ND Postgame Thread

[LoboDays]

You are stating an oxymoron. Caroline is not at full strength!!!! Because if she was, then your playing time statement would be wrong on so many levels.

Really? What exactly is wrong with her? Her shots endanger court side fans. Her passes are like game beginning toss ups. What ailment causes that?

 

[JellyBean]

Tough to watch but you gotta take the good games with the bad games. Tip my hat to Notre Dame. Coach Ivey has that program heading in the right direction. Got some talented players, especially Olivia Miles. Miles took over the game.

For our beloved UConn squad, we just have to learn from this game and move on. Aaliyah played tough out there. Ebo was probably her toughest and most physical player she has had to deal with and that is no easy task. Aaliyah did well.

Lou: She is a gamer! Tough. Love that she is playing for our squad. When the offense was struggling, Lou did what she does best. Knock down a few three-point shots. Hit the mid-range and never gave up on defense.

Nika: Always proud of this young lady. She knocked down some shots. Wasn't able to reach double digits in assist but she was looking for players and defending well.

Aubrey: The chatroom was giving her a hard time for shooting. Everyone has their opinion. Mine, I was glad that she kept shooting. She wasn't forcing shots. Those were shots that she knocked down in previous games and I am sure those were shots that were within their offensive system. Aubrey has to have the confidence in her shooting. Stay with it Aubrey.

Caroline: Much like Aubrey, struggled with her shooting today. She has to keep taking those shots. Keep the confidence. Those shots will fall.

AP: She is going to keep getting better each game and each practice. I loved a few plays where she bodied a ND player who was trying to bully AP and AP gave it right back. Love that Ayanna didn't back down. That is a good sign of the level of toughness she has and will bring to the program.

Good to see Amari getting some minutes. Could she have helped on the boards if she had more minutes in this game? Who knows. Like folks were saying "If we had Dorka out there, it would have helped" Again, who knows. What we do know is, we played the game with the players we had, and they gave it their all out there. I am proud of these ladies. Great win or bad loss. They played their hearts out.

Go, Huskies!!

 

[Centerstream]

Really? What exactly is wrong with her? Her shots endanger court side fans. Her passes are like game beginning toss ups. What ailment causes that?

I guess you haven't been paying attention to what has been posted on the Boneyard since the season began. And I am not going to fill you in. What's the point.

 

[LoboDays]

I guess you haven't been paying attention to what has been posted on the Boneyard since the season began. And I am not going to fill you in. What's the point.

Fill me in on any recent injury report.

 

[Bigboote]

This was a disappointment, not a shock. During the ND-Maryland game Thursday I was thinking ND might be distracted by the impending UConn game. To me they looked flat and a little disinterested. I suspected they'd come out with guns blazing, and that's what happened.

Notre Dame came out with a clear game plan and they executed. UConn looked like last year's team through most of the game, but I think that's largely due to ND's game plan. If UConn hits a bunch of outside shots early, that could have changed the game, but it didn't happen and ND was able to pack the paint and face guard Azzi and later Lou.

Kudos to Coach Ivey and her players. I hope UConn goes to school on this one.

 

[tomcat]

There is just no question that on this day, in this arena, ND was the better team. What this game proves (as if UConn's games against SC didn't prove it already) is that if you clog up the middle and have some big forwards who play good defense, you can give UConn bushels of trouble. Edwards can do only so much, especially if the defense is emboldened to sag in because UConn's shooters are not making their shots. Caroline had a bad game, and Aubrey did very little. Lou hit some shots, but she cannot ever be the whole offensive game. Of course, it did not help that ND shot the lights out.
The presence of a healthy Azzi would have kept it close today, but would have done nothing to guarantee a victory.
I don't think there is any question that right now, ND deserves to be ranked ahead of UConn. They are bigger, stronger and for one day at least, just plain better.

 

[hayman522]

This was a beat down. Dorka was missed today. Too many big bodies to handle. AE fought from beginning to end but got little help. I have no problem with Aubrey continuing to shoot from the outside. NDs defense was tough and open shots were hard to get. I know this isn’t a popular position but if this team was at totally full strength, Caroline would be about # 10 and would get little playing time. Sorry to say, it would be earned.

Glad to see Amari knock down a couple of 3s but in a game like today’s when you need all the help you can get in the paint a 6’5” player taking 3s is next to useless.

Patterson seems to be improving with each game. Today showed us that the improvement must continue. Tourney time will have us coming up against other physically dominate teams she will be needed.

When you do not guard 1 player at all you essentially create a 4 on 5 situation which is why they were out rebounded so bad. It was up to UConn to make an adjustment which they could not or did not!

 

[UConnCat]

ND played Ebo 30 minutes and Westbeld 34 minutes. Before today's game Westbeld was averaging 20 minutes per game and Ebo 19 minutes per game. What was different about today? Without Dorka UConn had to put Edwards on Ebo and someone even smaller on Westbeld. Also, the slow pace favored ND and allowed Ebo to play 30 minutes. UConn was not able to get out and run and force Ebo to run up and down the court which is something she doesn't really do. Credit to ND for making shots and not allowing UConn to run.

Add to that, poor shooting, missing our best shooter for most of the game and a ND team that was highly motivated to win.

No need to turn on the UConn players like some here are doing. It's one game and they don't deserve that after the wins they've had so far this season.

I would love UConn's chances in a rematch against ND later in the season.

 

[Dezoworld]

You do realize they have 2 6’4” players injured on the bench don’t you

Yes i notice. One is injured and the other is buried on the bench I said 3 so if 1 gets injured we still can relay on 2 incase foul trouble occurs

 

[Blueballer]

Funny how after a loss the postgame thread is much bigger with many people chiming in who don't post unless we lose.

 

[JBK]

Agree but ND defense did push Edward and Griffen out a few feet further than they normally shoot. Surprised that this made a difference, but both shot poorly from outside.

Agreed
I am surprised we could not run and beat their bigs up the court. We definitely had the ability to push the ball — but we could not get going

 

[Centerstream]

There is just no question that on this day, in this arena, ND was the better team. What this game proves (as if UConn's games against SC didn't prove it already) is that if you clog up the middle and have some big forwards who play good defense, you can give UConn bushels of trouble. Edwards can do only so much, especially if the defense is emboldened to sag in because UConn's shooters are not making their shots. Caroline had a bad game, and Aubrey did very little. Lou hit some shots, but she cannot ever be the whole offensive game. Of course, it did not help that ND shot the lights out.
The presence of a healthy Azzi would have kept it close today, but would have done nothing to guarantee a victory.
I don't think there is any question that right now, ND deserves to be ranked ahead of UConn. They are bigger, stronger and for one day at least, just plain better.

Even though they lost to #20 ranked Maryland this week? But I believe you might be right. Ohio State, Indiana and ND may jump ahead of us this week. And can stay ranked like this until conference games become the norm.

 

[Cornell Lt]

That was a stinker for sure. Not much to say other than ND outplayed UConn on this particular day.

 

[Kaizen]

Funny how after a loss the postgame thread is much bigger with many people chiming in who don't post unless we lose.

That is so true. Funny how many are non-UConn fans?

 

[npignatjr]

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.

Aubrey still has no team offense or defense knowledge. Constantly gets lost

 

[BBallF]

I wasn't shocked or even surprised. I was worried about the game for days.

Today was what happens when Azzi is not a factor and we don't shoot well. We are not a physical team and Notre Dame came out very physically, aided by the refs in the first half who let a lot go. Azzi has to learn that the only way you beat a face guard is to go to and get the ball and take your man off the bounce. You become the playmaker. If you get doubled you dish, but you make movements to the ball not away from it. Otherwise your defender doesn't get tired or pick up fouls. Hopefully, the knee will be fine.

I think Olivia Miles is a very good player who, in a moment, revealed a very poor persona. On that shot she gave Nika, she actually started laughing after. The fact that her coach went over and protested that call showed me that this game was about trying to win at any cost. It was such a clear, not reasonably protestable call.

We played Friday night and this game was less than 48 hours later, on a hostile court, after a plane ride, and it showed. We were very off. There is no way to spin it otherwise. We were another team tonight with awful turnovers at times, out muscled, with lapses in defense, rushed and forced shots, and a lot more. That's what happens when you get taken out of your game and are tired, or not ready mentally for that kind of onslaught. It will be good in the long run that we experienced it.

We missed Dorka tonight whose presence and size will change our under the basket play. It's early and while some of us thought or hoped we were unbeatable, that was our first non-neutral away game in front of a rabid crowd. Geno will make this a formative learning experience. It's a journey. Lots of work to do but we will get noticeably better, quickly.

 

[HuskyNan]

That is true. Funny how many are non-UConn fans?

They’re UConn fans

Stop attacking one another. It’s a freaking basketball game in early December. Get a grip

 

[Cobra 1]

Agree with most of posts; a glaring weakness is our lack of size inside the post.
A good team MUST have a minimum of two big posts.
They do not need to be great scorers but need to defend the post area against opponents bigs, get rebounds and stop opponents easy drives to basket.
This has been a glaring weakness in most UConn past teams, occasionally we have two and this leads to stopping easy hoops and protecting our wings and guards from injury and foul trouble.
It also allows Geno to use a constant pressure defense knowing he has post defender in place.
Notre Dame’s overall size was one of the dominant factors in our embarrassment loss.
The very large ND post player did not possess a high level of skill but her big body was hard to defend and the space she occupied negatively effected our ability to make any easy shots in the deep paint.
Play Deberry; if she contributes positively then we have another player.
If not, then no use wasting our program or this player’s time in UConn program.

 

[Bone Dog]

That was hard to digest. This is my first attempt to think about it. I hope Azzi is okay, because without her and Caroline not at 100% I’m not sure we’re even a top-10 team. Fortunately, we’re about to enter the conference schedule, which should give us plenty of time to sort out what we learned in that game. Clearly, we need to figure out how to use more of the bench, and maybe Amari was the one bright spot, besides Lou. If Azzi can return soon and Dorka too, and Caroline recovers her game conditioning, I think we’re a powerhouse again. But there’s still lessons to learn here. And one of them is Amari needs to play.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

There is just no question that on this day, in this arena, ND was the better team. What this game proves (as if UConn's games against SC didn't prove it already) is that if you clog up the middle and have some big forwards who play good defense, you can give UConn bushels of trouble. Edwards can do only so much, especially if the defense is emboldened to sag in because UConn's shooters are not making their shots. Caroline had a bad game, and Aubrey did very little. Lou hit some shots, but she cannot ever be the whole offensive game. Of course, it did not help that ND shot the lights out.
The presence of a healthy Azzi would have kept it close today, but would have done nothing to guarantee a victory.
I don't think there is any question that right now, ND deserves to be ranked ahead of UConn. They are bigger, stronger and for one day at least, just plain better.

'What this game proves'

is nothing. prolly even less than nothing.
(resumes excluded) no dorka, no azzi. no team as currently constituted.
they are starters on the team this year. pretty good, too, im told.

 

[Notyetready]

There is just no question that on this day, in this arena, ND was the better team. What this game proves (as if UConn's games against SC didn't prove it already) is that if you clog up the middle and have some big forwards who play good defense, you can give UConn bushels of trouble. Edwards can do only so much, especially if the defense is emboldened to sag in because UConn's shooters are not making their shots. Caroline had a bad game, and Aubrey did very little. Lou hit some shots, but she cannot ever be the whole offensive game. Of course, it did not help that ND shot the lights out.
The presence of a healthy Azzi would have kept it close today, but would have done nothing to guarantee a victory.
I don't think there is any question that right now, ND deserves to be ranked ahead of UConn. They are bigger, stronger and for one day at least, just plain better.

Welp, you got a blue thump up from a Notre Dame fan. Might be telling.

 

[boontonbomber]

For anybody( maybe just me) who has been wondering where the Maddy Westbeld ,who was all ACC as a frosh, has been, she certainly showed up today. Been averaging 7pts,6 boards 2 assists, today had 17 ,9, and 4, and blocked 3 shots. Had a modest year last year; wonder if she was hurt. Back to her frosh year, she would make them very tough.
Oh, and does anyone remember a UConn timeout being taken during ND's 24-11 2nd quarter? Must have been one anyway, right?

 

[SLY63]

Anyone have a link to post-game presser?