So let's talk about offense

[vtcwbuff]

There are a lot of reasons why the last few games (discounting the bottom feeders) have been so difficult. Mostly I think it's exactly what Icebear pointed out. Good teams are taking away UConn's transition offense and packing the paint. A reliable outside game could counter that but lately it's been hit or (mostly) miss.

Part of that can be attributed to poor rebounding. No rebounds = no transition game. The rebound margin for the last 3 tough games is -3.

And then there are the turnovers and lack of assists. The top team in the country in assists and A/TO averaged but 12 assists (60% of their season average) and nearly 18 turnovers in the SJ/ND/RU games.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I don't know why so many say Kelly must shoot more. She's never been a scorer. She misses layups as easy as she misses 3 pointers. Just let her do her thing, defense and rebounding.
Assuming Tiff was off her game for injury or whatever reason and she snaps back, the key is Bria. I'm not smart enough to say how, but we've got to get her back on her game, scoring included, to have any chance of beating the better teams in these tournaments.
Bria, Bria, please come back ala your Baylor performance!

Faris needs to shoot because her lack of offense is hurting the team. Opponents know that she usually wont shoot when left open so her defender doubles in the post. Auriemma has said that publicly several times. She does not have to be the go to scorer but she has to shoot enough to keep the defense honest.

 

[Jonathan Husky]

I don't like the offense at all. I don't know how many times a player on the wing passes the ball right back without even looking toward the basket. This offense is ineffective against teams with equal talent.

I am inclined to agree because we no longer have better talent than Notre Dame and even St John's. We no longer have any great (Maya) player only good players. With a great palyer the offense works much better because they force the defense to double team. There is no flow to this offense because the other teams won't allow it.

 

[Kait14]

I thought it was promising that Caroline came out actually looking for her shot.. Geno said something to her right before tip and I have a feeling it had something to do with her shooting.. If she didn't pick up those 3 fouls, I think she would have had more points.. Kelly just completely refusing to shoot is beyond frustrating .. She's being given 5-6 feet and the defense is daring her to shoot, and she just won't

 

[Icebear]

I thought it was promising that Caroline came out actually looking for her shot.. Geno said something to her right before tip and I have a feeling it had something to do with her shooting.. If she didn't pick up those 3 fouls, I think she would have had more points.. Kelly just completely refusing to shoot is beyond frustrating .. She's being given 5-6 feet and the defense is daring her to shoot, and she just won't

I agree, Kait, I think she was off to a great start for the game until the fouls raised their ugly head.

 

[Sonny44]

Faris needs to shoot because her lack of offense is hurting the team. Opponents know that she usually wont shoot when left open so her defender doubles in the post. Auriemma has said that publicly several times. She does not have to be the go to scorer but she has to shoot enough to keep the defense honest.

I disagree.
Kelly would have to make 3 - 5 outside shots before the defenses would pay any significant attention to her. What's the liklihood of that happening?
In my opinion you don't win by asking your players to do something they are incapable of or don't have the confidence to do.
We need to create different schemes for Bria who has the proven capability to score.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I don't like the offense at all. I don't know how many times a player on the wing passes the ball right back without even looking toward the basket. This offense is ineffective against teams with equal talent.

There was thread back in the the fall when the very topic of UConn's "pretty offense" was discussed at length. Your view is in synch with a number of posters who expressed the belief that UConn's offense is only pretty against the cupcakes, and becomes varying degrees of ugly against teams that emphasize defense.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I disagree.
Kelly would have to make 3 - 5 outside shots before the defenses would pay any significant attention to her. What's the liklihood of that happening?
In my opinion you don't win by asking your players to do something they are incapable of or don't have the confidence to do.
We need to create different schemes for Bria who has the proven capability to score.

guess Kelly should just go home

 

[vtcwbuff]

I disagree.
Kelly would have to make 3 - 5 outside shots before the defenses would pay any significant attention to her. What's the liklihood of that happening?
In my opinion you don't win by asking your players to do something they are incapable of or don't have the confidence to do.
We need to create different schemes for Bria who has the proven capability to score.

I believe you are wrong when you say that Faris is incapable of scoring. She has a .400 shooting average and a .300 average from 3 point range.

I don't know where you get the has "to make 2-5 shots" to draw a defender. IMO she isn't being defended closely not because she can't shoot but because she won't shoot.

 

[Replicant]

Just got back from a 3 day fishing tourney and it's like I've walked into a crime scene with yellow caution tape everywhere! I recorded the game, but haven't had a chance to view it yet. We won...didn't we?

All kidding aside, Alex provided a solid synopsis as usual. We are young. We lost some confidence, swag, sense of invincibility and the fear of other teams from that 5 letter word ("UCONN") on our jerseys after the ND and SJU games. We also had a fairly long lay-off before yesterday's game. Nice to get the added rest physically, but emotionally it might have been preferable to have gotten right back on the horse after our few recent set-backs. I have every confidence we'll smoke SJU tonight, but am a little concerned we're becoming too predictable with our imbalance for outside shooting. Don't really see how that can change at this point, so let's get red hot and keep making those shots ladies!

Kelly needs to take the open shots when they are presented. She's a respectable .297% on her 3pt attempts. I'll take that any day over passing up wide open looks. Your shooting % on shots you don't take is 0%! Also, she doesn't need to keep her feet set in cement from behind the 3 pt arc if/when the man guarding her is playing 5-10' away, as is often the case. She can bust in and launch from 15-18' and improve her %.

We need to throttle back on attempting to make passes with absurd degrees of difficulty. When you're on a roll they always seem to work, but when you're struggling they never work and make you look foolish. We are definitely missing the players, ability and desire to penetrate the lane and I expect Moriah to have a significant impact in that area next year along with Brianna.

Let's get some payback and swag back at the Johnie's expense!

 

[Ctpaul0825]

Our shooting slump will end and we will peak just when we are supposed to, have faith UCONN Nation, we will be fine.

 

[Kibitzer]

One thing I can guarantee will happen tonight and that is that the St John's player guarding Kelly will sag several feet away from her, almost daring her to shoot. That defender will make entry passes to Dolson very difficult.

It's up to Geno to devise an offensive strategy to counter this basic challenge and up to the players to execute it.

I think we are smart enough and good enough to do so. And I like our chances.

 

[Sonny44]

guess Kelly should just go home

Read my original post: "Just let her do her thing, defense and rebounding." If some points come then it's a bonus, but don't count on it.

 

[Sonny44]

I believe you are wrong when you say that Faris is incapable of scoring. She has a .400 shooting average and a .300 average from 3 point range.

I don't know where you get the has "to make 2-5 shots" to draw a defender. IMO she isn't being defended closely not because she can't shoot but because she won't shoot.

Well Little Miss Muffet gets her team to buy into a game plan. Do you think she's going to change that if Kelly makes a couple of shots? By your own numbers she has to take five shots (three misses) to make two. Nah, LMM isn't going to change her game plan for that.

Take a closer look at those numbers. I'd bet that most of her points have come against the weaker teams. Against the stronger teams she has huge responsibilities in defense and rebounding. Maybe she can't focus on these if she is under pressure to score. She hasn't had the confidence to take the shots she has been presented with. Maybe she can't think about scoring under those conditions. I don't know. You ask her.

Look, I'm not condemning Kelly; just recognizing her role. Would it be nice to see her score more. Sure, I'd like that as much as anybody, but I'd not base UCONN's success on that possibility.

Come back Bria. Bring the Baylor game.

 

[Sonny44]

Just got back from a 3 day fishing tourney and it's like I've walked into a crime scene with yellow caution tape everywhere! I recorded the game, but haven't had a chance to view it yet. We won...didn't we?

All kidding aside, Alex provided a solid synopsis as usual. We are young. We lost some confidence, swag, sense of invincibility and the fear of other teams from that 5 letter word ("UCONN") on our jerseys after the ND and SJU games. We also had a fairly long lay-off before yesterday's game. Nice to get the added rest physically, but emotionally it might have been preferable to have gotten right back on the horse after our few recent set-backs. I have every confidence we'll smoke SJU tonight, but am a little concerned we're becoming too predictable with our imbalance for outside shooting. Don't really see how that can change at this point, so let's get red hot and keep making those shots ladies!

Kelly needs to take the open shots when they are presented. She's a respectable .297% on her 3pt attempts. I'll take that any day over passing up wide open looks. Your shooting % on shots you don't take is 0%! Also, she doesn't need to keep her feet set in cement from behind the 3 pt arc if/when the man guarding her is playing 5-10' away, as is often the case. She can bust in and launch from 15-18' and improve her %.

We need to throttle back on attempting to make passes with absurd degrees of difficulty. When you're on a roll they always seem to work, but when you're struggling they never work and make you look foolish. We are definitely missing the players, ability and desire to penetrate the lane and I expect Moriah to have a significant impact in that area next year along with Brianna.

Let's get some payback and swag back at the Johnie's expense!

Amen on the passing. And we've made so many passes that immediately result in a cornered or surrounded team mate. I believe you're supposed to pass to a player who is less covered that you are.