Overall thoughts on the first game

[pap49cba]

-- Caroline is back!

-- Team is going to be a work-in-progress during the first half of the season. At times I suspect they will look great and other times they will look like a pick-up team.

-- We may take some lumps early but come March, watch out.... particularly if we stay healthy.

-- Size will be a big issue against the top teams so Heather's continued progress could be critical.

-- KML is not going to shoot lights out every night. Get used to it. Part of Maya's growth as a player was learning different ways to score on 'off nights' and KML will learn the same things.

 

[speedoo]

-- Caroline is back!

-- Team is going to be a work-in-progress during the first half of the season. At times I suspect they will look great and other times they will look like a pick-up team.

-- We may take some lumps early but come March, watch out.... particularly if we stay healthy.

-- Size will be a big issue against the top teams so Heather's continued progress could be critical.

-- KML is not going to shoot lights out every night. Get used to it. Part of Maya's growth as a player was learning different ways to score on 'off nights' and KML will learn the same things.

Agree 100%.

 

[NCorBust]

Game Points
1. Geno has said several times much of the team’s offense will go through Stef. Well it did not look that way. Stef looked good as she should against this level of competition.
2. Hartley is still tied to high school basketball with her incessant dribbling, turnovers, and poor passing. No wonder she is getting on Geno’s nerves. Fortunately she is a scorer, so he must put up with her downside. Did not see the great leap forward players are supposed to make from their freshman year to their sophomore year.
3. Kelly is Kelly and still the head bricklayer. Fortunately all the rest is goodness.
4. Where was the slick running of Geno’s plays? Lots of standing around. This against Holy Cross!? I hope by January we are treated to what used to be … 3-5 passes ending in a score without a single dribble. Those were the days.
5. Kaleena is trying to displace Kelly as the head bricklayer. She is streaky! Hopefully against Stanford she will be good streaky. Good on the boards; just like you know who.
6. Kiah looks to understand the offense better than has been communicated. She shows real promise. I am feeling confident by January she will be a real positive for the team.
7. Tif 2 of 8 on 2 pt. shots. Ouch! Got to finish at the hoop. Again this is against Holy Cross. Come ‘on man, ah, wo-man.
8. Tif’s 3 pt. shots were a strong point. Nice rebounding. Really good overall.
9. Doty is looking good. Really played very well in all aspects of her game.
10. Coaches must be really down on Johnson. Would have like to see more than 5 minute of her. “She has to get stronger.” Sheesh! There are definite body types and her body type is not going to get thicker and stronger. Did they not understand this when they recruited her? Geno, look up ectomorph!
11. When Banks stops worrying about making mistakes, she will contribute. See January.
12. Heather! Dude! I know it just Holy Cross, but looooooking goooood! Nice numbers for 14 minutes.
13. Overall, considering it is Holy Cross, it was a tad ragged. Execution needs improving. Talent won the game, no necessarily execution.
14. Yeah, yeah! I know it is one game and a single data point does not a trend make.

 

[Dairyair]

I was at the game,and thought i'd add my 2 cents:

1) They introduced Caroline last, and the fans blew the roof off for her. Wish I could have joined in the yelling more, but I was verklempt!
1a) I "iso-ed" on CD quite a lot, and she looked to be moving really well, better than I expected. And she played more minutes than I expected.
2) When I got home, I read the game threads...apparently the team looked a lot worse in HD than in person. No, we didn't blow them out like last year, but the starting five DID play well. There were so many combinations thrown in there that I think that hurt our flow.
3) Tiff had a really strong all around game, large and in charge.
4) Heather came in and once she calmed down, she played pretty well. My only grip was one of her rebounds she put on the floor and lost it.
5) KLM had a good game with the exception of her 3-point shot, but that will come. Her overall game is impressive, especially for a frosh...her basketball IQ is off the charts!
6)Kelly seemed to be the first one off the floor, and the lack of minutes (I haven't looked at the box yet) may have hurt her.
7) I thought I heard on the way home that Stef only ended up with seven boards...if that's the case, I'm surprised. I thought to myself in the first half that she wasn't scoring, but was getting a lot of rebounds. BTW, for my money, Stef is worth the price of admission just to watch her warm up...always smiling and having fun
8) Something I'll bet the coaches will point out is how easily HC seemed to sneak in behind our defense, receive a nice entry pass, and complete the layup. Lost count of how many times this happened.
Overall, certainly not a game for the ages, but I feel no less confident for the season...we will be fine

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think Kelly's misses were off by a lot more than Kaleena's. Both will shoot better.

I agree about Tiff needing to convert when she gets inside.

Considering that the team had the benefit of the trip to Italy, I'm a little disappointed as to where their their progress is. But they will get better over the course of the season. We'll get a sense of how tough and resourceful they are on November 21.

 

[Icebear]

We do need to remember that 8 of these players are relatively new, freshmen and sophomores.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I'm totally at a loss at what might happen v. Stanford. Could be a blow out (them) or a close game -- mostly because the team will HAVE to work as a team. I'm wondering if Geno's "small" means physically, not height-wise. Not sure how we're going to keep both the sisters in check....

 

[EricLA]

a few things - the radio announcers were saying that HC will be a MUCH better team this year than they have been in the past few years. i think the fact that UCONN held them to such a low offensive out put is an indication that our defense, as usual, is ahead of our offense.

i was VERY pleasantly surprised about the reports re: Caroline - how she played, how she shot, and how many effective minutes she was able to log (22). i sort of figured early on Geno would use her for 5-8 minutes each half to start the game and she'd get somewhere between 12-15 MPG. not so apparently!

I'm also with Milford in being a bit disappointed since the team had so much time to play together from their trip to Italy. i hate to see what we'd have looked like with 3 weeks less of practice, especially given the several comments about the abundance of standing around.

i'm very encouraged by the play of Heather and Kiah. i think our backups in the post will be just fine, and by march, will actually be a favorable force for UCONN. as for KML, not concerned, but disappointed that her shooting was so far off. i'm sure she's not pleased either. but our 3 point shooting was awesome if you discount Kelly and KML's 0-9 performance. weren't there reports that Kelly was one of the most solid shooters in the preseason? i as also disappointed in her performance. it's great that her defense is so solid, but honestly, UCONN will need offense, and i can see her minutes eventually dropping if she's simply unable to score.

 

[Kibitzer]

Game one. UConn won just about the way you would expect in game one.

Next up, Pacific. I like our chances.

 

[Georgestarr7]

I agree with almost everything said here except the feeling of disappointment expressed by some. Yeah, there were times when we were flat but it is the first game and there were a lot of different lineups tried out. Also, from my perspective HC is a much better team this year than what I remember from last year. There were times when they executed very smoothly in the face of what looked to me to be a good defense.
I also want to add that MJ is looking really good except she is really slow running on that knee. It seemed to slow her more than in the Pace game.

 

[speedoo]

I'm totally at a loss at what might happen v. Stanford. Could be a blow out (them) or a close game -- mostly because the team will HAVE to work as a team. I'm wondering if Geno's "small" means physically, not height-wise. Not sure how we're going to keep both the sisters in check....

Why not a blow out for us? Better chance for that than one the other way, imo, because it's at our place and our 3 point shooting is potentially better.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Yah think? I just don't get that scoring feel from the team. Yet. Of course, it's possible Stanford won't be able to defend KML 'cause they have no tape on her. ;-)

I dunno. All I know is I'm looking forward to the game, and if there was a ticket to be had, I'd go up.

Why not a blow out for us? Better chance for that than one the other way, imo, because it's at our place and our 3 point shooting is potentially better.

 

[speedoo]

Yah think? I just don't get that scoring feel from the team. Yet. Of course, it's possible Stanford won't be able to defend KML 'cause they have no tape on her. ;-)

I dunno. All I know is I'm looking forward to the game, and if there was a ticket to be had, I'd go up.

Is it sold out? Even if it is, you could probably get a ticket. It's been a few years since a Hartford game sold out, I think.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Not sure I want to do the up-and-down on the bus for a $10 ticket (that's what XL said they had).

 

[DaddyChoc]

I dont think this team has played together yet... someone important has been out of action each game... am I wrong?

 

[NCorBust]

Yah think? I just don't get that scoring feel from the team. Yet. Of course, it's possible Stanford won't be able to defend KML 'cause they have no tape on her. ;-)

I dunno. All I know is I'm looking forward to the game, and if there was a ticket to be had, I'd go up.

Yeah, 77 points against Holy Cross is not going to get it done against Stanford. Don't see the "D" keeping the Ogwumike sisters in check.

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Is it sold out? Even if it is, you could probably get a ticket. It's been a few years since a Hartford game sold out, I think.

Last year's game against FSU (for win #89) looked sold out to me.

 

[ladybears4eva]

I'm sure Holy Cross's defense isn't at the caliber that a top school like Stanford, ESPECIALLY TAMU and BAYLOR have at this point. So i agree 77 points on HC is not a good sign.

Maybe the 3pt shooting woes will get better with time, patience, and less nerves...KML is a freshman after all.

I think I'm only disappointed in Farris, Dolson, and Hartley at this point. I thought they would be better than this, and after reading all the hype this board among other critics had on those three....I thought they would be stellar.

Dolson and Hartley played in U18 team, Italy tour, and practice and didn't perform up to par.

Funny thing is, i expected Hayes to underperform, according to allot of the critics on here and around the nation, but she did well with her 3pt shooting, despite not finishing inside on a team that isn't defensively built like a Stanford, TAMU, or Baylor. It's Holy Cross... and It was a home game for Connecticut.

We will see how they play next game, I'm sure Geno and CD will be tough on them this week and get them ready to flow better, and try not to turn the ball over.

I still think Sims is better than Hartley, by a long shot.

Dolson still doesn't look ready to deal with Griner at all... so all they hype about Dolson form the board and critics is uncalled for. I figure you earn praise, not expect it at any elite program. Right?

Tina worked so hard, as does Griner, in the post, to develop, get positioning and finish a point.

Griner has improved each year, and this year she finally has some rebounding to go with her points, considering she doesn't really play more than 23 minutes up to this point.

I really like UCONN, in fact after watching some of Stanfords game and watching Nneka (or Chiney) and her team struggle to put down opponents no.23 and lower (for a top 5 team, at least), i was thinking (or hoping) they would have a hard time in Connecticut, but i have my doubts.

To better days on the court, and that when we play UCONN it will be no. 1 vs. no. 2, (hoping we beat UCLA, ND, and TENN, and you all beat Stanford).

 

[Icebear]

Geno is, also, not going to play the hodge pudge shuttle bus he had going much of the game against a first flight team.

 

[DMW88]

Didn't we win by 40 ? Wow...doom and gloom

 

[meyers7]

I thought they would be better than this, and after reading all the hype this board among other communist had on those three....

Yea, well you really can't trust communists. They are known for their propaganda.

 

[JS]

i was VERY pleasantly surprised about the reports re: Caroline . . . Heather and Kiah.

Those are my main takeaways. Good solid answers to three of the question marks entering the season. A physically sound Caroline who can step right back into the thick of things, and backups in the post who look strong and effective and had nice lines for the minutes played.

Am not especially concerned by the lack of coordination out there much of the time. Shuttle-bus subbing unrelated to game conditions, seeing people in action, working on different things. Dolson could've scored 50 points if that was the objective.

So my takeaways focus on the status of a few individuals and not the score (ridiculous consideration) or team play at this point.

Will need a broader sampling of Hartley's game at off-guard, and so will she. It was hardly a bad performance, and "should've been better" brings a shrug to my shoulders, as it's practically a meaningless judgment in the context of a game like this. Three point shooting? The least of my worries for this team, which has three players each of whom in many seasons past would've been the primary three-point threat.

For our Lady Bears visitor, if we must look that far ahead based on a first game like this, Stef will do OK on defense against Griner IMO, as much as anybody can do OK. She'll have help and a game plan behind her. I expect that one to be a rare underdog role for UConn in Waco, and am looking forward to it. Everybody marks it down as UConn's most probable loss. So do I, but I love the way Geno's teams have historically punctured opposing balloons in that situation.

And I like even more the prospects for growth of a young team by the time season-end rolls around.

 

[UConnCat]

Am not especially concerned by the lack of coordination out there much of the time. Shuttle-bus subbing unrelated to game conditions, seeing people in action, working on different things. Dolson could've scored 50 points if that was the objective. So my takeaways focus on individuals and not team play at this point.

I think at one point in his presser Geno was asked why the team didn't go more to Dolson and Geno said because it was too easy. As you note, there were other things to work on.

 

[VAMike23]

I think at one point in his presser Geno was asked why the team didn't go more to Dolson and Geno said because it was too easy. As you note, there were other things to work on.

I heard him say that too

 

[stamfordhusky]

a few things - the radio announcers were saying that HC will be a MUCH better team this year than they have been in the past few years. i think the fact that UCONN held them to such a low offensive out put is an indication that our defense, as usual, is ahead of our offense.

I think the radio announcers may have been carried away. HC was picked for 5th in the Patriot League in their recent coaches' poll, and they are a very young team.