SC Postgame Thread | Page 6 | The Boneyard

SC Postgame Thread

I am certainly an unabashed Muhl fan; one of the few. I believe in toughness, competitiveness, and intangibles as much as I do jump shots. She has gone from being praised for those qualities by the coaching staff to sitting on the bench watching the team pretty much get smacked in the mouth and not fight back; different in some ways, but in some ways much the same as the Arizona game.
 
BBallF said:
They had almost 20 offensive rebounds, were stronger, had more energy, and it exposed some glaring weaknesses in our players and team. We poorly box out if at all. Azzi was non-existent ofensively and a liability on defense. Aaliyah had a below average game with turnovers, bad floor decisions and not being a real factor underneath. CW stopped driving and Evina disappeared as she usually does in the second half offensively. Paige and Liv showed up but Paige stopped wanting to shoot at certain points.

My overall take is that we were tired. They had a tough physical game yesterday and SC had a coast with Oregon depleted by injury. I also thought the refereeing was horrendous. I still don't know why we have such poor refs in the women's game.

This will be good for us. Getting beat like that should be a total team wake up call. I hope.
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The refs called Paige for a push off that didn't happen, then a foul on Dorka on a all ball block. But they missed two obvious charges on SC which Paige was floored both times with a no call on both. What I hate is that every big UConn game you have Dee Kantner in the middle of it and it always seems to go the other way. I just wish she would just retire and let some of the younger refs who I believe are better than her call the games.
 
Gamecockfan77 said:
ONO was excellent defensively.

She's just never gotten the offense going.

Bueckers was awesome in the first half. She's really so good. Not sure what changed in second half other than SCar getting back on defense. I think Cardoso altered 2-3 of her shots.
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What changed? Paige was near exhausted playing 3 straight games on 3 straight days and averaging near 40 minutes a game.....
 
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tchalla1 said:
Well anyone can see that SC was throwing out quite a bit of NBA-like taunting gestures near the end. Zia and Destani both did the "shush the crowd gestures" and cupped their ears several times... But to the victor, the spoils...
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While I agree with your comments, in the interest of fairness, Paige is one of the most demonstrative players in WBB when it comes to celebratory gestures.
 
CTrefugee said:
I would like to see Mir get more PT. She and Paige are the only ones as tough as SC players.
Why we lost:
1. we were outmuscled
2. we were continously out-positioned under the boards
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We will always be outmuscled by SC with their current roster but the out positioning has to be corrected.

Apparently, the seniors are looking for Paige to take care of their “unfinished business”.

I’m not the best at interpreting box scores, so, call these estimates. Paige took 21 shots. The rest of the team took 36. The stats in the 4th quarter are probably even more one-sided. These are stats you see on a team with a super star and a marginal supporting cast. If you have a team with the deepest talent in the sport, it’s a waste of successful recruiting. Today the best team beat the best player in the sport. We need to be a much better team.
 
Littlemin said:
I am certainly an unabashed Muhl fan; one of the few. I believe in toughness, competitiveness, and intangibles as much as I do jump shots. She has gone from being praised for those qualities by the coaching staff to sitting on the bench watching the team pretty much get smacked in the mouth and not fight back; different in some ways, but in some ways much the same as the Arizona game.
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Muhl has looked off this year much like Edwards. I do believe they are our two toughest players and they both need to play in games like these. I believe like Stewie’s freshman year, Azzi, Caroline and Aubrey will make a huge impact on our way to number 12. Hurts now, but it’s gonna be sweeter when it matters most.
 
tchalla1 said:
Well anyone can see that SC was throwing out quite a bit of NBA-like taunting gestures near the end. Zia and Destani both did the "shush the crowd gestures" and cupped their ears several times... But to the victor, the spoils...
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I just hope that UConn remembers the taunting and the gestures and jams it down their throats come Jan 27th with a beat down of SC in Columbia.;)
 
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We are simply not as good as SC! The most alarming thing for me, is our softness on defense and our lack of heart! This team used to have players who simply refused to fall apart even under the most intense pressure. Those days seem to have vanished in the haze. We’re just SOFT! Sad to see but it’s the truth.
 
Biff said:
For those that know a little about control theory, we have many posters that are way under damped.
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For those who are confused by Biff's post, here is a simplified explanation.

control theory.PNG
 
There’s enough blame to go around. Time to go back to the drawing board and move forward. Someone mentioned it earlier and I do believe there is some sort of disconnect, but I think it’s early and fixable. Go Huskies!!
 
tchalla1 said:
What changed? Paige was near exhausted playing 3 straight games on 3 straight days and averaging near 40 minutes a game.....
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Geno plays her all game every game because no one else shows up on a consistent basis. He better pray she doesn’t get hurt or they will sink like the Titanic
 
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Cuango said:
We are simply not as good as SC! The most alarming thing for me, is our softness on defense and our lack of heart! This team used to have players who simply refused to fall apart even under the most intense pressure. Those days seem to have vanished in the haze. We’re just SOFT! Sad to see but it’s the truth.
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Very true. I cannot recall when a UConn team was outplayed, out hustled, and out gutted...
 
Our offense is not optimized for rebounding. A post is at the top of the key most of the time setting picks and lots of time they stay there rather than really crash the boards ( Dorka is an anomaly in that regard as she does crash the boards well ). You don't notice it unless we miss shots but the 4th quarter shows how that problem cascades. If we miss shots and don't rebound we get nothing. South Carolina can shoot the 3, generate pull up jumpers AND rebound, and part of that is their offensive design. We are often a one trick pony. It works great with lesser quality teams. Can we win against the top teams with this approach and personnel on the floor?

I think ONO had a solid game but Boston is all american right? Boston also had one of her best games ever. You need more than size and quickness to stop her. As they say, "you can only hope to contain her" and we didn't. Maybe next time we will.

Henderson exposed Azzi's defense early on one play and boom, she was on the bench. Geno was right to stop it right there but then he had no depth and they tired in the 2nd half. Azzi will improve and be a similar player to Henderson and Cooke herself, probably an even better shooter, and hopefully the defensive intensity will evolve also.

There is a reason why Kevin Durant wins a lot of championships. He's unstoppable offensively. Top talents can win against top competition. Stewie obviously had it and still does. They can score against any defense. Paige is unstoppable if you set her enough screens and keep her from exhausting herself defensively. She and Azzi need help getting free though and that's not as good as being able to create your own shot opportunity. Nothing beats size and quickness. The top teams can beat our skill players with similar skill but more size and quickness.

It may be that Azzi and Paige alternate more in the future. They both have similar aptitudes on this team. When Paige is on the bench, Azzi needs to be on the court. Even when they are both on the court they can alternate screening for both.
 
pvdoggy said:
Thanks for the reminder:oops:. I still cannot understand how a team with all those highly touted recruits can only score 2 or 3 pts in 10 min of play.
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BTW where were all the touted recruits today? Were they dressed for the game?
 
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Charliebball said:
where are the folks who said Boston was overrated? If she chose UConn they'd have two more NC's already.......
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Not quite sure how since the NCAA has only held one championship since Boston has been in college, unless you assume that UConn would also hang a banner for being ranked #1 when the season prematurely ended in 2020 due to the pandemic. ;)
 
At work so haven't seen the game yet, have to say without fail when we use lose some fans say some pretty wild stuff. We lost a game in November, don't know who will win in Jan that's why we play the game. This is a game plain and simple not life and death. Tara went what 30 years between titles, one lost game in November and the disparaging comments are wow. Anywho will be in NJ next month cheering as loud as I can for the team. Enjoy the upcoming holiday folks
 
Congrats to South Carolina win. They are in deed better team than us and deserves to be #1 in the country.

Our whole benches scored only 2 pts. There are way too many need to be improved. Hope by next March we can beat South Carolina since we still have potential.
 
My Game Report Card:

At this point in time, South Carolina has the more balanced team attack, both offensively and defensively. We can break this down between front-court and back-court:

Front-Court:

The "bigs" - post players - for Connecticut of Nelson-Ododa, Edwards, and Juhasz combined for 14 pts on 7-14 shooting, with 11 rebounds, 6 blocks, 5 assists, 3 steals, 8 fouls, and 9 turnovers. Three players.

The "bigs" for South Carolina - Boston, Cardoso, Amihere, Saxton, combined for 29 pts on 13-25 shooting, with 26 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7 fouls, 6 turnovers. Four players.

Juhasz, Amihere, and Saxton were effectively non-productive. ONO and Edwards combined for 6-10 conversion, but only 10 shot attempts? Seems they could've been more aggressive/assertive offensively with their effective conversions of the attempts they had. CT - especially ONO - wins a big defensive post presence with her shot-blocking, but that's about it.

For USC, Boston was their lion's share of production, although Cardoso provided strong rebounding at a time when CT started missing shots and could've used some rebounds for additional attempts. In any case, the Gamecocks clearly won the Front Court Battle.

Back-Court:

We all know about Paige Bueckers, and for a time there, it sure looked like she was going to hoist her team back on her shoulders, and steal the game again. I think she got a bit tired in the late stages. Combined the guard tandem of Bueckers, Westbrook, and Williams WERE the Huskie offense, combining for 43 points on 15-36 shooting, and 3-7 from the 3-pt. line, with 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 9 turnovers, and 2 steals. No other Huskie guard scored. Fudd took a shot attempt.

The Gamecock guards of Henderson and Cooke were big producers for the Gamecocks. Littleton provided two big 3-pt. shots, and Beal also provided 6 pts. Combined, they totaled 44 points combined on 18-42 shooting, with 8 assists, 11 rebounds, 7 turnovers, and 9 steals.

That's 4 Gamecock guards compared to 3 Huskie guards, but being able to stay close with CT in scoring from the back-court - even to surpass CT in scoring - was a HUGE win for South Carolina, in addition to what they were able to do in the front-court battle. Because of this, the Gamecocks also - albeit only marginally - win the Back Court Battle.

So Round One goes to South Carolina. For this game alone, South Carolina appeared to have the more balanced team, both offensively and defensively. I feel CT could have gotten more offensive production from their bigs: the shooting from ONO and Edwards shouldn't have caused Auriemma concerns for any inefficiency, as they shot well enough given the attempts they did take. But the HUGE decider here was that the Gamecocks were able to match the Huskie guard play pretty much point-for-point, so that made the clear offensive edge to them in front-court production the game-winner.

That's no guarantee how Round Two goes in late January, in Columbia, SC. Now both coaching staffs have ideas on what they need to work on to improve their teams, and most of the season ahead of them before the next game. I imagine that the next one could be entirely different......
 
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