Minnesota Postgame Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Minnesota Postgame Thread

Ball n said:
I'm surprised so many didn't see a "tongue in cheek" comments . They were so far over the top, I surprised any Uconn fan could put a smidgen of validity to the comments. ONLY 8 played in the first half???? Come on,!!! ONLY one steal each for Caroline and AZZI?? Geno isn't usually the scout of any team--Shea (when she was here, even CD, but rarely Geno.
But thanks for being alive out there and looking at a facetious response to anothers comment.
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I'm just impressed you understood the true meaning of "facetious" and you clearly nailed it.
 
Ardenque said:
I”m new here, but I have been watching UConn for along time.
Something I have not noticed before:
There were a number of times when I thought Paige looked tired and fatigued and slightly slumped over
with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
Did anyone else notice this or am I just projecting?
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Welcome to the Boneyard.
 
MilfordHusky said:
Greetings from Atlantis! Sorry for the delay! I had to deal with balky and expensive WiFi and also check in with my peeps. :)

There was a minor glitch with my ticket, so they upgraded me to Row A. I was sitting practically next to Aubrey. The negative is that, when the bench players get excited and stand, it's really hard to see over 6'5" women when you are sitting on the same level where they are standing. But I was very close to the UConn players and the huddles. I made the video highlights of 2 of Christyn's 3-pointers.

The arena was in the oversized ballroom and looked pretty reasonable. The celling was lower than a normal arena but not a problem. Shooting percentages were good. I think there were about 1,000 people in the 3,500 or so seats.

Concerning the game, I thought it was good but not great. Another case of taking a lead of 12-15 points early and then giving up nearly all of it. I think we had a run of 11-0 to end the first half and one of 16-0 to start the second half (or close).

Clearly, Christyn was too quick, strong, and determined for Minnesota. Last week, she said attacking the basket is her bread and butter. Well, today was the whole loaf! And she made her FTs. CW was very focused. A+ for her today.

Evina looked solid again. Her notable weak moment was missing the first 2 of 3 free throws, but she had gotten knocked into or under the media table moments before. So it's understandable.

Paige was more of a facilitator today. At the start of the second half, she scored on our first 3 possessions, just to remind people that she was still there. And to stretch the lead from 12 to 17. Being so close to the floor, I could see a play where she got whacked in the face, but the ref didn't call anything. Paige looked at the ref as if to say, "Come on, Man!" News flash: Paige Bueckers has become a shot-blocking machine. I think she's averaging 2 bpg this season.

Liv and Liya looked pretty good today. I noticed in 2nd half warm-ups that Liv looked like Stef Curry. She nailed practically every shot from 15 to 20'. She made FTs with confidence today. Liv is playing stronger than last year.

Caroline made a couple of nice plays, including a good cut to the hoop, a block, and nailing 2 FTs.

Azzi's shot is still a little off, and she's still a little reluctant. But Katie Fudd says she'll be fine. (I knew that before Mom told me.) I think Monday would be a good time to splash several 3s.

Nika looked off at times and shot an airball. But she played better on defense. In the first half, she caused 2 successive airballs. In the second half, she got a strip steal and layup, followed by another breakaway. Occasionally, she's too emotional, but I love her energy.

I still miss Aubrey. She adds something that no other Husky does. I would have liked to see her defend Goforth and Scalia.

Game 2 is tomorrow at noon against USF. The forecast is for cloudy, mostly on the Bulls' end of the floor.
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The forecast is for cloudy, mostly on the Bulls' end of the floor. :D

Thank you so much for your first hand view of the game. Awesome job.
 
Don't know if it belongs in this thread, but South Carolina is only up by 12 on Buffalo (45-33) at halftime. I didn't watch the whole half, but the Gamecocks don't look like a juggernaut to me. I was surprised how much Buffalo could score against them.
 
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JoePgh said:
Don't know if it belongs in this thread, but South Carolina is only up by 12 on Buffalo (45-33) at halftime. I didn't watch the whole half, but the Gamecocks don't look like a juggernaut to me. I was surprised how much Buffalo could score against them.
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Was just noticing how bad a lot of these ranked teams look - #4 Indiana down by 6 at the half and beating Quinnipiac by 8, #9 Oregon trailing Oklahoma by 2 with under 2 minutes to go before pulling it out.

Seems it may be early in the season and a bunch of teams are having a hard time getting everything quite right.

FYI Uconn has played and won all 8 quarters they have played so far.
 
Carnac said:
It may take our freshmen until mid-season before they settle down and settle in. Once they do, I have no doubt they will all live up to their preseason hype. Remember, you heard it here first. :cool: At mid- season, we’ll look back at these first few games when they were getting their sea legs and smile.
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I suspect you are correct for most of them, however I think Azzi is about to have a breakout game. I know her % wasn’t great today but her shot looked a lot more natural and relaxed. With the other perimeter players playing well she definitely won’t get a top defender either. From the looks of her stroke once she breaks the ice a lot of good things could happen in a hurry.
 
Some video for people who may not have seen the game. Some interesting slow motion sequences showing clear travel calls and some defensive errors.

 
Well we looked better. One thing I realized is that we get off to big leads because we have great chemistry with are starting 5. When the new players get in it falls off a bit. The new kids have to play to gain experience. No more 5-6 play and everybody else sits the bench. They didnt come here to sit. That cant happen when you have Dorka Azzi and Caroline. In big games like Monday if we face SC I expect our starters will see more time and if we have a big lead tomorrow they may not get as many minutes because they will need their rest for Monday. I hope we see more of Deberry soon because we're gonna need her later this season and next season for sure.

This is only our second game, so we need patience with our non starters especially the freshman. Its gonna take time for them to develop. As they gain confidence they will be fine. The more they see time the better. This long weekend helps every team member because they are playing in big games against good teams and not cupcakes.

I mentioned it yesterday in a post. Dorka Azzi and Caroline need a break out game. Something to think about. We scored alot of points in two games againest two good teams. That happened with our non starters not playing the way they will be playing with more experience.
 
This team does look like it can score but we are going to need it against teams like South Carolina. Can we score against top competition is another matter.
 
Rewatched game and a few added thoughts:
-Dorka's right thumb is heavily taped. For anyone with a broken or sprained thumb, its tough to catch and shoot. Could this be a part of her issues?
-Nikka appears a step slow. I had heard she had some foot or ankle issues several weeks ago. Similar to Dorka, is there a lingering issue?
-Williams appears to be in great shape - quick, fast, and strong. No accident she had so many back door cuts for open layups.
 
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TeamFirst! said:
Some video for people who may not have seen the game. Some interesting slow motion sequences showing clear travel calls and some defensive errors.

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Azzi Fudd from the elbow! That's what I'm talking about!
 
Twolf said:
I suspect you are correct for most of them, however I think Azzi is about to have a breakout game. I know her % wasn’t great today but her shot looked a lot more natural and relaxed. With the other perimeter players playing well she definitely won’t get a top defender either. From the looks of her stroke once she breaks the ice a lot of good things could happen in a hurry.
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Don’t forget that Crystal Dangerfield and Christyn both had their breakout games very early in their freshman year. I expect the same for Azzi.
 
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eebmg said:
No matter what intensity she brings, she needs to be an offensive threat. That one 3pt she took missed by 5 feet. Azzi will be a significant piece soon and Caroline will grow into the steady lineup.
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Nika is losing her playing munutes while Azzi & Caroline are increasing their minutes.
 
After watching the replay, some additional thoughts:

The replay starts 1-2 minutes into the game. The missing plays: 3 for Paige, 3 for Evina, 2 FTs for Christyn, layup for Christyn. It was a blazing start.

Two deficiencies from the Arkansas game were addressed. We gave up very few offensive rebounds (5) to Minnesota. We also committed fewer fouls. In fact, Minnesota shot 0 FTs in the first half and 8 for the game.

In Q4, Liya caused 2 steals in 3 possessions. Geno gave her a nice pat when she came out.

Nika lost track of the shot clock in Q4, which irked Geno. But she atoned for it by getting a steal and layup immediately thereafter.

Dorka had the ball stripped from her twice. She needs to improve ball security.

The 3-pointers given up fell into a few categories: 1 or 2 were wide open, because the defense was trapping and Minnesota broke the trap; a couple were well guarded, but still went in; Scalia made a few from 3-6' beyond the arc, including one that got the "Paige bounce." I have a feeling that Scalia will have a good season. HG ranked her #56, and she made All-Big 10 Honorable Mention 2x. She's a 90% FT shooter, both last season and this one.

Sissoko (French player with the mask) looked pretty good and made some nice buckets. She was one of the dozen or so transfers who left Syracuse.
 
LarryLegend said:
seems a little curious that the 5th ranked recruit hasn’t gotten in a game yet, is all
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Depends which service. On Hoopgurlz, Caroline was the fifth-ranked recruit and Amari was around 20th.
 
JoePgh said:
Don't know if it belongs in this thread, but South Carolina is only up by 12 on Buffalo (45-33) at halftime. I didn't watch the whole half, but the Gamecocks don't look like a juggernaut to me. I was surprised how much Buffalo could score against them.
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They won by 28 maybe wait after game is over to hit the panic button?
 
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meyers7 said:
Actually Bueckers A/TO ratio 12/0 is "undefined".
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I think “infinity” and “undefined are nice and proper math terms to describe Paige’s A/TO ratio; however I would prefer the more prosaic “utterly, unbelievably fantastic!”, especially considering she is throwing no-look passes at her teammates at somewhere near the speed of sound! I think last years players are now tuned in to Paige’s tempo. I think Azzi and Caroline are much better than average Freshman pass receivers, and Dorka will get better as her fingers heal. Just one more area of improvement in the UConn machine this year.
 
In math 12/0 is undefined because most people (and especially electronic ones :confused:) can't grasp something that is both infinitely large and infinitely small at the same time :D.
 
meyers7 said:
Actually Bueckers A/TO ratio 12/0 is "undefined".
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While I realize you can’t divide by 0, “INFINITY” sounds better than “UNDEFINED.” :)
 
DefenseBB said:
So, next time I meet @MilfordHusky for a drink in Hartford, with they know how to make this thing? You’ve got me salivating…
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Any good bartender should have a little mixology book behind the bar for just such occasions. :)
 
I rewatched the game for the nth time and I think I saw a move from Paige I didn't see last year (at least as I recall it). She gathered for a step-back three before she passed to Dorka. Do you think she practiced her step-back three in the offseason and will she actually pull it out in a game? It looked smooth and on-balance I think she can actually hit it. I also hope Dorka hits that layup next time.
Clip
 
Great game for CW. I'm not talking about the easy layups she got out of the backdoor. Ridiculously bad defense by MN. But she did hit the layups, had some strong takes and finishes and.....hit the three and her FTs with regularity. No glaring lapses on defense either and had a nice couple of passes. This was one of her best, if not her best game of her career. She just needs to stay consistent. Somebody on here, don't remember who, doesn't like the 'C' word, but GA says the same. She doesn't necessarily need to hit every shot, but day in and day out, make her share of threes, and the rest opens up so easily. No bricks or airballs! Plus she has EW, PB and NM to pass her the ball when she can spot up and hit the three. Just catch and shoot and today she made them.

EW had a very good game. She still makes me shake my head 2 times a game with some of her decisions but she is a consistently good player. She will struggle against quickness however on the defensive end.

Pretty good game out of ONO. I'd like her to score more, but I'll take the rebounds, defense and passing.

Dorka looks good to me sometimes and bad sometimes. Needs to protect the ball. Good player who is going to get a lot better in our system as the season progresses. You can tell that she kinda gets how to play BB.

Azzi is missing more than she has since she was probably 6 years old...but it will come and when it does, she is going to explode. Like CW, she has so many great passers to get her the ball. Just catch and shoot. I see a game where she hits 6-7 threes on the same amount of attempts. Can't keep a great shooter like her down for long. At the moment, I don't really like any more of her game. Hopefully, the D and recognition on offense improves. She is probably a bit hesitant now which is understandable. But if she doesn't improve as much as hoped, she will still stroke the 3 with great regularity and she will do it soon.

CD will take some time. She is really slow on defense. Great shooting form though, and with her height and length and some more experience, I hope she can be at least average on defense.
 
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