S Conn exhibition Post game

[victor64]

—Still some things to work on, but a significant improvement from BC. Ball pressure was terrific.

—Shade played well as usual but I still think she has more impact coming off the bench. She will continue to start until Blanca’s decision making on offense improves.

—Blanca though, might be the most athletic on a ridiculously athletic team. She will have to be a starter. She is too talented not to.

—For the second straight game, Geno used full court pressure. I wonder if he is taking a small bit of Kim Caldwell and tipping his hand that he has as many as ten that he trusts.

—I hope Ziebell’s early appearance in both games is indication of how well she is practiced.

—I still don’t think UConn is thin at point guard. K9’s comfort level will only increase over time.

—At this time, Ayanna’s and CD’s minutes will be limited. There are just so many other options.

-Every time I think the game is finally slowing down for Jana, she makes a couple of decisions that indicates she is not there yet.

-Ice’s body language indicates that she is healthy and confident. She will get regular rotation minutes. May be the backup 5.

-Everybody has opinions on how minutes should be distributed in a game like this. I thought the staff did a great job with mixing combinations.
—Bring on Louisville.

 

[DEpup]

Can people stop undervaluing SHADE!

She is a starter. Deal with it.

Blanca will be a great spark off the bench but she doesn't have the maturity yet to be a starter. She has plenty of future years at UConn to be a starter.

 

[Stagnant]

It is hard to get too much out of this game. But we can speculate on the rotation.

I feel pretty confident in KK, Azzi, Shade, Strong, Williams, Heckel, Blanca, Ice, and Allie. I think we have a 9 player rotation right now. And players can play their way into the rotation or out of the rotation. That’s my view.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[BBallF]

Here is another perspective to Blanca coming in at the 3 for Ash. On the other team on defense you go from a smaller 3 in Ash to a 6'2" athletic, slashing physical player in Blanca that you now have to have a sub defend. No second team player at the 3 for any other team in the country will be able to stay with her.

 

[jcoton56]

Everybody eats today. Defense seemed quite focused and energetic.

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[BBallF]

It is hard to get too much out of this game. But we can speculate on the rotation.

I feel pretty confident in KK, Azzi, Shade, Strong, Williams, Heckel, Blanca, Ice, and Allie. I think we have a 9 player rotation right now. And players can play their way into the rotation or out of the rotation. That’s my view.

No Jana?

 

[Cuango]

I’ve gotta say thanks again to Nan for the link to the game! They looked tremendously improved from last week. So happy to see Allie play well! I am beginning to see what everyone is talking about with Blanca. She is going to be a monster. Serah really stood out as well. She is a huge difference maker and elevates this team to a different level. Finally, no injuries! Has anyone heard anything about Morgan? Also, I wonder why Gandy didn’t get a few minutes?

 

[Stagnant]

No Jana?

She played 9 minutes today. The answer seems like no right now.

I think maybe she has dealt with an injury during the preseason. I remember there was something she wasn’t available for. Around the same time shade was missing some practices.

 

[Geew1992]

I’ve gotta say thanks again to Nan for the link to the game! They looked tremendously improved from last week. So happy to see Allie play well! I am beginning to see what everyone is talking about with Blanca. She is going to be a monster. Serah really stood out as well. She is a huge difference maker and elevates this team to a different level. Finally, no injuries! Has anyone heard anything about Morgan?

No news on Morgan. Also, gandy was sidelined as well

 

[Geew1992]

She played 9 minutes today. The answer seems like no right now.

I think maybe she has dealt with an injury during the preseason. I remember there was something she wasn’t available for. Around the same time shade was missing some practices.

It was the open practice

 

[Stagnant]

I’ve gotta say thanks again to Nan for the link to the game! They looked tremendously improved from last week. So happy to see Allie play well! I am beginning to see what everyone is talking about with Blanca. She is going to be a monster. Serah really stood out as well. She is a huge difference maker and elevates this team to a different level. Finally, no injuries! Has anyone heard anything about Morgan?

Nothing official really.

Morgan posted a picture of herself shooting on instagram on September 9. And she looked like she was practicing on August 28 also based on IG. But now she isn’t able to participate in warm ups. Evidence to me suggests there has been some sort of a setback.

 

[EricLA]

It was a game against an overmatched Div 2 team. Lots of positives from the game. I thought it was great how Geno kept the starters in past the first 5 minutes, brought in Blanca and Kayleigh, then surprisingly (to me) Allie.

Allie Z far and away was my biggest pleasant surprise this game. She showed me a bit of everything. So happy for her and I thought she looked really solid. On the flip side, Carol and Ayanna showed why they are likely in the bottom 4 along with Gandy and injured Morgan.

Some early TO's were meh, but pretty solid overall. I think Blanca showed a lot, but no way do I see her starting. Ash is too solid, and an upperclassman, and I think it would be a slap in her face from Geno to take her out of the starting lineup, no matter how much Blanca develops. I think Blanca will be a tempo changer off the bench.

I think Geno has a legit core 10. At least that's what I saw this game. I was surprised to see so little time for Jana - disappointed and not sure why. Was glad to see Ice looking good. I thought Kelis looked good too. Not sure where she fits in - if his true core is no more than 10...

Starters - KK, Azzi, Ash, Sarah, Serah
Core reserves in this order apparently (at least in this game): Blanca, Kayleigh, Allie, Ice, Jana
Question mark - Kelis - can't see a core 11, but thought she looked solid and like she totally belonged.
Bench - Caroline, Ayanna, Gandy, Morgan (injured)

Overall some really nice things. I'd like to see less 3 point shots, but boy if they are open, not shy about putting up the shot. Overall a very enjoyable game to watch. Had the pleasure of getting together with @MilfordHusky. I'm sure he will post at some point.

 

[Huskie837]

Always good to hear Meghan Pattyson Culmo on the call....

 

[BRS24]

I’ve gotta say thanks again to Nan for the link to the game! They looked tremendously improved from last week. So happy to see Allie play well! I am beginning to see what everyone is talking about with Blanca. She is going to be a monster. Serah really stood out as well. She is a huge difference maker and elevates this team to a different level. Finally, no injuries! Has anyone heard anything about Morgan? Also, I wonder why Gandy didn’t get a few minutes?

No news on Morgan. Also, gandy was sidelined as well

 

[Husky fanatic]

Not much to complain about. Known TV commentator along with play by play guy staying on point. Expected to see a few minutes from Gandy. Anything wrong ? Good news is they will have a pregame show for every game. Only 9 days until we play for real.

 

[HuskyNan]

Love Maggie but I think she meant whacked

 

[freshler40]

Can people stop undervaluing SHADE!

She is a starter. Deal with it.

Blanca will be a great spark off the bench but she doesn't have the maturity yet to be a starter. She has plenty of future years at UConn to be a starter.

Blanca is a gifted natural athlete, the Uconn game and patterns will come to her soon with strong finishes.

 

[ThisJustIn]

CD post game on Varsity Sports Radio with Bob Joyce
Wayne: Overall - satisfied?
Nice to have opportunity to play a new opponent. Haven't been here before in the renovated areas.

Outmatched opponent from talent standpoint.
Last game too many TOs. Wanted to cut down.
Working on pressure.

Wayne: Vs, BC, not good 3-pt shooting

We're a good shooting team. We felt v. BC we had a bad day. That's why getting TOs impact us. If we shoot 50%, and get open shots for shooters. We have a good inside/outside game.

Wayne: Double-Double from Strong. The little things she does to make everyone better.

Been that way ever since she walked on campus. Triple-double threat every time. Unusual to miss as many as she did.

36-0 run. Defense?

We were able to put a lot of pressure. Overmatched opponent, but we got in passing lanes. Learning how to do pressure, get in lanes. We're going to have to get better if we want to press.

V. BC we didn't do a great job of keeping people in front of us. Need to keep people out of the lane - don't let em get by and get dumb fouls. Have enough bigs post to keep opponents in front of us.

Wayne: Louisville next. Priorities? What need to clean up?

There's a lot. Lot we haven't put in defensively. We want to do things we have practiced and do them well. We did. Now we can add. Won't be "ready" for a good team like Louisville, but hopefully they won't be as ready either.

 

[Centerstream]

All five starters played over 15 minutes and had two TOs. The rest of the team had 13, with Blanca having six.
Seems to be an improvement by the non starters over the BC game and hopefully will continue in this direction.
But the rest of the game and stats are pretty good for the second game. Many different combinations and everyone played well and kept the offense and defense play pretty good.
Looking forward to the Louisville game where we will probably see the starting five and the five "top" other players play most of the minutes in the first three quarters.

 

[Basingstoke]

I know it didn't show in today's game, but I, for one, think that Kelis will be a monster in short order. She is super quick, can shoot the 3, is a great driver with the ability to finish at the rim (I know she got blocked on 1 drive today), draws fouls and is a good foul shooter, is a willing passer and will be a really good defender.
I think that everyone took a good step forward today (individually and as a team) - with the unfortunate exceptions of Yanna and Caroline (hopefully they just need more time).
I know they played against an overmatched team today, but I hope that players' comfort levels and confidence are really soaring now (special kudos for Kayleigh, Allie and Blanca).

 

[Bigboote]

I was pleased with the improvement over the last exhibition. Yes it was a DII team, but there was much less confusion by the UConn players on both offense and defense.

Like EricLA, Allie was the one who really stood out to me. I saw absolutely none of the confusion that plagued her last year, and her hustle and positioning on O and D were good. I hope this is a game to build on for her.

At the same time I'm both pleased and disappointed that Caroline isn't getting more minutes. Pleased that there's less chance she'll get another head injury, disappointed because I really like watching her.

Midway through the first half, they had four guards plus Blanca on the court. Late in the second they had four 6-2 players plus Kelis. Geno has the tools and he's not afraid to use them. Or at least check them out.

In the pregame they mentioned that Morgan is still out after surgery, but she was suited up. Thanks LisaG for the news on Gandy. I was disappointed not to see her, but glad to know it's not because she's in the doghouse. I hope she didn't get whacked badly enough to keep her out of later games.

The starters had 19 assists, 17 steals and TWO turnovers. That's an assists+steals to turnovers ratio of 18. Sarah led in assists, which is a luxury I think we're gonna need to get used to.