ND Postgame Thread

[uconnfan68]

Miles & Citron can make you pay if you focus too much on Hidalgo.

King was the difference in the first half.

 

[uconnfan68]

Dee Kantner was pretty much invisible tonite.

I agree with everyone that stated that a paint presence by a big is necessary. I don't remember a feed inside that resulted in a basket. ND freshman played like an upper classman.

Didn’t she make all 3 calls on Strong?

 

[VA Huskie]

ND was just better tonight! And I would never bet against Hidalgo. She may be obnoxious, as someone said earlier, but many non-UConn fans would say Dee was too. I’d take either on my team…every day of the week!

 

[Zonepress]

King was the difference in the first half.

Sure was

 

[VA Huskie]

I don’t get the unending criticism of UConn as a deteriorating team. Yes, we haven’t won a natty since 2016 ( how many other teams haven’t won one since then?). But we have made the FF in all but 1 year since then. How many other teams have done that! We’re not on the downswing.. Geno still is great. The rest of the world has just gotten better. Wake up folks - that’s the new world we live in. Cherish what we have and what we are… the greatest program in the history of woman’s basketball!!!

 

[Zonepress]

I don’t get the unending criticism of UConn as a deteriorating team. Yes, we haven’t won a natty since 2016 ( how many other teams haven’t won one since then?). But we have made the FF in all but 1 year since then. How many other teams have done that! We’re not on the downswing.. Geno still is great. The rest of the world has just gotten better. Wake up folks - that’s the new world we live in. Cherish what we have and what we are… the greatest program in the history of woman’s basketball!!!

All true but the team did not play very well

 

[jdote33]

I like Hannah’s game. She’s awesome. But the taunting is pretty shameful. It’s not her best feature. And it wasn’t just to Chen. She mouthed off to KK and Paige a couple times too. I get it — she’s still a teenager and she’s a ball of energy. It’s easy to get carried away. But she may look back on moments like this with regret in a few years.

I kinda feel the opposite. I actually don't think she taunts her opponents that much. I feel most of the stuff she does is to get herself going and the crowd going. She seems to just totally be into the moment, lost in the game. Athletes always call the court or field an escape, it truly looks like that for her. Trust me I hated it was against UConn. If she was in a player's face or visibly talking crazy to the team, I would feel a lot different.

 

[maple]

I don’t get the unending criticism of UConn as a deteriorating team. Yes, we haven’t won a natty since 2016 ( how many other teams haven’t won one since then?). But we have made the FF in all but 1 year since then. How many other teams have done that! We’re not on the downswing.. Geno still is great. The rest of the world has just gotten better. Wake up folks - that’s the new world we live in. Cherish what we have and what we are… the greatest program in the history of woman’s basketball!!!

This is all true but I’m tired of losing games we should be able to win.

 

[hookshot]

I think these two teams have the best rosters in the country, particularly when fully healthy (may get a little argument yet from SC, and USC), so they likely meet again in March when it counts. As a road game without their second high scorer, Uconn did not play badly, despite a little quit right at the end. Ash shooting all blanks, made Azzi's absence all the more impactful. Uconn defense was decent in the middle but struggled to get out on the corner shooters. Paige made tough shots all night but missed a couple of wide open 3s that would really have helped, and passed at the rim when better to try and finish and get fouled. Refs were not awful, despite the two ticky tacky ones on Strong that hurt and a couple where they swallowed their whistle on our end. Brady, Chen and KK all played pretty well. Strong played well in her first high pressure road game. Jana works hard but still not the high impact player we were expecting at one point. Worthwhile getting Chelli and Q out there a couple minutes for no particular benefit. but when they meet again it will be an 8 on 8 game with the 4 on 4 battle at the perimeter even at best. So it is the match up of the bigs that may determine things and ND has 4 pretty darn good bigs. An elite ND home team played the way you would expect at home tonight. they won't shoot that well on a neutral court, but can our young front court improve enough to match ND when it counts .

 

[Monte]

The more I see Hidalgo, the more I think she is the best in the country. She hustles just as much on defense as she does offensively. You don't see that too often in a top scorer.

 

[Blond D.]

This is all true but I’m tired of losing games we should be able to win.

Notre Dame is #8 for a reason. They are a very very good team. We lost to a team at THEIR place while it was rockin'. They were hitting their 3's and not just Hidalgo.
We have a bunch of new girls and its gonna take time to really get it all together. We've done pretty good so far and now we know what we need to work on.
All the fair weather fans yelling about Geno not knowing what hes doing or losing it ....welcome back from last year when we went to the final four with 3 seniors and 4 freshmen.

 

[Longtime fan]

Some thoughts on the Notre Dame game;

• Two teams dealing with injuries to key players, but one of the biggest games of the regular season nonetheless.
• Both teams came out a little tight. Shots weren’t falling and turnovers were mounting. But then the Irish drained 3 straight shots from the arc to take a 6-pt lead at the end of the 1st qtr. From that point on, UConn was playing from behind and struggling to find their rhythm.
• The Huskies fought their way back into the game in the 3rd qtr, throwing the Irish off balance by playing zone defense and hitting their shots on offense. But ND took control again in the 4th qtr, as the Irish clearly outplayed the Huskies tonight.
• Teams are doing everything they can to stop Paige from taking over games including face guarding her with their best defender, doubling her to get the ball out of her hands and getting physical with her anytime she attempts to make a cut. So far it’s been working pretty well. Many of the shots Paige hit tonight had a really high degree of difficulty. She ended up with 25 points on 11/20 shooting, none of which was particularly easy.
• In the end, it was just too much Hidalgo. You can’t play off her because she’ll kill you from the arc. But if you play her tight, she’ll blow by you and either score or kick the ball out to open teammates. WBB will have its hands full trying to figure out how to defend her for the next 3 seasons.
• Well, Geno and his coaches have a bunch of things to work on.
• Next up is Georgetown at XL and then two more ranked teams, Iowa St and USC. This will be a critical 3-game stretch for the Huskies.
• Keep your chins up. Azzi and Aubrey will get healthy and better days are ahead.

I think ND outclassed us from moment one. We had two possessions early; missed a shot and then turned the ball over. ASH, sadly, tends to go into a shell when she misses her first shot in a game. And she did that tonight. Geno saw it and sat her for the entire second half. Paige, as you say, was bottled up and could only create some very difficult two point conversions, and one outstanding assist ( maybe more on the stat sheet but I mean the pass to Sarah ). I thought Chen played very well. And ICE was hitting her shot from outside and then stopped shooting. Sarah was well guarded, usually by a quick reacting double team. She had a decent game for a freshman, but she clearly did not dominate. No one else on UCONN was regarded as a threat from outside. And ND conceded shots to those others who rarely took them. If KK were a sharp shooter, she could have had 8 three pointers. Instead, she drives and either makes a spectacular play, or gets hammered in the paint and loses the possession. Jana is not even covered once she is more than 4 feet from the basket. ND was better in every way; ball security, crisp and accurate passing, shooting ( outrageous accuracy from three ) team defense, rebounding, speed and energy. UCONN never got the big shot they needed to close the gap once they were within striking distance. UCONN turned the ball over far too often. And the offense created few decent looks for anyone. It is heresy to say this, but they looked better coached and better prepared. Our depth was of no value tonight. The scary thing is; two teams have already beaten Notre Dame. So the mountain that must be climbed is very high this year. I don't think we had the lead once tonight.

 

[cferraro04]

Disappointing performance. Got torched by another small guard. Come on Geno....

Not just any small guard...Hildago is one of the favorites for player of the year.

 

[cferraro04]

Notre Dame is #8 for a reason. They are a very very good team. We lost to a team at THEIR place while it was rockin'. They were hitting their 3's and not just Hidalgo.
We have a bunch of new girls and its gonna take time to really get it all together. We've done pretty good so far and now we know what we need to work on.
All the fair weather fans yelling about Geno not knowing what hes doing or losing it ....welcome back from last year when we went to the final four with 3 seniors and 4 freshmen.

Counting this game...ND has beaten 3 top 5 teams...so far.

 

[pvdoggy]

I did not get to watch the game and was wondering if the line score for Ashlyn indicates her play.

 

[Rings R Us]

We need more players like Hidalgo on our team. I knew we were going to lose tonight, and their guards (Hidalgo especially) were going to eat us alive.

We just look really soft sometimes. I'm not saying our girls aren't competitive, but when you see how Hidalgo plays, with the fire and intensity she has to go along with her talent... you just feel like that's something we are missing.

I seem to remember Taurasi punching some orange padding under the basket while playing the Vols at their place. Give me that fire any day of the week!

 

[darrell]

I seem to remember Taurasi punching some orange padding under the basket while playing the Vols at their place. Give me that fire any day of the week!

Those types of players now are the ones that choose other schools because they “want to beat UConn”. Hannah strikes me as that type.

With that in mind, Jerzy Robinson (‘26) is exactly that and I pray UConn strikes gold on her.

 

[ERWUC65]

I don’t think that we are shorter than most teams. We are just not a fast team and we don’t have any junk yard dawgs. You need positioning to rebound and in order to do that you need to move your feet and body, quickly.

Actually I think we do have some junk yard dawgs. Azzi for sure and has the accompanying talent. Jana for sure and perhaps a year away from the appropriate talent. KK for sure and does her best in her role. And, perhaps, just my opinion, but I think Morgan for sure (despite her disarming smile) could just be there in March for us if given the opportunity.

 

[uconnfan68]

Missed a few she often makes, but sat a lot. Not sure exactly why. Everyone had problems.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

It may be considered sour grapes but we have lost 3 straight to ND and have never had our whole team play in any of them!
NOT having Azzi made a huge difference!
Sometimes I think UConn is the cartoon, Ziggi, always walking under a cloud!
Gosh I dislike ND!

 

[hjoerring]

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.

I'm clearly with you on these points. We really need to figure out our two bigs-- Ice and Jenna. I have been thinking that Ice would be a matchup problem for a lot of team-- a mobile-lefty who can shoot the mid-range. And Jenna being similar in shooting and mobility, plus rebounding. And there is still a lot of time. What really worries me is a kind of mentality that may have developed over the years that "we" should be facilitators for Paige's scoring. Fudd and Sarah are not burdened by that view and have been difference makers. Perhaps the coaches need to 'un-discipline' the others more. A team said to be full of shooters should not be getting shots from a few players. Lastly, I am convinced that quick penetrating guards are always going to let us look normal-to-bad. So, we'll have to put-up a lot of points to overcome this lack of lockdown defense. I feel a little sorry for those who saw us in the month of December with hands rapped around the NC. This time of the year its all about bragging rights. There are a few more months to go before the real contenders show themselves. (Of course we will have to do something more than usual with an over-confident ND who are convinced that they have our #)

 

[Plebe]

It may be considered sour grapes but we have lost 3 straight to ND and have never had our whole team play in any of them!

ND has had significant injuries and a short bench in each of the last two years.
Injuries are part of the game and we have to accept that it's won or lost by the players who do take the court.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

The difference was the 3 point shooting. Hidalgo and Miles were stellar.

UConn will learn from this game. ND may not shoot like that again. The Huskies have room to grow. Hoping both teams are fully healthy if there is a rematch down the road.