Marquette Postgame Thread

[Centerstream]

Last season we won with Jana and Ice. This season we have Jana and Serah. It all boils down to what players rise to the occasion and when.
Today wasn't the finest example of either rising to the occasion but hopefully those days will come, especially if Blanca is also able to play.

 

[victor64]

If you saw the game, Allie was tightly guarded and rarely got the ball in a position to shoot. That being said, she did lool a little tentative.

Allie has proven that she belongs on the opponent's UConn scouting report. The days of her spotting up in the corner and shooting uncontested 3s are over. She has worked really hard and played well to earn the minutes she is getting. Now the next step in her development is create a mid range jumper off the dribble. As good as she is with either hand, I am certain that can be accomplished.

 

[Majorthreat]

I don't know what to make of this game. Geno kept switching Serah and Jana in hopes one would stand out, but neither did. Serah was being beaten off the dribble, and offensive rebounds were scarce, although she did get 2. Jana, well, she still commits silly fouls and wasn't a difference-maker in the paint. We might be in trouble if we have to depend on our bigs besides Sarah. 6 points aren't going to cut it. It seemed like no one wanted to rebound today, which is why we were outrebounded. Our half-court offense wasnt that fluid and seemed to stall when Sarah wasn't hitting shots in the first half. If we weren't forcing turnovers, our offense looked raggedy. We only had 13 steals and 17 assists well down from average of 24.
WE got very few contributions from the bench today, which could be an issue going forward. Blanca needs to get healthy soon. The longer she is out, the more I think she might be out for the rest of the season.

 

[Woof]

Jana is NOT replacing Serah. Serah is quite a bit better. Geno benched her to send a message. She was out on the perimeter and dropped to inexplicably leave their best shooter open before someone could help. The Marquette player hit the three, of course. Serah was immediately yanked and I don't think she came back in.

This was a kick in the butt. Nothing more. Geno is trying to motivate her. Nothing more. He will NOT start Jana over Serah. Ever.

 

[Skeets]

UConn made Marquette look like a top 10 team. UConn needs to play better against a real top 10 team.

Congrats to Marquette for a well-played, intense game. UConn won not because they executed better, but because they had more talent.

UConn's defense was lethargic, and sometimes braindead. Too many open shots and drives to the basket.

I don't know why it wasn't clicking. Some speculated illness. I think it might have been the long travel. I'll give UConn a pass on this one, provided it turns out to be an anomaly.

 

[Blond D.]

Apparently, I wasn't imagining things based on what Geno said after the game,......Sarah is still under the weather and is clearly dealing with some lower leg/foot issues that are impacting her normally solid shooting base.......why would you want to see her out there against lowly Big East competition with four meaningless games to go if she's not close to 100%? Doesn't seem like a crazy idea to me under the circumstances.....

if the doctors hadn't thought it was safe for her to play she wouldn't have been out there. I did notice all the tape going up her her ankles in an odd way and that lowly Big east team was nipping at our heals. ALL games are important when it comes to seeding us for the playoffs.

 

[Zonepress]

I don't know what to make of this game. Geno kept switching Serah and Jana in hopes one would stand out, but neither did. Serah was being beaten off the dribble, and offensive rebounds were scarce, although she did get 2. Jana, well, she still commits silly fouls and wasn't a difference-maker in the paint. We might be in trouble if we have to depend on our bigs besides Sarah. 6 points aren't going to cut it. It seemed like no one wanted to rebound today, which is why we were outrebounded. Our half-court offense wasnt that fluid and seemed to stall when Sarah wasn't hitting shots in the first half. If we weren't forcing turnovers, our offense looked raggedy. We only had 13 steals and 17 assists well down from average of 24.
WE got very few contributions from the bench today, which could be an issue going forward. Blanca needs to get healthy soon. The longer she is out, the more I think she might be out for the rest of the season.

your last comment is just silly
The coach has been very clear that she’s very close to coming back and it was possible she would have played today

 

[Hist-teacher]

The past few games I've shook my head wondering how Williams was able to put up the type of numbers she did at Wisconsin (as well as being two-time defensive player of the year!). We can no longer say that she's still learning the UCONN system almost five months and 27 games into the season. She plays passive, soft with bad hands and is almost always off balance and out of position. Not a good combination for any D1 player let alone a post player.

 

[BobbyJ]

There were a lot of things that weren't up to snuff today. Ok, it happens. I'll chalk most of it off to just having a meh day at the office. Obviously having a game like this against a stronger team could lead to a loss; of course all teams have bad days that can lead to a loss. It's the nature of sports.

The thing that concerns me is that our rebounding is underwhelming. If we do not win the NC this year I get the feeling that it will be because we don't have a strong inside rebounding/scoring threat outside of Sarah. Teams don't have to game plan how to control Serah or Jana. Having Blanca available will help. Hook or crook, we'll need better post play as we get into the NCAAs...or Azzi and Sarah will have to shot really well against the good teams. They can do that but more production from the bigs would make things a whole lot easier.

The bolded part is one of the two keys to the NCT. The other is the passive interior defense. If the guards of the other 4-5 top teams can play though UConn's perimeter pressure and get the ball into the paint (pass or dribble) consistently, they can break it down. UConn's bigs will foul or give up points. And it better not be Strong having to do the fouling. And offensively, to score 80 points against good teams, Auriemma will need to play small a lot to have the extra shooter because Williams and JEA are not threats.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Think folks are looking at these games the wrong way. He’s experimenting and developing. He’s not concerned about shots not going in. It happens. He’s more concerned with getting good looks and exploiting the strengths of bench players. It’s a luxury so exploit it. There’s almost no concern about losing. And even a bad loss right now wouldn’t be the worse thing in the world. And if he can tweak anything else out of the defense even a bad offensive showing might not matter against ANY team in the field. UCONN team defense is pretty bad ass right now. We’re just spoiled…a little. 🤣 One more thing. Jana in the press (not under the basket) looks interesting. She looks way more comfortable playing outside the congestion on defense.

And one more thing…AGAIN…lol. Jana/Serah were 3 for4 and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes. That’s not chopped liver.

 

[Charliebball]

if the doctors hadn't thought it was safe for her to play she wouldn't have been out there. I did notice all the tape going up her her ankles in an odd way and that lowly Big east team was nipping at our heals. ALL games are important when it comes to seeding us for the playoffs.

Absolutely, but just because a player is cleared to play doesn't mean they should play..........if UConn can't beat their four final opponents without Sarah, then they deserve a lower seed.........BTW I've got tickets to the St Johns game at MSG and as much as I'd like to see Sarah play live again, I wouldn't be upset if Geno kept her on the bench....

 

[Cuango]

Geno needs to have another chat with Allie. She was totally disinterested in being an offensive factor today. Hard to fathom when playing in her home state before friends and family.

Yeah, I just think she didn’t get many opportunities to shoot the ball and she saw that Azzi had the hot hand and focused (perhaps too much) on getting the ball to her rather than looking for her shot. This was one of those weird games where we were “off” from the get-go and Marquette played very well plus got a lot of rolls, rebounds right into their hands, banking in shots, etc! I was really shocked at how well (and hard) they played! Credit to their coach, she had those kids ready to run through walls. Sarah ( and everyone except Azzi, were really off their games for large amounts of the game. Fortunately, Sarah came alive and together with Azzi, made sure we won. If we play like this next game, then I may start to get a little concerned but right now, I think their biorythms were off or something. As for the alarm over Blanca, I’d say Geno saw what kind of game it was going to be and decided to wait for next game.

 

[YankeeJim]

If we play this game on the second weekend of the tournament, are we out?

 

[Bills Fan]

One of those games where you say 'winter doldrums' (usually happens a month earlier), or just tip of the hat to Marquette for being disruptive and hammering the O-boards.

What I will say, was with the exception of KK (and Jana to a degree), none of the supporting cast stepped up when Azzi/Strong struggled. Yes Azzi scored 17 in the first half and hit 5-8 from three, but she went 1-6 inside the arc and Strong was going 1-9 for 3 points, the other 'scorers' in 42 minutes on the floor in the first half were:

Shade - 15 min, 1-3/0-1, 1 R, 0 A, 2 TO, 1 S
Allie - 12 min, 0-0, 0 R, 3 A, 0 TO, 1 S
K9 - 10 min, 1-2/0-1, 2 R, 1 A, 1 TO, 1 S
Serah - 5 min, 0-0, 4 R, 0 A, 1 TO, 0 S, 1B
Totalled to:
42 floor minutes 2-5/0-2, 7 R, 2 A, 4 TO, 3 S, 1 B

And then in the second half those 4 combined for:
45 floor minutes going 3-12/0-3, 5 R, 2 A, 1 TO, 2 S, 1 B

The two not mentioned above: KK, Jana played 46 in the game and combined for:
5-6/0-0, 9 R, 10 A, 3 TO, 2 S

The defense was good in the game and everyone contributed, but I would say they were often a step slow in rotations and they gave up a lot of bunnies. leading to a surprising 37.5% shooting for Marquette and 56 points. The O-Boards were a problem as well, again partly because of Uconn's scrambling out toward open shooters.

We did better when Sarah sat out a game, then when she was a no-show for the first half today. Allie is supposed to be a scorer and took zero shots in 12 first half minutes, K9 took 2, Ash 3. It was amazzing watching Sarah miss all those shots as a fan, as a teammate besides Azzi, no one else stepped up, and I think that is likely to be the message from the coaches!

And finally welcome back KK, and hello Jana, you seem to have heard the message.

You BURIED Jana's stats by combining her results with KK's. In 16 minutes Jana had two fouls, 2 TO's and only 3 rebounds (while SW had 5 rebounds in only 10 minutes) . And really? You gave the total of 10 A's as a positive for Jana when she only had 1 of the 10 ????!!! I do believe that she had more 1-handed swats on rebounds than SW, but that's not a good thing, as Geno has mentioned in a few interviews.

My point is that neither Jana or Serah are giving the team what is needed or was expected at the beginning of the year.

 

[Bone Dog]

People need to calm down. Uconn will be just fine. I live in Madison and go to the Uconn vs. Marquette game every year and it's typically a tough match up. Marquette is very physical, they are sold defensively, and they don't make a ton of mistakes. The same people who are freaking out about Uconn having a closer than expected game are the same people who also worry about Uconn not being tested enough going into the tournament. There are a lot of really good teams that would have gone to Milwaukee today and came out with a loss.

Exactly. And if anyone wants to be reminded of close games in Milwaukee from previous seasons, here’s a great one from 2022. It was back and forth for 3 1/2 quarters until Azzi and Evina slammed the door on Marquette. Midway through the 4th, Evina came to the sideline for a timeout and said “they’re gassed.” Then she and Azzi ran away with the game.

 

[Phil]

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.

Good observation, I missed that. I see she went three for four from the field and 100% owner free throws for 10 points. Nine assists and only one turnover

 

[WiseWillie]

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? 🤔

Let's hope not about Blanca. Instead, it most likely reflects that Serah as hard as she tries (and let's give credit because she she does try) but just hasn't produced as expected. Looking to March and playing any of the teams with good or excellent bigs Jana will be a much better match up and it is time right now for Jana to get the playing time that will help her in March.

 

[bballnut90]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but this was only the 2nd time all season where Sarah Strong shot under 50% from the floor, and both if she hit 1 more shot she would've hit the 50% mark.

 

[Phil]

I have to call out the commentators. They claimed Sarah Strong scored 17 points in a row. And they claimed it twice because they mentioned it to Azzi too. But it’s not true. She scored 15 in a row and then Azzi scored to the bucket to end the third quarter.

Facts matter. 🤷‍♂️

I heard them say it once. And I thought that doesn't sound right. Then I heard them say it again and I wondered if I missed something so I backed up and confirmed yes easy it that was a beater at the end of the quarter which is important because we were being outscored before that buzzer beater, and that was the score the commentators missed.

 

[Tonyc]

In close games or when games get tight and we need a basket its gonna be Azzi and Sarah unless somebody is wide open. Today we had an off game. Thats because were human. I play sports and I have off games just like UConn. Relax this isnt permanent. Sarah and Blanca need to get healthy and we will be fine. Remember a short time ago Azzi had a couple of poor shooting games. It happens we will be fine. We won it all last year with a small lineup. This season we are a more balanced team with Serah. We will be fine.

 

[Phil]

Sorry if this is owed a been mentioned but our wind by 25 point streak is over and I'm not totally unhappy about that. Every time it's mentioned someone uses it to talk about schedule strength which is misleading because it includes some pretty good teams but am tired of hearing that.

 

[Centerstream]

If we play this game on the second weekend of the tournament, are we out?

When we win by one or more points, no.

 

[Basingstoke]

Oh, and the announcers were really horrible today - only concerned with giving their opinions on a multitude of things and not concentrating at all on calling the game.

 

[donalddoowop]

If we play this game on the second weekend of the tournament, are we out?

No, did you notice that even though they played this kind of game, UConn won?

 

[Cuango]

If we play this game on the second weekend of the tournament, are we out?

Probably, but we won’t play like this on the second weekend, or probably anytime again this year!