Some closing thoughts on the 2017 season...

[ASweet3781]

- I think the phrase "good for women's basketball" gets thrown around a lot and is overused but I do think if I can look past the string of last nights loss I think the sport probably needed this moment. More people were talking about women's basketball last night on social media and in national news than in years. It was a moment. A moment because of Morgan Williams and the shot. And because of our mind boggling win streak. So when people ask was our win streak/dominance good for the game I think we got our answer last night. I hope in defeat people around the country who just dismissed our team as robots who just showed up and could dominate realize how much hard work was put into that and how easily it could have ended before last night. Things need to go in cycles. We can't win every year. If we needed to lose I am fine with it happening in such a dramatic newsworthy moment in the Final 4 to Mississippi State coming off 4 titles with a pissed off loaded team ready to go next year.

- I think Geno and his staff did an amazing job all year to go undefeated with that schedule. I think they did a great job dealing with limited depth and height. After losing the top 3 picks in the draft. This was supposed to be our down year and we went 36-1 and lost at the buzzer in the Final 4.

- Gabby Williams is a warrior. We may have lost by 20 last night without her.

- I was disappointed in how both Collier and Samuelson responded to adversity last night. They are young and will have 2 more shots at it but it was disappointing just the same. Samuelson was off for the tournament for whatever reasons. I am sure both will use it as motivation. I thought Dangerfield looked overwhelmed most of the postseason.

- I won't get too into the end of game coaching because I made my feelings known last night. We don't play many close games. I just feel if we are going to brag about how tough our practices are we need to know what to do in end of game time and score situations. We have seen some small data points to suggest we don't. Perhaps next years team will be so pissed off we won't find ourselves in many close games. But there will be good teams we face next year in the tournament. And if we are in a tight possession to possession game late I will be genuinely worried about how we respond.

- I am glad the days of 6 player rotations will come to a crashing end next year. It killed us last night. I am also concerned about a 14 player roster next year. I think that's too many people in the mix. The last time the roster was that deep was in 2001 and even before the injuries the chemistry never truly gelled. And I don't want chemistry or playing time issues to cost us. I do think a red shirt or a heart to heart honest discussion about realistic available playing time is in the best interest for everyone.

- I am really happy Azura Stevens is 6'6.

- And lastly, there are not many things I currently like about college athletics. The greed. The corruption. The destruction of rivalries. And just the general phoniness of it all. I don't think many of these schools and their athletic departments give a hoot about women's basketball or want to grow the game. I think UConn is in a generally unhealthy position of if you win no one cares and if you lose it's the biggest story in the country. I hope for our sake that changes. But I don't think it will. We are portrayed as a Goliath as we face schools who will make tens of millions of more dollars than us this year in TV revenue. These schools will claim they care about women's basketball and get on the bandwagon as their teams make postseason runs. Many of these schools belong to conferences that have already passed us over to add "football" schools with 6-6 records or academic cesspools with shady football programs. We have been told by at least 3 "Power" conferences so far we bring nothing to the table to deserve a spot in their league. It seems to me what we did to Mississippi State last year in Bridgeport helped their program reach a new level of excellence no? Just like it did for Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Louisville facing us 3 times a year. Just like the kids at Kansas State and Maryland played before their biggest crowds of the year when we came to town this year. So I think maybe its past time for ESPN, the media, and these Power 5 conference to stop using UConn women's basketball as battering ram to portray in their story lines. If they were serious about growing this sport, imagine how many more Mississippi State's could be created if UConn was in a strong conference that it deserves to be in. You could have far more moments like last night. Perhaps people other than Geno can now we be asked if what they are doing is "good for the game". The right people. I won't hold my breath.

 

[Tenspro2002]

- I think the phrase "good for women's basketball" gets thrown around a lot and is overused but I do think if I can look past the string of last nights loss I think the sport probably needed this moment. More people were talking about women's basketball last night on social media and in national news than in years. It was a moment. A moment because of Morgan Williams and the shot. And because of our mind boggling win streak. So when people ask was our win streak/dominance good for the game I think we got our answer last night. I hope in defeat people around the country who just dismissed our team as robots who just showed up and could dominate realize how much hard work was put into that and how easily it could have ended before last night. Things need to go in cycles. We can't win every year. If we needed to lose I am fine with it happening in such a dramatic newsworthy moment in the Final 4 to Mississippi State coming off 4 titles with a pissed off loaded team ready to go next year.

- I think Geno and his staff did an amazing job all year to go undefeated with that schedule. I think they did a great job dealing with limited depth and height. After losing the top 3 picks in the draft. This was supposed to be our down year and we went 36-1 and lost at the buzzer in the Final 4.

- Gabby Williams is a warrior. We may have lost by 20 last night without her.

- I was disappointed in how both Collier and Samuelson responded to adversity last night. They are young and will have 2 more shots at it but it was disappointing just the same. Samuelson was off for the tournament for whatever reasons. I am sure both will use it as motivation. I thought Dangerfield looked overwhelmed most of the postseason.

- I won't get too into the end of game coaching because I made my feelings known last night. We don't play many close games. I just feel if we are going to brag about how tough our practices are we need to know what to do in end of game time and score situations. We have seen some small data points to suggest we don't. Perhaps next years team will be so pissed off we won't find ourselves in many close games. But there will be good teams we face next year in the tournament. And if we are in a tight possession to possession game late I will be genuinely worried about how we respond.

- I am glad the days of 6 player rotations will come to a crashing end next year. It killed us last night. I am also concerned about a 14 player roster next year. I think that's too many people in the mix. The last time the roster was that deep was in 2001 and even before the injuries the chemistry never truly gelled. And I don't want chemistry or playing time issues to cost us. I do think a red shirt or a heart to heart honest discussion about realistic available playing time is in the best interest for everyone.

- I am really happy Azura Stevens is 6'6.

- And lastly, there are not many things I currently like about college athletics. The greed. The corruption. The destruction of rivalries. And just the general phoniness of it all. I don't think many of these schools and their athletic departments give a hoot about women's basketball or want to grow the game. I think UConn is in a generally unhealthy position of if you win no one cares and if you lose it's the biggest story in the country. I hope for our sake that changes. But I don't think it will. We are portrayed as a Goliath as we face schools who will make tens of millions of more dollars than us this year in TV revenue. These schools will claim they care about women's basketball and get on the bandwagon as their teams make postseason runs. Many of these schools belong to conferences that have already passed us over to add "football" schools with 6-6 records or academic cesspools with shady football programs. We have been told by at least 3 "Power" conferences so far we bring nothing to the table to deserve a spot in their league. It seems to me what we did to Mississippi State last year in Bridgeport helped their program reach a new level of excellence no? Just like it did for Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Louisville facing us 3 times a year. Just like the kids at Kansas State and Maryland played before their biggest crowds of the year when we came to town this year. So I think maybe its past time for ESPN, the media, and these Power 5 conference to stop using UConn women's basketball as battering ram to portray in their story lines. If they were serious about growing this sport, imagine how many more Mississippi State's could be created if UConn was in a strong conference that it deserves to be in. You could have far more moments like last night. Perhaps people other than Geno can now we be asked if what they are doing is "good for the game". The right people. I won't hold my breath.

I agree with just about all of this.

In terms of the rotation, realistically the lion's share of the minutes will go to 7 or 8 players, like Geno prefers. Without naming starters, positions (though we largely play position-less aside from PG), or distribution of minutes, it will be:

Dangerfield
Nurse
Lou
Collier
Williams
Stevens
Walker
+ maybe Batouly or one of the other freshmen

Bent, Irwin, Butler, and the other freshmen will largely be resigned to practice and the 4th quarter. It's up to them to decide whether they're satisfied with that role, or how hard they're willing to work to break into the top 8.

 

[UcMiami]

ASweet - I like almost everything you said in the OP, except for the point about our Sophomore and the coaching.

On Lou and Napheesa - in Uconn history we have a number of Mt Rushmore candidates - DT, Maya, Tina, Lobo, Jen all were called on to contribute significantly as freshman and failed to deliver a NC - Tina took two years of seasoning until she was ready, Jen took three years, Maya and DT took one year of failure before they were ready. Of those caliber players only Stewart as a freshman succeeded and she had help from two two year AA starters and a three year starter and a one year starter. Lou and Napheesa really were along for the ride last year, and so while they are sophomores this year they are less experienced sophomores than the others in this list. That they came up short is not that surprising. Tina after two years of starting got owned by Sylvia in similar circumstances. The process is the process and there are no shortcuts around experience.

On the coaching - you can only compensate so much as a coach for the experience and shortcomings of your team. None of the players on this team had ever needed to own the team's destiny before this year - that they seemed to do so throughout the year was a positive, but the regular season and even conference tournaments are very different from the FF. The team failed to execute a ton of things throughout the game that the coaches had coached them to do. To single out the last minutes and assign that to coaching or players is to ignore the whole game.

 

[Tenspro2002]

ASweet - I like almost everything you said in the OP, except for the point about our Sophomore and the coaching.

On Lou and Napheesa - in Uconn history we have a number of Mt Rushmore candidates - DT, Maya, Tina, Lobo, Jen all were called on to contribute significantly as freshman and failed to deliver a NC - Tina took two years of seasoning until she was ready, Jen took three years, Maya and DT took one year of failure before they were ready. Of those caliber players only Stewart as a freshman succeeded and she had help from two two year AA starters and a three year starter and a one year starter. Lou and Napheesa really were along for the ride last year, and so while they are sophomores this year they are less experienced sophomores than the others in this list. That they came up short is not that surprising. Tina after two years of starting got owned by Sylvia in similar circumstances. The process is the process and there are no shortcuts around experience.

On the coaching - you can only compensate so much as a coach for the experience and shortcomings of your team. None of the players on this team had ever needed to own the team's destiny before this year - that they seemed to do so throughout the year was a positive, but the regular season and even conference tournaments are very different from the FF. The team failed to execute a ton of things throughout the game that the coaches had coached them to do. To single out the last minutes and assign that to coaching or players is to ignore the whole game.

Eh, if they had played this way and lost against FSU or Baylor, that would be one thing, and you could use youth and inexperience as an excuse.

But 36 games into the year, after showing that they had no trouble in big moments against a slew of top teams in hostile environments? That's what was so surprising and disappointing. And not something you can really blame Geno for.

 

[UcMiami]

Eh, if they had played this way and lost against FSU or Baylor, that would be one thing, and you could use youth and inexperience as an excuse.

But 36 games into the year, after showing that they had no trouble in big moments against a slew of top teams in hostile environments? That's what was so surprising and disappointing. And not something you can really blame Geno for.

Tina owned Sylvia early in the season as a sophomore, and then played like a puppy in the game that counted 36 games into the season. DT in her pretty full freshman year went 0 fer in her 36th game at this exact stage, etc. Not blaming anyone and certainly not Geno - he told us it was coming and no one believed him. And Lou and Napheesa had plenty of less than good games this year, sometimes in the same game, but someone else always picked them up. And no game this year had nearly the weight of this one hanging on it.

 

[cohenzone]

I didn't think KLS played all that badly. Pheesha was definitely out of sorts. Missing 3-4 point blank layups that are her bread and butter.

Overall, what MSU did was make us look ordinary on ball movement. Few extra passes, too many bad shots. But the game also showed how darn hard it is to beat us. Looking bad, we wound up one smarter play away from winning.

 

[oldude]

Pheesa didn't have her best day, but I am baffled at the notion that Lou is being lumped in as having a bad game as well. Yes she had 3 TO's, but facing a withering defense by the Bulldogs, she scored 15 pts, was 5-10, including 3-6 from 3. Lou also had 5 RB, 1 A, 2 blocks and held the person she was guarding to an 0-3 night.

If that's a bad night, then UConn fans are most definitely spoiled.

 

[Wally East]

Samuelson was off for the tournament for whatever reasons.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Katie Lou was suffering from some nagging illness. She seemed worn down for the whole tournament.

- I won't get too into the end of game coaching because I made my feelings known last night. We don't play many close games. I just feel if we are going to brag about how tough our practices are we need to know what to do in end of game time and score situations. We have seen some small data points to suggest we don't. Perhaps next years team will be so pissed off we won't find ourselves in many close games. But there will be good teams we face next year in the tournament. And if we are in a tight possession to possession game late I will be genuinely worried about how we respond.

Well, they won close games against Florida State, Maryland, and Tulane. So, there's those data points to suggest they do.

 

[Wally East]

Pheesa didn't have her best day, but I am baffled at the notion that Lou is being lumped in as having a bad game as well. Yes she had 3 TO's, but facing a withering defense by the Bulldogs, she scored 15 pts, was 5-10, including 3-6 from 3. Lou also had 5 RB, 1 A, 2 blocks and held the person she was guarding to an 0-3 night.

If that's a bad night, then UConn fans are most definitely spoiled.

15 points is a below-average game for someone who averages 20.

 

[willtalk]

People/Players/coaches, etc are not robots. They do not operate on the same level of efficiency every day. In fact seems to resemble a sliding scale. You have your top end and low end and variables in between. While some people tend to be less consistent than others the generally applies to everyone. This is especially more noticeable in basketball than other sports. Even the best and most consistent players in the history of the game can have off shooting nights. Since teams are comprised of people it applies to teams as well. Any good team can be beaten by a sightly lesser team under the right circumstances. There are just to many variables involved in the game of basketball to expect consistent outcomes. It all depends on where on the sliding scale team A is operating compared to the sliding scale of team B on any given night.

The factors that dictate where on " the sliding scale " a team operates on any given night is dictated by different variables. Being a sum of it's parts it is influenced by the certain variable factors of it's individual pieces. Players can not be feeling 100% either physically, emotionally or mentally on any given night. You can't, or never should, evaluate a player based on a limited amount of games. Playing twice a week for a limited amount of time does not give a true evaluation. To many factors and variables involved. Depth is the best mitigating factor in respect to player variables. The off games by key players can be mitigated by other players who can take up the slack. Lack of depth is an important factor that increases the on of the negative influences of timing ( key players having an off game ). Of course players on the opposing team having A games is also a factor. Fans tend to view sports emotionally and ignore reason and objectivity. How many fans ever remember playing in a game when it just wasn't there. Days when shots are just not dropping or days when you are feeling physically or emotionally off? All these things are variables that contribute to outcomes. Then you can also add external variables like officiating.

The bottom line is that MS had a team that matched up well with UConn and all they needed was certain other factors to fall into place. They were a good enough team and playing well enough that not that many pieces were required to fall into place. I always say that basketball , more than any other sport is a game where outcomes are decided by Match ups and Timing. MS had the Match up factor covered and so all the needed was the Timing variables to fall into place. It was obvious that enough did.

 

[JLH123]

Pheesa didn't have her best day, but I am baffled at the notion that Lou is being lumped in as having a bad game as well. Yes she had 3 TO's, but facing a withering defense by the Bulldogs, she scored 15 pts, was 5-10, including 3-6 from 3. Lou also had 5 RB, 1 A, 2 blocks and held the person she was guarding to an 0-3 night.

If that's a bad night, then UConn fans are most definitely spoiled.

Couldn't agree more. It takes a special scorer to be able to hit from the outside when the arena is larger and the lights are brighter - 50% from three is more than respectable in a Final Four environment. I thought Lou did a great job of taking what the (very stingy) defense gave her, and avoided forcing the issue for the most part. Unfortunately, UConn's ball movement was stifled last night and it was difficult for any of the players to get quality looks.

Also, picking the stat sheet apart at this point, but remember one of Lou's "TOs" in the first half was a backcourt violation when it certainly looked like the ball was tipped out of her hands. There were definitely missed calls both ways, but that looked like one that got marked in Lou's column.

 

[AdamOwe]

ASweet - I like almost everything you said in the OP, except for the point about our Sophomore and the coaching.

I agreed with a LOT of ASweet, your post and others but last night I jotted down "I wouldn't trade the smiles for the edge that might have forged a different ending".

 

[Ouremblem]

Lou calmly walked up to the line and swished the two critical free throws that tied the game. She swished an important shot just before that as well. She shot 5-10, 3-6 on threes, had 5 rebounds. A lot of members keep saying she was overwhelmed by the moment. In the final moments she was the only one who wasn't overwhelmed offensively. We may never know who was supposed to get the last shot, but it should have been her.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Lou scored the only points for UConn in OT.
I think the team shot 1 for 7 and missed 2 FT's in OT.
She also played the entire game. Ya think she may have been a bit tired?
She also played the first 34 minutes of the Oregon game before Geno took her out.
She played all 40 minutes against UCLA.
She led the team in minutes played.

 

[oldude]

15 points is a below-average game for someone who averages 20.

She took 10 shots and made 5 against the toughest defense UConn played all season while being guarded by MS St's shutdown defender. If you watch Lou, she worked her butt off for 45 minutes to get open. As a team, UConn scored 23 pts under their average. It wasn't like they were playing USF who doesn't guard anyone.

I really think that some of the expectations around here are completely unrealistic.

 

[bballnut90]

- I think the phrase "good for women's basketball" gets thrown around a lot and is overused but I do think if I can look past the string of last nights loss I think the sport probably needed this moment. More people were talking about women's basketball last night on social media and in national news than in years. It was a moment. A moment because of Morgan Williams and the shot. And because of our mind boggling win streak. So when people ask was our win streak/dominance good for the game I think we got our answer last night. I hope in defeat people around the country who just dismissed our team as robots who just showed up and could dominate realize how much hard work was put into that and how easily it could have ended before last night. Things need to go in cycles. We can't win every year. If we needed to lose I am fine with it happening in such a dramatic newsworthy moment in the Final 4 to Mississippi State coming off 4 titles with a pissed off loaded team ready to go next year.

- I think Geno and his staff did an amazing job all year to go undefeated with that schedule. I think they did a great job dealing with limited depth and height. After losing the top 3 picks in the draft. This was supposed to be our down year and we went 36-1 and lost at the buzzer in the Final 4.

- Gabby Williams is a warrior. We may have lost by 20 last night without her.

- I was disappointed in how both Collier and Samuelson responded to adversity last night. They are young and will have 2 more shots at it but it was disappointing just the same. Samuelson was off for the tournament for whatever reasons. I am sure both will use it as motivation. I thought Dangerfield looked overwhelmed most of the postseason.

- I won't get too into the end of game coaching because I made my feelings known last night. We don't play many close games. I just feel if we are going to brag about how tough our practices are we need to know what to do in end of game time and score situations. We have seen some small data points to suggest we don't. Perhaps next years team will be so pissed off we won't find ourselves in many close games. But there will be good teams we face next year in the tournament. And if we are in a tight possession to possession game late I will be genuinely worried about how we respond.

- I am glad the days of 6 player rotations will come to a crashing end next year. It killed us last night. I am also concerned about a 14 player roster next year. I think that's too many people in the mix. The last time the roster was that deep was in 2001 and even before the injuries the chemistry never truly gelled. And I don't want chemistry or playing time issues to cost us. I do think a red shirt or a heart to heart honest discussion about realistic available playing time is in the best interest for everyone.

- I am really happy Azura Stevens is 6'6.

- And lastly, there are not many things I currently like about college athletics. The greed. The corruption. The destruction of rivalries. And just the general phoniness of it all. I don't think many of these schools and their athletic departments give a hoot about women's basketball or want to grow the game. I think UConn is in a generally unhealthy position of if you win no one cares and if you lose it's the biggest story in the country. I hope for our sake that changes. But I don't think it will. We are portrayed as a Goliath as we face schools who will make tens of millions of more dollars than us this year in TV revenue. These schools will claim they care about women's basketball and get on the bandwagon as their teams make postseason runs. Many of these schools belong to conferences that have already passed us over to add "football" schools with 6-6 records or academic cesspools with shady football programs. We have been told by at least 3 "Power" conferences so far we bring nothing to the table to deserve a spot in their league. It seems to me what we did to Mississippi State last year in Bridgeport helped their program reach a new level of excellence no? Just like it did for Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Louisville facing us 3 times a year. Just like the kids at Kansas State and Maryland played before their biggest crowds of the year when we came to town this year. So I think maybe its past time for ESPN, the media, and these Power 5 conference to stop using UConn women's basketball as battering ram to portray in their story lines. If they were serious about growing this sport, imagine how many more Mississippi State's could be created if UConn was in a strong conference that it deserves to be in. You could have far more moments like last night. Perhaps people other than Geno can now we be asked if what they are doing is "good for the game". The right people. I won't hold my breath.

Really solid post. It has been a while since UCONN showed any vulnerability. UCONN has not done well executing in their extremely close games over the last ten or so years. Almost all of the Notre Dame losses from 2011-2013 came down to Notre Dame playing composed and aggressive while the Huskies looked like deer in the headlights. Same thing happened against Stanford and again last night. I didn't see the Tulane game, but the management down the stretch of the FSU game was very mediocre and almost led to a loss.

I think most of this is due to not encountering these types of scenarios so it's easier to get frazzled but poor execution and being outplayed down the stretch has been a pattern with Geno's squads in tight games.

That said, knowing how good of a coach Geno is and the talent assembled on next year's roster, I don't see them being a tight late game scenario until at least 2018-19 or possibly 2019-20.

 

[UcMiami]

Pheesa didn't have her best day, but I am baffled at the notion that Lou is being lumped in as having a bad game as well. Yes she had 3 TO's, but facing a withering defense by the Bulldogs, she scored 15 pts, was 5-10, including 3-6 from 3. Lou also had 5 RB, 1 A, 2 blocks and held the person she was guarding to an 0-3 night.

If that's a bad night, then UConn fans are most definitely spoiled.

I think the reason the sophomores get lumped together in comments is because they have been joined at the hip since they arrived at Uconn both on and off the court. And this year in almost every game when one of them had an 'off night' failing to reach 15 points (most players would love to have that kind of game identified as being 'off) the other would score significantly more than 20 points. In a game that ended regulation tied to have both your leading 20+ ppg scorers falling short of that number was 'a difference.'

But yes - she certainly did not perform poorly in context. I was surprised Geno didn't try a few more double screen curls for her to get a semi-open 15-18 footer.

I also think they probably both are feeling that they could have 'stepped up' more. (Just as every other player on the team is feeling that there was at least one more play they could have made.)

In any posts I have made i have certainly been trying not to place blame on any player - they won as a team and they lost as a team.

One last thought - every one of the starters made one play that could be considered a crucial 'mistake' during the first 40 minutes, but every one of them also made more than one play during those forty minutes that had they won could have been identified as crucial in a win - that is the way it goes when a game goes to overtime and even then is won on a buzzer beater.

 

[Wally East]

She took 10 shots and made 5 against the toughest defense UConn played all season while being guarded by MS St's shutdown defender. If you watch Lou, she worked her butt off for 45 minutes to get open. As a team, UConn scored 23 pts under their average. It wasn't like they were playing USF who doesn't guard anyone.

I really think that some of the expectations around here are completely unrealistic.

I'm certainly not saying she didn't work hard or wasn't guarded well. Not in the least. Just that, yes, she performed below the standard she set all season.

As for expectations, this team performed WAY beyond my expectations all season.

 

[AdamOwe]

She took 10 shots and made 5 against the toughest defense UConn played all season while being guarded by MS St's shutdown defender. If you watch Lou, she worked her butt off for 45 minutes to get open. As a team, UConn scored 23 pts under their average. It wasn't like they were playing USF who doesn't guard anyone.

I understand the impression that she had a subpar game because the defense denied her the ball and the squad needed her to have it. That's the coach saying that were immature and lacked patience, they couldn't adapt and that exposed their weaknesses, lack of height and depth. The squad couldn't even reliably pass the ball on the perimeter to Gabby guarded by a 6'7" center. While ASweet tooks some issue with the endgame coaching, I think you can take the season as a whole and wonder why what happened happened. I can't wait for the replay.