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

[vtcwbuff]

What I knew - 1. All the crowing here about how great the team looked against UC Davis was silly. It proved nothing. At
Stanford the team was tested by a quality opponent and they came up short.
2. In the season long scheme of things the loss is almost meaningless.

What I learned - 1. Last night KML couldn't guard a 3 legged stool. She was a huge defensive liability. It remains to be
seen if that was a one timer or is it a weakness that opponents with quick guards can exploit.
2. Nurse is the real deal.
3. Chong appears to be back after disappearing for most of last year. A little improvement on
defense and she will be a factor.
4. Stokes of 2014 seems to be the same as the Stokes of 2013. Even O'Brien commented about how
she wasn't looking to shoot all game and then when Auriemma wanted to run some clock she
immediately takes a low % shot.

How about a "Bonehead" play of the game award? Stokes or KML?

 

[ktuck911]

We've been so damn good for so long no one wants to give a little credit to the team that beat us... wow... Tara VanderVeer is no slouch folks... She puts a solid ELITE level basketball team on the floor just about every year.... And, we none of us here want to consider the fact that we lost some key pieces from last year's team that has obviously disrupted the cohesion of what we're trying to do early on in the season... We WILL be a well oiled machine again this year... Just let us gel a little folks...

 

[hussybulldog]

I have to say that this is very similar to the three games that UConn lost to ND three times in 2012-13. We could say that the FT last night was not up to par, Stewie had too many 3-sec violation, or that infamous 5-second violation for the failed inbound, or KML's low score. But after all that is said, can anyone of us remember when the last time UCONN hold on to a victory in a very closely contested game at the end? UConn just cannot play well in the last one minute or 30 second. It is either Coach's short on wit/lack of an effective strategy or players' lack of discipline to follow coach's plan.

Basically the lack of defensive strategy lead to the overtime and poor execution led to the 2-pt basket instead of finding a way to a 3-pt execution when the time is running out towards the the end.

 

[Bestiarius]

As an outsider, and someone who is not as informed as you all, I would say the UCONN defense did not look as strong as in seasons past. However, Geno will use this loss as a big lesson for the group. I also think that losing Hartley and Dolson was a big deal. I still think UCONN is the favorite to repeat but this game proves that any team can be beat without superb execution on both ends of the floor. At the end of the day, this game will result in a net benefit for both UCONN and Stanford. I really hope TN brings their A game when Stanford comes to Knoxville. Their players always play so smart.

Based on the 3 previous games against inferior opponents, there wasn't much to indicate UConn's defense might be lacking vs. other year's teams, and I'm not yet sure if that is actually the case. But, it does point out the danger of becoming optimistic when a talented opponent is encountered.

Yes, one thing guaranteed is Stanford players are going to be smart. They have passed up many excellent players because they couldn't meet the academic entrance requirements. All the top teams were probably unsettled after viewing this game.

 

[ursusminor]

We've been so damn good for so long no one wants to give a little credit to the team that beat us... wow... Tara VanderVeer is no slouch folks... She puts a solid ELITE level basketball team on the floor just about every year.... And, we none of us here want to consider the fact that we lost some key pieces from last year's team that has obviously disrupted the cohesion of what we're trying to do early on in the season... We WILL be a well oiled machine again this year... Just let us gel a little folks...

This. Tara is one of the top two or three active coaches in the country. In the long run, Geno has more championships, so it's easy to argue that he's better. But in any single given game, Tara is capable of out-coaching him. It's happened more than once, usually about every two to four years.

Standford also has a ton of very athletic, quick guards which wreaked havoc. We've got those sorts of players, too, but all the ones not named Moriah are freshman.

 

[CL82]

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

I love "the can't win the close ones argument". Is it choking or is it that we are seldom out of a game? We're human, we lose, but we are often in those games until the last moment.

What I learned from last night game wasn't particularly surprising, and most of it was noted in the OP. I'll add that I learned that we will miss our two AA's who graduated, not that that is particularly surprising. I like to think that those uncontested lay ups don't happen if Steph and Bria are on the floor. Finally, I learned that the rumors of the death of Saniya's playing career was greatly exaggerated.... and I could not be happier for her.

 

[Stinger92860]

We were beaten by the number 6 team on their home floor by 2. Not a big deal IMO. We need to work on defensive pressure. Too much standing around. Better shot selection down the stretch would be helpful also. We get one or two breaks or get the easy put back we win the game. If not for foul trouble I also believe we win.

 

[UConnCat]

I love "the can't win the close ones argument". Is it choking or is it that we are seldom out of a game? We're human, we lose, but we are often in those games until the last moment.

Exactly. The team is going to lose games and to its credit those losses are going to come in close games. Sometimes it takes teams time to figure out how to execute and close out a game. This team's inability to do that last night was disappointing but we've learned from recent past experience that teams do figure it out.

UConn lost 3 straight close games to ND in 2013 and then had a chance to correct this against ND in the FF semi-final. Although the final score of that game suggests a blow-out, the game was anything but. ND cut the lead to 6 with under 6 minutes left and then UConn put the hammer down. Let's hope this team figures things out by March/April.

 

[iamcbs]

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.

We learned that UConn's guards, including MoJet are not good one-on-one defenders yet and Geno hasn't worked much on defending the pick-and-roll, KML has to have more in her arsenal than a 3-point shot(she made Karlie Samuelson look like the 2nd coming of Chauncey Billups), this team misses Stef and Bria more than it believed it did, Kiah Stokes is who we thought she is and so is Breanna Stewart.

 

[NorCalHuskie]

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"...
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'.

As a native Californian who spent 12 years living in CT, I've always thought it's because people are pissed off about the weather.

 

[easttexastrash]

I had totally forgotten about this skit. Too funny!

 

[BobbyJ]

I learned two things that I suspected I would. One, UConn needs a second offensive big girl inside. When Stewart steps outside they have nothing in there that's a threat. And two, this is the worst man to man defense they've had in many years. Outside of Jefferson there's a severe lack of foot speed and reaction time. They will not be able to press a good team and that's been a big part of their success.

 

[NorCalHuskie]

FWIW, I was at the game. You get to see the entire floor and every player when you want to. KML is really slow. She didn't get any good looks in the first half because she's easy to guard when there aren't enough good screens set for her. Moriah is plenty fast enough to guard anybody, but to offset Moriah's speed, Stanford used lots of screens, the referees called fouls if the defender ran into the screener, and as soon as a the ball got past the screen the refs called fouls when a defender came over to help. But, UCONN was mostly terrible at help defense because Stewie and Stokes were often far away from the ball when the ball went into the lane. I was surprised UCONN didn't stay in zone defense longer because it worked pretty well when they tried it.

But, it's November, and I expect many good teams could look bad in November against a good team. Remember what Geno said some years ago after a loss, "Maybe now they will listen to me in practice."

 

[rvwsleep]

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'.

For NY Yankee fans, does the name A Rod ring a bell ? As for Met fans, no individual player could single-handedly account for their sad state (though there is a light at the end of the tunnel), instead they reserve their wrath for the ownership.

 

[UConnCat]

I learned two things that I suspected I would. One, UConn needs a second offensive big girl inside. When Stewart steps outside they have nothing in there that's a threat. And two, this is the worst man to man defense they've had in many years. Outside of Jefferson there's a severe lack of foot speed and reaction time. They will not be able to press a good team and that's been a big part of their success.

You're right that this team doesn't have the lateral quickness on the perimeter of other UConn teams but UConn hasn't been a pressing team in quite a few years.

 

[johnnyc]

Hopefully we learned to keep our learning experiences to the early part of the season.

 

[UConnCat]

FWIW, I was at the game. You get to see the entire floor and every player when you want to. KML is really slow. She didn't get any good looks in the first half because she's easy to guard when there aren't enough good screens set for her. Moriah is plenty fast enough to guard anybody, but to offset Moriah's speed, Stanford used lots of screens, the referees called fouls if the defender ran into the screener, and as soon as a the ball got past the screen the refs called fouls when a defender came over to help. But, UCONN was mostly terrible at help defense because Stewie and Stokes were often far away from the ball when the ball went into the lane. I was surprised UCONN didn't stay in zone defense longer because it worked pretty well when they tried it.

But, it's November, and I expect many good teams could look bad in November against a good team. Remember what Geno said some years ago after a loss, "Maybe now they will listen to me in practice."

You raise some interesting points.

Goes without saying that KML does not possess good footspeed, but she's not as slow as she appeared last night. She didn't move very much and when she did it was not with a purpose. She looked stagnant like she didn't know what to do. It was reminiscent of Maya's game at Maples in 2011. Athletes move better and more freely when playing confidently and KML didn't play with much confidence or purpose last night. Surprising to say the least.

I'm not sure the zone was a successful as you suggest but I'll hold off on that til I rewatch the game. I thought UConn got burned with a couple of 3s after going zone but I'll take another look. I do expect Stanford to see a lot of zone this season, however.

Stanford did a good job of spreading UConn defenders out which kept Stewie mostly away from the basket. Notice that McCall didn't play much (11 minutes) mostly because Stanford couldn't spread the floor as much with her and keep Stewie/Stokes out of the lane. Bonnie Samuelson (a good shooter but defensive liability) played more than I thought she would and that's because Tara needed her out there to pull Stewie away from the basket. Stanford then involved Kiah/Morgan/KML in pick and rolls/screens and there you go. Stanford ran a pro-style offense that you don't see as much (or as well run) in women's college basketball. I'm not surprised that UConn struggled with it the first time out. As much as it might be a blueprint for other teams, those other teams don't have Stanford's guards or shooters to spread the floor and haven't spent the past several months implementing an offense like that. The blueprint for other teams will largely be in the defensive end and how to defend UConn.

As I said, I'm not as concerned about the defensive issues (though there surely are some) as I am about the tentativeness on offense down the stretch. When all is said and done the defense will be there. But if players not named Stewart or Chong are unwilling or unable to make big shots/plays down the stretch then this team won't achieve its goals.

 

[Dove]

I learned that I am in love with one of the Kailee Johnson's.

 

[ASweet3781]

I learned that if we lose another game to anyone else this year besides Notre Dame we could very well drop to a 2 seed based on what our SOS and RPI will be playing in our weakest conference since 1995.

While last night may have been a learning experience, it could have consequences. We do not have the same opportunities to make up for it. And if we do drop to a 2 seed, don't be surprised if they want us or ND out in the regional by putting us together. Don't think it can happen? See 1997. 2008.