Much better to play tough competition late in season

[BostonBay]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

 

[UConn82]

I most respectfully completely disagree.

What a good thing to know where we stand. Knowing the truth is always good.

I expect practice to be incredibly intense now, much more so than before. I expect us to have much more fire than the first few games.

We shall see.

 

[ScottCT]

Did you forget how better we were after we lost to Arkansas early in the season last year.

 

[huskeynut]

BostonBay - completely disagree with your post.

 

[Stymie]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

Total garbage.
This game needs to prove a character builder.
I often suffer the “slings and arrows” of UCONN loyalists when I provide ( what I’ll call) objective criticism regarding the Huskies.
What I saw yesterday was a UCONN team that ( estimates) played even with SC for a quarters worth, OUTPLAYED them for two (+-) quarters worth then folded for maybe the last 6-7 minutes.
I’m not going back to be precise on the “minutes” (a topic that many here are overly concerned with).
Fact is UCONN outplayed or played even with them for MOST of the game.
I understand the final score is pretty much all that matters.
There is a lot of room for improvement and a lot of road ahead.
I do not know how Coach can correct his shortcomings at the 5 hole.
But if you think Coach Staley thinks she’s got it “in the bag” after this game, you’re sadly mistaken.
UCONN has them on the ropes and let them get away.
Whether UCONN gave it up or SC imposed their will is a very fine line and will be revealed further on down the line.
For now:
Round 1 to SC.
Stay tuned.

 

[fireford]

Even if the theory of playing tough teams later in the season were correct there's not much choice in the matter. The last two months of the season teams (both UConn and the teams they might want to schedule) are at the mercy of the conference schedules they are assigned, which require 2-3 games a week against conference opponents (and the teams can't really control how these conference games are scheduled. The conferences tell them what their schedule is).
UConn has SC in late January and TN in early Februray and that is realistically they best they are going to do as far as tough non-conference games with the way the schedule is set up. Their is little choice but to schedule these games early on so they have to do the best they can with whatever quality opponents the schedule allows them to set up regardless of when the games are played.

 

[Sifaka]

Tough competition is good for the ladies whenever the schedule provides it. Early and often and late is ideal. Better to learn what needs the most work as soon as possible, so there is time to fix what's broken.

 

[oldude]

Awhile back I caught some grief for lamenting the fact that UConn’s SOS was front end loaded. I continue to wish UConn’s conference schedule would provide tougher competition, but I will gladly accept tough games whenever they are scheduled.

If your goal is to win a championship, testing yourself early against the best teams in the country will provide a clear roadmap to your destination. The challenge after that is to diligently follow the road.

 

[Stymie]

Awhile back I caught some grief for lamenting the fact that UConn’s SOS was front end loaded. I continue to wish UConn’s conference schedule would provide tougher competition, but I will gladly accept tough games whenever they are scheduled.

If your goal is to win a championship, testing yourself early against the best teams in the country will provide a clear roadmap to your destination. The challenge after that is to diligently follow the road.

AAH SO, Weedhopper...

 

[TCC Kid]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

The Identity of this team is now and always has been UConn Womens Basketball. 98 percent of all teams lose games not a thing psychological that will damage their ego's/inner beings. This was a lousy loss, I'll give you that. Like Geno, I hate loses. They are part of the game. The team that cannot recover from a loss should disband its team.
I know you, like most Uconn fans are disappointed, that's normal in a lost when your team led the first half. But anyone who knew each team saw the high probability Uconn, OUR TEAM, may lose. Geno has been doing this pretty close to 40 years. He has acted and he has over-reacted. Geno, the East Hartford Barber not withstanding, is not GOD nor the God of woman's basketball, he is human. A human with more National Champions than any Coach ever.

 

[TCC Kid]

Awhile back I caught some grief for lamenting the fact that UConn’s SOS was front end loaded. I continue to wish UConn’s conference schedule would provide tougher competition, but I will gladly accept tough games whenever they are scheduled.

If your goal is to win a championship, testing yourself early against the best teams in the country will provide a clear roadmap to your destination. The challenge after that is to diligently follow the road.

I agree with what you say, GENERALLY. As in teaching children to walk (bad comparison), I would liked to have seen Uconn go against not one of the top 3 teams so early. About 10 games into the season Geno et al would know the weakness and ways to mask them. Paige is terrific but she is just a kid and relatively new to TOP level basketball. AZZI as talented as she is, is still a very green Freshman. The bench is largely composed of kids like this. 18 may say they are Women but inside the kid remains. A different view, opinion. Geno, unlike nearly all other coaches, won't throw his kids into games too big for them, usually. This was one.

 

[oldhusky]

In terms of scheduling tough games early vs. late, we really have little choice. Most top ranked teams get tough games within their conference schedule. They can choose to add a few more out of conference if they wish. Uconn does not get top competition in conference, so the only way to achieve that is a very tough out of conference schedule, which usually means early in the season, before those teams are committed to their conference schedule.

We get thrown into the fire early, but as long as we are not in a power 5 conference, it is what it is, we either avoid top competition or we play most of them early. Once the conference schedules for everyone starts, it is very hard to fit big out of conference games in. Actually we do it as well as most, getting dates with SC and Tennessee in after the conference schedule begins, but unless you only want a couple of big games a year, most of them will have to be early.

 

[TCC Kid]

Total garbage.
This game needs to prove a character builder.
I often suffer the “slings and arrows” of UCONN loyalists when I provide ( what I’ll call) objective criticism regarding the Huskies.
What I saw yesterday was a UCONN team that ( estimates) played even with SC for a quarters worth, OUTPLAYED them for two (+-) quarters worth then folded for maybe the last 6-7 minutes.
I’m not going back to be precise on the “minutes” (a topic that many here are overly concerned with).
Fact is UCONN outplayed or played even with them for MOST of the game.
I understand the final score is pretty much all that matters.
There is a lot of room for improvement and a lot of road ahead.
I do not know how Coach can correct his shortcomings at the 5 hole.
But if you think Coach Staley thinks she’s got it “in the bag” after this game, you’re sadly mistaken.
UCONN has them on the ropes and let them get away.
Whether UCONN gave it up or SC imposed their will is a very fine line and will be revealed further on down the line.
For now:
Round 1 to SC.
Stay tuned.

Some of what you say is valid, some not so much. Please, review the phrase--they folded. Not by any stretch of imagination can it be determined, they folded. They were outplayed, maybe out coached. Paige and 4 over tried. Carrying Uconn women on her back for their biggest game of the year--wore her down. All teams follow a leader and as Paige went so did the team. They were overmatched, over heighted, over bulked, and maybe just maybe over talented in positions. I agree, Staley won't take Uconn lightly next time.

 

[BRS24]

Geno hates hates hates going undefeated into the post season. A few times, he's said even when there are glaring issues, the players would gloss over and not absorb the issues pointed out in film study and practice due to the wins. This situation has caught up with teams a few times, especially going into the NCAA tourney.

 

[Littlemin]

Did you forget how better we were after we lost to Arkansas early in the season last year.

Yeah, broken record time, when Muhl started and changed the whole teams attitude, especially on defense.
Complaining about the bigs lack of scoring is fine, but the fact is they are not getting many shots. If Auriemma thought inside scoring was important he would play with a low post, that is a coaching decision.
Legitimate is the lack of desire of much of the team, especially the bigs, to not do the effort things, hunting rebounds hard on the offensive end and not boxing out and fighting for the ball on the defensive end. As several have pointed out, rebounding is not predicated on height primarily but by positioning, by effort and commitment. But effort and commitment come from the heart and are not something that can be taught.

 

[Urshurak]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

Couldn’t disagree more. But you do you!

 

[AmeriConn]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

Disagree, but do wish we played 2 or 3 more games before this tournament. I know Geno doesn’t believe in playing cupcakes, but they are better than practices in my opinion.

 

[Rb335]

I for one am very glad we had yesterday's game. We got a very early benchmark of where we stand and walk away with concrete examples of areas that need improvement. Also some confidence that when we play to our strengths, we can be a very good team. (Q1)

I am even more glad that there is a second matchup on the schedule. Besides the opportunity for redemption, it will be another concrete measurement of our progress. The team will be able to see if they have addressed their weaknesses and gotten better over the course of a few months. And there will still be time to make adjustments before the postseason. It's hard to measure the improvement once we get to conference play, as a lot of games can be won without playing to our potential.

 

[LoboDays]

Maybe it would help if teams didn’t have to play every other team twice. Mix it up a little each year. Now we play over 20 conference games including playoffs.

It’s a problem for UCONN. They need to be challenged going into the tourney. As poorly as they played in these early games, they would be undefeated if they were conference games.

 

[HuskyNan]

Not sure what UConn learned today except they were outmatched by a much more physical opponent.

This game might have done more harm than good. The players' confidence is shot, so is Geno's.

The risk is you overreact or change the wrong things. Does the scheme change, the lineups,?

This team has no identity yet and certainly hasn't gelled. Need this first.

Regarding your subject line - the Huskies play Oregon (Jan 17), South Carolina (Jan 27), and Tennessee (Feb 6). THere’s nothing Geno can do about the Big East.

Do people LOOK for things to complain about?

 

[Vowelguy]

Do people LOOK for things to complain about?

@BostonBay is still upset that anyone dared to not rank UConn preseason #1

 

[bbsamjj]

If the players' and coaches' confidence is shot after a Nov loss to the #1 team in the country, you've got bigger issues to worry about.

And no matter how much coaches yell and repeat and drill at practice, nothing gets a message across quite like getting beat down on national TV. I bet Geno is relieved to have a marker of progress this early in the season.

 

[D J B]

Regarding your subject line - the Huskies play Oregon (Jan 17), South Carolina (Jan 27), and Tennessee (Feb 6). THere’s nothing Geno can do about the Big East.

Do people LOOK for things to complain about?

Yes, yes they do. It's just who they are and their way of getting attention. You can recognize them at parties because they aren't there.

 

[MSGRET]

All I can say is Geno KNOWS what he is doing and if he thinks it's good to go to a tournament where you play 3 in 3 days, have a chance to play at least 2 ranked teams and let the young ladies enjoy themselves for almost a week, so be it. I also think that practices will have more of a purpose because of the loss and the players will be more focused. Now I feel sorry for Seton Hall because they are the next up and the Husky's have to take it out on someone.

 

[LETTERL]

I think it's good for the top teams to play each other, so we get a true measuring stick of who has what and what other teams need to work on. It also helps create interest in the sport overall. Especially this season, it seems we're getting a lot of the top tier teams facing off: South Carolina has already played UCONN and NC State; NC State has already played South Carolina, and will face Maryland and Indiana in two of its next three games. I like the non-conference schedule UCONN puts together for itself; they always have a great team and it's good for the sport to see them be challenged.

And I am so pleased that UCONN and Tennessee seem to have renewed their rivalry after a long dormant period. Just from a WCBB history perspective, it doesn't get much better than those two storied programs when they compete on the court.