NC St Postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

NC St Postgame Thread

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TeamFirst! said:
A strong case could be made for Aubrey to start even when Dorka comes back, and not as a replacement for Dorka. I love so many aspects of Aubrey's game. She gets out on the break, she defends well, she's efficient offensively. I think we are a stronger team with her in the lineup. Hopefully Caroline will get back to normal soon also. I think Caroline just needs some PT.
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Aubrey has such a quick first step. Showed a few times on moves to the basket
 
Happydad745 said:
Super defense today, especially from Aubrey, who looks a lot like Gabby Williams...great passing by the team, quick outs and I just loved the backdoor play with a pass from AE to AZ. What a fun game to watch.
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AZ? Maybe you should use first names? The initials thing doesn’t seem to be working for you
 
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Happydad745 said:
Super defense today, especially from Aubrey, who looks a lot like Gabby Williams...great passing by the team, quick outs and I just loved the backdoor play with a pass from AE to AZ. What a fun game to watch.
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There’s AD, AE, AG, AP and Azzi.
 
TeamFirst! said:
A strong case could be made for Aubrey to start even when Dorka comes back, and not as a replacement for Dorka. I love so many aspects of Aubrey's game. She gets out on the break, she defends well, she's efficient offensively. I think we are a stronger team with her in the lineup. Hopefully Caroline will get back to normal soon also. I think Caroline just needs some PT.
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I would argue that bringing Aubrey off the bench brings a shot of adrenaline and a change of pace after the opponent’s defense has a chance to settle in
 
As mentioned the mental toughness of this team is amazing. When CD went down the players were crying, Morgan, Tonya C, Jamelle and Geno visibly upset. They asked for 10 minutes and came out so composed. I wasn't sure how they would respond but all questions were answered. Great news on CD as well.
 
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They played like, well, UCONN today and it was an absolute pleasure to watch.

Aubrey was a one woman wrecking crew in the beginning of the game with 4 steals before you could blink. 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 steals is quite the day, not to mention her deflections and general disruptive influence. Plus, she is improving every game!

Aaliyah played within herself and under control. 20 points, 12 boards and 4 assists is a big time game. She was smart and focused and solid on defense.

Nika. A new assist record. Tremendous defense as well. Just a threat to make the perfect pass every single time she is out in front on the break.

Ayanna- Of everyone, her performance was perhaps the most important to me. With Dorka out, she had to play smart, do her job, and stay on the floor. In 11 minutes she had 5 boards, an assist, a block and a steal and made her presence felt as a reliable substitution underneath. A workmanlike role player today. That's all we needed.

Azzi- What can you say? One of the only sensible comments made by the announcers today was that she is probably the best player in the country right now. 32 the easy way if that's possible. What a stroke.

Lou- We were waiting for it. I hope the nerves, jitters, or what ever they have been in the past are gone now. She had a great second half and showed everyone what she can do. A little better choice on shots sometimes but overall a dominating performance once she got it going.

Caroline- I feel badly for her because she is struggling. It's just the timing and wind thing right now and it reminds me of how she started last year. She will have it back soon and that gives us another multi dimensional scorer.

Amari and Ines- Only a minute playing time. Sounds like they both need to work super hard in practice.

As a team, great chemistry, textbook fast breaks, solid defense to start the third quarter which just broke it open when combined with our scoring, unselfishness to the point of magnificence, and another top 10 win.
 
A couple of thoughts. First, I can't help thinking about how unstoppable this team would be at full strength. Oh well, fingers crossed for next year.

Second, Nika has improved even more than I hoped. She has made a leap forward and evolved into a smart, mature floor leader. Without sacrificing any of her intensity.

Third, I cannot believe how Aubrey has played. Like many, I was hopeful on her return, but did not think it realistic to expect that she would make a leap forward as a player after missing an entire season. But somehow she has done it. Her play has been like getting a top level transfer.

Yes, we have lost two players, one who is the best player in the country. But having two returning players make such big jumps in performance has been the difference in allowing us to absorb these loses and still play at such a high level. None of this is to discount the play of Azzi, Dorka, or Edwards, but Nika playing 39 minutes with 2 fouls and a 15-3 A/TO ration? And Aubrey with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals(!), and 4-4 from the foul line! Again I was hopeful, but it was unrealistic to expect this by game 3 of this season. All credit to the work these two huskies have put in to get to where they are.
 
BBallF said:
They played like, well, UCONN today and it was an absolute pleasure to watch.

Aubrey was a one woman wrecking crew in the beginning of the game with 4 steals before you could blink. 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 steals is quite the day, not to mention her deflections and general disruptive influence. Plus, she is improving every game!

Aaliyah played within herself and under control. 20 points, 12 boards and 4 assists is a big time game. She was smart and focused and solid on defense.

Nika. A new assist record. Tremendous defense as well. Just a threat to make the perfect pass every single time she is out in front on the break.

Ayanna- Of everyone, her performance was perhaps the most important to me. With Dorka out, she had to play smart, do her job, and stay on the floor. In 11 minutes she had 5 boards, an assist, a block and a steal and made her presence felt as a reliable substitution underneath. A workmanlike role player today. That's all we needed.

Azzi- What can you say? One of the only sensible comments made by the announcers today was that she is probably the best player in the country right now. 32 the easy way if that's possible. What a stroke.

Lou- We were waiting for it. I hope the nerves, jitters, or what ever they have been in the past are gone now. She had a great second half and showed everyone what she can do. A little better choice on shots sometimes but overall a dominating performance once she got it going.

Caroline- I feel badly for her because she is struggling. It's just the timing and wind thing right now and it reminds me of how she started last year. She will have it back soon and that gives us another multi dimensional scorer.

Amari and Ines- Only a minute playing time. Sounds like they both need to work super hard in practice.

As a team, great chemistry, textbook fast breaks, solid defense to start the third quarter which just broke it open when combined with our scoring, unselfishness to the point of magnificence, and another top 10 win.
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Lou - she came to UConn from Fairfield and isn’t used to playing Top 10 teams regularly. She needed a half to adjust to the speed and physicality. She’ll continue learning on her road to becoming a viable pro

Caroline - appeared to me to be moving gingerly as though she’s sore or afraid of getting hit. More practices should help

Amari and Ines - simply aren’t ready to have expectations against a team the caliber of NC State put upon them yet.
 
I could see something going on after the National Anthem on the court but it wasn`t clear what it was until it became clear. It was very scary. The players ran off the court and most of them were crying. It crossed my mind that they might call the game. There was a ten minute delay so the players came out and got more shots up. But everything felt uneasy given our worries about Chris Dailey.

Driving home I listened to Bob Joyce interviewing Morgan Valley (he usually interviews Chris Dailey) and Morgan was very reassuring about the health of Chris. Thank God.

With Dorka out and all that going on, it would have been understandable for UConn to come out flat. But Aubrey was in the starting lineup for the first time in forever and she was not about to let that happen as she led the charge to a 9-0 opening lead. It is great to see her out there playing at such a high level. It was NC State that looked flat.

This was a TEAM effort. Everyone did what they do best.

Lou had a crazy game. She looked like she didn`t belong to be out there in the first half, and then she goes off for 20 in the second. She just keeps playing. I was happy to see her continue to let it fly.

A few words about my fav, Nika. First, in recent years I have observed UConn guards having struggles getting the ball into the post. Tonight, Nika made a number of perfect interior passes into the post with Aaliyah - great angles and placement. Aaliyah did her part as well, solid post ups. But where Nika really shines is in the open court. I try to watch closely and try to see what she is seeing, and she is always looking, while moving forward left or right, setting things up so that when she finally delivers the pass the player will be open. Very intuitive, great feel. Her pass at the end of the first half to Edwards is not one that very many players could make, and it got us up 7.

She had 15 assists but there were also occasions where she got the ball to teammates in perfect position and they were fouled while shooting. So that 15 could have easily been 17 or 18.

I thought Aaliyah played incredibly well. She outplayed the bigs on NC State by a wide margin. And they are big. River Baldwin is massive. Aaliyah still commits some bad fouls and with Dorka out for a while, we need her to stop doing that so she can stay on the floor. We need her more than ever.

NC State has a lot of talent but we were playing much harder. They didn`t seem to push the ball on offense and on the defensive end, there was virtually no pressure on the ball. We seemed to get where we wanted to get and had plenty of open shots, both inside and outside. We had 13 steals to 3 for them and they only had 9 assists to our 22. Both testament to how we were far more active.

I also thought we finished around the rim better than we had in our previous two games.

Prayers up for Chris, and onto Oregon.
 
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This game featured what I've been waiting for: Nika and Aubrey defending the ball in the back court. And that turned out exactly as I'd expected.

Regarding Nika's three points: It's hard to score when you don't need to cross half-court because you made the long pass. :D
 
A couple of quick points. Nika had at least 2 and maybe three assists she didn't get credit for when teammates missed bunny layups. Next I didn't hear the announcers, who I like, mention at any point the adjustment Geno made after Diamond Johnson went off in the first half. He put Aubrey on her and AG just shut her down in the 3rd Qtr.
 
Plebe said:
Azzi with another 32-point masterpiece. She was again magnificent.

But what turned this game from close to a blowout were the career performances from Nika, Aaliyah, and Aubrey. Not to mention Lou turning around a poor first half and going off in 3Q.

What a game! Way to go! Get well soon, CD.

View attachment 80889
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I’m not a GIF person, but this one puts a smile on my face EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
 
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MD#12Fan said:
Ditto re: CD
Why are you making such a prediction?
One factor basketball fans always discount is that players get better. Players and coaches recognize it. Roles change, players actually work on their games, chemistry changes, players hungrier, less set in their ways, cultural changes. Funny how sometimes teams actually improve after losing a ton of seniors.
UConn case in point.
Another point, even us boneyarders forget is that Geno and the staff get really good players.
Anxious for an Amari siting
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Probably no need to be anxious anymore.
 
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I just have to smile and shake my head when Nika is playing. LOVE THAT GIRL!!
Lou seemed to play much better defense. She had quicker feet today and stayed in front of her man.
Aubrey played like I knew she could play. She could be in the starting lineup even when Dorka comes back. Nika, Azzi, Dorka, Aaliyah and Aubrey. THAT would be a hard team to defeat.
Azzi, probably the player of the year.
Aaliyah had a rough row to hoe with having to battle both of the NC bigs.

LOVE our girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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