I thought she did, too. But if you play her next to Sarah, then the small lineup is gone. Geno has experimented with playing her in Sarah's place, but then the offense becomes quite limited as we've seen quite often. There's just a lot of things Sarah does that Ice can't.
I think the real turning point was the pressure defense by UConn. I haven't seen the box score but I'm sure they turned the rabbits over more than 20 times.I remember a play where ice stopped Meyer and then turned back to her regular assignment; and Meyer went unopposed for a layup. I still think ice is prone to lapses in concentration like that.
ND's roster is good but not even close to ours based on experience and talent.
Was also hopeful Ice’s jump shot was an indication for more positive contributions, then she went into one of her funks with chippy fouls, seemingly in the wrong place at the wrong time, lazy passes. We’ll need her in the next round (or more?) to give us a more consistent contribution.
Nor any mention of the low TO numbers for UCONN…
I was miffed as to why down the stretch they tried to get her the ball but thought maybe Geno was trying to boost her confidence some but it’s March, not November.
Since Caroline has already announced her intention to return to Storrs next season, there was no urgent need to give her an applause opportunity during the game. Taking care of Paige and making sure that Aubrey had minutes (to get her primed for the next few games and to showcase her for WNBA scouts) were higher priorities.
How many times did Jana get a high pass into the post? Those bounce passes are hard for any tall player to grasp when shorter players can get their hands on them. Get the ball high to a 6'5" player. She missed a close in shot but that happens to all players. If Jana averaged at least seven shots a game, I believe she would make at least three of them. She gets too much blame for mistakes her teammates make. imo
More reason to try that when the game is well under control. Considering who was in the game at the time, that made sense. How is it that her teammates can get Sarah the ball so easily but can't get the ball to Jana in a position for her to score?
Midway through the 4th, Sarah passed Jana the ball up high and close in, literally about three feet from the rim. Jana caught it cleanly and -- brought it down to her waist and a Jacks guard stripped her.
My opinion, Sarah knows how to effectively use her body to fend off the defender, Jana still needs to learn how to use that frame, spread out to make it more difficult for the defender.
ND has 3 players who will be drafted and play in the W this summer..Westbeld,Miles and Citron..you add in Koval and Karlin to back up Westbeld in the post and King who is a rebounding machine and top off all that with Hildago who Uconn hasn't come close to stopping the last 2 years and I'd say they are pretty formidable
Yes and no. UConn won by 34 pts and were up over 40+. There were 12 players suited up and only Caroline did not play. I doubt it was about being “at the bottom of the priority list.”
nice observation and I agree. But at this point we are who we are. Geno and staff know that there will need to be multiple substitutions where the small line up will give way on the defensive side, but will make up for it on the offensive end. The chess match will be when during these games Geno decides to go big or small. The big lineup will need to at least not be detriment to the team when in the game so we aren't forced into a small line too often. Geno seems to be using Aubrey in several minute situations during the game. so I'm not sure if she's able to carry the load that Geno wishes she could because she would certainly be real mitigating factor. The more realistic hope is for Ice and Jana collectively to improve their play incrementally for the rest of the tournament. I think Ice has shown more confidence, but Jana is struggling and we really need her to provide more (similar to what she did at SC).
Many passes to Jana are bounce through traffic, somewhat forced it seems. Jana may also not offer the most mobile target to receive many passes. This is an area of future development.
With all of the injuries last year, Paige was often forced to defend post players. She rose to that challenge with a career high in blocked shots. Perhaps that is something she'll be working on this week in practice.
The "small lineup" has the the downside of being smaller, you say?
It just seems to me that it is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole with her. She is willing to play the five spot because it gets her on the floor but playing wing is where she prefers and probably has the best chance to play at the next level.
Should I be concerned that Caroline remained on the bench at the end?
You nailed it -'the big lineup will need at least not to be a detriment', as most all teams we will now be playing will have bigs superior to ours but we still want to be b able to match up with them at times
Outstanding program year in year out.
When she (Ice) turned her back on a player driving to the rim I asked myself...WTH was that
Just watched the game again on a replay. It is not a good thing.