Providence Postgame Thread

[NU2BY]

@my2cents - A couple of things ... Liv is an excellent passer and Caroline was 5/13 (1/5 3s).

 

[drweo]

Why after 4 years, ONO still tries to dribble when she gets the ball under the basket instead of jut turning and shooting???
*why after 4 year, ONO still does those tomahawk chops while trying to block a ball???

I thought the same. I think Caroline did it once, too. Hope it's not contagious!

 

[Fossil]

It looked to me that even Caroline was in Geno's doghouse tonight .

Caroline should have been in his doghouse she looked to be forcing many of her shots. Most of the other game she played well she let the game come to her and made smart decisions this game she looked to be trying too hard and was forcing shots. I hope she has not been reading her accolades and getting a little full of herself that would be the worst thing for Uconn. I’m not saying she is I’m just saying I hope she’s not. EW looked a little more spry tonight however she still makes that lazy pass that just boggles the mind every now and then. Then there is Nika I thought she had a couple good offensive games but this game she passed on many open shots and why is that? I also think that Connecticut’s bigs set up to close to the rim Defensively where it is much easier to move them under the rim and out of position to make a play. Seems to happen more to AE then Liv. Marrow had good success doing this in the last game and it happened in this game also. Dorka seems a little stronger at boxing out when she does it. CW had an all-around nice game really good to see. A win is a win but Connecticut should be better than what they’re showing there is just too many unproductive minutes like they lose focus or something. What’s the saying two steps forward one step back well this game was our one step back so hopefully good things to come in the next few games. Still have supreme faith in the coaching staff that we will get better and better and be ready for the tournament at the end of the year.

 

[CocoHusky]

You had to look very had to find any bright spots in this game last night but I think I may have spotted one.
Although Azzi had a bad night shooting the ball, teams just play UCONN differently when she's in the game. I think the reason for this is one of Azzi's best asset is that defenses can't speed her up. What I'm suggesting is until Paige comes back maybe Azzi should be the primary play maker because UCONN had way too many turn overs because they are trying to move too fast.

 

[Bald Husky]

I posted on the "Concerns" thread that we needed to work on the chemistry of the guards with Azzi back and Paige due back pretty soon. That was evident tonight as Caroline took 13 shots ( with a lot of time on the bench), and Azzi took only 6. My issue isn't that Caroline took 13 shots, but she took so many bad shots. A couple of times I was yelling at the TV saying, "What the hell was that"? Azzi was open a couple of times when Caroline forced a shot, so she has to realize that she is not DT, and with more shooters available that she is not the only option. We play for the best shot, and sometimes you can't forget that there are now more options. I'm sure she will learn to look around as she plays more with these other guards, but of course I also do not want her to lose her aggressiveness.
Geno did the right thing to bench her, and I hope Caroline Doty explained that to her when she came out. Playing within our system has proved to work. Evina and Christyn did that and played very well, so now the freshmen have to learn that before we get to the tournament, and as Herb Brooks said to his young hockey team, "you can't win on talent alone". The sooner Paige gets back the better so they can work on that.
.

 

[jaundicedeye]

Bad game tonight.

Another setback with an injury. Though possibly good to have this clunker before Creighton.

Don't understand all the dumb fouls being committed by UCONN in which their arms keep coming down on offensive players.

Liv just continues to amaze me how she just doesn't seem to learn in regards to one step forward, then one step back with just general basketball knowledge with those type of silly fouls and silly turnovers in the post with her dribbling.

It's okay. On to the next. Need Dorka to be okay.

The team desperately needs continuity.

I disagree with your calling this game a clunker. There was a lot to like considering they were missing Dorka, no practice the day before and having to take a bus ride there on game day. UCONN's play might have seemed a little disjointed at times but credit Providence's good team defense. Yet, the line for UCONN was not bad:

54.3%

33.3%

72.2%

UCONN still brought their defensive game to limit Providence to:

38.6%

22.2%

72.2%

How bad could it have been in a low-scoring game if UCONN was up by 17 with 3 minutes to go?

 

[Stymie]

You had to look very had to find any bright spots in this game last night but I think I may have spotted one.
Although Azzi had a bad night shooting the ball, teams just play UCONN differently when she's in the game. I think the reason for this is one of Azzi's best asset is that defenses can't speed her up. What I'm suggesting is until Paige comes back maybe Azzi should be the primary play maker because UCONN had way too many turn overs because they are trying to move too fast.

I agree.
Azzi moves very smoothly.
I saw her shot “hunting” last night- just couldn’t get the ball at he right time/location.
In her limited playing time thus far- she seems to show very good court awareness.

 

[Martin]

The gloom and doom on the rest of the season may be just a tad overstated; it was a poor game. They won, take it and move on. You string together bad games, you start to worry.
Getting too high or too low game to game just isn’t the way to go. The aim is to be playing well in March especially with the adversity this team has faced.

I’d like to mix in this blizzard bomb/cyclone thing messing with their state of mind. I’m 3 days away from a pending winter storm and I am already worried about it.

 

[gold2323]

What is missing is that unlike in the past, UCONN cannot dictate with their defense…
Force other teams from their offensive scheme and create turnovers. Turn defense to offense points.
If you cannot dictate on lesser teams it would be more difficult against elite teams.
If Paige returns and is Paige it will obviously be better.
Still never bet against Geno and CD…I am sure if UCONN returns to full strength the elites would not like to see them in their bracket.
G-d blessings to all…..

 

[CocoHusky]

I disagree with your calling this game a clunker. There was a lot to like considering they were missing Dorka, no practice the day before and having to take a bus ride there on game day. UCONN's play might have seemed a little disjointed at times but credit Providence's good team defense. Yet, the line for UCONN was not bad:

54.3%

33.3%

72.2%

UCONN still brought their defensive game to limit Providence to:

38.6%

22.2%

72.2%

How bad could it have been in a low-scoring game if UCONN was up by 17 with 3 minutes to go?

It was pretty bad!
Did you watch the game?
Every UCONN player besides Azzi committed 2 or more turnovers & committed 2 or more personal fouls.

 

[Rb335]

My take on CD, she had a lot of family and friends there to watch. Understandably she wanted to put on a show. But she was definitely forcing things early which led to some bad decision making. She still contributed, but I was happy to see Geno remind her that this is Uconn and you have to play a certain way, despite how you’ve been playing. She’ll learn from it and I’d expect a nice bounce back game the next time out.

In her defense, she was missed on a lot of cuts by our guards. She really benefits from the passing of Dorka, they seem to have good chemistry. And ONO as well, who had some foul trouble.

 

[BBallF]

It was a sub par overall performance, mostly due to a poor half court offensive performance that would have been a disaster against a very good team. It is true that AE and EW played better but their games were far from where they can and should be.

On at least 2-3 occasions Azzi was wide open on cuts to the basket and AE didn't pass the ball. She was only a little better at not holding the ball underneath but when you are a big you either have the move to make in that spot or you don't . When you don't get rid of it. Don't dribble and then get it taken away. Evina turned down 2-3 wide open threes and stopped at least two open drives into the lane all to pass it to someone else. And to who? Paige isn't out there. Since those non-shots invariably happened late in the shot clock, we got rushed shots or turnovers. When she cuts she is not even looking for the ball. She had a decent day shooting yesterday and if she was more aggressive she could have easily had 20. She doesn't help the team when she doesn't play offense the way she is capable of.

CW went to the hoop strong again last night and shot well but over dribbled continuously and lost the ball as a result of it. There was not enough ball sharing and passing last night to set up a good shot. Once the ball goes to a big either up top or below it is usually stagnation. The team is best in transition because they don't have to run the offense and the superior talent takes over. Where was it last night? At one point they put on the screen a statistic that said Points off of Turnovers. It was 14-2...in favor of Providence. 3 or 4 years ago that would have been reversed.

Liv insists on bringing the ball down after a rebound or a pass to her where it is vulnerable to a sagging guard in a sagging man to man which is what they played. She also still brings the arm down on defense when defending a shot and it is inevitably called a foul. She has been doing this for 4 years.

CD was trying to force the game. They mentioned that she had a lot of family there since she is from Massachusetts. I'm hoping that was the reason. She didn't let the game come to her. It was symptomatic of a non-unified and more hero ball offensive performance by the team.

Nika was below grade last night also. Her defense was not as precise and tight as it should have been.

Azzi has to keep on moving constantly and not stop after the first cut. She also has to drive and pull up. For this team to really improve, she has to be a consistent double digit scorer who can stretch the defense and get a good shot off when needed. To do this she has to get shots and to do that she has to get the ball and get open or get a pick. You can't stop moving.

So the bus broke down, they had to take vans, the weather was cold, and they couldn't practice on Saturday. All true and that can explain to a certain extent the reversion to old bad habits and the lackluster overall performance but it is no excuse for not sharing the ball or making that extra pass and I saw it last night at some but not all times in a palpable way. It's a sure recipe for defeat because it is so contrary to the basic tenet of UCONN basketball which is team first.

 

[HuskyNan]

I’m always looking for the good in games and I did spot some good things.

1. Christyn was a stalwart, scoring, defending, and rebounding. She was consistent throughout the entire game and was just great
2. Aaliyah played with effort and, finally, rediscovered she can score at will after an offensive rebound. I thought she was terrific last night
3. Caroline had a bad shooting night but it happens. I like that she never lost her nose for the basket and tried to change up what she was doing to get a score. Threes not dropping? Go right to the hoop. The shots didn’t fall but they will when someone else can take the defensive heat off her and she’s not pressing so hard

The turnovers don’t especially worry me. Geno has been playing different lineups that may not be used to playing together so errant passes are somewhat expected. The travels, though, are a case of pressing too hard, of playing too tight. Caroline was the primary culprit last night with 5 TOs; the rest of the team had a combined 11, not horrible.

What bothered me was the lack of hustle. Geno said it at halftime - Providence was getting all the loose balls. I don’t care who’s playing or not playing, going after a loose ball should be an easy way to help the team when someone’s not shooting well. I’ve also noticed that there are too many times that the team will watch a rebound come off the rim and reach up to grab it but I wonder why they don’t go get the rebound instead of wait for it to come to them. The same for passes. Don’t stand there and wait for the ball, go get it. FIGHT for the win. The days of the name on the jersey scaring the other guys is long gone, it’s time to grab the win out of the opponent’s hands rather than wait for them to hand it over.

 

[freshler40]

You had to look very had to find any bright spots in this game last night but I think I may have spotted one.
Although Azzi had a bad night shooting the ball, teams just play UCONN differently when she's in the game. I think the reason for this is one of Azzi's best asset is that defenses can't speed her up. What I'm suggesting is until Paige comes back maybe Azzi should be the primary play maker because UCONN had way too many turn overs because they are trying to move too fast.

I like this idea. Change it up and put the ball in the hands of a shooter or playmaker. Don't know if Azzi has played point but she has a manner about her that might instill the missing confidence. In recent games, our point guards often played with their backs to the action, just dribbling away with no point. Late in a game, with a lead, I understand but doing this live is beyond me. Our guards need to keep their heads up, read the defense, not just play like it's practice with a set formula like high-low posts etc. Opportunity calls but we don't see it with the slow pace currently being played. After clearing defensive rebounds, Westbrook calls for the ball in the backcourt, always dribbles up-court, never looks for outlet passes. This is the opposite of Beckers and a free flowing offense. It is true that several players are over 100 MPH's and not playing at 80 of speed. This you need to see the entire court. We seem headstrong at times perhaps out of frustration and a clock running out!

I'd much rather error on scoring opportunities than run out the clock or panic as it runs out. When the camera pans to Geno he is whirling his arms to speed up play. It often goes unanswered. He has said repletely the ball gets stuck. Strange!

 

[Tonyc]

You had to look very had to find any bright spots in this game last night but I think I may have spotted one.
Although Azzi had a bad night shooting the ball, teams just play UCONN differently when she's in the game. I think the reason for this is one of Azzi's best asset is that defenses can't speed her up. What I'm suggesting is until Paige comes back maybe Azzi should be the primary play maker because UCONN had way too many turn overs because they are trying to move too fast.

I like the thought of Azzi playing the point. She is a point guard and I base that on what Ive been told by coaches and kids who played with her and have seen her play. Azzi Caroline Christyn Dorka and Liv would be the lineup them. By putting Azzi at the point would force defenses to play her one on one. The only question is as a freshman this late in the season is that gonna help or hurt her game and the team.

 

[BRS24]

I do wonder if she had Covid or maybe a lingering injury because she’s moving cautiously this year. Her energy level seems low as though she’s tired (I can relate). I hope she’s OK because the team really needs her and she’s shown many times that she can be vital to the team.

Re Evina, this has been my thought about her up and down play since the holiday break. However, I also think about the season in this way - the coaches spend the summer and fall pre-season putting together potential lineups and sub patterns based on what they see in practice.

• The season begins with mostly everyone "healthy", although Griffin and Muhl are dinged up, and Gabriel is not ready after an offseason procedure.
• And then "it" begins - Fudd shut down with a lingering foot injury, Griffin's back doesn't let her participate.
• Muhl deals with ankle issue. So, our starting 5 might not be impacted, however, losing Fudd and Muhl affects possible sub rotations.
• Paige gets hurt, and a significant mpg/ppg is lost. This completely blows up the starters and subs routine.
• Three games are postponed during winter break, a momentum breaker.
• The team deals with players getting covid. This impacts practice and ability to prep for games.
• "Everyone" is back, CD a surprising breakout, they start learning to play with what they have.
• Muhl returns, and shifting her to PG opens things up, EW comes off bench and it's working
• CW gets covid and blows up the point above.
• CW gets back into form, and DJ is out, hopefully for just one game ....
• (and if I've forgotten any significant points or they are slightly out of order, still trying to show the upheaval experienced)

In "normal" times, UCWBB has a very predictable routine of a starting 5, and then subs. As we know from history, the program is very structured as to what's expected, goal setting for summer, pre-season, during season. As frustrated as I get with certain players or plays during a game, this season has taught me to sit back and big picture it all. Coaches can work around an injury, however this list of issues would challenge any coaching team, even the best of them.

 

[Rb335]

Last thought, overall the team chemistry just seemed off last night. In Q1 both CW and ONO ignored obvious passes to a wide open CD in favor of a circus shot and a turnover. Getting CD the ball when wide open gives her a far better chance of converting. In return, I felt like CD then tried to create her own shot which led to some poor shot selection and bad decision making. No excuse for that one.

Nika consistently missed cutters, especially Azzi and Caroline, and Evina kept slowing down the offense. We kept allowing the defense to set up, which took away the easy passing into the post. And it seemed like we kept missing the timing on entry passes to the post.

They just didn’t look sharp on that end, and I think made things more difficult by not making the right reads/passes.

At the end of the day, you can’t deny that having Nika or Evina running the point is a serious step back from Paige. She’s just that good. No matter what, as long as she continues to be out, we are not going to be as good as we were last year. But hopefully they can find a way to play to the strengths they have.

 

[DEpup]

So, yeah, it was a win. Strong Q2 and solid Q4. Bestwick mentioned that UCONN has a troubling tendency to play poorly at the end of quarters. I didn't notice that so much today until Q4. Not a great end to the game. They had a nice spurt at the end of Q2 to build the lead up only to give it back by being outplayed by PC in Q3. Then they played well at the start of Q4 only to give it back the last 3 minutes.

Several "not great" things about this game. It looked like, for some long stretches, that PC played better half court offense than we did. Numerous possessions leading to wide open 3's (thankfully they missed a lot), or easy wide open layups. Combine that with way too many turnovers for UCONN, missed layups, and the best player on the floor being a Friar, it was not a great game. A win is a win. Dorka was missed. But not a strong performance against a middle of the pack Big East opponent.

It was nice, however, seeing Liya get some significant PT, seeing us get their 2 forwards into foul trouble (Baskerville fouled out), and Q's 2 and the first half of 4 were particularly strong. Well, the start of Q4. PC made a run at the end. Poor decision making by UCONN to close the game out.

The best player on the floor was Crooms. No player on PC had more than 7 points. Crooms had 25. She averages 13. She shot 7-10 from the floor. We did keep their 2nd leading scorer to 4 points on 2-16 shooting so someone was playing good D!

Williams - strong game for her. POG from my point of view. Did not jack up a ton of 3's - actually shot 2-3. I wonder if she feels more confidence (and if the whole team does) having Fudd out there - such a great 3-point shooter who maybe takes some of the pressure off them and lets them play feeling less pressure? Whatever the reason, it was nice to see Williams scoring all over the place and with strong stats in points, boards, and assists.

Edwards - nice to see her get the start in Dorka's place. We've been musing all season "what did the Canadian National Team do to her over the summer"? She's not "back" yet, but I thought she played a solid games on both sides of the court. She did lead the team with 5 assists. Let's hope she keeps up with the "2 steps forward"...

Ducharme - Not a fan of her rushed 3 point shots several feet outside the arc. Can't fault her effort, but her decision making was not good today. Looked and played (IMHO) like a freshman. A very good one, mind you, but 5 TO's and 5-13 shooting is not the kind of game we need from her.

Westbrook - nice game from her. Really liking her off the bench.

Nika - decent but not great game from her.

ONO - had decent stats, but again was manhandled when she got the ball in the post.

Azzi - not as good as her first game, but she played good defense (good at keeping the opponent in front of her) and did hit a few shots.

As Geno said, all season long it's been a struggle and today was no different. One of the worst offensive performances all year (his words not mine).

I wonder if Crooms has a little New Englander but never recruited by UConn chip on her shoulder.....

 

[Charliebball]

I wonder if Crooms has a little New Englander but never recruited by UConn chip on her shoulder.....

That could be.........I remember her name being brought up years ago and it didn't appear UConn had much real interest at the time even if she was a "local"

 

[msf22b]

I am rooting big time for Evina but she didn’t step up last night. Yes, she took and made some good shots but she stalled the offense several times.

I do wonder if she had Covid or maybe a lingering injury because she’s moving cautiously this year. Her energy level seems low as though she’s tired (I can relate).

My theory is that Evina is fighting off an injury or other issue and gutting it out for the team.

What concerns me (as noted earlier) is her complete absence of joy...Body language, facial expression, really negative...Couldn't have helped that Geno yelled at her (on camera) near the end. In the past, this was a very positive young woman; what's happened? I have no explanation and won't speculate.

Speaking of general negativity, bad body language. and unhappy facial expression...
The prize goes to Geno...
He was really down in that interview, which should scare the bejesus out of all of us.
There's going to be a day in which he says..."Why should I be so miserable?"
"I've accomplished enough...time to hang it up."

I predicted a less than stellar game for Caroline (sometime) with my "sainthood" quip. Well, last night it happened when she attempted to "show off" in front of family and friends...But you know, This is one kid I'm not worried about.

Watching UConn this season is a different experience from the past...Rarely do you see the "beautiful basketball" for which the team is renowned. Perhaps what Paige brings and the coach's use of it had the effect of stunting the growth of other players. We put some mighty fine young woman out there yesterday, they won the game...but the reaction here is almost worse had they lost...our keen observers know...this is not the UConn BB of the past that so spoiled us.

An insightful poster noted that the best player on the floor wore a different colored uniform, another spoke of other team's hoping to catch us while we're down.

I'm sure that every team that plays us, no matter how lowly, is thinking: this is our chance to upset mighty UConn, a chance we may never get again...and do you think the opposing coaches are not delivering exactly that pre-game speech?
And so we're getting their best, while our best is in mothballs, only rarely to be seen.

 

[oldude]

I wonder if Crooms has a little New Englander but never recruited by UConn chip on her shoulder.....

Interesting. Crooms was rated 62nd by Hoopgurlz in the class of 2018. In 2017, when Crooms would have been recruited, UConn looked like it was pretty well loaded with guards and wings for 2018 as follows: Dangerfield & Bent were sophomores, Walker, Coombs, AEH & Gordon were freshmen and UConn was also in the process of securing Christyn, the #1 ranked guard in the nation.

In hindsight, if UConn knew that Bent would never be a primary sub, and that Coombs, AEH & Gordon would head elsewhere, Crooms would have been a nice addition to the 2018 recruiting class.

 

[RedStickHusky]

One thing I'm not worried about is this team peaking too early. The cake is in the oven. I trust the baker to do the best he can with the ingredients he has to work with. He's got a pretty good track record.

 

[Fossil]

I don’t remember any cutter getting the ball, and a few times they looked open. Wasn’t just Nika.

AE missed cutters many times. Azzi on a few Occasions. Just frustrating to watch

 

[BobbyJ]

I disagree with your calling this game a clunker. There was a lot to like considering they were missing Dorka, no practice the day before and having to take a bus ride there on game day. UCONN's play might have seemed a little disjointed at times but credit Providence's good team defense. Yet, the line for UCONN was not bad:

54.3%

33.3%

72.2%

UCONN still brought their defensive game to limit Providence to:

38.6%

22.2%

72.2%

How bad could it have been in a low-scoring game if UCONN was up by 17 with 3 minutes to go?

You’re right that the UConn offensive stats aren’t bad, actually pretty good. But they are misleading because of the number of possessions they give away with the turnovers and the extra ones they give the opposition because of the dumb fouls. If UConn has those stats on a dozen or more possessions then the game isn’t close.

 

[The deacon]

Caroline, as I posted in another thread, was playing for her family and friends and not for her team. That could be somewhat expected if she were an immature freshman, but she's not. She played totally out-of-control and it put her on the bench and into Geno's doghouse. I've been one of her biggest supporters and have forgiven all those rushed 3s (even made excuses for them) ... but no more! I know she can shoot 'em, but she must wait until she's open enough to relax and calmly set her feet, square her shoulders and shoot in rhythm. If she doesn't do that none of them are ever going in.

Azzi hit one shot, 1-6 and 2-2 from the free throw line in 29 minutes. Hardly a stellar performance based upon her first game back which was excellent.

Nika was a total wash out in this game. Scored 1 pt, had 1 assist, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls in 18 minutes. She also landed in Geno's doghouse.

Well said, NU2BY, on all three counts. I'd add, regarding Caroline, that she well might have missed Dorka on the court. They apparently have a strong bond dating back to summer sessions and Dorka is often the one most likely to find Caroline when she's cutting or open in the corner.

I do agree, however, that Caroline often looked more like the middle school kid playing in front of her parents for the first time rather than the remarkably mature, assured veteran we've watched the past six weeks. Hopefully that game was a one off...