SC Postgame Thread

[Centerstream]

Sorry Gus but can’t agree with you. Statistics don’t tell the entire story but do tell us something. As has been mentioned Liv had 5 points and 6 boards compared to Boston’s 22 and 15. In fact our 3 bigs had a grand total of 14 points and 11 rebounds. We will never beat SC with numbers like that. Liv did have some nice defensive plays but she also bears some of the responsibility for the opposing team having 19 offensive rebounds and 17 second chance points.

And so don't the other 4 guys on the court.

 

[Postie]

People on the board bashing Liv will miss her next year when she is gone.Yes she has limitations.She is a great passer and sets great picks.If Piath and Amari were better they would be playing.South Carolina will have their core back next year.UConn loses three seniors I don’t see a national championship anytime soon

 

[Zinethar]

Disagree with most of your observations.
Find it disturbing that Geno inserts Azzi with time running down in the 4th and expects (?) her to bail team out.
Zero redemption for any of our bigs-maybe you were watching some other game?
Check the box score- that’s where the game was lost.

No I watched the game - not the box score. I watched Liv doing EXACTLY what Geno has been asking her to do. This is her skill set. She is not Boston. She is a receiver, Boston a fullback. The problem is the rest of team not boxing out. Paige gets way too many rebounds because she does box out. UConn should send 1 quickly back for quick outlets. The rest need to work in case the shot misses. All 5 often never even see the outcome of a shot.

 

[Zanzman]

My perception if you feel differently G-d bless to you….

Can you give an example that you saw

 

[CL82]

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......

“Husky” but otherwise I think that is a fair assessment

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Olivia had 6 points (3-4), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 blocks, and 2 steals against the #1 team with the #1 front court. She’s taken a lot of heat for not showing up in big games but she shouldn’t today.

Anyone that thinks Liv or any other post player should have been scoring at will against Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere, and Kamila Cardosa is fooling themselves. That is a formidable frontcourt.

That is one of the best front court combos I've seen in WCBB. Awesome! But Edwards is/was tremendous last season. She's disappeered. And Dorka was All-Big 10. These are three big talented people. But for ONO to score just six points and pull down just five rebounds while fouling four times. That just is not a good performance. She is dishing out assists. But is that what a 6'5" center is supposed to be doing? The opposing team pulled down 19 offensive rebounds over us. ONO and UConn were out rebounded by seventeen. This is the #2 team in the country. The front court was supposed to put up a fight.

 

[Centerstream]

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.

Joe Vasily(sp?) is right there with Dee.
After the Paige joke foul, I lost count of the number of times Boston moved around on offense with her forearm leading the way.

 

[MSGRET]

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.

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

More likely is that she still doesn't fully " get" the UCONN offense. And, she is a freshman. Descharmes ( whom everyone haas raved about) didn't even get to take off her warm up jacket. Time for the usual BS; "this was a learning experience" for UCONN. The problem is, we have 1000 games against the Big east. And no one gets better doing that. They just " think" they do.

 

[ABCDFE]

Just watched the game. I thought that UCONN played pretty well in the first quarter and some parts of the second quarter. After that they just looked like a gassed team without much energy or conviction defending SC.

• Paige - She did everything she could, but you could tell she looked tired in the second half
• Liv - Out of all the bigs, she played the best. Not surprised by her output, but we need more from her if we are to contend with SC down the road
• CW - Was ok, but that's two games now against top teams that she can't seem to show that she's elite, I think she's got to match Zia Cooke score wise for us to have a chance.
• AE - Need more from her. I just don't see the same player as we saw last year toward the end of the season. Not sure what is going on, but perhaps we can run some plays for her more often as she is the only one that has a low post banger type game.
• Evina - She was solid. Steady E.
• Azziz - Too Tentative. She had several wide open shots and decided to pass (to one to Dorka, inexplicabley). I don't think you'll see zeros for her next time against SC so there's hope there.
• Dorka - Sorry, but she's been such a disappointment to me thus far this season. She looks like she lumbers around out there and seems uncoordinated out there.
• Mir - Nice to see her come in!
• To me the scoreboard didn't indicate what a good game it was, I think this is the best thing that could've happened to Geno, now he will build these guys up again. So many things to work on out there, but I did see the potential (like what happened in the 1st qtr) and then we saw how bad they could be (4th quarter).

 

[salvagedsam]

We got slaughtered on the boards and Paige needs help scoring. Maybe Azzi will provide it later in the year.

SC is much better than they used to be. Seems like they’ve always been big and tough, but now they can shoot, too.

 

[Bald Husky]

I have had a feeling for a few games, which may be entirely wrong, but I'll throw it out there. I am beginning to wonder if Aaliyah's summer with the Canadian national team didn't hurt her development coming into this season. She basically had to cut short her summer practice and conditioning program at UConn to join the national team, and then got precious little PT leading up to and during the Olympics. Aaliyah needs to play "catchup" now.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Seems like she regressed over the summer, and yes, not really playing with the National team did her no favors. Also Dorka, it doesn't say much about the league if she was all Big 10 two years in a row. Seems to be out of it a lot of the time. Lost would probably a better word for it. On the up side, Liv played great!!!

 

[Centerstream]

That is one of the best front court combos I've seen in WCBB. Awesome! But Edwards is/was tremendous last season. She's disappeered. And Dorka was All-Big 10. These are three big talented people. But for ONO to score just six points and pull down just five rebounds while fouling four times. That just is not a good performance. She is dishing out assists. But is that what a 6'5" center is supposed to be doing? The opposing team pulled down 19 offensive rebounds over us. ONO and UConn were out rebounded by seventeen. This is the #2 team in the country. The front court was supposed to put up a fight.

Boston had 3 fouls and 1 block, Amihere had 3 fouls and 0 blocks. But hey, keep bashing Liv, I need the laughs after this game.

 

[Longtime fan]

I'll agree with this. Go down the roster and only one of the rotation players from last year has improved and that's Bueckers, mainly from strength training. Ball skills across the board are no better, some have actually regressed. Edwards still has no understanding of fundamental post defense, standing still with arms extended up and watching bigs step around you doesn't cut it. And allowing 2 and 3 year players to throw casual passes against pressure defense like they're running a walk through is on the coaching staff. And other than ONO's passing, her continued lack of post moves and shot repertoire after 3 years is another responsibility of the staff.

I have to agree with this observation. Few, if any, players are improving. No one worked " free" for a clean shot...ever. Does that mean the offense is not well designed? We scored ( early ) on some fast breaks. Other than that, only Paige's basketball brilliance created some shots. But by the fourth quarter....with her energy drained.... they didn't go in the basket. Why so terrible keeping SC from offensive rebounds? I mean, it seemed we weren't even on the court. And Edwards can only score on an open lay-up and the same for Olivia. It was awful to see Olivia pass up all those open shots from 12-14 feet. Only to pass it to Williams who was trapped in the corner. And Dorka was supposed to be a shooter. she hasn't come close to converting an outside shot. That is not a person who can shoot. We have miles to go..... and the Big East competition will only make us believe we are getting better. This was a true undressing. And unless Fudd and Descharmes emerge as good as Paige ( or nearly so )......we shall not be lifting any banner other than the Big east banana.

 

[Zonepress]

Last year we had Nike starting and doing a good job (great on defense), edwards great off the bench and Griffin as a difference maker/disrupter off the bench. We know Griffin’s hurt. But what’s up with Nika. At this stage we’re not as good a team as we ended last year with… even though we’ve added Dorka and Azzi. But I’m sure we’ll get there by mid season.

 

[Longtime fan]

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 thought her ankle injury was last year. Are you saying she is still hampered?

 

[Skins87]

UConn has some work to do, but I'm glad they had a game like this against SC this early in the season. They're still a top 5 team and should be #2 in the polls tomorrow (but I think some voters may look at the score and give Maryland a vote or two). Defense overall was better than I expected, but the offense really met its match with SC's strong defense and some mental mistakes.

Rebounding and TOs were a big issue today, especially some carelessness with the ball at points that cost them last year as well. I never expected them to outrebound SC, but the difference on the offensive glass was the key difference today.

Paige can't do it all, but she sure tried in the later half of the 4Q. And as strong as the seniors were at times early in the game today, in the 4Q, they disappeared and as much as I wanted that narrative to change around this senior class, I just don't know if that will. ONO had some great defense, but didn't really do much offensively and only had 5 rebounds (same as Paige), and the team really needed that from her and the other bigs today.

Aaliyah had some great moments in the 4Q and just needs to continue that play into the coming games and break out of her early season funk. Dorka had a couple good moments, but she didn't take care of the ball at times, which is what Geno expects of his Bigs. I think she'll settle into that role on this team over the next month.

Fudd didnt get a lot of time today and should be a weapon by the time January roles around. Aubrey was missed today and I would love to see more of Mir in the coming weeks.

Overall, the outcome is not unexpected, but I hoped the scoreline would be closer coming into the game and when the 4Q started, but things got a bit out of hand. It feels like UConn has the pieces and talent, but its the mental aspect that's missing. Certainly not writing the team off, but I think we need the seniors to step up on offense, cause Paige can't win it all alone when a team is as talented as SC.

Maryland deserves to be #2 for right now in my opinion

 

[MSGRET]

I thought her ankle injury was last year. Are you saying she is still hampered?

She had ankle surgery during the off season and was in a boot during part of the Summer practice. She hasn't been the same since she came back and I believe that she hasn't fully recovered from the surgery.

 

[huskeynut]

First - Olivia played well in her role.

Second - the not so good:
Offense cannot continue to rely on three guards for the bulk of the scoring. There needs to be 5 valid scorers on the floor at all times.
Rebounding must improve.

Edwards has been AWOL. What is going on? She looks like a shell of her freshman year. Without her, it's not going to work. Maybe she needs to be out back in her 6th man role. Azzi has had one decent game. Maybe too much hype. Dorka has been a disappointment. I don't see any offense or rebounding or defense. Caroline - not yet. Nika - something is up with her. Not a lot of minutes. Team needs her energy and grit.

Very seldom to I question the coaching. But I am wondering what Geno is trying to do. He returns 5 starters but is only using 4 of them. Early substitution patterns that we have seen in the first two games are unusual for him. I know they have only played 3 games but something is not right. Something is missing.

 

[HuskyNan]

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.

Yeah, you’d never see a UConn player do something like that.

 

[SCGamecock]

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...

I guess you didn't like Diana Taurasi then. Or is this only applicable to non-UConn players?

Paige isn't exactly a lamb on the court either. She is very well known for her "swagger"... all of the great players have that swagger on the court. Calling it out only against your opposition looks disingenuous.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I'll agree with this. Go down the roster and only one of the rotation players from last year has improved and that's Bueckers, mainly from strength training. Ball skills across the board are no better, some have actually regressed. Edwards still has no understanding of fundamental post defense, standing still with arms extended up and watching bigs step around you doesn't cut it. And allowing 2 and 3 year players to throw casual passes against pressure defense like they're running a walk through is on the coaching staff. And other than ONO's passing, her continued lack of post moves and shot repertoire after 3 years is another responsibility of the staff.

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, ...........

 

[HuskyNan]

I guess you didn't like Diana Taurasi then. Or is this only applicable to non-UConn players?

Paige isn't exactly a lamb on the court either. She is very well known for her "swagger"... all of the great players have that swagger on the court. Calling it out only against your opposition looks disingenuous.

Maybe not the best time for you to be chastising UConn fans.

 

[Zinethar]

More likely is that she still doesn't fully " get" the UCONN offense. And, she is a freshman. Descharmes ( whom everyone haas raved about) didn't even get to take off her warm up jacket. Time for the usual BS; "this was a learning experience" for UCONN. The problem is, we have 1000 games against the Big east. And no one gets better doing that. They just " think" they do.

Which is exactly why Geno schedules as he does. Great early games to see what is needed. League games to implement the fixes. Hard OOC games late to assess.

 

[tower1]

Not sure how one concludes that ONO was "great." ONO is the starting center on the team that was out rebounded 42 to 25. She pulled down just five rebounds total, while fouling four times in 34 minutes. The opposing team pulled down nearly as many offensive boards as UConn had total rebounds- 19 to 25. And ONO was the leader of the front court, which together scored just14 points. That's not "great." That's getting killed inside. Enough with the rose-colored glasses. I doubt ONO will even get selected in the WNBA draft, let alone make it onto a WNBA team.

Very good post, your right !