Post game thread

[oldude]

Actually rewatching game. Huskies really had to work to get shots off, and Kia had a really subpar game. I have always thought the way to beat Irish is to choke off their perimeter game, but Huskies spent a lot of time worrying about Shepard. I wonder who's scout it was ?

As I said in another post, the last 2 times UConn played ND, Lou schooled Jackie Young. There was no reason to believe that all of a sudden Young would start playing like MJ, so the plan was to have Lou play off Young and help in the post. Young had a career game, just like Crystal last weekend when SC played off her. Sometimes, the best game plans get blown up by one player.

 

[scubadog]

Kia wasn’t on Ogunbowle. ND ran a screen that switched Pheesa onto Ogunbowle. It was an excellent call by ND to get a slower player on their best one-on-one offensive player.

I thought Gabby was originally on O , but switched with Phees ?

 

[oldude]

I thought Gabby was originally on O , but switched with Phees ?

I think you’re correct, but the point is the same. ND screened Gabby to get a slower defender on Ogunbowle on the perimeter, and it worked perfectly.

 

[Florida Fan]

Everyone was afraid to take the initiative.

That's the problem with an offense predicated on precision passing. A smart defensive team takes that away, and then you're throwing easy turnovers or otherwise passing it around the perimeter with nobody willing to make an aggressive move.

Agree that Z and others were afraid to take the moves to the basket that, at the least, could have given us more foul shot opportunities.
Granted, we saw the best of Westbeld, Young and Shepherd we'd held in check in previous games. Difficult to say we were out-coached but Z's early heroics were not rewarded by the second-half starting five. 20-20 hind sights says we didn't have the luxury of waiting to start another run with the starters. I know we could have won it on Gabby's last shot and there would be no gnashing of teeth, but our guys deserved better. Kudos to ND, their game plan and their execution. Back in 2013, we didn't need Kia Stokes to do more than a few put-backs, but last night we needed Gabby to be comfortable with what they were giving her and that's not going to happen until the WNBA. I'm grateful to our team for a wonderful year of beautiful basketball, enduring all the hurts, playing through injury to give all fans a look at what we've come to expect and enjoy, basketball at its best.

 

[scubadog]

I think you’re correct, but the point is the same. ND screened Gabby to get a slower defender on Ogunbowle on the perimeter, and it worked perfectly.

Yep, Phees was a bad matchup there. Kia played a very sub par game. Life goes on.

 

[scubadog]

KLS was only able to get 12 shots off . A huge problem.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Ok, so after sleeping on this game here are some random thoughts.

1. One of UCONN's biggest strength's is intimidation. Most programs know they just cannot compete and are mentally checked out before the first tip. I think of this as the Mike Tyson effect. These top programs are not scarred of UCONN and are capable of taking a UCONN punch without wilting.

2. I think the conference were in really hampers us. True Geno schedules the best non conference opponents he can to prep his team for moments like this. Still the conference, and the conference tournament, and then really the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament are worthless because our talent is so far superior. This does not help us.

3. Kia and Crystal has awful first half's. Ive never seen Kia play worse in that first half I mean she looked like a freshman out there.... Crystal didn't play as bad but it really set the tone that we didn't have our A game and ND was going to be in this from start to finish.

4. When we don't force TO'S it takes away a vital part of our success. Our big runs are fueled by run outs off turnovers or missed three point shots. We didn't seem to turn ND over, limit there points in anyway, nor did ND miss a lot of jumpers to facilitate this run outs..

5. We didn't close out the first half as we needed and left the door open for a close game.

6. Why did Geno not start Z coming out of the second half. Thats inexcusable from a great coach like Geno.

7. As the game was winding down in regulation and OT it was like we were looking for LOU and if we couldnt get her an open three we had knowone else that would create there own shot, or want to take the important shot. Maybe this years biggest flaw is we don't have a player that is capable of taking over the game offensively. Think Oregon SI...

8. In the big moment we had 6 players. No trust in Walker or anyone else. We developed NO other player this year, thats awful. How many minutes did the bench play in against SC or ND? Before you point to other teams, we did recruit the best girls player in the country. Theres only one, number one and she was not good enough to get off the bench.

9. Lou was a huge liability the second she picked up her 4th foul.

10. Maybe we can't win a title without DT, MM, RL, BS. Theres a reason they are our best players in school history. Thats why none of these players will crack the Mt Rushmore. I hope CW is a generational player. There is better parity now, a bigger pool is solid players and these players are going to 6-8 schools not 2.

11. Great complete game by Gabby, Pheese, and Z. Kia and Crystal did have big second half shots and plays and I want to give them credit for that. That Kia steal and layup was right out of the Celtics playbook right?!

12. That last shot was almost a miracle. They ND girl hit THE WORST shot in CBB, a few inches inside the three point line, somewhat off balance, defender there(ok not pressed up against her) with all the pressure in a HUGE game. NOT EASY! She earned that show and ND earned the victory. We could not stop them, and they disrupted our offense and they were not afraid of us. They won, they were the better team congrats to them.

13. I thought we were going to win and was very confident, so I want to formally admit I was wrong.

14. The future: Its going to be more of the same and only get worse for us. Ive eluded to this months ago. The Parity, the lack of intimidation against the big schools, our great players graduating, and lack of developing a bench is going to continue to tighten this up. I don't have any expectations for Walker. I don't know what she brings to the table? Sharp Shooter? Slasher? Interior monster rebounder? No, No, No.... I hope CW and ONO are great, are they going to be? We will see. The 2019/20 recruiting class will tell the tale. There was so many great girls we are recruiting of the next 2 years. Will we land the right talent? Will other schools get the girl we want and will the balance of power continue to tilt? We will see. Without a generational force out there we are beatable today and in the future.

15. I had a wonderful time posting this year and interacting with fellow posters. Lets land some more talent!

16. Thank you Gabby and Kia- You will be missed. I wish you guys the best of success. Wonderful girls on and off the court.

 

[scubadog]

Ok, so after sleeping on this game here are some random thoughts.

1. One of UCONN's biggest strength's is intimidation. Most programs know they just cannot compete and are mentally checked out before the first tip. I think of this as the Mike Tyson effect. These top programs are not scarred of UCONN and are capable of taking a UCONN punch without wilting.

2. I think the conference were in really hampers us. True Geno schedules the best non conference opponents he can to prep his team for moments like this. Still the conference, and the conference tournament, and then really the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament are worthless because our talent is so far superior. This does not help us.

3. Kia and Crystal has awful first half's. Ive never seen Kia play worse in that first half I mean she looked like a freshman out there.... Crystal didn't play as bad but it really set the tone that we didn't have our A game and ND was going to be in this from start to finish.

4. When we don't force TO'S it takes away a vital part of our success. Our big runs are fueled by run outs off turnovers or missed three point shots. We didn't seem to turn ND over, limit there points in anyway, nor did ND miss a lot of jumpers to facilitate this run outs..

5. We didn't close out the first half as we needed and left the door open for a close game.

6. Why did Geno not start Z coming out of the second half. Thats inexcusable from a great coach like Geno.

7. As the game was winding down in regulation and OT it was like we were looking for LOU and if we couldnt get her an open three we had knowone else that would create there own shot, or want to take the important shot. Maybe this years biggest flaw is we don't have a player that is capable of taking over the game offensively. Think Oregon SI...

8. In the big moment we had 6 players. No trust in Walker or anyone else. We developed NO other player this year, thats awful. How many minutes did the bench play in against SC or ND? Before you point to other teams, we did recruit the best girls player in the country. Theres only one, number one and she was not good enough to get off the bench.

9. Lou was a huge liability the second she picked up her 4th foul.

10. Maybe we can't win a title without DT, MM, RL, BS. Theres a reason they are our best players in school history. Thats why none of these players will crack the Mt Rushmore. I hope CW is a generational player. There is better parity now, a bigger pool is solid players and these players are going to 6-8 schools not 2.

11. Great complete game by Gabby, Pheese, and Z. Kia and Crystal did have big second half shots and plays and I want to give them credit for that. That Kia steal and layup was right out of the Celtics playbook right?!

12. That last shot was almost a miracle. They ND girl hit THE WORST shot in CBB, a few inches inside the three point line, somewhat off balance, defender there(ok not pressed up against her) with all the pressure in a HUGE game. NOT EASY! She earned that show and ND earned the victory. We could not stop them, and they disrupted our offense and they were not afraid of us. They won, they were the better team congrats to them.

13. I thought we were going to win and was very confident, so I want to formally admit I was wrong.

14. The future: Its going to be more of the same and only get worse for us. Ive eluded to this months ago. The Parity, the lack of intimidation against the big schools, our great players graduating, and lack of developing a bench is going to continue to tighten this up. I don't have any expectations for Walker. I don't know what she brings to the table? Sharp Shooter? Slasher? Interior monster rebounder? No, No, No.... I hope CW and ONO are great, are they going to be? We will see. The 2019/20 recruiting class will tell the tale. There was so many great girls we are recruiting of the next 2 years. Will we land the right talent? Will other schools get the girl we want and will the balance of power continue to tilt? We will see. Without a generational force out there we are beatable today and in the future.

15. I had a wonderful time posting this year and interacting with fellow posters. Lets land some more talent!

16. Thank you Gabby and Kia- You will be missed. I wish you guys the best of success. Wonderful girls on and off the court.

Excellent job. Just wanted to add It was painful to watch the slow offensive deterioration after Huskies were up 8 pts. with less than 6 minutes left. ND created a lot of bad mismatches for Huskies, which I hadn't anticipated. I get the impression that at this stage of the tournament every team suddenly knows how to defend UConn. Our backcourt got outplayed .

 

[Cheddie]

Ok, so after sleeping on this game here are some random thoughts.

1. One of UCONN's biggest strength's is intimidation. Most programs know they just cannot compete and are mentally checked out before the first tip. I think of this as the Mike Tyson effect. These top programs are not scarred of UCONN and are capable of taking a UCONN punch without wilting.

2. I think the conference were in really hampers us. True Geno schedules the best non conference opponents he can to prep his team for moments like this. Still the conference, and the conference tournament, and then really the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament are worthless because our talent is so far superior. This does not help us.

3. Kia and Crystal has awful first half's. Ive never seen Kia play worse in that first half I mean she looked like a freshman out there.... Crystal didn't play as bad but it really set the tone that we didn't have our A game and ND was going to be in this from start to finish.

4. When we don't force TO'S it takes away a vital part of our success. Our big runs are fueled by run outs off turnovers or missed three point shots. We didn't seem to turn ND over, limit there points in anyway, nor did ND miss a lot of jumpers to facilitate this run outs..

5. We didn't close out the first half as we needed and left the door open for a close game.

6. Why did Geno not start Z coming out of the second half. Thats inexcusable from a great coach like Geno.

7. As the game was winding down in regulation and OT it was like we were looking for LOU and if we couldnt get her an open three we had knowone else that would create there own shot, or want to take the important shot. Maybe this years biggest flaw is we don't have a player that is capable of taking over the game offensively. Think Oregon SI...

8. In the big moment we had 6 players. No trust in Walker or anyone else. We developed NO other player this year, thats awful. How many minutes did the bench play in against SC or ND? Before you point to other teams, we did recruit the best girls player in the country. Theres only one, number one and she was not good enough to get off the bench.

9. Lou was a huge liability the second she picked up her 4th foul.

10. Maybe we can't win a title without DT, MM, RL, BS. Theres a reason they are our best players in school history. Thats why none of these players will crack the Mt Rushmore. I hope CW is a generational player. There is better parity now, a bigger pool is solid players and these players are going to 6-8 schools not 2.

11. Great complete game by Gabby, Pheese, and Z. Kia and Crystal did have big second half shots and plays and I want to give them credit for that. That Kia steal and layup was right out of the Celtics playbook right?!

12. That last shot was almost a miracle. They ND girl hit THE WORST shot in CBB, a few inches inside the three point line, somewhat off balance, defender there(ok not pressed up against her) with all the pressure in a HUGE game. NOT EASY! She earned that show and ND earned the victory. We could not stop them, and they disrupted our offense and they were not afraid of us. They won, they were the better team congrats to them.

13. I thought we were going to win and was very confident, so I want to formally admit I was wrong.

14. The future: Its going to be more of the same and only get worse for us. Ive eluded to this months ago. The Parity, the lack of intimidation against the big schools, our great players graduating, and lack of developing a bench is going to continue to tighten this up. I don't have any expectations for Walker. I don't know what she brings to the table? Sharp Shooter? Slasher? Interior monster rebounder? No, No, No.... I hope CW and ONO are great, are they going to be? We will see. The 2019/20 recruiting class will tell the tale. There was so many great girls we are recruiting of the next 2 years. Will we land the right talent? Will other schools get the girl we want and will the balance of power continue to tilt? We will see. Without a generational force out there we are beatable today and in the future.

15. I had a wonderful time posting this year and interacting with fellow posters. Lets land some more talent!

16. Thank you Gabby and Kia- You will be missed. I wish you guys the best of success. Wonderful girls on and off the court.

I think Kia was too pumped at the start of the game. One air ball 3 went completely over the basket. I have to believe Crystal is still well under 100% physically. She didn't have a great start to the game, which makes Z's late appearance all the more inexplicable. But one problem with the "big" lineup is that without Crystal, Kia and Gabby all on the floor, Lou has to guard on the perimeter, and that's not a strength. Lots of talk about Meg and UConn's bench - but both teams only played 6 through to the end of OT. It's a bit disappointing that Meg didn't play a bigger role, but I'm at least as bummed that Mikayla didn't give Geno the defensive option off the bench I thought she might.

As has been posted elsewhere, ND plays aggressive, physical BB. I wish UConn had a "banger," but as G said about subbing, who does he take out of the line-up? Geno's style of athlete clearly works. I have to credit Muffet for her game plan. She completely neutralized Lou at the end, played the game in their style and at their pace, and squeezed out a hard fought victory, well contested by both sides.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Ok, so after sleeping on this game here are some random thoughts.

1. One of UCONN's biggest strength's is intimidation. Most programs know they just cannot compete and are mentally checked out before the first tip. I think of this as the Mike Tyson effect. These top programs are not scarred of UCONN and are capable of taking a UCONN punch without wilting.

2. I think the conference were in really hampers us. True Geno schedules the best non conference opponents he can to prep his team for moments like this. Still the conference, and the conference tournament, and then really the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament are worthless because our talent is so far superior. This does not help us.

3. Kia and Crystal has awful first half's. Ive never seen Kia play worse in that first half I mean she looked like a freshman out there.... Crystal didn't play as bad but it really set the tone that we didn't have our A game and ND was going to be in this from start to finish.

4. When we don't force TO'S it takes away a vital part of our success. Our big runs are fueled by run outs off turnovers or missed three point shots. We didn't seem to turn ND over, limit there points in anyway, nor did ND miss a lot of jumpers to facilitate this run outs..

5. We didn't close out the first half as we needed and left the door open for a close game.

6. Why did Geno not start Z coming out of the second half. Thats inexcusable from a great coach like Geno.

7. As the game was winding down in regulation and OT it was like we were looking for LOU and if we couldnt get her an open three we had knowone else that would create there own shot, or want to take the important shot. Maybe this years biggest flaw is we don't have a player that is capable of taking over the game offensively. Think Oregon SI...

8. In the big moment we had 6 players. No trust in Walker or anyone else. We developed NO other player this year, thats awful. How many minutes did the bench play in against SC or ND? Before you point to other teams, we did recruit the best girls player in the country. Theres only one, number one and she was not good enough to get off the bench.

9. Lou was a huge liability the second she picked up her 4th foul.

10. Maybe we can't win a title without DT, MM, RL, BS. Theres a reason they are our best players in school history. Thats why none of these players will crack the Mt Rushmore. I hope CW is a generational player. There is better parity now, a bigger pool is solid players and these players are going to 6-8 schools not 2.

11. Great complete game by Gabby, Pheese, and Z. Kia and Crystal did have big second half shots and plays and I want to give them credit for that. That Kia steal and layup was right out of the Celtics playbook right?!

12. That last shot was almost a miracle. They ND girl hit THE WORST shot in CBB, a few inches inside the three point line, somewhat off balance, defender there(ok not pressed up against her) with all the pressure in a HUGE game. NOT EASY! She earned that show and ND earned the victory. We could not stop them, and they disrupted our offense and they were not afraid of us. They won, they were the better team congrats to them.

13. I thought we were going to win and was very confident, so I want to formally admit I was wrong.

14. The future: Its going to be more of the same and only get worse for us. Ive eluded to this months ago. The Parity, the lack of intimidation against the big schools, our great players graduating, and lack of developing a bench is going to continue to tighten this up. I don't have any expectations for Walker. I don't know what she brings to the table? Sharp Shooter? Slasher? Interior monster rebounder? No, No, No.... I hope CW and ONO are great, are they going to be? We will see. The 2019/20 recruiting class will tell the tale. There was so many great girls we are recruiting of the next 2 years. Will we land the right talent? Will other schools get the girl we want and will the balance of power continue to tilt? We will see. Without a generational force out there we are beatable today and in the future.

15. I had a wonderful time posting this year and interacting with fellow posters. Lets land some more talent!

16. Thank you Gabby and Kia- You will be missed. I wish you guys the best of success. Wonderful girls on and off the court.

Nice post, very well done.

One poster on another thread summed it up by saying that our defense lost it for us. I still haven't figured out how their guards were able to take it to the rim for layups as often as they did, beyond Lou's foul trouble, and I don't plan on re-watching the game any time soon...

But my take is slightly different. I think it was their defense that won it for them (similar to last year game vs. Mississippi State). One thing Notre Dame did was to put a body in the spot Gabby usually operates from just beyond the free throw line. That took away the high-low and other aspects of the offense that Gabby had been so effectively facilitating all year via assists to her teammates. It was a brilliant move by Muffet.

But perhaps most importantly, the perimeter passing game once again became a means to an end during half-court sets, without a viable way to finish. The talent of our players means that kind of offense is good enough to beat virtually all teams we come across. But against the very best teams, it's not enough without the credible alternative of aggressive guard play that can create and break down a good defense off the dribble. During the Kia era, we just did not have that, pure and simple. Crystal can do it, and did so on a couple of occasions during the game. But for whatever reason, Geno did not pull that lever last last night once it became clear that neither our bigs nor our perimeter shooters were getting it done.

Going forward, I think we'll be in much better shape on this front with Crystal, Megan and Christyn, so long as the coaching staff recognizes the true importance of adding this element as a core feature of the offense.

 

[VA Huskie]

Ok, so after sleeping on this game here are some random thoughts.

1. One of UCONN's biggest strength's is intimidation. Most programs know they just cannot compete and are mentally checked out before the first tip. I think of this as the Mike Tyson effect. These top programs are not scarred of UCONN and are capable of taking a UCONN punch without wilting.

2. I think the conference were in really hampers us. True Geno schedules the best non conference opponents he can to prep his team for moments like this. Still the conference, and the conference tournament, and then really the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament are worthless because our talent is so far superior. This does not help us.

3. Kia and Crystal has awful first half's. Ive never seen Kia play worse in that first half I mean she looked like a freshman out there.... Crystal didn't play as bad but it really set the tone that we didn't have our A game and ND was going to be in this from start to finish.

4. When we don't force TO'S it takes away a vital part of our success. Our big runs are fueled by run outs off turnovers or missed three point shots. We didn't seem to turn ND over, limit there points in anyway, nor did ND miss a lot of jumpers to facilitate this run outs..

5. We didn't close out the first half as we needed and left the door open for a close game.

6. Why did Geno not start Z coming out of the second half. Thats inexcusable from a great coach like Geno.

7. As the game was winding down in regulation and OT it was like we were looking for LOU and if we couldnt get her an open three we had knowone else that would create there own shot, or want to take the important shot. Maybe this years biggest flaw is we don't have a player that is capable of taking over the game offensively. Think Oregon SI...

8. In the big moment we had 6 players. No trust in Walker or anyone else. We developed NO other player this year, thats awful. How many minutes did the bench play in against SC or ND? Before you point to other teams, we did recruit the best girls player in the country. Theres only one, number one and she was not good enough to get off the bench.

9. Lou was a huge liability the second she picked up her 4th foul.

10. Maybe we can't win a title without DT, MM, RL, BS. Theres a reason they are our best players in school history. Thats why none of these players will crack the Mt Rushmore. I hope CW is a generational player. There is better parity now, a bigger pool is solid players and these players are going to 6-8 schools not 2.

11. Great complete game by Gabby, Pheese, and Z. Kia and Crystal did have big second half shots and plays and I want to give them credit for that. That Kia steal and layup was right out of the Celtics playbook right?!

12. That last shot was almost a miracle. They ND girl hit THE WORST shot in CBB, a few inches inside the three point line, somewhat off balance, defender there(ok not pressed up against her) with all the pressure in a HUGE game. NOT EASY! She earned that show and ND earned the victory. We could not stop them, and they disrupted our offense and they were not afraid of us. They won, they were the better team congrats to them.

13. I thought we were going to win and was very confident, so I want to formally admit I was wrong.

14. The future: Its going to be more of the same and only get worse for us. Ive eluded to this months ago. The Parity, the lack of intimidation against the big schools, our great players graduating, and lack of developing a bench is going to continue to tighten this up. I don't have any expectations for Walker. I don't know what she brings to the table? Sharp Shooter? Slasher? Interior monster rebounder? No, No, No.... I hope CW and ONO are great, are they going to be? We will see. The 2019/20 recruiting class will tell the tale. There was so many great girls we are recruiting of the next 2 years. Will we land the right talent? Will other schools get the girl we want and will the balance of power continue to tilt? We will see. Without a generational force out there we are beatable today and in the future.

15. I had a wonderful time posting this year and interacting with fellow posters. Lets land some more talent!

16. Thank you Gabby and Kia- You will be missed. I wish you guys the best of success. Wonderful girls on and off the court.

Extremely well said! I will say that parity is one thing that Geno has preached for years. It IS good for women’s bb. We won’t win every year. We don’t get all the players we want. And that’s the way it should be. I know, tough for us UConn fans. I was at the game last night and it was very painful. With the end of regulation and then OT, I felt like we lost 2 games! Thanks to our girls for all the joy they’ve given us. Congrats to ND and MM.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I think Kia was too pumped at the start of the game. One air ball 3 went completely over the basket. I have to believe Crystal is still well under 100% physically. She didn't have a great start to the game, which makes Z's late appearance all the more inexplicable. But one problem with the "big" lineup is that without Crystal, Kia and Gabby all on the floor, Lou has to guard on the perimeter, and that's not a strength. Lots of talk about Meg and UConn's bench - but both teams only played 6 through to the end of OT. It's a bit disappointing that Meg didn't play a bigger role, but I'm at least as bummed that Mikayla didn't give Geno the defensive option off the bench I thought she might.

As has been posted elsewhere, ND plays aggressive, physical BB. I wish UConn had a "banger," but as G said about subbing, who does he take out of the line-up? Geno's style of athlete clearly works. I have to credit Muffet for her game plan. She completely neutralized Lou at the end, played the game in their style and at their pace, and squeezed out a hard fought victory, well contested by both sides.

Mikayla is out for the year, so she was never getting in the game, and we actually do have a banger, her name is Batouly, but she's like 17th off the bench.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Mikayla is out for the year, so she was never getting in the game, and we actually do have a banger, her name is Batouly, but she's like 17th off the bench.

That was a funny line !!

 

[Bretski]

Would just like to say sorry to @Orangutan @Dillon77 (and any other NDers I might be forgetting) for the various hot takes you are going to see on Boneyard for the rest of the weekend

UConn fans aren't used to losing very often..they have no idea how to handle it

 

[CTisballers]

Kia wasn’t on Ogunbowle. ND ran a screen that switched Pheesa onto Ogunbowle. It was an excellent call by ND to get a slower player on their best one-on-one offensive player.

That’s who I meant Pheesa. I wrote Kia cus Kia was on her most of the game but either way she was too far off Arike. To be much taller and long arms I would of been up in her because she is a shooter

 

[Zanzman]

Then being quicker she would blow by phessa and draw a foul

 

[oldude]

That’s who I meant Pheesa. I wrote Kia cus Kia was on her most of the game but either way she was too far off Arike. To be much taller and long arms I would of been up in her because she is a shooter

The problem with being taller with longer arms, like Pheesa, is that if she tried to play Ogunbowle tighter, Arike would have blown by her for a layup. Either way, Pheesa was in trouble as soon as she was forced to cover her off the screen.