Providence Postgame Thread | The Boneyard

Providence Postgame Thread

oldude

oldude

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Some postgame thoughts on the Providence game:
  • With their 14th win today UConn arrives at the New Year undefeated for the first time in 9 seasons. Let’s hope the Huskies end Easter Sunday the same way.
  • Playing without your starting PG is typically a recipe for sloppy offensive basketball, and 21 turnovers by the Huskies was pretty ugly.
  • At the same time, it was business as usual on defense as the Huskies forced 30 turnovers with 16 steals while holding the Friars to 35 % shooting.
  • I did think UConn’s offensive flow was better with Kayleigh at PG. She had tape on her chest, likely securing padding to protect her sternum.
  • I’m not sure who put together the gameplan for Providence to “back off” Sarah at the arc... 😮
  • UConn has some wonderful athletes on the roster. But honestly, Blanca is at another level that we haven’t really seen since Gabby, and she’s only a 19 year-old freshman!!! 🤩
  • UConn is a great passing team. But I really would prefer that they not pass up point blank layups to pass the ball to a teammate on the perimeter….🤯
  • I’m guessing the next time we see KK on the court, she’ll be wearing a mask, signifying her superhero status 😎. In the meantime, let’s hope the Huskies stop beating the hell out of each other in practice.
  • I’ll be at PeoplesBank Arena for the Seton Hall game on Saturday. Thanks in advance to whomever starts the postgame thread on the BY.
 
Husky blowout as expected. Missing 5 players certainly altered the way the route occurred.

Another strong defensive effort overshadowed by a larger than normal TO number.

The GREAT news is Sarah discovered her three point stroke. Her turnovers have to concern Geno at least a little.

The bandage on her chest indicated that K9 was less than 100%. Didn’t impact her aggressiveness.

Allie got some run at point. I would say it is a work in progress.

It looks like Geno is going to use this run of Big East games to get Jana in the condition that he wants her in.

It surprised me that with the shorter bench that Azzi and Sarah didn’t get more run.

Blanca however took advantage of her increase in minutes with a solid all around game.

From the Providence standpoint, how can you lose your top nine scorers and expect to build a foundation? To Bain’s credit, they play hard but as is the case with many BE teams, they are just overmatched.

It was KK’s first game she ever missed because of injury. I would guess that she returns with a mask quickly.
 
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Allie looked flushed in the handshake line. She got a workout. Great to see it.

All in all, this was a tuneup game in the fullest sense of the word. That part of the lineup that needs game experience certainly got it. Allie got 32 minutes, Blanca got 24, Jana got 19 and Kayleigh got 17. I'm surprised Kayleigh didn't get more, but assume it has something to do with the bandage on her chest.

The whistles in the 4th quarter got a little weird but... whatever.

21 turnovers is a lot -- that's all KK's fault 😂 and 16 steals is a lot too. But Providence got 12 steals, which is a lot, mostly in the second half, even the 4th quarter, when they started to make a stand. Good on Erin Baath for keeping them focused in a game like this. I liked the look of the Friars in this game.
 
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People can look at the final score without our starting PG and say "nice game", but a numerous things not good about this game.
  • PC averages something like 56 PPG. we only kept them to 53? Looks nice on paper, but not great defense
  • PC shot 42% from 3
  • 12 PC steals
  • 21 UConn turnovers
  • PC scoring by quarter 7...12...16...18
Bottom line a win, Sarah and Azzi scored at about their average. Should have been more. Great seeing Jana get 10 points. Blanca continues to shine. Great seeing Allie get the start. Lots of scoring for everyone who played. Williams with 5 blocks... and 5 fouls. But certainly not a game to look at and say "great job".
 
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21 turnovers isn't a good stat, but these kind of games can happen, especially when a small shakeup happens due to players being out. I would prefer to see them happen now though, as opposed to March!

All in all, Huskies end the first half of this season undefeated. So I'm happy. Rest up ladies! Can't wait to see what 2026 brings!!! ❤️

Happy 2026 to all!!
 
Jana, with the minutes she played, looked good. I like that large lineup with Jana and Serah Williams in at the same time. Imagine the 2 of them along with Sarah playing down low, with Azzi and KK (or K9) playing outside? Might be a successful recipe for larger opponents
 
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What to say. Gotta admit to only watching the first quarter. Without KK it looked different, but it took very little time to have Providence totally flumoxed and the turnover fest began. I came to feeling quilty about bailing on the game and came back for the final 2 minutes to selfishly root for 93 ...alas. But, seriously, I have too indoctrinate myself into sticking it out and just enjoying the juggernaut that is the Huskies.

PS. I wish we had room for a couple more OOC challenges.
 
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I got to the game on Peacock in the middle of the 2nd Qtr. and if KK's absence causes us to look this way, we got problems brewing against any good team. You could tell by Geno's look he was not happy. Did we even shoot 50% from one foot in? 5 fouls on SW, 4 on K9, turnovers like we were playing against a UCONN quality defense. Just a sloppy effort after the middle of the 2nd Qtr. Whenever we get a big lead it seems like we just don't care to guard the 3 pt shot .

Will even Tonyc be happy with this performance in the last 25 minutes?

BTW, Allie is no point guard; she's a shooter.
 
Sargassoc said:
The turnovers! What was that? Are they moving too fast or is it just sloppiness?
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Without KK running the point, too many bad passes. My appreciation for KK soared this game in light of her absence. Plus she and Ash play tremendous defense together which was missing today as well.
 
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After watching Seton Hall for three quarters before the UConn game started, we better hope that KK is starting Saturday. Today's starting guards seemed to be hesitant about who was going to bring the ball up and then would get rid of the ball whenever an opponent was near, leading to some bad passes. And it continued for most of the game. We even had a 10 second call against us, right?
Something I really wonder about with UConn is how a player or two will come out and light up the scoresheet in the first quarter or half and then not be heard from the rest of the game. Or the opposite, little scoring in the first half and then go crazy in the second half.
I think Jana played pretty good. I just wonder how her opponents can beat her up, knock her to the floor or swarm her without committing a foul but if she breathes on her opponent, whistles galore. No wonder she doesn't seem as happy on the court this season versus last. She tries so hard.
I thought that with KK out today that both Ashlynn and Allie would have great scoring games by being really involved in bringing the ball up and starting the offense. Oops.
 
A win is a win. 13 - 0 to end 2025.

And "x*it" happens every once in a while. Missing you starting PG is going to create some problems and it did. Allie and Kayleigh performed good. Hopefully KK returns for the next game.

Is the number of turnovers today a cause for concern? Not unless it starts to repeat itself.

Jana is improving. Her work around the post is improved. Less missed shots. She looks like she knows what she has to do.

Serah is integrating nicely.

I like Geno using Serah, Sarah and Jana together. Could be needed down the road.

Happy New Year everybody. Here's to health and happiness in 2026!!
 
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The boss once labeled me a contrarian, well here goes:

The starting lineup didn’t look so great with Allie and Shade as guards with Fudd
Geno also had them playing straight up, man to man offering Providence opportunities…so at the outset, the Friars stayed close.

Geno’s "line change” K9, Blanca, and El Alfi, won the game…the ball moved, shooters were open, Providence had few answers. Give Kaleigh a lot of credit, she played a masterful game…And of course the pressing D caused havoc.

Does anyone have a theory of why Geno didn’t do that (the pressing D) at the outset?

I thought…given KK’s injury…that it was an audition for Allie to see if she could blend in well with the starters…My impression is that she didn’t win any confidence points and her pairing with Shade actually (to my eyes)
lessened Ashlynn’s effectiveness as well.

Serah had some fine moments…not so much at the awkward outset, but also is yet to completely settle in...I imagine the coaching staff is a bit mystified as must she. Why is it taking so long?

Blanca missed a few that she normally makes in the first half but in the 2nd she was a complete monster…that steal and score at the buzzer was amazing…such awareness….helped by the refs adding time.

K9 for me was the essential peg around which the game revolved…my star...
Just a splendid point guard effort on both sides of the court.

There…I didn’t say a word about Sarah’s 3’s or TO’s or Azzzi’s all-around excellence.

Lastly, I thought the announcers spent too much time chatting about how great UConn was and not enough on the play…especially when it was less than beautiful BB that they were observing…but I ‘m sure they’re just bringing the potential new audience up to date…still disconcerting

Geno’s gotta know what works…just trying to feed more talent into the system…Tonight…those results were variable.

But he seems to have enough.




"
 
huskeynut said:
A win is a win. 13 - 0 to end 2025.

And "x*it" happens every once in a while. Missing you starting PG is going to create some problems and it did. Allie and Kayleigh performed good. Hopefully KK returns for the next game.

Is the number of turnovers today a cause for concern? Not unless it starts to repeat itself.

Jana is improving. Her work around the post is improved. Less missed shots. She looks like she knows what she has to do.

Serah is integrating nicely.

I like Geno using Serah, Sarah and Jana together. Could be needed down the road.

Happy New Year everybody. Here's to health and happiness in 2026!!
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Ummm…..14-0
 
The score differential really does not tell the story of this game. Hard to complain with a 37 point win, but Geno's facial expressions spoke volumes. I never thought I would say this (because Ash is one of my favs) but Blanca's play is making a very strong case for her starting and playing more minutes. K-9 is a very capable point guard in KK's absence. Strong is making some very, very lazy passes, and they are getting more and more frequent. Serah does not finish well enough, and commits silly fouls. Jana is playing herself into a bigger role, and Azzi is a consistently superb player. KK, although not needed in this game, is the straw that stirs the drink.
 
Lots for the coaching staff to work on. Over passing and passing up wide open shots. Trying to get the ball to our bigs is our worst offensive strategy. Too many turnovers passing it to players who are not really efficient.
Thought it was Shade's worst game, she seemed tentative and was fumbling all over the place.
 
K9 might not have started because of her injury....it was a sloppy game compared to what we are used to seeing. For me, the second half was very hard to watch.
On a positive note: I think Azzi is faster than she has been in years past.
We can't play like this and expect to beat Norte Dame.
 
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