Mercer Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the Mercer game:

• SHE’S BAAAAAACK! Paige starting today’s game is an indication that Geno knows he can not limit his reigning NPOY’s minutes if the Huskies are to win banner # 12. Paige got a little more comfortable on the court. She played around 25 minutes, did a little bit of everything, while filling up the stat sheet, as the Huskies rolled over Mercer in their opening round game.
• The Mercer Bears are a quick and athletic team. They provided the Huskies with a good opening round test in the Big Dance, that should serve them well in their next game vs UCF or FL.
• UConn’s pressure defense once again caused nightmares for an opponent, as the Huskies turned over Mercer time after time, leading to easy baskets, while also holding Mercer to an anemic 22%.
• In case you missed it, UCONN OUTSCORED MERCER 20 – 0 IN THE 3RD QTR!
• I would really love to see UConn run more plays for Azzi to allow everyone to see a lot more of that flawless 3-pt shooting stroke of hers. Azzi took and made all 3 of her shots behind the arc.
• EVERBODY EATS!!! All 9 regular rotation players scored for the Huskies, with Christyn leading the show with only 13 points.
• WE WANT UCONN!

 

[Kaizen]

Good win, very balance team. Nice to see Paige is back.

 

[topogigio]

I said they would win by 50, damn if they hit a few foul shots and easy shots at the basket, they would have won by 60!

 

[CMC'72]

• I would really love to see UConn run more plays for Azzi to allow everyone to see a lot more of that flawless 3-pt shooting stroke of hers. Azzi took and made all 3 of her shots behind the arc.

I am hoping this is because Geno is not showing everything at this point in the tournament. Why show Azzi's breakout plays until our guys are up against it in the fourth quarter and we need a secret weapon. Let our interim opponents forget all about Azzi.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

When you shoot 44% against Mercer you know the offense is...not good.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Everybody Eats!

But as impressive as it all looked, there is still work to do to further reduce the unforced errors that have been a challenge for this team all season. The missed layups and missed free throws alone would be a real problem against a better team on a night when the are not falling the way they did today.

 

[bayern7]

Good win but 15 turnovers and 58% FT needs against a 15 seed needs to get cleaned up.

 

[EdSaid]

# 4 of 9

I think Paige progressed from baby steps to adult steps. Making good progress.
Anytime a basketball team throws a shutout for a quarter and keeps the opponent to under 40, they are really playing defense.
UConn defense outperformed their offense, understandable with a little long layoff rust. Not bad, but needs to click better. They were playing # 15 seed who had no height.

Very good opening round game

 

[quavik]

Nice to see Dorka's double double!

 

[HuskyNan]

They won. That’s all I want. Free throws, percentages, turnovers, I don’t care - just win the damn game.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Hey everyone..in case you didn’t know there’s going to be a feature on Sue Bird this week on 60 Minutes!

 

[DEpup]

This was an everybody eats game for sure.. let's not over think the shooting percentage. I think there were almost 8 missed shots in 2 round the basket instances. I do think they lost focus in the 4th a bit..

 

[ballerfan]

I can better imagine how Paige will play with this team. Pass first and running the floor. Fewer points, and everyone still eats.

Mercer is a good defensive team, but, as mentioned above, UConn has work to do.

 

[HuskieDawg]

Great way to kick off the tourney after being off for 10 days or so. Even better to know that they can play even better than they did today.

Going into last years tourney I think we talked a lot about having the best player in the tournament. This year I think the convo is about having the best team. Staying 9 deep and everyone yet again contributing can really serve us well as the tourney gets deeper.

 

[ScottCT]

Of course the offense isn't going to be perfect they haven't played in 2 weeks. You people are never happy. They can go 100 percent from the floor and make every free throw and have zero turnovers and y'all will still complain.

 

[Childhood]

 

[oldude]

I do think they lost focus in the 4th a bit..

Yes, unlike the 3rd qtr, the Huskies actually allowed Mercer to score........

 

[JavaMan]

Yea, the game was good, but what I really enjoyed was the Stewie and Lisa commercial.

 

[oldude]

I was wondering about that play. It appeared that Evina was doing some old fashioned "basket hanging."

 

[veryolddog]

They won. That’s all I want. Free throws, percentages, turnovers, I don’t care - just win the damn game.

That's exacly the way I feel. They looked a little rusty at first, lots of missed layups and second shots. But what I liked the most is the scoring by the team that came off of the bench.

Ok.... on to the next matchup.

 

[Carnac]

39 points has been a barrier for 4 of out last 5 opponents. The other team scored 40 I believe, off the top of my head. That's great defense no matter how critical about our team defense you are.

 

[mattlow710]

When you shoot 44% against Mercer you know the offense is...not good.

please go and see SC first round fg%

 

[msf22b]

They won. That’s all I want. Free throws, percentages, turnovers, I don’t care - just win the damn game.

So sorry
I really don't agree
Maybe in the final-4, one can say that
Not in the first round...

I imagine they'll play much better on Monday.
They have to....

 

[jaydee602]

I predicted that UCONN would win by 40, but the win would be met with complaints that they didn't win by 50. I amend that to a 45 point victory with the same complaints!

 

[bantamlaker]

38 must be our lucky number. In the last 7 games we’ve held opponents to 38 four times. By the way, the other games were Villanova with 40, Marquette 51 and Providence 31. Not bad defense !