Some thoughts on Depaul Game (merged)

[Ozimoto]

Well, I never thought that I would be quoting Al Davis on a women's basketball forum, but "just win baby!"

 

[Triad]

Your insight seems a little bit off now... and a bit condescending to those who had concerns... what do you say now, when Depaul cut it to 4 pts late?

TonyC probably would say---A True Uconn Fan is a True Uconn fan when the going is good or tough.
I worried when they got the score down to 4, but that was me a glass 1/2 full of dust til the end. @Tonyc isn't so easily shaken.

 

[tower1]

I think the posts about Christyn were a little harsh. Only she and Megan were getting rebounds (Olivia's were surprisingly low), and she made a key score at the end of Q4 when she got to the ball that Anna Mak knocked free of one of the DePaul players. Her tendency to gather offensive fouls can be frustrating, though I think Bruno trains his kids well in drawing them. She is normally one of the best scorers under the basket either in transition or just penetrating, but I think the team needs to figure out how to exploit this talent.

I think the posts about Christyn were a little harsh. Only she and Megan were getting rebounds (Olivia's were surprisingly low), and she made a key score at the end of Q4 when she got to the ball that Anna Mak knocked free of one of the DePaul players. Her tendency to gather offensive fouls can be frustrating, though I think Bruno trains his kids well in drawing them. She is normally one of the best scorers under the basket either in transition or just penetrating, but I think the team needs to figure out how to exploit this talent.

No actually they were right on. Williams has not been hustling after loose balls or playing the way she is capable. Maybe she was hurt or something. But one thing for sure she needs to step up her play to help the team more.

 

[mbr33ct]

TonyC probably would say---A True Uconn Fan is a True Uconn fan when the going is good or tough.
I worried when they got the score down to 4, but that was me a glass 1/2 full of dust til the end. @Tonyc isn't so easily shaken.

...but maybe stirred?

 

[Triad]

Olivia was told to play a bit further out on defense that lowered her rebounds. She was however an offensive force. They had to foul her to stop her scoring. CW, I've been her fan even in Conway Arkansas (yes her home is North Little Rock) but she isn't great dribbling in traffic. I agree with the short jumpers she's good at that.
She posts up the 3 shot well as @oldude pointed out. Doug had Uconn passing lanes figured out well

 

[southofnorth]

Yes, I thought poor attendance was odd.

Post-semester/holiday season? To be perfectly honest when they showed the stands I was shocked by the low number of attendees, but those were my reasonings to why attendance might be low for this game.

 

[Triad]

Exactly- Three point shooting is volatile. Usually, teams that live by the three, often die by the three. Great three point shooting is not the best way to play- you need balance. Doug does the best he can with the players he can recruit. That said, I really like the way Doug’s teams play- he has a style that he has committed to. Fun to watch as opposed to Harry’s Villanova teams.

I agree! Totally. Doug has had a 3 point shooting team for a long long time. His propensity to shoot the 3 is to be expected and for them to score 9 of 19 or 3 of 13 is par for them. What hurt more than the 3's was their helter skelter (effective) doubling the ball on every position in the 2nd half. They are a smart team and scouted Uconn well they knew where the passes were going before they were thrown and where Uconn had weaknesses.

 

[Triad]

...but maybe stirred?

Stirred or Shaken @Tonyc is a great mix.

 

[Zinethar]

Had to chime in with a couple thoughts from the game. Someone mentioned the charge calls - I thought for a lot of the game I was watching soccer with all the flops DePaul was making. Refs called too many of them. It seems to be part of their game to create turnovers. Why didn't Geno call a time out early in the second half? I think he wanted to see if the team could figure it out on their own (they could not). That created a great teaching point for the next practice. They won. That says a lot. I've finally figured out that Geno doesn't lie when he says he doesn't care if they lose an early game of two if it makes them better in March. He put the players on the floor that were best at knowing where to be and not get lost. The others need to get that part of the game down soon.

 

[Triad]

Your right Williams just wasn't hustling after loose balls just reaching out . As good a player as she can be she just doesn't assert herself as much as she can. She should follow Walkers leadership.

When a Uconn kids isn't asserting herself as she should and Geno isn't seen lecturing her during the game---you can bet she isn't up to par physically.

 

[Triad]

Had to chime in with a couple thoughts from the game. Someone mentioned the charge calls - I thought for a lot of the game I was watching soccer with all the flops DePaul was making. Refs called too many of them. It seems to be part of their game to create turnovers. Why didn't Geno call a time out early in the second half? I think he wanted to see if the team could figure it out on their own (they could not). That created a great teaching point for the next practice. They won. That says a lot. I've finally figured out that Geno doesn't lie when he says he doesn't care if they lose an early game of two if it makes them better in March. He put the players on the floor that were best at knowing where to be and not get lost. The others need to get that part of the game down soon.

In the last 3 games, at least, Flopping has been the significant defense against Uconn. Typically against ONO or Megan. Depaul took it to a new level and went after the other 3 also. A touch got them flaying as they careen across the floor.

 

[Bama fan]

Play like spit where?

Stoors is where UConn is when one is drinking! I hear it is lovely.

 

[Carnac]

The DePaul players are floppers. The charge call on Megan in the 2nd half was ridiculous. Geno's reaction: "She fell down." They're worse than Notre Dame.

Worse than Notre Dame? I didn’t think that was possible.

 

[Florida Fan]

I don't know how you could defend against the 3 when 4 players were knocking them down with ease. DePaul is a team to be reckoned with. with their passing there will always be a 3 point shooter in position.

DePaul has to be one of the fittest teams we'll see. Quick hands and they didn't quit. We handily beat their late game press to get back to the ten point margin. Their desperation threes also missed. No warries mates.

 

[Carnac]

Everyone here knows that there are “ebbs” and “flows” throughout the season. We expect that. There will be stretches where they look invincible, then there will be stretches that will have us wondering If they have suddenly lost their skills, or left them in the dressing room.

Some games are routine mundane non emotional exercises, with little to no learning moments. Other games are like this one. Teachable moments and learning experiences from tip to buzzer. UConn played two very different halves yesterday, and still found a way to win. They could have given out or given up, but they didn’t.

This was a good game for our girls to experience. A lot to be learned from this game. They walked out of that arena knowing that they had just been severely tested, and passed. Every team needs a game or two like this every year. Why? Because these types of games either builds character or reveals it.

 

[CocoHusky]

I don't agree with that. I saw AG play and I think she plays well against a helter skelter type team. She played like that in high school so she is used to it.

It's a little deeper than can Aubrey play well against a helter skelter type teams. It deeper because we are game 9 of the season, Aubrey is a freshmen, there is a bigger picture here, and this is not high school. The bigger picture is March and April. One of the reason Geno plays teams like DePaul is to expose his team to different styles of play so that when tournament time comes around they are better prepared. Let's not forget Aubrey did play yesterday so she got her feet wet. As freshmen KLS, Napheesa Collier and Megan Walker played limited minutes against DePaul.

 

[FanHam]

I dug the game. I expected us to be flat after finals and I was right, sorta. The first half was flat amazing.

The second half, not so much. DePaul was unconscious shooting the ball for much of the second half, until the very end; and their backcourt defense was superb. Bruno is some coach to turn his team's focus around like that at halftime. DePaul even hit a few cutters for easy layups after the second half.

You could tell we were running on fumes by the end of the game, but I still had a sense we were on the verge of another run.

We survived a ranked, hot shooting, solid team on their own floor. That's pretty good for mid-December.

Also, I was surprised at the poor attendance, but they were noisy.

Also, I don't know who the FS1 announcers were and don't want to know. I muted them. I think they thought they were being paid by the word, however nonsensical or unrelated.

 

[CocoHusky]

Everyone here knows that there are “ebbs” and “flows” throughout the season. We expect that. There will be stretches where they look invincible, then there will be stretches that will have us wondering If they have suddenly lost their skills, or left them in the dressing room.

Some games are routine mundane non emotional exercises, with little to no learning moments. Other games are like this one. Teachable moments and learning experiences from tip to buzzer. UConn played two very different halves yesterday, and still found a way to win. They could have given out or given up, but they didn’t.

This was a good game for our girls to experience. A lot to be learned from this game. They walked out of that arena knowing that they had just been severely tested, and passed. Every team needs a game or two like this every year. Why? Because these types of games either builds character or reveals it.

Excellent points. After DePaul had cut the lead to 4 points 70-66 the next 4 UCONN baskets were layups from three different UCONN players (ONO, Megan & Christyn). Every UCONN player on the floor made a contribution after that point. Among the players on the floor was Aubrey Griffin-which is why I cannot understand this nonsense about Geno not giving her a chance- Aubrey was on the floor at crunch time.

 

[BobbyJ]

Excellent points. After DePaul had cut the lead to 4 points 70-66 the next 4 UCONN baskets were layups from three different UCONN players (ONO, Megan & Christyn). Every UCONN player on the floor made a contribution after that point. Among the players on the floor was Aubrey Griffin-which is why I cannot understand this nonsense about Geno not giving her a chance- Aubrey was on the floor at crunch time.

Pretty decent poise for a very young team. The keyboard coaches see what they want to see.

 

[winlots]

I played international and it is legal to run the end line after an out of bounds. At least it was in teh 60's when I played. It was confirmed for me when Anna mouthed, "That;s not legal?"

Also when I was reffing we were taught to remind kids that they couldn't move

DUDE: yeh but if things now were like they were when you were reffin and playin, our girls would still be playing in pantaloons like my mom did. (Oh boy, sometimes I really crack myself up )

 

[mbr33ct]

Excellent points. After DePaul had cut the lead to 4 points 70-66 the next 4 UCONN baskets were layups from three different UCONN players (ONO, Megan & Christyn). Every UCONN player on the floor made a contribution after that point. Among the players on the floor was Aubrey Griffin-which is why I cannot understand this nonsense about Geno not giving her a chance- Aubrey was on the floor at crunch time.

Wait, Christyn really scored? not what I would have guessed reading this thread.

 

[oldude]

Thanks for the insight, but that’s not my post you are quoting. It is the one I replied to.

 

[Martin]

The

If you noticed, Molly was in the game for 1 play and it didn't work out too well.

the whole second half didn’t work out well DePaul 45-Uconn 29. Molly played 5 seconds.

 

[Rixxx]

I am jumping up and down as I write this, for Maestro noticed the same thing about CW as I did. The paint is an area that CW could exploit 15-20 times a game, either one on one or through a conscious effort by the team to open the lane for a CW pull up jumper. She is money like Maestro said.

 

[JoePgh]

The


the whole second half didn’t work out well DePaul 45-Uconn 29. Molly played 5 seconds.

But Molly did misplay her assignment and gave up 3 points unnecessarily in those 5 seconds. Precisely because there were only 5 seconds left, she didn't need to be concerned about the DePaul player driving to the basket, because there was minimal time to do that and there was help -- and because a 2 is better than a 3. Molly's one and only job was to get in her grille and stop the 3-point shot, but she played as if she were more concerned about a drive attempt. As a result the 3 was uncontested, and it was good.

I think that is why she ONLY played 5 seconds.

 

[oldude]

First impressions can easily be deceiving, particularly during the emotional exercise of watching a close game. Geno used an 8 player rotation, although Molly’s minutes were limited. Christyn was not as effective scoring but she did great work on the boards. The UConn defense did defend the 3 pretty well, but DePaul made shots in the 2nd half despite the Huskies defense.

I urge all BY posters to watch game replays as I and many other posters do. When you can sit back and watch a game film as a coach might do, you will see lots of things that are easily missed during the heat of the game.

 

[oldude]

But Molly did misplay her assignment and gave up 3 points unnecessarily in those 5 seconds. Precisely because there were only 5 seconds left, she didn't need to be concerned about the DePaul player driving to the basket, because there was minimal time to do that and there was help -- and because a 2 is better than a 3. Molly's one and only job was to get in her grille and stop the 3-point shot, but she played as if she were more concerned about a drive attempt. As a result the 3 was uncontested, and it was good.

I think that is why she ONLY played 5 seconds.

I don’t know that Molly misplayed her assignment. She closed out on the shooter with a hand in her face. The shooter made a tough shot at the half. Sometimes players make shots despite good defense.

 

[Martin]

and many of those minutes are going to Irwin, who's is a great kid, but don't see them beating the better teams with her playing all those minutes. Griffin needs oh so much work to get comfortable. she was so aggressive , especially at Seton Hall, but kinda looks now like Walker her first year. Even as raw as she is, her skill set dwarfs Kyla's, but she needs lots of minutes.

So does Kyla and so does Molly. Geno isn’t getting to another Final 4 without these players contributing. This team will tire like last year’s team.

 

[Linart]

I think the whole team looked tired in the second half. Not enough depth off the bench. It’s tough playing the starters all the minutes. CW in particular I thought looked slow tonight. She played to much bb over the summer and didn’t give her body enough rest. Just my opinion. Can someone tell me where Kayla and Molly were rated by ESPN coming out of high school? Were they even in the top 100.

I checked ESPNW’s class of 2016 top 100. The only UConn player in that class was Crystal at number 3.

 

[Martin]

I commented two games ago that CW hasn't played that well, now for about 5 games. I was accused of negativity, but it's plain to see from here. You commented she may be tired from a summer full (over full from my vantage) of traveling and basketball. She's been inconsistent in her pull ups, inconsistent from the arc, and turning the ball over when she goes into the lane. Yes, it's worrying.

CW points rebounds assist averages all higher from last yr especially points and rebounds. 2 point FG% 50, 3 point FG% 30, FT% 72, TO’s up slightly.
Her FG% from last year down at the moment 36 to 30%.