Seton Hall post-game thread [merged thread]]

[Florida Fan]

1. Layoff showed in the 1st Quarter
2. Paige was Paige (God only knows what this team would be without her)
3. ONO and AE were what they are expected to be down low
4. Not a spectacular game from Westbrook tonight
5. Dorka gave some positive minutes off the bench
6. Nika looked horrible, having more fouls than points.
7. Where is Piath and DeBarry ???
8. Caroline plays like the Collegiate Game is WAY bigger than what she is capable of handling
9. Aubrey Griffin's game and spark is greatly missesd
10. Mir looks lost on the court and shows that she doesn't know where she fits in on the offense.

This team needs to be able to "Step It Up" on Sunday against Notre Dame.

So we have this conversation, AFTER the ND game. So far, the Irish look pretty good. Our team has some injured athletes, making the starters have to go longer, without relief. We have three 6'5" players, one has been labeled a project, the other a slow learner, tune in later. But it is still early, way too early to wave the white flag. If we ever get healthy, Geno, CD, and Jamelle will help them jell. In the meantime,
we are a work in progress. Enjoy the ride.

 

[LoboDays]

But they're the same players. Last year they were still new to each other, and learning to play together.

Apparently, they learned that they don’t like to play together.

 

[TCC Kid]

Some thoughts on the Seton Hall game:

• On paper Seton Hall’s roster might be the second most talented in the BE. Without AEH and several injured teammates, the Pirates still came out playing surprisingly tough, while the Huskies looked flustered and sloppy leading to six 1st qtr turnovers.
• The rest of the game was a little bit better as the Huskies finally got their heads back from the Bahamas, or wherever they were at. But there were still several head-scratching mistakes by UConn, and the offense in the second half was not particularly good.
• The Huskies finally demonstrated some toughness on the boards tonight, with a 50 to 30 edge over the Pirates. Now UConn needs to do it every single game.
• I really don’t like saying this, but I have no idea where the Huskies would be right now without Paige. Whenever she's not in the game the Huskies struggle. Her energy on the floor is phenomenal. Paige ended up with 23 pts, 9 rbs, 7 ast, 5 stls & a bloody nose.
• Dorka gave us some decent minutes tonight, but UConn needs a lot more from the bench.
• Nice to see a packed house, even if Walsh Gymnasium is just a bandbox.
• Bring on the Irish!........I think?

Great words. 1. caution be careful what you wish for (last bullet). Dorka, for a top OHIO post and 3 point shooter, one basket is hardly an accomplishment. Defense on the basket???? Other offense? Dorka was pushed around by a less than Boston Center at S.H., Too many errant passes from experienced players.
I agree, with AEH and without Paige--WELL!!! If not for Paige, some Evina, Edwards, ONO (sometimes) , the outcome may not have been my happy time. To say I was disappointed is accurate. As in all things Uconn I was happy with the win, a W is a W. The only part of the game that matters, the W. Geno is acutely aware of her importance. Someone, anyone, more than one, Excuse me, CW was great again. She can score quickly and often. But beyond CW the list of really good scoring players is dismal. I hoped Caroline would defend and score, Hoped Nika would score. A truly good near great team needs 3 or 4 consistent 15 to 20 point scorers every game. Geno doesn't have them, YET. As much as it doesn't sound so, I love this team, Potential is their middle name.

 

[phil sampieri]

I agree with most of the posts.The way they are playing is very disappointing. Why are we so bad at guarding small, very small but quick guards and why can’t we make those small quick guards try to guard ours on postups.

I have to agree with most of the posts and the disappointments.

 

[TCC Kid]

Bu

lol
The teams needs to execute better.

But who do they execute first??

 

[Papa33]

With all of this talent....
Touted newcomers....
Sage returnees....
HOF Coach....
Team is a middle of the pack without Paige.
No chemistry
No cohesion
Ducharme showed very little.
Nika lost her shot
Olivia regressing
Stop relying on Paige
Start playing TEAM basketball
IN A P-5 conference, this is a .500 team.
No way this team beats SC away
Unfortunately...

I'll go with the no chemstry, no cohesion assessment, at least on offense. After the first two or three startup passes, there seem to periods of indecision or rote cuts and dribbles. Are they reading the defenses, reading their teammates, seeing open or cutting lanes? Not much spontaneity or fluidity, or making the defense have to move and adjust. For extended moments no one seems open enough to receive a pass and get an open shot. Which may explain why for too many minutes our shots don't fall and our point totals don't rise. That is just not the Uconn offense I had admired for many years. I'm stumped.

 

[Boreifs]

Caroline looks like a "deer in the headlights." In her few 1st half minutes, she dribbled the ball off her foot, committed a silly foul and shot up an airball.

She looks like a Freshman who never played for USA basketball and competed in a weak high school league. AAU doesn’t count; everyone is playing for individual attention with almost no coaching. At present, we have no reliable backup guards unless Nika can seriously step up her game or Aubrey can get healthy.

 

[Stymie]

lol
The teams needs to execute better.

Maybe Geno need to dumb it down for this group.

Throughout the summer, we all gushed about how deep this team is. Well Geno made it official tonight, we have no depth. More proof that you can’t believe the some of the hype sold here in the yard.

thank you very, very much.
Nice to discover that I’m not the only one with that feeling.
( now I’ll hunker down for the incoming)

 

[oldude]

She looks like a Freshman who never played for USA basketball and competed in a weak high school league. AAU doesn’t count; everyone is playing for individual attention with almost no coaching. At present, we have no reliable backup guards unless Nika can seriously step up her game or Aubrey can get healthy.

Yes, but she’s playing every day against UConn in practice and Geno & Jamelle rave about her. She was the first player off the bench today, so I have to believe she earned that nod in practice. Her play so far has been baffling.

 

[LarryLegend]

Poffenbarger was supposed to be a great shooter, missed virtually every shot she took and then transferred.

Fudd looked tentative and now there is this injury which I don’t remember hearing about, let’s hope its only 2 weeks.

Ducharme is supposed to be a great shooter, haven’t seen it yet and looks overwhelmed.

DeBerry was raved about, but must have left the team or something since she has not appeared for a single minute.

Problem with elite players in youth sports is that they get coddled. By the sounds of some of the mic’ed up stuff from practice, some of them may be expecting what they arent earning.

 

[bantamlaker]

Geno really appreciated Paige's defense., effort, toughness and especially smarts. He said the best offensive players should make the best defensive players because they should know how an offense flows and what the opposing team wants to do. Alos said Clyde Frasier is his favorite player, My fandom just went up another level

 

[jabstep]

1 Dorka is better around the rim and not a passer from the elbow.
2. Aaliyah is better than she is playing 5 turnovers is too many. Reaching for rebounds versus getting a better early position
3. Liv is our rim protector and is a good elbow passer. She is playing tougher so far this year. She has been finishing better. Yeah
4. Evina didn't have a good game tonight after playing well previously.
5. CW is a good player but not great. We got players with ratings. Give me Park lane anytime
6. Paige is the best player in the country again. Geno did a good job getting her rest at the end of quarters. Tremendous defensive effort. Her anticipation for steals is a pleasure to watch.
7. Caroline, Dorka, and Fudd will give us depth. Aubrey if healthy will as well.

 

[LarryLegend]

1 Dorka is better around the rim and not a passer from the elbow.
2. Aaliyah is better than she is playing 5 turnovers is too many. Reaching for rebounds versus getting a better early position
3. Liv is our rim protector and is a good elbow passer. She is playing tougher so far this year. She has been finishing better. Yeah
4. Evina didn't have a good game tonight after playing well previously.
5. CW is a good player but not great. We got players with ratings. Give me Park lane anytime
6. Paige is the best player in the country again. Geno did a good job getting her rest at the end of quarters. Tremendous defensive effort. Her anticipation for steals is a pleasure to watch.
7. Caroline, Dorka, and Fudd will give us depth. Aubrey if healthy will as well.

this

 

[hoophuskee]

lol
The teams needs to execute better.

And this team will execute better overall if they have a healthy and hopefully decent enough defender in Azzi Fudd.

It's the same story as last year. The guards other than Paige can't consistently hit outside shots. As a result, UCONN can’t consistently open up the lane and can’t consistently work on their inside players getting enough touches to improve much. Then what it means is that because UICONN doesn’t have any consistency from the perimeter other than Paige, then Paige is forced to play a lot of minutes beucase she is the only one that can consistently score in the halfcourt.

Right now if you were to employ a defense it would be defend one player as much as possible and just pack the paint (take your chances with CW and Evina hitting.). Offensive execution overall will improve if Azzi is healthy and has her legs and if she can defend. Until then – anytime they play any team that is decent to pretty good never mind very good, Paige is going to have to play a lot of minutes and the offense will struggle more than it otherwise should (get too many games like this which eventually will catch up to you; i.e. FF etc). There is just too much “clutter” inside and the guards other than Paige can’t shoot it well enough to break the clutter.

And imo this year CD is not an answer. Right now for uCONN the games come down to CW hitting outside shots, and Evina in combo not only can she hit outside shots but if she can then be able to shoot enough of them.

 

[Centerstream]

I am sooooooooo looking forward to a win where I am just chomping at the bit for the replay to be posted.

 

[Heytherego]

Just caught the game and man was it ugly. It doesn’t look like we returned a final four team at all. They should be much further along than they are and I’m not sure what the excuse is.

The chemistry is horrible. Guards not named Paige are showing that they are still very inconsistent. AE with a handful of turnovers over travels. Nika looks worse than she did last year and can’t seem to hit a shot. I’m a little concerned with Paige’s 3 point shooting this season so far, I’d like to see her pick it up; however she’s not the problem at all.

I didn’t mind Liv and Dorka’s play. I thought Liv had a decent outing and had some nice moves. She missed a few shots, but I liked the footwork I saw. Dorka was forgettable but she did grab 10 rebounds so that’s something. AE looked a little better tonight, but still not back to her old self.

Caroline clearly doing a lot right in practice to be the first off the bench tonight, but it isn’t translating into games. I can’t wait to see when it does.

This team could really use Aubrey’s spark off the bench.
.

 

[Vowelguy]

And this team will execute better overall if they have a healthy and hopefully decent enough defender in Azzi Fudd.

It's the same story as last year. The guards other than Paige can't consistently hit outside shots. As a result, UCONN can’t consistently open up the lane and can’t consistently work on their inside players getting enough touches to improve much. Then what it means is that because UICONN doesn’t have any consistency from the perimeter other than Paige, then Paige is forced to play a lot of minutes.

.

Being a 1 dimensional team is not solved by becoming a 2 dimensional team.

 

[Happydad745]

how did everyone feel CW played

CW and EW...are they really seniors cause they play like 1st or second year players. Neither one is AA this year.

 

[Heytherego]

 

[ClifSpliffy]

sum of youse sound a bit loopy, with ur 'expectations.'
against a competitive team, at their place, we won by 3 touchdowns and a field goal.
more importantly, and for the first time ever, this season in cbb will be less predictable cuz of all that covid/transfer/7th year senior stuff. that's a lot of moving parts and extra experience being sprinkled all around. take ur average wcbb player. the vast majority have no expectation when they begin school, to play much after college. now give them another season out of the blue. amped would be their thoughts, im guessing.

and oh, dorka had 10 boards. but u knew that, amiright?

 

[Stymie]

1 Dorka is better around the rim and not a passer from the elbow.
2. Aaliyah is better than she is playing 5 turnovers is too many. Reaching for rebounds versus getting a better early position
3. Liv is our rim protector and is a good elbow passer. She is playing tougher so far this year. She has been finishing better. Yeah
4. Evina didn't have a good game tonight after playing well previously.
5. CW is a good player but not great. We got players with ratings. Give me Park lane anytime
6. Paige is the best player in the country again. Geno did a good job getting her rest at the end of quarters. Tremendous defensive effort. Her anticipation for steals is a pleasure to watch.
7. Caroline, Dorka, and Fudd will give us depth. Aubrey if healthy will as well.

On #3–Ono passes on shots she SHOULD be taking, but lacks the confidence to sink.
On #5-CW chances of being AA are rapidly slipping away

 

[TCC Kid]

Throughout the summer, we all gushed about how deep this team is. Well Geno made it official tonight, we have no depth. More proof that you can’t believe the some of the hype sold here in the yard.

Sage wisdom!
Like some others on this BY. I dig deep into my old time BB playing, watch 30 years of Geno, PAT, Mulkey, and lots of newbies and I ask Is it reality or the view from the cheap seats: SC, even UT, I believe ND, maybe Duke will too but it appears that all those team recruit from the near same pools Geno does. They seem to put pretty good kids on their teams into games early and often. With few exception, (reality?) their kids play basketball, defend, and score as Freshmen if not freshmen surely as Sophs. If by their junior years they don't play a lot they are gone. Reality?
As a gym rat kid, I'd walk 10 miles (ok only 3) to play a game. Players score, defend, pass properly, understand teammates, play with a flow , the point is Players are players regardless of the team . (Reality?) I tend to believe the way Paige plays, except for the scoring talent, players should play. So, dig into your turban and pull out a card, is any of the above true or perception or just plain bull??

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Also wanted to add...that some players get shooting rhythm by dribbling into a shot. Others...can catch and shoot. Few...do both well. UCONN has an abundance of guards who like or have been accustomed to having the ball in their hand. The others who don't need that...are injured Freshman or... on the bench (Ducharme). Paige and CW are the few...AND they can penetrate to the rim...AND FINISH. Everyone gets better when they adjust their skills to fit around these two players. If you play for UCONN...you make those kinds of sacrifices.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

At a loss for words.

 

[AgStatesman]

I tend to be very negative, ask Nan, she suspended me a few times last year. I'm okay with where the team is so far. I have to think the three seniors will get it together and the ship will be righted with the team playing a more beautiful brand of the game like Geno wants. The Carolina game was not a start to finish route, it was going cold for one quarter. If the team plays exactly like they did tonight against Notre Dame, they still beat Notre Dame. We like to win pretty, but I'm okay with winning ugly until this team figures it out, and I am positive they will. Geno knows exactly what the issues are which means he and the staff can address it.

 

[The deacon]

Could not have said it any better about Caroline. With a fully healthy team, right now, Caroline might be the 11th or 12th Player on this team.

I've been one of those hoping to see more time for Caroline, but she was clearly shaky tonight.

I would just note that Geno is unlikely to send his 11th or 12th best player into the game just three minutes in if she weren't showing lots of potential in practice. She's got a ways to go before making it happen in games, but to this point she's played a total of 24 minutes.

I'm still betting she'll pleasantly surprise her detractors.

 

[ConwayGmck]

Does this team look a bit like the 2019-20 team? Except replace Crystal Dangerfield with Paige Bueckers?

 

[hoophuskee]

Being a 1 dimensional team is not solved by becoming a 2 dimensional team.

They won't be one dimensional. Because Azzi and Paige combined hit outside shots then the inside game will improve because the bigs will have less clutter. And then this will allow CWill to play to more of her strength of slashing. That's what one more player that can drill outside shots can do.

 

[JellyBean]

how did everyone feel CW played

I thought she played well. She went back to being a slasher an attacked the basket more. She wasn't forcing shots. Defensively, she played decently. I saw where so folks were being critical of her shooting an airball. A airball. Big Deal. I mean she is a shooter. She has to measure a shot. I am just glad that she is able to block out the noise and play her game which is being aggressive on the offensive and defensive end.

 

[Tonyc]

Well not much to say. Everybody in this thread has said it. I will say its our 5th game with a long layoff. Our seniors will step it up. We had 4 players in double digits and Dorka had 10 rebounds. When your working on new things especially with 9 freshman and sophs its gonna get ugly before it gets pretty. We've got the talent now we have to wait for it to develop.