Post game thread (merged thread)

[psconn]

Just watched the game because I was unable to see it live. Without the "benefit" of reading this thread or reviewing stats first here are my main impressions...

-- I think Evina looks great, even better than last year. She looks ready to take this season through the final four.
-- Paige looks like the reigning National Player of the Year. She actually looks stronger and quicker than last year. She's ready for the long run also.
-- Christyn looks like 2020 Christyn and that was pretty dang good. I don't detect a significant uptick in her game.
-- The posts have lots of work to do. This was supposed to be a strength, but in general they didn't have a good game. Liv looks strong, but committed some bad fouls (along with Aaliyah). I think they will progress well as the year goes on but not ready for a major challenge yet.
-- Dorka just looked a bit lost. This was my biggest disappointment and its hard to explain.
-- For all Azzi's talk about her defence, she was completely unable to keep anyone in front of her one-on-one (that was a general difficulty for everyone). She definitely looked overwhelmed on both ends. I'm pretty sure this will all improve dramatically over the next month or so. It has to.
-- Caroline looked lost also. Just played a few minutes so its hard to say more.
-- Nika was unable to make a big impact.

So, my expectations were apparently too high for this team out of the gate. Geno, staff and players have a ton of work to do before they can be considered a championship favorite BUT the potential is there, and I hope to see a lot of improvement over time. The key is that it will take time.

 

[psconn]

Geno yelled at AE in the late 4Q after a timeout. It's scary and I hope the freshmen have the big heart to play under pressure.

She definitely deserved it. I was yelling at her too. You can't just step aside when you have position regardless of your foul status.

 

[hoophuskee]

4. Damn, those officials where whistle happy. Seemed like a lot of touchy fouls. Let them play a little. No wonder Bueckers could play 40 minutes, she was got plenty of breathers.

I didn't make a big deal about the refs. What was comical was that Arkansas as a team (not just one player) so often just drove the lane with extremely limited intent to score but to draw fouls. In this type of situation, this style, puts constant pressure on the refs to avoid the offensive flopping. I'm sure every time they flop to the floor the Ark bench is after the ref "to make the call."

I'm not sure long-term how you're helping a player develop a winning style of play by trying to do this- maybe it's okay - maybe it isn't. But how much will you get a better during the course of the season if you try to rely on the refs to make bail out calls? But then again maybe for this one game Ark plays much different (and vs SC) and play ot a style that is bets for not getting wiped out.

 

[MSGRET]

All this doom and gloom, UConn beat a team that will be in the Tournament at the end of the year and will give the SEC teams some trouble. While the defending National Champion went down on it's home court to another team that is ranked #25, just barely above where Arkansas should be. This was their first game while Arkansas was playing their third game, it will only get better from here on out.

 

[hjoerring]

Its amazing the conclusions so many can put forth from one game-- a first game, and a game against a very good team. Remember this team had only one exhibition game prior to its opening. And I hardly think any of the current top teams would have written AK as a sure win on their opening day. I'm going to put myself in that unsavory bin labeled-- Chasing Perfection. Rather than the temping one-- Perfection Achieved.
First, my memories about the Stewart's era failed to show a team that blasted out of the gate with championship written all over the place. Jefferson had issues and Stewart was rightfully benched. In the end, the 5 dominated the minutes and learned to play together as a whole unit. And so that story continued until there were no other places to conquer. Any idea that this current team should steam-rolled AK doesn't make sense for me. Well, it's a wishful desire one may have, but one that will surely end in disappointment.

One un-ease that I have difficulties shaking regarding this current team is the lack of a killer instinct. PB is the only one who is willing and fearless. (CW has some of it and Edwards can, if her hands are not tied) EW has decided (it seems to me) to play a too controlled style, as if she is still suffering from her Tenn years when they dubbed her as a selfish player. She can put points on the board and a lot more would help.
The big danger I hope the team can avoid is that PB (w/ the media) casts such a big shadow that the players-- including the very able ones, settle for the crumbs instead of doing their own baking. Fudd of course could break-out and bring the other freshmen with her to balance PB.

For me, the game went as I might have expected-- jitters from the seniors who are now counting downward; nervousness from the beginners; players rotations and roles/expectations.
Remember. This team won over SC-- a tall and good rebounding team; matched a high scoring Iowa team, even though we were not supposed to be a scoring team; and, it took down Baylor-- a tall, physical and athletic team with seniors headed to the WNBA. And we have more and capable bodies this year.

 

[oldude]

Geno yelled at AE in the late 4Q after a timeout. It's scary and I hope the freshmen have the big heart to play under pressure.

Aaliyah deserved to get yelled at. She basically allowed an Arkansas player an uncontested layup because she had 4 fouls. Geno was yelling at her to at least get her hands up.

 

[boontonbomber]

I understand the point you are trying to make just would like to dismiss that comparison to Stewie Freshman team. That Stewie team gave up 80 points exactly 1 time during that season and it took ND 3 OT periods to get there. That team also held #1 Stanford to 35 points for a game on their home court. That team was also packed with world class defenders. UCONN fans are very spoiled by the success of the program I'll admit that. Being spoiled and knowledgeable are not mutual exclusively. Those same fans have a pretty good idea of what championship basketball looks like and that was not it. It may have been just one game, but this game highlighted recurring issues. Paige is well on her way to winning more POY awards but may not realize a NCAA championship unless UCONN achieves more consistent post play and plays significantly better perimeter defense. Every UCONN starter shot better than 50% during this game and Liv and Aaaliyah were each a point away from all 5 starters being in double figures. Arkansas was an unranked team and UCONN was up 17 to 2 within the first five minutes of the game. For the last 3.5 quarters of this game UCONN was basically content to trade basket with Arkansas-aka shootout. What was also disappointing about this game in particular and the last 3 UCONN teams (thus the recurring) is the lack of leadership, communication and total team commitment necessary to make defensive stops. One of Geno great teaching points which he emphasizes at every clinic he gives is that communication on defense is more important than it is on offense. With this team i don't see or hear defensive communication and believe me I looking and listening very closely. I've also come to believe the scout (pre game plan) are not be followed. What I see are individual uncoordinated defensive actions. For example some defenders are choosing to go under screen while others are choosing to fight over. For the post players I also see hesitation on the weak side rotations leaving our bigs in no man's land-meaning they are not able to help contest the shot and they are in horrible rebounding position. That is not how this are supposed to work for even mediocre defensive teams. First and foremost the scout has to set the general foundation and it is supposed to cover the basics such as: Are they pushing the ball handlers to their weak hand (usually the case). Since you know the high ball screens are coming are we going over or under? Does this team have any pick and pop bigs-like Stanford does? Where is my help coming from? I'll use Azzi as an example -Azzi's perimeter defense was abysmal today. Every time Azzi got beat off the dribble there was no help. Azzi is going to get beat-they are all going to get beat sometimes. Azzi has to do her part to get better but Azzi is not her own help. An improvement will only come from better communication & coordination by SOMEONE/ANYONE yelling: "Azzi I got you your help, push her right! One of the other hallmarks of UCONN teams is that the players on the bench are learning from the mistakes that are made by the players on the floor. That didn't happen in this game. Dorka should have been learning from watching Liv, Aaliyah should have learned from watching Dorka and Liv. All three players were repeating the same mistakes. Likewise Nika and Carolinne should have learned from Azzi defensive struggles. Instead the same Arkansas player ( Spencer) beat Azzi off the dribble the same way she beat Caroline and the same way she beat Nika. Spencer is not a starter for Arkansas and the move she used to beat Caroline, Azzi and Nika didn't even require her to change direction. I'm not suggesting its easy but it is very necessary and UCONN WBB has always had someone willing and and able to do it. Freshman Morgan Tuck stepped in and did it for and ailing Dolson in the 2013 FF. Kia Nurse did it on the fly (without a time out) and it help UCONN come back from 10 Point deficit in the 4th Quarter against ND in 2017.

and the most important part of all of that "learning" must come from the highly paid foursome on that bench. you make it sound like the learning should be self-guided. and most of that learning must come in practice, not during games. when was the last time UConn had a really strong defensive team? who is mainly to blame for that? they won with Stewart because she was a one-person bail-out option. they will never win another title unless the coaches do something about the defense.

 

[CocoHusky]

and the most important part of all of that "learning" must come from the highly paid threesome on that bench. you make it sound like the learning should be self-guided. and most of that learning must come in practice, not during games. when was the last time UConn had a really strong defensive team? who is mainly to blame for that? they won with Stewart because she was a one-person bail-out option. they will never win another title unless the coahes do something about the defense.

IDK.... I haven't been to a UCONN practice lately. I'm pretty sure that "highly paid threesome" is still running the same defensive shell drills that were being taught to the Stewie teams. Learning is this case is not self-guided but at some point "individual" defensive pride, accountability and growth has got to kick in. I'm putting this one squarely on the players. Two years ago when Geno commented about players not responding to coaching I suspect this was a part of what he was talking about.

I'd be really anxious to hear from some of our fans that sit close enough to the floor to confirm or alleviate my fear that the required defensive communication is or is not happening happening. Maybe it is and I just don't see it or hear it.

BTW Stewie was an outstanding bail out option but far from a "one-person" defensive option. Stewie shared the floor with some players that would easily be on UCONN's WBB Defensive Mt. Rushmore. Kelly Faris, Moriah Jefferson, Kiah Stokes, Kia Nurse and Morgan Tuck. Tuck especially never gets enough credit for her defensive prowess. As a freshman Morgan had enough mobility to go on the perimeter and guard the likes of Jewell Loyd and Kayla McBride and was Dolson primary back up at center. Her injury limited her versatility and she could no longer guard on the perimeter but as a post defender she was truly world class. Just ask Alaina Coates, Brionna Jones, Ruth Hamblin, Imani Boyette, or Nebraska Jessica Shepard.

 

[Heytherego]

Really cool stat

 

[Stymie]

If Coach Geno and his assistants can get UCONN’s team defense anywhere near respectable/serviceable for the southern trip, I will consider them miracle workers.
They looked embarrassingly bad on the D end.
Also, gonna need to get Deberry some minutes. Will need her on the court when the other three bigs get in foul trouble.

 

[jdote33]

I said it in the game chat yesterday but I was still a bit disappointed that Paige had to play 40 minutes. At the end of the day though, she seems built for it and I know she hates coming out so she's living the dream. It's just interesting that one of Geno's quotes after the FF loss was that the team was too reliant on Paige and you can't win like that. Then we play her 40 minutes at home vs Arkansas. A lineup of Nika, EW, CW, AE, and ONO should be able to generate good offense. Or even replace Nika with .

 

[Cuango]

I understand the point you are trying to make just would like to dismiss that comparison to Stewie Freshman team. That Stewie team gave up 80 points exactly 1 time during that season and it took ND 3 OT periods to get there. That team also held #1 Stanford to 35 points for a game on their home court. That team was also packed with world class defenders. UCONN fans are very spoiled by the success of the program I'll admit that. Being spoiled and knowledgeable are not mutual exclusively. Those same fans have a pretty good idea of what championship basketball looks like and that was not it. It may have been just one game, but this game highlighted recurring issues. Paige is well on her way to winning more POY awards but may not realize a NCAA championship unless UCONN achieves more consistent post play and plays significantly better perimeter defense. Every UCONN starter shot better than 50% during this game and Liv and Aaaliyah were each a point away from all 5 starters being in double figures. Arkansas was an unranked team and UCONN was up 17 to 2 within the first five minutes of the game. For the last 3.5 quarters of this game UCONN was basically content to trade basket with Arkansas-aka shootout. What was also disappointing about this game in particular and the last 3 UCONN teams (thus the recurring) is the lack of leadership, communication and total team commitment necessary to make defensive stops. One of Geno great teaching points which he emphasizes at every clinic he gives is that communication on defense is more important than it is on offense. With this team i don't see or hear defensive communication and believe me I looking and listening very closely. I've also come to believe the scout (pre game plan) are not be followed. What I see are individual uncoordinated defensive actions. For example some defenders are choosing to go under screen while others are choosing to fight over. For the post players I also see hesitation on the weak side rotations leaving our bigs in no man's land-meaning they are not able to help contest the shot and they are in horrible rebounding position. That is not how this are supposed to work for even mediocre defensive teams. First and foremost the scout has to set the general foundation and it is supposed to cover the basics such as: Are they pushing the ball handlers to their weak hand (usually the case). Since you know the high ball screens are coming are we going over or under? Does this team have any pick and pop bigs-like Stanford does? Where is my help coming from? I'll use Azzi as an example -Azzi's perimeter defense was abysmal today. Every time Azzi got beat off the dribble there was no help. Azzi is going to get beat-they are all going to get beat sometimes. Azzi has to do her part to get better but Azzi is not her own help. An improvement will only come from better communication & coordination by SOMEONE/ANYONE yelling: "Azzi I got you your help, push her right! One of the other hallmarks of UCONN teams is that the players on the bench are learning from the mistakes that are made by the players on the floor. That didn't happen in this game. Dorka should have been learning from watching Liv, Aaliyah should have learned from watching Dorka and Liv. All three players were repeating the same mistakes. Likewise Nika and Carolinne should have learned from Azzi defensive struggles. Instead the same Arkansas player ( Spencer) beat Azzi off the dribble the same way she beat Caroline and the same way she beat Nika. Spencer is not a starter for Arkansas and the move she used to beat Caroline, Azzi and Nika didn't even require her to change direction. I'm not suggesting its easy but it is very necessary and UCONN WBB has always had someone willing and and able to do it. Freshman Morgan Tuck stepped in and did it for and ailing Dolson in the 2013 FF. Kia Nurse did it on the fly (without a time out) and it help UCONN come back from 10 Point deficit in the 4th Quarter against ND in 2017.

I learned only one thing from watching this game. Paige is even better than I thought.

It's no surprise to me that we couldn't move our feet quickly enough to stop opposing guard's penetration. I don't want to say anything negative but Azzi stood out in that regard. She plays like a private school kid who never had to play someone truly hungry in her life. I get that she has tons of USA basketball experience and I like her a lot but a quick guard like Ari McDonald would eat her for lunch and have dinner too before she knew what hit her. Overall though, except for the defense, she didn't hurt them. She didn't turn it over. She was 3 for 7. The defense will improve but she needs to play defense with a commitment to intensity that she hasn't seemed to learn yet. She has to cut off those driving lanes. Live with the 3 point attempts more if necessary but force people to their off hand. Get in front of them. Maybe she was trying too much to cut off the 3 ball today.

I'd like to see what Caroline can do in more than 4 minutes. She's not physically quick but her length really helps. If you really study Caroline's game, she thinks quickly and reacts quickly. She might actually be able to block those drives to the basket better than Azzi. She reacts quickly for a big player. That's the biggest strength for Paige also. Paige is instantaneous. Everyone else still needs to upgrade the CPU and you know what, that just can't be done. The wiring is what it is. Was Larry Bird brilliant? Hell no, but on the basketball floor he made great decisions quickly. Body control is thousands of minute adjustments in real time. Reaction time is important. I think Caroline might emerge is she's given a chance. Height and length really helps also and Caroline can do so many things well. I think her CPU is not an M1 chip but she's the latest generation intel at least. I like her passing and her decision making. She even has another level of intensity in her that comes out when she's pressured to the max. She's a survivor.

Dorka looked slower today than before but I'd still give her at least 25 minutes PT. Dorka is our best rebounder and a great offensive rebounder. She actually blocks out folks. If the team is going to set multiple picks to free up Paige and Christin then set the picks with a bigger player and hit the boards. We really could dominate the boards even against top teams but Dorka has to play. Imagine Uconn as a 3 point shooting team with stronger interior rebounding and post play. What a difference another 4-5 rebounds a game would provide and Dorka can do that. It's only a matter of time before Dorka emerges.

Christin is the most underated player on this team. She is a championship level player and without her this team would really struggle. I LOVE her intensity. My heart goes out to that kid. She deserves so much more positive press than she gets. If she had more help the past few years there would have been a championship or 2 for her as well. Maybe this year. I watched the Notre Game game when she was a freshman. All that build up and she comes out and nails 7 for 7 to start. She was their best player in that game, at least in the 1st half, as a Freshman. She rises to the occasion in big games. She showed it in the tournament last year as well, on top of playing the opposing teams best player.

We can't expect Paige to replicate today's game but is there any question that she's more of a shooting guard than a point guard? Make her the shooting guard for God's sake and set picks for her like today. Remember Danny Manning or Larry Bird in college? One great player can make a dominant team if the supporting cast does their job helping her and playing defense. Such a supporting cast could be improved with Dorka helping to rebound and we find a way to take away those drives to the basket from the opposing guards. I'd go with 2 bigs for sure against most teams.

I'm a huge fan of these girls. I look forward to every game.

You are right that one great player surrounded by the right players can make a dominant team. However, eventually they face a team that simply has too much talent and the great player just is not enough! This is what happened with Bird in the National Championship game. Magic cancelled Bird out and the rest of the team simply could not match up.

I have no doubt that if you took Bird and inserted him onto Michigan State and put Magic on Indiana State, Michigan State would still have won. The supporting cast for Magic was better than that for Bird.

Manning was your other example and he was able to actually win the big game. Danny and the Miracles! What a performance! However, imo, he had better talent around him than Bird had and he was not facing another transcendent talent. It was still a legendary performance though.

The material point is that while the one dominant player team can occasionally win the big one, in the long run the percentages will out and 1great/4 mediocres will not win over 1great/4goods. As Damon Runyon said, “the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet”.

Last years NC game was yet another example. McDonald basically took her team on her shoulders and willed them into the final. However, in the end Stanford prevailed (barely) because they just had more talented players across the board. Imo Arizona played to the very top of their talent level while Stanford did not. That is why they were very fortunate to win a game that, on paper, they should have dominated.

 

[Geesworld]

Where on earth did you see Geno giving up on the post players? Just because he took them out of the game when they got a number of fouls too early in the game?

Or were you talking about the postgame press conference? He said there that he wants them to play and wants them to get opportunities, but they can't take themselves out of the game by getting dumb fouls. That is undoubtedly true as it applies to this game.

We played some of the 3rd and 4th quarter without a post player. Did Dorka see the 4th quarterr? But hey it's first game for everyone including coaches.

 

[Stymie]

You are right that one great player surrounded by the right players can make a dominant team. However, eventually they face a team that simply has too much talent and the great player just is not enough! This is what happened with Bird in the National Championship game. Magic cancelled Bird out and the rest of the team simply could not match up.

I have no doubt that if you took Bird and inserted him onto Michigan State and put Magic on Indiana State, Michigan State would still have won. The supporting cast for Magic was better than that for Bird.

Manning was your other example and he was able to actually win the big game. Danny and the Miracles! What a performance! However, imo, he had better talent around him than Bird had and he was not facing another transcendent talent. It was still a legendary performance though.

The material point is that while the one dominant player team can occasionally win the big one, in the long run the percentages will out and 1great/4 mediocres will not win over 1great/4goods. As Damon Runyon said, “the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet”.

Last years NC game was yet another example. McDonald basically took her team on her shoulders and willed them into the final. However, in the end Stanford prevailed (barely) because they just had more talented players across the board. Imo Arizona played to the very top of their talent level while Stanford did not. That is why they were very fortunate to win a game that, on paper, they should have dominated.

Or..., the opposition plays that individual very physically within the rules (?) and basically mugs them.
If UCONN needs those minutes and points from Paige day in and day out she’ll be a walking wounded by the end of the Big East Tournament, if she makes it that far.

 

[oldude]

Or..., the opposition plays that individual very physically within the rules (?) and basically mugs them.
If UCONN needs those minutes and points from Paige day in and day out she’ll be a walking wounded by the end of the Big East Tournament, if she makes it that far.

Paige is 20 years old and in tremendous shape. The idea that playing a lot of minutes will some how result in her being physically unable to continue is absolutely not true.

 

[phil sampieri]

The problem with our defense is that we don't know or forgot how to play defense to guard against the drive. We rarely beat our man to the spot and wind up bumping the player as they pass us or let them go or foul from behind or the side on the shot. These players from Arkansas don't cross over very frequently so it is just a matter of getting to the spot first. How many charges did we take today off of a drive? A big fat zero. That says it all. You get charges when you get to the spot first. Arkansas did a better job of stopping the dribble drive than we did. We were just standing there at times and not defending.

This matador defense will not win a championship. We can't expect Paige to get 34 every game to offset it. It's the same defense we played against Arizona. I rewatched part of that game today and I was shocked to see it. I really think it is a product of poor early training and AAU. Whatever the cause, it has to stop now. If you beat your man to the spot or try to it sends a message to the offensive player. One charge and that player backs off. Even a foul caused by an attempted charge can be effective.

On offense I'm only going to say that unless Azzi gets going, the points have to mostly come from Paige, CW and Evina just like today. Evina can't play one half of offense. She has to be aggressive the entire game and shoot and drive. I think Caroline, Dorka, and Azzi were very nervous today and hopefully that will end. We missed Aubrey a lot today. She is a great on ball defender and does get to the spot first and gets steals and deflections with her long arms. She also rebounds well defensively. The number of offensive rebounds by Arkansas today was disturbing. They are a small team. We have to box out all the time.

It's all fundamentals. I hope we can relearn them in a hurry. I think Geno will make sure of that. You don't defend well, you don't play. Have fun watching.

Your observation about beating the ball carrier to the spot is something my old coaches drilled into us. Only problem is a lot of refs don’t ascribe to that theory.

 

[Stymie]

Paige is 20 years old and in tremendous shape. The idea that playing a lot of minutes will some how result in her being physically unable to continue is absolutely not true.

Yeah- just keep telling yourself that.
Nika-same age- same level of fitness- screwed up her ankle the end of last year and sat.
Paige turned her ankle last year, but got lucky.
If you don’t think Paige isn’t a marked player, you’re kidding yourself.
Minutes played has a direct correlation to the potential of injury.
Coach stated early on that he would like to reduce her minutes.
Already a number of consequential injuries on top 20 teams and the season has just begun.
Prudence may require reducing Paige’s minutes, force others on the team to step up and maybe chalk up a loss or two to player development.
Save Paige and “Momma”, not many showed me to much yesterday.
Show me a COHESIVE defensive effort this next game, and I’ll change my tune.
But from what I saw yesterday, their off season lament about that painful loss to end last year is reduced to just lip service.
Lack of concentration and total disorganization on the defensive end.
Little or no change?
South Carolina could get ugly.

 

[phil sampieri]

For one thing, Arkansas did not lose their top three starters. One of them played today. If you watched the game today you saw her hit all kinds of shots. For another, when in the last four seasons has Geno's teams been better at stopping the dribble drive better than other teams. It even happened when Nurse was playing. Just watch the last national semi-final game UConn played against Notre Dame when one ND guard scored 37 points on mostly drives to the basket.

Guards are going to get beat sometimes but when they know they have a good shot defender or blocker it allows them to play up on the ball carrier. It’s thought when a team has really good three point shooters who can also penetrate.Pick your poison. Where is Stewie, Tina, etc

 

[TeamFirst!]

My point being that even though a team can often win with mainly one great player it sure helps to have a more well rounded team...right? All that said, sometimes maximizing the output of that one great player can yield tremendous results. I'm recommending a hybrid. Maximize the result potential of their one great player but have a well rounded overall game. If you count on that top player all the time eventually she is going to have a bad game and you are going to lose. This team has a lot of solid players. They are clearly more than just Paige and if Paige were not there we would be describing Christin as our "one great player" and she would be exactly that. I'm just saying forget about Paige as a point guard. This team is better with her as the point guard with the offense revolving around setting screens for her. And by the way, I watched the game twice and Paige is playing solid defense as well. She's not just a one way player. She guarded Ramirez a lot and did very well against her. I'm not so sure she isn't already our best guard defender. She moves her feet very well. She led the team in steals last year. She is a good defender. We should be recognizing her defense along with her offensive excellence. She is not a defensive liability.

 

[oldude]

Yeah- just keep telling yourself that.
Nika-same age- same level of fitness- screwed up her ankle the end of last year and sat.
Paige turned her ankle last year, but got lucky.
If you don’t think Paige isn’t a marked player, you’re kidding yourself.
Minutes played has a direct correlation to the potential of injury.
Coach stated early on that he would like to reduce her minutes.
Already a number of consequential injuries on top 20 teams and the season has just begun.
Prudence may require reducing Paige’s minutes, force others on the team to step up and maybe chalk up a loss or two to player development.
Save Paige and “Momma”, not many showed me to much yesterday.
Show me a COHESIVE defensive effort this next game, and I’ll change my tune.
But from what I saw yesterday, their off season lament about that painful loss to end last year is reduced to just lip service.
Lack of concentration and total disorganization on the defensive end.
Little or no change?
South Carolina could get ugly.

Injuries can happen anytime. Nika sprained her ankle twice last season. It had nothing to do with how many minutes she played last year. How about Aubrey and Saylor who were both injured in practice?

What you are suggesting is that UConn shouldn’t play Paige as much because she might get injured makes no sense. Last year she averaged 36.2 mpg, and she somehow managed to get through the season playing reasonably well I think. She’s in phenomenal shape this season, so it’s hard to comprehend how an additional 3 mpg might result in a greater risk of injury.

Your subsequent comment about “lack of concentration and total disorganization on the defensive end” further presents a confusing and disconnected change of subject that I find hard to follow. While I don’t agree with your concern, what does that possibly have to do with Paige’s PT?

 

[Stymie]

Simply put, if you can’t/don’t play defense and prevent your opponent from scoring , you have a very difficult time of putting the game away.
Therefore, you’re forced to keep your scorer on the court to maintain whatever lead you may ( or may not) have.
I ask you, why did coach state offseason that he’d like to decrease Paige’s minutes?
My suspicion is because he thought he had sufficient talent to somewhat preserve his most valuable team asset.
And maybe he does.
But (tie in ), if you can’t/don’t play decent defense and stifle your opponent, you may be forced to play your most valuable asset longer than you’d like.

 

[boontonbomber]

IDK.... I haven't been to a UCONN practice lately. I'm pretty sure that "highly paid threesome" is still running the same defensive shell drills that were being taught to the Stewie teams. Learning is this case is not self-guided but at some point "individual" defensive pride, accountability and growth has got to kick in. I'm putting this one squarely on the players. Two years ago when Geno commented about players not responding to coaching I suspect this was a part of what he was talking about.

I'd be really anxious to hear from some of our fans that sit close enough to the floor to confirm or alleviate my fear that the required defensive communication is or is not happening happening. Maybe it is and I just don't see it or hear it.

BTW Stewie was an outstanding bail out option but far from a "one-person" defensive option. Stewie shared the floor with some players that would easily be on UCONN's WBB Defensive Mt. Rushmore. Kelly Faris, Moriah Jefferson, Kiah Stokes, Kia Nurse and Morgan Tuck. Tuck especially never gets enough credit for her defensive prowess. As a freshman Morgan had enough mobility to go on the perimeter and guard the likes of Jewell Loyd and Kayla McBride and was Dolson primary back up at center. Her injury limited her versatility and she could no longer guard on the perimeter but as a post defender she was truly world class. Just ask Alaina Coates, Brionna Jones, Ruth Hamblin, Imani Boyette, or Nebraska Jessica Shepard.

Regarding your first paragraph: Absolutely agree that the players need to step up and take pride in stopping their opponents, but I would assume that you would agree that at some point the coaches should be held accountable, also. Of course, you may think that they are doing all they can do already, based upon results from years gone by. I was close up yesterday, and heard little, if any, communication. To me that is definitely a coaching thing. Seems to me that they either recruit players who can become good defenders, or they figure out how to get those they have to play better defense. For sure, most players coming in these days have spent little time thinking about defense. I thought Geno's lament was a bit lame. We do see other teams playing pretty solid defense( Berube's teams, for example); there are coaches who somehow, SOMEHOW, are figuring out how to get players these days to pay attention to the other end of the floor.

 

[oldude]

Simply put, if you can’t/don’t play defense and prevent your opponent from scoring , you have a very difficult time of putting the game away.
Therefore, you’re forced to keep your scorer on the court to maintain whatever lead you may ( or may not) have.
I ask you, why did coach state offseason that he’d like to decrease Paige’s minutes?
My suspicion is because he thought he had sufficient talent to somewhat preserve his most valuable team asset.
And maybe he does.
But (tie in ), if you can’t/don’t play decent defense and stifle your opponent, you may be forced to play your most valuable asset longer than you’d like.

I never heard Geno state he’d like to reduce Paige’s minutes. After the Arkansas game, in his postgame presser, I did hear him suggest that maybe he would play Paige 40 minutes every game.

Geno has the luxury of a deep roster this season, but he’s won championships playing basically 6 players. What he also said the day before the Arkansas game is that it takes time to develop continuity and consistency when you play a lot of players.

Yesterday was just the first step this season. Geno played 9 players against a good team. At times they looked fabulous. Other times they didn’t. I know it’s hard for UConn fans to be patient, but championships are never won based on the results of a single game.

 

[Longtime fan]

It's only game 1 folks.

This board has gone from "UConn should be offended that it isn't ranked #1" to "this team has a long way to go to make the F4."

And it's against an unorthodox opponent. Not many teams are as perimeter oriented as AR, and they play very different from most other teams.

I heard that from coach, also. And still don't really know what that means. There is one ball and one basket at each end. What will we be saying about South Carolina? Unorthodox or just really good? We were sloppy and didn't look like a team at all. Understandable at this point. Nothing matters now except getting better and grooming this team towards the Big Dance. We are in good hands.

 

[Longtime fan]

I never heard Geno state he’d like to reduce Paige’s minutes. After the Arkansas game, in his postgame presser, I did hear him suggest that maybe he would play Paige 40 minutes every game.

Geno has the luxury of a deep roster this season, but he’s won championships playing basically 6 players. What he also said the day before the Arkansas game is that it takes time to develop continuity and consistency when you play a lot of players.

Yesterday was just the first step this season. Geno played 9 players against a good team. At times they looked fabulous. Other times they didn’t. I know it’s hard for UConn fans to be patient, but championships are never won based on the results of a single game.

They looked fabulous on a few offensive plays. They never looked fabulous on defense.