Marquette Postgame Thread

[Topsail]

Sarah sure looks like still suffering effects of illness that made her puke in last game. She had a great flurry but I think she spent her last bit of energy there. Sarah will be fine once she is recovered from this illness.hopefully Sarah is fully recovered for Villanova or could be a repeat of this game..rebounding again is a concern with today’s effort.

 

[HuskieDawg]

They aren’t used to playing team defense with Jana on the floor. Jana seemingly joined the rotation this game. Why is that? Does it signal bad news when it comes to Blanca? 🤔

She usually comes in around the 5 minute mark, at least I believe she does so I think some is normal. I also think Geno maybe didn’t love Serah at times this game for whatever reasons.

Have to keep in mind when you’re pressing and trapping that can lead to open perimeter shots or some drives. Risk/reward.

 

[Centerstream]

Scoring 13 points and 14 points in separate quarters is going to be a biiiiiiig problem in March and April!!!! It just won't work.


Sarcasm!!!!

At no point in this game was this team in danger of losing. When we scored our last FG at around the 3:37 mark of the 4th quarter, we were up 20, and I think Sarah was already on the bench. At that point, the game changed to running down the clock on offense as much as possible. This is when I was hoping that Allie and Ashlynn would drop a couple of 3s. Didn't happen. Marquette responded by speeding up on offense as much as possible. They got a couple baskets and FTs to close the gap.
One thing that I wondered about was the number of times that Marquette was able to create height mismatches on offense, making very easy layups with their taller players.
But a win and now we can complain about another streak ending...consecutive winning MOVs over 25 points.

 

[Stagnant]

She usually comes in around the 5 minute mark, at least I believe she does so I think some is normal. I also think Geno maybe didn’t love Serah at times this game for whatever reasons.

Have to keep in mind when you’re pressing and trapping that can lead to open perimeter shots or some drives. Risk/reward.

I have watched a lot of games this season. And in most of them. She didn’t play in the first half.

 

[Stagnant]

Jana came in early because Serah was getting outplayed by Forbes. I think she did pretty well in her 16 minutes compared to Serah in her 10 mins.

I guess that would have normally been Blanca. We could have tried small ball though?

 

[Topdawg]

Team pulled off a gritty win on the road and the trio of Azzi, Sarah, and Kk delivered. Rest of the team contributed on defense which allowed us to keep Marquette to 56 points.

Relative to my three asks for the game:
1. Scoring and rebounding from our three bigs fell short. We were out-rebounded 42 to 29!
2. Turnovers were ok at 10. Assists were below our norm and that could be related to our lower than average shooting percentage. We took 64 shots.
3. I wanted the bench to keep up the pace of scoring. This did not happen. Only 6 points were scored by the bench in 64 minutes of playing time. 32% of the minutes for less than 10% of the points.

I anticipate there will be lots of film review and discussion within the team to improve on what happened today.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

When Strong scores 19 in a half and UConn only has a 3-point edge, you know there were issues.

 

[HuskieDawg]

I have watched a lot of games this season. And in most of them. She didn’t play in the first half.

Oh I don’t know if I agree with that, but doesn’t really matter. All good!

 

[Tonyc]

We lacked hustle. We were inconsistent on D. Sarah had an off game. Gotta wonder why Geno sat her. Azzi in the first half Sarah in the second half. KK had a really good game and its great to see her dribble drive often. No Blanca. We won and thats it. Geno did take Azzi and Sarah out late in the 4th qtr. We had spurts of UConn and other times we were standing around. This was good to happen now. We can fix it and get back on track. Our weak side defense was not consistent today. Overall our defense gave up 56 pts. We will win every game if we give up only 56 pts.

Many of us think we're invincible. This goes to show we can still win when we're not firing on all cylinders. There have been many top teams that have had off games and struggle to win by less than double digits. We won by double digits. So long as we have Azzi Sarah and Blanca we should be in every game. Under pressure we continue to execute our game plan and not panic. Thats the mark of champion.

Serah and Jana need to rebound better. They need to be animals down low. We're just a couple of weeks away from the big dance.

Lers see what happens in the next game

 

[Bone Dog]

I guess that would have normally been Blanca. We could have tried small ball though?

Geno did at several points. This is what makes some think Sarah was still not 100%. It seemed like Geno didn't want to rely on her too much. By contrast, Azzi played 30 minutes in the first three quarters and 38 for the whole game compared to Sarah's 27.

 

[Jumpy Radar]

I love to see games like this. Not that I love watching the ugliness of it, but the fact that we need the adversity. We need our conference opponents to test us and Marquette did just that. We are not going to look crisp every single game of the season. But to come through that adversity is what's important. Blanca is definitely missed, Azzi was sharp, Sarah looked tired the first half but willed herself to make it up in the second half. Azzi said it best, "we needed to wake up!"

So, I guess we all will see who Geno goes with at center for the tourney. Right now, I would give an edge to Jana. She is just stronger in the post even if she is not scoring she always aggressively rebounds (I love the dog in her). Allie, keep moving your feet to find open shots. K9 and Ash, keep being aggressive. KK, continue your role as the flash. This type of game can only make our Huskies better.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

 

[jaundicedeye]

Kudo's to Marquette. They played tough. Kudo's to UConn for having the mental toughness to weather an "off" day at the office.

Marquette certainly knew how to play us this second time around. They hit the boards and limited our second shots out rebounding us 42 to 29. Hats off to Marquette.

 

[Stagnant]

I said this in another thread. I actually think we are pretty unproven on the road. Fortunately, the tournament takes place at neutral sites.

 

[Phil]

KK one assist off a double-double.

 

[oldude]

Calm down everyone. Last season UConn had back to back mediocre offensive games at Georgetown & St Johns scoring 73 & 71 points respectively. Somehow, the Huskies managed to right the ship.

Also, how about giving some credit to a well coached Marquette team that played their hearts out. The sky is not falling if the Huskies don’t win by 50……

 

[Centerstream]

Allie played 25 minutes and was 0 for 2 shooting. She needs to be taking (and making) more shots if she's coming off the bench to provide a spark and help the offense, the way she has played before today.

 

[my2cents]

Geno is really not happy with the offensive rebounding, and rebounding in general. With 2.5 minutes in , Serah boxed out on the rebound, but did not go for the ball. It bounced, and she got it, but then was taken out of the game. She only played 10 minutes.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[CONNCAN]

Not a great game. Will be curious what Geno has to say. For all the people who think this team is "head and shoulders" better than everyone else, exhibit the first half of the Tennessee game, and pretty much most of this game, with the exception of few really nice stretches. The MOV per Vegas was expected to be 35 points. Against a 16-9 Marquette team, we "squeaked out" a 15 point win. Just hard to watch most of the game.

• Sarah MIA in first half, exploded in the 2nd half
• Azzi was solid all game, but continues to pass up shots
• KK was really good
• Ash - even an off shooting night can't complain about her effort.
• I thought Jana battled

On the other hand Allie, Kayleigh, and Serah contributed almost nothing offensively. Really rough game for them. Maybe they have hit their respective walls, or maybe just an off game.

Either way, the team has a ways to go for sure. Can't really sugar coat this game. Even Azzi after the game said "we needed to wake up".

It was almost all Azzi Fudd in the first half. UCONN finally got it going in the 2nd quarter, when Azzi along with KK, K9, Ash and Jana were in the floor together

In the 2nd half, it was the Sarah Strong Show.

Overall:

• Azzi Fudd with a solid great gamer overall
• Sarah Strong was not herself in the 1st Half, but came alive in the 2nd Half for a positive game
• KK has a productive game overall
• Jana El Alfy showing Geno and the coaching staff that it well may be her time to take over the starting center role, as she had another very good overall game on both ends of the court.
• Contrary, Serah Williams looks lost out there, not in sync with the rest of the team. Maybe coming off the bench may walke up her game

-K9 had another K9 game. Hustle, Aggression and Tenacious across the board
-Allie, it appears, didn't have it today. Maybe the pressure of playing in front of her home State family and friends was a bit too much for her
-Ashlynn had some positive moments but also had some not so great moments today

This game shows that Geno and the coaching staff still has some tweaking to do, such as:

• Blanca is so needed to return
• Jana El Alfy might have worked her way into the starting center role (the coaches should not worry about any hurt feelings or Egos being impacted)

 

[Stagnant]

Allie played 25 minutes and was 0 for 2 shooting. She needs to be taking (and making) more shots if she's coming off the bench to provide a spark and help the offense, the way she has played before today.

Hey, I just want to say I agree with this. It does sort of defeat the purpose to have her out there if she isn’t a weapon on offense.

 

[Stagnant]

Imo. Jana can rebound better. And we are better off defensively with Serah on the court. I guess Geno is going to pick which option he prefers.

Or he could start Blanca if she is ready to go? He hinted at her possibly returning for this game. Maybe that bodes well for her returning in the next game?

 

[#1florida]

No one mentions Patterson. She has the ability to make basketball plays, she moves well, defends pretty well and goes after rebounds. I would like to see her get much more playing time.

 

[Blakeon18]

Best thing I saw early was zero tape on KK's right hand....looked good for the game.
Next best early thing: Azzie's shooting.

Sarah's shooting in the first half: thought they were good shots for her....worst half shooting of her career?
She was Sarah in the second half...they were concentrating on feeding her and she finished beautifully
around the basket. Last game...she played 20 minutes...today it was 27...good!

Props to Marquette: no fear...tons of rebounds...aggressive. Our bench...darn little.
Glad we are away at Villanova...need urgency from the git-go.

 

[Bills Fan]

Even with SS going off in the 3rd Qtr, we only won the 2nd half by 3 points. A game to forget . Not only awful on Off but just as bad on Def. We need OV this year because we are not getting anything from the post; one handed swats at rebounds, shots blocked by much shorter players; missed bunnies, balls knocked out of their hands.

 

[donalddoowop]

Late in the fourth quarter, UConn had a twenty point-lead. Marquette scored some points after Geno made a change to cut the margin to fifteen. UConn did what it needed to do when they needed to do it. They scored about fifteen points less than their average and still won by double figures.