Official box score - UConn vs Louisville

[HuskyNan]

University of Connecticut Athletics

University of Connecticut Athletics

uconnhuskies.com

 

[JoePgh]

A few quick observations from the box score (don't know whether they are mentioned in the postgame thread since I haven't read it yet):

• UConn won points in the paint by 38-12 (!!);
• UConn won second-chance points by 18-8;
• Louisville won fast-break points by 21-8, which is surprising to me because I didn't see a lot of fast breaks being successful by either team while watching live action;
• UConn won the rebounding battle 37-32, and had 17 offensive rebounds to Louisville's 10 (!!);
• Louisville won bench points by 22-4, consisting largely of Ahlana Smith's 11 points on 3-for-4 3-point shooting;
• Payton Verhulst played 6 minutes for Louisville and scored 0 points.

So today, UConn got its scoring from Caroline Ducharme, Dorka, and Christyn, and got its rebounding from Caroline Ducharme and Dorka (8 each) with some help from Liv and Aaliyah. Evina had a poor statistical game (6 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers, and 3 rebounds, but Geno had to play her because he had only two true guards available. If either Azzi or Nika could have been available, it would have been a different game, and probably a much better one for Evina with fewer minutes.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Louisville 17-20 from the line and 53% from the 3 point line as compared to 20% for Uconn. That's around 9 points above their average from 3 point land and 6 points below our average. Huge difference right there. 15 point swing. I like our chances against Louisville next game.

 

[CocoHusky]

A few quick observations from the box score (don't know whether they are mentioned in the postgame thread since I haven't read it yet):

• UConn won points in the paint by 38-12 (!!);
• UConn won second-chance points by 18-8;
• Louisville won fast-break points by 21-8, which is surprising to me because I didn't see a lot of fast breaks being successful by either team while watching live action;
• UConn won the rebounding battle 37-32, and had 17 offensive rebounds to Louisville's 10 (!!);
• Louisville won bench points by 22-4, consisting largely of Ahlana Smith's 11 points on 3-for-4 3-point shooting;
• Payton Verhulst played 6 minutes for Louisville and scored 0 points.

So today, UConn got its scoring from Caroline Ducharme, Dorka, and Christyn, and got its rebounding from Caroline Ducharme and Dorka (8 each) with some help from Liv and Aaliyah. Evina had a poor statistical game (6 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers, and 3 rebounds, but Geno had to play her because he had only two true guards available. If either Azzi or Nika could have been available, it would have been a different game, and probably a much better one for Evina with fewer minutes.

I don’t think this game plays out any differently with Nika or Azzi in the game. Caroline was terrific in this game she took 20 shots and made 1/2 of them. With either Azzi or Nika in the game there is no way Caroline is getting 20 shots or playing all 40 minutes. Caroline can’t play any better or any more minutes than she did. The three senior on the team were 9 for 28. BTW that UCONN points in the paint should have been significantly higher. Neither of the two UCONN senior guards could feed the post players with some timely passes. The UCONN post players should not have been so bothered by the Louisville help defense coming from players that were 1/2 foot shorter that them.

 

[Aluminny69]

With two minutes left in the third quarter, Geno substituted Westbrook with Edwards. At that point, UConn had Juhaz, Ododa, and Edwards in along with CD and Williams. For those two minutes, UConn went from 3 points down to 3 points up, and were dominating the boards. I had hoped that Geno would have stayed with three bigs in the game, I don't really understand why he didn't.

 

[Skeets]

I don’t think this game plays out any differently with Nika or Azzi in the game. Caroline was terrific in this game she took 20 shots and made 1/2 of them. With either Azzi or Nika in the game there is no way Caroline is getting 20 shots or playing all 40 minutes. Caroline can’t play any better or any more minutes than she did. The three senior on the team were 9 for 28. BTW that UCONN points in the paint should have been significantly higher. Neither of the two UCONN senior guards could feed the post players with some timely passes. The UCONN post players should not have been so bothered by the Louisville help defense coming from players that were 1/2 foot shorter that them.

UConn at 1-point during the game played 4 bigs, OK, 3 bigs plus Ducharme (who is a semi-big), and I think that worked pretty well. Don't know why they went away front that. Good interior passing was working.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I don’t think this game plays out any differently with Nika or Azzi in the game. Caroline was terrific in this game she took 20 shots and made 1/2 of them. With either Azzi or Nika in the game there is no way Caroline is getting 20 shots or playing all 40 minutes. Caroline can’t play any better or any more minutes than she did. The three senior on the team were 9 for 28. BTW that UCONN points in the paint should have been significantly higher. Neither of the two UCONN senior guards could feed the post players with some timely passes. The UCONN post players should not have been so bothered by the Louisville help defense coming from players that were 1/2 foot shorter that them.

We should have completely dominated the paint. We did win the paint but without much dribble penetration we couldn't dominate it. Paige is missed in so many ways.

 

[Boreifs]

We should have completely dominated the paint. We did win the paint but without much dribble penetration we couldn't dominate it. Paige is missed in so many ways.

Dribble penetration is not a huge part of UConn’s offense. Much more importantly, UConn shot very poorly from the arc and Louisville very well. That was the difference. With Azzi added to the wing rotation and Nika backing up Evina at the point, this team will be much, much better.

 

[hoopsdiva]

Having either Azzi or Paige would have forced Louisville to defend on the perimeter, thus opening up the paint for high-low passing, scoring and O-boards. Having either of them (or Nika or Aubrey) would have given Evina or Christyn a break on defense. We just need more healthy bodies.

 

[ucbart]

A few quick observations from the box score (don't know whether they are mentioned in the postgame thread since I haven't read it yet):

• UConn won points in the paint by 38-12 (!!);
• UConn won second-chance points by 18-8;
• Louisville won fast-break points by 21-8, which is surprising to me because I didn't see a lot of fast breaks being successful by either team while watching live action;
• UConn won the rebounding battle 37-32, and had 17 offensive rebounds to Louisville's 10 (!!);
• Louisville won bench points by 22-4, consisting largely of Ahlana Smith's 11 points on 3-for-4 3-point shooting;
• Payton Verhulst played 6 minutes for Louisville and scored 0 points.

So today, UConn got its scoring from Caroline Ducharme, Dorka, and Christyn, and got its rebounding from Caroline Ducharme and Dorka (8 each) with some help from Liv and Aaliyah. Evina had a poor statistical game (6 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers, and 3 rebounds, but Geno had to play her because he had only two true guards available. If either Azzi or Nika could have been available, it would have been a different game, and probably a much better one for Evina with fewer minutes.

I don't think it can be understated that no matter how hard she tries and how much she played it at Tennessee, E is not a PG-E is a glue player. Her versatility is better spent off the ball. I don't think she would've played less, I think she would've played more in her natural position during the time that Nika was in the game, which is where she shines.

As much as this loss stings, I can't help but to think-would you rather be #6 Louisville who just beat an injury depleted UCONN team by 5? Or would you rather be UCONN who only lost to #6 Luoisville, who is without the NPOY and best player/PG in WCBB, the best shooter on the team, the grit/toughness of the team, and our best defender/most athletic wing?

Seriously-as much as Jeff loved that win, he can't feel that great about it.....

 

[HopJim]

Dribble penetration is not a huge part of UConn’s offense. Much more importantly, UConn shot very poorly from the arc and Louisville very well. That was the difference. With Azzi added to the wing rotation and Nika backing up Evina at the point, this team will be much, much better.

Not to pile on but Williams should have been able to power over Van Lith every time - taller, stronger, likley quicker. Both guards that spent most of the night on CW were 5'7". While couldn't someone (Geno?) have set up the offense to get her the ball in close rather than have her in a rotation that was closer to halfcourt than the basket?

 

[CocoHusky]

Not to pile on but Williams should have been able to power over Van Lith every time - taller, stronger, likley quicker. Both guards that spent most of the night on CW were 5'7". While couldn't someone (Geno?) have set up the offense to get her the ball in close rather than have her in a rotation that was closer to halfcourt than the basket?

Well.... I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. CW got punked by Robinson yesterday. Early in the game CW was taking advantage of Van Lith and then Robinson got in her grill. Surprisingly from that point on CW was largely MIA. Whatever happened to the freshman CW who was once low bridge by Arike, took it like a champ, got up, flexed on Arike and continued to stop on ND on their floor?

 

[Longtime fan]

I don’t think this game plays out any differently with Nika or Azzi in the game. Caroline was terrific in this game she took 20 shots and made 1/2 of them. With either Azzi or Nika in the game there is no way Caroline is getting 20 shots or playing all 40 minutes. Caroline can’t play any better or any more minutes than she did. The three senior on the team were 9 for 28. BTW that UCONN points in the paint should have been significantly higher. Neither of the two UCONN senior guards could feed the post players with some timely passes. The UCONN post players should not have been so bothered by the Louisville help defense coming from players that were 1/2 foot shorter that them.

I noted that BeDerry logged three minutes. Is this like introducing a baby to solid food? Why so little?. She seems to contribute, but that is hard to do in a breath of time. Is she all right? She looked healthy and seems "into" the team ( she is energetic and enthusiastic on the bench, she smiles at good stuff, she cheers, etc ). And I keep thinking her game is what UCONN is missing. And has been missing for a long time. We all defer to Geno's judgement, based upon his record. So we assume he has a well-conceived plan for her development. How about some contrarian thoughts?

 

[CocoHusky]

I noted that BeDerry logged three minutes. Is this like introducing a baby to solid food? Why so little?. She seems to contribute, but that is hard to do in a breath of time. Is she all right? She looked healthy and seems "into" the team ( she is energetic and enthusiastic on the bench, she smiles at good stuff, she cheers, etc ). And I keep thinking her game is what UCONN is missing. And has been missing for a long time. We all defer to Geno's judgement, based upon his record. So we assume he has a well-conceived plan for her development. How about some contrarian thoughts?

Amari is and will be fine. She only logged 3 minutes yesterday but 3 minutes is much better than zero against the #7 team in the county. During her three minutes she missed some defensive assignments and that might have been the primary reason for so few minutes. Geno'd development plan for Amari is the same for all his players and that plan is to drive Amari to work her behind off and get better every day every practice every game.

 

[freshler40]

Having either Azzi or Paige would have forced Louisville to defend on the perimeter, thus opening up the paint for high-low passing, scoring and O-boards. Having either of them (or Nika or Aubrey) would have given Evina or Christyn a break on defense. We just need more healthy bodies.

Our high picks don't seem to be pick and rolls to the hoop much, just used to free the dribbler, they don't result in a drive, most often just ball movement to the other side. Our offense is too predictable, same dribble past half-court to a high single or double post. The high post doesn't look for cutters, just tunnel vision, is this the best we can do????

 

[TeamFirst!]

Not to pile on but Williams should have been able to power over Van Lith every time - taller, stronger, likley quicker. Both guards that spent most of the night on CW were 5'7". While couldn't someone (Geno?) have set up the offense to get her the ball in close rather than have her in a rotation that was closer to halfcourt than the basket?

CD did it repeatedly. All their guards were around 5'7" and it showed. It made a ton of sense to take some guards with post up moves.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Our high picks don't seem to be pick and rolls to the hoop much, just used to free the dribbler, they don't result in a drive, most often just ball movement to the other side. Our offense is too predictable, same dribble past half-court to a high single or double post. The high post doesn't look for cutters, just tunnel vision, is this the best we can do????

I agree that it's not my preferred offensive schema also but they do look for cutters. Our players need to be rotated more so that they can do constant cutting. Our guards, in particular, are worn out.