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Another GREAT Big East Coach. CLASSY! NOTE: Coach said that
her Providence Offense played against SEVEN male
defensive players in anticipation of the UCONN press.
Providence Postgame Thread
- Thread starter oldude
- Start date
Another GREAT Big East Coach. CLASSY! NOTE: Coach said that
her Providence Offense played against SEVEN male
defensive players in anticipation of the UCONN press.
There was one "fumble and drop" that had a happy ending. At one point Sarah received a pass behind the arc, fumbled it, recovered it, and made a 3. Someone here has noted that Providence wasn't picking her up with much urgency. This was one case.
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I agree. It's not always that the five "best" players start; who was the coach who said it's not who starts but who finishes that matters? Blanca's greatest value to this current team is the energy, disruption, and change of pace she provides when she enters around the 5 minute mark. And this tends to be the point in the game when UConn's modest lead increases to an insurmountable one. If she starts, that particular boost will likely get lost.
Me too, she does that well, but she needs to simplify things for herself especially at the rim, she tries to do these crazy finishes and fails way too often. If it’s not there, use the Sue Bird pull up, it’s in her game. I expect her decision making to get better under Geno and she can really be a huge asset as well. Geno started Allie to send her a message, hey your an important part of our success this year, because I had the feeling she was still not totally but kinda hanging onto last years mindset. After being named a starter it’s a message to her importance to the team and I think she steps up big time, love what I think she can be. I think he sends the same message to Jana. He wants her to stay tuned in because we will need her as well. He’s defining their mindsets as important role players who may well decide an outcome or two in march. Our starters are good, we need the role players to be ready and developed.
oldude
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Reminds me of the LSU vs TX football game back in 2019. It was a big, early season matchup and it was hotter than hell in Austin. Ed Ogeron, the HC at LSU, complained after the game that someone had shut off the AC in LSU’s locker room. Despite the uncomfortable situation, LSU won the game, firmly convinced that TX had something to do with the AC being out.
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No mention of Red Auerbach and Boston Garden?
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With this game, fans have now gotten a peek at Geno’s legendary stress-test practices.
These stress-test practices are where he mischievously ambushes his team with handicapped conditions to let them figure things out. The great players, Diana included, hated those practices as they were happening but reminisce about them fondly as being instrumental in their player development.
And not all fans are quite as sanguine to see the game in that context.
As for Allie, even with Geno’s exacting standards, he raves about Allie and not just for her shooting. His only complaint about her is that she is not aggressive. It is not a coincidence that Geno is giving her more minutes (as he has given Blanca more minutes) and that Allie is beginning to show her craftiness that compensates for her relative lack of athleticism/ quicks.
These stress-test practices are where he mischievously ambushes his team with handicapped conditions to let them figure things out. The great players, Diana included, hated those practices as they were happening but reminisce about them fondly as being instrumental in their player development.
And not all fans are quite as sanguine to see the game in that context.
- Even in a 90-point blowout (better than South Carolina’s game vs Providence) in a cold arena under a holiday atmosphere;
- Not all games are Broadway show-level, but all games are stepping stones to culminate at that level.
As for Allie, even with Geno’s exacting standards, he raves about Allie and not just for her shooting. His only complaint about her is that she is not aggressive. It is not a coincidence that Geno is giving her more minutes (as he has given Blanca more minutes) and that Allie is beginning to show her craftiness that compensates for her relative lack of athleticism/ quicks.
You guys are latecomers. Here's a shot of me and my pals when we were in school.
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This is your classic square-peg-round-hole type of game
Bigboote
That's big-boo-TAY
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Four offensive rebounds, four assists, though. She's not scoring a lot, but she's helping the team score, and she gets the team more rebounds and steals than show in the box score.
The ten-second call yesterday was the first time in quite a while that I thought she made a boneheaded play, and that's saying something.
oldude
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I don’t think Geno cares if Ash scores a single point. She is all over the court, switching on defense, chasing down rebounds, doing all the little things that contribute to winning and she has the ability to go off at anytime as she did against Iowa St last season.
I understand that your question attempts to set up the predicate to start Blanca over Ash. Forget about it. Geno trusts Ash. She’s earned her starting spot and she’s not going anywhere.
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The fact that Geno is POd is actually the reason I’m not at all concerned.
WiseWillie
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Looking at the game in slo-mo it appeared to be more sloppiness and inattentiveness than playing fast. Could the TO's in this game be because of KK being out? For sure but that's not the entire story. Despite the huge MOV the Huskies keep racking up Geno is less than satisfied with the offensive flow. Geno alluded with a definite frown in the post game presser that practices before the next games will be very focused and probably more than a little grueling. Not too hard to understand that to achieve 12 Natty's takes a lot of sweat and there will always be room for improvement. The practices for sure are right now and probably into March a lot harder than the games.
RockyMTblue2
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And still they weren't ready. Hopefully she'll help Providence climb back up.
RockyMTblue2
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Are these guys the shirts or the skins? Wonder how they'd stack up against this team?
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WiseWillie
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Could it be the lack of competition causing a less-than aggressive Sarah? Elite competition forces elite players to play with razor-sharp focus. It almost looks like at times she is bored on the floor and just going through the motions. Elite players like Sarah are defined and challenged by playing against elite competition not against those who have less-than average or even average talent. Perhaps she just needs to step back, re-focus and decide that she needs to play at all times with the energy and amazing, unlimited talent God has bestowed upon her no matter the competition especially while playing in the BE
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Yes. Floor spacing, hit the open man, cut, screen, penetrate, all the fundamental stuff. Why are we forcing passes?
One-handed passes, not so necessary, at least have your other hand there in case you have to pull it back.
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I’m just getting a chance to watching yesterday’s game. I don’t want to go through the thread so I’ll ask why Heckel didn’t start since KK was out. Just curious.
Geno had mentioned that he wanted to keep the continuity of Heckel and Blanca coming off the bench, no slight intended, no injury concern, just keeping that part of the rotation intact.
BRS24
LisaG
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How UConn handled the loss of KK Arnold against Providence
While the Huskies came out on top, the offense sputtered without their starting point guard.
www.uconnwbbweekly.com
“Kayleigh and Blanca (Quiñonez) are usually the first two we go to (off the bench),” he said. “So I just wanted to keep that, keep as little disruption as possible. I thought it would give us the best chance to stay somewhat consistent.”
Although Ziebell isn’t a traditional ball-handling point guard, Auriemma felt she had the requisite smarts to handle floor general duties for the day. Ziebell also didn’t have to go it alone as Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong helped out as well.
“I think Allie is pretty smart. She knows what she wants to do with the ball. She has a pretty good feel for our offense. She's pretty good at directing traffic,” Auriemma explained.
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Providence was not an inferior defense. UConn was surprised that Prov. was playing tight and very disruptive. Michigan was the last team that played "full time" hard-nose defense against UConn. I am surprised that more teams don't play "in your face" defense. Prov. also played hard the entire game. Prov. had 2 or 3 players that were quick and tricky.
Allie was also a cause of more turnovers. She is a smart player and comes up with some unusual moves/plays, however, she is a step--or two slower than the starters. Check it out. She gets into D position and is already two feet away from the offensive player. She knows she can't get too close because most players can Blow By her. That little difference changes the whole team movement.
UConn's human side showed up with Prov. They were a little over confident and sloppy. And again, they were surprised by how good Prov. played defense.
Texas is one of the best "in your face" defenses. UConn needs some work on dealing with that style in the future. Remember that crazy bad quarter with Michigan? Defense!!
HuskyNan
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Last season Ash averaged 7.7 points a game, this year she’s averaging 7.3, the change due to taking more twos than threes this year. With Azzi, Sarah, Blanca, and Allie being so effective from the arc, her shot isn’t as critical as last season
Along this line the radio guys commented during one possession on how Geno was angry with Ash for not shooting when she got a pass open in the corner.
On Nan's post, interesting to note that Ash is not shooting as well both inside and outside the arc as she did last season. Maybe her confidence is a little down. Be nice if she stepped up a little more. The rest of her game has not suffered though.
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Allie may be a step or two slower, but she only committed 1 foul, tied for the lowest number of fouls of anyone on the team yesterday. And that's while playing the highest number or minutes for UConn in the game. Yet she's highly effective on defense since she had 3 steals, tied for the 2nd highest amount of UConn steals in the game
In addition, she had only 2 turnovers, the 2nd lowest number of TO's on the team, which I can't say that any of them resulted in opposition points. IIRC at least one of her TO's didn't and possibly both.
If she can continue to play as clean (foul free) as she does, then it's clear why Geno may favor her with more PT in KK's absence.
She's a smart, hard-nose player that plays effective enough defense, in part because she rarely fouls.
UConn - Providence box score:
Women's Basketball vs Providence on 12/31/25 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut Athletics
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Thanks. I didn’t think it was anything bad. I was just curious.
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ND just lost in OT to a GA Tech team that had previously lost 7 of its last 9 games. That's a pretty low floor for UConn to sink to.
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A Big East win - Sarah, Azzi, Blanca and other did what they needed to do to secure the win without their starting PG.
The commentating during this game was abhorrent. I had to mute but then there were so many fouls, calls and turnovers that i had to listen to keep up. From digs on Azzi, to talking about how this game needs to hurry up so they can get to NYE parties, to discussing Wicked to Shrek.
I get it, it's a December 31st game but I love when commentators talk about what's actually happening on the floor, the players, the storylines, the game, etc. As the women game grows I hope the commentating around how the sport is covered grows too.
The commentating during this game was abhorrent. I had to mute but then there were so many fouls, calls and turnovers that i had to listen to keep up. From digs on Azzi, to talking about how this game needs to hurry up so they can get to NYE parties, to discussing Wicked to Shrek.
I get it, it's a December 31st game but I love when commentators talk about what's actually happening on the floor, the players, the storylines, the game, etc. As the women game grows I hope the commentating around how the sport is covered grows too.
No doubt. People can point out all the good things Ash does on the court. But Geno 100% wants her to be a scorer on the court. The points have to come from somewhere. Ash averaged double figures as a freshman; don’t forget about that guys.
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