ND Postgame Thread

[and one]

Given that UConn was clearly not as good as ND the score could have been way worse than it was. Little solice. The team was back on it's heels from the git go. They looked awkward and were unable to run their offense to get decent shots. I don't get too excited when a team misses a lot of shots if the shots are good looks - bad shooting nights happen. I do worry when they can't manufacture good shots. I'll chalk it up to a young team playing a good team at their house. But they have work to do.

 

[ec33]

I can't help but notice a bunch of folks that have been infrequent or nonexistent posters here on the UConn WBB forum that were evidently compelled to crawl out of the woodwork tonight in order to trash Geno, the players and the team.

Nice to hear from you.....

I learned a long time ago that judging UConn teams by how great they look against overmatched teams (like Louisville) often has little bearing on how they look against "peer or near peer teams," so I am not sure how much can be said on those occasions other than that they "look awesome" and everyone is great.

Not to be a critical of a single player (which I do try to avoid) but knocking down all your shots on Saturday when everything is easy is different than knocking down shots in close games in hostile environments -- and thus we see many of the same players not being able to make a shot tonight. The same can be said of running the offense (or not).

This is a young team with a lot of growing to do. Part of the learning experience is going into South Bend and getting "punched in the mouth." I thought they responded well in the second half against a team they do not match up with all that well, and we will see if they are more prepared when they face USC, a tough team but in a more comfortable environment.

 

[Centerstream]

Can't help but notice a bunch of folks that have been infrequent or nonexistent posters here on the UConn WBB forum that were evidently compelled to crawl out of the woodwork tonight in order to trash Geno, the players and the team.

Nice to hear from you.....

Yup, and a lot more Geno wannabes than usual too

 

[Zonepress]

1. Can we admit that putting Paige on the ball would just be easier. We spent so much energy attempting to get her the ball without even shifting the defense. Just let her bring the ball up, we either scored or got looks most times she touched it. Putting her off ball also renders her passing ineffective. Notice ND puts the ball in the hands of their best player. We don’t, for some bizarre reason.
2. I’m just a little frustrated with Shade. She continues to have an inability to score against strong competition. I thought that hurt us immensely tonight.
3. The makeup of this team is spotty when you realize KK, Chen, and Shade aren’t great shooters against good defenses. Azzi staying healthy is paramount.
4. I would’ve liked to see Sarah and Paige play a two man game. They had success in that but we didn’t go to consistently.
5. We don’t generate free throw attempts. Sometimes I think we value winning pretty too much. Initiate contact and force the whistle. I know the officiating wasn’t stellar but still.
6. Ice has virtually zero post up game. Jana needs more minutes but needs to learn better defensive positioning.
7. Our defense lacked heart. We helped way too much on the strong side and paid dearly.
8. Happy KK showed some signs of offensive life. That was huge.

A disappointing loss, but not the end of the world. If I have one take away, I’m praying to see the coaches shake up the makeup of this team. I don’t feel we put our best lineups out there, and I don’t think we put players in spots to succeed.

Best post ive seen!!

 

[Zonepress]

I hate saying it, but Hildago is the best player in WCBB right now, She is what, 5'5" on a good day, and dominates like no other! Obnoxious, but equally impressive!

Agreed

 

[VAUConnFan]

Kudos to Hannah Hidalgo for a clutch performance. She is definitely a candidate for NPOY.
But I wonder how many coaches would tolerate her showboating & taunting gestures,especially early in the game. Would Geno accept that behavior?
Niele Ivey is a great coach who motivates her players. But I am surprised she doesn't rein in Hannah a bit.

As Chuck Daly said regarding Dennis Rodman - You don't put a saddle on a mustang.

 

[Reypl21]

One thing that is bad about these losses is I do think we are recruiting against Notre dame a lot the last few seasons.

Y'all are doing great on the recruiting end.

 

[boontonbomber]

Oh how I wish those coaches would get players out of the game before they pick up that 3rd foul in the 1st half.

 

[Martin84]

Exactly. The Huskies looked completely lost on their half-court sets tonight. Countless times they were in a good dribble-drive or outside shooting situation, only to pass it off into something far more disadvantageous. And that's before considering the live ball turnovers that resulted from many of those pass attempts.

Why do you think they did this? Serious question.

 

[WiseWillie]

Lot of valid points and critique being raised about our offense but this loss was mostly due to the lack of effective perimeter defense resulting in way too many open 3's by ND contrasted with their face guarding and tight perimeter defense on us.

Regarding Paige, she was being held, bumped and fouled all night and it definitely took a lot for her to overcome. I don't think she had an uncontested shot or open 3 all night. Amazing that she scored as much as she did. After a while with no fouls being called would get to anyone and has to be very frustrating for her.

 

[jaydee602]

Didnt watch the game yet just looked at box score. But Shade with zero points was a bummer to see. Wish we had more dawgs on our team.

Yeah, we didn't expect Ashlynn to match Azzi's numbers, but being held to zero points was not on the radar.
Just an average Shade game with 10 or 12 points would have impacted the game for UCONN.

 

[enigmatic]

We'll be fine. On to Georgetown. Hopefully Azzi will be back for Iowa State and Southern California. Looking forward to see how the team handles Crooks and Juju/Iriafen.

 

[TheGOAT23]

Why do you think they did this? Serious question.

Lack of confidence is all that I can think of for now.

 

[Huskyfan63]

I hate saying it, but Hildago is the best player in WCBB right now, She is what, 5'5" on a good day, and dominates like no other! Obnoxious, but equally impressive!

I think Olivia Miles is better, when healthy.

 

[Zonepress]

Why do you think they did this? Serious question.

Few thought
Nd knows exactly what UConn does offensively

Citron took Paige out of rythem with great defense

No inside game at all

No point guard to start the game(our best one is now a foward)

Some of the players were not ready for the level of intensity

The referees allowed the game to be very physical
And It affected the offensive movement

 

[tower1]

Read my lips "Losing an away game to ND in December means NOTHING in the big picture". Except of course NOBODY here wants to ever lost to ND. I get it. But they shot 55% from 3 and we shot 20%. When we play them again thias year (?) that could be completely the opposite. And to the chicken littles in the chat room of course it demonstrates hardening of the arteries for the UCONN program. Well what else is new? Chat room coaches are a dime a dozen. Time to review my ignore list.

It seems like your lips are busy !!

 

[AJay11]

Honestly I think behind Paige/Strong, KK, and Chen were our best players. Despite their lack in size, they were aggressive and were looking to rebound/steal. Sarah played well for having 3 fouls. I wish we could have seen points from Shade. And Maybe it was just me, but I think Jana and Ice definitely got exposed for their lack of experience. A few more points from Jana/Ice in the paint, or even some Shade points would have made this game winnable. ATP, there is a chance that Azzi and Aubrey will be in out and out of games due to injury so I would like to see other players step up.
But it was our first hostile road game, so a loss could make this team stronger.

 

[WiseWillie]

Why do you think they did this? Serious question.

Sometimes I think about how some UConn teams of old would just dominate the current UConn teams. Not because of a talent discrepancy. Just played tougher.

Confidence has much to do with playing tough. When you are confident with your ability you play tough because you want to dominate.

 

[tower1]

UConn played like they were panicking the entire first half. Drive into the lane, stop with no pass in mind, throw out to the wing. Repeat. No offensive flow.

I suspect it is a lack of athleticism compared to ND. Just too slow -- repeat of last year.

True and we just had a bad game plan the way it started. They were trying to force the ball inside too much and turning it over. Once Sara got her third foul knew we weren't going to win. I thought the substitutions that were made were bad too . Geno didn't make the necessary adjustments at halftime.

 

[Postie]

I don’t understand why Paige doesn’t have the ball in her hands. It’s like if the Knicks made Jalen Brunson, the offguard. He needs the ball in his hands to be affective and so does Paige. But Geno is the Hall of Famer he knows best.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Why do you think they did this? Serious question.

I think it mostly stems from the motion or Princeton offence that Geno defaults to as a coach. There also seemed to be occasions tonight where some of our players just did not want the ball in their hands in important moments. That second one was definitely not a problem for Notre Dame.

 

[WiseWillie]

It might be worth noting that Iowa went to the final game, two years in a row running an isolation with Caitlin Clark, and a bunch of other nice college players

Interesting take. Someone needs to ask the coach why that isn't being done with our star player.

 

[SARG 2011]

Wish the game had a different outcome but it's only December folks. Lots of teaching moments but I thought KK, Chen, Sarah and Paige did ok overall. I see comments about toughness and all but I thought Sarah was plenty tough playing with 3 fouls in the 3rd qtr. Going to enjoy this team and look forward to improvement.

 

[WiseWillie]

Even with Paige scoring 25 points, mostly on off-balance, short jumpers, Citron did herself proud not spending most of the evening on her backside.

A lesser athlete would have collided with screening Huskies at every turn. Paige might have slightly won the battle with Sonia, but it surely was fun watching the two of them running laps through the other eight players throughout the game.

Your idea of fun is interesting.

 

[uconnfan68]

Blue baller, how come no face guarding on Hildago, no double screens for Paige. This loss is on Geno. Period.

Geno wasn’t playing. We have no one capable of handling Hidalgo, 1-1. Our offense is read/react. React is slower than read. Too young.