Seton Hall Postgame Thread (merged)

[freshler40]

We were the bigger team but not the fastest on the court. SH was well prepared but couldn't match the great depth of the Huskies. For much of game we traded baskets, but we went nearly dead in the middle of the first half, mostly from the shock of so many whistles, many away from the ball and self-inflected loose play.

Paige and Audrey finished shots very well and converted three point plays when we couldn't shoot well from the real three. Loved Geno's installing an effective zone several times in the second half. It worked well against a fast team where we had matchup problems with some lineups. It also seemed to change the way the game was being called. This may be a key down the road. SH had a lot of trouble adjusting with many turnovers during this time.

In any case, five players in double figures and another rebounding advantage bode well for our future. SH has a good record and is not a push over.

 

[BBallF]

I think EricLa and Oldude nailed it about the game. I was there and as is my custom when I watch the team live, I tend to focus on Paige when she is on defense. What you don't see in the box score are the number of shots that don't get taken by her man because of textbook switches and defense. She had a great game and those two off balance double pump jumpers with the "and one" were just shake your head crazy. I've said it before and I will say it again-go see her play in person. You will be seeing one of the greatest all-around players ever in women's college basketball. She played tonight like she will have to play at times in the Big Dance, taking the game over when we couldn't get traction.

While Chen and Shade had strong games, it was Aubrey who made the biggest strides. She was tentative on offense against SC but once she got going tonight she was the dominant player on the floor. Perfect from the field. She is a one man zone press and she does so many little things out there especially around loose balls, it's like there is magnetic pull into her hands.

Jana and KK both relapsed out there. KK did not look up court first when she got the ball, and on one occasion Sarah was 20 feet ahead of her with a clear path. Jana will not go straight up with the ball, she insists on trying to dribble to the right side and her timing was very off tonight. Azzi was just not a factor although her defense as always was excellent.

So they did have a letdown after SC which was to be expected. The big takeaway though tonight was that Paige took total ownership of the team and that only can mean great things for us.

 

[todbo]

Got an 8-player rotation with no slowing downfor the upcoming tournament season. It's been a while since we enjoyed that.

And the bench, including Allie, added 34 points.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Just a few thoughts:

As CD noted, Hall was focused on defending Azzi, so she took only 7 shots. In her place, Ashlyn and Kaitlyn shot the ball great. Aubrey looked like her old self. And Paige had control for most of the game. The first half was sluggish, but the 50-23 second half was quite good. We beat the point spread by nearly 20, which makes me very happy.

 

[jdote33]

I feel like Paige always plays amazing at Seton Hall. Im too lazy to look up the stats but she owns that gym.
I thought Kaitlyn played really well. Ashlyn and Aubrey did great as well.
Azzi was pretty good. Missed some open shots but played great defense and had some good passes.
Jana had a rough one. I'm not that concerned. She's a freshman and the matchups were a bit tough. I know she drove coach crazy a couple times. Her struggles aren't for a lack of effort and some of the fouls I thought were suspect. I think she's going to be up and down for the rest of the year. I remember Dorka her first year here she struggled a bit (still had some monster games, one of my faves) and there was a meeting where she talked to Geno about where she likes the ball on the floor and how to make her comfortable. I think for next season Jana needs to kind of figure out where she's comfortable and effective. I actually thought it was going to be on the elbow cuz in international play she did a lot of things on the perimeter. But at UConn she doesn't look comfortable with her jumper or handling the ball. I also think she struggles sealing. She's a baby though, I think I heard she's actually younger than the freshman on the team besides Sara.

 

[Bigboote]

Got an 8-player rotation with no slowing downfor the upcoming tournament season. It's been a while since we enjoyed that.

And the bench, including Allie, added 34 points.

The bench: 34 points on 11-16 shooting, 10 rebounds 3 offensive, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers. Let’s hope they keep that up for another six weeks or so.

 

[BBallF]

I feel like Paige always plays amazing at Seton Hall. Im too lazy to look up the stats but she owns that gym.
I thought Kaitlyn played really well. Ashlyn and Aubrey did great as well.
Azzi was pretty good. Missed some open shots but played great defense and had some good passes.
Jana had a rough one. I'm not that concerned. She's a freshman and the matchups were a bit tough. I know she drove coach crazy a couple times. Her struggles aren't for a lack of effort and some of the fouls I thought were suspect. I think she's going to be up and down for the rest of the year. I remember Dorka her first year she struggled a bit (still had some monster games, one of my faves) and there was a meeting where she talked to Geno about where she likes the ball in the floor and how to make her comfortable. I think for next season Jana needs to kind of figure out where she's comfortable and effective. I actually thought it was going to be on the elbow cuz in international play she did a lot of things on the perimeter. But at UConn she doesn't look comfortable with her jumper or handling the ball. I also think she struggles sealing. She's a baby though, I think I heard she's actually younger than the freshman on the team besides Sara.

I agree about Jana but what bothers me are the lack of fundamentals. She rebounds but only once tonight did she create space after she got the ball, she doesn't seal when positioning her body for a pass into the post, she doesn't go straight up for a baby jumper underneath, she insists on trying to dribble to her right instead, she doesn't meet the ball when she receives passes and she keeps moving when she sets a screen. These are all fixable but they have now lasted an entire season so it is concerning.

 

[my2cents]

So we are up 15 points at half and it's a bad half.
We beat the #3 team in our league by 42 points on their court and it's MEH.
I think our expectations seem ........a tad spoiled.
You want to win these games by 60+ points, stop throwing the ball to Jana, that's where most the turnovers occur.

 

[and one]

I watched most of the first half and wasn't overly impressed with the effort. Nothing terrible just kind of meh. Late in the 2nd Q I fell asleep and awoke in the 3rd Q to a much expanded lead. In the end a big MOV dispite our 3 point shooting back to a more normal percentage. Shooting inside the 3 stripe however was outstanding.

Azzi took 7 shots. Not enough. I know, SH was making an effort to deny her a good look but still, UConn should be able to get her open more than a couple times a quarter. A team that shuts Azzi down and makes Ash and Chen et al make shots instead has won an important battle. SH isn't good enough to take advantage but other teams are.

 

[David54]

View attachment 107142 View attachment 107143

Nan where do you find the advanced analytics? I love looking at these.

 

[uconnfan68]

I’m going to give SH some credit for our “poor” showing, especially in the first half. I thought they did well, but our bench fits right in with our starters now, so it’s hard for them to keep up.

 

[Dugway]

I could complain about the referees being inconsistent….

We are getting close to tournament time! It seems to me that our coaches need to sit this team down in the film room and watch video of last season’s final four game against Iowa, and how it ended for us in the final minute. Then watch several of the same type of moving screens that our team continues to make throughout our current games. It rarely gets called, until it does get called! And at that point all we can do is complain about the referees being inconsistent as we get onto the airplane with tears in our eyes because our season is over.

We do not get to choose the referees. Eventually we are going to run up against a zebra squad that makes very inconsistent calls. And they will make them at the WORST possible time!

By and large UConn plays a clean game with few fouls. But that moving screen is a marginal one. It rarely gets called, but easily could be! We need to clean that up, for the most part it is just being aware.

A turnover that is called on many occasions and simply not called on many other occasions is the travel from a stop. We catch the ball from a standing stopped position, then when we proceed on the drive, the first step with a foot is backwards before we actually run forward! Depending upon the referee crew, this is absolutely a travel! And afterwards all we can do is complain that the referee is inconsistent. How about we just quit doing that!

Sorry, we played well against Seton Hall which is the topic of this thread.

 

[uconnfan68]

I could complain about the referees being inconsistent….

We are getting close to tournament time! It seems to me that our coaches need to sit this team down in the film room and watch video of last season’s final four game against Iowa, and how it ended for us in the final minute. Then watch several of the same type of moving screens that our team continues to make throughout our current games. It rarely gets called, until it does get called! And at that point all we can do is complain about the referees being inconsistent as we get onto the airplane with tears in our eyes because our season is over.

We do not get to choose the referees. Eventually we are going to run up against a zebra squad that makes very inconsistent calls. And they will make them at the WORST possible time!

By and large UConn plays a clean game with few fouls. But that moving screen is a marginal one. It rarely gets called, but easily could be! We need to clean that up, for the most part it is just being aware.

A turnover that is called on many occasions and simply not called on many other occasions is the travel from a stop. We catch the ball from a standing stopped position, then when we proceed on the drive, the first step with a foot is backwards before we actually run forward! Depending upon the referee crew, this is absolutely a travel! And afterwards all we can do is complain that the referee is inconsistent. How about we just quit doing that!

Sorry, we played well against Seton Hall which is the topic of this thread.

The one on Sarah was just wrong.

 

[Blond D.]

I saw a bunch of little Paige disciples with their Paige hairdos in the crowd. They should call themselves "The Braidy Bunch"

 

[Bone Dog]

In Jana's defense, and this wasn't her best game by far, I noticed three different occasions when Kaitlyn or KK opted to pass to her in very adverse situations. In one of them, Kaitlyn picks up her dribble near the top of the key and then looks for help. Ash is open off to her left while Jana is double-teamed at the foul line. For whatever reason, Kaitlyn passes it to Jana who then gets mugged. At least this one resulted in a whistle instead of a turnover. But the other two were TOs. Jana had 4 TOs this evening, but I don't think they were all her fault.

 

[pvdoggy]

I think people are being a little hard on Jana in this game. The pace of this game is a little too fast for her so in this case Uconn is better playing small ball against the aggressiveness and speed of Seton Hall.

 

[Blond D.]

a lot of the time with the moving screen its not the screener's fault. The person who the screen is being set for tries to use it before the screen is set causing a moving screen.

 

[RedStickHusky]

S.Car played Jana straight up without a lot of collapsing and reaching and she handled that very well. Big East teams are going to run two or three defenders at her and that causes her a lot of problems. She also seems quick to get flustered and let things snowball. She's still very important as a rebounder and a rim protector but I expect her offense to be very matchup dependent for a little while yet. Meanwhile, Geno seems to be getting more comfortable playing small as we go forward. Especially if Ash is going to keep knocking down shots.

 

[RedStickHusky]

a lot of the time with the moving screen its not the screener's fault. The person who the screen is being set for tries to use it before the screen is set causing a moving screen.

Or they don't run the defender into it, forcing the screener to lean.

 

[HuskyNan]

Nan where do you find the advanced analytics? I love looking at these.

They’re a tab on the live stats that I can view during games

 

[HuskyNan]

Almost all Big East teams have already played UConn this year. They aren’t nervous or intimidated and they know how the Huskies are going to play. It gives them a bit of an advantage on defense over teams facing the Huskies for the first time

 

[caseyb7]

Glad to see Aubrey continuing to look comfortable, play well and get more minutes going into season end & Tournament time. She is an immediate asset to affect performance.

Q & Allie got playing time late to add to their development. Allie scored & both got minutes. Neither picked up a foul, encouraging especially with Samuels.

I see glimpses of good things with Samuels. She is quick and often when there is a floor scramble for the ball she is involved. Her length & hands are disruptive and she is hard to pass/shot over. With a slim build she will never be the disruptive force Morgan Chelli is and at times she appears awkward - but the "to be developed" things are there. Working on body control will reduce her early foul tendency.

Allie looked fine, but doesn't appear as defensively disruptive as KK, Morgan, or Azzi. Maybe she is quick but I don't see her enough to make a judgement yet.

Jana looks mixed still. Hard working but not fluid. I love the fact that she fights for balls on the floor, but not sure she should be on the floor.

Loved the team speed and defense - after the first quarter, plus the good shooting. With Morgan & Ice out UConn's height deficient is an even greater potential liability which speed & defense can minimize.

 

[freshler40]

In Jana's defense, and this wasn't her best game by far, I noticed three different occasions when Kaitlyn or KK opted to pass to her in very adverse situations. In one of them, Kaitlyn picks up her dribble near the top of the key and then looks for help. Ash is open off to her left while Jana is double-teamed at the foul line. For whatever reason, Kaitlyn passes it to Jana who then gets mugged. At least this one resulted in a whistle instead of a turnover. But the other two were TOs. Jana had 4 TOs this evening, but I don't think they were all her fault.

Good points. Some of our passes inside and to a double high post are suspect. The player is well covered and has no opportunity to do much with the ball. Why pass them the ball. It seems to be part of practice and rote learning for a play.