South Carolina Postgame Thread

[Vowelguy]

Geno did laugh early on in the season when people talked about this year's team being better than last year's team with Paige.

It was apparent that wasn't the case, even though last year's team lost regular season games. Sarah is young and Azzi showed signs late in the season of not being able to meet the moment when the spotlight has been on her rather than Paige.

The lack of toughness and rebounding in the post has been an issue all season. I wish Serah Williams well but she wasn't the answer and that was apparent early on.

Never bought into this team being better than last year. You don’t lose someone like of Paige’s quality and get better. But that didn’t fit with BY dogma.

Serah was a mystery. I’m stunned that she was getting double teamed at WI. She showed no offensive skills in the times I saw her.

 

[HuskyNan]

Yep. Playing in the Big East gives us a false sense of invincibility.

Then please tell us what the solution is? UConn has been trying to get into a power conference for over a decade

This complaint is getting old

 

[WLT1717]

SC shot 22 free throws
UCONN shot 6

UCONN had 17 fouls
SC had 8, including ZERO in the 3rd quarter!

The refs let ONE team play! SC was the better tream tonight, but the officiating was unbalanced!

Facts

 

[HuskieDawg]

I know the BE is not a tough conference. I do think the constant minimizing it though, in the way it has been in this thread, is a little disrespectful to the players. JMO. That their accomplishments in the BE aren’t as impressive because the conference is so weak. What they did this year was impressive up to this last game and that shouldn’t be taken away from them.

I don’t think we lost today’s game because we played in the Big East. We lost because we were out played, out muscled, and completely got the short end of the foul/free throw stick.

This Huskie team was not a physical, punch you in the mouth team, it was a team built on hitting the three and movement creating open shots. We did neither.

There is nothing we can do about the BE, we are in the conference until we are not.

 

[Fore!]

Our favorite poster tempted Karma by positing "What would it take to beat UConn?" I think they hit every point I brought up

1. Three point shooting under 20%
2. Azzi and Sarah have poor shooting games
3. Refs call more fouls against UConn.
4. UConn gets out-rebounded.

Simple as thThe

That’s fair I guess, but she seems to struggle against athleticism and the top teams next year are going to have that in bunches. Defensively, I just don’t think she’ll be able to stay in front of anybody in games like tonight. With Fudd gone, who is left to create off the dribble?

Even Fudd struggled to create off the dribble against good, quick defenders.

 

[msf22b]

I'm not suggesting any such thing. What I'm suggesting is that Geno needs some serious self-reflection and an attitude adjustment if he plans to continue to coach basketball.

It’s possible that he comes to the conclusion that he’s losing his ability to handle the pressure, regardless how much he can contribute…or possibly take a leave of absence...

it would be a shame…but it’s not out of the question.

 

[Stagnant]

i talked about the schedule before. It wasn’t challenging enough this season; not for the end goals we had in mind. And I am still sympathetic to UConn for the schedule not working out. They got unlucky with the schedule; they were supposed to play at Juju for example. But it is what it is.

 

[JeannoCT]

But she did. I saw the video of it, so I don’t think that was the issue.

They actually hugged.

 

[JBK]

Ironically Geno got upset for what coach Hurley does every game- yell / scream and curse at the refs.

 

[willie99]

Shame on anyone being critical of any player. They're hurting more than you are. And they've given us more than we deserve

Shame on anyone being critical if Geno. He's the best in history, and he's human too

And for those giving Geno and / or the team advice, you're in the wrong profession. No matter your career, you're in the wrong profession

THANK YOU HUSKIES

 

[Milo65]

The worst performance of any Geno that I can remember. No inside presence, turnovers, out hustled, missed layups, and couldn’t hit a shot. Geno is a legend, but he was out-coached today. South Carolina wanted it more. His antics at the end of the game should have been directed at himself, not Dawn.

 

[JBK]

Congratulations to SC for a game in which they were clearly the better team, beating UCONN in FG %, 3pt %, and tremendous advantages in rebounds (especially o boards) and a "slight"... edge in ft's...
I have no idea what set Geno off at the end, and it's unfortunate that he skipped the handshake line - not a good look for a program that has set the standard for so long.
Tonight was (despite great effort) the nightmare that we all didn't know we were afraid of:

• Azzi and Sarah having the worst shooting performances of their lives.
• Makeer showing us what we came to expect Blanca to be.
• Giving up unrelenting offensive rebounds.
• Blowing countless layups and bunnies, and giving up too many fast break points and points on drives.

My heart aches for the entire team (especially K-9), but they had a great season which, unfortunately, ended with a subpar performance against a formidable opponent playing a great game.
It's funny that in my 3 things you'd like to happen in the game, I asked for some offense from Ash. Well, she came through, but virtually no one else did.
Congratulations to the UCONN team for a fantastic season, and good luck to an SC team which may very well take home tge title on Sunday night.

K9 showed great heart and guts. Her layup did not matter - game was over

 

[Scoe]

Geno also walked out on his team walking off the court something he would kill anyone of his players for. I hope he comes clean to the team first and takes accountability to them before speaking to the press. Take accountability say ya lost it and I have to compose myself better then that.

If you were gonna go off the handle at least do it early and get a tech then calm yourself and the team down.

 

[uconnever]

SC didn't exactly make a lot of shots either, but yes, UConn wins by making shots. The game was played the way SC wanted it played and UConn was clobbered on the glass and did not employ the pressing trap that dominated the season.

Couldn't press because they didn't make any shots. But you are correct SC missed alot of shots for us to easily on a normal shooting night, pull off the win.

 

[Punkbo]

I love Geno. He was a clown tonight.

 

[Flyegirl]

Felt the whole time like everyone in F4 had an equal chance this year. And also wasn’t feeling great about the team.

The great UConn teams have been dominant in the tourney. This one had some struggles.

While everyone blames the big east, I think the bigger issue was the nonconference. No SC game in Feb and a bad Tenn team. MLK game was a no contest against an ND team that was a mess.

I said early in the season, and was promptly shouted down, that the concern for UConn was tightening up in a big game.

Azzi has always had a mix of big games and lesser games. I thought she had gotten past it but it showed again during the NCAAs.

Blanca and Sarah also got overwhelmed and sped up. For SS I think it was the combo of physical play wearing her down a bit, but also SCs quick ability to close out — it got her rushed abit.

And for those who want to say it was one bad game — there have been signs of this for several games.

Biggest kudos to Shade and Heckel. They came out to play and were the stars for the night.

I think this team showed warning signs in the BE tourney and the ncaas. In some games where Azzi scored a lot it was when the game was decided.

 

[nickp91]

wwe booked Dawn Staley vs Geno Auriemma in the main event of WrestleMania 42

 

[cleobel60]

Thoughts

-Actually, we didn’t play bad defense…held them to 38%…that should have been good enough except that we were worse.

-Geno had hinted at a few times that the team had weaknesses that he tried to cover up..noted by posters above…rebounding, hands of stone, a bad shooting night…but a lot of that had to do with SC’s impressive defensive effort…the lack of another real scorer...
Blanca didn’t quite have it tonight…she’ll be fine…wonderful, just not tonight...

I felt bad for Kayleigh,that missed layup didn’t effect the outcome…Too bad, but the game was lost prior
I’m sure she’ll be able to put it into perspective…She played a good game.

The real problem was that take away Azzi and Sarah…and there wasn’t enough to challenge a good team with perhaps more, cumulative, individual talent.

I said on many past posts that the missing piece was the lack of a third dependable shooter and defensive player to stop other teams from taking away Azzi and Sarah by double teams and other pressures. Last year we had Paige, Azzi & Sarah, but this year we had Azzi & Sarah. The absence of a Paige like player was not replaced this year. It is sad also that KK didn't really help with scoring. K. Chen from last year was better. I think that Geno needs to really check the portal out for better and bigger players. KK, Jana, Allie, and Ash need to spend off season shooting and improving their game as much as possible. Parity is happening so fast in women's basketball. Days of repeats and dominance are pretty much over. My opinion

 

[jaydee602]

South Carolina shot 16 more free throws than UCONN & won by 14 points.
But the Huskies missing FIFTEEN 3 point shots was a major factor in the loss.

 

[ABCDFE]

Pressure cracks rock, pipes, and people. From the start of the season there were three fairly obvious keys to beating UConn if a team had the personnel and toughness to execute them. 1) Defensively, hedge all the screens, overplay the predictable passing lanes, jam the handoffs, and get a hand up on shooters. UConn struggles to run their offense against pressure D and will get sloppy passing the ball. 2) Offensively, attack the paint for percentage shots which will allow you to pound the O boards. UConn's interior defense is passive with only one shot blocker. 3) Make anyone other than Strong and Fudd beat you. SC executed all three.

But plenty of people here said it’s ok because defense wins championships and we have “Jordan and Pippen”. There are a good number of us who saw our vulnerabilities and concerns of players inconsistencies and also the fact that we had Paige last year, which drew a lot of the opposing teams defense gameplan. When you take that away well, you see what could happen in a physical good defensive effort from SC.

I would also add that the game plan for SC was to be physical, grab and tug as much as possible. I was afraid they’d use the tactic that the patriots did to the Rams in 2001 when they knew the refs can’t call everything. However, I think Geno should’ve understood this was a possibility in terms of physicality and foul calling and should’ve had the team be more prepared.

Congrats to SC. Yes Geno probably should’ve acted better but let’s not act he’s not human. Dawn must’ve done something, which would’ve caused his ire because to me he’s a great person who does things the right way but if you wrong him well what is he going to do back down? Let’s hear the story out first. A lot of great coaches would’ve reacted to being disrespected in certain ways. I’ve seen coach K at Duke coach Williams at NC, Calhoun, Pitino etc. yes I’ve named men’s coaches but the point is basketball is an intense game and emotions are high. I going to support Geno here.

 

[Fishy]

The Big East is a huge problem. 23 straight scrimmages. Last year was a super team and able to overcome it.

It really is.

 

[jostar1]

Then please tell us what the solution is? UCOnn had been trying to get into a power conference for over a decade

This complaint is getting old

It's not an excuse, it's a reason. If it's true, why can't we keep stating it?

 

[HuskyNan]

Shame on anyone being critical of any player. They're hurting more than you are. And they've given us more than we deserve

Shame on anyone being critical if Geno. He's the best in history, and he's human too

And for those giving Geno and / or the team advice, you're in the wrong profession. No matter your career, you're in the wrong profession

THANK YOU HUSKIES

Oh good, the men’s board fans made their annual pilgrimage to our board to lecture us. Whoopie

 

[WFFL]

I want to shed some context for some of you who may have watched this on tv. UConn struggled shooting but there was so much grabbing, tugging, pulling and pinching that was not called that eventually received a card telling me to shut up before they remove me from the stadium. The third quarter was atrocious. Anytime UConn moved fast there was a jersey grab. At the end of the day, South Carolina made the shots to win and kudos to them. Calls aside, UConn didn't look good offensively this tournament and all the cracks showed in this game that we've seen all season.

UConn has had an amazing season and I am going to Sedona, I'll be detoxing and fasting. March Madness and Sadness are one in the same

What does the NCAA do ? They allow that type of Play in the SEC , Big 10 , ACC .

 

[Vowelguy]

Then please tell us what the solution is? UCOnn had been trying to get into a power conference for over a decade

This complaint is getting old

Nonconference needs to be better. Some of it was bad luck — ND and USC were way down.

FSU and Utah were big duds, tho a bit questionable from the start.

But no more non P4 — no Loyola, no So Florida.

I’ve heard UConn was invited to the early season tourney with TX SC UCLA and turned it down. Dunno if that was correct,

 

[broooce]

I was in Cleveland for the FF in 2024 - it sucked losing to Iowa in the semifinal. But that year we essentially played with six players.

Silver lining was that the very next day Sarah Strong announced her commitment to UConn (I was touring the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when the news hit).

I'm going to scan the news tomorrow, maybe lightning will strike again!

Great season, lots of fun to support this team. Tonight they were simply outplayed, it happens. They will be back!

 

[Flyegirl]

Very simple.. We had a bad shooting night at the wrong time. The pressure definetly got to us.. Thats part of the sport.. part of life. Geno needs to apologize to dawn, I agree with some on you.

I also notice that right after Heckle missed that layup, geno must of screamed something at her that then made her maybe cry. I dont know, just my observation, but I thought that was a pretty bad look too. Maybe its just me.

It was Geno that made her cry?

 

[WiseWillie]

Her FBombs were on full display last year, it won't change.

The refs let the players play, that doesn’t help us because of the overall lack of height/athleticism/individual ability to get shots (that were covered up all year by team play, fitness, press/depth, few competitive teams). The women played hard, but you are not going to win many national semifinal games by scoring 48 points. BTW, what was up with Azzi?

After the TN game last season, due to blood glucose issues, I started my tradition of not watching any of the two Final Four games live. Around two hours after tipoff, I checked the ESPN app for the score. When I checked both games, we were up big and the Championship game was actually over, I believe. I started to watch the games, from the beginning.
This season I did the same but began with the Sweet Sixteen game.
So.....I didn't watch tonight's game and never will.
Sad to be reading all these posts and my only input is that I hope that the Geno situation is made public and I am wondering how Geno feels about renewing the OOC games against SoCar?
On to the off season.

That's right. The OOC games against SoCar. Wonder if they will be going forward. Surely hope so for the players and the fans benefit.

 

[BBallF]

They can’t handle physical defense.

Physical defense or illegal defense? You can't by rule, hold, grab a jersey, etc.

 

[MrJama100]

Sometimes you get your butt kicked. Yes, if the refs called a touchy game it would be different, but they didn't.
Instead of being tough and fighting back, UConn played scared. It happens.
One bad game can cost you. Get tougher for next year. Get a chip on your shoulder and smack them back next year.