Seton Hall post-game thread [merged thread]]

[oldude]

I’m not worried at all about Paige’s back. She’s young, and the squat & deadlift workouts that Andrea Hudy puts the team through are designed to significantly strengthen lower back muscles.

Ankle injuries do have an element of randomness to them. But here again, there are lots of excercises that players can do to both strengthen ankles and increase flexibility. In Paige’s case, she had off-season surgery to correct a chronic ankle problem. So far this season there has been no indication that the ankle still bothers her…knock on wood.

 

[Urshurak]

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?

I had to go take a Tylenol after reading this.

 

[Childhood]

One final tidbit concerning Paige. In last night’s game, she threw a full court pass to Christyn Williams in transition that hit her in stride will a defender nearby. I hope people realize how difficult a pass that is, and she made it appear effortles.

I love this full court pass a lot. And I also give credit to CW's catch and finish. CW is a perfect teammate to run the fast break.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I don't know the reason, but inferring, I'd guess he believes poor practice players are unreliable game performers. Someone who can hit home runs but frequently strikes out. Inconsistency is a hallmark of poor quality. He probably also worries about the effect giving significant minutes to someone who goofs off in practice will do to the team overall. Few things destroy cohesion like "special treatment."

 

[CocoHusky]

see I always saw that differently. I never thought of it being about Paige, I thought about the rest of the team. Paige is not a fast player imo, there are other players that have been at Uconn 3-4 seasons, another player would technically be a senior if she played her whole career at Uconn. Why are they getting outworked by a sophomore? I won't mention any names, but some of the players in their games you can see why they are inconsistent. Either they don't have the strength to keep up, or they don't have the work ethic.

There is also IMO a void in leadership from the upperclassmen. The program expectation is leadership comes from the upperclassmen. The Stewie Mojeff and Morgan Tuck class is a perfect example. Stewie was clearly the best player as a freshman but in times of adversity they never had to lead until their senior season. That class was not without adversity (there was ND, BYU and ND again) in Junior season. Each time it was an upper class man that provided the required leadership. KLM was a reluctant senior leader but she got it done most notable in her last game of her career against ND where she basically said "give me the ball" it is winning time
Listen to this clip of Dolson at half time of the BYU tournament game.
.

 

[eebmg]

As usual, Paige was Paige. I may mention this all year, but anyone who left her out of the NPOY discussion in favor of "others" seriously had a screw loose. Did they think she was great by accident last season? That her play all year long was an aberration or luck?

I was one of the naysayers, Eric. But in answer to your question, I didn't think her absence from the NPOY discussion would be attributed to Paige not being Paige. (I may, in fact, have a screw loose but that's a thread for another day.)

One of the characteristics that makes Paige outstanding is that she's mutable. She does so many things so well she can't be pigeonholed. I felt her characteristic unselfishness (a requirement to be the team leader she is) would cost her points on a team chock full of "shooters" (yes, I drank the Boneyard Kool-Aid). Scoring (almost) always tops the list of attributes that make a basketball player great. Diminished scoring diminishes a player's chances of being NPOY. My reasoning was that simple.

Those shooters seem to be struggling at the moment, especially from downtown and the foul stripe. If we don't figure those things out, they will cost us games (yes, plural) this year...unless the defense can dominate talented teams (something not demonstrated thus far). Last evening, for example, poor shooting (<19% on 3's and 60% on free throws conservatively cost us 15 points. That's almost a full quarter's output. It's tough to outscore good teams when you spot them 15 points.

Thus far, shooting struggles have forced Paige to be the scorer she was last year and that, together with last year's performance) has rewarded her with the "pole position" in this year's NPOY race.

If the shooters are making shots in practice, we are one final click away from the combination that unlocks this team. Unlocked, we are a 90 ppg offensive beast. Unlocked, Paige can become more the facilitator she desires to be. Paige is a natural manager, a person who accomplishes things by directing the efforts of others, by putting them in a position where success is inevitable. If not, NPOY is hers to lose.

Following up NPOY discussions, it seems to me it is a 2 person race between Boston and Bueckers. SC is the dominant team and she is the best player by far on the best team at the moment. But I will add that if it is a close race meaning that UConn looks like a real NC contender, voters will probably want to give it to Boston to "spread the wealth". Losing directly to SC did not help .

 

[Surly1]

I love this full court pass a lot. And I also give credit to CW's catch and finish. CW is a perfect teammate to run the fast break.

Agreed. Williams is like a wide receiver on those passes from Paige. She has sure hands and always finishes well. They are an excellent combo.

 

[Stymie]

Is it possible that the team is suffering from superstar lethargy? Do the other players rely on her too much?

Does she need to sit more minutes against the cream puffs to let others work without relying on her?

Just asking; not accusing.

At this rate she will be sitting down— with injuries.
I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT WISHING THAT.
But it is inevitable.
Going this hard, game in and game out- with a target on her back as the one player that makes this team go.
You think SC is going to take it easy on her in January?
And every team in between?
One hard screen..
One missed shot block to the kisser...
One rolled ankle (see last season)...
And this team is toast.
Maybe Geno should dumb the offense down.
Vince Lombardi:
Sweep right
Sweep right
Sweep right
Sweep left?
Sweep right
TOUCHDOWN!!
Rinse and repeat.
Team playing scared on offense.
Afraid of making mistakes.
JMHO

 

[eebmg]

There is also IMO a void in leadership from the upperclassmen. The program expectation is leadership comes from the upperclassmen. The Stewie Mojeff and Morgan Tuck class is a perfect example. Stewie was clearly the best player as a freshman but in times of adversity they never had to lead until their senior season. That class was not without adversity (there was ND, BYU and ND again) in Junior season. Each time it was an upper class man that provided the required leadership. KLM was a reluctant senior leader but she got it done most notable in her last game of her career against ND where she basically said "give me the ball" it is winning time
Listen to this clip of Dolson at half time of the BYU tournament game.
.

I get the main point but it sounded to me like Stephanie said "Get Stewie the Ball". I can definitely see a half time interview with CW, Liv or Evina" saying " Need to get Paige the Ball"

 

[BobbyJ]

There is also IMO a void in leadership from the upperclassmen. The program expectation is leadership comes from the upperclassmen. The Stewie Mojeff and Morgan Tuck class is a perfect example. Stewie was clearly the best player as a freshman but in times of adversity they never had to lead until their senior season. That class was not without adversity (there was ND, BYU and ND again) in Junior season. Each time it was an upper class man that provided the required leadership. KLM was a reluctant senior leader but she got it done most notable in her last game of her career against ND where she basically said "give me the ball" it is winning time
Listen to this clip of Dolson at half time of the BYU tournament game.
.

If this year's seniors ever got asked that question at halftime of a close game they wouldn't know what to say.

 

[BBallF]

I love this full court pass a lot. And I also give credit to CW's catch and finish. CW is a perfect teammate to run the fast break.

I was at the game and saw it from the full angle. We were all blown away. My daughter, who played college ball, said it was like a quarterback making a tight long pass between defenders with the receiver making a great catch.

 

[BBallF]

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?

It was a definite Big Deal last night at Walsh. For whatever reason, since I just bought my tickets through the box office, we were in a UCONN section. We were all saying the same thing. Why doesn't CW get the ball more? She is so much stronger than last year and has great drive moves and was unstoppable last night. Getting the ball on the weave up top doesn't help her. She needs clear outs.

You can look at statistics all you want. They just did not look like a Juggernaut last night and I worry about Sunday. BTW, it was my first time seeing Paige live. TV does not do her justice. Her anticipation on defense is just so smart which you can see happening and her passing is actually elegant. I was disappointed in Evina, AE, Liv, Nika and Caroline. Of the 5, Evina has the talent to easily score 15 a game. She is not aggressive on offense. It would help Paige a lot if she were.

 

[hoophuskee]

Don't confuse UCONN's situation with ND's or Olivia Miles with Caroline. ND. can afford to experiment because they are trying to climb out of mediocrity in the ACC. UCONN is trying to get over the hump and win a championship. Azzi is hurt and Caroline has an opportunity to step in and contribute at UCONN. There was an article posted here within the last few days where Caroline stated that she understood the opportunity and was preparing to meet the challenge. Caroline's performance in the game yesterday indicated she was not prepared for the challenge and that was against SH ND. UCONN plays ND tomorrow and you want Geno to give Caroline an opportunity to go out there and match up against Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron? I don't think that's going to happen.

A wild guess is double-digit lead (not necessarily 10/11) he'd put her in if they get to that (maybe 15+).

A further point will be if he puts her and pulls her quick again we'll hear how Geno is not giving her enough time to play through her mistakes - and the 30 point blowouts won't help is what we'll hear.

 

[cohenzone]

Y'all are negative as hell. This is the fifth game! We will be ok!

The reality of hoops is that teams always look better when the ball goes through the hoop. The test is whether or not the shots were good shots in the flow. Williams, Westbrook and even Paige were not really on with jump shots. Ditto Muhl who has shown she isn’t a hopeless shooter. I didn’t notice many totally forced shots. We shot lousy from the outside and won by 25. As I said in another post, the lack of freshman production from such a highly regarded class is a bit more concerning, acknowledging Azzi’s absence, but if not a big issue this year, these kids are pretty important going forward. But it’s early yet.

 

[Rixxx]

I watched all the other top ranked teams play this year. Other than South Carolina, everybody else is struggling. Borderline unwatchable.
Stanford has almost everybody back and they have lost twice. UConn is struggling but they are not the most overrated team in the country.

Did you watch Iowa and Duke? Caitlin Clark could not throw it in the ocean.

Clark scored 4 in the first half. Took over the game in second half and scored at least 18 points.

 

[hoophuskee]

The reality of hoops is that teams always look better when the ball goes through the hoop. The test is whether or not the shots were good shots in the flow. Williams, Westbrook and even Paige were not really on with jump shots. Ditto Muhl who has shown she isn’t a hopeless shooter. I didn’t notice many totally forced shots. We shot lousy from the outside and won by 25. As I said in another post, the lack of freshman production from such a highly regarded class is a bit more concerning, acknowledging Azzi’s absence, but if not a big issue this year, these kids are pretty important going forward. But it’s early yet.

While I've been on the side of big caution with CD this year, I expect she'll be fine next year.

And this year Ain't over yet.

They also lost Saylor.

 

[jchusky]

There is also IMO a void in leadership from the upperclassmen. The program expectation is leadership comes from the upperclassmen. The Stewie Mojeff and Morgan Tuck class is a perfect example. Stewie was clearly the best player as a freshman but in times of adversity they never had to lead until their senior season. That class was not without adversity (there was ND, BYU and ND again) in Junior season. Each time it was an upper class man that provided the required leadership. KLM was a reluctant senior leader but she got it done most notable in her last game of her career against ND where she basically said "give me the ball" it is winning time
Listen to this clip of Dolson at half time of the BYU tournament game.
.

oh absolutely, people are never going to appreciate that team enough. They just didn't have talent, they had people who were not afraid of big moments. That is something that can't be taught. Dolson I remember one game vs ND they were picking on her and she was struggling. Seasons later she dominated that same team and as a player. I think the current players are afraid that if they fail they will get benched but you can't view things like that. If you get benched so what? Stewart got benched? Being benched is not the end of the world, but the players really seem to act like it is.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Give Caroline more time? Really? That was Seton Hall UCONN was playing!

Caroline is obvioiusly feeling the pressure. She STILL got only 5 minutes PT in the last game. No doubt she had a bad game but she needs to get in the flow of things and not feel she is going to be yanked any second if she doesn't produce immediately. Geno needs to understand that some kids need nurturing and some kids need support in order to produce. It's not "kick them in the pants" daily and see who is left. He looks like he is going to have a heart attack over every mistake.

 

[D J B]

I don’t know if you watched Geno’s show after the game, but the one thing I noticed when they showed practice video is that Paige is winning every suicide sprint, reinforcing what Geno & Andrea Hudy have indicated that Paige outworks everyone on the team, both in the weight room and on the court.

It’s not a guarantee that Paige won’t be injured, but she’s certainly doing everything she can to strengthen her body for the inevitable punishment she will face from opposing teams.

That was an outstanding show.

 

[BostonBay]

Unless the scheme changes, we are who we are - a perimeter, finesse team. If we shoot well, we will look good. If we dont, we will look like we did tonight and wont beat the elite teams in March/April. Paige is the only reliable player right now.

The potential game-changers might be if Azzi and AG are healthy & effective come March. Then this might change the narrative and we could potentially win "ugly" games come March/Apr.

 

[CocoHusky]

Caroline is obvioiusly feeling the pressure. She STILL got only 5 minutes PT in the last game. No doubt she had a bad game but she needs to get in the flow of things and not feel she is going to be yanked any second if she doesn't produce immediately. Geno needs to understand that some kids need nurturing and some kids need support in order to produce. It's not "kick them in the pants" daily and see who is left. He looks like he is going to have a heart attack over every mistake.

Stop making excuses and trying to change how Geno runs the the team. Caroline was put into the game yesterday ironically because Christyn Williams was not playing well at 7:07. That was less than 3 minutes into the game and UCONN was leading 7 to 6. Caroline was sub out @ 4:31. That's 2:36 of game time in which Caroline committed two fouls, missed a 3Pt shot and committed a turnover which enabled SH to take a 13 to 7 lead. That's correct UCONN did not score with Caroline on the floor during this stretch. What in Haties are you asking Geno to do, leave her in the game to dig a bigger hole? Since when is putting a player into the game less than 3 minutes in considered a daily kick in the pants?

 

[Redux]

The Seton Hall game put the SC game in context, elevated my appreciation of that game and my feeling about the really good potential of UConn going forward.

UConn is right now not a very good team. Those first games were not just aberrations or rust, they were representative of where the team is. Yet for 30-35 minutes that disorganized team played SC at a high level and showed toughness and strength, despite the disarray. I suspect the ND game will not be pretty but will show that despite being a work-in-progress there is a core toughness here that will make this team something special once the natural skills begin to evidence. Unlike SC, I expect them to finish that game, pretty or not. ONO, CW, AE, Evina are not playing consistently well, no news there, but they are all playing tougher and stronger than last year. Nika, always tough, is lost (as she was early last year) but will be found. The new players are not playing weak or getting pushed around, not at all; this is very surprising to me; they are simply bewildered; that is a solvable problem.

It may be that Geno simply needs a little more time than usual to get his team cohesive.