Missing Defense

[Conndog]

I feel like UConn played a really poor defensive game. Injuries explain offensive woes, but why was the defense so bad? Why so many times did they forget their assignment? Oregon had a lot of easy baskets inside when they evaded the UConn defender. Ono had to defend the Oregon big outside. The zone UConn played had plenty of holes in it. Oregon was able to pass into the key all game long. Maybe fatigue is part of the problem, but I feel that Geno needs to review the basics with the team.

 

[Biff]

 

[ScottCT]

I feel like UConn played a really poor defensive game. Injuries explain offensive woes, but why was the defense so bad? Why so many times did they forget their assignment? Oregon had a lot of easy baskets inside when they evaded the UConn defender. Ono had to defend the Oregon big outside. The zone UConn played had plenty of holes in it. Oregon was able to pass into the key all game long. Maybe fatigue is part of the problem, but I feel that Geno needs to review the basics with the team.

Injuries can explain bad defense when some of your best defensive players are the ones who are injured.

 

[Longtime fan]

I feel like UConn played a really poor defensive game. Injuries explain offensive woes, but why was the defense so bad? Why so many times did they forget their assignment? Oregon had a lot of easy baskets inside when they evaded the UConn defender. Ono had to defend the Oregon big outside. The zone UConn played had plenty of holes in it. Oregon was able to pass into the key all game long. Maybe fatigue is part of the problem, but I feel that Geno needs to review the basics with the team.

One reason is that there were no substitutions. Too many minutes for each payer. Most ran out of gas. And defense suffers. Oregon was running in fresh players by the boatload. Geno never thought about giving any time to Deberry or Gabriel. Or, maybe he did, but he had a different plan. And we saw it.

 

[Zarathustra]

Too many healthy Oregon bodies. Once the Ducks got on
a roll we had only one chance, when we got back down
to only a 10 point deficit. But the turnovers and "stuff"
just happened! hard to watch... must have been harder to
play. A loss, but I trust that the team will come to grips with
their current limits and continue to have a slow but positive
upward movement. GO HUSKIES!

 

[jdb50]

We flew 8 players to Oregon and only played 6. Oregon played 11. I don't buy the they are not ready to play line. We should not be afraid to play our players against top competition. Are they that inept that Geno could not bear to watch? Was he looking at the play of 4 of the other 6? It is a strange pattern he has developed.

 

[HuskyNan]

We flew 8 players to Oregon and only played 6. Oregon played 11. I don't buy the they are not ready to play line. We should not be afraid to play our players against top competition. Are they that inept that Geno could not bear to watch? Was he looking at the play of 4 of the other 6? It is a strange pattern he has developed.

As I said in the post game thread, Geno need guards, not more forwards. He was already playing 4 forwards and 2 guards.

 

[cohenzone]

We flew 8 players to Oregon and only played 6. Oregon played 11. I don't buy the they are not ready to play line. We should not be afraid to play our players against top competition. Are they that inept that Geno could not bear to watch? Was he looking at the play of 4 of the other 6? It is a strange pattern he has developed.

Defending guards is what stops a play from developing. Using those two post players would do nothing to solve that problem and I believe would do nothing to help the others to adjust to what is hopefully a short term problem situation. They likely won’t see a lot of post season time and that is far from unusual for end of benchers. What would really help is Edwards finding what clicked last year.

 

[jdb50]

Taking out Dorka or Edwards for a couple minutes to play the freshman is not going to help the guards but it will start to get the freshman ready for next year or whatever else happens this year.

 

[Cuango]

As I said in the post game thread, Geno need guards, not more forwards. He was already playing 4 forwards and 2 guards.

I wonder if a single game-focused thread can be found on this site that doesn’t have (at some point) someone droning “Geno should have played (insert player name/s) some/more minutes.”

 

[Pilot B52]

We lost by 13 points short handed and missing three critical players. We were 3-18 on 3's, they were 9-24. That alone was enough to sink us. If we made 5 more 3's we would have been home free. Two injured players on the bench are our best 3 point shooters. They would spread the floor for our bigs and open the lanes for a driving attack. Another critical player was out on covid protocol. If we can be injury free by March and lucky enough to be covid free, we still have a chance to prevail.

 

[Soxx]

One reason is that there were no substitutions. Too many minutes for each payer. Most ran out of gas. And defense suffers. Oregon was running in fresh players by the boatload. Geno never thought about giving any time to Deberry or Gabriel. Or, maybe he did, but he had a different plan. And we saw it.

One reason is that there were no substitutions. Too many minutes for each payer. Most ran out of gas. And defense suffers. Oregon was running in fresh players by the boatload. Geno never thought about giving any time to Deberry or Gabriel. Or, maybe he did, but he had a different plan. And we saw it.

Spot on.

 

[freshler40]

View attachment 72492

Not that we stopped scoring but HOW we stopped scoring. Missed wide open break-a-ways, travel calls and errant passes. Another game of high numbers of turn-overs! It is unacceptable at this level and amount of experience.
During all practices a practice ref has to call a tight practice, call everything!

 

[Boreifs]

Taking out Dorka or Edwards for a couple minutes to play the freshman is not going to help the guards but it will start to get the freshman ready for next year or whatever else happens this year.

This was Oregon, not Butler. Every coach in America shortens their bench against tough competition. Oregon was unranked only because they have had injuries to their best players. At full strength, they are a Top 10 team. The only way Amari or Piath see the floor in that game would be massive foul trouble. To expect anything else is senseless.

 

[HopJim]

While many of the negative posts were deserved, surprised there were not more positives regarding ONO. Great, gritty performance. Against players as tall or taller, 30+ lbs heavier, and refs that were letting her get pounded, Liv played strong defense even at the end of the game when she looked exhausted. One of her stronger offensive games as well as she took the ball to the basket in what was likely the most physical game of the year. For those who have said ONO does not do well against top teams and players, this was clearly an exception.

 

[Stinger92860]

I feel like UConn played a really poor defensive game. Injuries explain offensive woes, but why was the defense so bad? Why so many times did they forget their assignment? Oregon had a lot of easy baskets inside when they evaded the UConn defender. Ono had to defend the Oregon big outside. The zone UConn played had plenty of holes in it. Oregon was able to pass into the key all game long. Maybe fatigue is part of the problem, but I feel that Geno needs to review the basics with the team.

Maybe Oregon executed extremely well by moving the ball to the open player and then hitting shots. We played 8, 3 bigs, so I expect fatigue to be a partial cause. We lost without 3 keys players, no biggie.

 

[huskeynut]

I feel like UConn played a really poor defensive game. Injuries explain offensive woes, but why was the defense so bad? Why so many times did they forget their assignment? Oregon had a lot of easy baskets inside when they evaded the UConn defender. Ono had to defend the Oregon big outside. The zone UConn played had plenty of holes in it. Oregon was able to pass into the key all game long. Maybe fatigue is part of the problem, but I feel that Geno needs to review the basics with the team.

Injuries also explain defensive woes. Defensive coverage, rotations not the same. And you can't fix it in one day or less. Reality.

 

[Longtime fan]

We flew 8 players to Oregon and only played 6. Oregon played 11. I don't buy the they are not ready to play line. We should not be afraid to play our players against top competition. Are they that inept that Geno could not bear to watch? Was he looking at the play of 4 of the other 6? It is a strange pattern he has developed.

Everyone would like to hear coach Auriemma address this issue. He knew six players ( regardless of who they were ) could not hold up physically for forty minutes against a top talented team who could (and did ) rotate in 11 players. He knows that physical exhaustion can increase the likelihood of injury. And he knew that at least one player ( Muhl) had been on a limited minutes agenda for the two previous games ( recovering from her foot injury ). So what was Geno's motivation? He had given decent minutes to Deberry and Gabriel in the Xavier game, and they did not embarrass themselves or the team ( at least, to our eyes ). The game outcome was not hanging in the balance. Nor did it matter much if the team lost this one on the road. So why not use the two bench players if only to provide a breather for the six starters? Why not give them a taste of college basketball against a quality team in a hostile environment? Anyone heard anything? Anyone care to speculate?

 

[Longtime fan]

I wonder if a single game-focused thread can be found on this site that doesn’t have (at some point) someone droning “Geno should have played (insert player name/s) some/more minutes.”

Probably not. I asked that question in a different way. Geno knows what he is doing. He knew that 6 exhausted players would not be sufficient. So why no substitutions? What was his goal? His motivation?

 

[HuskyNan]

Everyone would like to hear coach Auriemma address this issue. He knew six players ( regardless of who they were ) could not hold up physically for forty minutes against a top talented team who could (and did ) rotate in 11 players. He knows that physical exhaustion can increase the likelihood of injury. And he knew that at least one player ( Muhl) had been on a limited minutes agenda for the two previous games ( recovering from her foot injury ). So what was Geno's motivation? He had given decent minutes to Deberry and Gabriel in the Xavier game, and they did not embarrass themselves or the team ( at least, to our eyes ). The game outcome was not hanging in the balance. Nor did it matter much if the team lost this one on the road. So why not use the two bench players if only to provide a breather for the six starters? Why not give them a taste of college basketball against a quality team in a hostile environment? Anyone heard anything? Anyone care to speculate?

He did address the issue as the question was asked. THere’s a thread with the post game press conference video, take a look at that