SC Postgame Thread

[Stinger92860]

The freshmen were awesome, Aubrey was huge, and Olivia had a good stretch after apoor first quarter.

But, holy cow, Paige is otherworldly.

And she will get better, she is only a freshman!

and Nika was awesome!

 

[DaBball]

I absolutely love Nika's intensity. So emotional and a fantastic teammate.

 

[huskeynut]

In the last 93 secs, Paige scoes 1 two, 1 two and 1 thress, makes UConn from -3 to +4 points.

I need a drink again ..

I've got 5 different brands of bourbon. Come on over!

 

[DEpup]

After what I just saw, Paige is going to be the best ever. And if not the best, easily the most clutch. In both regulation and OT, when we needed multiple buckets, in super clutch time, she made multiple buckets. Unbelievable. As if that three wasn’t going to drop.

And Azzi is on deck! Who's bad for basketball again?

 

[Sanka541]

To pull out a win like that when we shot as poor from 3 as that, with EW clearly struggling with her knee today, and the foul trouble shows good the defence was. If we can defend like that AND make some 3s we look pretty good moving forward. Nika, AE massively improving every week. AG with big plays today!

 

[Stinger92860]

Is this the biggest come back in UConn history?
I love you Paige ...

no!

 

[veryolddog]

Okay...........That was a miracle ending. I am glad that they won. I am sorry that they did not have Geno on at the end of the game. I would like to have heard his initial thoughts. Great ending. SC.... tough game for them. Freshmen played sometimes like freshmen and sometimes like juniors and seniors. I am really glad for this team to have this victory. It will mean a lot to all of the players

 

[Sched234]

I got to think this game was a little personal for Paige because Paige invested a lot of time and her Parents money in Boston coming to UCONN. Paige was @ UCONN when Boston made her official visit.

I didn’t know that.

Paige is a competitor and I’m sure she plays with whatever fire she needs to draw from. She’s phenomenal. That said, I do hope that there aren’t lingering hard feelings. Boston is doing exceptionally well at SC, and Bueckers is killing it at UConn. Boston has been vocal that she chose SC because of Staley’s recognition of her heritage. I like to think all these young women ended up where they are meant to be.

 

[King Kong]

I would not have believed that Paige would score 31 points against SC in a low scoring, tight game. Dawn Staley knew it was coming, & there was nothing she could do about it. And it would not have happened without Aubrey, Liv, Nika, & Liya!

 

[donalddoowop]

Just returned home. I have the game recorded and will watch it now. But I do have one thing to say, first, Yay!

You may miss the overtime because the game went over into the Ohio State / Maryland men's game.

 

[jabstep]

This was a barn burner for sure. We did just enough to win even though we missed open shots we would have won by 20; Nika on Cooke was fun to watch and her tenacity and desire to win makes us winners, Edwards whole persona of banging, hustling, and desire are one of the things that make us winners. Aubrey got most of the loose balls and rebounds. She does things that make us winners. Liv is a rim protector for sure and she makes good on defense. Paige is great and she is a winner. She has my vote for Player of the year and 1st team All American.

 

[Stinger92860]

Christyn didn't give us scoring but her defense was fantastic.

i 100% disagree

 

[bballnut90]

Pretty painful game to watch aside from Bueckers heroics which were phenomenal. Big win for UCONN and should lock them up for a #1 seed in March.

SC:
-Boston was solid but missed a good number of chippies inside. She was hugely impactful defensively and a lot of UCONN misses in the first half were when her presence altered looks. I have no idea why they didn't go to her more. She had 3 shot attempts in the first half. She had no face up shots either which was unexpected. The last 3 attempt was way too quick and rushed, she should've just shot instead of trying to hit a step back 3. Good game for her but I dont know why she didn't touch the ball much at all in the 1st.

-Henderson has been great this year but was dreadful today. 8 turnovers and a lot of them were just dumb lazy plays. Poor shot selection on 5-17 shooting, 1-5 FT. Missed a good look end of regulation and turned the ball over at the end. Night and day compared to watching Harris run the offense vs UCONN a year ago. If they meet again, she'll definitely be motivated to play better.

-Cooke was somewhat of a no show. Take out the half court prayer and she had 8 points on 3-12 shooting. SC guards were a big let down tonight for Dawn.

-Saxton and Boston needed more touches. 3 shots for Saxton isn't enough when she's a great finisher inside.

-Amihere didn't look ready for a game of this magnitude. She has length but isn't a good finisher and had a couple of bad TOs. Still pretty raw.

-All that said, SC still nearly won and would have if they hit one of their 4 shots end of regulation, including three right around the basket. I think they're UCONN's toughest competition for a title.

For UCONN:
-the backdoor action was most effective offensively. I thought they should've utilized it more, especially with Edwards. Speaking of..

-I thought Edwards played terrific. Really good minutes and played physical defense against a bigger Aliyah Boston. Avoided foul trouble and made a lot of hustle plays.

-Muhl played composed and picked moments well.

-ONO did well passing out of the high post. Maybe a super fan can run numbers, but from games I've seen she hits like 25-30% of her shots from the perimeter. She shouldn't be shooting out there. She also has the Jantel Lavender problem of sticking her right foot forward so it becomes a long two most of the time. Several of those werent even close. Im surprised Geno is letting her continue to take shots from out there. Im not sure i saw her post up once all game which isn't a good sign. UCONN escaped today but needs production and energy from her against taller teams.

-Bueckers is ridiculous. Moving her off the ball is a great idea too since she can be more like a combo guard. She should be taking 20+ shots every game considering her percentages and the fact that she scores at will with defenders draped all over her. I thought SC for the most part played great defense on her and she still hit tough shot after tough shot.

-UCONN's offense really struggled but was most effective when they just gave the ball to Bueckers and let her create. I anticipate more emphasis on this in the coming games. I dont know what happened to Westbrook and Williams.

-Griffin was solid defensively and provided a lot of energy.

Lineups will vary by game, but I think Geno has a good starting 5 right now and can inject energy off the bench in AE and Griffin. It was effective today and they'll need high intensity off the bench in the NCAAs.

 

[Stinger92860]

I disagree. Christine played great defense. She’s the one that forced the So Carolina turnover at the end of the game
[/QUOTE]

i disagree...

 

[CocoHusky]

I didn’t know that.

Paige is a competitor and I’m sure she plays with whatever fire she needs to draw from. She’s phenomenal. That said, I do hope that there aren’t lingering hard feelings. Boston is doing exceptionally well at SC, and Bueckers is killing it at UConn. Boston has been vocal that she chose SC because of Staley’s recognition of her heritage. I like to think all these young women ended up where they are meant to be.

Did mean to imply anything lingering. I’m sure they are all good, both great young ladies.

 

[Vowelguy]

I love how bad shooting nights for Paige are still over 50 percent.

Paige is carrying this team the way Diana carried her team as a junior. It’s unbelievable.

Disagree. Diana had more offensive support from her teammates. DT led by being a leader.
Paige is still gonna need others to step up.

 

[DEpup]

I shudder to even think what Bueckers is gonna look like as an upperclassmen. She is amazing!


Holy wow was Henderson awful for South Carolina by contrast. 5-17 shooting, 8 TOs, and not a clue how to run a team. I remember when Gamecock fans were trying to convince everybody she was fine as a PG. That's a big NOPE.

At least Henderson was trying. I feel like Zia Cook was the issue for them.

 

[Centerstream]

I take my BP every night about now...guess I'll be putting it off. WOW, my heart is still pounding.

 

[uconnever]

I’m not sure why so many people are happy here. Yes Paige is the best ever as a freshman we’ve ever had.... easy to see. But we are in serious trouble if the upper class players don’t take a long look in the mirror. I’m embarrassed as a UConn fan for the way they played tonight. It takes away from the excitement of the future titles that Paige and her crew will bring us. The freshman, those are UConn championship players like we’ve had in the past. The three ALL THREE I don’t expect them to be starts at this point, but dont be scared and at least contribute. We are not significantly, but I think at least 10-15 points better than SC. The juniors need to at least do something positive because Paige is gonna need help to keep this thing going. At least DT3 had role players that did their part. These women aren’t as far as I’m concerned and it’s kinda upsetting to me. I believe these three juniors have what it takes. I’m not just saying that, I really think that. Maybe Westbrook was off because she usually does a little of everything, so I give her a pass, but the other two need to figure out what they can do besides shoot from the outside because they both aren’t the best shooters. Liv needs to focus on being a defensive force and just rebound like crazy and maybe get some easy putbacks. Williams needs to drive more and just maybe focus on defens. I’m not sure but don’t be a liability, she is too talented for that. I only watched her a couple of times and she was lost or out of sorts out there. Unacceptable at this point in her career. I love and want them both to succeed more than anything, but man it’s frustrating. We won’t win a title like this.

 

[topogigio]

Holy Sheet!!! I had to rest for a while before I could even post anything. Paige (Freakin') Bueckers is really all there is to say! I thought the defense was outstanding, and kept the Huskies close all game. I told Mrs. Gigio at halftime that the half court shot by SC was huge, and might be the difference of the game. However, Karma arrived right on time when Paige's shot bounced high off the rim, then found its way through the basket. I thought Olivia was tough, which was a pleasant surprise, but I still don't like all those outside shots. More players need Paige's confidence when it comes to playing down the stretch. Nika has quite a bit!

 

[oldude]

ESPN cutting into the MBB game to show Paige's 3. Move over guys. Paige is here.

 

[Centerstream]

And Azzi is on deck! Who's bad for basketball again?

Cool, only took 103 posts to bring up Azzi. Hmm.

 

[LouS]

Paige is the REAL DEAL...............

 

[SLY63]

Lineups will vary by game, but I think Geno has a good starting 5 right now and can inject energy off the bench in AE and Griffin. It was effective today and they'll need high intensity off the bench in the NCAAs.

If Evina's knee is an issue, I think you start AE or AG.

 

[Aluminny69]

I was hoping the other players were thinking that Paige should be the only one shooting.

I think that's why Geno called a timeout. To tell them ONLY PAIGE SHOOTS!! ( Well, maybe not quite.)