A few factors could have impacted the attendance. This was not quite a home game. The location is far enough from campus and the ticket prices high enough that students are deterred from attending. Also, it is Thanksgiving week and many students head home.
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Michigan Postgame Thread
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Unfortunately against quality opponents, Auriemma doesn't share this belief of the fans that this is a deep roster. It's wishful thinking on the fan's part. He knows what he has. If he thought the bench could handle Michigan's level of competition, they would have played more. None of them did anything to make him keep them on the floor, he had to get them off. Four of them shot 2-10 with 5 fouls and 4 TOs in a combined 30 min.
WiseWillie
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True, but Serah is in her last year of college ball and learning to strategically become something that she has never been looks to certainly be something she is not very comfortable in assuming. Jana can and has in the FF play the 5 position much better. Maybe they were on the floor together last night but I didn't notice if the combo Jana as the 5, Serah 4, Sarah 3, Azzi 2 and KK 1 was used.
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Look at the Box Score from Michigan's game against Binghamton on Tuesday. Pretty nice warmup for how they played UConn.
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He borrowed it from the late, great ESPN anchor Stuart Scott.
Swords 8 for 14 wasn't due to weak perimeter defense. It was due strictly to her.
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WiseWillie
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Plus we all should know that Geno does not let any player off the bench who doesn't make an immediate contribution stay very long on the floor. They will get called up and if they do what he wants them to do at that particular point in the game - whether it's scoring, defending or rebounding - they will stay out there. If not, they will quickly be back on the bench. You will get your minute(s) to produce. If you don't then it's next man up. Plus by now he knows his 6-8 roster despite all of the fans' thoughts on it. We saw it last night. The rest will see playing time when BE play starts or if a blowout.
CL82
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Well, he has said that this is the deepest team he's ever had, so unless you think he's lying, you may be mistaken.
Keep in mind that a lot of that depth is still very new to the team. At this moment in time, Geno went with proven commodities. That doesn't mean the team doesn't have depth, that means the depth is young and will need time to understand their roles in the UConn system.
I was surprised as well. She probably didn't want to lose a timeout if the call was upheld
I've always felt that if an out-of-bounds was close enough to require a review they should simply use the possession arrow.
Yes. She ran out of timeouts at the end (last possession) and it would have been worse if she had lost an extra one.
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He said it’s potentially the best he’s had. But obviously he doesn’t think it is yet. As I’ve said before, he’ll never intentionally risk losing a game for developmental purposes no matter what part of the schedule it’s in or what he says in an interview. So this isn’t a deep roster yet.
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Page was the ultimate zone breaker with her drive and pull up jumper in the lane. Azzi and the rest of the team need to do that more. I think Ash tried as did Sarah but both were off from the lane. Had a few of those fell it would not have been as close. Don't know what is going on with Ashleys shooting but i hope she figures it out soon.
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We have Sarah and Azzi and a "pack" of wonderful HUSKIES! go TEAM!
CL82
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I think we're quibbling over definitions. It's deep, but it's just not ready for top level competition, yet.
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That's not how the appeal works though. If Coach Barnes-Arico wasn't successful they would have been assessed a technical. In this situation, risking a free throw may not have been a bad trade off had the call been upheld.
i would diagree on at least 2 of the late 3 kk got picked
and the other uconn player i believe SS just stayed
back and allowed the open 3
kudos to swords for making the difficult shot
i
Wow, what a game! I had the pleasure of being in the arena. Rather than repeat what others have said, here are my thoughts on the path forward.
1. Focus on building a third and fourth scoring option. Michigan did a good job of forcing the ball to players who were reluctant to drive or shoot. As the clock wound down, they sent multiple defenders to limit Sara and Azzi.
2. Our perimeter defense needs to improve to match our transition defense. I though Azzi did a great job on the perimeter. There were several instances where the play moved away from Azzi, and a shooter got open in switches that involved a big and one of our other guards. Michigan shot 38% from 3 (12/32). We shot 33% (10/30). Hard to limit the logo 3s unless we get a Nika like defender. We can limit the other 3s.
3. Rim protection and rebounding needs to get to a higher level. While Sarah helped us win the rebounding battle overall, Michigan had more offensive boards and more shots at basket. When we have a small lineup, we need a better rebounding strategy.
4. Bench needs meaningful playing time in upcoming games to gain fluency and play to its strengths. Bench contributed 15% of the minutes and 7% of the points. It also contributed 24% of the turnovers and 38% of the fouls.
We are early in the season. This game was a good test and learning opportunity. The team has lots to work on and they will. I look forward to a healthy and exciting season!
1. Focus on building a third and fourth scoring option. Michigan did a good job of forcing the ball to players who were reluctant to drive or shoot. As the clock wound down, they sent multiple defenders to limit Sara and Azzi.
2. Our perimeter defense needs to improve to match our transition defense. I though Azzi did a great job on the perimeter. There were several instances where the play moved away from Azzi, and a shooter got open in switches that involved a big and one of our other guards. Michigan shot 38% from 3 (12/32). We shot 33% (10/30). Hard to limit the logo 3s unless we get a Nika like defender. We can limit the other 3s.
3. Rim protection and rebounding needs to get to a higher level. While Sarah helped us win the rebounding battle overall, Michigan had more offensive boards and more shots at basket. When we have a small lineup, we need a better rebounding strategy.
4. Bench needs meaningful playing time in upcoming games to gain fluency and play to its strengths. Bench contributed 15% of the minutes and 7% of the points. It also contributed 24% of the turnovers and 38% of the fouls.
We are early in the season. This game was a good test and learning opportunity. The team has lots to work on and they will. I look forward to a healthy and exciting season!
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My nephew texted me after the game and said “UConn can be beat.” And he is right. Michigan exposed how to defend us. Play a zone that will collapse on SS in the paint. Azzi will get hers but outside that, we have no other offensive options. Excellent opposing guards have been our Achilles heel, the past few years.
Granted it’s still early in the season, so I’ll give grace to Serah Williams…until the new year. If she’s still getting 2 rebounds a game then, with 8 points, Geno may as well move Blanca or K9 in the starting lineup permanently for her.
The guards need to work on their 3 point shooting. Because a game like yesterday would not go well against UCLA or LSU.
K9 and Blanca were not shooting great but I don’t get why he didn’t play them more. Especially when michigan slowed the pace of play down. Those two would have picked up the team’s pace.
But props to Michigan. If they can get a post presence in the next two years, and keep Swords and Olson, they’re a title contender
Granted it’s still early in the season, so I’ll give grace to Serah Williams…until the new year. If she’s still getting 2 rebounds a game then, with 8 points, Geno may as well move Blanca or K9 in the starting lineup permanently for her.
The guards need to work on their 3 point shooting. Because a game like yesterday would not go well against UCLA or LSU.
K9 and Blanca were not shooting great but I don’t get why he didn’t play them more. Especially when michigan slowed the pace of play down. Those two would have picked up the team’s pace.
But props to Michigan. If they can get a post presence in the next two years, and keep Swords and Olson, they’re a title contender
they also missed on the offensive foul called on AS
late in q-3 the michigan player had positin but her back
foot was clearly in the circle
big play at the tine
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A key to this season is going to be about the development and trust earned by a few key individuals.
Top most is Serah. It would be very nice if she could become a factor and not the first person Geno is looking to pull in order to try other combinations.
Obviously, making Blanca a a consistent contributor that can be relied on would have alleviate all the pressure on Azzi and Sarah.
I don't see where Ash and KK have fully separated from Allie and K9 from a talent standpoint, but both play with greater confidence and like they have Geno's trust. Over the course of the season, it will be important for the coach to give Allie and K9 a chance to become confident in their own play and earn that trust. It would be a nice luxury to go two deep at those two guard positions and hope that they all don't come up empty all that often.