I thought the key play was calling time out with 42 seconds left and a lead that had dwindled to three. Geno grew up a masterful play that got Sarah a layup with 26 seconds left. Up five, 68-63.
We needed Azzi’s foul shots to go in from that point but the most important possession of the game was up to Geno and that is why he is who he is.
On the other hand, I don’t know why we weren’t fouling down the stretch to force them to start the possession over. We only had one foul in the fourth quarter, plenty of fouls to give.
The defensive intensity of the first quarter was in sharp contrast to the tentativeness shown on offense in the second half. Even with that though, there were plenty of open shots created that were simply missed.
I was at the game and what stood out most to me was Sarah’s ability to rebound on the defensive boards in traffic. When there was a crowd under the basket, she almost always came away with it. And they were tough, physical, rip it away type rebounds.
You have such little faith, and after only five games! Do you realize one or two great shooting games will significantly improve the team's shooting percentages?! There just isn't a big enough body of work to make such a bold statement..."worst shooting team in years". Wait until at least 12-15 games to draw a conclusion. Sheesh!!!
Agreed! Too many here are acting (typically) like the sky is falling! Let’s take a deep breath! We won, sure we had some breakdowns and disappointments, but somehow, with our two lodestones stepping up, as usual, we dominated, fell apart, righted the ship, and survived! All of that is good! The breakdowns will provide the coaching staff with loads of teaching material! Sarah confirms (to herself, the team, and the coaches) that her all around skills can impact the team in many ways beyond scoring! Azzi confirms (to herself, the team, coaches, and public at large) that she has the “clutch” gene! She can “bring it” when the game is on the line! For the rest of the team, it’s a mixed bag.
However, the bottom line here is that we won and even though there were some hiccups, the team is going to benefit tremendously from this game! Geno and his staff have a plethora of things for the team to work on! Yes, there were a few shall we say, disappointments, but none of them were so bad as to cause a loss of confidence, a blue funk or anything the coaches can’t address right away. Most of the things I’m hearing people fret about are really, if you look at them objectively, merely the expected steps that are typical for a young player attempting to become a functioning cog in the smooth running machine that is UConn, at it’s best!
These kids, no matter what happened in this game, are still the same highly recruited, highly skilled, highly sought after players they were before this “terrible tragedy” of a game! They, just like all the countless Huskies before them, will learn from this experience (good or bad) and eventually, be better for it.
It is very likely, that we will be having this same conversation (meltdown) next year with Olivia, Jovana, and a few holdovers from this year. That’s OK! Remember, we are still undefeated, #1 in the nation, Geno & Co. are still here, and
every goal that we had prior to this game, is still attainable,
and we just beat one of the best teams in the country! Not only is it not all bad, it’s virtually all good! Go Huskies!
