Providence Post Game Thread

[Boreifs]

Disagree. If you give her an open look with her feet set she’s pretty accurate.

Pretty accurate is a good description. That is a far cry from deadly accurate, which would describe KLM or KLS.

 

[Vowelguy]

Maybe. Geno is always pushing buttons.

Geno ain’t pushing buttons if he’s happy with the intensity effort execution.

 

[HopJim]

Hey Husky! I'm from SC too - Charleston to be exact.

I like most of what you said and will respond mostly to my disagreements if that is ok:
1. Didn't think we did a bad job against their guards but I do agree that smaller quicker guards could be a problem.
2. AG made a 15 foot jumper and that bodes well. If we run the offense and use her to post up or if she can sit at the foul-line extended and take her player to the hoop, then she can be good in the half court as well. It may not always be conventional, but can be effective nonetheless. Not sure if Geno will like the unconventional part though.
3. Agree on AM, Liv and the rest. AE is going to have a breakout game soon. Very quick in the low post with strong body to go with it.

Greetings from Bluffton, SC. Sounds like we may have a cheering section the next time UConn comes to the state. Just a few follow on comments:
-While Paige is welcome to take a few more shots, personally, I do not want her to change much in how she plays. 1-2 more baskets a game and she will be about 22 ppg and in the top 20 in the US. Having one primary shooter could hurt championship goals. Need several shooters so no one will be keyed on.
-Your point on ONO having issues with a competent big her size bears watching. Hopefully just lack of experience this year but you would think she battles Aayiah every day at practice.
-Had to laugh at Geno's body language. He puts a frosh big in for her first start against a team that moves the ball well and defends well down low and expects things to be perfect? Typical Geno.

 

[CL82]

Pretty accurate is a good description. That is a far cry from deadly accurate, which would describe KLM or KLS.

[shrugs] Does she have to be the equivalent of them? Having the ability to hit from three means that people will have to come out and guard her. If they do that she can go by them. She doesn’t have to be the best we’ve ever had and everything. She just needs to be effective.

 

[Argonaut]

Not a criticism just and observation. I noticed that during Aubrey's post game presser that after each answer there was an awkward moment of silence. One would say she is a woman of few words but, I think she will need a little word smithing tutoring for future post game interviews.

Aubrey doesn’t do a great job of answering multi-part questions. That could be because she’s not a fan of the process, or because after answering the part that stuck out, she kind of forgets there was more.

With that being said, listening to the media ask the questions is also frustrating. You don’t need to word a question like you’re writing the article. No one wins a Pulitzer for how eloquent their interview questions are. Ask what you want to know!

Our media has been spoiled by years coaches and players who will give them a novel whenever they’re asked a question, so they can extract good quotes from those lengthy sound bites.

If they are interested in knowing what was different about practice this week, ASK THAT! What did you do better this week than you’ve been doing at other points this season? How do you plan on trying to keep that up going forward? The answers for Aubrey probably won’t be long, but they’ll be more specific and more helpful when trying to put together a story about her good game.

Ask vague questions and, mostly, you’ll get vague answers.

 

[jazz]

Greetings from Bluffton, SC. Sounds like we may have a cheering section the next time UConn comes to the state. Just a few follow on comments:
-While Paige is welcome to take a few more shots, personally, I do not want her to change much in how she plays. 1-2 more baskets a game and she will be about 22 ppg and in the top 20 in the US. Having one primary shooter could hurt championship goals. Need several shooters so no one will be keyed on.
-Your point on ONO having issues with a competent big her size bears watching. Hopefully just lack of experience this year but you would think she battles Aayiah every day at practice.
-Had to laugh at Geno's body language. He puts a frosh big in for her first start against a team that moves the ball well and defends well down low and expects things to be perfect? Typical Geno.

Hiya Hop!

I lived in Charleston for many years but now I reside in England. Been through Bluffton a few times though.
I agree with the points you noted. But if Paige can score 20 or more and she is still getting 5-6 assists a game, well, maybe that is our best shot at winning the big one this year. But I do agree with Geno in that the more she shoots, the more teams will play her closer and the more times she can then kick the ball to other shooters as well. This can open up outside shots for AM and EW (or E as Geno calls her!)

ONO has trouble with anybody that gets a body on her and messes up her rhythm. She looses her balance too easily and unfortunately, I think this is something she will continue to struggle with due to her linear build. She does have a nice arsenal of moves so I just think if she can get 12 and 10 AND make an impact defensively AND not get into foul trouble AND do this against top level teams, then we have a great chance.
I usually refrain from criticising Geno due to the uproar it will cause but yeah, I wasn't a big fan of him carrying on like he did. It did make me giggle a bit though... As I mentioned before, I thought he should have stayed longer with that first line-up just to see if they could work themselves out of the funk.

Geno is certainly coaching and yelling a lot from the sidelines this year, especially on the defensive end. Maybe we can hear him better now since there are a lack of fans at the games. I find it fun and interesting to listen to him yelling at his players to move one way to another on defense. I find it funny that when something goes wrong, he yells at CD as well. I don't agree with everything he says, but I like that he is entertaining, as well as a great coach.

 

[Twolf]

[shrugs] Does she have to be the equivalent of them? Having the ability to hit from three means that people will have to come out and guard her. If they do that she can go by them. She doesn’t have to be the best we’ve ever had and everything. She just needs to be effective.

Hard to argue with both your statement and the one you replied to. The best players I’ve worked with, schemed to slow down, or watched were well rounded and had answers to however they were being defended. Players without answers become role players- doesn’t mean they aren’t good players, but there is a hole somewhere, and coaches at the D1 level will find it and exploit it. Sometimes we all forget that even the players with the best answers are either enhanced or handcuffed by the amount of talent around them, Breanna Stewart had all the answers, but we would all have to be pretty naive about BB to think her ability to showcase those skills wasn’t enhanced by having Morgan Tuck in the same front court, and having a point guard like Moriah Jefferson. Try scheming to stop that- at the end of four seasons no one could. Of course it didn’t hurt that a lot of additional players on those squads would have been welcome at 95% of the D-1 programs.

 

[rt bb fan]

My two cents...

Bigs:

AG - How many teams have the luxury of putting a long, rangy, quick defender on the opposing team’s point? Geno finding more roles for AG to impact the game. It is no fun for the opposing point to be harassed all the way up the court, expelling energy and having to make multiple decisions with the ball, time after time. This wears down players both mentally and physically. You saw this happen with the backcourt turnover AG forced. It also makes the opposing team run their offense more crisply since they will be starting their rotation with a good 8-10 seconds less on the clock. This also saves energy for one of our guards who now doesn’t need to mirror the opposition’s point guard. It is a win all around with big domino effects. AG also hit a 15 footer…if she can do that at a 45% clip, she is instant AA. Not sure they were in Zone, but having AG at the top of the Zone would be a great option as well.

On the other hand, it may be hard to play AG for extended minutes with all the energy she puts into playing full court defense. She never gets a rest on the court. I think this is why she missed a few bunnies.

When UCONN plays Stanford, it may be that AG will play more, but this time to stick to Jones like glue. I think she is the only player we have to counter Jones.

AM - Once AM started hitting threes, there was no way GA was taking her out. He wants her to shoot herself out of the funk she is in. I think she had a good start today, draining the first two with no hesitation on the ‘catch and shoot’.

By the way, AM’s defense was very good – beat once and only once, that I saw. I disagree with many posters who say she gets ‘torched’ or beat a lot off the dribble. She does get beat sometimes, but CW and EW get beat more often than AM. Also notice how AM brings out the other team’s big and then Geno can post up AG. AM makes a difference just by being out there with threat of the three.

The question is will AM be able to duplicate her good defense against top level teams? Well, I think she could because usually against these lower level teams, she has to effectively play a quicker, perimeter player who can shoot from the outside. Against higher-level teams, that player may be taller and stronger, but not as quick and will probably not have the perimeter movement skills that AM has to deal with now.

Liv continues to struggle finishing. She loses her balance too often and just isn’t quite strong enough to finish. I am becoming less optimistic that this will change much this year. I think she will be inconsistent as she has shown in finishing. But, she just needs 12 and 10 against Top level competition and be effective on defense and stay in the game. We have a chance if she can do that!

AE is very quick in the post. Knows how to post up. Needs to finish better. Big, strong body. Breakout game coming.

Mir – Didn’t look lost. She appears to be in the ‘I’ve memorised by steps in the offense now’ stage. It’s not second nature and she can’t deviate off her basic responsibilities, but I think she has it down, just needs to be a bit more crisp. I could be wrong but it’s like she can only remember the next step and then once she gets there, she remembers the next step, and so forth. Good energy and may be another option for full court harassment of the opposing point guard.

PG – You can tell she is being coached. Can she give us a few minutes down the road??

 

[jazz]

I've now watched the game twice and think I might need another time to really understand what was going on.
Many have noticed that Paige at times has trouble keeping in front of her match up. That started back in HS because her great defensive ability is to understand passing lanes and fill them to get steals. She is being asked to defend differently now and I see improvement each game. Agree she needs to shoot more. She is about the most automatic scorer I've seen in a while.

CW was out of it early. Perhaps she was a focus of the defense. I think what kept her out as much as she was was the very poor body language she showed in the game and on the bench. If that doesn't go away soon she will be on the pine. Geno doesn't care who you are he will not tolerate that. Ono has times when that is a problem also.

Good to see Anna doing what Geno needs her to do. EW had her moments but seemed to start slowly. Knee? Hope not. A lot of posters have praised AG and Mir for their games. I agree. Nika played much better. Hope she can get a shoot going and not become a Molly or Mikila (if I spelled it even close).

My biggest worry is that when the ball goes inside it is rarely kicked out to open shooters. One likely frustration CW has. People open on 3 line on the right were never seen or passed to except Anna occasionally will throw a long skip pass from one side to the other. The people doing the weave stop at mid court and reverse back left. Paige in half court offensive never gets a pass there. and Anna doesn't either on that side.

You make a lot of interesting comments here Zinethar. The one that I think is most interesting is your last one about the bigs kicking out the ball to open shooters. This is definitely missing this year and in recent past years as well.

 

[chrissaran]

The change to the starting lineup was a bigger reason for the slow start vs the long layoff IMO. Game changed when Aubrey was put in the game to start denying penetration. Before that EVERYONE was getting tortured. Evina was moving well in straight line but lateral was struggling with a noticeable gimp. Paige was really really really good. I see a lot of post for Aubrey for badass award. I could go with co award but if we are going to take these performances from Paige for granted count me out. 14 layups were missed at the basket from 6 different players. I am noticing it takes a while for Evina to get going, probably do to her injury I’m not sure what the solution is.

Give Evina time. She hasn't played in a very long time.

 

[rt bb fan]

My take today;
Ono needs to finish better, period. She has developed much better moves. and overall strength, but misses too many close shots, regardless of her defender.
Aubry continues to impress; she misses some close to the basket, but isn't 6'5", and hustles to get her rebound and put it up again - plus she makes her foul shots.
Evina looked real good, slashed to the basket, played good defense, and was aggressive
Glad that Anna said "take this"!, although she got beat on defense quite a bit.
Paige was as Geno said "Paige". This kid is going to be fun for 4 years.
Christyn deserved to sit the bench. Can't be a junior, and perform like that.
Mir was impressive, great effort.
Aaliyah had some moments, but Providence's size seemed to affect her.
Muhl hustled, some good passes. some not good, she has to make a shot, any shot!
Autumn did a great job in the TO huddle, but unless she is hurt, Geno should have given her some mop up time.
We all have too much time on our hands now, and are allowed to be armchair coaches.

My biggest issue is why she starts to shoot with the ball so low . In the low post when she makes her move to the basket.Also not finishing strong.

 

[jazz]

My take today;
Ono needs to finish better, period. She has developed much better moves. and overall strength, but misses too many close shots, regardless of her defender.
Aubry continues to impress; she misses some close to the basket, but isn't 6'5", and hustles to get her rebound and put it up again - plus she makes her foul shots.
Evina looked real good, slashed to the basket, played good defense, and was aggressive
Glad that Anna said "take this"!, although she got beat on defense quite a bit.
Paige was as Geno said "Paige". This kid is going to be fun for 4 years.
Christyn deserved to sit the bench. Can't be a junior, and perform like that.
Mir was impressive, great effort.
Aaliyah had some moments, but Providence's size seemed to affect her.
Muhl hustled, some good passes. some not good, she has to make a shot, any shot!
Autumn did a great job in the TO huddle, but unless she is hurt, Geno should have given her some mop up time.
We all have too much time on our hands now, and are allowed to be armchair coaches.

Agree with everything except that AM got beat only once to the hoop all day. I thought she played a very good overall game, including her defense.

 

[jazz]

Bringing the ball up and running the quarter court offense are two different things. Nika brought the ball over the half court line. No more.

Sorry but Nika brought the ball up and started the offense on many occasions.

 

[CocoHusky]

Sorry but Nika brought the ball up and started the offense on many occasions.

 

[Bigboote]

I haven't seen anybody mention it yet, but there was another key strategic difference other than the starting lineup. When Nika and Paige were in the lineup together, he let Nika play the point guard role. In past games it was the opposite.

I think this is a good move. Obviously Paige is the better player and point guard, but because of how many ways she can score, she can be great at either guard position, looked comfortable off the ball, and quickly took advantage of a post up opportunity.

Both Nika and Paige are not just good, but exceptional passers, and both can run the offense very well IMO.
The difference is Nika may struggle as an off guard, while Paige could probably be an All American at either position. Geno wants her to shoot and score more, so maybe playing shooting guard for ten minutes or so when Nika is in helps her game, and even more so for Nika who is way better at PG.

I agree that we should see the two of them on the floor a lot in the next few years. Nika is a pass-first point guard. Even in high school, Paige was a combo guard. Her team for at least a couple of years played a two point-guard system, with Paige starting out most possessions off the ball.

Nika isn't a scorer. Geno knew this when he recruited her, he knows it now, and he still sings her praise. In the WABA her goal seemed to be to try to score enough to keep the defense honest. But she really seems to thrive on passing and defense. I think this was the first game in which she took more than two shots. I'm with the others who have said once she gets her first buckets, more will go in (like Anna but less so).

I've said it before, but can you imagine an opposing coach trying to defend UConn with Paige, Nika, Anna, Saylor and Caroline? It'll be like having five point (four of whom can bury DEEP threes) guards on the floor at the same time. I really really can't wait.

 

[Bigboote]

My 2 cents....

[Nika] was also the cause of at least 3 Providence TOs as well. Just an really impactful game all around except she can't find the bottom of the net.

I'm not sure I've ever seen TWO five-second calls (not on in-bounds plays) in the same game. Of course you can't give her steals for those since it's a team effort, but she really did create those calls.

 

[CocoHusky]

I agree that we should see the two of them on the floor a lot in the next few years. Nika is a pass-first point guard. Even in high school, Paige was a combo guard. Her team for at least a couple of years played a two point-guard system, with Paige starting out most possessions off the ball.

Nika isn't a scorer. Geno knew this when he recruited her, he knows it now, and he still sings her praise. In the WABA her goal seemed to be to try to score enough to keep the defense honest. But she really seems to thrive on passing and defense. I think this was the first game in which she took more than two shots. I'm with the others who have said once she gets her first buckets, more will go in (like Anna but less so).

I've said it before, but can you imagine an opposing coach trying to defend UConn with Paige, Nika, Anna, Saylor and Caroline? It'll be like having five point (four of whom can bury DEEP threes) guards on the floor at the same time. I really really can't wait.

Can we please stop making excuse for Nika! Pass first is not an excuse for missing 10 shots 1/2 of which were layups. Geno knew she wasn't a scorer? Really. When has Geno been singing Nika praises because I could have sworn he was yelling at her for climbing over that player back and not being able to stay in from of that Providence PG. Nika needs to play better defensively and it would be helpful if she hits a shot. I'm surprised you didn't play the coming all the way from Croatia or the bad ankle card.

 

[CocoHusky]

I'm not sure I've ever seen TWO five-second calls (not on in-bounds plays) in the same game. Of course you can't give her steals for those since it's a team effort, but she really did create those calls.

It was also very helpful that the Providence PG decided to pick up her dribble and none of her teammates came to help her. Go look at the replay of Nika first two defensive possions coming into the game where she got completely twisted up like a pretzel.

 

[Bigboote]

Can we please stop making excuse for Nika! Pass first is not an excuse for missing 10 shots 1/2 of which were layups. Geno knew she wasn't a scorer? Really. When has Geno been singing Nika praises because I could have sworn he was yelling at her for climbing over that player back and not being able to stay in from of that Providence PG. Nika needs to play better defensively and it would be helpful if she hits a shot. I'm surprised you didn't play the coming all the way from Croatia or the bad ankle card.

Not making excuses for her poor shooting, merely pointing out that it makes sense for the non-scorer to play point and the scorer to play shooting guard when they're both in the game.

Do you think Geno thought she was a scorer when he recruited her? I can't dig up her stats in a quick search, but IIRC she averaged about 11 points and 8 assists last year and made the all-defensive team. Shot around 40% for twos and 20% for threes. I certainly don't expect her to turn into a good shooter, but I expect her to continue to be a good passer and defender..

 

[CocoHusky]

You make a lot of interesting comments here Zinethar. The one that I think is most interesting is your last one about the bigs kicking out the ball to open shooters. This is definitely missing this year and in recent past years as well.

What is missing this year and also in recent years & which is much more significant that the kick out is the reliable finish at the basket. Gabby Williams and Napheesa graduated from UCONN as 61% career shooters with most of that damage coming at or near the basket. If you go back and look at the first 5 UCONN possessions of the Providence Game UCONN got a paint touch on all 5. For the Game UCONN missed 14 layups at the basket. The game should be played inside out meaning that once the finishes at the basket become more reliable, defenses will start collapsing which is where the kick out comes into play.

 

[CocoHusky]

Not making excuses for her poor shooting, merely pointing out that it makes sense for the non-scorer to play point and the scorer to play shooting guard when they're both in the game.

Do you think Geno thought she was a scorer when he recruited her? I can't dig up her stats in a quick search, but IIRC she averaged about 11 points and 8 assists last year and made the all-defensive team. Shot around 40% for twos and 20% for threes. I certainly don't expect her to turn into a good shooter, but I expect her to continue to be a good passer and defender..

I'm pretty sure when Geno recruited her he probably though she'd be able to make a layup. I don't care what she shot in Croatia & you guys are taking that All Defensive Team way too far. Her defensive toll kit is empty-she is flat footed dragging her feet in stead of sliding, the placement of her hands is wrong, her close out to the shooter is going to get someone injured. She is also not helpful in a team defense concept because she doesn't understand the basic concepts of denying a passing lane or what it means to deny one pass away. You can beat her with speed or simple change of direction. Once you beat her she doesn't have the foot speed to recover. I've pointed out much of this before but some attributed to her bad ankle. It is not the ankle, and she has a long way to go to be able to play the required UCONN defense.

 

[pvdoggy]

I'm pretty sure when Geno recruited her he probably though she'd be able to make a layup. I don't care what she shot in Croatia & you guys are taking that All Defensive Team way too far. Her defensive toll kit is empty-she is flat footed dragging her feet in stead of sliding, the placement of her hands is wrong, her close out to the shooter is going to get someone injured. She is also not helpful in a team defense concept because she doesn't understand the basic concepts of denying a passing lane or what it means to deny one pass away. You can beat her with speed or simple change of direction. Once you beat her she doesn't have the foot speed to recover. I've pointed out much of this before but some attributed to her bad ankle. It is not the ankle, and she has a long way to go to be able to play the required UCONN defense.

You might be right, but I am confused, with all her flaws that you point out, why is Nika still getting so many minutes on the floor each game?

 

[HuskylnSC]

Hmmm. Other than she is limited in her BB skills or at least she hasn't shown a diversity of BB skills which I agree with, I don't agree with your other points.

1. She is one for one but I'm just happy she took it, looked good taking it and made it. Now, let's build on it. Maybe she can or maybe she can't. But since she looked really good with her form, I think she can do it with some success. I didn't even know she could shoot or would shoot in that situation. I do think she is more comfortable as a movement player where she scores on the move and not just taking a jumper...I'm not sure she feels very comfortable taking jump shots...but she looked good with the one she took and made.
2. I think she has a good handle. I've see her in the open court with the ball and moving faster to the hoop than the players chasing her. Anyway, FT line to hoop is two dribbles. Do you really think she can't do that?
3. She doesn't always ignore the ball when running up the court. Sometimes she has been the recipient of passes for the finish.
4. If there are times she runs to a spot, could it be Geno telling her to do so?

She may be a one trick pony now, but is it possible that that one jumper is the start of something more????

Anyway we can agree to disagree.

If she can hit that jumper with consistency, I think she can be AA. But, as you said and I agree with, it is only one.

I also forgive you for being from upstate SC...

let's agree on this - She's going to be GREAT!

I understand your jealousy. It is so great here

 

[CocoHusky]

You might be right, but I am confused, with all her flaws that you point out, why is Nika still getting so many minutes on the floor each game?

Nika is averaging 13 MPG in 4 games that is not "so many minutes" considering she is the ONLY scholarship guard on the roster that is not a starter. Translation: Because Paige, Evina, CW don't need to be playing 40 minutes per game against BE opponents.

 

[BobbyJ]

Not making excuses for her poor shooting, merely pointing out that it makes sense for the non-scorer to play point and the scorer to play shooting guard when they're both in the game.

Do you think Geno thought she was a scorer when he recruited her? I can't dig up her stats in a quick search, but IIRC she averaged about 11 points and 8 assists last year and made the all-defensive team. Shot around 40% for twos and 20% for threes. I certainly don't expect her to turn into a good shooter, but I expect her to continue to be a good passer and defender..

I seriously doubt that Auriemma paid any attention to any stats she produced in recruiting her. Those show nothing other than she’s not a shooter. And the competition in that club league she played in is maybe college D-3 at best. Whether video or the word of someone he trusts, I believe his interest was based on projecting competitiveness and athleticism. She’ll have to improve a lot to justify considerable PT, 15 minutes plus, this year and particularly next year.