Providence Postgame Thread

[ERWUC65]

Looks like the TN game beat up Aubrey and Sarah pretty good. Those 2 plus KK were the only ones playing anyway. Azzi and Ash doubled their point total from Thursday, something I am sure we all expected. If beating Providence by 37 and probably St. Johns by 40 looks like today, then I would expect a double figure loss at SC. I truly hope I am wrong but something is lacking in this team and I'll go out on a limb and say it's leadership.

 

[Martin84]

A good win against a decent defensive team on the road.

• Paige was smothered in the 1st quarter, but Kaitlyn and Ash carried the team with 7 and 8 pts.
• Paige picked it up in the 2nd quarter with 8 hard fought points.
• In the 3rd quarter, Azzi hit 5-5 from 3 and 17 points. The game was completely out of reach after that.
• Sarah looked a bit tired, missed some layups, but rebounded well. This is probably to be expected after the Tennessee game in which she really shined.
• This was a decent bounce back game with some very shiny parts, including smothering defense, and some uneven parts as well.
• I also would have liked to see more minutes for Jana in games like this. She did some good things, had a few TOs and one really good loose ball chase down on a long rebound. I want to see more of that.

One worrisome note: Aubrey didn’t play and seemed to be limping on the sideline.

Hopefully it’s not her back

 

[BRS24]

A few observations -

• Azzi needs to "just play" ... she was overthinking everything vs TN
• Jana needs to "just play" ... she got subbed in 2nd half after missing a layup and turning to the ref to complain, while everyone else was running up court
• (however), Jana had some good takes in 2nd half
• today seemed to be for the team to work on a few things, and not over work before the SC matchup (Paige, Sarah, KK, Azzi had 24-28 mins)
• we seemed to drive to the basket more? Or is that my bias

 

[hookshot]

The announcers called this a "bounce back win" for UCONN. Was it really? I expected a 40 point win over a team who is 3-10 in the Big East (but they were picked 3rd - mystifying). 8 points in Q4 did nothing to build the lead.

Defense was solid, ball movement mostly good, but the rebounding was simply not good. We gave up 11 O-boards, and lost the rebounding "battle" by 1 - 37 for PC, 36 for UCONN.

Yet again the 3 point shooting was on point... against an overmatched team. Until this team shows they can actually knock down open shots against a good team, I'll continue to be underwhelmed. It's nice for the stats, makes fans excited, but really sort of an optical illusion.

I will say I was glad that the subs of Q and Allie did not come in till very late - midway thru Q4. I think Geno needs to give the starters and KK/Ash more PT together for better chemistry. I'm not sure Morgan is an answer off the bench as she continues to just be ok.

Bottom line tho, a fun game to watch against an overmatched opponent.

Morgan gets more work because she has somewhat more versatility / utility, and get help some in the fore court where the need is greater. Allie can still carve out a small role as a 3 point specialist. Q is by far the most athletic of the bench lot but has not carved out enough of a specialty to get much court time, and perhaps is more mistake prone as well. Q has a future , however, she'd be playing for TN right now, but we need her next year(s)

 

[hookshot]

A few observations -

• Azzi needs to "just play" ... she was overthinking everything vs TN
• Jana needs to "just play" ... she got subbed in 2nd half after missing a layup and turning to the ref to complain, while everyone else was running up court
• (however), Jana had some good takes in 2nd half
• today seemed to be for the team to work on a few things, and not over work before the SC matchup (Paige, Sarah, KK, Azzi had 24-28 mins)
• we seemed to drive to the basket more? Or is that my bias

Paige needs to live at the foul line going forward, mixing going to the rim with finding open spaces for mid-range pull ups and open 3s

 

[Ouremblem]

Shoot the ball, Morgan!

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[bantamlaker]

Another good thing - the free throw shooting has been excellent the last two games;12 of 13 today and 13 of 14 against Tennessee for a combined 93%. Great free throw shooting can make the difference in a tight game. Let’s hope they keep it up!

 

[HuskyNan]

As I noted in the chat room, poor Providence gets to play the Huskies after a loss twice this season. The first time was after USC (a 67-41 win) and now after Tennessee.

I like what Coach Batth is doing at Providence. If she can land some better athletes, the Friars could make some noise in the Big East

 

[jdote33]

A good win against a decent defensive team on the road.

• Paige was smothered in the 1st quarter, but Kaitlyn and Ash carried the team with 7 and 8 pts.
• Paige picked it up in the 2nd quarter with 8 hard fought points.
• In the 3rd quarter, Azzi hit 5-5 from 3 and 17 points. The game was completely out of reach after that.
• Sarah looked a bit tired, missed some layups, but rebounded well. This is probably to be expected after the Tennessee game in which she really shined.
• This was a decent bounce back game with some very shiny parts, including smothering defense, and some uneven parts as well.
• I also would have liked to see more minutes for Jana in games like this. She did some good things, had a few TOs and one really good loose ball chase down on a long rebound. I want to see more of that.

One worrisome note: Aubrey didn’t play and seemed to be limping on the sideline.

Great points.

That's the thing about Azzi and I actually thought we saw a glimpse of it in the Tennessee game. She was just also in foul trouble so she didn't play a big stretch of the 4th quarter. But she can start off slow and just explode. It's the law of averages and Geno has always talked about this with her, how in a short stretch she can score a lot of points. She was 0-4 against Tennessee then made 3-4. Anyways she played great in the 3rd. My only thing with her and Paige, I feel like they take not so great shots at times. I get them being aggressive so u almost take it. But Azzi had some forces on drives. Paige had some quick threes. Let me not overstate, there's probably 2 or 3 shots a game from each that feel forced. And then a couple of times I'm thinking in my head after a make...y don't they do that all the time. Paige had a beautiful post up, it was so simple. I think she's done that once in the past like 5 games.

Ash had a really good game. I thought Morgan kinda struggle. Jana is having a bit of a hard time but I thought the team did a good job getting her touches.

 

[freshler40]

The announcers called this a "bounce back win" for UCONN. Was it really? I expected a 40 point win over a team who is 3-10 in the Big East (but they were picked 3rd - mystifying). 8 points in Q4 did nothing to build the lead.

Defense was solid, ball movement mostly good, but the rebounding was simply not good. We gave up 11 O-boards, and lost the rebounding "battle" by 1 - 37 for PC, 36 for UCONN.

Yet again the 3 point shooting was on point... against an overmatched team. Until this team shows they can actually knock down open shots against a good team, I'll continue to be underwhelmed. It's nice for the stats, makes fans excited, but really sort of an optical illusion.

I will say I was glad that the subs of Q and Allie did not come in till very late - midway thru Q4. I think Geno needs to give the starters and KK/Ash more PT together for better chemistry. I'm not sure Morgan is an answer off the bench as she continues to just be ok.

Bottom line tho, a fun game to watch against an overmatched opponent.

A very good assessment of this game. Defense carried the day, great double teams and better closing on shooters. PC plays a long clock so it's easy to put late clock pressure on them if our players are clock aware.

It's still somewhat concerning with so many missed or poorly finished shots around the rim. Why are we playing so rushed? We did find a nice stroke from three-point land.

Lots of second half foul calls were a mystery, like the ref teams had been changed at halftime. The game became difficult to watch and probably to play.

 

[Nev]

The announcers called this a "bounce back win" for UCONN. Was it really? I expected a 40 point win over a team who is 3-10 in the Big East (but they were picked 3rd - mystifying). 8 points in Q4 did nothing to build the lead.

Defense was solid, ball movement mostly good, but the rebounding was simply not good. We gave up 11 O-boards, and lost the rebounding "battle" by 1 - 37 for PC, 36 for UCONN.

Yet again the 3 point shooting was on point... against an overmatched team. Until this team shows they can actually knock down open shots against a good team, I'll continue to be underwhelmed. It's nice for the stats, makes fans excited, but really sort of an optical illusion.

I will say I was glad that the subs of Q and Allie did not come in till very late - midway thru Q4. I think Geno needs to give the starters and KK/Ash more PT together for better chemistry. I'm not sure Morgan is an answer off the bench as she continues to just be ok.

Bottom line tho, a fun game to watch against an overmatched opponent.

Your last sentence summed up the game best. For me, nothing to get excited about against another weak team in Big East. The glaring thing I didn't like was like you said, Providence had 11 offensive rebounds. That doesn't give me any hope against South Carolina next Sunday.

 

[Zanzman]

Once again, a game which proves only one thing: UCONN is in a very weak league.

Once again what should they about it

 

[BRS24]

Shoot the ball, Morgan!

In 4Q, there was a play where Morgan screened, and moved around, and got freed, pulled up for elbow jumper and missed, however I saw Geno clapping, perhaps happy at the effort to get to an open spot

 

[BRS24]

Injury updates -

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

My concerns: 1. Is Sara hitting the freshman wall? She's been playing well, but no longer great the past couple of games.
2. Can KC and Ashlynn have good shooting games in BIG games. They have both been shooting well lately, but came up empty in the big game against TN. I'm tempted to include Azzi here, but not quite ready to.
3. Aubrey's health. A concern she did not play today, especially since she looked so good against TN.
4. Post play, especially if Ice is hurt worse than we know. Providence outrebounded us, I believe
Despite all that, I remain hopeful. Go Huskies!

 

[huskeynut]

It is a win. And a cause for celebratiion. Reality - we should crush Providence every time.

Glad to see Ash and Azzi shoot well. Will it continue the rest of the season? Not sure.

Jana is getting better. Some very good post moves today.

We know the starting 5. Establish the 3 to 4 off the bench.

We know Ice is out for 3 to 5 weeks.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Aubrey not playing is a concern. Someone will need to ask Geno about that if there is a postgame presser.

It is not a concern unless they say it is. She is the most recent person coming off injury and just played her highest minutes yet in a physical game. It’s not at all unusual to be sore after that effort. There is no need for her to push herself through pain at this point.

and I just saw post 39. Question answered for all of us

 

[topogigio]

No, but during extended minutes today, Jana’s confidence was visibly growing. That’s a big plus for the team

I agree she made some nice inside moves but needs to finish much better. She gets visibly upset when she fouls, thinks she is fouled, or misses inside shots. I think her mental game improvement has to match her physical game improvement for her to be a significant factor.

 

[David54]

Sarah lead the team in rebounds,steals,blocks,so she missed 3 or 4 bunnies,who didn’t?

 

[donalddoowop]

Does anybody really think UConn would have been outscored in the fourth quarter if Geno left just three of the starters in? Win by almost 40 and still get complaints about the fourth quarter.

 

[Blond D.]

Morgan is always moving, always boxing someone out, always running. She isnt always in the right spot but she works as hard as anyone and disrupts the other team all the time. Shes only a freshman so she will get better so how about cutting her some slack.

 

[donalddoowop]

I agree she made some nice inside moves but needs to finish much better. She gets visibly upset when she fouls, thinks she is fouled, or misses inside shots. I think her mental game improvement has to match her physical game improvement for her to be a significant factor.

She finished better than Sarah did today.