ND Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the ND game:

• A big game on the biggest stage, ND in front of a packed house in South Bend along with a national tv audience. Geno acknowledged yesterday that he would learn a lot about his team by how they responded to this environment.
• The last time UConn won at Purcell was 2018 when freshman Christyn Williams went off for 28pts. Since that victory, not a single current Husky has played a game in South Bend.
• Clearly, the Huskies were not up to the challenge today. Miles was outstanding with her ability to attack the basket and run the offense, and the rest of the ND lineup chipped in.
• In the 2nd half, with Azzi out, UConn went with their best defensive 5, subbing Ayanna for Azzi, and that started to turn the tide somewhat.
• With that said, UConn struggled to score without Azzi on the court.
• I would love to believe that Amari could drop shots from the arc when it really matters. Time will tell.
• The good news is that it’s the first week of December. Plenty of time for UConn to fix things and get everyone healthy.
• Time to lick our wounds and get ready for Princeton.

 

[EricLA]

Kind of a beatdown. I think the Azzi injury threw everyone for a loop, but even early on with Azzi in the game, Miles was taking it to UCONN while if not for Nika, we would have been down 10 midway thru Q1.

ND had their crap game the other day against Maryland. We saved ours for today. Out played, out toughed, and out maneuvered. Nice game by Lou, but UCONN could not overcome Azzi's injury AND Aubrey's no-show offensively. Nika had some nice numbers trading assists for scoring - 11 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds. And it was GREAT seeing Amari getting time even in a loss. My glimmer of hope for her earlier in the season is slowly growing!!!

We had some good stretches and some good defensive stops, but not enough in the end. Kudos to ND for taking it to us on national TV on their home court. Miles is the REAL DEAL. Loved her game in spite of hating the outcome.

 

[jcoton56]

Ouch, burn the tape and come back Thursday.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Not sure why Griffen continued to take all those outside shots, long after it proved not to be working. Surely you have something else you can run in lieu of that, anything. Even with your best long-range shooter sidelined. And then he sends Aubry to the bench, as though she had done something wrong, after which the comeback efforts immediately fizzles out.

Inexplicable. Especially coming just one game after he said they have been encouraging each player to find the one or two things that they do very well and focus on that.

 

[ballerfan]

There’s always something positive. Amari.

 

[caseyb7]

Tip my hat – they were better.

While losing Azzi to injury was important – I think the game accented some of the vulnerabilities we knew we had, in particular our short bench making us oh so vulnerable to foul problems, another injury, Covid, academic troubles or just about anything.

Dorka will help, but ND showed us up in the paint over-matching us on height & girth. Hoping we get development during the season from Amari – she can fill a vulnerability.

Ayanna can/will help too, but a lot to put on an inexperienced player – but she can help come March.

ND was better, they played Maryland square in a nail-biter and are a multifaceted team to be feared. Today was their day, hopefully if we meet later UConn will have more resources available.

 

[luminosity]

One of those "burn the tapes" type of games. Nothing went well. Azzi got hurt. ND played out of their mind. It happens. No one goes undefeated.

Move on to Princeton and get back to things.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Tough to go on the road and play one of the best teams in the country with one third of the team injured.

 

[hoopsdiva]

Ugly to watch.

 

[visitingcock]

Didn’t get to watch. Did Azzi get hurt? Sick?

 

[JordyG]

Ouch. Waiter, check!

 

[victor64]

As bad as the shooting was, watching Azzi get hurt put an absolute knot in my stomach

Two bad shots by Aubrey while they were making their third quarter run was the turning poi

I wonder why CD did not start the second half. She must have been bad defensively in the first.

Good to see Ayanna gets a lot of time in front of her Indiana famiiy.

Westbeld for ND was not anything like this against MD.

In the big scheme, a game like this does not mean much.

Even in the loss, watching Amari swish make two threes was cool. She has a nice stroke

If Aziz’s injury is long-term, the bad luck continues. Prayers are with her.

They need a healthy Dorka.

 

[JordyG]

Didn’t get to watch. Did Azzi get hurt? Sick?

Hyperextended knee. No, UConn can't catch a break.

 

[Inthepaint]

Team effort on both sides

 

[HuskyNan]

Didn’t get to watch. Did Azzi get hurt? Sick?

Hurt her knee. Doesn’t appear to be an ACL injury though Geno will be cautious

 

[Kaizen]

With no Azzi, no Dorka and limit Caroline playing, I give credits to the rest of the team to play this game until the end.

 

[WFFL]

#FreeDeberry today was if any day has been the biggest sign she needs to play man

 

[Happydad745]

Out rebounded and almost no offense except for a couple of players....I hate to say this, but Paige being out really hurt us today, especially when Azzi got injured, and did not return. Dorka would have helped in the middle, Patterson played really well as her replacement.

 

[SLY63]

Ouch, burn the tape and come back Thursday.

I disagree. Team should watch the tape over and over.

 

[UConnCat]

Meh. Not going to lose sleep over this one. No Dorka, no Azzi for most of the game and a bad game for others. Also, Caroline is still not right.

No one should have expected UConn to go through this gauntlet without a loss. I would have no problem meeting this team down the road assuming all are healthy.

Notre Dame is still a loathsome.

 

[veryolddog]

My analysis is this: I saw this game and I think that we all watched every weakness that UConn has exposed including what missing key players to injuries will cause. On the upside, a serious learning experience for the Team. And, a good reason for them to dig down and resolve to go forward with a better effort.

 

[Centerstream]

Let the BY MDs start the Azzi diagnosis...

I didn't like watching the game. We made a comeback in the 3rd and unfortunately we couldn't keep that going. So now it is just another game where I won't have the pleasure to watch @MJL243 's great work.

 

[visitingcock]

Hyperextended knee. No, UConn can't catch a break.

Prayers for a superb player

 

[HuskyNan]

Poor Princeton. At least Carla will understand.

 

[maple]

Well, that sucked. It was a team loss although some people certainly played better than others. Might have had a shot if they hadn't dug themselves such a huge hole in the 1st half -- and then they blew a potential comeback in the 3Q.

Credit to ND, they shot exceptionally well and played how they wanted to play. I won't sit here and say "well we had this or that player out, so" because I find that a pointless exercise. You can only play with the players you have and I think the game became winnable when it got close in 3Q, but a lack of execution and some terrible shooting from people I expect at least a LITTLE more from.

Awful loss, hopefully they take this as a humbling learning experience and come back stronger.