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ND Postgame Thread

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I’m not sure if Azzi would have changed the outcome. Notre Dame defended her well and played a great game. Painful to watch, but Notre Dame won the game without an asterisk.

On the bright side, losing a game like this can be helpful in preparing for the tournament.
This is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. Azzi went down in the first quarter. She frequently plays better in the second half than the first. And the psychological impact of knowing Azzi was out the rest of the game is going to impact the rest of the team.
 
Lala post, you don't think it matters when you lose your best player and leading scorer??? Please send me some of the stuff you're are smoking...
Of course it MATTERS. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it's important to be like, look, in an alternate reality things might be different but this is the reality we have. Can you win with the players you DO have? Even today? And the truth is, YES, I think in the 3Q UConn was showing they COULD.

The game was winnable, even without key players. That's my point.
 
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Amari's length alone could help. At the very least, the opposition will have to adjust.
 
Yeah they let us have it. Nika was off running the offense, I felt she got discouraged at times but continued to fight. They couldn’t miss and we couldn’t hit anything. Aubrey’s shot is better but not good enough. Nika has a tough time when being attacked by a quick athletic guard. She is caught out of position and ends up fouling. She was on her heels a lot and gave up layups because she needs to back up so much with her foot speed, or they will blow by her. Hopefully with our team healthy we win, but it looks like they may be a bad matchup for us this year.
 
I’m not sure if Azzi would have changed the outcome. Notre Dame defended her well and played a great game. Painful to watch, but Notre Dame won the game without an asterisk.

On the bright side, losing a game like this can be helpful in preparing for the tournament.
When UCONN got the game to single digits, a feww AZZI baskets could have turned the tide. Iowa defended her well too...for one half.
 
When UCONN got the game to single digits, a feww AZZI baskets could have turned the tide. Iowa defended her well too...for one half.
Azzi played 13 minutes and had zero points. The defense was in her shorts. Having her out made the ND defense adjust.

Kudos to Lou for finding some spots to shoot from.
 
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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.
Uconn struggled to score when Fudd was in the game; in fact, Fudd had trouble even shaking Citron enough to get a pass thrown to her. Sorry but that is what happened, just like Miles taking the ball to Muhl from jump street set the tempo for the game. ND was the better team today, plain and simple, and every Uconn player, including Fudd, while she played was part of that fact. It happens and sometimes opponents win games, and IMO this was one of those games. Uconn shot poorly but that happens and ND’s defense had something to do with that.
Was Uconn hurt that Fudd couldn’t return? Of course they were, she is a terrific player, but she struggled as much as anyone when she played.
 
I’m just so depressed.
Don’t fret , the sun will rise tomorrow and UConn will get to play another basketball game in the near future. Also, since UConn is in the Big East and not the ACC, it is high likely that UConn will win all of their conference games. You should have many happy days ahead.
 
Can't wait to hear the post-game presser. That resembled a bad practice. Or was he was sending to the team. Post Fudd injury, the lineup combinations felt like experimentation or a random pickup squad.
 
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This week, I posted a comment warning the forum to beware of Notre Dame because of their talent & motivation. I couldn't believe that I received a dozen "dislikes", more than the total I have received the past three seasons!
I wanted to say, "I told you so", but I honestly feel that Azzi's injury prevented UCONN from proving me wrong. Can you imagine Notre Dame playing this game without Olivia Miles??
That is why I reserved my comments this year until;l after our first rivalry game (Notre Dame). Yes, we are short-handed so I don't believe anyone expected that we could go undefeated. But this type of game exposes weaknesses as someone mentioned in an earlier post, and that's good because we have a lot to work on as a team. Although we did lose quite convincingly, I am still proud of the ladies and what effort they could muster.

Olivia Miles was awesome today. The only player on our team (and this is my opinion) that I believe could have matched her confidence and aggression is out for the season (P. Buckets). With all this said, I truly believe that we will be one of the 4-5 teams, in the end, vying for the chip. Go Huskies!
 
Outrebounded badly is very disappointing. Clearly Notre Dame's defensive game plan to give Aubrey perimeter shots worked like a charm, probably better than they expected. With Azzi out, that meant Caroline needed to be that perimeter threat instead and she wasn't. Lou did her part when it was needed, but scoring for most was hard to come by.

Also disappointed we couldn't affect Miles much. Nika put in the effort, but Miles was able to do much of what she wanted to. Now we have to wait and see if the injury report is worse than the game. With Dorka and Azzi out we are vulnerable probably to any team in the top 50 or so. Not saying underdog, but if we play poorly games we could lose, with little margin for error. Games that if healthy would be a gimme, but now could be up for grabs. We could use some good news on the health front in the worst way.
 
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Azzi played 13 minutes and had zero points. The defense was in her shorts. Having her out made the ND defense adjust.

Kudos to Lou for finding some spots to shoot from.
Azzi is not aggressive enough, It just doesn’t seam to be her nature. The ND guard wanted to crush UConn’s will, and she pretty much did. Azzi needs to get a killer instinct.
 
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.
Anyone knows why Caroline played only 13 mins? Is she not fully recovered yet?
 
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Nika with only 5 assists, Edwards with only 5 rebounds. Sometimes, size matters.
I thought Geno should of tried Armari a little earlier because we was getting out rebounded and getting torched in the paint. Hopefully he realizes he should start recruiting more bigs. 3 bigs 6'4 and up I suggest
 
When UCONN got the game to single digits, a feww AZZI baskets could have turned the tide.
That lost possession after the technical foul shots was I think where she was most missed, the most important moment of the game to me. That had been the only stretch where UConn had ND back on their heel, but immediately it was back to ND being in charge. Even with the turnover, a couple of baskets by Azzi could have kept our momentum. Instead ...
 
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