Pressure is on Kiah and Kaleena

[Wbbfan1]

IMHO if this team is going to win a National Championship it will be up to Kiah and Kaleena. They cannot repeat their performance in the Stanford game. Both for the most part were invisible and non factors for most of the game. Another important factor is Moriah has to play a bigger role in directing the offense when there are breakdowns.

IMHO its not important that Kiah become a dominating player on the offensive end other then to rebound missed shots and go back up with the ball for easy baskets or get to the free throw line. What is important she has to be a dominating player on the defensive end rebounding and stopping drives to the basket. On defense Kiah should always be playing below the free throw line to rebound and block shots. Kiah has got to average double digit rebounds and 3+ block shots a game and has to get these numbers against the elite teams.

Kaleena cannot be a non factor for most of the game like she was at Stanford. Stanford did a great job defensively by having someone blanketing her and not letting her set up for her shots. When she was able to get set for her shots, her teammates didn't get her the ball quick enough. Didn't see the team set many picks that would have enabled her to get open. Kaleena took 11 shots and 4 free throws in 45 minutes of play. An All American needs to have more influence in the big games. You can expect that both Notre Dame, Duke and South Carolina will devise a similar strategy for Kaleena. If Kaleena can't get open for outside shots, then she needs to occasionally post up down low and use her strength to get to the basket to draw fouls Somehow she needs to a major factor. The Stanford guards definitely took advantage of their quickness when Kaleena was forced to guard one of them and it resulted in easy baskets for them especially late in the game and in OT. Stanford drew Kiah away from the basket and she wasn't down low to play any help defense.

Moriah wasn't looking for her shot, or the Stanford guards were just as quick as she is and neutralized her game. Moriah probably should have been looking to drive more to the basket to get to the line and when she gets there, got to knock down her free throws. While its a small sample, 1 for 3 on free throws is not acceptable for a PG. Moriah needs to be the floor general if she expects to be an All American at Year end. While its early the Stanford guards have a leg up on that honor after Monday's game. Moriah didn't play like an All American on Monday.

I didn't include Moriah in title because I believe this team has enough guards to compensate, if Moriah has a sub par game. What the team doesn't have is depth in the front court and that puts the pressure on the two seniors to play up to their capabilities in the big games.

Beside Kia, Geno didn't trust the other freshmen, so they didn't play. Kaleena was struggling, I would have liked to see Courtney get a few minutes to see if she could have contributed offensively. It wouldn't have hurt the team as he could have pulled her after a couple of minutes of play if she was ineffictive. Kaleena played the complete game, perhaps a few minutes on the bench, sitting next to the coaches would have helped her find other ways she could contribute on the offensive end.

I've said this before, Geno only signing Saniya last year was inexcusable and lack of experienced depth definitely hurt against Stanford. Without the experienced depth, Geno should have played a couple of the freshmen to see how they would have played against an elite team. They would have learned more by playing then watching. Who knows, maybe Kia doesn't pick up a couple of fouls and she would have been available down the stretch to play defense against the Stanford guards who won the game for them with their play. Yes, I know its speculation.

Do I think the season is lost and UConn won't win the championship. No I don't as both the players and coaches learned a lot with the loss to Stanford. Also, by playing ND, South Carolina and Duke they'll have an opportunity to see if they learned their lesson as all three of these teams have the talent to pull off what Stanford did. Time will tell.

 

[pppggg]

" I've said this before, Geno only signing Saniya last year was inexcusable."


Seriously, do you really think Geno only wanted to sign Saniya last year?

Apparently, you know how to sign kids that don't want to come to UCONN. Please contact Geno right away and tell him how he can do that.

 

[msf22b]

Gee whiz, I thought I was supposed to be the negative guy around here
And the big critic of coach.

They had a bad loss; big deal.
As I've said in other threads, I'd like to see Kiah closer to the basket.
At least for this game, the staff disagreed.

Doubt if we see the defensive breakdowns we had on Friday (at least not much).

If we have a bunch of similar losses; ok there's something really wrong.
But, like New England Football at the beginning of the season
You've got great players and a great coach.

Breath deeply and relax.

 

[trisailin]

I've said this before, Geno only signing Saniya last year was inexcusable and lack of experienced depth definitely hurt against

Huh? Inexcusable?
Did it ever occur to you there might have been only one player in America where a) she wanted to come to UCONN (and be subjected to the whirlwind that is UCONN) and b) she was a player that the coaches saw as a GOOD fit.?

Every year, we see bunches of teams that are stacked with talent but yet fail to go very far. Why is that? Maybe only a select few are really UCONN caliber.

If it was easy, anybody could do it - (including even Boneyard posters!!!) but "NEWS ALERT": it's not easy. Much easier to sit behind a keyboard and be critical.

Good grief

 

[Wbbfan1]

Do you really believe that out of the Top 100 players in last years recruiting class, there was only one Player that had the talent and would have fit in with the Geno and current roster and would have come to UConn? That's as unlikely as saying only Saniya was available, who by the way UConn got in late on her. UConn along with a few other schools are mentioned as one of the most desirable schools basketball players want to receive scholarship offers from. We've had this discussion on this board before, what was IMHO more important in the my post was since experienced depth wasn't available, Geno should have given more minutes to more of the freshmen. Last year after Morgan was injured, there was only Kiah and two walk on players. This year Geno has four freshmen who were part of a recruiting class ranked in the Top 4. Give them some minutes against elite competition when the starters are struggling. Who knows they may surprise you.

Huh? Inexcusable?
Did it ever occur to you there might have been only one player in America where a) she wanted to come to UCONN (and be subjected to the whirlwind that is UCONN) and b) she was a player that the coaches saw as a GOOD fit.?

Every year, we see bunches of teams that are stacked with talent but yet fail to go very far. Why is that? Maybe only a select few are really UCONN caliber.

If it was easy, anybody could do it - (including even Boneyard posters!!!) but "NEWS ALERT": it's not easy. Much easier to sit behind a keyboard and be critical.

Good grief

 

[Vowelguy]

I find it odd that the focus has been on KML and Stokes, when Moriah also had an abysmal game. In fact, I would argue that she, more than the other 2, could've impacted the outcome.

The PG is the brain (or main brain) of the offense. I'm remember Geno telling Sue Bird "anything that goes wrong the floor is your fault." And there was a LOT that went wrong. All those bad decisions and disorganization -- one could argue that Moriah bears a lot of responsibility for not keeping that under control.

There are not many players who can guard KML that well. I think she'll be back. And I don't think we need to expect a lot of Stokes.

But Moriah is critical. I noticed her being very passive in the UC-Davis game, but I thought she was just stepping back to try to get the newbies involved. The similarly passive game against Stanford was disconcerting. Hopefully she'll snap out of it.

 

[HGN]

Kiah , nor Kaleena , had there best game and UConn lost. But UConn still almost pulled it out if it hadn't been for a 3-pt prayer thrown up by Orrange that went it. But you must give Stanford credit too, they had a good game plan and they won the game. But if UConn had hit some FT's we still could have won. And the ref's were calling UConn for every touch foul.... Which didn't help either.

The good thing for UConn is that the season is just getting started. And so are the Huskies.

 

[HuskiesU]

There's no pressure on kaleena she usually shows up in big games. She had one bad game wow. She's gonna be a top pick in the WNBA draft she won 2 NCs already and for kiah there should be a lil pressure because she has a big shoes to fill in stef dolson

 

[UConnChapette]

Geno has never recruited numbers. He recruits players who will fit into the system and are team players first. He hates that so many recruits ask questions like "what position will I play?" And other "me" questions. There are fewer of the recruits who are of the team first mentality, willing to play where and when best makes the team as a whole successful. Geno recruited many players...only Saniya signed. Should Geno have used a scholarship just to have more bodies on the bench? Geno carefully selects which players he recruits. Sometimes he gets the jackpot, other times not. Better to get only the players that buy into the system and save some schollies for, say, an unexpected FOY transfer from another conference. Geno has to coach the players. Bringing in a player just to fill an arbitrary qouta or roster spot is not his way. At this point he isn't going to change. He knew the challenges with a single player class - which by the way is now tecnically two since Morgan got back a season.

I don't agree with your position, but respect your right to it.

 

[boontonbomber]

Yeh, well the pressure is on the Uconn coaches ,also. As you watched the game unfolding it really appeared to me that Stanford was better prepared to play this game than Uconn was. Their intensity was greater, they had a plan to handle Breanna and Kaleena, and they obviously thought before hand that they could dribble-drive past the Uconn guards. And there really didn't seem to be a whole lot of in-game adjustments made by the Uconn coaches. And I say coaches, not Geno alone, because those well paid assistants should be doing something on the sidelines besides looking pretty. And I expect , even with the "pressure", that both the players and the coaches will figure it out. This was a really good loss, coming so early in the season.

 

[Tonyc]

A couple of things. We needed to play a zone and let Stanford bomb away. We should see that against ND. We were to spread out and our bigs didn't get back to the basket thus we were outrebounded and no help on easy layups. A zone would've help keep us out of foul trouble and that was a big part of poor defense. When a player is in foul trouble your defense is crippled.

We need a game plan for 1 minute left in the game. We need to have our top free throw shooters handling the ball and force the defense to foul them. If they don't run a play with seconds left to get a good shot. Next if our opponent gets the ball back trailing by 3 we set up a perimeter defense and with 6 seconds left in the game foul where they only get 2 shots and cant win.

As good as Stanford played we gave the game away in the last minute. We should've never lost this game. We were unprepared for the last minute and a time out would've handled what we needed to do. I am very confident after watching Stanford ND and SC we are still the team to beat. Although opponents may have a little more confidence they can beat UConn, well I really don't see that happening. Me knowing we should've won the Stanford game as good as Stanford played gives me confidence. Geno will make the changes necessary and I don't see this happening again. Sunday we will see a different UConn team. When we play @ ND I expect a big win.

For those of you who are concerned or shaken by this loss don't be . We are still the same team and this is nothing more then a hiccup. We will be back at number 1 before the season is over and we will stay there. We will be because we are UConn.

 

[RadyLady]

IMHO if this team is going to win a National Championship it will be up to Kiah and Kaleena. They cannot repeat their performance in the Stanford game. Both for the most part were invisible and non factors for most of the game. Another important factor is Moriah has to play a bigger role in directing the offense when there are breakdowns.

IMHO its not important that Kiah become a dominating player on the offensive end other then to rebound missed shots and go back up with the ball for easy baskets or get to the free throw line. What is important she has to be a dominating player on the defensive end rebounding and stopping drives to the basket. On defense Kiah should always be playing below the free throw line to rebound and block shots. Kiah has got to average double digit rebounds and 3+ block shots a game and has to get these numbers against the elite teams.

Kaleena cannot be a non factor for most of the game like she was at Stanford. Stanford did a great job defensively by having someone blanketing her and not letting her set up for her shots. When she was able to get set for her shots, her teammates didn't get her the ball quick enough. Didn't see the team set many picks that would have enabled her to get open. Kaleena took 11 shots and 4 free throws in 45 minutes of play. An All American needs to have more influence in the big games. You can expect that both Notre Dame, Duke and South Carolina will devise a similar strategy for Kaleena. If Kaleena can't get open for outside shots, then she needs to occasionally post up down low and use her strength to get to the basket to draw fouls Somehow she needs to a major factor. The Stanford guards definitely took advantage of their quickness when Kaleena was forced to guard one of them and it resulted in easy baskets for them especially late in the game and in OT. Stanford drew Kiah away from the basket and she wasn't down low to play any help defense.

Moriah wasn't looking for her shot, or the Stanford guards were just as quick as she is and neutralized her game. Moriah probably should have been looking to drive more to the basket to get to the line and when she gets there, got to knock down her free throws. While its a small sample, 1 for 3 on free throws is not acceptable for a PG. Moriah needs to be the floor general if she expects to be an All American at Year end. While its early the Stanford guards have a leg up on that honor after Monday's game. Moriah didn't play like an All American on Monday.

I didn't include Moriah in title because I believe this team has enough guards to compensate, if Moriah has a sub par game. What the team doesn't have is depth in the front court and that puts the pressure on the two seniors to play up to their capabilities in the big games.

Beside Kia, Geno didn't trust the other freshmen, so they didn't play. Kaleena was struggling, I would have liked to see Courtney get a few minutes to see if she could have contributed offensively. It wouldn't have hurt the team as he could have pulled her after a couple of minutes of play if she was ineffictive. Kaleena played the complete game, perhaps a few minutes on the bench, sitting next to the coaches would have helped her find other ways she could contribute on the offensive end.

I've said this before, Geno only signing Saniya last year was inexcusable and lack of experienced depth definitely hurt against Stanford. Without the experienced depth, Geno should have played a couple of the freshmen to see how they would have played against an elite team. They would have learned more by playing then watching. Who knows, maybe Kia doesn't pick up a couple of fouls and she would have been available down the stretch to play defense against the Stanford guards who won the game for them with their play. Yes, I know its speculation.

Do I think the season is lost and UConn won't win the championship. No I don't as both the players and coaches learned a lot with the loss to Stanford. Also, by playing ND, South Carolina and Duke they'll have an opportunity to see if they learned their lesson as all three of these teams have the talent to pull off what Stanford did. Time will tell.

Sounds like.........






..............................................................................................wait for it

 

[RadyLady]

A couple of things. We needed to play a zone and let Stanford bomb away. We should see that against ND. We were to spread out and our bigs didn't get back to the basket thus we were outrebounded and no help on easy layups. A zone would've help keep us out of foul trouble and that was a big part of poor defense. When a player is in foul trouble your defense is crippled.

We need a game plan for 1 minute left in the game. We need to have our top free throw shooters handling the ball and force the defense to foul them. If they don't run a play with seconds left to get a good shot. Next if our opponent gets the ball back trailing by 3 we set up a perimeter defense and with 6 seconds left in the game foul where they only get 2 shots and cant win.

As good as Stanford played we gave the game away in the last minute. We should've never lost this game. We were unprepared for the last minute and a time out would've handled what we needed to do. I am very confident after watching Stanford ND and SC we are still the team to beat. Although opponents may have a little more confidence they can beat UConn, well I really don't see that happening. Me knowing we should've won the Stanford game as good as Stanford played gives me confidence. Geno will make the changes necessary and I don't see this happening again. Sunday we will see a different UConn team. When we play @ ND I expect a big win.

For those of you who are concerned or shaken by this loss don't be . We are still the same team and this is nothing more then a hiccup. We will be back at number 1 before the season is over and we will stay there. We will be because we are UConn.

In a thread of a similar ilk, I posted a link to the post game presser in which Geno did state that he had plays drawn up if the team was behind by 2 points, by 3.....and they had practiced these scenarios...and I am sure, many other situations. Apparently, they need a little more practice and perhaps a little bit of confidence..