SC Postgame Thread

[Dokey]

I enjoy the fact that Aubrey has suddenly become a first team AA while she's been out injured.

I'm not saying she wouldn't help, but let's not forget that she still is the 7th-9th player on this squad. She is no panacea.

If Aubrey has grown to 6’ 5”.

 

[donalddoowop]

For some of the posters who boldly said UConn would go undefeated this season, what was your basis? A lot of talent? SC, Maryland, and Stanford also have a lot of talent. Did you think they would go undefeated? Some think with their heart instead of their head. What bothers me is that SC utilizes Cardoso more effectively than UConn uses Dorka, so far. Dorka is a two time all BIG first team player. She seems to be struggling because of the system. Look at all the highly ranked players who have come to UConn in recent years who have turned out average or slightly above average. New players on other teams don't seem to struggle as much. Maybe the offense needs to be tweaked a bit. When the offense is designed to flourish on fast breaks and turnovers, we see what happens when they don't get turnovers. SC is playing the way UConn used to play. Stop the other teams from running their offense and running their own efficient offense. UConn is not getting enough production from their bench the way other teams are getting. Fudd being an exception, UConn is not getting much outside scoring from the bench. Also, until UConn starts blocking out properly, they will get outrebounded by lesser talented teams. These are just my opinions, more of them than usual.

 

[Rudy1927]

We don’t have the athletes they have, their bigs were dominate, officials wasn’t their best game for us, could have called approx 5 more charges and a lot of ticky tack stuff on us. I’m going to get hammered on this, but the Sr’s didn’t step up. If they are best go with them, if not we don’t owe them any more build for the future.

 

[jchusky]

For some of the posters who boldly UConn would go undefeated this season, what was your basis. A lot of talent? SC, Maryland, and Stanford also have a lot of talent. Did you think they would go undefeated? Some think with their heart instead of their head. What bothers me is that SC utilizes Cardoso more effectively than UConn uses Dorka, so far. Dorka is a two time all BIG first team player. She seems to be struggling because of the system. Look at all the highly ranked players who have come to UConn in recent years who have turned out average or slightly above average. New players on other teams don't seem to struggle as much. Maybe the offense needs to be tweaked a bit. When the offense is designed to flourish on fast breaks and turnovers, we see what happens when they don't get turnovers. SC is playing the way UConn used to play. Stop the other teams from running their offense and running their own efficient offense. UConn is not getting enough production from their bench the way other teams are getting. Fudd being an exception, UConn is not getting much outside scoring from the bench. Also, until UConn starts blocking out properly, they will get outrebounded by lesser talented teams. These are just my opinions, more of them than usual.

lol let's not forget the one user "Uconn will go undefeated and nobody will be between DD with 2 min to go"

 

[MilfordHusky]

A few more thoughts.

When I saw the S.C. box score last night and noted that Dee Kantner had reffed, I thought, "Oh no!" When I saw her on the floor today, I had the same thought. I had the privilege of sitting in Row A again (almost next to Aubrey). From that vantage point, I can tell you a couple of things: (1) The refs were awful, though not the reason for the loss. The male ref refused to call a charge unless there was blood on the floor. The overall work by the refs would have earned a C- or D. It was blatantly poor, especially for a high profile game. (2) Liv was battling her butt off and trying as hard as she could. She had several early blocks. At one point, I think S.C. had Boston, Cardoso, and Amihere on the floor together. They are HUGE.

S.C. is very good--obviously. They have reasonable depth--Destiny Littleton hit 2 key threes. They also have height, bulk, and athleticism. The guards are uber quick. I remember the BY saying that Cooke would try Dawn's patience. Well, Zia is no longer out of control and is very effective. I saw her make a pull-up from the FT line and she seemed 3' in the air. Unstoppable! In the prior 2 years, S.C. was vulnerable when the guards were wild and took too many shots. Boston didn't get the ball enough or shoot the ball enough. She was occasionally disinterested or uninvolved--Dawn has criticized her at times--but she was excellent today. That said, she got away with 2 or 3 offensive fouls. Though it's a deep lineup, the keys are Boston, Cooke, and Henderson. It's hard to say how good the freshmen will be. Only Hall played today. Rivers and Feagin are not trusted enough yet. And Johnson is out for the season.

How good is S.C.? Hard to say. They lost 5 games last year, including 2 to elite teams at the buzzer. So far, they have beaten UConn, N.C. State, and a depleted Oregon team. Can the Gamecocks run the table? It's very rare, especially for a non-UConn team. Right now, they seem to be the premier team.

 

[ReadR00ster]

It’s the fouls, charges, and hacks, not called that decided the game. Beal is a foul machine, should have fouled out. How about the charge not called by the ref when she flattened Paige? Several no calls on Amihere and Boston as well. Both should have had 4 fouls going into the 4th quarter. Several hacks on Christyn as well we’re not called. I thought I heard Dee Kantner call Dawn “Pat” a couple of times. Lol

Uconn was trying to flop on half the plays. Get out of here with this nonsense. If you are expecting a bunch of ticky tack fouls calls going your way to overcome a 16 pt loss, you are in for very disappointing season because Uconn is honestly not that good.

 

[Aluminny69]

Just to be clear, UConn went on a 15-2 run in the first qtr with both Boston & Cooke in the game.

Now that the play-by-play is available, Boston and Cooke came out at the five minute mark with UConn ahead 9-8. By the time Cooke reentered the game, at 8:33 of the second period, or six and a half minutes later, the score was UConn ahead 24-14. By the end of the half it was 36 - 33.

 

[Dokey]

Do you ever get the feeling that when Geno lost the Boston sweepstakes he could see maybe the glory days were in the past? We have gone three years without a dominant big while other teams are loading up. Is it that the bigs don’t see UConn anymore as a friendly place?

 

[dtbtbtb]

SC was clearly the better team today and deserved to win.
Few thoughts:
Can any of our bigs score any other way than getting the ball from Paige on a pick and roll which leaves them alone to shoot a lay-up?
Supposedly all 3 are good mid range shooters...still waiting to see it..very disappointed in Edwards so far this season...many here claimed she'll be an AA soon...she is light years away and seemed to have regressed from last season (maybe team Canada was a bad idea for her). Dorka should stop dribbling. whenever she does it spells problems and a turnover. Last year UConn used some high low offense between Liv and Edwards..what happened to it? Paige is a marvel and we are so very lucky to have her on UConn but she needs help. Will the real CW show up please? Evina at this point seems good only for about half a game...need to utilize Nika more (what happened to the amazing player from the second half of last season?). The refs were bad and some of their calls were ridiculous (the offensive call on Paige at mid court was as bad a call as I've seen in a long time) while some other cases the just swallowed the whistle and both were not in favor of UConn. We need Fudd to grow to a college player and do so fast. We'll need to get at least 10-15 points from her against the top teams to have a real chance.

 

[ccwarrior]

I think one major point has been missed-we were GASSED.

Isn’t this never supposed to happen to the Huskies?

 

[jchusky]

Do you ever get the feeling that when Geno lost the Boston sweepstakes he could see maybe the glory days were in the past? We have gone three years without a dominant big while other teams are loading up. Is it that the bigs don’t see UConn anymore as a friendly place?

that one was the bigget recruit loss maybe in Uconn history. You talk about taking them away from SC and having her at Uconn. Definitely woulda won it last season with her.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

The refs swallowed their whistles after calling a bunch of fouls on So Carolina. Our Aaliyah had a couple blatant charges that weren’t called. In no way did the refs contribute to the loss

I respectfully disagree.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Do you ever get the feeling that when Geno lost the Boston sweepstakes he could see maybe the glory days were in the past? We have gone three years without a dominant big while other teams are loading up. Is it that the bigs don’t see UConn anymore as a friendly place?

There's only 1 dominant big who will be competing for the NCAA championship this year, and that's Boston. Remember that Griner--the most dominant big in decades--won only 1 championship. But I like our big additions for next year and really want Breya Cunningham.

 

[Dokey]

ONO was the best player not named Paige today. I'm not understanding criticism against her game today outside of a knee jerk "Must blame ONO for everything" reaction.

If any bigs should be catching flack today, it's Dorka and AE.

You might be right about her being our second best player in the game. Think about that. We lost by 16.

 

[Gus Mahler]

But is that what a 6'5" center is supposed to be doing?

In general, and in spirit, I agree with you. But I think she's doing what her Naismith Hall of Fame coach wants her to be doing.

 

[Mirmir]

If Aubrey has grown to 6’ 5”.

Athleticism, Speed and Quickness sometimes is better than just height

 

[ReadR00ster]

Not all fouls get called in games and not all foul calls are actual fouls. That is life. I will say that South Carolina is used to playing teams who's idea of defense is to foul all the time, so when they play a team like UConn who doesn't foul that much it is probably something that throws them off a bit.

 

[oldude]

Now that the play-by-play is available, Boston and Cooke came out at the five minute mark with UConn ahead 9-8. By the time Cooke reentered the game, at 8:33 of the second period, or six and a half minutes later, the score was UConn ahead 24-14. By the end of the half it was 36 - 33.

OK, I stand corrected. SC went up 6-0, so UConn went on a 9-2 run with Boston & Cooke in the game.

 

[Soxx]

There is not one big to trust in a big game.

Olivia played well. Geno stated this in the post-game. She didn’t shoot as well as she has in other games and stopped looking for her shot as the game went on.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Uconn was trying to flop on half the plays. Get out of here with this nonsense. If you are expecting a bunch of ticky tack fouls calls going your way to overcome a 16 pt loss, you are in for very disappointing season because Uconn is honestly not that good.

That’s right, and Paige was pushing off when she got called for an offensive foul, to start the game off.

 

[BobbyJ]

Liv was hardly the only player on UConn fighting for rebounds, although at times it certainly seemed that way. If you rewatch the game you will see Liv doing a much better job fighting for position on the boards than either Dorka or Aaliyah who continuously lost position against SC players. In the few minutes she was in there, Mir also did a great job blocking out a player 5” taller while coming down with the rebound.

This to me was their reaction to Auriemma's criticism of them limiting their own PT by getting into foul trouble. They don't understand how to use their bodies and positioning to play physically without fouling. Defensively they backed off to avoid it.

 

[rvwsleep]

Uconn was trying to flop on half the plays. Get out of here with this nonsense. If you are expecting a bunch of ticky tack fouls calls going your way to overcome a 16 pt loss, you are in for very disappointing season because Uconn is honestly not that good.

Milford, quite clearly, stated that the refs were not the reason for UConn losing. You took offense from an imaginary slight. You should try to act like you root for a #1 team. No need for such insecurity.

 

[oldude]

This to me was their reaction to Auriemma's criticism of them limiting their own PT by getting into foul trouble. They don't understand how to use their bodies and positioning to play physically without fouling. Defensively they backed off to avoid it.

Honestly, I thought it was more the case that SC players were simply forcing their way to the basket by bodying Dorka & Aaliyah out of the way. When I saw Mir fight for position, body up Amihere and come down with the rebound, I immediately thought of Gabby, and wondered why our Bigs, other than Liv, were getting pushed around.

 

[Soxx]

Azzi didn't get much opportunity today time-wise. When she was in though, she really just hangs out on the wing and isn't very aggressive in getting herself open. It's almost like plays were happening without her, and she just stood there. Not bashing her -- it may be by design. Just an observation.

Geno commented in the presser that the coaches need to figure out how to get her open. I agree with how you described her play. Also he said that when she was in, SC immediately ran the offense at her.

 

[Littlemin]

I believe that Nika is still hampered by her ankle surgery and will be much better later in the season, hopefully prior to the rematch. Paige is really good, but I think that she is better when it's Nika at the point and Paige at the SG position.

I did not know Muhl had surgery in the off season. As for Bueckers, to ask any player to essentially be the best player on the court at two positions at the same time is just unrealistic. She was gassed with the 3 games in 3 days regimen and understandably so.