Ohio st recap

[Longtime fan]

The above folks have said it all. But I am sitting here with a keyboard, so I'll use my words:

1. The core three are, of course, amazing.
2. Walker may be the " savior' for this year....she looks totally different and was our best rebounder. Once she begins scoring from everywhere ( she showed some of that today ), she will be a beast to defend.
3. Williams played with confidence and composure. Clearly, she needs some outside shooting success to let her offensive talents loose. But she is going to be terrific.
4. It was interesting to see Makayla as first off the bench. I believe she can do everything well except shoot from the outside. She has speed, drives well, passes well and sees the court. Her defense needs work, both through experience and working with the coaches. I don't know if she can ever shoot well from the outside. I have said this since the first time I saw her put up a three ( last season). Nonetheless, Geno showed a lot of confidence in her.
5. Kyla played a lot better than last year. She is smarter and made fewer mistakes. She is light years ahead of Batouly. She looks tougher and more confident.
6. Batouly looks as though there is no chance she will ever be more than a mop-up player. I was hoping for more, of course. But she looks hampered. Can't run, jump or extend. She would ride the bench for Ohio State.
7. Molly remains terrified of shooting, and continues to pass up good shots for assisting on less good shots by others. She remains a bit of a liability on offense .....highly likely to turn the ball over. Her reticence is very un-Uconn-like and, as a junior, it does not seem a matter of being unselfish. Truthfully, I think fans are beginning to become frustrated by it. The audience actually groaned a few times when she found a way today to do anything but take a shot.
8. ONO does look months away from being able to help. That will be fine, as long as she is ready by March. Clearly, though, she has the body type to be dominating. The problem is, it can take a full season.
9. Lexi, to her credit, will shoot when open. Problem is; do her shots ever go in? I would like to see her make an impact on defense, or under the boards. Then, she might become a contributor. She had little time to display much today. She needs to find and bring out the tiger in herself.

On the whole, a good start. Some obvious sloppiness. Some lack of communication on defense. And rebounding will be an issue against teams with huge, tall people. I fear that many of our players will get banged around a lot. Chrystal is lucky to be fine after several shot to the head. Lou also takes a beating. But this team will be fun to watch develop.

Life has returned.

 

[Buckaroobanzai]

Offense was adequate. Defense (against a much slower team) was mediocre. Rebounding (particularly on the offensive board) was on life support. The bench was a non-factor (and here I am being kind). If any of the starters sustains an injury or gets into foul trouble . . . . well, it has the potential of becoming a very long and unUconn-like season.

 

[Plebe]

Someone who watched the Ohio State-South Florida game described both teams as "bad D-2 teams."

Well, since UConn gave up more points to OSU in Storrs than USF did in Columbus, does that mean UConn's defense is at a bad D-3 level?

 

[JavaMan]

 

[eebmg]

The above folks have said it all. But I am sitting here with a keyboard, so I'll use my words:


7. Molly remains terrified of shooting, and continues to pass up good shots for assisting on less good shots by others. She remains a bit of a liability on offense .....highly likely to turn the ball over. Her reticence is very un-Uconn-like and, as a junior, it does not seem a matter of being unselfish. Truthfully, I think fans are beginning to become frustrated by it. The audience actually groaned a few times when she found a way today to do anything but take a shot.

Life has returned.

Geno in his presser had one of his best lines about Molly. Of course we want her to shoot when she is open. Anything she tries other than shooting is worse. Ooouch.

 

[LasVegasYank]

As always, very pleased with Pheesa, KLS and Crystal (save a couple of awful turnovers). CW was beyond what you'd expect from a freshman. Played like she belonged out there.

On to Meghan Walker. Saw everything Geno said about her come true. The best thing, IMHO, is that I think this won't be an every 4-5 game performance, I think she can put 4-5 of these in a row.

ONO looked like she was still in high school. Coombs looked a bit more in control of her game but still needs work on her stop and pop. Irwin played well but having smaller players hold the ball on her shows she still has some strength problems. Rip it out of their hands!!!!! Bent shows better D and is a tad better ball handling but still is reluctant to take the open shot. Lexi is an enigma, can't figure her out. Longtime Fan nailed it on Camara, she's hobbled by something and doesn't seem to have a solid approach to her role in the game.

A solid 7 will be needed for them to secure a NC. The starting five are set and hopefully ONO will grow her game over the next several months. One more player steps up and they're in. Two would be frosting on the cake.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Got back from the game a short while ago. Enjoyable as always! The starting 5 looked good offensively (except for part of the 3rd). Could really see that they missed Kia and Gabby defensively. They worked at it, but they miss that player that can fill in and cover mistakes. Also got pushed under the basket and missed the longer rebounds more than I remember for a while. Also seemed like a lot of collisions in this game!
I am always amazed at the number of season ticket holders that don't show up. Its the first regular season game on a Sunday afternoon! Better for me - up upgraded my seat to a seatback near the center of the court. Crowd was not real alive IMHO.

Agree with your crowd assessment. Place felt empty

 

[paisan]

Too soon to draw a conclusion, but as I feared , without a post player we will probably not be competitive with the big teams ...Baylor, ND, Miss St, Texas, etc. will pound the ball inside,and Lou and pheesa will not be able to cope without fouling . It will be interesting .

 

[BroadwayVa]

The above folks have said it all. But I am sitting here with a keyboard, so I'll use my words:

1. The core three are, of course, amazing.
2. Walker may be the " savior' for this year....she looks totally different and was our best rebounder. Once she begins scoring from everywhere ( she showed some of that today ), she will be a beast to defend.
3. Williams played with confidence and composure. Clearly, she needs some outside shooting success to let her offensive talents loose. But she is going to be terrific.
4. It was interesting to see Makayla as first off the bench. I believe she can do everything well except shoot from the outside. She has speed, drives well, passes well and sees the court. Her defense needs work, both through experience and working with the coaches. I don't know if she can ever shoot well from the outside. I have said this since the first time I saw her put up a three ( last season). Nonetheless, Geno showed a lot of confidence in her.
5. Kyla played a lot better than last year. She is smarter and made fewer mistakes. She is light years ahead of Batouly. She looks tougher and more confident.
6. Batouly looks as though there is no chance she will ever be more than a mop-up player. I was hoping for more, of course. But she looks hampered. Can't run, jump or extend. She would ride the bench for Ohio State.
7. Molly remains terrified of shooting, and continues to pass up good shots for assisting on less good shots by others. She remains a bit of a liability on offense .....highly likely to turn the ball over. Her reticence is very un-Uconn-like and, as a junior, it does not seem a matter of being unselfish. Truthfully, I think fans are beginning to become frustrated by it. The audience actually groaned a few times when she found a way today to do anything but take a shot.
8. ONO does look months away from being able to help. That will be fine, as long as she is ready by March. Clearly, though, she has the body type to be dominating. The problem is, it can take a full season.
9. Lexi, to her credit, will shoot when open. Problem is; do her shots ever go in? I would like to see her make an impact on defense, or under the boards. Then, she might become a contributor. She had little time to display much today. She needs to find and bring out the tiger in herself.

On the whole, a good start. Some obvious sloppiness. Some lack of communication on defense. And rebounding will be an issue against teams with huge, tall people. I fear that many of our players will get banged around a lot. Chrystal is lucky to be fine after several shot to the head. Lou also takes a beating. But this team will be fun to watch develop.

Life has returned.

Good stuff, Number 6 above : Touly, I have long had your feeling of Touly. Yet today she was as good or better than she has been since she arrived in Storrs. Future????
Number 8: My opinion. Number 9: I agree and disagree. CONFIDENCE, reduced by the coach not believing in her, my louzy opinion. She scored in HS. Shooting is muscle memory and confidence. Like the Music Man: If you believe you shall do. Her HS numbers indicate a kid that can score. Something in her head has changed; Shooters shoot and score--so what's the issue?
We agree on CW. I don't think I have seen a player since DT that walked on the floor as a Frosh and looked like a junior/senior--CW does. DT was one huge ball of Confidence--she spoke to Geno in his native tongue--Sveta didn't lack confidence either.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Too soon to draw a conclusion, but as I feared , without a post player we will probably not be competitive with the big teams ...Baylor, ND, Miss St, Texas, etc. will pound the ball inside,and Lou and pheesa will not be able to cope without fouling . It will be interesting .

I don't drink Geno's vino or lemon aid--but he, with shorter teams, has found ways to blunt taller teams. It certainly won't be easy but even with Bad teams Ucwbb has been competitive. That is why these terrible announcers dwell on 2 losses in 6 years-

 

[JustinesGuy]

First of all so happy to tip off a new season.
A few game observations

I think none were surprised about how well lou, pheese and danger played. Our season will success will depend on there health and play.

I was very happy for walker. She had her best game as a husky. She was aggressive on both ends, some nice highlight plays. Much respect.

Happy to see Coombs first off bench. She looked smooth. Kyla looked good too.

CW - I think she didn’t press the issue. I think it was a good place to start. I think she looked better than walker did last year. She will be fine.

ONO- as I anticipated looks like a project. Needs to get used to college speed and hit weight room.

Molly and Lexi- Typical fair.

Season success depends on health of starters, CW becoming a solid contributor, MW building off this solid performance.

Bonus-Developing solid bench 6-8.
Can’t wait for the next game!!

 

[JustinesGuy]

The above folks have said it all. But I am sitting here with a keyboard, so I'll use my words:

1. The core three are, of course, amazing.
2. Walker may be the " savior' for this year....she looks totally different and was our best rebounder. Once she begins scoring from everywhere ( she showed some of that today ), she will be a beast to defend.
3. Williams played with confidence and composure. Clearly, she needs some outside shooting success to let her offensive talents loose. But she is going to be terrific.
4. It was interesting to see Makayla as first off the bench. I believe she can do everything well except shoot from the outside. She has speed, drives well, passes well and sees the court. Her defense needs work, both through experience and working with the coaches. I don't know if she can ever shoot well from the outside. I have said this since the first time I saw her put up a three ( last season). Nonetheless, Geno showed a lot of confidence in her.
5. Kyla played a lot better than last year. She is smarter and made fewer mistakes. She is light years ahead of Batouly. She looks tougher and more confident.
6. Batouly looks as though there is no chance she will ever be more than a mop-up player. I was hoping for more, of course. But she looks hampered. Can't run, jump or extend. She would ride the bench for Ohio State.
7. Molly remains terrified of shooting, and continues to pass up good shots for assisting on less good shots by others. She remains a bit of a liability on offense .....highly likely to turn the ball over. Her reticence is very un-Uconn-like and, as a junior, it does not seem a matter of being unselfish. Truthfully, I think fans are beginning to become frustrated by it. The audience actually groaned a few times when she found a way today to do anything but take a shot.
8. ONO does look months away from being able to help. That will be fine, as long as she is ready by March. Clearly, though, she has the body type to be dominating. The problem is, it can take a full season.
9. Lexi, to her credit, will shoot when open. Problem is; do her shots ever go in? I would like to see her make an impact on defense, or under the boards. Then, she might become a contributor. She had little time to display much today. She needs to find and bring out the tiger in herself.

On the whole, a good start. Some obvious sloppiness. Some lack of communication on defense. And rebounding will be an issue against teams with huge, tall people. I fear that many of our players will get banged around a lot. Chrystal is lucky to be fine after several shot to the head. Lou also takes a beating. But this team will be fun to watch develop.

Life has returned.

Your post is dead on! Everything I was thinking

 

[HopJim]

I believe Coombs is working on her outside shot at every practice. Right now it is more important for her to work on her defense and ball handling. Maybe that is what the coaches want her to concentrate on. K. Faris did not become a scoring threat until her senior season. At this point UConn has other players who can score. Coombs offense will come in time. I believe she will improve to a point where she will, although she may not start, be good enough to start, imo.

Had very mixed thoughts on Coombs. On her first two possessions, she dribbled through most of the defense and made great layups. From then on until 4th Q, Ohio St. gave her the outside shot and collapsed on her drives. Often played off the drive and went for the steal on her pass. Not very effective. This was not a good team so if they knew to do this, Top 20 teams will see this video and likely to turn things into 5 on 4 until Coombs takes and hits outside shots.

 

[HopJim]

As always, very pleased with Pheesa, KLS and Crystal (save a couple of awful turnovers). CW was beyond what you'd expect from a freshman. Played like she belonged out there.

On to Meghan Walker. Saw everything Geno said about her come true. The best thing, IMHO, is that I think this won't be an every 4-5 game performance, I think she can put 4-5 of these in a row.

ONO looked like she was still in high school. Coombs looked a bit more in control of her game but still needs work on her stop and pop. Irwin played well but having smaller players hold the ball on her shows she still has some strength problems. Rip it out of their hands!!!!! Bent shows better D and is a tad better ball handling but still is reluctant to take the open shot. Lexi is an enigma, can't figure her out. Longtime Fan nailed it on Camara, she's hobbled by something and doesn't seem to have a solid approach to her role in the game.

A solid 7 will be needed for them to secure a NC. The starting five are set and hopefully ONO will grow her game over the next several months. One more player steps up and they're in. Two would be frosting on the cake.

Not concerned yet with Ono. She reminds me of the first few times I saw Morgan Tuck play. Both are about the same time away from their knee surgery and appeared stiff and not comfortable with the speed of play. At 6' 4" or 5" I'm more than willing to wait.

 

[HopJim]

Sad to watch a major D1 program with 6 Graduate Transfers, basically starting 5. Without these, would literally not have been able to field a team. What happened to Ohio State's recruiting?

 

[MilfordHusky]

What happened to Ohio State's recruiting?

Kelsey Mitchell.

 

[Monte]

I would wait and evaluate them after the ND game(December 2nd).

 

[eebmg]

Just got a chance to see the replay. What really pops out is our difficulties rebounding. If I am ONO, I figure out how to get on the floor. The opportunities are glaring and we need her to have some impact

I got to admit, I really like seeing Kyla play. If only she had some real athleticism (or a few more inches) but she is always in position. Geno desperately wants to give her more playing time.

 

[Kevin G]

R E B O U N D I N G

 

[oldude]

Kelsey Mitchell.

It is amazing how one player, plus her father, negatively impacted tOSU recruiting, as well as retaining existing players. So long as Mitchell had the green light to basically do whatever she wanted on the court, with her dad ensconced as an assistant coach, top recruits wanted no part of tOSU.

The same situation may be occurring at TX A&M with Chennedy Carter.

 

[paisan]

Agree ...lack of rebounding, interior defense, and guard penetration were alarming. Camarra and Ono’s lack of performance was really a disappointment. Ohio state is not a very good team, missed a boatload of bunnies and turned the ball over a lot.

 

[Bama fan]

Someone who watched the Ohio State-South Florida game described both teams as "bad D-2 teams."

Well, since UConn gave up more points to OSU in Storrs than USF did in Columbus, does that mean UConn's defense is at a bad D-3 level?

No

 

[Vowelguy]

top recruits wanted no part of tOSU.

Yeah, no one, like #23 Steph Mavunga, #4 Linnae Harper, #16 Sierra Calhoun, #10 Tori McCoy, #24 Kiara Lewis, #31 Jensen Caretti

 

[oldude]

Yeah, no one, like #23 Steph Mavunga, #4 Linnae Harper, #16 Sierra Calhoun, #10 Tori McCoy, #24 Kiara Lewis, #31 Jensen Caretti

How many of those recruits showed up in the last few years when it was clear that McGuff had basically turned the team over to Mitchell? The cupboard is bare in Columbus, and it’s not going to get much better next season when the 5 hired guns McGuff brought in as RS Seniors all move on.

 

[Vowelguy]

How many of those recruits showed up in the last few years when it was clear that McGuff had basically turned the team over to Mitchell? The cupboard is bare in Columbus, and it’s not going to get much better next season when the 5 hired guns McGuff brought in as RS Seniors all move on.

I'm not your stat boy; do your own research. And perhaps before you say something not true.

 

[oldude]

I'm not your stat boy; do your own research. And perhaps before you say something not true.

OK, here's the data for tOSU recruits from Hoopgurlz top 100 over the past 4 years:

• 2015 - 0 top 100 recruits
• 2016 - McCoy (16), Lewis (24) & Caretti (31) - Only Caretti is still a Buckeye
• 2017 - 0 top 100 recruits
• 2018 - Crooms (62)

I stated that the situation at tOSU with Mitchell and her father affected both recruits as well as existing players (transfers), and I continue to stand by that assessment.

If you're going to present alternative facts, I suggest you present relevant ones.

 

[Vowelguy]

Mavunga, Harper, and Calhoun all transferred in AFTER Mitchell was there, so they weren't scared off by her.
The 2016 recruits all signed AFTER Mitchell was there, so they weren't scared off by her.
Potential 2017 & 2018 recruits all would've started AFTER Mitchell left, so they weren't scared off by her.

No, perhaps the problem was/is McGuff and his failure to do more with his ample talent.

The notion that players avoided Ohio St _because_ of Mitchell is not supported by any facts.

 

[Ozimoto]

From reading all the replies it sounds like this year is going to be just like last year and the year before that...

As usual, sloppy play in games that start at noon...

Didn't seem to take care of the ball all that well at times.

Won by 32 points.

 

[CBus13]

OK, here's the data for tOSU recruits from Hoopgurlz top 100 over the past 4 years:

• 2015 - 0 top 100 recruits
• 2016 - McCoy (16), Lewis (24) & Caretti (31) - Only Caretti is still a Buckeye
• 2017 - 0 top 100 recruits
• 2018 - Crooms (62)

I stated that the situation at tOSU with Mitchell and her father affected both recruits as well as existing players (transfers), and I continue to stand by that assessment.

If you're going to present alternative facts, I suggest you present relevant ones.

Not that it changes much, but 2015 they recruited Kaylan Pugh who did show up but ended up transferring to Georgia Tech, but I don't see her on their roster anymore either. I also can't imagine Kelsey Mitchell's appearance on the OSU team would have that much affect on the 2015 class when most of those players were committed in the early signing period to teams. But this Ohio State team also had 6 freshmen, two highly regarded transfers (Shayla Cooper and Kianna Holland [who sadly never got back to her old form after a knee injury]) and two juniors (Craft and Alston) who had been starters for a year already and no seniors graduating. So there just wasn't much in terms of roster space available for recruits.

The 2015-2016 OSU roster had 15 players on it. Only two were finishing up their playing eligibility. Until Lisa Blair transferred to Kansas (which that may have been a suggestion) to make room for the 2016 class and then Pugh transferred mid-season. Going into the 2016-2017 season, OSU had roster at 14 players, and only one player, Cooper, expected to finish their playing career. I believe this is also the season the Joy Cheek moved to Vanderbilt. So, any connections Cheek had made with recruits needed to be re-connected with a new Assistant Coach or team. Ohio State was probably also being more critical about who to recruit since roster space was limited, but then Theresa Ekhelar, Kiara Lewis, and Tori McCoy transferred and Kianna Holland medically retired from play. So, Ohio State went from expecting to lose one player to losing 5.

But another thing is the senior class that just left had 5 players, who saw major minutes and then a junior who started. So that may have deterred players as well from coming in the 2017 year. But recruits may have also been paying attention to the lack of development of that class during their time at Ohio State. But I also think McGuff isn't a super personable coach. From local players I know around Columbus, a lot of them actually enjoyed Coach Mitchell as a person and recruiter more than McGuff. So, while I think the playing style "implemented" by Coach McGuff probably didn't appeal to front court players, it seemed like those who played with Kelsey enjoyed playing with her. They were all good friends off the court. I also think that Joy Cheek was the primary recruiter in the beginning and helped get the players (minus Mitchell) on board with being a Buckeye and when she left...they struggled even more so.

 

[oldude]

Mavunga, Harper, and Calhoun all transferred in AFTER Mitchell was there, so they weren't scared off by her.
The 2016 recruits all signed AFTER Mitchell was there, so they weren't scared off by her.
Potential 2017 & 2018 recruits all would've started AFTER Mitchell left, so they weren't scared off by her.

No, perhaps the problem was/is McGuff and his failure to do more with his ample talent.

The notion that players avoided Ohio St _because_ of Mitchell is not supported by any facts.

I agree that McGuff has done a poor job with talented players. But all of the transfers you mention, as well as the 2016 recruits all signed up to come to tOSU before Mitchell had played a single game during her sophomore year.

We can disagree on this, but the die wasn't cast yet imo. Mitchell was considered a freshman phenom. McGuff was building a powerhouse around her. Once all that talent got to Columbus, the situation was much different. The next two years, McGuff brought in one player, Janai Crooms, ranked 62nd in her class.

I don't know if you watched tOSU's 2nd round game vs Central MI last year in Columbus. I did, and what I saw was C MI blow open a close game as the Buckeyes quit in the 2nd half. To her credit, Mitchell played hard the whole game, but her teammates threw in the towel. There are several ways to interpret that performance, but it seemed obvious to me that tOSU was not a team, but a collection of individuals who were ready for the season to be over.