So if a loss is a learning experience, what did we learn?

[Kibitzer]

The players surely learned that:

Maples is a tough place to play [really tough, Maya shoulda told us];

Tara is a great coach, especially at devising a really effective game plan [Stewie, be forewarned -- you are about to be mugged about twice a week from now to March];

An ounce of complacency will bring a pound's worth of loss of composure [ever before see a five-second violation on an inbounds pass with the game on the line?];

Help defense doesn't work if the helpers don't help;

No matter what those Boneyarders say, we are not "the best basketball team ever"; and,

No plane ride in the world is a long as the one from Cali to Bradley after an ass-whoopin'.​

Hard to way that Geno learned anything new except that if you have a seven-player rotation and two of them foul out, you are stuck with a five-player rotation.

And what did the Boneyarders learn?

Maybe a few will allow Saniya to stay in the rotation; and,

Most will hedge their bets when Daddy Choc calls for score predictions.​

​

 

[Justice]

"There is no secret to success. It is the result of preparation, hardwork and learning from failure."

-General Colin Powell

 

[blkkirk]

We learned that Nurse is solid and extremely poised. Similarly, we learned that Chong has ice in her veins offensively. Tuck is a little rusty but made some huge baskets in the end. She won't be coming off the bench for long. We were slow to help on the the pick and roll. Hard to beat a team if they are making layups or short jumpers and you are forced to take three's and outside shots.

 

[willtalk]

You learned that Tara is really dangerous when she is a big underdog. You also learned that the principle of "on any given night" is always alive in the game of basketball via matchups and timing.

 

[Harry Mangurian]

#1 lesson undoubtedly: There is a lot of work to be done in upcoming practices.

Great UCONN teams do certain things without thinking about them because they have been through the scenario
over and over again. I hope Geno's oft repeated statement that he is getting easier on his players is not going to show up
in games. It could just mean that early season results will be less than stellar and those games will serve as practice for
March/April.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Hopefully Stewie and Kaleena learned not to mug, joke and goof around on the bench during a game in which your opponent (UCDavis) is taking a beating. I have never seen UConn players show what I thought was such disrespect for an outclassed opponent. Perhaps the attitude and cockiness reflected in that behavior prevented them being appropriately motivated for, and seeing the danger in, their next opponent Stanford. They may very well have bought into all the over-the-top pre-season hype and lost their hungry edge.

 

[UConnCat]

Hopefully Stewie and Kaleena learned not to mug, joke and goof around on the bench during a game in which your opponent (UCDavis) is taking a beating. I have never seen UConn players show what I thought was such disrespect for an outclassed opponent. Perhaps the attitude and cockiness reflected in that behavior prevented them being appropriately motivated for, and seeing the danger in, their next opponent Stanford. They may very well have bought into all the over-the-top pre-season hype and lost their hungry edge.

You forgot to mention Chris Dailey. I caught her smiling with Stewart and Kaleena on the bench towards the end of that game. We can include CD among the disrespectful, overconfident and cocky.

All this because of one lousy loss.

 

[browneyedwoman]

Husky Rule - what did it take a loss for you to make this negative comment. You should have posted it on Saturday, maybe Sunday, or before the game.

 

[luckyhusky7]

We learned that we have become spoiled fans, if it's a blow out we say we need to stop playing cupcakes. If we lose in OT to an actually good team....we throw all of our team and our coaches under the bus. We're a damned if you do, and damned if you don't kinda fans.......hard to please.

 

[UConnCat]

I've learned that UConn is not allowed to lose without Geno's coaching acumen being questioned. Talk about being the victim of your own success.

 

[wbfree]

Our defense needs a lot of work. It was terrible. Stanford's guards were getting anywhere they wanted to. Our bigs were glued to the floor. In years past if our offense wasn't clicking, we would always shut people down. We didn't trap or create turnovers. I think Geno's really going to emphasize that in practice.

 

[FairView]

The staff learned what they need to work on to become a better team.
They will learn more in other challenging games throughout the year.
There is still a need for on-court leadership to emerge.
The entire group will be better prepared in March.
Tara is a great coach and her team had confidence, skill and a will to perform.
The bad news is that there are not many teams that can play UConn like Stanford did last night, so the team needs to make the most of these real-game experiences.

 

[pap49cba]

A 7 player rotation is a problem if two of the seven foul out.

 

[pap49cba]

Interesting stat:

carl adamec @CarlAdamec · 4h 4 hours ago
UConn 0-8 in games decided by 5 points or less or in OT since Maya Moore graduated. When Maya was in Storrs, UConn was 5-1 in such games

 

[ktuck911]

Interesting stat:

carl adamec @CarlAdamec · 4h 4 hours ago
UConn 0-8 in games decided by 5 points or less or in OT since Maya Moore graduated. When Maya was in Storrs, UConn was 5-1 in such games

Gimme a friggin break (smh)... It kills me how the media LOVES, RELISHES finding fault in order to get/gain attention... Loathe that...

Our girls will be fine... they just need to gel as a unit is all... The rotation will expand as the season goes along... No doubt in my mind...

Doubters stop doubting.. We've been through this stuff before... We run the table every other year it seems (or lose maybe 1, 2 games) then we hit a speed bump due to a learning curve that all teams have to go thru...

I ain't worried, not at all...

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I relearned why I do not watch most big games live. Got aches and pains everywhere this morning. Biggest one, my broken heart! The Trees were way way up and the dogs were not: that's all I saw. But part of me is glad for the loss and what it may mean for the development of leadership on this team. Oh, and Geno may want to rethink not starting practice as soon as allowed.

 

[UConnCat]

Interesting stat:

carl adamec @CarlAdamec · 4h 4 hours ago
UConn 0-8 in games decided by 5 points or less or in OT since Maya Moore graduated. When Maya was in Storrs, UConn was 5-1 in such games

The most amazing thing is that results like this are used to say Geno can't win close games or isn't a good Xs and Os coach. I suppose if you're going to lose it's better to lose in a blowout. Then it's considered just one of those nights or the team isn't that good. But losing close games is unacceptable. Think about that.

BTW, I'm not suggesting Carl meant any of the above with his tweet. His tweet just reminds me of what many say.

 

[Huskies Rule]

Husky Rule - what did it take a loss for you to make this negative comment. You should have posted it on Saturday, maybe Sunday, or before the game.

So it is not okay to make commentary after the fact? YOU look at the video and YOU tell me BS and KML behaved appropriately. CD clearly shot them a disapproving look.
I probably should have posted it when I first saw the video, but as a devoted fan, I want to support our kids and speak only in the positive, not to criticize or pick them apart as so many are comfortable doing. I am, however, guilty of ignoring whatever 'bad stuff' there is, as relatively insignificant and infrequent as it is, preferring to see the team through rose-colored glasses at the expense of 100% objectivity.

 

[UConnCat]

Lots of talk about the defense which is understandable given that we aren't accustomed to seeing UConn's defense shredded like it was last night. I think the defense will improve with experience playing together. Stopping dribble penetration is the hardest thing to do defensively at all levels and Stanford has 2 guards who were exceptionally good at penetrating and finishing last night. I don't doubt that a second match-up between these two teams would result in a much better effort defensively for UConn. Experience does that.

The bigger concern to me was the lack of offensive execution and shot-making at critical times, as well as no one taking charge down the stretch. Like Geno said:

"So it’s probably good that it was (Monday) night in November on the road against a really good team because they know. This is the way it’s going to be. They’re going to have to make shots and relieve some of the pressure. And that’s (Morgan) Tuck, Kiah Stokes. Moriah Jefferson. (Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis). They’ve got to make shots. Kia Nurse. And Friday night (at UC Davis) it looked great, huh. Guys couldn’t wait to shoot the ball because when you’re up 25 … Hell, I could make shots when we’re up 25. But the key is you’ve got to be tough enough to make them when the game’s on the line.’’

Some factoids from Rich Elliott:

Mosqueda-Lewis had 12 points (3-of-11 FG). Tuck had 11 (2-of-7). Nurse had 9 (3-of-7). And Jefferson (2-of-7) and Stokes (2-of-6) each had five points.

Jefferson and Stokes were scoreless over the final 10:43 of the game. Nurse did not score after making two free throws with 30.7 seconds left in the first half. Mosqueda-Lewis scored four points over the final 8:34 (one field goal).

That's not going to get it done. If those players can't figure out how to make shots when Stewie is double and triple-teamed, then there won't be championship number 10 in April.

 

[hjoerring]

I 've learned that UConn is not allowed to lose without Geno's coaching acumen being questioned. Talk about being the victim of your own success.

Come now you can't have it both ways. We were never going to ________ ; that was said countless times. And let us not confuse asking questions with questioning a coach decision. Geno likes a short bench. He wins with such a bench, no doubt. However, I keep asking myself when are some of the freshmen allow to come in- even if they mess things up. Are they just not good. Stanford running a new system used a lot more players (8+) then Uconn. Would I have liked to see a couple others in the game- yes. There is no criticism there- just a preference.

 

[HGN]

The loss can be a wake up call.

We learned that there is still a lot of work to be done. No matter how hard Geno pushes them now , the team knows that they can be beaten and must get better.

I would much rather get the loss out of our system now than in the Tournament. We can recover from this loss. Move ahead and still win a NC. Championship teams lose from time to time. Champions pick themselves up , and go on to win the ultimate goal of a NC.

No shame in this loss..........It is a shame if you don't get better.

 

[easttexastrash]

That Dolson and Hartley were REALLY good and that it is hard to replace experienced talent. And that this team is not better than last year's team without those two, as many had said would be the case.

 

[pinotbear]

 

[DICKG]

The players surely learned that:

Maples is a tough place to play [really tough, Maya shoulda told us];

Tara is a great coach, especially at devising a really effective game plan [Stewie, be forewarned -- you are about to be mugged about twice a week from now to March];

An ounce of complacency will bring a pound's worth of loss of composure [ever before see a five-second violation on an inbounds pass with the game on the line?];

Help defense doesn't work if the helpers don't help;

No matter what those Boneyarders say, we are not "the best basketball team ever"; and,

No plane ride in the world is a long as the one from Cali to Bradley after an ass-whoopin'.​

Hard to way that Geno learned anything new except that if you have a seven-player rotation and two of them foul out, you are stuck with a five-player rotation.

And what did the Boneyarders learn?

Maybe a few will allow Saniya to stay in the rotation; and,

Most will hedge their bets when Daddy Choc calls for score predictions.​

​

The players surely learned that:

Maples is a tough place to play [really tough, Maya shoulda told us];

Tara is a great coach, especially at devising a really effective game plan [Stewie, be forewarned -- you are about to be mugged about twice a week from now to March];

An ounce of complacency will bring a pound's worth of loss of composure [ever before see a five-second violation on an inbounds pass with the game on the line?];

Help defense doesn't work if the helpers don't help;

No matter what those Boneyarders say, we are not "the best basketball team ever"; and,

No plane ride in the world is a long as the one from Cali to Bradley after an ass-whoopin'.​

Hard to way that Geno learned anything new except that if you have a seven-player rotation and two of them foul out, you are stuck with a five-player rotation.

And what did the Boneyarders learn?

Maybe a few will allow Saniya to stay in the rotation; and,

Most will hedge their bets when Daddy Choc calls for score predictions.​

​

I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. GENO is not a great coach in close games. The last 4 seconds showed the players did not know what to do. They didn't know who should throw the ball inbounds. As soon he called the unnecessary timeout in OT, I knew it would backfire and it did because they had a 5 second call right after.

He has a bench full of all-state players and some are all Americans they he chose not to play. Stewie played 44 minutes and was obviously very tired and could have used a break; as well as Lewis who played the whole game. How are the bench players going to learn what to do in big games of they are not given a chance. Playing 20 minutes a game against inferior competition does not prepare them. This is his greatest fault.

 

[pinotbear]

We learned that we have become spoiled fans, if it's a blow out we say we need to stop playing cupcakes. If we lose in OT to an actually good team....we throw all of our team and our coaches under the bus. We're a damned if you do, and damned if you don't kinda fans..hard to please.

Kinda tangentially, I've long-believed what you post here. There's something about the New England sports fan that is always looking for the dark cloud when he/she sees a silver lining. And, that's when times are good!

This tendency isn't just for athletics - it shows up in politics, economics, all over the place - but, it can flower unfettered when the "home-town team" loses. And, as other posters have noted recently, one of the more unattractive aspects of this regional "grump" is that we often pick one or two players to focus our bile upon. As a Sox fan of long-standing, I've noticed this for years - there's always one player that seems to be the dumping ground for the fans' disappointment. I don't know if Yankee or Met fans have similar experiences, but, I wouldn't be surprised.

Somebody more learned than I can dig into the roots of this - Calvinism of the Founding Fathers, cultural/religous guilt, Yankee reticence, who knows? Can be mighty discouraging, tho'.