a few good things today the bad kept her on the bench in the 4th qtr. Nika the second leading rebounder and tenacious defender played well. Dorka was dorkalicious. I really thought E was her old self today. Christyn had good hustle on D and scored as needed. Lastly we have Azzi. Her going to the hoop really changed the complexion of the game. I shouted really loud when Nika fed her her on the wing. Shooot, Yes! With fist pump
 
Just an image for now:

2021_11_7FortHaysTigersUConnWBB142.0.jpeg
Poetry in motion! just beautiful!
 
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Some thoughts on the Marquette game:
  • With a BIG “grind it out” win at Marquette today, UConn has navigated the toughest part of their schedule, facing all the top tier BE teams along with TN over the past few weeks. With very little time off, while dealing with multiple injuries to key players, the Huskies will be a stronger team for it in March.
  • Marquette really worked to clog the lane, doing everything they could to keep UConn’s Bigs from taking over as they did vs DePaul. UConn stayed in the game in the first half only by hitting 50% from the arc on 6/12 shooting.
  • In the 2nd half Azzi took over on offense, with some help from her friends. Dorka, Christyn, Nika and Evina turned up the heat on D and UConn pulled away in the 4th qtr.
  • Once again, UConn appears to be plagued by missed layups. Some were tough shots with the off hand. Some were bunnies. But they were all shots you have to make in a tight game.
  • UConn now has the relative luxury of 5 days off to heal up and work through some things, finishing up the regular season with 5 straight home games. How the Huskies pull together all the pieces over the next few weeks will go a long way towards determining if there is a storybook ending for UConn WBB this season .
Love these young women ... Geno is so smart to rest the injured
 
How about her rebounding and defense..Azzi gets beat off the dribble a lot more that Nika does
Azzi definitely has moments of getting beat off the dribble, but I’m surprised with how many blocks, steals, jump balls she manages to get. She’s not as bad on defense as I initially thought and she doesn’t really foul. Really solid fundamentals, just needs to be a little quicker.
 
AE may have missed multiple bunnies and some goofy foul but I don't think disappear is the right word. She works extremely hard and had alot of boards and deflections. But it seems Dorka has really put herself front and center and will take alot of Aaliyah's minutes when Liv is back
I agree. The problem with AE is that she is not yet a natural basketball player and really needed to play a lot of games this past summer which apparently didn't happen. She is very mechanical and because of that, she has to be extremely focused, not tired, and not having to make snap decisions. She makes a lot of mistakes and a lot of the ones that don't show up in the box score. Examples today are missing her assignments on defense by losing her man, not handling the pick and roll defense properly, not boxing out, losing balls out of bounds, and rushed shots. it is not a coincidence that the big final run occurred with her on the bench. She is athletic and very physical but it is still raw talent. I don't know if she will ever be a truly fluid player over the stretch of several games but she will improve.

CW did not have a top tier game in my view. She had an off day but her floor game contributed to the team and even when she is off she is still a threat which helps other players.

Evina. The biggest difference with her today that I saw was that when she cut to the hoop she was looking for the ball and she is a very crafty finisher. 7-10 from the field tells me she should be taking at least 12 if not 15 shots a game if some of them can be off of drives or give and gos or back doors. Her focus and confidence was palpable out there on both ends of the court. A great game for her.

Dorka. Now we know why, if we didn't before, she was All Big 10.

Nika. Was also off offensively but her intensity in the 4th quarter and her defense on their PG helped turn the game around because they couldn't get back in the game without her 3s and she slowed down their cutting and picking offense by contesting the first pass.

Azzi. You saw it. A great offensive game from a great offensive player. Her defense was better in the 4th qiuarter but she still does not get to the spot and allows the player to turn to the hoop. However, she has great court vision and ice in her veins.

I expect that CD will come off the bench when she returns so we will have a sub for a guard position (E), a forward position, which is basically for CW, (CD), and a for big (AE). I like that team.

The best part of this game was how we won it - with defense and clutch baskets down the stretch on the road. This game was another example though of why the BE is superior to the AAC and why league play this year is actually helping and not hurting this most unpredictable UCONN team.
 
Glad to see that Azzi is silencing her critics on this board............first she was a one-dimensional offensive player who couldn't get her own shot or drive to the basket and second, she couldn't play any defense.......frankly, as far as I'm concerned, she hasn't even hit her stride yet..........if she can remain healthy there's much more to come........
 
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Last year Marotta killed us inside at home and of course Liv played..this year beside her great offensive game Dorka shut Marotta down..if Dorka hadn't scored at all she played a great game..thankfully she scored in the first half cuz we would have been down by double figures at half time if she hadn't..She's turned into an excellent passer and screener too
 
Glad to see that Azzi is silencing her critics on this board............first she was a one-dimensional offensive player who couldn't get her own shot or drive to the basket and second, she couldn't play any defense.......frankly, as far as I'm concerned, she hasn't even hit her stride yet..........if she can remain healthy there's much more to come........
When she gets into D1 BBall shape she will be a handful
 
Just WOW!!!

In the last DePaul thread, I said that it might have been the most complete game this season, and one of the best games we played in a long while.

This game, that Q4 might have been the best Q4 of the season. Remember entering Q4 with the score close against several opponents, only to collapse? This was the opposite.

And it wasn't just Azzi Fudd scoring. It was the entire team. The defense was spectacular.
  • Westbrook with steals and some great moves on offense
  • Muhl absolutely harrassing whoever she was guarding everywhere on the floor
  • Fudd did not let the offensive player get past her, and her shooting was sensational
  • Juhaz - some great defense, and I thought there were a couple of fouls that should not have been called on her. And that 3 ball late - wow!
  • Christyn was just solid
I loved mixing up the defense in Q4. Instead of us getting worn down, only 5 core players went out and wore them down. On the negative side, Edwards had definitely taken 3 or 4 steps forward the past several games, but this one was definitely 2 steps back.

Great win at Marquette. Now please get healthy UCONN!!
About Edwards, I think the couching team ought to instill some mental encouragement to calm her down so not to be agitated and stay FOCUS.
 
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Some thoughts on the Marquette game:
  • With a BIG “grind it out” win at Marquette today, UConn has navigated the toughest part of their schedule, facing all the top tier BE teams along with TN over the past few weeks. With very little time off, while dealing with multiple injuries to key players, the Huskies will be a stronger team for it in March.
  • Marquette really worked to clog the lane, doing everything they could to keep UConn’s Bigs from taking over as they did vs DePaul. UConn stayed in the game in the first half only by hitting 50% from the arc on 6/12 shooting.
  • In the 2nd half Azzi took over on offense, with some help from her friends. Dorka, Christyn, Nika and Evina turned up the heat on D and UConn pulled away in the 4th qtr.
  • Once again, UConn appears to be plagued by missed layups. Some were tough shots with the off hand. Some were bunnies. But they were all shots you have to make in a tight game.
  • UConn now has the relative luxury of 5 days off to heal up and work through some things, finishing up the regular season with 5 straight home games. How the Huskies pull together all the pieces over the next few weeks will go a long way towards determining if there is a storybook ending for UConn WBB this season .
Actually oldude the next game is at Xavier, then there is 4 straight home games, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John's, and Providence..
 
Just WOW!!!

In the last DePaul thread, I said that it might have been the most complete game this season, and one of the best games we played in a long while.

This game, that Q4 might have been the best Q4 of the season. Remember entering Q4 with the score close against several opponents, only to collapse? This was the opposite.

And it wasn't just Azzi Fudd scoring. It was the entire team. The defense was spectacular.
  • Westbrook with steals and some great moves on offense
  • Muhl absolutely harrassing whoever she was guarding everywhere on the floor
  • Fudd did not let the offensive player get past her, and her shooting was sensational
  • Juhaz - some great defense, and I thought there were a couple of fouls that should not have been called on her. And that 3 ball late - wow!
  • Christyn was just solid
I loved mixing up the defense in Q4. Instead of us getting worn down, only 5 core players went out and wore them down. On the negative side, Edwards had definitely taken 3 or 4 steps forward the past several games, but this one was definitely 2 steps back.

Great win at Marquette. Now please get healthy UCONN!!
I notice no mention of Edwards. She seemed too tired to play her game.
 
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If the team is shooting 50% from the floor it should be easy for a point guard to get 5 assists per game on this team. Especially if they are 10-20 from 3 and you don't shoot much yourself. It shouldn't be that hard to rack up assists when we are shooting 50% as a team. We still have huge room for improvement.

We are going to need it if we are to win the NC. No doubt what we are doing right now is not enough. We do have some very encouraging developments though with Azzi showing a total game ability at championship caliber. We shouldn't need her to have to play at that level but it helps so much that even she is capable of taking over a game in the 4th. Dorka is playing great team basketball. No one helps her teammates more than Dorka. CW and Evina are playing strong. The rest of 5 days should hopefully bring at least 1 player back.
Need this, need that....blahty, blahty.
She's a superstar! PB is a superstar! Stop biting your nails and wearing out the arms of your easy chair. Sit back and watch spectacular stuff you haven't ever seen before. This is going to be crazy. An 8-0 "Azzi" run to open up a game UConn could have lost a thousand different ways. Need this, need that....
 
When I first started getting hooked on UCONN WBB, by my Sister in Law and her husband (Steve), I was watching a game that was very close in the first half... I made a comment about things not looking so good...certainly not the dominant UCONN basketball I had heard about. Steve said words to the effect of, "Just wait...it takes a few moments and Geno's system kicks in." I was reminded of line in the movie "Remember the Titans" when Coach Boone was explaining to the Defensive Coaches why the playbook was so skinny... something like "I run six plays, split veer, it's like novocaine, just give it time, always works." Today, the Huskies took a few minutes (quarters) to pull away from Marquette and the drive, desire and system kicked in like novocaine in the 4th quarter and the game was... as Paige was seen on video on the sidelines saying... "It's Ova"...
 
That was a really entertaining game. For 30 minutes, Marquette just kept hitting the shots they needed to, preventing uconn from creating any type of gap. I was just waiting for the run to come, but was pleasantly surprised at how big that run was.
I think you hit on something IRT "the gap". Past UConn teams that dominated, would go on a run and create a gap somewhere in the 1st half, which made the 2nd half way more difficult for the opponent. Now, that's assuming a full squad. And wonder if the expectation of a run was something the players kinda assumed would happened, and when games stayed close, some had never played that many games like that. I love that the team is showing patience, and when the door opens, they go on a scoring run. There's definitely some growth in learning this one.
 
Great game today with UConn staying in contention, and then unleashing a defensive tour de force in the 4th. Contributions from all today. Just wish I understood what has happened to AE. No injuries reported, but she just disappears in too many games. I had such high hopes for her this year.
I think she lost her cool and focus when she was arm locked with a MU player, and that player spun and IMHO threw her around and she went into another MU player and AE got called for the foul. Soon afterwards, there might have been some words between AE and another player, and maybe she just needed to refocus from the bench. Who knows.
 
Actually oldude the next game is at Xavier, then there is 4 straight home games, Georgetown, Marquette, St. John's, and Providence..
I stand corrected. Xavier came from behind to win at Providence today. But I got UConn +28 vs the 8-16 Musketeers, regardless of who suits up for the Huskies.
 
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Glad to see that Azzi is silencing her critics on this board............first she was a one-dimensional offensive player who couldn't get her own shot or drive to the basket and second, she couldn't play any defense.......frankly, as far as I'm concerned, she hasn't even hit her stride yet..........if she can remain healthy there's much more to come........
Very well said. I took alot of grief from posters when I spoke so highly of Azzi. I knew about her as I know many AAU coaches who told me about her as well as my cousins who knew her and played with her. When I was told she plays alot like Maya Moore and she could be as good if not better then Paige I knew those compliments even if not true were good enough to know she was the real deal and a very special player. We now are beginning to see what everybody was talking about. Azzi is clutch.
 
That was a really entertaining game. For 30 minutes, Marquette just kept hitting the shots they needed to, preventing uconn from creating any type of gap. I was just waiting for the run to come, but was pleasantly surprised at how big that run was.

A great bounce back game for Fudd, and another great showing from Dorka. I was especially impressed by Dorka's defensive presence. I'm really excited by the idea of these two players continuing to build confidence and consistency.

Solid road win for the huskies. Next game isn't until Friday, which gives us some needed rest and practice time. Hopefully we'll have another player back for that matchup.

30 minutes of tension, followed by 10 minutes of fun! :D
 
Very well said. I took alot of grief from posters when I spoke so highly of Azzi. I knew about her as I know many AAU coaches who told me about her as well as my cousins who knew her and played with her. When I was told she plays alot like Maya Moore and she could be as good if not better then Paige I knew those compliments even if not true were good enough to know she was the real deal and a very special player. We now are beginning to see what everybody was talking about. Azzi is clutch.
100%
Why did you take grief? Because many BY'ers don't know what they're looking at.
The BY had thread after thread about Azzi becoming a Husky. What, middle school years? Why would the BY be surprised? I'm lost on that one. Like a bunch of volcanologists being surprised that eventually Vesuvius was going to erupt and bury you.
 
About Edwards, I think the couching team ought to instill some mental encouragement to calm her down so not to be agitated and stay FOCUS.
Freudian slip, are you referring to the BY "coaches".
 
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