Marquette Postgame Thread | The Boneyard

Marquette Postgame Thread

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oldude

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Some thoughts on the Marquette game:
  • UConn’s traveling circus came to Milwaukee today, where scores of friends, family and fans showed up to watch KK & Allie, both of whom were former Wisconsin Miss Basketball POY’s
  • I love the fact that Marquette wasn’t intimidated by UConn, coming out and taking it to the Huskies. Such tests will be very important in March.
  • Geno was searching during the 1st half for the right lineup, subbing Jana for Serah, going small with Kayleigh and Allie, and then doing it all over again. Ultimately, when UConn finally made a run late in the 1st half, Jana was on the court with 4 guards and no Sarah, who was having the worst shooting half of her career. 😮
  • While there were some head scratching plays on offense, Azzi was UConn’s security blanket today splashing 5 shots from the arc, 25 in total while playing solid defense.
  • KK with a really solid game in her return back home: 10 pts (3/4 & 4/4 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 9 assists with only 1 turnover.
  • In the 2nd half, to get Sarah going, UConn posted her up often with considerable success as she scored basket after basket.
  • I love to watch Ash defend an opposing BIG when she gets caught on a switch. There’s some genuine Bulldog in her or, perhaps, she’s picked it up from a former Croatian teammate. ☺️
  • Geno refers to star players & role players. Recently, when Geno lists his stars he names Sarah, Azzi and Blanca. I know we’re all wondering when this year’s version of UConn’s 3-headed monster will get its 3rd head back.
  • It’s rather late in the season for a position battle. But it sure does look like Geno is challenging Serah & Jana to find out which player will be his starting center in March.
  • Next up is a trip to Philadelphia to face Villanova, the #2 team in the BE. GO HUSKIES!!!
 
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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".
 
-Another game that demonstrates the cornerstone of this team is their defense. They seemingly never take plays off. Forced 22 TOs today.

—The first half stats showed UConn’s struggles offensively. Outrebounded 22-17 (42-29 for the game), Sarah Strong 1/9 from the field. Allie no shots attempted in 12 minutes.

-Geno expressed concern about the lack of rebounding from others besides Sarah. It sure seemed like a lot of one and done offensively.

-Sarah Strong’s shots all seem to be short. Could she have some leg issue that prevents her from getting the push she needs? It is weird seeing her miss shots that she normally makes. Of course, she was brilliant in the second half but I still don’t think she is 100%

-When Jana gets her head up and finds the basket after receiving an entry, her results are a lot more positive. Numerous times I have noticed her head is down resulting in a miss.

-I don’t think it often but Sklar Forbes would fit in at UConn. Nice player at both ends.

-The team has some things to deal with (injuries, rebounding). Energy, effort and motivation though are not problems. This team always plays hard.

-Hopefully we see Blanca Wednesday at Villanova.
 
Some of my favorite plays this year have been from Kayleigh Heckel, the back-to-back full court layups against Tennessee, and now this strip steal that culminated in the spinning layup.

Also, Jana El Alfy has been looking pretty good. I wish Blanca would get back, I miss her contributions.
 
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Props to Marquette for their effort, but UConn missed many easy lay ups. Overall shooting was off, but D was mostly solid save a bunch of missed assignments. I can't for the life of me understand how Serah Williams won 2 Defensive player of the Years awards. I just don't see it. Take the win and on to Villanova.
 
I'm sure many will think I'm going overboard, but I think Geno needs to sit Sarah and Blanca until the Big East Tournament starts.......UConn can't win it all without both of them being healthy, and starting them back up in Big East Tournament will allow for both to get rid of any rust.....
 
Yes, an uneven game. Only Azzi KK and Sarah played up to expectations, though Sarah only had one rebound. The three of them carried the team, and KK was golden with 10 pts, 9 assists, 6 rebounds (she led the team) and 2 steals. She also played without taped fingers, if that's a sign of anything.

Allie took only 2 shots. Just worth thinking about that.

Also we got out rebounded 42-29. I suspect this is connected to our poor shooting. We don't need so many rebounds when we shoot well But today we shot 29-64. And that's not the whole story because Marquette out rebounded us 14-8 on the offensive side. Fortunately. they only got 8 points from those 0-boards. Ferocious defensive energy took away that advantage from them. It could be that shooting lights-out for several games has eroded concentration on boxing out.

As a side note, I thought they moved like players unsure of their footing, like the floor was especially slippery. Lots of slips throughout, though especially in the first half. Sarah went down a couple of times on what looked like slips. So did Ash and KK. If you're unsure of your footing, you adjust your movements and this can throw off everything. Also, the ball seemed to be slippery too, with a number of players including Azzi losing the ball for no apparent reason. When I was in college and grad school in Southern California I remember how when the Santa Ana winds picked up in late spring it could be difficult to catch passes or hold onto the ball just because dry conditions made the ball slick. It was humid in Milwaukee today, so dryness was not the problem. But something seemed off. Maybe there's a hockey rink under the court?
 
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How amazing it must be to play probably a B- game offensively and still win by double digits. Teams are going to have tough games or games where the secondary players don’t step up or perform on the offensive end. You can learn more about the team and players in games like these than you can when everything is clicking.

Azzi carried us in the 1st half and the Sarah took over in the second. Add a very strong game from KK but spotty offense everywhere else and you get a bit of a grind type game.

Defense travels and UConn’s defense is so elite, awareness, communication, help and individual effort just cause so much pain for the opposing team.

Last few games of the regular season is about keeping everyone healthy and hopefully seeing Blanca get n the court so she can get a little run before the BE tourney.

On to the next!
 
I know that they won. I know that I Azzi and Sarah S carried the team. But, they seem to play with a lot of difficulty and seemed to labor at making a basket. At the end, I think that they just plain tired out Marquette which as a team played their darndest to stay with UConn.
 
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HuskieDawg said:
Defense travels and UConn’s defense is so elite, awareness, communication, help and individual effort just cause so much pain for the opposing team.
Expand ...

UConn got beat on defense in the halfcourt quite a bit in the second half. Too many open shots and backdoor breakdowns. Jana out at the three point line defending the PG for some reason.
 
Charliebball said:
I'm sure many will think I'm going overboard, but I think Geno needs to sit Sarah and Blanca until the Big East Tournament starts.......UConn can't win it all without both of them being healthy, and starting them back up in Big East Tournament will allow for both to get rid of any rust.....
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It is an interesting idea.
 
I love KK. The only thing she didn't do was block a shot. A ton of rebounds, a ton of assists. Our Energizer Bunny. Downside: amazing how many shots were missed inside the arc. An under 25 point win. We must appoint a Committee; nominations are now open.
 
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Sluconn Husky said:
UConn got beat on defense in the halfcourt quite a bit in the second half. Too many open shots and backdoor breakdowns. Jana out at the three point line defending the PG for some reason.
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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? 🤔
 
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