New Starting 5

[HopJim]

Nikka as the shooting guard?

 

[Jingo]

At this point in time, I do not believe Olivia Nelson-Ododa will be a dominant center in the college game.

I do think ONO’s mobility and defensive instincts are enough to pique interest of WNBA coaches and GMs, but not as a center. I’m starting to think ONO’s best chance to make it as a pro is as a hybrid four. I wish she could play on the wing — with her height and build, she’d be unstoppable.

You might ask why I’m thinking about any of this at the midpoint of her junior season. At the end of the day, player development is essential for the next level, and these women’s careers extend beyond the 2020-21 season. Neither ONO nor CW have fully panned out in the minds of the Husky loyal, and it feels increasingly unlikely that either fully will.

Liv is unable to execute when she is double or triple teamed, which she always is .. therefore, it is up to the rest of the team to hit some damn shots to give Liv some breathing room, eh?

 

[bluedevil]

Rewatched the Arkansas game tonight. in the late 3rd quarter I saw Paige cut through the lane several times open with her hand in the air and no one saw her or passed to her. Arkansas ignored the cutters because those out on the arc only passed the ball to each other or occasionally to a high post but never to a cutter.

Amen

 

[bluedevil]

In Geno’s scheme the center flashes to the top of the key to open the lane for cutters but
she is not the great passer as Dolson who when open could shoot the three.I believe this will be the last poor game she will have , remember how it took Tina 2 1/2 years to get mean.

As well as shoulder surgery btw.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Liv - this game threw her off with a bunch of little guys harassing her. We don't make the comeback the last few minutes without her. She has value just not the AA we all hope she would be.

NM has been better than advertised her on the board. We need to understand that there is upside with a freshie. She has game and I think will help us as a strong role player. I love that she has dealt with a lot of adversity this year with the injury, having some very bad moments and getting benched, but this kid is tough and nobody is going to hold her back. Solid to good role player at minimum and anything else people want from her is just not fair or realistic. She has been good on offense and defense the last couple games.

CW - She's been awful. I'm taking some heat on my negative comments on her. I honestly believe people don't criticize her because GA doesn't. I think GA doesn't criticize her because her knows she is a bit weak emotionally. Before people jump on me for this, many players are weak emotionally, especially now a days. It is the life we live in today...Players are not nearly as tough as they used to be, both mentally and emotionally. As an educator, I notice the same and to be honest, it is shocking. I hope and I think she will get better on offense but her defense is shockingly bad and I'm not very confident it will improve much. She just has no instinct on defense.

Interesting take on CW. Thanks for having the gumption to say it. Will be interesting to see things play out.

 

[jazz]

Liv is unable to execute when she is double or triple teamed, which she always is .. therefore, it is up to the rest of the team to hit some damn shots to give Liv some breathing room, eh?

She is also not a good passer out of the double team. It is what it is.

GA will need to really earn his money this year! He needs to figure out how to put these players in the best situation for them to succeed and that may not be necessarily his preference for the perfect passing/motion offense. Fortunately for him, he has PB and EW! Few teams have players like this and we have 2!

At this point, I think we have enough to challenge for the title this year. It is up to GA to use his players in a way that they can be at their best. We have one dominate player, one very good player and the rest are role players whose success is dependent on that one dominate player.

Coaching needs to make up the rest of our deficiencies to at least get us to the final 4.

 

[jazz]

Interesting take on CW. Thanks for having the gumption to say it. Will be interesting to see things play out.

I'm pulling for her big time. Every game I hope to say that she had broken out. I love her athleticism and explosion. She is so smooth but just can't hit the broad side of a barn nowadays.

Anyway, it is still fairly early, so we will see how it is at the end of Feb. PB will help her break out...

 

[MD#12Fan]

She is also not a good passer out of the double team. It is what it is.

GA will need to really earn his money this year! He needs to figure out how to put these players in the best situation for them to succeed and that may not be necessarily his preference for the perfect passing/motion offense. Fortunately for him, he has PB and EW! Few teams have players like this and we have 2!

At this point, I think we have enough to challenge for the title this year. It is up to GA to use his players in a way that they can be at their best. We have one dominate player, one very good player and the rest are role players whose success is dependent on that one dominate player.

Coaching needs to make up the rest of our deficiencies to at least get us to the final 4.

I always think if Geno 1985-1995 would be coaching THIS group the same way Geno 2021 is.
It's not a new idea: what's right for "the program" and what's right to win the game right in front of you.
Just my opinion, I think the young Geno would be trying more stuff. (and I'd be loving every bit of it)
Sometimes when "the concerns of the program" become overly dominant, things fizzle. We want spark, not fizzle.
The example I think of is Tom Landry in Dallas. It just got flat. Luckily Jimmy Johnson got there before they broke out the wrecking ball.

 

[Ozimoto]

I'm from Montgomery County. Bunch of farms in Frederick County ain't it. Like Jimmy Chitwood- got a hoop in the grass out in the back field. Closest neighbor- 5 miles away. (just kidding)

I was going to ask how long you have been away from Maryland. Frederick County has become a bedroom community for DC and is not the pastoral paradise you make it to be. ?

 

[CL82]

People on here have expectations like this team is the US Olympic Team.

Surprised? It's like you don't know us at all.

 

[jazz]

I always think if Geno 1985-1995 would be coaching THIS group the same way Geno 2021 is.
It's not a new idea: what's right for "the program" and what's right to win the game right in front of you.
Just my opinion, I think the young Geno would be trying more stuff. (and I'd be loving every bit of it)
Sometimes when "the concerns of the program" become overly dominant, things fizzle. We want spark, not fizzle.
The example I think of is Tom Landry in Dallas. It just got flat. Luckily Jimmy Johnson got there before they broke out the wrecking ball.

Now you are talking my language with the Cowboys. Jimmy bought out the whipping stick and the Walker trade helped big time. I could go on for ages but I'll save you my rant.....

Now getting back to Uconn, GA did try some stuff in this past game. I think that small line-up he went with in the second half was genius. I just think once we got 2 up, at 5:30 or so to go in the 4th, it was time to get Liv and AG back in. But that small line-up was great. Unfortunately, Neighbors finally countered by telling his players to go to the rack. This killed us for a few minutes until Liv got back in.

I wonder if GA punted on this game to send a message to Liv. She needs to toughen up but I'm not sure if she can with her body type. Also, I think this game with a lot of little guys harassing her is not her strong suit. But she still has value on defense.

I do wonder why GA can't get more out of some of his players like Liv, AG, CW and some others in the past. But, I'd rather have GA than any other coach.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I was going to ask how long you have been away from Maryland. Frederick County has become a bedroom community for DC and is not the pastoral paradise you make it to be. ?

100% I'm aware. I was trying to provoke some folks about "Saylor coming from the Boonies". Frederick's super nice too.

 

[AmeriConn]

1. Original starters for all Big East teams (except DePaul). We’ve proven we can win with this lineup for teams that can’t compete. Paige, Liv, Christyn, Evina and Aubrey.

2. For DePaul and SC go small ball. Paige, Christyn, Evina, Nika and Aubrey.

 

[PacoBlaze]

1. Original starters for all Big East teams (except DePaul). We’ve proven we can win with this lineup for teams that can’t compete. Paige, Liv, Christyn, Evina and Aubrey.

2. For DePaul and SC go small ball. Paige, Christyn, Evina, Nika and Aubrey.

If we use your SC lineup, Boston could score 50. (I am not a "fan" of her or SC but have seen her this season and I have no doubt that she would score at will.)

 

[AmeriConn]

If we use your SC lineup, Boston could score 50. (I am not a "fan" of her or SC but have seen her this season and I have no doubt that she would score at will.)

I’m being facetious here. I don’t think Ono and Aaliyah together will be able to guard Boston either.

 

[PacoBlaze]

I’m being facetious here. I don’t think Ono and Aaliyah together will be able to guard Boston either.

Thank you, I was hoping that you were being facetious or sarcastic but wasn't sure.
I agree with you about who can (or can't) guard her but hopefully we will do better against her than we did against Dungee, meaning keep her from scoring 30+ points.

 

[mdmiller6]

Let's just keep the starting line-up the way Geno has it now. I think the game the other night was a great learning tool, it show our area where we need to improve, and it also showed we have players that are ready to step up when called. It will all come together, and we will take our hands off the panic button.

 

[AmeriConn]

Thank you, I was hoping that you were being facetious or sarcastic but wasn't sure.
I agree with you about who can (or can't) guard her but hopefully we will do better against her than we did against Dungee, meaning keep her from scoring 30+ points.

Any idea how NC State beat SC?

 

[Cuango]

Keep the current starting 5 in place (you all are a bunch of arm chair quarterbacks). GEEZ !!!

I am anxious to see Anna get healthy and return to this team. The offense just works better when she is on the floor. If it turns out that her injury was why her shooting declined and she can start hitting threes at a 40+% clip, I’ll be a happy camper!

 

[Cuango]

Liv - this game threw her off with a bunch of little guys harassing her. We don't make the comeback the last few minutes without her. She has value just not the AA we all hope she would be.

NM has been better than advertised here on the board. We need to understand that there is upside with a freshie. She has game and I think will help us as a strong role player. I love that she has dealt with a lot of adversity this year with the injury, having some very bad moments and getting benched, but this kid is tough and nobody is going to hold her back. Solid to good role player at minimum and anything else people want from her is just not fair or realistic. She has been good on offense and defense the last couple games.

CW - She's been awful. I'm taking some heat on my negative comments on her. I honestly believe people don't criticize her because GA doesn't. I think GA doesn't criticize her because her knows she is a bit weak emotionally. Before people jump on me for this, many players are weak emotionally, especially now a days. It is the life we live in today...Players are not nearly as tough as they used to be, both mentally and emotionally. As an educator, I notice the same and to be honest, it is shocking. I hope and I think she will get better on offense but her defense is shockingly bad and I'm not very confident it will improve much. She just has no instinct on defense.

I don’t agree that Christyn should be moved out of her starting spot. While she may not be as good as some of our other number 1s, she is not exactly chopped liver! If she were to never shoot more than three threes in a game for the rest of her career I believe we would all be very pleasantly surprised! There is simply no way that she is not solidly among the top five players on this team. Personally, I would rank her as no worse than third and possibly second.

 

[CL82]

I’m being facetious here. I don’t think Ono and Aaliyah together will be able to guard Boston either.

I think the plan will be to try and deny her the ball as much as possible. Maybe add a big to little double to make her uncomfortable.

 

[Woof 101]

I would start Edwards in place of Ono .

Yes, bring Olivia off the bench.

Aaliyah needs more minutes. She should have started the second half over a floundering Liv.

This is not an attack or confrontation with fellow fans. Simply a question about comments with no follow up or reasoning. And to those that agree with likes. I to very much like Aaliyah but does anyone realize she played all of 13 minutes and fouled out? Yes she had 6 rebounds in that short time but also had 4 turnovers.
Let the staff do what they do and take a breath before the knee jerk reactions. Aaliyah needs some time to acclimate to how things are called here, starting her is not going to speed that up. Just get her out of the game sooner.

As for those that want her to start over ONO, I would have liked to have seen both ONO and Aaliyah down low on both ends of the court to start. Dungee would have to had make different decisions. She would not have been able to run over / shove a guard trying to catch up. But to have met a wall much taller ready for the block or take / in position to take a charge.
Strange game in a strange season but this loss in not on ONO, she played where the staff ordered and even they are not always perfect. Suck it up boys and girls and let's move on.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I think the plan will be to try and deny her the ball as much as possible. Maybe add a big to little double to make her uncomfortable.

Music to my ears-denial. I don’t see us denying anyone. I wish we were in the passing lanes. Occasionally PB will anticipate and get a steal but I don’t think it’s a defensive philosophy. Fronting the post is almost a lost art, anywhere. I love your strategy though. Did we try to front the Baylor center last year? Don’t think so.

 

[eebmg]

I don’t agree that Christyn should be moved out of her starting spot. While she may not be as good as some of our other number 1s, she is not exactly chopped liver! If she were to never shoot more than three threes in a game for the rest of her career I believe we would all be very pleasantly surprised! There is simply no way that she is not solidly among the top five players on this team. Personally, I would rank her as no worse than third and possibly second.

I would not mind if CW was as good as Chopped Liver.

 

[NormanDale]

Liv is unable to execute when she is double or triple teamed, which she always is .. therefore, it is up to the rest of the team to hit some damn shots to give Liv some breathing room, eh?

UConn shot over 50% from 3 in the Arkansas game and ONO still did nothing, Liv's struggles are on Liv. She needs to get physically and mentally tougher, plain and simple.