SC Postgame Thread

[Tank]

Couldn’t agree more, Boston was also pushing out with her elbow and forearm trying to make space while dribbling with the other. Beal also had some offensive fouls that weren’t called.

Dear lord

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Dorka did have some timely turnovers. And from an eye test, she looks uncoordinated and clumsy on the floor. She uses her body well but her inability to hold on to the ball or have court awareness it often times a problem. There was a pass from paige that went right through her hands (for an easy 2). I'm not saying AE was better or we have someone that we should replace Dorka with, it's just what I've seen from Dorka THUS FAR against better teams has been underwhelming

You just described Svetlana Abrosimova when she first started playing for Geno.

 

[npignatjr]

Stats don’t always tell the complete story, but here’s a few to consider. +/- (Aaliyah-26, Liv -16, Dorka +8). So yes, by that team metric, UConn did better with Dorka on the court, although it should be pointed out that Dorka played only 16 minutes to Liv’s 34 and Aaliyah’s 21.

When we look at individual stats, Liv exceeds both Dorka & Aaliyah. But if we just compare Dorka and Aaliyah’s numbers, rebounds were equal at 3 apiece, Aaliyah outscored Dorka 6 to 2, but the most telling stats imo are fouls & turnovers. Aaliyah had 1 each. In only 16 minutes Dorka committed 3 fouls while turning the ball over 5 times.

Several of Dorka’s turnovers were awkward, getting the ball stripped from her hands or throwing a wild inbound pass after a SC made basket. It is my sincere hope that those types of miscues will disappear as Dorka gets more comfortable in UConn’s system. It may simply be the case that Dorka is trying too hard and just needs to relax and play the game.

Yes later in the game she seemed awkward. The pass was as Paige stumbled part of the sequence Paige was run over, complained to the ref, SC scored off the missed shot, Lazy pass from Paige stolen by SC they scored, then the Dorka pass stolen SC scored again.

 

[ConwayGmck]

Dorka did have some timely turnovers. And from an eye test, she looks uncoordinated and clumsy on the floor. She uses her body well but her inability to hold on to the ball or have court awareness it often times a problem. There was a pass from paige that went right through her hands (for an easy 2). I'm not saying AE was better or we have someone that we should replace Dorka with, it's just what I've seen from Dorka THUS FAR against better teams has been underwhelming

That kinda reminded me of the Ben Simmons playoff deal. I wonder if Juhasz was expecting Bueckers to go to the basket as she was driving that way, and when Bueckers threw her (Juhasz) a high hard one at the last second, she was slow reacting because she wasn't expecting it, but rather was moving toward the basket to try to rebound any miss from Bueckers.....

 

[jazz]

ok it's not as bad as it looks. we lost the game in three stretches:

2nd qtr - we missed several ORB due to long rebounds. We had them boxed out, but the ball bounced far off the rim and we lost the rebound - it happens. unfortunately, I counted 5 long rebounds that went right to SC when we had them boxed out. we lost a couple ORB when we got tied up or couldn't get a grip on the ball.

3rd quarter- some of the worst minute or two of BB ever - PB makes the laziest pass ever in the backcourt, causing a TO and an easy two, followed by Dorka's poor pass to PB on the inbound leading to another easy 2 for SC. interesting that people focus on Dorka's pass much more than PB's pass, but in my view, PB's pass was much worse. PB needs help in the backcourt. she has to run around to get open on the inbound, bring the ball up while being overplayed and then score and play defense. no wonder she was essentially useless in the second half and especially in the 4th. Then a third poor pass in transition leading to another easy 2 pts. 6 easy points and nothing offensively to counter this.

Also we lost some ORB to SC when we fronted Boston to defend the entry pass, then they take an outside shot and Boston turns around already has position for the ORB. Ironically this happened a few times and the ball just drops in Boston's lap - no long bounce off the rim. It happens.

We did lose some ORB as well when Victaria snatched the ball away and when Beal was all alone under the basket when we rotated to guard the shooter and left her unchecked for the ORB. All other SC players were effectively blocked out, but the ball went to Beal who snatched it and went up for 2. It happens.

Also, it is damn hard for a skinny kid to get around a big strong bulky kid for a rebound. I know this first hand when I was in HS. I could outjump most players, but I remember this strong kid, even thought he could not jump, he took up so much space and was always leaning/pushing on me and I could never get the position I needed or get the lift on my jump to get the rebound. ONO has the same issue when going up with Boston. that is a matchup we are not going to win and if SC gets more bounces than we do, we are going to lose that battle big time.

4th QTR disaster - ono and AE out at 6:40, down 7 - 3 TOs in the next 4 possessions. Ono and AE back at 3:50 - 3 TOs in the last 6 possessions. So in the last 10 possessions, we didn't even get a shot in 6 of them. We still had a great chance to win, but we ran out of gas. ONO was terrible in the last 3:50 - was she gassed, even with the break at 6:40? PB was awful in the entire 2nd half and utterly useless in the 4th. Missed shots, bad decisions, poor defense. She was gassed.

Not sure what we can to about the last 6:40. Possibly we can get a bit more out of Dorka or a guard that can help PB. Possible we get more out of (she gave us nothing), get more out of CW who was ok but in these games, it would be nice if she could take over for stretches and it will help when AG gets back. Can we get Piath to give us a few minutes...maybe 5 to spell ONO - a couple in the first and a couple in the early 4th? Can we get a bit more out of AE? What about CD?

I thought until the last 3:50, ONO was terrific. I was really looking to see if she blew box outs or gave up ORB. She did not. She was terrific in most all phases. She didn't score as much as wanted, but you have to count the 6 assists she had as points too. Terrific passer until the last minutes of the game when she had 3 TOs. You can't blame her for Boston's great game. Boston is a handful for anybody and especially for a skinny kid. She held up as much as possible and the ball just found Boston in this game on several occasions and then Boston makes great plays too...because she is a great player! The ball seemed to find Boston on long rebounds and it found her when we fronted her and she turned around for the ORB. This in addition to Boston being Boston.

We need more out of AE. I thought she would impose her will on the game this year and she has not. I do believe she will be a force by year end...along with . 's defense worries me however.

 

[Cuango]

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.

Hey, you are absolutely right. I was over the top snarky there and I sincerely apologize. Please don’t let my thoughtless response influence you away from something you enjoy. I will try to reread my posts before I press that blue button. Again, I’m sorry.

 

[msf22b]

Being at Sea (slowly winding our way home) has prevented me from viewing the game...

But I am reminded of the Stewie, Moriah and Morgan's freshman year; 2012-3, in which UConn lost four regular season games including three heartbreaking losses to ND and one to Baylor, yet emerged stronger and more confident as the team came together and Stewie embraced her dominant ability.

In many ways, this group reminds me of that one and regardless of whether they go on a three or four year run of National championships or not, I expect some intense, committed BB and much success.

The pieces are there; fear not; Geno will sort them.
(Sorry to sound like Tony).

 

[SLY63]

2nd qtr - we missed several ORB due to long rebounds. We had them boxed out, but the ball bounced far off the rim and we lost the rebound - it happens. unfortunately, I counted 5 long rebounds that went right to SC when we had them boxed out. we lost a couple ORB when we got tied up or couldn't get a grip on the ball.

We need more out of AE. I thought she would impose her will on the game this year and she has not. I do believe she will be a force by year end...along with . 's defense worries me however.

Great post.

On the first comment above, I know there is not much to do on long rebounds, but shouldn't that responsibility of boxing out be on our guards?

I have been a huge fan of AE, and am befuddled by her start to the season. Was her confidence hurt during the Olympics?

 

[Tank]

I really think that we were very run down and tired. It reminded me of how we have played at times in recent Final Four games especially last year. You are not going to match SC's size so you have to run which we did great at times. Here's the problem though- when they are getting a shocking 19 offensive rebounds you aren't running. When you are throwing the ball away you aren't running. When you are beat physically and clearly tired, you ain't running.

He needs Aubrey but Azzi has to learn that if she can't play college defense she won't be out there in big games. To me, Nika and AE look like it's their freshman year. I can't understand it because it is a skill relapse so to speak. What is it with Evina in the second half? Is it intentional? A conditioning thing? Her knee? She is a different player from half to half.

Again, we have to beat this team to win it all and to do so a lot of things have to change. Right now, this is a far better team than us when we can't take advantage of our strengths because of our lack of endurance. Give them a few days off. Let this sink in and really aggravate and annoy them. I will be at the Seton Hall game. It will probably be a crush. Aubrey should be back by then to play at her father's Alma Mater.

SC can run also. I realize you were not specifically speaking about speed, no team can transition faster than SC when Henderson is flying with the ball. I think you are discussing how fast UCONN can run their offense off of transitions.

SC came into the matchup having played more games than UCONN, and against better competition. They were probably better conditioned, and because of their more frequent use of their bench were also more rested. UCONN will get better conditioned as the season progresses, but if they stick to mostly a 7 player rotation they will also be more worn down by tourney time, as you mentioned has been evident in some recent final four matchups.

So Geno knows, he has to develop 1-2 more players to play prominent minutes by season end. Fudd will be his main focus, but there has to be others also. And prior to the next matchup with SC, an answer has to emerge for how to negate their huge advantage in rebounds and interior play in general.

I suspect Geno will play around with various defensive sets prior to that matchup as he looks to find answers. Right now, depending on 4 quarters of elite perimeter shooting to overcome those deficiencies looks shaky, as it puts too much of the load on PB and company.

UCONN will likely play more zone and try to stay big enough in the lineup to negate that rebounding disadvantage, but then you have to be really good at every position in perimeter defense to pull that off, and some of the better shooters on the team don’t fit that mold right now. Apparently Fudd’s defense is not ready or she would be playing more right now.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

That kinda reminded me of the Ben Simmons playoff deal. I wonder if Juhasz was expecting Bueckers to go to the basket as she was driving that way, and when Bueckers threw her (Juhasz) a high hard one at the last second, she was slow reacting because she wasn't expecting it, but rather was moving toward the basket to try to rebound any miss from Bueckers.....

thank you. cuz that's exactly what happened. with each game, new players actually learn the on court tendencies of their new teammates, and reality is sooooo different from a video, especially the speed part. im fairly certain that dorka's education on that one went like ' wait, whut? that almost never happened before..., now, i know. cool.'
enlightenment.

 

[ballerfan]

Hey, you are absolutely right. I was over the top snarky there and I sincerely apologize. Please don’t let my thoughtless response influence you away from something you enjoy. I will try to reread my posts before I press that blue button. Again, I’m sorry.

Thank you, Cuango.

 

[jazz]

Great post.

On the first comment above, I know there is not much to do on long rebounds, but shouldn't that responsibility of boxing out be on our guards?

I have been a huge fan of AE, and am befuddled by her start to the season. Was her confidence hurt during the Olympics?

Thank you for the kind reply Sly.

The long rebounds went to SC bigs, primarily Boston when we had them boxed out. Many times, when she is playing on the outside or in the high post, Boston will just hang out there and not venture too far away. The ball bounced straight to her on several occasions. It happened so much that I noticed it. Our bigs had great position but missed the rebound because it went over their heads and straight to the SC bigs. This happened approx 5 times in a short period of time. Then later in the game, we fronted Boston to deny the entry pass, which is a big risk because we will never get ORB position, and that is exactly what happened. Boston turns around and the ball lands in her lap.

We had a couple long rebounds too, but SC had a lot more. Anyway, it happens, especially if the player takes up a lot of space as Boston does.

I don't think the Olympics has anything to do with anything. AE just hasn't gotten going yet. Geno could run a few post ups early on to get her going, IMHO.

 

[BBallF]

SC can run also. I realize you were not specifically speaking about speed, no team can transition faster than SC when Henderson is flying with the ball. I think you are discussing how fast UCONN can run their offense off of transitions.

SC came into the matchup having played more games than UCONN, and against better competition. They were probably better conditioned, and because of their more frequent use of their bench were also more rested. UCONN will get better conditioned as the season progresses, but if they stick to mostly a 7 player rotation they will also be more worn down by tourney time, as you mentioned has been evident in some recent final four matchups.

So Geno knows, he has to develop 1-2 more players to play prominent minutes by season end. Fudd will be his main focus, but there has to be others also. And prior to the next matchup with SC, an answer has to emerge for how to negate their huge advantage in rebounds and interior play in general.

I suspect Geno will play around with various defensive sets prior to that matchup as he looks to find answers. Right now, depending on 4 quarters of elite perimeter shooting to overcome those deficiencies looks shaky, as it puts too much of the load on PB and company.

UCONN will likely play more zone and try to stay big enough in the lineup to negate that rebounding disadvantage, but then you have to be really good at every position in perimeter defense to pull that off, and some of the better shooters on the team don’t fit that mold right now. Apparently Fudd’s defense is not ready or she would be playing more right now.

That's all true but I wasn't talking about running our offense off of transition. We got our 11 point lead by several fast breaks with turnovers by SC and defensive rebounds. You can only run like that for so long. Despite Henderson, our advantage was in our guards with our speed.

Our core 3 of scoring of Evina, Paige and CW played far too many minutes in the first two games. They needed to be rested and ready for that game and I don't think the number of prior games played by SC mattered. It was the two games before. SC has more playable depth and had a cakewalk for both prior games. Oregon's top 3 players were out.

I just don't see this pattern of playing so many minutes by our core 3 working again in the FF this year. We have not been at our sharpest and best physically the last 4 times when it mattered most. We looked tired and unsure and you can't win like that. John Wooden famously pointed out how conditioning matters most at the end of games. He was the first coach to practice at game speed. His teams always were perfectly conditioned. They did pretty well.

 

[Tank]

That's all true but I wasn't talking about running our offense off of transition. We got our 11 point lead by several fast breaks with turnovers by SC and defensive rebounds. You can only run like that for so long. Despite Henderson, our advantage was in our guards with our speed.

Our core 3 of scoring of Evina, Paige and CW played far too many minutes in the first two games. They needed to be rested and ready for that game and I don't think the number of prior games played by SC mattered. It was the two games before. SC has more playable depth and had a cakewalk for both prior games. Oregon's top 3 players were out.

I just don't see this pattern of playing so many minutes by our core 3 working again in the FF this year. We have not been at our sharpest and best physically the last 4 times when it mattered most. We looked tired and unsure and you can't win like that. John Wooden famously pointed out how conditioning matters most at the end of games. He was the first coach to practice at game speed. His teams always were perfectly conditioned. They did pretty well.

Great post. But do you really believe Henderson, Cook and Littleton are slower than PB, EW and CW? SC has the speed advantage If there is one.
Reference the minutes in the recent tourney, how many more minutes could the guards have rested versus USF without possibly changing the outcome of that game?

 

[jchusky]

Great post. But do you really believe Henderson, Cook and Littleton are slower than PB, EW and CW? They have the speed advantage.

I remember Geno saying that Paige wins all the sprint battles at practice. At 1st I thought that was positive then I realized she doesn't seem like a fast player to me. So is the team slow in general?

 

[Centerstream]

I remember Geno saying that Paige wins all the sprint battles at practice. At 1st I thought that was positive then I realized she doesn't seem like a fast player to me. So is the team slow in general?

Yes, that's why their transition game sucks...

sarcasm.

 

[Amashutcha]

I remember Geno saying that Paige wins all the sprint battles at practice. At 1st I thought that was positive then I realized she doesn't seem like a fast player to me. So is the team slow in general?

I don't think a 'slow' team can thrive on transition.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Paige is fast. When they are not sidelined by injury, Aubrey is faster, and, I believe, Mir is the fastest. Recall that Mir was a track and field athlete.

 

[Viet Vet]

Paige is fast. When they are not sidelined by injury, Aubrey is faster, and, I believe, Mir is the fastest. Recall that Mir was a track and field athlete.

"Fast" does not mean good.

 

[BBallF]

Great post. But do you really believe Henderson, Cook and Littleton are slower than PB, EW and CW? SC has the speed advantage If there is one.
Reference the minutes in the recent tourney, how many more minutes could the guards have rested versus USF without possibly changing the outcome of that game?

My problem was with the Minnesota game. Playing two games with 30 plus minutes back to back is one thing; playing three games back to back with 30 minutes is impossible.

I don't think it's just straight speed. If we are going to ever beat them it is going to have to come from our core 3. We are better than them there, trust me.

As I think about this more, I don't think Geno is really upset. He has a very clear picture now. If you watched the Gonzaga game you saw perfect boxing out by 5 players, not like us. We are terrible at it. It looks like an AAU team. Everybody on Gonzaga drives. We rarely do except for CW. There are ways to drive without encountering a center on defense. Evina and Paige have to do it more and Azzi has to do it and pull up. I also think Dorka should start. AE is better as a sub, that's just a fact. This is a FF team. NC team, not yet by a long ways. Geno is great at team development but not great at team preservation. We haven't been peaking physically or psychologically for the FF our last 4 times there.

 

[Martin]

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?

Well then the problem wouldn’t be the new players

 

[Martin]

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.

Don’t worry about the snarky its just internet babble.

 

[Tank]

My problem was with the Minnesota game. Playing two games with 30 plus minutes back to back is one thing; playing three games back to back with 30 minutes is impossible.

I don't think it's just straight speed. If we are going to ever beat them it is going to have to come from our core 3. We are better than them there, trust me.

As I think about this more, I don't think Geno is really upset. He has a very clear picture now. If you watched the Gonzaga game you saw perfect boxing out by 5 players, not like us. We are terrible at it. It looks like an AAU team. Everybody on Gonzaga drives. We rarely do except for CW. There are ways to drive without encountering a center on defense. Evina and Paige have to do it more and Azzi has to do it and pull up. I also think Dorka should start. AE is better as a sub, that's just a fact. This is a FF team. NC team, not yet by a long ways. Geno is great at team development but not great at team preservation. We haven't been peaking physically or psychologically for the FF our last 4 times there.

Yeah, I posted earlier on this. By the FF your top 5 better not be exhausted.

The team needs 1-2 more to develop and Geno needs to ride the bench hard when he can, even when he cannot, in prep for tourney. He can be stubborn, but he knows today’s game is full of competent teams, not like the old days.

 

[TeamFirst!]

After coaching for many years I noticed that slim players have a more difficult time playing more back to back games. Muscular players have a generally easier time keeping their energy level up. You can see that Paige is stronger than last year but it would be easy for her to drain her electrolytes during the kind of sustained PT she has been getting. That, and a lot of physical play in general, would potentially affect her more than many players I would bet.

 

[ballerfan]

Don’t worry about the snarky its just internet babble.

Thank you, Martin. I learn a lot from the BY.