Providence Postgame Thread

[hoophuskee]

By the way, just again marvelling at Sarah's instincts. She had the steal in 2nd half, the opposing big had the angle, and Sarah changed her path to move directly in front of the defender to slow her down and cut the angle.

Also, she is the team's number 1 inside scorer.

 

[jdote33]

I thought they did get a lot of good shots but just missed. Particularly Azzi.
I liked that AZ got some minutes. I feel like I know what she's going to do. Every shot/drive makes sense. I'd love if she got ten minutes a game especially if we continue to shoot so poorly from the outside.
I don't like that Jana only played 10 minutes and basically didn't play after the first minute of the second half. Geno got frustrated and subbed of her for Ice but I can't recall the mistake. I get that's what this time of the year is for but I don't think it's fair to blame her on the flip side for limited productivity or lack of rhythm.
Nevertheless always enjoy watching the team play.

 

[hoophuskee]

I also felt like Morgan was not looking for her shot, which I don't understand. She seems like she could be just like freshman Caroline or Ashlynn. She has shown this in previous games but today, not so much.

I'll have to watch again - which I will -. I do recall Morgan had a wide open 3 and she just gave up the 3pt shot, she dorve the lane resutling in an offensive foul.

 

[pvdoggy]

Despite Geno's talk about needing to get more from the inside game, I thought he was just not patient enough to see it through judging by how many minutes Jana/Ice played and how he yanked them when they made a mistake. I can't see how they will get their confidence up for tougher remaining games.

 

[YoDore]

Paige is a complete basketball player to be sure. But I must say, she is absolutely at her most effective from midrange. One or two quick dribbles off a high screen, pull up, elevate, bury the J. It’s truly a thing of beauty.

My favorite part of her game was always her passing. It's still good, but now that she's not playing point guard, she doesn't get as many chances to show it. Now, my favorite thing to watch with her is exactly what you mentioned. She's just deadly from the midrange, and there are not a lot of players in the modern game who can make that claim. (I still wish she was playing point guard, though)

 

[freshler40]

A win is a win and thankfully they don’t give out style points.

Kind of wish we had actually blown out Providence though. I don’t really love seeing a 20+ point win over a team that we could have (and probably should have) beaten by 40+. I know it seems nitpicky but to me this just points to some continuing issues — particularly with scoring; the 3rd quarter was dreadful. And 7-29 (24.1%) from 3pt for the game is not great. I’m not expecting Iowa St game % shooting in every game but honestly … we could do better.

Also being out rebounded …

The switch was turn on in the first 10 minutes. Our defense defined the rest of the game. Ragged for sure, reluctance to shoot open shots or take the ball into the hoop continues. Hard to be pleased with being out rebounded. Q could be playing center and came close to out rebounding our starters for that position in just a few minutes. Hoping this imbalance changes going forward.

 

[Stagnant]

As Geno said in post game interview , I know who they are and the rest are a work in progress with a smirk. This was in response to , you are trying to figure out a combination.

I heard that and I had no idea what Geno was talking about.

I assume in his head, the lineup is a small ball lineup. Probably what we closed the third quarter with. Chen/KK, Shade, Azzi, Paige, Strong. Please keep fishing Geno. I don’t think that will work against certain teams.

 

[msf22b]

This game will be used as a learning curve, about what should have been different or better. No worries, we won.

Actually...and especially after the 1st quarter...this was a god-awful. disappointing game in which especially in the 3rd quarter with many of our best players in, very little offense transpired.

We averaged 13 points a quarter after the 1st quarter...against a decent defense by a regional team...Anything like that against a top 20 team will be a loss.

I'm not convinced the mixing and matching the lineup is a good enough excuse.

 

[bantamlaker]

We keep talking about the post play needing to improve. Today we have an easy game and Ice plays only 12 minutes and Jana 10. They’re not going to improve sitting on the bench.

 

[Stagnant]

I also felt like Morgan was not looking for her shot, which I don't understand. She seems like she could be just like freshman Caroline or Ashlynn. She has shown this in previous games but today, not so much.

I think it is hard to shoot when you are on the court with Paige, Azzi, and Sarah. I remember in a clip from practice Geno telling them no one but Azzi better shoot the ball. And I think he was trying to encourage passing. But I do remember that.

I am kind of curious to see if she is a lot more aggressive offensively next year when one maybe two of them are gone.

 

[UConnCat]

This team is not right. The loss to USC and the holiday break didn't seem to help. They started with a lot of energy and then seemed to decide their work was done and were content to just pass the ball around the perimeter and shoot (and miss) jump shots.

Post play remains a big problem. Jana was off to a decent start and then misses a layup followed by a lazy effort at a put-back and she's done. She seems unable to shake off bad plays.

Ice is Ice. Plays like she's stuck.

Azzi played not much better than she played against USC. Didn't move freely and didn't play with a lot of energy.

Paige played great early but didn't seem interested in sustaining it. The team followed her lead. She still passes up open shots. She's far from the biggest problem but something is missing.

Shade's job off the bench is to make shots and she shot an 0-fer in the first half.

Chen makes strange decisions on both ends.

Rare so-so game from Strong, likely affected by early fouls.

KK plays with energy but has lost all confidence in her shot.

A lot of positive things would flow from improved post play. Geno may just have to let Jana play through her mistakes and hope she can gain some confidence. At the very least she'll go after rebounds.

 

[ERWUC65]

CONN SCORE BY QUARTER	28	17	11	11

Wow, that was unexpected. Also 4 turnovers by Kaitlyn and 4 fouls by Ash, also unexpected. 24% 3 point shooting, just at a loss for words. I'm excusing Ice and Jana for rust, I imagine Geno will work all that off right away. Here's hoping!

 

[Martin84]

I also felt like Morgan was not looking for her shot, which I don't understand. She seems like she could be just like freshman Caroline or Ashlynn. She has shown this in previous games but today, not so much.

Allie on the fipside not afraid at all

 

[UConnCat]

Post play remains a big problem. Jana was off to a decent start and then misses a layup followed by a lazy effort at a put-back and she's done. She seems unable to shake off bad plays.

I'm not the only one who picked up on this. Things changed with the two missed layups.

Geno Auriemma on starting Jana El Alfy over Ice Brady: “At some point, we have to keep experimenting to see what works… I think the progress that we need to make in that area is gonna take a while. It’s not gonna be easy. We’ll keep trying. I thought until she missed her own layup, she was ok. The biggest challenge for these guys is mentally staying present.”

 

[Bone Dog]

Jana and Ice played a combined 23 minutes. In Jana’s minutes she scored early on a nice low post move and then missed a few bunnies. On defense, both she and Ice deterred a number of drives by providence guards just by their presence in the paint.

 

[Stagnant]

I'll have to watch again - which I will -. I do recall Morgan had a wide open 3 and she just gave up the 3pt shot, she dorve the lane resutling in an offensive foul.

Isn’t her finger taped up? I saw some pictures on the UConn twitter account and it looked like her finger was taped up; like maybe she was playing with a jammed finger.

 

[Martin84]

Considering the competition kind of an unpretty boxscore

 

[HuskieDawg]

Despite Geno's talk about needing to get more from the inside game, I thought he was just not patient enough to see it through judging by how many minutes Jana/Ice played and how he yanked them when they made a mistake. I can't see how they will get their confidence up for tougher remaining games.

As frustrated as I am with the play of Ice and Jana I agree with this unless Geno just feels they aren’t as critical as we do. When he took Jana out after she got that over the back fouled super early in Q3 I thought that was a mistake. I felt he needed to let her play through that as mistakes are going to happen.

 

[pvdoggy]

I think it is hard to shoot when you are on the court with Paige, Azzi, and Sarah. I remember in a clip from practice Geno telling them no one but Azzi better shoot the ball. And I think he was trying to encourage passing. But I do remember that.

I am kind of curious to see if she is a lot more aggressive offensively next year when one maybe two of them are gone.

Unless you are supremely confident (like Strong), Uconn players have been drilled in their heads to make the extra pass to get a better shot for the team, so with better shooters on the floor that's what they do even if they seem wide open.

 

[Stagnant]

Allie on the fipside not afraid at all

Well, Allie has to shoot. That’s her role on the team.

 

[packwrap]

Odd game, glad we did the press. 31 Providence turnovers.

That means the Friars only got 40 shots!

They went 13 of 40...

...and why UConn got so few rebounds.

I hope Geno gives some extended minutes to the centers and backups. Would like to see how they play in longer stretches without worrying about being pulled.

 

[HuskieDawg]

Allie on the fipside not afraid at all

Don’t mistake decision making for being afraid. I don’t think Morgan is afraid at all, not in the least. Where we saw a wide open 3, she may have seen a lane for her to drive. She’s a freshman and decision making is one of the biggest things they need to learn and process.

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[UConnCat]

Let's hope that's the case. If she's not 100% thinking about playing basketball, then what is she thinking about? I guess it's the knee.

 

[hoophuskee]

A lot of positive things would flow from improved post play. Geno may just have to let Jana play through her mistakes and hope she can gain some confidence. At the very least she'll go after rebounds.

Don't see this as a long term solution. Can't see her scoring vs the top teams other than making wide open layups.

Long term solution is Azzi making shots at a consistent level and Sarah taking the ball to the basket enough to get just enough inside scoring.

His postgame last week was the odd comment of wanting more scoring while only playing JEA 6 minutes. JEA is not going to be much ao threat this year no matter how many minutes they force upon her. It's giota be Paige/Azzi/Sarah and sprinkle in some others but they won't get it from just dumping the ball into the low post.

The best way UCONN is going to win is win with its stars. Not trying to force-feed someone that ins't a star.