Providence Postgame Thread

[dtbtbtb]

Few Thoughts:
*Can the game for Sunday get cancelled
*This was a Very difficult game to watch.
*can't even start imagining how hard it is on the magical 5 to continue and grind, game after game.
*Kudos to Providence for playing very well on defense and following the scout on AE and Lou.
*AE: probably her worst game of the season. seemed totally off. I'm sure that getting the 2 offensive fouls in the first half took a lof of her aggressiveness out and then she got a third offensive foul...
*Lou: are the refs instructed to ignore her? she is being roughed up every game with very little response from the refs. Even when she gets a call, it seems like a late whistle...
*Dorka: saved UConn in this game. Seemed to own every rebound. Just wish she had stronger hands....
*Nika: played very well in the first half...not so good in the second...and some of those turnovers.....argh...
*Aubrey: was pretty good. Had issues with stopping Crooms...
*Amari: so slow of defense. Can't switch on pick and rolls on defense. Didn't look to shoot at all...
*AP: not a good game. You just can't miss a layup where you are totally by yourself under the basket...
*Ines: didn't seem to hurt the team in the minutes she played but the team is not looking for her on offense, so she didn't contribute much either. I actually liked the shot she took, even that she missed. it was the right shot.
*i hope they all get a day off tomorrow and Friday to rest and get their bodies and minds back to form as Sunday could be very bad if this team that played today shows up. SC has not been great most of the season but without a doubt they are the number 1 team in the country with endless supply of HS AA and I'm sure Boston will be motivated to make a point playing against AE on national TV.
Oh yes and can the game for Sunday get cancelled

 

[Lynx23]

I just hope UConn can keep it respectable and nobody gets hurt. This is one game I will be glad to have behind us. I'm hoping fans will temper their expectations for this game, and keep in mind the size and strength of #1 South Carolina versus the health and fatigue challenges we are currently experiencing.

I don't care about losing this game or not. I'm NOT throwing in the towel mind you, but I'm more concerned about the health and well being of our players than the outcome of this game. UConn will have 7 games left in the regular season after Sunday. They're sputtering and leaking oil as they approach the the finish line in 3 weeks in a Monday night match up with Xavier on Feb 27. As others have suggested, they're not in a good place right now. The Big East WBB Tournament begins on Friday March 3rd at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

I agree about Sunday. I know the game is going to be hyped to the extreme, but I look at it this way. What are the chances of beating South Carolina twice in the same season, assuming both teams make the Finals or Semi-Finals if it turns out that way? Not very realistic, right? I'd rather take a loss on Sunday with a short-handed team, and a victory in the tournament, of course with Caroline and Azzi back. No matter the outcome on Sunday, I won't be disappointed. I know the team will give it their all under very challenging circumstances. One more thing, aside from the Tennessee game, Geno seems to be tired and unusually passive. I think the past two games have reflected the coach's affect, as everyone seems physically and mentally drained at this point in the season. In any event, the fully story is yet to be written. If they pull this season out with a championship, someone should write a book.

 

[VA Huskie]

Too tired to celebrate

 

[VA Huskie]

And let us not forget that our record in those 5 games in 12 days was 5-0. And two of the 5 games were against prettiest good teams (Tennessee and Villanova). Can’t get any better than 5-0!

 

[Boreifs]

UConn played their C game, Providence played, I guess for them, their A game. Trap game, too

I think there were 3 bench points, btw

On edit: Ayanna had one point, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Ines was 0-1 and 1 steal
Amari, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls

No rebounds from the two big girls

I fail to see how any of those three subs could possibly help the team in March. If Carol and Azzi can’t play, that’s all she wrote.

 

[Woof 101]

Speaking of ugly, I'm wondering what has happened to Ayanna's low-post game. I saw her in HS, and her overall skill set seems to have regressed since coming to UConn: She has no shooter's touch, no appreciable footwork, and her court movement

Obviously she made a bad choice and is under a coaching staff with no clue on how to develop players.

So now we play South Carolina with a pretty depleted and dispirited group.

Depleted I will give you but dispirited I have to beg to differ. This team has never shown to be dispirited. They support each other all game every game.

 

[Urshurak]

Obviously she made a bad choice and is under a coaching staff with no clue on how to develop players.

Depleted I will give you but dispirited I have to beg to differ. This team has never shown to be dispirited. They support each other all game every game.

They do support each other. But now, they’re too tired to hold themselves up, let alone each other.

 

[hoy-ah!]

Very disturbing trend from Aaliya and Lou. Two subpar games in a row. I‘m hoping they perform better on Sunday.

They're getting bodied more. Last 3 games have been physical. Opponent's defense is staying close to their man and playing as aggressive as refs allow, which they've done. You throw off UConn's moving offense, and it's out of kilter, disjointed. Add in mental mistakes, hesitant decisions, and you have tonight's game. A good strategy on the other team. Play physical, get UConn to use up the clock running around, aggressively defend Aaliyah and Lou, and see if the other starters can score.

With the above said, it was really good to see Nika and Aubrey confident in taking shots. They both let it loose at the right times. No hesitation. On the subs, it seems as if they are in practice mode. Making the passes, running the offense, but not doing mindful of the other team. They're not RELAXED.

 

[MD#12Fan]

Couple of points
1. A basketball season is not 35-40 games continuously. Coaches break a season down into smaller segments.
BYers are used to 39-0 seasons with Stevie or DT or Maya flying into action like super-heroes. This team is not that. Put things in perspective. Appreciate more what’s actually going on. With AE and Lou playing gassed, look at the lineup that’s leading this charge. I’m hearing crickets from the anti-Nika camp or AG for that matter. They’re warriors!
2. The game of the season was Sunday versus Villanova. A top-25 team vying for the BE lead. Geno and UConn value a conference championship huge, as they should. They pulled that out and promptly had to bus to Providence. Wonder how fun that was, with the exception of playing the game. (which-newsflash- the players love to do)
3. I’ll argue with anybody- Sunday’s game with SC means NOTHING. UConn has seriously nothing to lose. It will be a blast for UConn. Playing #1 at home with a couple days rest. Full house. National TV. By the time this season is over, all these squads will get a couple of more losses, except maybe Stanford and SC. If a #1 seed is everybody’s be all, UConn should still be in position for it. Hopefully undefeated in the BE (yes, that’s the prize to focus on). IMO a #2 seed is not a big deal. OK, you may have to play 2 # 1 seeds. Are we scared of LSU or Indiana?
Normal schedule going forward. 2 games a week.
4. AE. This is the showcase to display AA cred. Get your rest. These are the games you live for!

 

[Forego]

Very surprised and elated to see Dorka had an excellent game. Watching her at the Villanova post game presser her eyelids appeared to get very heavy and at one point I thought she almost fell asleep.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Good thing Geno didn't listen to the ones who wanted Amari, Ayanna and Ines (aka The Bench) to start and play significant minutes against the Friars. The girls keep fighting and got a win. Biggest challenge of the season is next up.

 

[fomalhaut]

Someone should complain to the Big East about the double three point lines at Providence. I think Connecticut lost several points on what should have been three pointers if the lines weren't confusing.

 

[wingsfan055]

Team obviously tired. Playing so many games in a short amount of time is ridiculous. I know it was due to the makeup game but still... Probably the cause of all the turnovers tonight. So, can't take much from this game. Need CD and Azzi by March to make a run to another FF.

 

[Zarathustra]

Droka 19 pts, 17 rebs, 4 asts ...Aubrey, Lou and Nika all have double .. great team effort.

I always liked DORKA...... but without the thumb protector on..... who is not to love her more!! Great Double Double, Dorka!
Go Huskies!!

 

[JellyBean]

Props to the team, especially Dorka. Great game, Dorka. Nika with the darn near double-double! Well done. This is what makes this team so wonderful & dangerous, the multiple scoring options on the floor. Where we had Aaliyah having an off night, we got Dorka, AG, & Lou and now Nika. Well done, ladies.

 

[Zarathustra]

A win is a win. A lot of ranked WBB teams lost on the weekend. UCONN
continues to get the "W". Sunday noon will be interesting.

 

[Wbbfan1]

As the season goes on, I'm extremely disappointed in the play of Ayanna Patterson and Amari DeBerry. They were highly rated coming out of High School and barely able to contribute on either end of the court. Yes, we hear and say it takes awhile for Post Players to get used to the College Game, but they're not. Ayanna and Amari should be able to contribute more against the lower teams in the Big East but like tonight they don't. Has Ayanna Patterson ever looked like she was the overall 4th Ranked player coming out of HS. Also she was the #1 Ranked Post player.

 

[SJF]

21-2,with all the injuries is pretty impressive to me. NUFF SAID

Nuff said fo sho!

 

[Siestakeyfan]

I'm all for letting ticky tack fouls go, but Lou took a beating on cuts. I know Geno wants them to play better, but I sensed the players decided to dial it back a bit. I get the grind at this point. Never sensed they weren't in control.

ROUGH play seems to be ALLOWED against UCONN these days !

 

[freshler40]

UConn played their C game, Providence played, I guess for them, their A game. Trap game, too

I think there were 3 bench points, btw

On edit: Ayanna had one point, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Ines was 0-1 and 1 steal
Amari, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 3 fouls

No rebounds from the two big girls

Hoping for better and more effective play from our bench. They just seem to wander around not knowing where to be or what to do. What's a mother to do??? Will they show up for meals????

 

[freshler40]

Speaking of ugly, I'm wondering what has happened to Ayanna's low-post game. I saw her in HS, and her overall skill set seems to have regressed since coming to UConn: She has no shooter's touch, no appreciable footwork, and her court movement is stagnant. Wow. BY-ers were speculating preseason if she would get a dunk--I really hope so, because that appears to be the only shot she is capable of making.. She needs some serious focus and improvement before she can make any kind of appreciable contribution to thisteam...

Still feeling like Ayanna's game could breakout. She seems focused but is playing small now, not using her BB skills. Perhaps needs to loosen up, make a few shots and she is on her way. Patterson is playing too much like a practice player and afraid to make a mistake.

I don't get this feeling from Amari, now in her second year. She needs to improve her footwork and quicken her response to drives and rebounding. She got beat a number of times last nite. She does hold the ball up high and passes well from that position. Coaches need to improve her quickness!

 

[freshler40]

Uconn showed very mentally fatigued tonight. They played like they knew they had Providence and just showed to get the win. Dorka played great as expected. Nika also. Aubrey brought a semblance of her game to this one. AE seemed to be out of it. Teams have figured out how to limit the efficiency of AE. They've simply watched the film on her moves all season. Especially on her driving and spinning. The answer is to drop a player (or send a player) to a position under the basket whenever the ball is passed into her. Then there is someone there to double team her, capture a charge or force her to pass out. She must adjust her moves to regain her scoring. Lou needs a break. Weak legs will affect a shooters efficiency. Mostly defenders are not going under screens for her and teams are putting a player who is fast on Lou to not let her beat them to the inevitable screen. She needs another to pull some of the pressure off of her attempts to get open.
The bench needs more and more time. Also, they should be encouraged in practice to do more than defense. If we expect them to score than they must do so in practice. Learning defense and nothing else as a freshman is simply old school and will not work with today's players. Freshman must learn offense as well as defense. Both warrant practice. Uconn will play better against SC because SC's guard play is weaker this year than last. The struggle will be on the boards and in the paint. Can Dorka, with help, restrain Boston. How will we react when Boston and Cardoso is on the floor? Who will cover Amihere when she comes in? That is the struggle. Will Lou cover Beal? Matchup nightmare!

Good thoughts here especially about practicing offence. We don't seem to include the bench in scoring options. Is this the second year, 102??? It does show up as a lot of missed close in shots as the player is surprised to have to ball and the shot clock is running down.

 

[HopJim]

A few added thoughts:
-Dorka's basketball IQ is outstanding. May not make every shot or hold onto every rebound, but she is consistently in the right spot offensively and defensively. She sees the court well and does not press - good things happen at critical times when she is on the floor.
-Past few games, other teams have been doubling or tripling Edwards, particularly when she drives. Not sure why she doesn't just square up sometimes and shot the 5-10 jumper. She did in the beginning of the year, but now on drives she seems to aways dribble into the double team.
-All of UConn's offense starts with one of the bigs at the key and a lot of guard and wing picks. Would seem the Dorka and Edwards setting picks for each other with both down low would work as a changeup.
-Providence was a great opportunity for the bench to show their skills. Didn't work out this way. Looking forward to Caroline coming back.

 

[CL82]

We won but this gives us a glimpse of what Sunday s game will be like.

We play poorly, but win by double digits? Sign me up for that!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Was it just me? Or did Providence look very sharp, very aggressive, and dogged on defense from the opening tip-off? They certainly don't play like a bad team. Not at all.

I know we struggled, and there were, once again 20 turnovers. But I have to admit that Providence had a lot to do with it....

 

[Huskie02]

Some thoughts on the Providence game:

• Something about the bus ride from Storrs to Providence the past two seasons hasn’t agreed with UConn. It was ugly, but a win is a win is a win!!!
• Nika had a season low 3 assists vs Nova on Sunday. Different story today as Nika added 9 assists to her NCAA leading total. In addition, I like that Nika was looking for her shot more tonight as she added 14 pts on 6/9 shooting.
• Dorka has this unique “scissors kick” shooting style. Like many jump shooters, her shooting foot (right foot) is forward. But when she’s up in the air, she scissors her legs closed and then scissors them open again as she lands, kind of like a ski jumper doing a telemark landing. I don’t know if she does it for balance or it’s just an odd shooting quirk, but her shots keep falling and that’s all that really matters. Her double-double tonight was a big key to the game for UConn.
• Any contribution from the bench is a welcome one for UConn, and the Huskies did get minutes tonight from Ayanna, Amari & Ines. But they really need more meaningful contributions at this point in the season.
• What are the odds that UConn would shoot 43% from the arc with Lou going 1-5?
• The refs allowed a lot of banging and bumping tonight. It was even on both sides but it certainly didn't help the Huskies.
• With the win today, UConn successfully navigated the gauntlet of 5 games in 12 days. Next up is the toughest test of the season vs SC on Sunday. On paper the shorthanded Huskies are no match for the Gamecocks. But games are not played on paper. Go Huskies!!!

Ayanna very disappointed with her development at this point in the season. She seems lost. Amari how many fouls did she commit in her short time on the court 2-3? As a 6’5” sophomore who was so highly recruited, a lot more should be expected of her. Ines looked ok but she is no scoring threat.

 

[donalddoowop]

A few added thoughts:
-Dorka's basketball IQ is outstanding. May not make every shot or hold onto every rebound, but she is consistently in the right spot offensively and defensively. She sees the court well and does not press - good things happen at critical times when she is on the floor.
-Past few games, other teams have been doubling or tripling Edwards, particularly when she drives. Not sure why she doesn't just square up sometimes and shot the 5-10 jumper. She did in the beginning of the year, but now on drives she seems to aways dribble into the double team.
-All of UConn's offense starts with one of the bigs at the key and a lot of guard and wing picks. Would seem the Dorka and Edwards setting picks for each other with both down low would work as a changeup.
-Providence was a great opportunity for the bench to show their skills. Didn't work out this way. Looking forward to Caroline coming back.

Providence gave the starters a fit and you expected the reserves to do better? That's not being realistic.

 

[HuskyNan]

Ayanna very disappointed with her development at this point in the season. She seems lost. Amari how many fouls did she commit in her short time on the court 2-3? As a 6’5” sophomore who was so highly recruited, a lot more should be expected of her. Ines looked ok but she is no scoring threat.

Ironically, given the rankings and such, Ines looks like the player with the most positive effect on the team so far this season.

Go Ines!

 

[VaConnFan11]

I have to laugh when posters say stuff like Providence played their 'A' game or their best game of the season. They shot 36%. UConn shot 51%. I would hardly call that their 'A' game. If Providence had shot 45%, they win the game.

The turnovers and lack of fast break points are a major concern. Granted teams are dropping players back on every shot to prevent the fast breaks and force UConn to run half court offense. To me it looked like a lot of one-on-one basketball, which UConn is not good at.

I disagree with the posters that disrespected the subs' play. Their net +/- was 0 over 26 minutes. With the subs UConn has, that is all you want them to do. Give the starters rest without giving up any of the lead.

Sunday's game would be difficult at full strength, it will take a "perfect storm" to win with the current 8 players.

 

[LarryLegend]

As the season goes on, I'm extremely disappointed in the play of Ayanna Patterson and Amari DeBerry. They were highly rated coming out of High School and barely able to contribute on either end of the court. Yes, we hear and say it takes awhile for Post Players to get used to the College Game, but they're not. Ayanna and Amari should be able to contribute more against the lower teams in the Big East but like tonight they don't. Has Ayanna Patterson ever looked like she was the overall 4th Ranked player coming out of HS. Also she was the #1 Ranked Post player.

At least Patterson is still a freshman. Deberry is almost through her sophomore year, and doesnt appear to have progressed at all.
Guess thats the difficulty in evaluating high school kids, it could be that the only reason they excel is because they are much taller than everyone else.