Some morning thoughts on the game

[Tonyc]

Last nites game reminded me of the LVille Baylor (Griner) game where LVIlle couldnt miss and beat Baylor. Expect the unexpected. We learned alot from last nites game. We learned our weaknesses and we learned are strengths. We need to work on both. The freshman showed they belong and I feel they earned some playtime. Their intensity was great. I thought our defense was better then we showed last nite. My feeling on our defense last nite was when your bigs get in early foul trouble its kinda hard to keep your opponent from driving to the basket. Liv sat down early with 2 fouls and Edwards came in and fouled out. We had too many players with 3 or more fouls. That hurts the defense. There was some mention of Dungee pushing off. She only committed one foul. Couldve been different is she had 3. FWIW. One thing that bothered me at half time. We shot the ball so well and were only up a bucket and follow that up with Ark shooting over 60% in the third qtr. If we face them again I dont think that happens.

Reading the other threads there are alot of good points. UConn needs to play to their strengths. We need to be more aggressive and we need the right players taking the right shots especially in crucial situations. We cant have players taking shots they dont make especially in big games. Alot was exposed last nite and there is alot to work on. One point that somebody(s) made was Griff being left open to make treys and doubling up on somebody else. The triple teaming Liv. CW needs to take the ball to the hoop more.

It was said we are not a good 3 pt shooting team. Well thats because we have the wrong players taking treys? Maybe we need more players taking shots closer to the basket???? I saw the screens and picks set for Dungee. We need to do that for Evina and Paige who has no problem creating her own shot. Paige drew alot of attention when she had the ball and she found ways to make shots when we needed them. She took over. I think opposing defenses will now let everybody not named Paige or Evina take treys. The third qtr was the difference. Geno brought in the freshman and they kept us in the game. That was great to see and breeds confidence. You know what. As great as Ark shot the ball, we did too and only lost by one basket. Many fans dont think we're where we should be yet. I dont either we need more games under our belts. I cant wait for us to get the next 10 games because I think in 10 games we will be where we expect to be.

There is alot to be learned from this game and Im sure at practice we will learn. Practice aint gonna be pretty.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

@Tonyc you are missing a u in your thread title.

 

[Nolefan]

TonyC I agree mostly with what you said .. Paige need to take more shots period I hate at times when the offense runs through CW she is like the microwave VJ just a streaky shooter and she’s a terrible defensive player .. The freshman looked like they belong in the court Muhl is looking a lot more comfortable.. Dungee was a downright bully she shoulder checked players almost every time she drove to the basket we need to learn to flop more she would have been gone by the 3rd quarter .. The last foul on Edwards was a crock of poo ..

 

[eebmg]

OMG, the Sun did come up.

 

[jabstep]

When I reviewed the stats this morning they reflect the score of the game. The only real difference was in turnovers we had 17 to I think 10 and we fouled them a lot more but they missed their foul shots as we did against Tennessee. They play a lot like Depaul and do you remember last year when we played Depaul we had a big lead at halftime and then Depaul 3pt shots started to fall like Arkansas's did all game. When they are on they are tough to beat. Arkansas coach is good he had them collapse and triple-team Liv early. Liv lowered the ball and Dungee was so aggressive she would rip the ball out of her hands. Ok, our early strategy to go to Liv was stopped. Paige was giving the ball up and letting Chrystyn take the early offensive lead. After 0-7 on 3pter's we finally started to give the shots to Evina. When the 4th quarter came around and we were down 10 Paige said to herself its finally Paige time. The only problem was it was Dungee time the whole game. Paige learned from Dungee how to take it to the hoop. HARD. So the in game adjustments were all game long. It was like a tournament game. Fighting back and forth. We learned at the end of the game what to do after the rebound. We don't play many close games so we needed that. We are a very young team. I found it exciting and was yelling at the refs a couple of times. My wife came into the bedroom and said what is going on? Nothing only a good game

 

[ucbart]

Two things needs to happen, IMO.

1. Paige needs to look for her offense, first. In most games, she tries to facilitate from the outset and then lets scoring come to her. On a team with several great offensive threats, this works; on this team, it doesn't. If she looks to score first, becoming a facilitator will become easier for her because she sees the floor so well and is such a good passer.

2. Anna needs to heal quick and get back in the starting lineup. She would help IMMESNSELY in the area that hurt us against Tennessee and Arkansas, which is Aubrey being left wide open and her taking jump shots early in the shot clock. Anna, even though she doesn't and won't take them seemingly, can hit those.....but more importantly, she is a heady basketball player who can recognize that, not take the shot and move the offense, which Aubrey just can't. Aubrey is a great player, but IMO, the 5 best offensive players need to be on the floor to start games and Aubrey just doesn't have a grasp of it yet.

 

[Huskee11]

I had the game on tape delay and saw the box score, missing minutes played, before I watched the game.

Looking at Liv’s line, I panicked. She must have been injured, right? Obviously, great relief to find out no injury.

But two points and two rebounds, one on her own missed layup?

We can analyze all we want, that can’t happen.

We had three, sometimes four, first years on the floor late with Evina against fifth year seniors playing at home. They hung in there.

Aubrey, Liv and CW are not helping in the half court offense right now. Playing time will be reallocated when Geno realizes playing Paige off ball at the two is his best bet.

 

[CajunHusky]

UConn scored 87 points .... it is hard to fault their offense. In fact they moved on offense better than just about any game yet.

Ark matched or beat UConn in virtually every statistic.

GA was out coached in the last five minutes. GA never has managed end of game situations very well.

So it must have been UConn's defense. Which is probably why GA has played seemingly more zone defense than man the last couple of games. UConn had no defense for either Ramirez or Dungee

And not surprising, there are seven freshmen on the team, four are being asked to play significant roles.

UConn will be a better team for the experience. Geaux UConn!

 

[Conndog]

Needed MoJeff with the defensive pressure, she neutralized everyone!

 

[CL82]

I avoid posting right after a game. I also avoid reading the BY right after game. Too many hyper critical hot takes. I knew Tony's post, at least, wouldn't be reactionary.

I have a thought that has been plaguing me all season that I think I am ready to share. I think we have a chemistry problem. Now before anyone slams me for that, I'm not saying clubhouse drama abounds, I am just saying that we haven't full integrated last year's player with the new frosh. That is to be expected. We are a young team and young teams need practices and, especially, games more than established teams with upper classmen. That is especially true at UConn with Geno's read and react approach. COVID has hurt us disproportionately.

I do think that the young players aren't sure how much to defer to the upperclassmen. I note, for what it is worth, that our comebacks seems to happen when we have predominantly the underclassman on the floor. That bodes well for the future, but we do need to figure out how to let them play with confidence and decisiveness.

 

[Dokey]

Two things needs to happen, IMO.

1. Paige needs to look for her offense, first. In most games, she tries to facilitate from the outset and then lets scoring come to her. On a team with several great offensive threats, this works; on this team, it doesn't. If she looks to score first, becoming a facilitator will become easier for her because she sees the floor so well and is such a good passer.

2. Anna needs to heal quick and get back in the starting lineup. She would help IMMESNSELY in the area that hurt us against Tennessee and Arkansas, which is Aubrey being left wide open and her taking jump shots early in the shot clock. Anna, even though she doesn't and won't take them seemingly, can hit those.....but more importantly, she is a heady basketball player who can recognize that, not take the shot and move the offense, which Aubrey just can't. Aubrey is a great player, but IMO, the 5 best offensive players need to be on the floor to start games and Aubrey just doesn't have a grasp of it yet.

At the beginning of the season, I thought the road to FF relied on Anna. We could not predict her performance would be affected by injury. UConn is all about ball movement—something very evident in empty arenas where we can hear Geno scream “move the ball.” There is brute force and there is the subtle approach. Against Arkansas there was plenty of brute force. One Boneyard critic said a healthy Anna would have gotten only two minutes on the floor. That critic apparently hasn’t been paying attention to how Geno won 11 NCs.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

What do we know today? Geno is correct when he says the Huskies are not good at defending and ONO and C, at least for now, cannot be counted on to deliver reliable offense.

 

[ucbart]

At the beginning of the season, I thought the road to FF relied on Anna. We could not predict her performance would be affected by injury. UConn is all about ball movement—something very evident in empty arenas where we can hear Geno scream “move the ball.” There is brute force and there is the subtle approach. Against Arkansas there was plenty of brute force. One Boneyard critic said a healthy Anna would have gotten only two minutes on the floor. That critic apparently hasn’t been paying attention to how Geno won 11 NCs.

Yup-

While we didn't have a hard time scoring last night, we had a hard time moving the ball, especially at the beginning of the 1st and 3rd quarter. Anna being out there would've helped that issue and that hole might not of been dug as deep.

We certainly know how to make a comeback, that's for sure.

 

[hoophuskee]

I avoid posting right after a game. I also avoid reading the BY right after game. Too many hyper critical hot takes. I knew Tony's post, at least, wouldn't be reactionary.

I have a thought that has been plaguing me all season that I think I am ready to share. I think we have a chemistry problem. Now before anyone slams me for that, I'm not saying clubhouse drama abounds, I am just saying that we haven't full integrated last year's player with the new frosh. That is to be expected. We are a young team and young teams need practices and, especially, games more than established teams with upper classmen. That is especially true at UConn with Geno's read and react approach. COVID has hurt us disproportionately.

I do think that the young players aren't sure how much to defer to the upperclassmen. I note, for what it is worth, that our comebacks seems to happen when we have predominantly the underclassman on the floor. That bodes well for the future, but we do need to figure out how to let them play with confidence and decisiveness.

I agree overall but the chemistry issue you point out will always end up getting drowned out by individual player performance.

With that said there have been two games in which comebacks were needed of any significance. This one and Tenn. With Tenn Liv, Cwill, and Evina were on the floor in the 4th quarter. SO I don't agree that it's mostly the underclassmen. Though there are only 3 upperclassmen.

 

[CL82]

I agree overall but the chemistry issue you point out will always end up getting drowned out by individual player performance.

With that said there have been two games in which comebacks were needed of any significance. This one and Tenn. With Tenn Liv, Cwill, and Evina were on the floor in the 4th quarter. SO I don't agree that it's mostly the underclassmen. Though there are only 3 upperclassmen.

If I recall correctly, when the run happened she was not on the floor though. That's less a criticism of Christyn than it is a commentary on the lack of defined roles right now.

 

[hoophuskee]

If I recall correctly, when the run happened she was not on the floor though. That's less a criticism of Christyn than it is a commentary on the lack of defined roles right now.

At 8:41 in 4th Qtr vs Tenn-- Tenn was up 50-48. Looking at the play-by-play and I don't see her subbed out in the 4th.

And at 4:46 UCONN up by 9- score was 61-52 it was CWill's jumper that put them up by 9. Their largest lead.

 

[CocoHusky]

@Tonyc I appreciate the optimism as always unfortunately I've reached the 5th final stage with regards to this team. The fifth stage being acceptance. I've accepted the mercurial performances & lack of aggression from both Liv and CW. I accepted that this team does not have a single quality defender that is capable of winning an individual defensive matchup even against above average competition. I've accepted what Geno has said that this team is not responding to coaching. I've become jealous of seeing other teams respond to their coaches like TN ( I almost threw up writing this) did in cutting the UCONN lead from from 9 to 2 after a time out or seeing AK go on a 10: 0 run after UCONN had taken the lead.
I'm moving on to a new cycle: I'm actually in denial that Paige's brilliant start to her UCONN career is being wasted.

 

[BobbyJ]

@Tonyc I appreciate the optimism as always unfortunately I've reached the 5th final stage with regards to this team. The fifth stage being acceptance. I've accepted the mercurial performances & lack of aggression from both Liv and CW. I accepted that this team does not have a single quality defender that is capable of winning an individual defensive matchup even against above average competition. I've accepted what Geno has said that this team is not responding to coaching. I've become jealous of seeing other teams respond to their coaches like TN ( I almost threw up writing this) did in cutting the UCONN lead from from 9 to 2 after a time out or seeing AK go on a 10: 0 run after UCONN had taken the lead.
I'm moving on to a new cycle: I'm actually in denial that Paige's brilliant start to her UCONN career is being wasted.

LOL, can't help it. Of course he's right that they're not responding. As much time as GA spends teaching defense, to see most of them revert to "turn and follow" and not shut down lanes has to drive him crazy.

 

[Rixxx]

It occurred to me this morning that I didn't wear my Uconn hoodie last night. Sorry for the negative energy from my end.
Also, ONO sorta reminds me of Azure'. Except, when she was assigned the low post position, she produced. Refer to the ND game where Azure' didn't start the second half.

 

[jfan]

What bothers me that no one has questioned not even CT. media during Geno's postgame, his comment that there was 2 plays set up if Ark missed their shot at end of their final possession in game. According to Geno if we got rebound with over 5 seconds left on game clock, look for long pass down court or under 5 call timeout. Why even think about a long pass when you're 3 points behind? Just make it simple for UCONN players. CALL A TIMEOUT!!! How many times in past years does UCONN screw up that kind of play at the end of the game when they are trailing? For me, too many times.

 

[CocoHusky]

It occurred to me this morning that I didn't wear my Uconn hoodie last night. Sorry for the negative energy from my end.
Also, ONO sorta reminds me of Azure'. Except, when she was assigned the low post position, she produced. Refer to the ND game where Azure' didn't start the second half.

I think you meant Azura did start that second half against ND. You are correct She was very effective on the block the problem was that she was not compatible with Napheesa because they both like the same spots on the floor.
BTW Gabby was injured (hip) during that game that was the only reason Azura got to start that half.

 

[ccwarrior]

UConn scored 87 points .... it is hard to fault their offense. In fact they moved on offense better than just about any game yet.

Ark matched or beat UConn in virtually every statistic.

GA was out coached in the last five minutes. GA never has managed end of game situations very well.

So it must have been UConn's defense. Which is probably why GA has played seemingly more zone defense than man the last couple of games. UConn had no defense for either Ramirez or Dungee

And not surprising, there are seven freshmen on the team, four are being asked to play significant roles.

UConn will be a better team for the experience. Geaux UConn!

Sure it is when marginal defense was played at times by both teams during the game.

 

[CL82]

At 8:41 in 4th Qtr vs Tenn-- Tenn was up 50-48. Looking at the play-by-play and I don't see her subbed out in the 4th.

And at 4:46 UCONN up by 9- score was 61-52 it was CWill's jumper that put them up by 9. Their largest lead.

Take a look at the biggest point differential and when it closed.

 

[ABCDFE]

Three point shooting options I think the team needs to adopt if we are to have a chance at a Natty: #1 Paige, #2 Evina, #3 Anna (when/if she returns), #4 CWilliams.