Positive thoughts on our Slump

[Tonyc]

Well we have seen some progress over the past couple of games. Molly and Kyla the other day showed signs of confidence and they were rewarded last nite with more playtime. Both played very well. MW a great nite last nite and that great big smile will change her. I found coaching girls if you can put a smile on their face they play well. A smile relaxes them and as we have seen breeds confidence and confidence leads to good things. Against ND we needed somebody to step up and CW did that. Against USF we saw our non starters step up especially Kyla and Molly. Last nite we needed somebody to step up and MW did that. We have seen some positive signs during this slump.

Our shooting is way off. Maybe Geno needs to take the team to the movies and get their minds off what they're doing. It seems to be in their heads and maybe theyre thinking to much. Maybe theyre thinking to much about mechanics instead of just shooting the ball. There were times that it seemed we couldnt throw the ball in the ocean. IMO the best way to fix that is start from 3 ft from the basket and shoot shots and then moving 3 paces back and shoot more and continue moving back 3 paces until you reach the 3 pt line. How many shots should you shoot. You shoot until you feel the confidence set in. You do it as long as it takes. We are in a shooting slump right now and it cant get any worse. The good news is it can only get better.

What bothers me is the turnovers our guards are making. To many TO's. We need to dribble penetrate more and take more shots from inside the arc. We are missing to many wide open long range shots.

As poorly as we shot the ball from deep last nite we won on their court by over 40. Thats very impressive to me. The defense was there. We are slowly getting out of our slump. We are too talented to be playing this poorly offensively.

The good news is we are seeing signs of improvement from Kyle Molly and Megan. I hope its contagious. The really good news is are poor shooting cant get any worse and can only get better. When things turn around and we clear our minds from all the garbage that we're thinking about and we regain our confidence, focus and poise we are gonna be unbeatable again.

 

[LoTrader]

I found coaching girls if you can put a smile on their face they play well.

SO TRUE

 

[BigBird]

I can’t recall the source, but somebody said,”men are happy if they win; women will win if they’re happy.”

 

[BroadwayVa]

Well we have seen some progress over the past couple of games. Molly and Kyla the other day showed signs of confidence and they were rewarded last nite with more playtime. Both played very well. MW a great nite last nite and that great big smile will change her. I found coaching girls if you can put a smile on their face they play well. A smile relaxes them and as we have seen breeds confidence and confidence leads to good things. Against ND we needed somebody to step up and CW did that. Against USF we saw our non starters step up especially Kyla and Molly. Last nite we needed somebody to step up and MW did that. We have seen some positive signs during this slump.

Our shooting is way off. Maybe Geno needs to take the team to the movies and get their minds off what they're doing. It seems to be in their heads and maybe theyre thinking to much. Maybe theyre thinking to much about mechanics instead of just shooting the ball. There were times that it seemed we couldnt throw the ball in the ocean. IMO the best way to fix that is start from 3 ft from the basket and shoot shots and then moving 3 paces back and shoot more and continue moving back 3 paces until you reach the 3 pt line. How many shots should you shoot. You shoot until you feel the confidence set in. You do it as long as it takes. We are in a shooting slump right now and it cant get any worse. The good news is it can only get better.

What bothers me is the turnovers our guards are making. To many TO's. We need to dribble penetrate more and take more shots from inside the arc. We are missing to many wide open long range shots.

As poorly as we shot the ball from deep last nite we won on their court by over 40. Thats very impressive to me. The defense was there. We are slowly getting out of our slump. We are too talented to be playing this poorly offensively.

The good news is we are seeing signs of improvement from Kyle Molly and Megan. I hope its contagious. The really good news is are poor shooting cant get any worse and can only get better. When things turn around and we clear our minds from all the garbage that we're thinking about and we regain our confidence, focus and poise we are gonna be unbeatable again.

An awful lot to agree with here. Big steps for Molly. One poster suggested Geno needs to tell Molly to shoot more, but Molly (published) is quoted to say she in for defense because there are many scorers--
CW, Megan must NOT defer to anyone---if the path is open drive make the shot, take the 3, if Napheesa or Dangers shots aren't falling someone other than KLS has to shoot and score.
Walker is now in trouble--she has proven she can take over a game--shooters must shoot, scorers must take over when the taking is good.

 

[vtcwbuff]

"but Molly (published) is quoted to say she in for defense because there are many scorers-- "

Not a good attitude. I wonder if the coaches agree with that?
The game is played at both ends of the court. I think Bent has the highest scoring average on the team (or close to it). It makes no sense for her to not look to score.

 

[msf22b]

It will be very interesting if this team and the staff can pull themselves together to perform in a manner more in keeping with what we understand to be UConn Woman's BB.

I have some reservations but it is folly to underestimate Geno and co.

 

[itsasport]

Despite continued lousy shooting and sloppy offensive play: there were a couple of nice baby-steps forward. Megan another good game, tough under the glass and confident play despite the uneven shooting.

Sweet move by Molly.

Most importantly,. a decent game by Ono. Interesting that she was the early and first sub. That had to make her feel good. She had a decent game. Was tough under the basket, got a lot of rebounds, very importantly, was fouled a lot.

If she had played a few more minutes, she would have had a double=double

Someone just has to inform her that the first foul shot is not a practice shot.
.

 

[CL82]

My favorite part of this thread that a one loss season to date (with the loss coming to a very good Baylor) is a slump for us. I agree and as I noted in a different thread, something doesn't look quite right.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

If you lose 1 game, is it a slump?

 

[Blueballer]

I prefer our "slump" to Tennessee's

 

[Bama fan]

If you lose 1 game, is it a slump?

Here, it is. Winning is not the true goal. Winning by a huge margin where everyone gets great stats and life is beautiful all day long is the BY standard, or at least a large portion of the BY. Many are not happy unless they are unhappy! But it makes every day interesting.

 

[CL82]

If you lose 1 game, is it a slump?

Ironically, it would still be slump if we'd won at Baylor. It is a level of play issue.

 

[tomcat]

That's exactly right, but there are two levels of performance to talk about. First, this team, however good it is on average, is performing below-average most of the time. Most of the third quarter at Tulane was abysmal, and this team seems to have a period like that in them almost every game. Their shooting, on the whole, is waaaay off. Just look at Napheesa, whose inconsistency is really troubling. Williams has chosen a rough time to disappear. Let's hope Walker's Tulane game is a sign of great things to come, but there are no guarantees.

The other consideration is that this is not, under any circumstances as talented a team as we have seen in past years, and that statement begins and ends with a talented center. I am absolutely no Azure fan, but her presence would have positively changed this team a lot and would have taken some of the pressure off players like Williams, if for no other reason than there would be one more talented starter, never mind a tall one.

No, we're not doomed, but I agree with those who say that it'll be a good year if we get to the final four (I have tickets, so I sure hope that's the case). Anything more is gravy, and depending on recruiting, it may be a while before we see better from future teams. Right now, I'm going to enjoy whatever good performances we can see and not worry much about chasing perfection. Chasing victory will have to be good enough.

 

[HopJim]

Overall, not very concerned with "slump." HEAVY travel surrounding finals and holiday break don't always lend itself to sharp play. Most are using Temple and other recent games as ammunition, but I look at it and say this is about as poorly as UConn plays and overall we are averaging about 85-90 a game and limiting other teams to 60 or under. Yeah, just terrible
A few other thoughts:
-I don't understand the UConn offense the past 4-5 games where there are a lot of drives that get within 4 feet of the basket to see the ball get rotated out 30 feet. Love 3 pointers but nothing wrong with layups and the fouls they draw.
-Virtually everyone on the team shoots a high percentage from 10 feet but haven't seen any schemes to take advantage of this. Would be good tactic to get Katy Lou and Williams in sync. I see UConn getting mugged many games and not a big fan of relying so much on 3 pointers in playoffs (Exhibit A=Baylor).
-I have coached AAU women's basketball and one of my shooting programs was to watch videos of KLS's shooting style. I pulled out a few older videos and she seems stiff and drifting on some shots. Suspect she is also watching as I am and that we will see a 30 point game shortly.
-I saw an older video of Geno who spoke of the need for everyone, including the coach, to adjust their style each year based on competition, team makeup and a variety of other factors. The past 6 years Geno has had 4 National Titles followed by 2 undefeated seasons. There has been little reason to change so suspect he is struggling a bit to get in this mode again. No slight on Geno-normal for most teams. The fact UConn that UConn is rarely normal (meant in positive way) doesn't eliminate the need to change and how difficult it is.

 

[Los24]

My favorite parts of the "slump" are these two things:

1- they are learning to scrap and win close games, past seasons its was rare and it showed in FF.
2- its forcing others to step up to build a team rather than an Asia Durr, Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum, etc... mentality of watching one player (or two) win it.

 

[Carnac]

My favorite parts of the "slump" are these two things:

1- they are learning to scrap and win close games, past seasons its was rare and it showed in FF.
2- its forcing others to step up to build a team rather than an Asia Durr, Kelsey Mitchell, Kelsey Plum, etc... mentality of watching one player (or two) win it.

One more basket or free throw in regulation in both of those games, and UConn would be boasting about their 13 national championships.

 

[veryolddog]

I totally, concur with what you are saying, TonyC. Whatever the AAC is, it is a great practice experience for the UConn women's team where the bench can gain confidence and step up to play in more serious games.

The team is still winning. Louisville will be a good test as well as South Carolina. Maybe there is parity. Maybe, UConn women are playing like everyone else. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Whatever, I still enjoy watching them play, root for them and, like you, I am hopeful that they will win.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I guess I'm spoiled after watching so many years of the smooth running UConn machine.

I think of this year's team as a high performance V8 running on only 7 cylinders. It will still get you down the road but it ain't as much fun to drive.

 

[DEpup]

I just have a lot of flashbacks to 2013 and I hope this year ends like that year!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

"but Molly (published) is quoted to say she in for defense because there are many scorers-- "

Not a good attitude. I wonder if the coaches agree with that?
The game is played at both ends of the court. I think Bent has the highest scoring average on the team (or close to it). It makes no sense for her to not look to score.

It is my belief that Uconn kids don't speak publically without repeating what was told to them. No, they are not puppets, but Molly's words have a ring to them that sound like Geno---HOWEVER, you can believe Geno wants her to drill the OPEN 3.