SC Postgame Thread

[Vowelguy]

To a degree, but I would urge you to take a look at KML against Stanford and Baylor as a freshman. Hunting and hitting open shots against the #3 and #1 team in the country. She came to Storrs confident and knew exactly her role. She went out and led the team in scoring.

I'm going to refrain from drawing any conclusions about Azzi for another 10 or so games.

Pretty sure that Azzi's HS team played 1 game her senior year. She may still be getting re-acclimated to the environment of being in an actual game.
Also different players get comfortable at different rates. As I noted earlier, it took almost all season for MoJet and Tuck to get going.

 

[Martin]

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.

Anna Makurat would this last year.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Is Lou okay? She wasn’t in lineup last game.

Lou played in Sunday game and scored 16 points. She missed Thursdays game, a 50 point blowout. She showed up to Spain a week early, to make the Valencia game on November 1st.So team gave her extra time off during 10 day international break.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Good stuff!
Re: Liv. I think all of us here can think of 20 championship teams in history that had a big-man with limitations. It's almost in the definition of what is a big-man. We have arguably the best guards. (please Coach- figure out how to use Azzi- an absolute crime that she did not impact this game! ) Luc Longley, Steve Patterson, Kendrick Perkins, ...........

Ah! A poster who knows some basketball history.

 

[Rb335]

Pretty sure that Azzi's HS team played 1 game her senior year. She may still be getting re-acclimated to the environment of being in an actual game.
Also different players get comfortable at different rates. As I noted earlier, it took almost all season for MoJet and Tuck to get going.

Exactly why I said I am refraining from drawing any conclusions for 10 more games.

 

[jdote33]

Another thing that has happened in all the games is that they've had chances to really establish leads but have had a bunch of unforced turnovers. Re-watching the first half, Dorka was playing really hard, but had two really bad turnovers. One was off a broken play which is kind of forgivable. The other was just an unforced travel at the beginning of a set. EW also had a good first half but she also had a couple of unforced turnovers. One she was trying to go behind the back when SC started to unleash their press. The other was a miscommunication right before the half when they could've used more clock. They probably should've been up more than three at half time.
Also in the midst of those turnovers, they also had a couple rough calls go against them. Dorka looked like she had a clean play on the ball against LA which sort of hurt momentum. Then there was an obvious charge not called on Boston that led to an easy 2.
First half is actually kind of fun to re-watch. Paige was really good. TBH the whole team was really good, That's why being up only three doesn't seem right.

 

[uconnfan68]

Yup, and that last 1% will be curb stomping you every time unless you dig deep and fix it.

Geno loves your expectations.

 

[Martin]

When you can’t score, extra possessions doesn’t exactly help.

What????

 

[ClifSpliffy]

too obvious:
1. dorka came on around 4 minutes in, with us down by 3. played mostly thru the end of the half, which finished with us up by 3. watch the replay, she was in, and on, a lot of stuff, including the floor which she hit numerous times. u know who noticed her play? coach, cuz he started her the second half.
2. with aboot 5 mins left in the first half, the announcer went on a soliloquy - 'this game will be determined by rebounding.' she said it repeatedly.
3. yesterday, someone said 'i don't remember seeing this many predictions having us losing before.' many mentioned the possibility of being dominated on the inside as their reason. lots of honest and astute non-yellers here.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Mellow?
During the fourth quarter meltdown there was a shot of him standing on the sideline with a huge grin on
his face. Was he thinking happy thoughts; like what to put on tomorrow’s menu at one of his restaurants?

It's his disbelief/sarcastic smile. I think it's a coping mechanism.

 

[Conndog]

I wish Geno had played some others to rest the starters more, even if the games were tight. I'm disappointed that Caroline had so little time. She is 6'2 and can shoot- why not give her a chance? Mir showed great effort the short time she was in the game. Piath who is 6'5, not sure her offense is good yet, but can she rebound and play defense?
Hope Geno can devise a more fluid offense too with more plays that create space to shoot. But players like Azzi have to shoot more!

 

[Gus Mahler]

I don’t think I can remember a UConn player that has been unrelentingly criticized as much as ONO! It’s just unbelievable and unfair as well Imo. Is she as good as Boston? No, but that is not her fault! Call me when you can say she’s not trying! Let’s hear your observations about how she’s lazy, mails it in, demonstrates a “lack of effort” . Has it occurred to any of the Liv haters out there that this is what she is capable of? Just because she was recruited by and plays at UConn does not mean she can perform beyond her talent level! As long as I feel she is trying to play hard, that’s good enough for me and should be for any UConn fan.

Think Saniya Chong. Though at least she gained some redemption her senior year. Which then had an unfortunate ending. So more criticism.

 

[Dokey]

Athleticism, Speed and Quickness sometimes is better than just height

Sometimes

 

[Dokey]

Why would they? Their function for UConn is to stay high and pass to others or set picks, not to bang down low.

Why? 73-57.

 

[hoophuskee]

I was hoping to see some unconventional periodic zone today because SC isn't the best 3 pt shooting team. Of course, everyone says it's hard to rebound out of it, BUT so is playing man to man at this point. I also think all that chasing...wore the team down by the 4th quarter. I'll be interested in the next few games to see who plays where. Personally, I would like to see AE play the 5 against bigger teams and Liv the 4. I hope Piath starts to get a few minutes during CONFERENCE play. She doesn't need to score a lot of points. Get the defensive rebound so the other team doesn't get double digit second possessions which get turned into points.

There's plenty of offense on this team. Defense should be the focus. You will know it's been addressed when you can answer the question..."What's the Team's identity?" Not there yet. It's coming.

Piath is not an answer. I don't agree either about the offense. UCONN scored 3 points in the 4th quarter. They have arguably the best player in all of WCBB - at worst among the best- and they score 3 points in a game that was tight going into the 4th quarter?

What's the goal? Hold the other team to 5 points?

 

[Dokey]

You are correct. It was a smile of disbelief.
In his presser he said, in effect, that he was having trouble getting through to this group.
This is something he has said repeatedly for the last few years.
What can he do to solve this continuing problem?

I thought the timeout was a blunder on Geno’s part, given there was only 14 seconds left.

 

[Dokey]

You may very well be right, it is just strange to me that she went from a player who Auriemma obviously respected and praised to one who is now merely an afterthought, yanked for every mistake if your premise is correct. Especially because this team still lacks what she brings, 40 minutes of intensity. Not to mention, moving Bueckers to her most productive position.

He did much the same with Anna, though of course she was out with an injury much of the season.

 

[Vowelguy]

Piath is not an answer. I don't agree either about the offense. UCONN scored 3 points in the 4th quarter. They have arguably the best player in all of WCBB - at worst among the best- and they score 3 points in a game that was tight going into the 4th quarter?

What's the goal? Hold the other team to 5 points?

I understand your point but they’re interrelated — UConns half court offense is terrible so better defense means more opportunities for transition scores.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMHO the main reason for the lack of rebounding, especially offensive, slow, ineffectively run offense, and overall not your usual UCONN play was the previous two games back to back that took away UCONN's legs and just wore the players especially the inexperienced players out mentally and physically! They're not used to that type of action. The more experienced players have played back-to-back games but the physicality took it's toll also early in the season!
Playing such a hard fought USF game the day before took away more than we thought it would!
When they meet SOCar the end of January we will see a different UCONN team! When the schedule has it's usual space between games!
Our coaches will make sure everyone is on the same page!
Revenge will be sweeter the 2nd time around!

 

[The deacon]

too obvious:
1. dorka came on around 4 minutes in, with us down by 3. played mostly thru the end of the half, which finished with us up by 3. watch the replay, she was in, and on, a lot of stuff, including the floor which she hit numerous times. u know who noticed her play? coach, cuz he started her the second half.
2. with aboot 5 mins left in the first half, the announcer went on a soliloquy - 'this game will be determined by rebounding.' she said it repeatedly.
3. yesterday, someone said 'i don't remember seeing this many predictions having us losing before.' many mentioned the possibility of being dominated on the inside as their reason. lots of honest and astute non-yellers here.

I noticed, too, ClifSpiffy, about Dorka, but not 'til my second watch of the game.

I just re-watched the game with my focus on UConn's bigs and soon found I had underestimated Dorka's performance. Her problem has been in most of our eyes that through the first four games her mistakes are so darned conspicuous.

However, during her 19+ minutes on the court, the Huskies outscored the Gamecocks, 38-31. While she sat, SC outscored UConn, 42-19.

I understand the narrative virtually throughout this thread has been that Dorka is somewhere between useless to dramatically overrated. Well, I'll grant she hasn't scored much (sort of like our other bigs), but I was impressed today with several of her passes, she played solid 'D' and she did a much better job keeping Boston away from the boards than Liv.

Perhaps it was pure luck or serendipity that the Huskies played so much better with Dorka on the court but I hope a few of you who posted earlier describing her as a liability pay attention to those numbers: 38-31 for the Huskies with Dorka on the court; 42-19 for the Gamecocks without Dorka on the court.

There is hope for our Huskies, and I believe Dorka is one of the chief reasons for it.

 

[The deacon]

I wish Geno had played some others to rest the starters more, even if the games were tight. I'm disappointed that Caroline had so little time. She is 6'2 and can shoot- why not give her a chance? Mir showed great effort the short time she was in the game. Piath who is 6'5, not sure her offense is good yet, but can she rebound and play defense?
Hope Geno can devise a more fluid offense too with more plays that create space to shoot. But players like Azzi have to shoot more!

Agreed, Conndog, about Caroline... except it wasn't 'so little time,' it was zero time today. Through four games, she's played about 19 minutes.

As so many have said, how much worse could it have gotten for the Huskies in the fourth giving her a few minutes to see if she could cause a SC turnover, or maybe hit a three? I expect she might not be as ready for big-time competition as we had hoped in pre-season, but what the heck at that point, right?

 

[TeamFirst!]

How do you replace someone who isn’t in the rotation to begin with? IMO, Uconn needs toughness, players willing to get dirty and play with refuse to lose attitude for 40 minutes, not build a lead out of the gate and then glide, which has become a pattern for this program. That works for almost all the teams Uconn plays but not when your only real goal is NCs and the only games that really count are late in March. Ultimately, the game today means nothing but Uconn doesn’t need more 3 pointers, they need players who not only want but LIVE to stop the other team from scoring, players who NEED that rebound, that loose ball.

My point is that even Nika's slot as reserve #3 or 4 is in jeopardy. She's small, not that fast, not a great shooter or passer. She is not a major part of a championship level team. She can supplement it. She can be injury depth and all of that is worthwhile but she's going to end up as reserve number 8 or 9 at best. She can help if she can at least make some 3 pointers at a high rate. I don't want to say it but in the end we have 7-8 players who are better. She's mainly injury depth unless she can do something which can help us win against top competition. We have lots of players who can beat up on Villanova. Nika is a great person and a solid player. She will learn a lot from her involvement and maybe be a great coach someday. Maybe a little pro ball in Europe. She should just accept her role and do what she can to contribute and not worry about it. She's already done extremely well with her god given talent. She should know that she will benefit even if she doesn't get to play a lot.

 

[TeamFirst!]

It's one game. Look at all the NBA playoff games where one team blows out the other one night and then comes back to win the next night. It's one game. It may well end up exactly the opposite next time. Boston is probably not going to have that level of performance against us again. They may well turn it over more as they have a propensity for it. The play that just killed us was when they flattened Paige in the 4th quarter and we didn't get the obvious call. Paige let it get to her and bungled 2 turnovers in 30 seconds. I can see how it could happen to anyone because I really thought that was an obvious foul that wasn't charged. It will be a learning lesson though now.

 

[hoophuskee]

I understand your point but they’re interrelated — UConns half court offense is terrible so better defense means more opportunities for transition scores.

But even if no transition, to start the season, there are 4 top line players at the guard position. Two are probably going to the WNBA in which they were prior number 1 and number 2 recruits in some services. You have awesome Paige and supposedly awesome Azzi.

Even if no transition - if your offense puts up 3 points in a quarter with all this talent - it's broken during that stretch. Adding another defensive player with extremely limited offense does nothing to improve the halfcourt offense that clearly broke down.

I forgot to add - I meant Piath for the season- she is not an answer.

 

[Happydad745]

The Huskies have 10 or 11 games to play before they go against South Carolina in late January...we will just have to wait and see how much they improve by then. Before that, we have lots of Christmas shopping to take care of, and a few BY post in between.

 

[GoChips20]

It's one game. Look at all the NBA playoff games where one team blows out the other one night and then comes back to win the next night. It's one game. It may well end up exactly the opposite next time. Boston is probably not going to have that level of performance against us again. They may well turn it over more as they have a propensity for it. The play that just killed us was when they flattened Paige in the 4th quarter and we didn't get the obvious call. Paige let it get to her and bungled 2 turnovers in 30 seconds. I can see how it could happen to anyone because I really thought that was an obvious foul that wasn't charged. It will be a learning lesson though now.

SC plays great with the refs in their pockets. Have not seen such a one sidedly called game in quite a few years, ten years ago Geno would’ve gotten tossed. He’s much more mellow nowadays.

Didn’t SC have five more fouls called than UConn??

 

[ballerfan]

Were we listening to the same thing? I thought I clearly heard him say that the coaches needed to “fix” those things that are “fixable”. I’m not sure what you need to see from him? Perhaps sobbing apologetically, offering his resignation? I too agree that something needs to change but displaying panic after the fourth game of the season might not be the best approach to effecting that change.

You and someone else objected to what I wrote, which is fine. And I see some people liked your post. We have different ideas.

No, I don’t want him to sob apologetically or resign. I wrote nothing about panic. As I said, I admire Geno. I don’t understand your sarcasm.

In the presser I hear him talking about the problems with the players, but I don’t hear him discussing his own errors with the game plan or the decisions he made during the game. Maybe I missed something.

I joined the BY recently because I’m from a foreign country, and I spend a lot of time following the team. Not just the games but the articles, videos, etc. I thought it would be great to interact with other people who have the same interest. An obscure interest where I live. Not that I’m interested only in UConn basketball. I follow the EuroLeague and the NBA.

Anyway, I love reading everyone's comments. But there are a lot of snarky comments on this board, and I’m not sure if this is what I want to spend my time on.

 

[huskeynut]

I guess on the more optimistic side is that Geno seems like he has no idea what his rotations are going to be. Azzi has been coming in mid way through the first, in today's game she subbed in briefly at the end of the first quarter. Then Dorka and AE were playing musical chairs, and then Mir came in randomly. I don't think he knows the best combinations to play. That should become clearer as the season progresses.

The wife and I were discussing the substitutions last night. As we talked we started to realize that maybe Geno does have a plan. Now granted this is speculation so that it for what it's worth. Food for thought.

Maybe this game was used as a teaching tool - time to send a message. We know he has done this before. None of us know what happens in practice. Is he pushing buttons to motivate players? Why the sudden insertion of McClain when she hasn't seen the floor this season? Why was Azzi not in the lineup until the 4th quarter?

I have no answers but something is up.

 

[Stymie]

Liv is doing fine. EXCEPT she is not living up to the BY's expectations. She is not Stewie or Morgan or Kiah or Stef except in the minds of some BYers, she should be.

Doing fine?
Yes siree!
Two years against AAC competition- say maybe the equivalent of a P-12 level of play?
Then one year against the “NEW” Big East-maybe a P-7 level?
C’mon

 

[SLY63]

You only need two stats to understand the game. 19 offensive rebounds for SC and 19 turnovers for us. That's 19 extra possessions we gave them and 19 possessions we gave back to them without a shot due to our turnovers. The 19 boards are the result of their physicality and our lack of boxing out and going for the ball and some bad bounces. The turnovers are due to lack of movement, the wrong people handling and making decisions with the ball, bad passes, walking, 3 seconds and the stuff you work on with grammar school and high school kids

As I was reading the comments this AM, I was about to post this exact thought (nice post @BBallF. When you play the #1 team, players will have good and bad games, but as a team, no one is going to beat SC giving up 19 offensive rebounds and having 19 turnovers -- case closed. We can bash individuals (Liv) and question Geno, but the math is clear...

19 TOs + 19 ORs = Big Time Loss to #1